Faith, Arts and Culture Weekend+

What a weekend of culture and fun. 

The fun actually began on Wednesday with the middle school choir and band concert. 

It was delightful, and I have to tell you that the highlight for me was that we got to leave before the bands started! And we weren't being rude... that was encouraged so we could make room for others! 

Thursday was First Reconciliation, and I was so proud of all my little second-grade chickadees. I took no pictures of that. But it went well!

Friday, M's teacher sent a pic of the class at Adoration. 

Then, directly after schoo,l we had middle school Bingo! Here were some of the 5th grade helpers. (Siblings.)

Here was C's table. I was trying to not impose. 

Overall, it was good but it was SO LOUD. So so so so loud. Middle schoolers are just a whole vibe. Add a bunch of sugar and... it was so so loud and crazy. 

After bingo, we went to pick up Husband from home and headed off to the high school to see their children's show. (There was an unfortunate pit stop at Long John Silvers/A&W... it took 25 minutes from walking in the door until getting our food. And we were going to be late. The idea was meant to be fast. It wasn't. But the employees were genuinely kind and trying their best.) 

Because we were running late, I didn't get a pic of the show before it got running, so I stole this one from Instagram. 

It was Finding Nemo Jr. and I gotta say, it was the most fun children's show I've seen at that school. Makes me excited since we aren't so far off from having a student there ourselves. 

Saturday I went to breakfast with my friend/former co-worker. She is a gem and super crafty so she made me this wreath. (Worst picture ever.) 

That afternoon was C's choir concert. 

They did a very good job! The music sounded great. 

C learned a very important lesson about rehearsing. He was one of the narrators, and they had to be memorized. I asked him many, many times if he wanted to run lines, and he most often refused. 

His second line he totally got flustered and screwed it up. Weirdly, it was the one he knew well, so I was surprised. (But not actually surprised that there was a flub because I had even said to Husband that I didn't think it would go well overall.) 

It wasn't awful awful. And it was the kind of lesson he had to learn himself. 

M took a selfie during the show. And... okay. 

Saturday evening we went to see a bunch of kids in their show Elf Jr. (The theater my kids have participated at.) 

And then it snowed some more. 4 inches. Because we needed that. 

Is it warm again yet?! 

Then, to round up the weekend, Sunday night was the women's Advent by Candlelight. I went as a guest, not a host, which was nice. I took exactly one picture, and it's not great. 

A nice night with the women of the parish. Though I admit the "prayer and reflection" portion of the evening was forgettable. 

It was a very full weekend + of faith, arts, and culture. We are so blessed! 

December

Happy December. 

I am trying really hard to look on the bright side of things, and I know this will be short-lived, but it snowed 10 inches on Saturday, and it's going to snow again today. 

I hate snow. 

Why do I live where it snows?! Katie McGrady said in her NCYC breakout, "And you can't shovel humidity, so we picked Louisiana." 

I am ready for humidity, hurricanes, and alligators friends. 

One last picture of no snow. 

To be fair... I also have a cold, which is definitely affecting my attitude. But I still hate snow. 

The last time we had this much snow... we were on a cruise and missed it. I wish I were on a cruise now. Alas. 

We didn't set up the tree yet. It was on the agenda, but none of us were really feeling it. We did get all the Thanksgiving decor put away, and we are basking in the "normal no decor" home for a few days. 

Advent has started. Even with the snow that I hate, life is good. So Happy December it is. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

C, our Macy's aficionado, delighted in the parade. 

And we all enjoyed Zootopia 2! 

I hope you celebrated however best suits you! 

All the Other Stuff

There was still a lot of other stuff that went down before and after I went to Indianapolis. Let me tell you about it! 

The Holy Spirit was moving in a big way. Last Monday, I had a board meeting and then a study date with my friend to help her prepare for her citizenship test. My friend has been obsessing over her Brumate cup for months. And I got home, and my board member's gift was a BRUMATE! 

Also, my friend went to Des Moines on Thursday and passed her test with flying colors! I am so happy for her. Her naturalization ceremony will be sometime in January, they said. She is married with 4 little boys, and while she is absolutely in the country legally with a green card, it will be a relief to have her as a citizen! The studying paid off!

M was also featured online for "Wear Your Camp Gray shirt day" 

So, of course, she participated the next day! 

Summer Camp signups were on Wednesday and luckily we got both kids into the week I was aiming for. The other good news is that I got a text message from one of M's friends' moms from camp last summer. (If you recall, we sent her for the first time without a hometown friend.) M had written Elise a letter telling her what week she was planning to go to camp but we hadn't heard back. 

