Doctors and Cast Lists and Funny Stuff

So a lot has happened in the last week. Here are some highlights.

C had a regular old check-up. The kid is healthy. 

Saturday was the Reconciliation retreat. I thought it went pretty darn well, to be honest. I don't know that I will change much for next year. After the retreat, we went out to eat at Olive Garden and you know what? It is not fancy but gosh it was good, and just what I needed and wanted. Then I promptly went home and crashed for a long nap. A really good, clearly much-needed, long nap. 

Husband took the kids to see the ice sculptures. It's an annual event downtown and I have never been but the three of them go annually. I am glad they have that tradition and even more thankful I was snuggled up sleeping, warm, and not looking at ice sculptures. 

We spent the week working on C's Birds of Prey project. It's a 4th-grade tradition at our school. Though it was decidedly not that stressful so I don't know why it has such a negative reputation among the parents? 

Each 4th grader chooses a bird of prey out of a hat and does a research paper and a project about it. But they do the paper and research in class so all we were responsible for was a project. He turns it in today and it's a news report. He plays 3/4 characters. (A Minnie Mouse puppet plays the remaining part.) He helped edit it up and it's pretty good actually. 

This is a terrible screenshot from his 1:24-long video. But he is also turning in his script and his storyboard to show all his work. 

On Wednesday M and I went to the Children's hospital about an hour away for her to have a little procedure done. 

She did so great! She was gone from me in the procedure room for over an hour which felt very long to me waiting! But all of God's grace was abundant and she didn't even cry once! (And that's a miracle in and of itself because she is my no-pain-tolerance dramatic kid.) The child life specialists who stayed with her the whole time are truly a gift. 

And she even got a small Lego set as a reward for doing so great from child life. I am so incredibly thankful that the procedure went well. And for this hospital to be so close by. It truly feels like hollowed ground when you get to the campus and I almost cried a few times while I was waiting to just know that we'd be going home and so many floors of other families weren't going to have that same experience. So lots to pray for. M is a little sore still today but she is on the upswing. 

In casting news... C will be playing the role of Maurice. 

M will be playing the role of Lady with a Cane. And while you don't know who that is... let me tell you. She is the most relatable character in the whole movie! 

Yes. M gets to sing "I Need Six Eggs" and am I thrilled? I am. It's my second favorite line of the whole movie after "Marie, the baguettes! Hurry up!" Cue my throwback pic of my babies as babies in 2017. 

Anyway, it was all very exciting and they had their first rehearsal as a casted group yesterday and it went well so that makes me very happy. 

And just to end Friday on a high note: here are a few things that made me laugh out loud this week!

So that's it. Happy Friday! 

Friday!

 Oh happy happy Friday! Okay, I started this post LAST Friday and never got to finishing or posting so how about a super lame 2 week recap?

The first week back after a whole lotta nothing was rough. We were all exhausted. And then this week was busy busy busy for me. 

But here we are. 

Some things that have tickled me this lately. This picture of Pope Benedict that was on the altar in church. 

Well it is a framed picture that was hanging in my brother's room for years. The other side covered up is JPII. As my parents were cleaning out his room they decided since I work for a church all Catholic things were coming to me. I didn't want to hang it in my office so I stuck it in the spare office and then a few months later it ended up on the altar without me knowing ahead of time. 

This was the snow we got last Wednesday. 

This was my Dad's snow the same day. 

Since then, it snowed here for real, like 2 inches, melted and here we are. I love having no snow! I just need to make it through next Wednesday and if it wants to get super cold and gross after that, fine I suppose. 

The absolute highlight of the last week is that we live in a time where Aaron Rodgers didn't make the playoffs. And his final throw of the season was an interception. 

I will root for the Vikings as long as I am breathing but I know what I want and what is likely are very different things. So I hope this is a safe fun week of football for everyone playing. 

Want to hear something CRAZY?! Casey's (like the midwest Gas Station) has the best pizza. It took me many years to even try it because again, gas station pizza?! Horrifying. 

