The Tooth Fairy

We had a visitor last night. 

Last week while Husband was gone it became my unfortunate task to take the kids to the dentist. I am good with blood and shots and all the other tasks but I hate the dentist even for myself so I have delegated those appointments to Husband. Except no. Because he was gone. So I went.

And wouldn't you know that C had to have a tooth extracted?! It's funny, I had two taken out when I was younger and don't remember it being a big deal at all. It's a little different from a parenting perspective though.

And because Husband has a big meeting tomorrow and had a lot to do, yesterday I got to take him to that appointment too. A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do but I've had just about enough of dentists for a while.

C has had a wiggly tooth for a while and lo and behold, while they were taking out the tooth we went there for, the wiggly one came out too. C was a champ. He got some ice cream to soothe the emotional pain. We survived and the tooth fairy came for a double visit.

Spring Forward

So I have a little confession to make...

I actually don't hate that this weekend was Daylight Saving Time. I know that seems crazy, but truth be told, my kids never really adjusted to the whole "Fall Back" thing in November. So yesterday they woke up at 6:20 instead of 5:20 and all the angels sang and rejoiced. No wait, that was me.

This past week Husband was gone on a work retreat Wednesday-Friday, he came home with enough time for me to do some laundry and make some Scotcheroos and then went on his CEW retreat Friday-yesterday.

This girl was happy to help lick the spoon!

Now we are in a weird reentry portion of the week but it is our Spring Break so that's the best. We don't have any big plans but that's okay with me. I am quite happy to be home as a family. (Okay, Husband still has to work but he will still be sleeping here like normal.) And I am doubly happy to be waking up at a decent hour.

Happy Monday!

Daisy Jones and The Six

So do you read the books that Reese Witherspoon picks? The Hello Sunshine Book Club? Well, I am rarely disappointed by Reese's picks. The only ones I haven't loved have been thrillers and I just don't love thrillers that much. (And even some of those I enjoyed!)

Her March book is Daisy Jones and the Six and I wasn't really sure what to think but you guys, it's AMAZING. It's like reading a documentary. It's the story of a fictional 70s rock band and their rise to fame. I don't even really like 70s rock music much but this book makes me want to.

If the book was actually a documentary it would be rated R for sure. So know that. But wow, it was a good read. I didn't realize it was just released on Tuesday but that's when my library digital copy came in and I finished last night. It really reads like a guilty pleasure VH1 Behind the Music and I couldn't put it down. And the ending! I didn't see that coming.

And because it's a Hello Sunshine Book it is going to be an Amazon series I guess. So that's super exciting.

Fat Tuesday

A friend shared this image with me yesterday and I just really like it. It is a good reminder certainly. Lent starts tomorrow. That's crazy. Except not. I bought the Blessed is She devotional to work through this Lent and I am excited about that.

We are not really Mardis Gras-ing at all. Our Parish (well at least a good chunk of it) is doing an Exodus 90 right now. The men through the actual Exodus 90 program and the women in an abbreviated one. With this, we have Wednesday and Friday fasts, no sweets, no alcohol, no television or movies, no social media*, no unnecessary spending, increased prayer times etc. So we've already been living Lent since January 21 and it's been really spiritual. The idea is to rid yourself of the vices and learn to depend on God. It works.

*I did not count blogging as social media, but I have been very cognizant to only blog if I really have something to say or I want to remember. And I am not blog hopping right now. I check in with the blogs I know I love and that's it, to really minimize my time spent online.

I hope your heart is ready for Lent to guide you where you're meant to be.

March

Oh, March. You're here. With the hopeful promise that maybe you will bring Spring at some point?

I have a feeling it is going to be a long month. Next week we start our new school schedule to make up all the hours we've missed. So school is going to be 20 minutes longer each day. We start 10 minutes earlier and end 10 minutes later. Plus, we are not going to have early out Wednesdays anymore.

Luckily we have one week to practice this new schedule and then spring break which I am thankful for because seriously, 7.5 hours of school every day is a lot for a kindergartener. We sure have had an interesting introduction to school.

Yesterday C got in the car after school and very seriously said, "I'm sorry Mom. It's March tomorrow. so we are doing Dr. Suess." Which cracks me up.

I am not a Suess fan. At all. We do own some, and I realize I cannot prevent my kids from these lessons plans because the only author in the world worthy of celebration for a month is Dr. Suess. (I'm kidding. I know it's his birthday and all that.) We'll see how in depth the class gets. The next unit is China so maybe Dr. Suess is more of an afterthought.

Today is a good day to have a good day. Happy Friday!

God Moments

At the end of a long hallway of a medical center, there is a print of some artwork by Cheryl Piperberg. It looks like this:

C has loved this picture for years. Years. There's a walrus front and center. And a polar bear. And penguins. Once M got older than car seat age she began to love this print as well. Especially since it features a panda bear.

Yesterday we left that hallway and for the first time, we have no immediate plan to return as we have graduated from the specialist. And I was nervous about it. It's like taking away my safety net. But it's good. (Except I may have to buy that print for our house. Lol.)

So today I felt especially close to the Holy Spirit. I heard a new-to-me song for the first time:

And it just speaks to me. This morning there was a little birthday get together for a friend of mine. She's a leap year birthday so she picked today to celebrate. And it was such a wonderful time together with a great group of women.

Then I went to deliver some prayer journals I made for the ladies of my small group at the retreat.

Journals from Amazon. Fruit of the Spirit art from Etsy. Our group was called the Pineapple Princesses so I was thrilled to find something that would feel like it was in the spirit of that.

Then as my day kept going I had a BIG God moment and it was so amazing it actually made me cry. I was going to ask a friend to pray for me specifically. And then I never got around to it. But I got a text that she actually HAD. She prayed for the exact thing I needed without prompting from me. And then reached out to tell me.

It's little things like that that remind me that He is with us always. Tomorrow is March. Which is crazy. Hopefully, actual Spring weather is around the corner too. But we will see.

CEW 2019

So last year, about this time, I went on a CEW retreat. It's a bit like a Cursillo retreat but a little different. And it was good. In my old post, I wrote about how I wasn't clear what the lasting impact would be.

Well, we found a true parish community. That is an amazing impact. Church isn't just Mass on Sunday. I have real and true friendships with people. We get together monthly. (Or we try to anyway when all these blizzards don't cancel our nights together.)

I was invited to join a mom's rosary morning and my introverted self went. And now I go pray the rosary with friends while the kids play. We pray for each other. Let me tell you that friendship rooted in prayer and vulnerability is real.

And in early November my phone rang. And I was asked to be on this year's CEW Team. So I said yes.

This past weekend, I spent 48 hours at school/church helping lead this retreat. And let me tell you, a thank you is inadequate to whoever picked me for my role. It was so much more than I could have imagined. It was really amazing actually.

I honestly don't know where we are going from here yet again but I suspect there's a pretty good plan I am a part of and I just trust that it's going to be great.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend is how beautiful the table decorations are, BUT we don't have our phones which is a shame since they work so hard to make the weekend really lovely. This year, I had a friend on the kitchen team take a picture of the decorations at Saturday's lunch because they were so lovely. This is after the placemats and napkins were removed since we were done eating. So it was even more magical, but it still is beautiful.

And they did similar table decorations, with fresh flowers and loveliness for 6 meals! It was so nice to feel cared for.

My heart is full and I am definitely riding the CEW high.