I'm trying to get back into an early-to-rise routine around here, so I guess that means revisiting my blog as well.
Starting to blog again after such a long hiatus feels awkward and forced. Umm... hi?
Currently...
Reading: Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving. His writing is so fabulous. Why are his characters always so loveable?
Drinking: Coffee. Coffee. More coffee. I told you I'm trying to get back into my routine of early mornings. Plus, I don't really drink alcohol so coffee seems like a just fine vice to me.
Eating: Oh Lordy, the eating around here. Yesterday afternoon I wondered why my stomach hurt until I remembered I had Target popcorn, two Diet Cokes, and a pack of Rolos for lunch. At the end of the day I congratulated myself on such a good day of eating... and then I remembered lunch. *oops*
C started real school this week and is thriving. She has left and come home in a great mood everyday. She is clearly tired but so wired from all of the excitement that thus far all has been well. There is nothing cuter in this world than seeing her bound onto the school bus and wave from the front seat. Nils snuggles in my arms and we wave back and blow kisses. Oh my goodness. C can barely see out the window and we just see her eyes and arm waving. You can't imagine how adorable the whole scene is. And, oh my gosh, don't get me started on how amazing the school bus is. A bus comes and picks my kid up and brings her to school and then takes her home? For free? And I don't have to be ready to leave and stuff Nils into a carseat twice a day?! AAAMAZING. Also, we lucked out and live across the street from the bus stop. We can see/hear the bus coming from our house. Oh yeah!
Nils and I are having fun having some rarely-before-seen time alone together. Yesterday after our fancy Target lunch I asked him if he was ready to go home and he replied, "No! Goodwill!" Atta boy. We're going to get along juuussst fine. I found a fabulous vintage hat at Goodwill and Nils bought it for me. THIS hat - but in RED! It was a total of 86 cents. A fabulous red vintage hat? Sounds perfect for Pentecost! Vintage hats are my weakness.
While Nils and I are thrilled to be together and are having some adventures of our own, we definitely both miss Carolena. Nils will frequently call me "Lena" or "best friend" when he's talking (they call each other "best friend") and then get a surprised embarrassed look on his face and correct himself to "Mommy." Poor guy.
I really miss C too. I love having some special time to be with Nils but it has been harder than I expected to see so little of Carolena lately. I really and truly like being with her and miss her. She gets home from school at 4 and goes to bed at 7 so time with her is at a premium. I'm trying to have time with her, let Nils have some time alone with her to play, and we have dinner and bedtime routines. So far C has wanted to pile in my bed with books everyday when she gets home from school. Sounds great to me!
I really slacked off on waking up early this summer. I am planning to get back into my early morning groove now that school is in session, but I'm honestly having a hard time remembering how much I loved it. Here's hoping.
Showing posts with label Fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fall. Show all posts
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Thanksgiving
Last night Chris came home to two smiling children. They were bathed and in their pajamas and fresh-faced and sparkling. Those two sweet crumpets sat quietly together reading a book while I handed Chris a drink and politely told him that dinner was ready and that I just needed a minute more to finish my own book. It was bliss.
Oh wait. Nope.
Chris could hear the screaming when the garage door was still rising. Mine? Carolena's? Nils'? Who knows? All I know is that you don't speak to your viking mother like that if you don't want to see her fly into a fit of rage. I think my own mother's Brooklyn accent came out.
And yet, when Chris said something about our "rough day" I had to admit that, despite a few low-lows, it really wasn't bad. We got the house cleaned up and worked on a surprise for someone we love. We went on a first-ever-in-the-kids'-lifetime-trip through a big machine car wash which was a huge hit. We had a blast "hootin and hollarin" and as soon as we drove out Nils started chanting "again! again! bunny! bunny!" ("Bunny" is how he says "funny" which is insanely adorable, especially considering the number of things he finds "bunny!").
Last night once the children were in bed and the fireplace was lit and all was quiet and calm, I looked at Chris and marveled. This is the dream. Eleven years ago we were engaged and our families were gathering together for Thanksgiving. We were full of love and hope... hope that one day we would be right here. Right here with kids and a home full of love and laughter and yes, sometimes yelling and tears. A home full of real life. And it's wonderful. And I'm thankful.
Yes, it's messy and loud (mostly due to me and the minis). It's up and down and all around. But it's the dream we dreampt and keep dreaming. Someday we'll be really old (and tattooed) and wrinkled together. Chris will still be talking and talking and talking. Kids will be grown. I'll be... drinking coffee. And we'll continue to give thanks. We'll marvel at our old and shrunken hands and inspect one another's wrinkled brows and smile. We'll look around us then too and say, ""Look! This! It's the dream! Thank God thank God thank God!"
Oh wait. Nope.
Chris could hear the screaming when the garage door was still rising. Mine? Carolena's? Nils'? Who knows? All I know is that you don't speak to your viking mother like that if you don't want to see her fly into a fit of rage. I think my own mother's Brooklyn accent came out.
And yet, when Chris said something about our "rough day" I had to admit that, despite a few low-lows, it really wasn't bad. We got the house cleaned up and worked on a surprise for someone we love. We went on a first-ever-in-the-kids'-lifetime-trip through a big machine car wash which was a huge hit. We had a blast "hootin and hollarin" and as soon as we drove out Nils started chanting "again! again! bunny! bunny!" ("Bunny" is how he says "funny" which is insanely adorable, especially considering the number of things he finds "bunny!").
Last night once the children were in bed and the fireplace was lit and all was quiet and calm, I looked at Chris and marveled. This is the dream. Eleven years ago we were engaged and our families were gathering together for Thanksgiving. We were full of love and hope... hope that one day we would be right here. Right here with kids and a home full of love and laughter and yes, sometimes yelling and tears. A home full of real life. And it's wonderful. And I'm thankful.
Yes, it's messy and loud (mostly due to me and the minis). It's up and down and all around. But it's the dream we dreampt and keep dreaming. Someday we'll be really old (and tattooed) and wrinkled together. Chris will still be talking and talking and talking. Kids will be grown. I'll be... drinking coffee. And we'll continue to give thanks. We'll marvel at our old and shrunken hands and inspect one another's wrinkled brows and smile. We'll look around us then too and say, ""Look! This! It's the dream! Thank God thank God thank God!"
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Dance Fever
Carolena never naps.
Never.
Hardly ever.