But it's really not. It's delicious. Anyway, apparently it's national pizza week. Who knew? Anyway, I don't insta anymore. But sometimes I log in to see what's going on. And they said share your favorite Casey's pizza moment to win a free pizza. So I did. 

Then yesterday at our weekly staff meeting I mentioned that I thought I should win the pizza of the day. 

AND THEN I DID!

I literally couldn't believe it. I had a DM and I was confused because I do not really insta for real. I follow no one I know in real life. I check in only periodically. So I opened the message and thought it must be a joke... but then I went to their stories and it WASN'T. 

And that is the tale of me and the free large pizza I won. 

My beautiful pookies had their auditions for their show yesterday. It is Beauty and the Beast. I don't know where they'll end up. I am hoping M gets to be the "I Need Six Eggs" lady or a Silly Girl and I would be content if C was the Bookseller or Whatever. C would very much like to be Cogsworth, which might be a stretch but I've been surprised before. 

Tomorrow is the First Reconciliation Retreat and after that we are going out to lunch to celebrate my very good but busy week. (First large group Confirmation meeting was on Sunday all the way through a retreat on Saturday.) 

I am also excited for a day of rest on Monday. God bless MLK Jr. for his work to better our world and our government for recognizing that. 

New Year!

Well then, Hello 2023. You look just about the same to me as your younger brother 2022 but I am happy you're here all the same. 

Our New Year's Eve was about as low-key as it gets. And I am perfectly okay with that. 

Since we were off the whole week before Christmas we started back up to school and work and things Monday. Boy did that hit hard. 

I realized late last year that I don't take enough pictures of my kids in their uniforms. And since those are the clothes they wear every single day, it made me sad. 

On Monday I took one for myself. M was being goofy posing and C was completely disinterested but nevertheless. It's real. 

When I look back, I want to remember the real life. And so I am documenting that as well. Yesterday this kid looked like this because his sister was being too loud and he didn't even want to do his math homework anyway! 

And this gal here has had quite the attitude lately which I do not appreciate one bit. 

Reality. 

Besides all that, work has been SO busy and will continue to be for quite a while. But that's why it's called work right? 

Have a great Wednesday!

2022 Recap in Photos

 So I saw this on Twitter. 

And I thought? Why Not? So come along with me for my 34 pictures of 2022. 

1. The First Picture Taken in 2022

2. A Happy Day 

3. Favorite Moment 

4. A Day With Pretty Sky 

This one gets a story. I was driving the kids to rehearsal and the clouds looked like this. C was like "Is that the second coming of Jesus?!" very excitedly. M took the picture. 

5. Favorite Picture of Yourself

6. Favorite Dish of 2022

Storybook Dining at Artist Point, all around BEST meal of 2022. 

7. A Pic with Your Bestie

8. Your Favorite Selfie

9. A Bad Day 

10. IDK Why I Took This 

11. Favorite Trip of the Year

12. Food Photodump

I really don't take pictures of food as it happens. But here are cookies from a big event and Husband designed the stencils. 

13. Your Favorite Person (I cheated and went with people.) 

14. Favorite Flower 

15. This is My Safe Zone

This is literally one of the only pictures taken from my COVID quarantine. A literal safe zone. 

16. Most Recent Family Picture

17. Something New I Tried

   

18. January You vs. You Now* Skipping this one since there are zero pictures of me from December and only one from January. 

19. 1 Pic with Me

20. This Makes Me Proud of Myself

21. A Place I Want to Go Again

22. This Makes Me Smile

23. Your Favorite Artist

24. A Pic I Never Posted

So when I had COVID my Miraculous Medal disappeared. We still haven't found it. I like a very dainty version you can see. Anyway, my replacement wandered off care of one child who won't be named and this picture is from when Husband found it!!!! And I literally cried because I couldn't even justify spending the money on a third version of the same thing. (It's not an inexpensive necklace even if it is tiny.) 

