A Full Week!

It has been a long and busy week. Last Friday night, we went to see the High School production of Grease, the School Edition. Which means it's shorter and the lyrics have all been Kids Bop-ped. 

It was fun! And I am glad for that! 

Saturday morning brought the piano festival, and we made it just fine. God and his little sense of humor, however, my car dinged at like exactly the same spot on the road. It was the "It's cold outside, so drive carefully" warning. But I think all of our hearts stopped for a second. 

This is M in the warm up room. She had consistently played worse all week. 

She earned a Superior rating, which I was honestly a little shocked by, and I am now convinced that they just give everyone a Superior rating. Admittedly, it is a good moral boost for small pianists. So... there's that. 

Saturday also brought news of the new Nuncio. Not a surprise but it was kind of weird to get the news on a Saturday. 

C sang at Mass. 

Look, since this is the blog I look back on for memories, I am going to write the unedited version here. C was in full, horrible teenager mode all afternoon. 

We, me and him, got into an argument as we were going to leave the house. It escalated in church, and then C couldn't stop crying. He sort of got it together as he was rehearsing in the basement rehearsal room, but when he came back up he was worse. 

At the same time, M, who I fully believe was all worked up all week about her piano festival, finally had the adrenaline crash and didn't feel great. She kept saying she was going to throw up. So I sent her to the car. 

I stayed long enough to hear C sing. He did okay. Not great and definitely not what he was capable of. And then he came back to the pew and got mad at me again. Luckily, I had an out by taking "sick" M home. And then I went back to get the boys after Mass, and we were all grumpy with each other for the rest of the day. 

M and I went back to Mass on Sunday morning. She was not sick. 

Everything seemed better in the morning. But it was a rough afternoon and evening. 

Sunday, Husband and I went to see a show with some friends. Before they arrived we watched these two ladies park. If you look closely you can see how poorly they did. 

What you can't see from this picture is that BOTH ladies pulled through the spots, then reversed and corrected themselves several times, opening the door to see where they were in the lines. AND then decided this was good enough. In fact, they almost hit each other doing this at one point. 

It was bad. And SO funny. Like I was crying laughing. 

We also got C's headshot for his show. 

Monday, I got a lot of work done. Especially for our Wednesday night Family Formation activity. Stations in a Sack: A Touch and Pray Stations of the Cross Kit!

Tuesday, during the day, I made all the kits. 

I spent some time in prayer before school Mass. 

And we had severe weather, and it hailed during dinner. Luckily no damage!

Wednesday was a long and busy day. We had our event. 

It was a small but mighty group, and truly, I enjoyed it. There really was something to praying in a kid-friendly way, with hands on items to meditate on. 

Had some flashbacks to 6 years ago too. 

Yesterday was the kids' show Madagascar Jr. 

My kids and all the cast were lovely. The directors did a nice job. And the actual material and script are boring. I kinda don't want to go back and watch it again today. I will because I am supportive, and I am taking the money at the show. But I am not that excited about it, except for seeing my kids. That is fun. 

So kind of them to put the kids right next to each other for the finale. 

And the best part is that if we make it to 3:00 PM today... and even though it's crazy crazy windy right now I cannot imagine the world will end before then, we will have made it to Spring Break! And we are READY FOR IT! 

Friday!

Well, we made it to Friday! 

One of the highlights of the week was that I got to hang out with some of my favorites. 

Hanging with littles is so good for my soul. (So is bringing them back to their mothers.) 

C has survived his crazy week. He has literally gone from school to Madagascar rehearsal to Secret Garden rehearsal all week. 

On Monday, I had to get him early from Madagascar to get him to choir before Secret Garden. 

Yesterday, I had to get him early from Madagascar to get him to voice lessons before Secret Garden. It paid off, though, because he earned another Outstanding Lesson! 

And actually, he ended up leaving the school choir (his last period) early to rehearse in the church because he is going to sing the prelude before Mass tomorrow. Lucky you... I recorded the rehearsal. 

This is "Pie Jesu" from Faure's Requiem. Admittedly, it sounded better after his lesson. They tweaked a few things. But you can get the feel of it. 

C is not the only kid in Madagascar. M is a very cute Lemur. 

She has just had less going on than C. But never fear, she still has her piano festival tomorrow. If you read this, please say a prayer. She's really in her head about it, and she knows her pieces, so I am just hoping she is going to do okay. 

I have a little PTSD too because last year on the way to the festival my car died. Husband rightly points out that our new-to-us car still has a warranty, so even if something were to happen, we'd be okay. But... it still makes me nervous. 