Okay, so when Carolena naps you know something is amiss.
"Something" to the tune of "get the thermometer."
Maybe no naps is a first Svendsen girl thing?
So yesterday when both children were sleeping at 3pm I should have known. I should have known that meant my Wednesday "study day" would be gone. I should have realized that both kids would be home from school today. I should have studied. I should have cleaned the kitchen. I should have studied! I should have ironed. I should have studied!! I should have thought to use that time wisely, very wisely.
I didn't.
Or did I?
I did THIS.
Luckily I could teach the Good Samaritan, Mary/Martha, and Prodigal Son in my sleep (famous last words) and hey, there's always Friday and Saturday to review! So studying is overrated.
Hmmm... I wonder how Sunday's crowd would feel about practicing the Charleston instead...
Never.
Hardly ever.
Okay, so when Carolena naps you know something is amiss.
"Something" to the tune of "get the thermometer."
Maybe no naps is a first Svendsen girl thing?
So yesterday when both children were sleeping at 3pm I should have known. I should have known that meant my Wednesday "study day" would be gone. I should have realized that both kids would be home from school today. I should have studied. I should have cleaned the kitchen. I should have studied! I should have ironed. I should have studied!! I should have thought to use that time wisely, very wisely.
I didn't.
Or did I?
I did THIS.
Luckily I could teach the Good Samaritan, Mary/Martha, and Prodigal Son in my sleep (famous last words) and hey, there's always Friday and Saturday to review! So studying is overrated.
Hmmm... I wonder how Sunday's crowd would feel about practicing the Charleston instead...
Monday, November 16, 2015
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No.
NO.
NOO!
NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Thursday Morning Ramblings
Nils slept in until 8. That was the first clue that something was amiss.
He awoke flushed and with a low grade fever and spent the morning curled up on his napmat watching cartoons. He then threw up all over his napmat (which we are now about to learn whether or not it's washing machine safe) and is napping.
I went to bed at 7 last night with a migraine (a dull gnat-like-annoying one) that has lasted for a few days. I woke up at 7something with it still lingering. This is terribly annoying to me as I've taken my meds, but at the same time I'm very thankful that I'm up and at em and just have a dull ache and not a full-blown-unable to talk thing going on. And actually... it is starting to abate. Thank God.
Oh my gosh, Nils is sick. Poor little Nils.
And also, as I am guilty as anyone of my life revolving around me, I cannot cannot CANNOT get sick. I'm teaching as a guest speaker at a church in Houston on Sunday. My poor hands are going to start bleeding soon from being washed so much. I smell like vomit. Perhaps I should go change.
Oh, motherhood.
Thankfully Carolena is in a great mood today.
In other news: Carolena's teacher conference took place yesterday. It was so fabulous that we surprised her with a pizza and a movie dinner last night as a celebration. That kid. Her teacher had a glowing report about a kid who is thriving. It made me so proud. She spoke so highly of C's kindness to all of the kids and said the phrase "self-starter" a few times. She talked about how much Carolena loves to learn and how she is just an awesome kid. I was one proud mama. Sometimes its hard to see those things when you're the mom and thus the one getting screamed at in the midst of tantrums and insanity and getting the brunt of all of the tiredness. It was nice to hear that the teacher sees a kid who loves to learn and who is kind to all of her classmates and helpful in the classroom. It was rewarding to hear her teacher say she sees Carolena as a kid who will "rise to the occasion and thrive wherever she is." Yes, pizza party night indeed.
Umm... back to Nils. When C was his age her favorite song was "smah-smah!" and we were commanded to listened to Disney's Small World on repeat.
Nils' favorite song that he wants to hear on repeat and be sung to sleep with? "Holly! Holly!" as in... Weezer's Buddy Holly. Yep. I just tucked in a feverish little sweetheart by rocking him in my arms and cooing "ooh eee ohh I look just like Buddy Holly... uh oh and you're Mary Tyler Moore..." and when I got to the end of the lyrics I know he smiled and said "again! again!" *sigh* What a guy.
"I don't care what they say about us anyway. I don't care bout that."
He awoke flushed and with a low grade fever and spent the morning curled up on his napmat watching cartoons. He then threw up all over his napmat (which we are now about to learn whether or not it's washing machine safe) and is napping.
I went to bed at 7 last night with a migraine (a dull gnat-like-annoying one) that has lasted for a few days. I woke up at 7something with it still lingering. This is terribly annoying to me as I've taken my meds, but at the same time I'm very thankful that I'm up and at em and just have a dull ache and not a full-blown-unable to talk thing going on. And actually... it is starting to abate. Thank God.
Oh my gosh, Nils is sick. Poor little Nils.
And also, as I am guilty as anyone of my life revolving around me, I cannot cannot CANNOT get sick. I'm teaching as a guest speaker at a church in Houston on Sunday. My poor hands are going to start bleeding soon from being washed so much. I smell like vomit. Perhaps I should go change.
Oh, motherhood.
Thankfully Carolena is in a great mood today.
In other news: Carolena's teacher conference took place yesterday. It was so fabulous that we surprised her with a pizza and a movie dinner last night as a celebration. That kid. Her teacher had a glowing report about a kid who is thriving. It made me so proud. She spoke so highly of C's kindness to all of the kids and said the phrase "self-starter" a few times. She talked about how much Carolena loves to learn and how she is just an awesome kid. I was one proud mama. Sometimes its hard to see those things when you're the mom and thus the one getting screamed at in the midst of tantrums and insanity and getting the brunt of all of the tiredness. It was nice to hear that the teacher sees a kid who loves to learn and who is kind to all of her classmates and helpful in the classroom. It was rewarding to hear her teacher say she sees Carolena as a kid who will "rise to the occasion and thrive wherever she is." Yes, pizza party night indeed.
Umm... back to Nils. When C was his age her favorite song was "smah-smah!" and we were commanded to listened to Disney's Small World on repeat.
Nils' favorite song that he wants to hear on repeat and be sung to sleep with? "Holly! Holly!" as in... Weezer's Buddy Holly. Yep. I just tucked in a feverish little sweetheart by rocking him in my arms and cooing "ooh eee ohh I look just like Buddy Holly... uh oh and you're Mary Tyler Moore..." and when I got to the end of the lyrics I know he smiled and said "again! again!" *sigh* What a guy.
"I don't care what they say about us anyway. I don't care bout that."