25. You in 4 Different Styles* Also skipping this because I do not have different styles or even that many pictures of myself. 

26. Must Have Item of 2022

27. A Meme for 2022

28. New Friends Made in 2022

So the guy at the end of the pew is my coworker and I consider him my friend. We just met this year. He wasn't why I took this picture but who cares! 

29. What Makes Me Grow Up 

30. Favorite Hobby in 2022

We learned to screen print. And I really enjoy it!!

32. You Spent the Most On This

Check out my screen printing handiwork! 

33. A Breath-Taking View

34. Sum Up 2022 in 6 Pics* Yeah, okay I am skipping this too because how many more pictures of Disney World can I post? 

Happy New Year everyone. Have a safe and fun night! 

Hello From Christmas

Hello from the 5th day of Christmas. Is it day 5? I think so. Christmas 2022 will henceforth and forever more be known as the year Christmas barely happened. Or the year I fully became disenchanted with holidays. Or the year in which I took barely any pictures. 

I mean, it came. Certainly. With amounts of joy and sugar and presents. But I was not feeling it. 

We put up our tree on Black Friday like we always do. And the nativity. And nothing else. We only hung stockings the week before. And while it's all still up... if I had to wager it isn't going to make it til Ephiphany because clean is just better. 

Winter break started without much fanfare. It was crazy cold. And there was that pesky storm. Which meant we needed to head to MN early to miss the storm. So we did. When I tell you that I packed my duffle bag the very morning we were meant to leave please take that as your sign that I just didn't care. (For reference I began packing for our Disney trip weeks in advance.) 

But we made it to MN with no problem. No one was traveling on Tuesday before Christmas. 

We also followed an Oreo truck which we all enjoyed. 

Wednesday it snowed pretty dang good. 8 inches or so. Up there schools were still in session but they called off. They wouldn't have needed to, it was super cold but didn't start snowing a ton until later that night. My kids went sledding which was a hoot for them. It was like -5° or something real temp so they only lasted about 20 minutes but I was happy they got to go out. 

While we were there, fun was had. Games were played. Pinatas were hit. (That may end up being a new Christmas tradition, to be honest.) But I just didn't take many pictures. 

The storm messed up all the plans. We were supposed to leave on Saturday but ended up needing to stay until Christmas morning. But we had already had "fake Christmas Eve" the night before. Which was good but then real Christmas Eve felt weird. But the roads were closed until about noon and at that point, it was kinda late to pack up and head back. But bonus, we could watch the Vikings game. And we went to Christmas Eve Mass in MN. (Not the Christmas Day Mass at home we planned.) 

And you know what? That first Christmas didn't go according to plan either. And still, He came. Mass was exactly what I needed and even not being home was okay because reading my childhood parish's bulletin gave me some ideas for work. The Mass was very moving and I really enjoyed the homily. I am ultimately really happy about how it all went. 

Driving home on Christmas day was actually great. The roads had really been cleared well, it was sunny and not as windy anymore, and there were very few people on the road with us. 

And while I took no cute pictures of their matching pajamas or even any pictures of them with their gifts... it's okay. All is well. 

This week has been a mishmash of nothing. We've all been home and just playing, sleeping, and not doing anything at all. Just how I would want to spend my days off. Perpetual Saturdays and all. I am sad that school and life start up again so soon but, overall, it was pretty good. 

One of C's big wants this year was more "fluffy pillows" 

Did he need them? Not even a little bit. But 6 pillows, with 3 different sets of Peanuts pillowcases is fine by me if it makes him happy. 

As it happens, today is 63 and sunny. All the snow here at home melted and I am not even a little bit sad about it. 

And so that is what we have been up to. It really really isn't much. Since it's so nice out we are actually grilling tonight. M and I made Scottish scones from one of her cookbooks this morning. 

We've honestly all been super chill but we are cooking something fun daily. Which is nice. Instead of one large feast, it's been a whole week of feasts in our own little ways. 

And just to leave you with a little smile. This has me legit cracking up.