But via text messages (and boy am I glad I had M include the "you can have your mom text my mom" line in the letter) we got the girls signed up for the same week and written down for buddy requests so they can be together again. That makes me so happy! 

Wednesday night we had tickets to a preview of Wicked: For Good. 

I will be very honest when I tell you that if I hadn't already had these preview tickets, I very likely would not have gone to NCYC and missed the opening weekend. That sounds ridiculous, but it's true. 

Our fellow audience was dreadful. They talked through the ENTIRE movie. The entire movie. But the movie itself is a solid second act. 

Girly-pop had every piece of Wicked merch she owns on. Pants. Shirt. Sweatshirt. 2 different socks. (One for Glinda and one for Elphaba.) I myself wore a pink sock and a green sock and called it good. 

While I was gone life marched on. The school had its senior thanksgiving dinner, where the 5th grade served the meal. M got assigned coffee. 

I truly had people at NCYC praying that she didn't spill hot coffee on a senior citizen. 

Photo evidence that she didn't. Praise the Lord! 

Saturday was the Festival of Trees Parade. Which is very important to C. I tuned into the live stream as I went between activities at NCYC, got a screenshot of Husband and C, and called it good. 

Later, C's choir performed. 

And I was happy to hear it went well, and his lines as narrator were clear, crisp, and got the appropriate laughs. 

And that's a pretty solid recap of what else went on last week. Now we're just trying to make it to Thanksgiving! See you on the other side of Turkey Day! 

NCYC!

 I am back from NCYC. 

And yes. NCYC is a pilgrimage, not a retreat. 

But still. It was my third retreat in November, and to say I am spiritually edified is not an understatement. 

Spending time with 16,000 people on fire for the Lord will do that. 

And truly it was such a good conference. It was weird though. Because I wasn't meant to be at NCYC. My parish went. And they took a great group. But I didn't go with them. 

Remember in September when Fr. Thom became Bishop Hennen? Well, he was supposed to go to NCYC with his parish. And the way that works in our diocese is once you claim a slot, you're on the hook for paying for that slot if something changes. So they asked me if I would come and chaperone for them. 

So I did. And we had a good time. I Catholic fangirled in the hardest way. I got a selfie with everyone on my "Catholic celebrity list." 

Pope Leo. Meg Hunter-Kilmer. Katie Prejean McGrady. Sr. Miriam James. Ashley David from Pink Salt Riot. And I had a meaningful encounter with all of them. Okay, Pope Leo absolutely has no clue who I am or what face I was in the crowd. But I was able to let each of the other fabulous women know what their work means to me.

We had lunch with our Bishop too, and that was lovely. 

It was a really wonderful and powerful weekend, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to have experienced it.

A Weekend Retreat

Wait a second, Madeline? Didn't you have a retreat last weekend? 

Why, my friend, you're right! Yet again, I had one this weekend. 

It was the First Reconciliation Retreat, and you know what? It went pretty well. 

Husband had been out of town last week, which was so busy, and adds a different dynamic to everything, doesn't it? 

This was the only picture I took of the retreat. 

Luckily my friend took a few! It is always hard for me to know how a retreat goes but it went about as well as it could. 

Saturday, we also went to Mass and then to see The Sound of Music. I didn't take pictures of that. 

And yesterday, also a day with no picture, was GLORIOUS. 

I slept in. 

I wrote my review. 

But otherwise did a lot of nothing. 

And it was GLORIOUS. 

And now here we are on Monday! Let's make it a good one! 

The Sky's Awake, So I'm Awake

Like everyone in the Midwest last night it seems... we could see the Northern Lights! 

Now I live in town. On a road my mother calls a highway. (It's not. I swear.) But with street lights aplenty. And even still, this was the view of the aurora borealis last night from that well-lit house.

This is just regular camera mode. These others are in night mode. 

This was after bedtime but C was still awake so I had him come out to see. And then about an hour later, I felt bad, so I woke M up for a minute and had her come out to see. It wasn't as vibrant at that point, but still visible, and she liked it. And then ran right back upstairs to sleep.  

My parents' house had a nice view too. 

But my bestie, who lives in the country (Like it kind of scares me to try and find her house in the dark kind of country), absolutely won! 

I said to my friends who know me and my general lack of interest in nature that this definitely counts as my allotment for nature appreciation this month. 

It also counted as some time with God. I am so grateful to be on an Earth that surprises us from time to time with goodness. There are plenty of bad weather surprises. (It sn*wed on Saturday. I was unhappy. It has since melted, but it was there and I saw it.) So the good ones are worth appreciating.