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Man-Man
It is currently 545 am. I have been awake with a little guy named Nils for about an hour now.
Some might blame the time change. To them I say, "malarkey." I don't get all of the time change whiners. Do you go to bed and wake up at the exact same time every single day? If the answer to that is "yes" then alright, you may complain. Everyone else, get over it. If you or your children ever go to bed late/early or wake up late/early, then your arguments about the one hour difference on one night of the year are nonsensical. All of us are now dumber for having listened to you.
See, mean blogging. I just can't help it.
Instead of bitching about time change nonsense I'll tell it like it is: Nils woke up early (as per the usual) and for some insane reason instead of leaving him in his crib to quietly play (as per the usual), I let him come out and sit by me. So now I'm drinking coffee and writing and listening to Barney music and a happy little guy yell, "Man-Man!" each time he finds Spiderman in a Look & Find book. Oh, and did I mention he's dancing to Barney?
He just looked at me, smiled, yelled "Mommy!" and I got a big hug and kiss on the face.
I wonder if I'm going to have a cold now. I hope not... Perhaps more coffee will stave off the cold.
I let Nils get up ridiculously early. I probably won't do it again anytime soon, but right now, for this morning, it's pretty great.
Some might blame the time change. To them I say, "malarkey." I don't get all of the time change whiners. Do you go to bed and wake up at the exact same time every single day? If the answer to that is "yes" then alright, you may complain. Everyone else, get over it. If you or your children ever go to bed late/early or wake up late/early, then your arguments about the one hour difference on one night of the year are nonsensical. All of us are now dumber for having listened to you.
See, mean blogging. I just can't help it.
Instead of bitching about time change nonsense I'll tell it like it is: Nils woke up early (as per the usual) and for some insane reason instead of leaving him in his crib to quietly play (as per the usual), I let him come out and sit by me. So now I'm drinking coffee and writing and listening to Barney music and a happy little guy yell, "Man-Man!" each time he finds Spiderman in a Look & Find book. Oh, and did I mention he's dancing to Barney?
He just looked at me, smiled, yelled "Mommy!" and I got a big hug and kiss on the face.
I wonder if I'm going to have a cold now. I hope not... Perhaps more coffee will stave off the cold.
I let Nils get up ridiculously early. I probably won't do it again anytime soon, but right now, for this morning, it's pretty great.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Thankful
I'm having a hard time blogging. Not because I don't have a million drafts that I could post, but because they are all pretty mean. Eh, Slytherin.
So, instead, I shall be thankful.
26 things I am thankful for today:
Aardvarks because... two a's in a row. Of course.
Bees. We eat a lot of honey. Although, do you ever feel sorry for the bees? Aren't they looking around all of the time like, "I know I left that honey somewhere."
Carolena. Duh. She's something isn't she? That girl. Tonight after dinner I was cleaning the kitchen and she came skipping in and announced she wanted to help. She then dried pots and put them away and wiped the table and all that jazz. It was heavenly.
Donuts. No, that's a lie. I don't like donuts. Plus, I'm pretty sure they are the worst off all junk food. So perhaps I'm thankful for the fact that I don't like donuts. Never have. Not even as a kid. Except when I was pregnant with Nils, and then I loved them.
Eggs. Damn, our family eats a ton of eggs. We could win a contest. Hm... we should look into that.
Family. All of em. Especially Chris because he is my favorite.
Geese. Specifically the origami ones in my kitchen. It's interesting to me that I have had origami geese (okay, technically cranes) hanging in my kitchen for almost a year - one of them has a picture of Nils with an elf hat taped to it riding on the crane. And no one, not one person has ever asked about it. Evidently people just take it in stride that a photo of our son in an elf hat riding a crane/goose in the middle of our kitchen is normal for us.
Hunter. Where is that guy? I miss him. My broski. I need to call him.
Imagination. No comment. Get your own.
Jogging backwards. Sometimes we run backwards in bootcamp and I find it disturbingly fun... like the part that's disturbing is how much fun I think it is to run backwards.
Kelly. Red rover red rover let Kelly come over. And we'll go to the mall and find some new boots for me. Preferably with a tag that says, "narrow calf" because evidently that's a problem.
Learning. I love to learn. And I love learning whatever I am interested in at that moment. Thanks to nonfiction writers and access to google I feel like the whole world is at my fingertips.
Megan. Have I mentioned her? She's one of my bestest. I miss her too. Turns out her taking a summer-long vacation across the country and then having a newborn cuts down on the amount of time I get to spend talking her face off.
Nils. Man, oh man, I love that little guy. He is talking more and more everyday. He's reached the point where he seems to pick up new words and phrases everyday. He loves to chase the cats (poor cats) and say "come on, come on" while gesturing to me. He loves trucks and Ninja Turtles and Batman. And trains. And trucks. Did I mention trains? Or trucks?
Oranges. And they smell like Christmas too.
Pickles. Ever since I was pregnant with Nils and started eating entire jars of pickles I've drank pickle juice. Still. Not frequently. But enough. Weird.
Quiet. Oh, need I say more?
Reese's cake. Carolena and I made this cake for Chris' birthday and it was awesome. And also kind of disgusting in its too-muchness. Ugh. It was awesome. And horrible. Make it. Love it. Throw away what's left. Don't keep leftovers of this bad boy.
Scented pinecones. While we're on the topic of Chris' birthday. Oh my gosh! The kids made him scented pinecones and it was a fabulous treat! They went on a nature walk to collect them and c had fun making them while Nils was napping. We're doing that again for sure. And now that we've done it once and they turned out great I think I'll let Nils participate in the scenting part as well. Mmmm gooooddd smeellllsss.
Tent camping. As in, when the hell are we going to get to go camping again?!
Umbrellas. How could you not be thankful for umbrellas?! And underwear. And unicorns.
Voles. Seriously. They're cute.
Weight lifting. I might have an addiction to BodyPump.
Xylophones. Obviously it was between xylophones and x-rays and I've thankfully had more experience with the former than the latter. I went to private school so that's what music looked like. Xylophones, ukuleles, andharpsichords (pardon me, Kelly has informed me it was not a "lap harpsichord" but an "autoharp" details details). Of course.
You. It's nice to have someone read my blog. Thanks Mom.
Zoo. Because, #1 the zoo. And #2 are there other words that start with z? Kidding. I'm just really ready for another zoo trip. We haven't been since the summer. Hm... what's on our to-do list for tomorrow? Maybe I could make it happen.