It was super stormy last night, and we lost power at 4:45. Everyone woke up, Husband distributed the emergency white noise machines, and we all drifted back to bed. It came back on just before 7:00, thank you, Jesus. We've been in such a drought that there's standing water everywhere. Nothing like extremes. 

Tonight, after Madagascar Rehearsal, we are going to have dinner at Long John Silver's before going over to the high school production of Grease. (The school version.) 

And that is what's been going on with us. Mostly just work/school/rehearsals. 

March Came In Like A...

I really don't know. It was cold but not snowy. Gray but not miserable. Is it a lamb when it's freezing? Is that a lion? 

The good news is that I took some pictures! Because on Sunday afternoon we went to a hockey game. We had vouchers for two seats, so we had to go to the box office. I was very nice and chill with the lady and was rewarded with excellent seats right on the red line. 

Full transparency: this is a most common M face these days. 

You can hear the "Moooooom" of the internal monologue, can't you? She did take a nice picture for me too.

Then after the game we went out for "prinner" or pre-dinner and got ice cream. Because I had a coupon for a free scoop that was expiring that day! And who throws away a free scoop?! 

In more photographic proof that I am not the meanest parent, I present to you the chocolate fudge brownie ice cream cone instead of a dish. (Cones are so messy! And I am the slowest ice cream eater.) 

And now it is Tuesday already.  But good news... the daffodils are peeking ever so slightly out of the ground. There is hope. 

Praise God!! Did you wake up early to look at the lunar eclipse? We did not. We were soundly asleep and happy to be that way. 

Hope your March is off to a fabulous start! 

An Overdue Recap

Well, I wish I had disappeared because we were off gallivanting or doing anything really interesting. We weren't. 

Let's go back to Valentine's Day. This kid served so well. And the family was so generous, they wrote both a lovely note and included more cash than typical. Corporal Acts of Mercy are good. 

After Husband got home from his funeral, we went to the mall. We went to Bath and Body Works. C found a new deodorant. And I wasn't about to stop him from not stinking. 

And we picked up some of the Disney hand sanitizers and the Rapunzel Lantern holder for M. The other Disney items were a little rich for my blood. 

We had the fanciest Valentine's meal of Chick-Fil-A in the food court. Oh, I did lean into the day with her hair, though. So that was something. 

After a chill President's Day home with record-setting weather in the 70s, I went to daily Mass on Tuesday and snuck in one more Ordinary Time Mass. Because I really hate Lent. 

I also sent out a lot of texts that day that used the A word and lines from the Gloria. Because I could!!! 

Ash Wednesday came and happened. 

Last Thursday I saw a show.

I didn't really like it. And I wrote kind of a gobbledygook review that didn't say anything, and they called it a "WONDERFUL review." So... that happened. 

Friday morning we woke up to snow. Just a trace. But I didn't like it. It's gone now. But it's supposed to snow tonight. But not enough to do anything more than be annoying. 

It's cold again. Not a big fan of that, really. 

Saturday, Husband had his work gala, so he was gone all day. He looked like a goof in his 70s look and wig. 

The kids and I went to a Boy Scout trivia night. And the only picture I have from the day was of M's hair. And I really only take these to show her what it looks like. 

We did pretty well at trivia. We played with my bestie's family. Her twinsies turned 6!!! So they were with us, her husband, M's bestie (her daughter), and her parents. 

Sarah and the big boys were hosting the event. I was pretty proud of myself. I knew the entire candy category. There was a picture put up, including this one. 

Do you know what that is? Answer below. The other candies were Pop Rocks, Peeps, Necco Wafers, Ring Pops, Circus Peanuts, and Nerds. 

And truly, I have taken no pictures at all since the one of M's hair. This week feels long because it's the full 5 days after last week's short week. We are sad the Olympics are over, too. 

We've had a lot of rehearsals and driving around, and I have had a lot of evening meetings. Confirmation and First Communion are keeping me busy. And I am TIRED. 

And that's about what I know. Just like I knew that candy bar was a....

Did you know it? 

It's a Whatchamacallit. 

School Valentines and Other Things.

Yesterday, my computer gave me the black screen of death. So I asked for Carlo Acutis' intercession and decided to clean my desk out while I waited. 

All this paper was just wasting space in my desk. Or on my desk. I took it to the recycle bin myself! 

And look how nice and clean my desk looks now! 

Brick House in the City reminded me of this. 

And if not, He is still good. God answers prayers in a lot of different ways. 

At C's voice lesson we were waiting and the sun was beaming in just perfectly. I basked in it. 

As you know, I am indoorsy, and these 5 minutes of sunshine were exactly what I needed for my soul. 

Last night we also finished the classroom valentines. 5th grade is really the last year with a party. So M went out with a bang. 

