Monday, February 27, 2017

Happy Birthday to me!

I had a fun and wonderful celebration of my birthday over the weekend.  It started with me getting to pick the Friday night movie.  I picked "Return to Me," which is a heart-wrenching, sweet, funny love story about a man whose first wife died in an accident, falling in love with the woman who had received his wife's heart.  The new girlfriend's grandpa and his old cronie friends bring comic relief to the movie, and another married friend with 5 children brings friendship perspective, healthy married love, and a fair bit of swearing to the movie.  It brought up some great topics for conversation.

Then on Saturday my beloved took me out for dinner while all of our children were otherwise occupied away from the house.  A wonderful date!

And on Sunday our college girl came home for the afternoon to celebrate with me!  My hubby spend the entire afternoon cooking a fabulous birthday dinner, and then we all went to the cheap theater to see the animated movie, "Sing," which we thoroughly enjoyed.



I broke my sugar fast for a small piece of cake and one scoop of ice cream.  Back to it today!




Senior discounts, here I come!!! :)



Friday, February 24, 2017

It's the Little Things.....

I got this plate on sale at JoAnn's for $2.50.  It has become my "sugar fast" plate, and I use it every day at breakfast and lunch.  It is a little bit of happy!




Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Wordless Wednesday



Okay, almost wordless!  Haha.  Hubby and I took Little Man out a couple weeks ago.  We saw a movie, went to dinner, and even indulged in this delicious dessert, split three ways.  It was a very fun evening!



Tuesday, February 21, 2017

New Year's Puzzle

Every year between Christmas and New Year we begin working on a new puzzle.





This year's version?   A puzzle of National Park signs!  We picked it up last summer while on our vacation to Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore.  It was actually pretty challenging!



A few others worked on it here and there, but all the men in the family did the bulk of the puzzle.



Great job, guys!

Monday, February 20, 2017

Long Overdue Update

Well, I have terribly and sadly neglected my blog.  So much to say.  So little time.  So few good words.  This school year is actually going quite well for us at home.  But in some ways it is just plain hard.  I am a glass half full kind of girl, so I try to focus on the positives, which makes it difficult for me to adequately articulate the negatives without feeling like I'm being whiny.

We have two seniors this year.  One is graduating from our home school, one from a public charter school.  One is graduating with honors.  One is not.  One is headed to college right away.  One is probably not.  These two children get along very well, which is so great and I am thankful for that.  But there is often a lot of tension surrounding all the senior year stuff with the one who is perhaps not yet college ready.  I feel it beneath the surface all the time, waiting to gush unexpectedly like a geyser at Yellowstone.   Every morning I wonder what kind of a day it will be....a geyser gushing day?  Or a geyser quiet day?

You may have already guessed that one of our seniors is daughter H.  Her senior year stuff is layered on top of the already emotionally charged relationship that she and I have.  I live in constant comparison to her bio mom, my motives, words, tone and facial expressions weighed and judged.  No conversation is easy.  Her perceptions continue to skew all that I say so that what she hears and what I mean are almost never the same thing.  It is exhausting.  For both of us!

But we keep trying.  We keep going.  We wake up every morning and start again.  And every day God gives grace and strength and wisdom.

Here are a few highlights of the past two months:

Little Man turned TWELVE!  I asked him if he wanted a different nickname than "Little Man," and he said no!  He told me that when he is a grown man he will still want me to call him Little Man.  Ha!



For his party he and four friends went to see Rogue One.  We have it made for his December birthday, as I believe a new movie in the Star Wars franchise is scheduled for release every December for the next few years!



New Year's Eve at our house with the relatives.


And even though these pictures are always blurry every year, I can't help posting them.  Our annual "Just Dance" party is such a hoot!



Last month my wonderful husband and I got to celebrate 25 years of married bliss together!  I feel so blessed to have reached this milestone, and to have reached it with HIM.  He is such a perfect match for me, and makes my life so much richer, deeper, and more fun.  He surprised me with a night out at the Symphony Orchestra (which I LOVE).  Here is a little story that shows how sweet and tender hearted he is.  The week before our anniversary I found him one evening wiping tears from his eyes. When I asked him why, he said he felt so bad he couldn't take me on a fabulous trip for this milestone anniversary, that it wouldn't be a "big" celebration.  I told him that reaching 25 was it's own reward. :) How I love that man!


In other news:

The indoor soccer schedule is kicking my behind.  Mostly 7:00 a.m. games on Saturday morning!  But son C gets up at 6:15 with no problem, eager to go play.

Hubby's job is going well.  He loves the work, the location, the people (though he is slow to know very many well).

I got one of these for Christmas and I love it!  Made the most delicious pork loin for dinner tonight.

Son G is still working at a fast food restaurant, slowly but steadily saving up for a car.  We opened a checking account for him so he is learning the joys and responsibilities of using a debit card.

It is rather fun and sometimes awe inspiring to be the mother of several young men.  I have tall, handsome boys!  They attract girls.  They are handling this well.  Sometimes when I drop them off places and watch them walk away from the car, I marvel that these tall good looking young men came out of my body.

I started another sugar fast today.  Day one and no cheating!

I am considering registering for another 5k, just so it will force me to train, but have not yet done it.  Probably too chicken, but I blame my hesitation on my knees.

Daughter G is having a great sophomore year at college.  She got to go to Florida for a class during J term and had a great class during the day and fun sticking her toes in the sand at night.

The end.