For all of these things and more, I give thanks.
So, instead, I shall be thankful.
26 things I am thankful for today:
Aardvarks because... two a's in a row. Of course.
Bees. We eat a lot of honey. Although, do you ever feel sorry for the bees? Aren't they looking around all of the time like, "I know I left that honey somewhere."
Carolena. Duh. She's something isn't she? That girl. Tonight after dinner I was cleaning the kitchen and she came skipping in and announced she wanted to help. She then dried pots and put them away and wiped the table and all that jazz. It was heavenly.
Donuts. No, that's a lie. I don't like donuts. Plus, I'm pretty sure they are the worst off all junk food. So perhaps I'm thankful for the fact that I don't like donuts. Never have. Not even as a kid. Except when I was pregnant with Nils, and then I loved them.
Eggs. Damn, our family eats a ton of eggs. We could win a contest. Hm... we should look into that.
Family. All of em. Especially Chris because he is my favorite.
Geese. Specifically the origami ones in my kitchen. It's interesting to me that I have had origami geese (okay, technically cranes) hanging in my kitchen for almost a year - one of them has a picture of Nils with an elf hat taped to it riding on the crane. And no one, not one person has ever asked about it. Evidently people just take it in stride that a photo of our son in an elf hat riding a crane/goose in the middle of our kitchen is normal for us.
Hunter. Where is that guy? I miss him. My broski. I need to call him.
Imagination. No comment. Get your own.
Jogging backwards. Sometimes we run backwards in bootcamp and I find it disturbingly fun... like the part that's disturbing is how much fun I think it is to run backwards.
Kelly. Red rover red rover let Kelly come over. And we'll go to the mall and find some new boots for me. Preferably with a tag that says, "narrow calf" because evidently that's a problem.
Learning. I love to learn. And I love learning whatever I am interested in at that moment. Thanks to nonfiction writers and access to google I feel like the whole world is at my fingertips.
Megan. Have I mentioned her? She's one of my bestest. I miss her too. Turns out her taking a summer-long vacation across the country and then having a newborn cuts down on the amount of time I get to spend talking her face off.
Nils. Man, oh man, I love that little guy. He is talking more and more everyday. He's reached the point where he seems to pick up new words and phrases everyday. He loves to chase the cats (poor cats) and say "come on, come on" while gesturing to me. He loves trucks and Ninja Turtles and Batman. And trains. And trucks. Did I mention trains? Or trucks?
Oranges. And they smell like Christmas too.
Pickles. Ever since I was pregnant with Nils and started eating entire jars of pickles I've drank pickle juice. Still. Not frequently. But enough. Weird.
Quiet. Oh, need I say more?
Reese's cake. Carolena and I made this cake for Chris' birthday and it was awesome. And also kind of disgusting in its too-muchness. Ugh. It was awesome. And horrible. Make it. Love it. Throw away what's left. Don't keep leftovers of this bad boy.
Scented pinecones. While we're on the topic of Chris' birthday. Oh my gosh! The kids made him scented pinecones and it was a fabulous treat! They went on a nature walk to collect them and c had fun making them while Nils was napping. We're doing that again for sure. And now that we've done it once and they turned out great I think I'll let Nils participate in the scenting part as well. Mmmm gooooddd smeellllsss.
Tent camping. As in, when the hell are we going to get to go camping again?!
Umbrellas. How could you not be thankful for umbrellas?! And underwear. And unicorns.
Voles. Seriously. They're cute.
Weight lifting. I might have an addiction to BodyPump.
Xylophones. Obviously it was between xylophones and x-rays and I've thankfully had more experience with the former than the latter. I went to private school so that's what music looked like. Xylophones, ukuleles, and
You. It's nice to have someone read my blog. Thanks Mom.
Zoo. Because, #1 the zoo. And #2 are there other words that start with z? Kidding. I'm just really ready for another zoo trip. We haven't been since the summer. Hm... what's on our to-do list for tomorrow? Maybe I could make it happen.
For all of these things and more, I give thanks.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Nailed It
The proofs for the kids' school pictures came home and they were really cute.
Adorable.
Fabulous.
And so I promptly whipped out the checkbook, filled out the forms, and forgot about it.
Except that I couldn't "fuhgeddaboudit."
Because it was a freaking lot of money. For pictures.
So we hemmed and hawed and decided that really we live in the digital age for Pete's sake. We probably don't need to spend a bunch of money on photos in a time when, as I so elequently put it, "I could grab our camera and just take some great pictures in the backyard." So we tore up the check and then I cut up the form using the proofs for a top secret project. The next morning the kids and I had breakfast on the deck. I grabbed the camera to start "saving money in the digital age."
I think it went pretty well...
Feel free to hire me for all of your photography needs. I am available for weddings, graduations, birthdays, and bar mitzvahs.
Adorable.
Fabulous.
And so I promptly whipped out the checkbook, filled out the forms, and forgot about it.
Except that I couldn't "fuhgeddaboudit."
Because it was a freaking lot of money. For pictures.
So we hemmed and hawed and decided that really we live in the digital age for Pete's sake. We probably don't need to spend a bunch of money on photos in a time when, as I so elequently put it, "I could grab our camera and just take some great pictures in the backyard." So we tore up the check and then I cut up the form using the proofs for a top secret project. The next morning the kids and I had breakfast on the deck. I grabbed the camera to start "saving money in the digital age."
I think it went pretty well...
Feel free to hire me for all of your photography needs. I am available for weddings, graduations, birthdays, and bar mitzvahs.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Classic Casey
"I attended a monster truck rally once," I announced at dinner tonight. "Yep, my little brother reallllly wanted to go, so my dad took me and Hunter. I thought it was cool for about five minutes and then ended up miserable and throwing up in a trashcan."
Classic.
"I'm having a Halloween party tomorrow," I said to Kelly on Friday. "I don't have a costume. The problem is this: I told everyone I would wear a costume, I refuse to buy anything, I have an insanely limited wardrobe, annndd it can't be too terribly weird because I invited a few people I don't know."
"Don't you have some diaper boxes?" she replied. "Robot?!"
Duh. She's a genius.
And then I spent the rest of the afternoon creating the most normal costume ever if you are having a party and invited people you don't know.
Classic.