A whole Banana Themed Goodie Bag: Banana Stress Ball, Banana Baseball Keychain, 2 Banana Vinyl stickers, and 2 Banana Laffy Taffy. With some Savannah Banana fun. 

Also of note: having already secured my Bananaball tickets for this summer as a member of the K Club is delightful! 

C's class is having an ice cream party and we signed up to bring marshmallows and chocolate chips. But then someone asked if they could still pass out valentines too... and the teacher said yes. 

Well actually she said: 

But C was all about it. So we came up with the most Teenager Valentine ever. 

As it happens, the kid loves minty gum himself, so this is a great indicator of his own interests while also getting the stinky teenager smell under control. 

Truly. I know the middle school teachers, and they often pass out Lifesaver Mints to the class when people are particularly stinky to have the room smell of mint instead. Genius. 

I had to tell C to shower this week because he stunk. And he didn't believe me but after a short argument took one anyway. Then later told me another boy in his class did smell. And he was thankful that he wasn't stinky. Hey, at least we try. I bet the other boy yelled at his mom that he was fine, too. 

Tomorrow's plans really derailed. We have 2 different funerals to go to. One is for a very sweet old man who died at 91. C is altar serving and I am live-streaming. M is coming along for the ride. 

Husband is working a funeral too, for our former Mayor. He is having a big reception at Husband's museum because he was on the board. It will be a long morning and afternoon for all of us. But hopefully we can find something fun to do in the evening. 

Have a fabulous Valentine's Day! 

Olympics! Crafts! Shows!

 Happy Olympics! 

It is well documented on this blog that I love the Olympics! And never fear, even though we are still down an oven, I made our Olympic Ring Cookies here at work! 

I truly forgot there was a Super Bowl this weekend too until I read my friend Colleen's post. Beat the other team! We will very likely not watch at all. I have no interest in either team or the halftime show. Besides... the Olympics will be on. 

I went to a Porch Goose string art class this week. It was a nice time. 

This probably sounds strange but I have been so enjoying some solo craft time lately. There's just something about creating. I am grateful for it. 

In Olympic-like binge-watching fun... I loved Finding Her Edge on Netflix. 

Husband and I watched the whole thing in 2 days, and I liked it so much I am doing a rewatch now. 

Is it teen-y and dramatic? It totally is. 

Is it incredibly predictable? For sure. Especially if you've seen The Cutting Edge. And the characters totally watch that movie in one of the scenes. 

Does the main character, Adriana (Madelyn Keys), kind of look like Jennifer Lawrence, and therefore I referred to the two love triangle skater boys as Peeta and Gale instead of Brayden and Freddie the whole time? This is all true. 

Has it already been renewed by Netflix for Season 2? It has, and I can't wait. 

To be fair, I do not think Husband enjoyed it nearly as much as I did, and he snoozed through most of it. 

That is, really honestly, all I know going into the weekend. I hope you have a good one! 

Happy News, Groundhogs, The End of an Era

 This past weekend was open house. So we went to see those school projects in person. 

And middle school choir performed at Mass. 

This was during the prelude and NOT during the Mass. 

In happy news... C was cast as Colin in The Secret Garden. 

It's his first BIG role in a show with grown-ups. Like it's him and the gal playing Mary (who I think is roughly just a bit older than him) and that's it. 

He auditioned the day we were home because of cold. And he was ready. He had been working on his audition piece for weeks with his voice teacher and he went in and truly just sang the heck out of it. Husband could hear his last notes from outside in the lobby. 

Then we didn't hear anything. At all. For 3 days. So we assumed he didn't get it. And that was okay. 

But then last Monday night we got the email offering him the role! Yay! And we were told not to tell anyone until it was public. And that finally happened! So here ya go! His first big real show. We are so proud. 

And today it FINALLY got above freezing. For the first time in 282 hours and 20 minutes. That's not a short amount of time. 

Let's not go so far as to say it's warm but at least it's not freezing. 

Happy Groundhog Day. The kids aren't in school today because it's a teacher's in-service day. Which does mean I wouldn't mind repeating this over and over again.

This made me smile. 

I do think I would thrive with working just one day of the year, being incorrect most of the time, and people still making crafts about me anyway. Alas... I was born a people and not a groundhog. 

Sae this today... and I am actually really sad. The news on Friday about Catherine O'Hara really broke me. And this just feels like more childhood slipping away. 

There are several recipes I make that ask for orange juice concentrate so not sure how that will go! 

M was so excited because her Pink Palm Puff sweatshirt came today. 

Did you know that these are THE thing in 5th grade?! I didn't either.