I fell asleep in Carolena's bed tonight while mid-sentence telling a bedtime story about how my dad used to fall asleep in my bed tucking me in. I over-committed myself to bringing baked goods to school this semester and have already gotten my reminder email about the next thing. Halloween decor came down today because we're done with that and onto getting excited about thankfulness. Who has any more time to spend on "creepy" and "candy"? Boooorrring. But the bat tree is staying. I love that thing. It's 8pm and my 7-730pm nap just didn't do the trick so I'm ready to hit the hay.
Classic.
See ya in St. Looey, suckers.
Damn. I haven't finished our St. Louis vacation scrapbook yet. From May.
Classic.
Classic.
"I'm having a Halloween party tomorrow," I said to Kelly on Friday. "I don't have a costume. The problem is this: I told everyone I would wear a costume, I refuse to buy anything, I have an insanely limited wardrobe, annndd it can't be too terribly weird because I invited a few people I don't know."
"Don't you have some diaper boxes?" she replied. "Robot?!"
Duh. She's a genius.
And then I spent the rest of the afternoon creating the most normal costume ever if you are having a party and invited people you don't know.
Classic.
I fell asleep in Carolena's bed tonight while mid-sentence telling a bedtime story about how my dad used to fall asleep in my bed tucking me in. I over-committed myself to bringing baked goods to school this semester and have already gotten my reminder email about the next thing. Halloween decor came down today because we're done with that and onto getting excited about thankfulness. Who has any more time to spend on "creepy" and "candy"? Boooorrring. But the bat tree is staying. I love that thing. It's 8pm and my 7-730pm nap just didn't do the trick so I'm ready to hit the hay.
Classic.
See ya in St. Looey, suckers.
Damn. I haven't finished our St. Louis vacation scrapbook yet. From May.
Classic.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Parading
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and Other Assorted Things
I found Nils wearing one of Carolena's hats. I thought he looked so cute that I snapped a picture. I have tried like 800 times to upload the photos here, and it just isn't happening. The computer goes haywire (haywire? who says that?!) every damn time. Perhaps it is a message from Future Nils who has some kind of 2030 computer device that is blocking my ability to upload them. Considering the story behind the photos is that I found him wearing a big pink straw hat and took a picture and he insisted that I take about twenty-seven more, yeah, I would say Future Nils is happy they aren't getting posted. He heard the "click" of the camera, turned, posed and said, "Again! Cheeeese!" so I took another one and then smiled and got up to walk away.
And he screamed, "Again! Again! Cheeeeeese!!!"
So I laughed, he struck a pose, I took another photo, and got up to walk away.
And he screamed, "Again! Cheeeese!!!"
This went on for quite sometime eventually ending in a tantrum and fifty million photos of Nils in various pageant poses. And I do mean pageant poses.
What are they teaching this kid at school?
Aw, speaking of Nils at school... poor Nils pet an asp yesterday at school. Does that just break your heart or what? That sweet little guy. He saw one of those fuzzy little devils walking by and reached out his pointer finger to pet it. That just breaks my heart in both that my poor Nils was hurt and in its sad innocent cuteness. Evidently in addition to the pain of an asp, his feelings were pretty hurt as well. He told Carolena and me all about it when we picked him up that afternoon. Oh, sweet Nils.
If you've never been stung by an asp before, then chances are you are reading this from somewhere north of the land of anoles, asps, and humid Halloweens. Asps are venomous caterpillars. Yes, really. And you only purposely touch one of those dudes once. They're like crazy mini-porcupines (Casey science, not real science) who have quills instead of fuzz (Casey science) so when you touch them the venomous fuzz gets stuck in your skin and someone has to get it out (real science). Yikes!
Yeah, Future Nils is definitely using some sort of fancy technology to ensure Present Day Casey can't post embarrassing photos. Look, that cute pumpkin one uploaded in a cinch.
Blog updates:
Reading: I finished Into the Wild (which turned out to be almost too fast of a read) and started The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin which is going to be fabulous. The prologue was so good that I read the whole thing aloud to Chris. I then settled in to start reading chapter one and promptly fell asleep (it was 920... waaay past my bedtime).
Caffeine: I remembered the big container of 1/2 caff and this morning drank plenty of coffee but far less caffeine... so that's good... except that I had four scoops and now I'm about to get up and go make some REAL coffee. Hmph. That didn't work.
Also, I've been thinking about how I have memories of my grandfather Clyde's (aka "Pop") coffee mug burned into my brain. The fact that all of my memories of Pop involve him with a brown coffee mug (which I wish I now owned) with the dredges of a cup of coffee in it, combined with my father's, sister's, and brother's, and my coffee... ummm shall we say "habits" (aka horrible life controlling addiction) is making me think there is something coffee related in the gene pool. Perhaps that's where the Rush name came from in the first place? I'm beginning to think someone overly caffeinated just got dubbed "Rush" somewhere back in our family history when humans were doling out last names.
*Also, for those of you who think I'm just obsessing... you've just forgotten that I looovvvee coffee and my neurologist doesn't think unlimited pots is a good thing. So there is a legitimate medical reason for the obsession. Otherwise I would cease to drink water unless it had dripped through beans. And also I like to obsess about things. That's also in the gene pool *cough*jimmers*cough* AND also it's my blog so I do what I want. Start your own blog and talk about boring non-coffee related things.
Hey, speaking of obsession and non-coffee related things, anyone want to talk about polar exploration?!
Tarantula holes in the front yard count: numerous.
Number of tarantulas I'm excited to have living around our yard: all of them. That's one fuzzy bug! Those suckers eat roaches, y'all. Bring on the arachnids!
After asps and tarantulas who else is going to spend the rest of the day saying over and over, "that is one fuzzy bug!"? Well, if you clicked on that then you are now...
And he screamed, "Again! Again! Cheeeeeese!!!"
So I laughed, he struck a pose, I took another photo, and got up to walk away.
And he screamed, "Again! Cheeeese!!!"
This went on for quite sometime eventually ending in a tantrum and fifty million photos of Nils in various pageant poses. And I do mean pageant poses.
What are they teaching this kid at school?
Aw, speaking of Nils at school... poor Nils pet an asp yesterday at school. Does that just break your heart or what? That sweet little guy. He saw one of those fuzzy little devils walking by and reached out his pointer finger to pet it. That just breaks my heart in both that my poor Nils was hurt and in its sad innocent cuteness. Evidently in addition to the pain of an asp, his feelings were pretty hurt as well. He told Carolena and me all about it when we picked him up that afternoon. Oh, sweet Nils.
If you've never been stung by an asp before, then chances are you are reading this from somewhere north of the land of anoles, asps, and humid Halloweens. Asps are venomous caterpillars. Yes, really. And you only purposely touch one of those dudes once. They're like crazy mini-porcupines (Casey science, not real science) who have quills instead of fuzz (Casey science) so when you touch them the venomous fuzz gets stuck in your skin and someone has to get it out (real science). Yikes!
Yeah, Future Nils is definitely using some sort of fancy technology to ensure Present Day Casey can't post embarrassing photos. Look, that cute pumpkin one uploaded in a cinch.
Blog updates:
Reading: I finished Into the Wild (which turned out to be almost too fast of a read) and started The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin which is going to be fabulous. The prologue was so good that I read the whole thing aloud to Chris. I then settled in to start reading chapter one and promptly fell asleep (it was 920... waaay past my bedtime).
Caffeine: I remembered the big container of 1/2 caff and this morning drank plenty of coffee but far less caffeine... so that's good... except that I had four scoops and now I'm about to get up and go make some REAL coffee. Hmph. That didn't work.
Also, I've been thinking about how I have memories of my grandfather Clyde's (aka "Pop") coffee mug burned into my brain. The fact that all of my memories of Pop involve him with a brown coffee mug (which I wish I now owned) with the dredges of a cup of coffee in it, combined with my father's, sister's, and brother's, and my coffee... ummm shall we say "habits" (aka horrible life controlling addiction) is making me think there is something coffee related in the gene pool. Perhaps that's where the Rush name came from in the first place? I'm beginning to think someone overly caffeinated just got dubbed "Rush" somewhere back in our family history when humans were doling out last names.
*Also, for those of you who think I'm just obsessing... you've just forgotten that I looovvvee coffee and my neurologist doesn't think unlimited pots is a good thing. So there is a legitimate medical reason for the obsession. Otherwise I would cease to drink water unless it had dripped through beans. And also I like to obsess about things. That's also in the gene pool *cough*jimmers*cough* AND also it's my blog so I do what I want. Start your own blog and talk about boring non-coffee related things.
Hey, speaking of obsession and non-coffee related things, anyone want to talk about polar exploration?!
Tarantula holes in the front yard count: numerous.
Number of tarantulas I'm excited to have living around our yard: all of them. That's one fuzzy bug! Those suckers eat roaches, y'all. Bring on the arachnids!
After asps and tarantulas who else is going to spend the rest of the day saying over and over, "that is one fuzzy bug!"? Well, if you clicked on that then you are now...
Friday, October 23, 2015
I'm Being Swallowed By a Boa Constrictor...
Oh no, oh no, he swallowed my toe! He swallowed my toe!
With two little ones under the age of five and a second (very loveable but sometimes somewhat demanding) spouse named "the Church," life involves a lot of squeezing right now. Squeezing in the things that have to happen like laundry and dinner and vestry meetings and working to fill them with love as best we can rather than stress. My little helper monkeys folding laundry help to fill that task with love (and wrinkles) and the combination of working ahead, a freezer, and a crock pot sure does fill our dinners with less stress and more love. And pizza and a movie as the standing vestry night activity around here will forever be what my children think "vestry" means. Someday they'll be active adults in a parish, run for vestry, and be disappointed to discover that the meeting doesn't mean hitting up the redbox (or future equivalent), tossing on pajamas, and spreading "the pizza blanket" across the living room.
I don't have time for squeezing in Facebook or watching tv or movies. But I do have time for crafting with my kids. And baking a freezer full of baked goods for the school fall fair. And squeezing in the library, and decorating for Halloween (it's an on-going creative process around here), and more baking for the school fair. I've squeezed in time forreading for fun falling asleep snuggled with my book (Into the Wild at the moment) and am exactly one week ahead in my work on the Gospel of Mark... which isn't as good as it sounds because I really need to squeeze in the end of that and get to work on Luke! Yikes!
We've squeezed in ballet lessons, and pumpkin patches, and plenty of spontaneous family dance parties... most of which are initiated by Nils hearing a song he likes on Pandora and yelling "come on! come on!" dancing around the den. He loves my "Proud Mary" station. We're also squeezing in more than enough time for preschool humor knock-knock jokes. Nils loves those as well and has already added his own to the mix... spoiler alert: boy humor evidently begins before the age of two. You don't want to answer the door if he says "knock knock!"
I'm squeezing in my early morning workouts. We're squeezing in special family time being sure to mark it off in advance on the calendar... because we're taking the wisdom of older, wiser clergy families and refusing to let our family get squeezed out. And in the midst of all of the squeezing we find rejoicing and prayer and thanksgiving. Constant thanksgiving.
I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor... but I'm a Syltherin so it's just fine. We're doing alright. We'll just toss the boa a party hat and invite it to the next Proud Mary living room dance party.
With two little ones under the age of five and a second (very loveable but sometimes somewhat demanding) spouse named "the Church," life involves a lot of squeezing right now. Squeezing in the things that have to happen like laundry and dinner and vestry meetings and working to fill them with love as best we can rather than stress. My little helper monkeys folding laundry help to fill that task with love (and wrinkles) and the combination of working ahead, a freezer, and a crock pot sure does fill our dinners with less stress and more love. And pizza and a movie as the standing vestry night activity around here will forever be what my children think "vestry" means. Someday they'll be active adults in a parish, run for vestry, and be disappointed to discover that the meeting doesn't mean hitting up the redbox (or future equivalent), tossing on pajamas, and spreading "the pizza blanket" across the living room.
I don't have time for squeezing in Facebook or watching tv or movies. But I do have time for crafting with my kids. And baking a freezer full of baked goods for the school fall fair. And squeezing in the library, and decorating for Halloween (it's an on-going creative process around here), and more baking for the school fair. I've squeezed in time for
We've squeezed in ballet lessons, and pumpkin patches, and plenty of spontaneous family dance parties... most of which are initiated by Nils hearing a song he likes on Pandora and yelling "come on! come on!" dancing around the den. He loves my "Proud Mary" station. We're also squeezing in more than enough time for preschool humor knock-knock jokes. Nils loves those as well and has already added his own to the mix... spoiler alert: boy humor evidently begins before the age of two. You don't want to answer the door if he says "knock knock!"
I'm squeezing in my early morning workouts. We're squeezing in special family time being sure to mark it off in advance on the calendar... because we're taking the wisdom of older, wiser clergy families and refusing to let our family get squeezed out. And in the midst of all of the squeezing we find rejoicing and prayer and thanksgiving. Constant thanksgiving.
I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor... but I'm a Syltherin so it's just fine. We're doing alright. We'll just toss the boa a party hat and invite it to the next Proud Mary living room dance party.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Clergy Spouse Confessions: Spousal Support
Every year I know that the fall is going to be busy. And yet every freaking year I do nothing to prepare for it. It's like I see the hurricane icon swirling on the map and all of the little lines projecting pathways only to my house, and then I'm like, "oh hell let's just see what happens." Maybe some year I'll think to fill up some water bottles and purchase some batteries, but alas, once again, we're swirling around in the hurricane winds wondering where some damn dry matches might be.
Every clergy spouse reading this right now is nodding.
The fall is just BUSY. Busy might be an understatement though. Busy as in, sometimes the person who makes up the clergy portion of the clergy family works everyday kind of busy. I don't mean to lesson the busy-ness of others. And actually, *helllooo hypocrisy* I hate when people talk about how busy they are. I'm lucky enough to have a spouse that isn't a work-a-holic. But busy is just how it is.
I'm not the kind of spouse that is "anti" everything. I'm actually totally into it. I love the Episcopal Church. I'm the one who raises her hand when asked on the spouse retreat, "who's kind of into the whole church thing?" as opposed to raising it for "who wants to just sleep in on Sundays?" So that means that I'm teaching Adult Christian Education every week and leading Children's Chapel here and there along with all of the other things that pop up. Plus I can't stop signing up for things for the fall. What the hell is wrong with me?!
But I'm actually not complaining right now. I kind of like the franticness. Is that sick? I love fall in the clergy family. It's crazy and insane and busy and ministry ministry ministry. And it's an exhausting blur of signups and smiles and love and feeling too tired to function and scheduling days on our calendar that say "family day! nothing else!"
I just need to remember to be better prepared for it. I thought about it this year. In August I filled the freezer with frozen meals and crockpot dinners and muffins. And then I was so proud and excited to be ready for September and October that we ate them all.
And by that I mean we ate them all before life got too busy to deal with dinner.
Crap.
Luckily we (the kids and I) don't have anything that we have to do tomorrow. So Halloween crafting and cooking to refill the freezer are on the agenda. Except just the former and not the latter because I really can't handle going to the grocery store for a third time this week. It is only Monday night after all. And returning library books... we've got to do that for sure. And hopefully go get flu shots. Because dear Lord we do NOT have time for the flu around here.
A few months ago (like last spring) I was thinking about contacting other minister's wives of all denominations in Katy and starting some sort of group. Then I blew it off because, eh. Reasons. Excuses. Life. The usual. Anyway - I guess the Holy Spirit started the group anyway because randomly THREE of us all exercise together at 515 in the morning three times a week. Weird, huh? A methodist minister's wife, an episcopal priest's wife, and a nondenominational pastor's wife all walk into bootcamp... sounds like the start of a lame joke to me.
Thanks to the 515 meeting of my clergy spouse support group I know that I am not the only one who didn't put together the hurricane preparedness kit this year. Whew. Next year... next year...
Every clergy spouse reading this right now is nodding.
The fall is just BUSY. Busy might be an understatement though. Busy as in, sometimes the person who makes up the clergy portion of the clergy family works everyday kind of busy. I don't mean to lesson the busy-ness of others. And actually, *helllooo hypocrisy* I hate when people talk about how busy they are. I'm lucky enough to have a spouse that isn't a work-a-holic. But busy is just how it is.
I'm not the kind of spouse that is "anti" everything. I'm actually totally into it. I love the Episcopal Church. I'm the one who raises her hand when asked on the spouse retreat, "who's kind of into the whole church thing?" as opposed to raising it for "who wants to just sleep in on Sundays?" So that means that I'm teaching Adult Christian Education every week and leading Children's Chapel here and there along with all of the other things that pop up. Plus I can't stop signing up for things for the fall. What the hell is wrong with me?!
But I'm actually not complaining right now. I kind of like the franticness. Is that sick? I love fall in the clergy family. It's crazy and insane and busy and ministry ministry ministry. And it's an exhausting blur of signups and smiles and love and feeling too tired to function and scheduling days on our calendar that say "family day! nothing else!"
I just need to remember to be better prepared for it. I thought about it this year. In August I filled the freezer with frozen meals and crockpot dinners and muffins. And then I was so proud and excited to be ready for September and October that we ate them all.
And by that I mean we ate them all before life got too busy to deal with dinner.
Crap.
Luckily we (the kids and I) don't have anything that we have to do tomorrow. So Halloween crafting and cooking to refill the freezer are on the agenda. Except just the former and not the latter because I really can't handle going to the grocery store for a third time this week. It is only Monday night after all. And returning library books... we've got to do that for sure. And hopefully go get flu shots. Because dear Lord we do NOT have time for the flu around here.
A few months ago (like last spring) I was thinking about contacting other minister's wives of all denominations in Katy and starting some sort of group. Then I blew it off because, eh. Reasons. Excuses. Life. The usual. Anyway - I guess the Holy Spirit started the group anyway because randomly THREE of us all exercise together at 515 in the morning three times a week. Weird, huh? A methodist minister's wife, an episcopal priest's wife, and a nondenominational pastor's wife all walk into bootcamp... sounds like the start of a lame joke to me.
Thanks to the 515 meeting of my clergy spouse support group I know that I am not the only one who didn't put together the hurricane preparedness kit this year. Whew. Next year... next year...
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
In Other News
In other news... flowing water on Mars. That's cool.
In other news... we went to Goodwill this morning and bought a ton of kids' books. Sometimes the answers to lots of meltdowns and "growing pains" is just to get out of the house. Goodwill is a great get out of the house location for us. Kids can have a certain degree of freedom and check out toys. I usually purchase a ton of books for us to come home and read read read.
In other news... we then went on an expedition through the aisles of Kroger and somehow came out with frozen nuggets and fries. We had them with apples and pretended like we were at McDonalds for lunch... because evidently that's who we are: people who pretend to go to McDonalds for lunch. We also like to put Memphis Soul on Pandora and pretend like we're "in a fancy hotel" so perhaps those two imaginary situations can cancel one another out.
In other news... speaking of sanity and it's constant wavering... I'm one of the mothers planning c's school Halloween party. I got the ball rolling on the plans this morning with an email to the other moms. I usually like to be in charge to try to keep things sane (as much as I can) rather than having another mom email out something like, "lets all spend $100 each and get a clown!" All this is to say, I'm trying to judge how long I need to wait before telling them that I really really really want to dress in a costume and come read a book. I only know one of these people. Soooo... yeahhhh. There is no way to get across to them what I want to do without them thinking I'm nutso. Which I kind of am... so... fair enough. Fair enough. I feel like it would be awesome to slip away during the party and then have Miss Viola Swamp come in and she could read Miss Nelson is Missing (or something like that - maybe a Halloween character to read a Halloween book? I haven't thought this through yet). I'm seeing these people tomorrow. Perhaps somethings are best said in person and not through email.
In other news... speaking of Pandora... do you know that Carolena calls "New Orleans Jazz" "Old Man Jazz" because she forgets what it's called and replaces what I'm saying when I say New Orleans? Ha. I love it. She requests "Old Man Jazz" often and I love that too.
In other news... Nils has a huge crush on one of Carolena's friends (or whatever the 20 month old equivalent of a crush is) and it might be the cutest thing that has ever happened ever anywhere. Ask him anything, anything at all, and he'll answer "no" shaking his little head and humming "uh-uh." He could be drinking milk and wearing a shirt and at home. You can ask, "Nils, are you drinking milk?" Nope. "Are you at home?" Uh-uh. "Are you wearing a shirt?" Nadda. "Nils... do you like Gigi?" And then there is a lot of nodding and giggling and twinkling of eyes and babbling about Gigi. It will be weird when he's sixteen, but man, it's adorable now.
In other news... we went to Goodwill this morning and bought a ton of kids' books. Sometimes the answers to lots of meltdowns and "growing pains" is just to get out of the house. Goodwill is a great get out of the house location for us. Kids can have a certain degree of freedom and check out toys. I usually purchase a ton of books for us to come home and read read read.
In other news... we then went on an expedition through the aisles of Kroger and somehow came out with frozen nuggets and fries. We had them with apples and pretended like we were at McDonalds for lunch... because evidently that's who we are: people who pretend to go to McDonalds for lunch. We also like to put Memphis Soul on Pandora and pretend like we're "in a fancy hotel" so perhaps those two imaginary situations can cancel one another out.
In other news... speaking of sanity and it's constant wavering... I'm one of the mothers planning c's school Halloween party. I got the ball rolling on the plans this morning with an email to the other moms. I usually like to be in charge to try to keep things sane (as much as I can) rather than having another mom email out something like, "lets all spend $100 each and get a clown!" All this is to say, I'm trying to judge how long I need to wait before telling them that I really really really want to dress in a costume and come read a book. I only know one of these people. Soooo... yeahhhh. There is no way to get across to them what I want to do without them thinking I'm nutso. Which I kind of am... so... fair enough. Fair enough. I feel like it would be awesome to slip away during the party and then have Miss Viola Swamp come in and she could read Miss Nelson is Missing (or something like that - maybe a Halloween character to read a Halloween book? I haven't thought this through yet). I'm seeing these people tomorrow. Perhaps somethings are best said in person and not through email.
In other news... speaking of Pandora... do you know that Carolena calls "New Orleans Jazz" "Old Man Jazz" because she forgets what it's called and replaces what I'm saying when I say New Orleans? Ha. I love it. She requests "Old Man Jazz" often and I love that too.
In other news... Nils has a huge crush on one of Carolena's friends (or whatever the 20 month old equivalent of a crush is) and it might be the cutest thing that has ever happened ever anywhere. Ask him anything, anything at all, and he'll answer "no" shaking his little head and humming "uh-uh." He could be drinking milk and wearing a shirt and at home. You can ask, "Nils, are you drinking milk?" Nope. "Are you at home?" Uh-uh. "Are you wearing a shirt?" Nadda. "Nils... do you like Gigi?" And then there is a lot of nodding and giggling and twinkling of eyes and babbling about Gigi. It will be weird when he's sixteen, but man, it's adorable now.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
The Perfect Weekend
Every once in a while my perfect weekend is the kind when I can say to people "nothing!" when asked "what did you do this weekend?"
On Friday kids stayed in pajamas until noon. It rained and rained and rained all day. A butterfly emerged. I made a Fall wreath. Carolena and Nils got crafty at the kitchen table. We spent hours with library books. Bliss.
On Saturday we awoke to a cool breeze (we wake up early) and promptly loaded up the stroller for a walk to see if our new playground was open yet. It was! We may be the first to have used it. Carolena collected Fall specimens on the walk back to make not one but three wreaths of her own upon our return home. Football was on tv all day (and yes, "football" is one of Nils' words). I had fun making a bunch of fruit kabobs for our party at church today. Chris snoozed on the couch. I read and read and read. Nils' "night night" is finally embroidered with his name for school. Fall scented candles. Black beans and rice for dinner. Bliss.
Our church picnic is today. I use the term "picnic" loosely here as it is more of a fair this year with bounce house, kids' games, lots of food, chaos. I'm bringing two kids... and drinking coffee. Lots. It should be fun!
On Friday kids stayed in pajamas until noon. It rained and rained and rained all day. A butterfly emerged. I made a Fall wreath. Carolena and Nils got crafty at the kitchen table. We spent hours with library books. Bliss.
On Saturday we awoke to a cool breeze (we wake up early) and promptly loaded up the stroller for a walk to see if our new playground was open yet. It was! We may be the first to have used it. Carolena collected Fall specimens on the walk back to make not one but three wreaths of her own upon our return home. Football was on tv all day (and yes, "football" is one of Nils' words). I had fun making a bunch of fruit kabobs for our party at church today. Chris snoozed on the couch. I read and read and read. Nils' "night night" is finally embroidered with his name for school. Fall scented candles. Black beans and rice for dinner. Bliss.
Our church picnic is today. I use the term "picnic" loosely here as it is more of a fair this year with bounce house, kids' games, lots of food, chaos. I'm bringing two kids... and drinking coffee. Lots. It should be fun!
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