did someone say bunny?

we had a nice easter weekend.
saturday soccer games and garage sale kept us at home.
it was kinda a bummer to not see our family and it was also a nice change to just stay put.

most of the regulars came over for a little easter shindig on saturday night.

egg hunters

 

miles made a fantastic tie dye cake.  it turned out so dang good and was loads of fun to make.

 

i know you want some

we went to church sunday evening.
i thought it was so nice.
although some of the kids don't realize just yet that it was nice.
i think that someday they might look back at this journal of sorts and realize - oh, yeah.  my mom wasn't so mean after all and that church she made me go to was actually pretty cool.
maybe.
hopefully.







at church they sang songs from handel's messiah.  and they also mixed it up with songs from the Quincy Jones version of handel's messiah.

it was so dang uplifting.

pastor jen spoke about the resurrection and how each day we can chose to resurrect ourselves and make a difference.
it wasn't a long sermon, there was no shouting from the pulpit or guilt trips laid down - but they were very powerful words.

i couldn't help but to cry when jen read from the bible that mary had gone to the tomb and jesus wasn't there.
mary's grief and joy overwhelmed me.

i also got a chuckle as i was reminded of peter denying his friend, jesus.
it is a story as old as time and yet i had to laugh at the relevance it has in my life and in our daughters lives even today.

all and all - it was a fantastic day.

Live from flu central

KC here, reporting from flu central.
Word has just come to me that we have confirmed the 4th case of the influence A virus.

All medical professionals are encouraging hand washing, cough catching and flu shotting.

The nurse on staff is doing a fine job keeping the fluids flowing, the medicine administered and the dogs walked.

Stay tuned for additional updates regarding this epidemic.

I am KC reporting from flu central.

aca-believeit!

Because I worked 8 million hours before Christmas and because we just needed some down family time, we spent a good portion of the last week of Christmas break watching movies.  We watched and watched and re-watched.  It was so nice for it to be cold outside, warm inside and all my kids here watching together.

Here is run down of what we watched -

Pitch perfect.  Aca-Hilarious.  We watched it at least 6 times.  And we all went back to school singing the songs.  Aca-fabulous!

Catfish.  Wow - my friend Sarah told me about the movie a long time ago.  Good stuff.  Good to watch with teens.  Kinda grossed out by the amount of hair Nev had on his chest - but that's just me.

Moonrise Kingdom.  Jeff and I saw this in the movie theatre for his birthday.  I though it was a bit weird.  We watched it 3 times during the break.  I think it is the kinda of movie that grows on me, like Napoleon Dynamite.

Big Miracle.  Whales being saved.  Feel good.  Tears.  And surprisingly, I do kinda actually remember something about this happening in real life.

Hear Comes The Boom.  I LOVED THIS MOVIE.  Say what you will about Kevin James, I understand that he will always be Paul Blart Mall Cop to some.  But I LOVED this movie.

Couples Retreat.  Waste of my time.  And I was tricked by 14 year old girl.  I could have been watching Pitch Perfect again and perfecting my line memorization.

Family Stone.  My all time favorite.  Ever.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green.  Another feel good movie that I loved.  Jeff not so much.  I guess there weren't enough people shooting each other or aliens invading the planet earth.  Whatevs.

War Horse.  The younger set really liked this movie.  I thought it was okay.  I guess I was just in a mood to see bright shiny happy movies and this was a little too dark, rainy and muddy.  Although it guess it did make us all feel good.


****
Oh, and I just remember that Jeff and the big kids saw The Hobbit on Christmas Day.  (me and the little guy stayed home)

And I saw The Guilt Trip with my girlfriends.  The movie was good but I was so dang bummed out because I wanted popcorn and the popcorn machine was broken.  :(

Lift it up

I went to church today.
I woke up, bolted up, and went.
Alone.

I don't know what I am looking for.
But I do know there is comfort in that place.

There are so many people we love with so so many struggles right now.
In the last 6 days we have had a dear friend lose a family supporting job, a friend lose a dear pet, 2 separate friends have parents with very serious health problems, a friend with a husband in the hospital, and so so so many of our people having to deal with cancer.

Stoopid cancer.
I hate cancer.

 

 

I don't know what 2013 holds for me or my family.

But I do know that I have this need to find comfort.

To live honestly.

To be the best person I can possibly be.

And for some reason, I feel called to walk through the doors of the church.

 

Searching for answers.

Singing a familiar song.

Sitting in the quiet reverent place with people around me that I do not know, but who are just like me - and human.



Just be nice

Be nice to yourself.
It's hard to be happy when someone's mean to you all the time.

A good mantra for 2013.

(Text from a friend who knows me so well and has impeccable timing.)

The Soapbox

The other day I was up at the school and a mom acquaintance stopped to talk to me.
The conversation turned into how tough her life is because she works.
I listened.
Nodded.
Smiled.
And never said an ugly word.  (yaye me)

It makes me wonder what people think about our life.
Do they assume that because we have all of these kids and live in the expensive neighborhood so we must be rich?
Do they think that we are rolling in it because our kids play soccer, and do swim team, and art lessons, and take school trips?!?!?
Do they think I just stay home and volunteer at the school and take our youngest to preschool so I can have pedicures and stuff?

I rarely go down this road in public.
I keep my trap shut about our life because it is no one's business.

BUT WTF?!?!?!
I am working 3 jobs.
My sweetie works what seems like 8 million hours a week.

And these are our choices.
We don't complain.  (much)
We don't judge you.

Did you ever once stop to think that I might look like dogshit at the school because I have worked all night and I am trying my hardest to keep doing things during the day for our kids?
Just because I don't show up at pick-up wearing my 'work' clothes doesn't mean that I haven't been working too.
Just because you don't hear me blabbing about racing to the office or to a meeting doesn't mean that I am not just as frantic or tired as you.

Do what you want with your stoopid buckets of money.
And we will keep using our empty buckets to pick up the trash of all of the people that don't give a shit.

But just once, ONCE - stop and listen to what you are saying or complaining about.
Consider who you are talking to.

Every once in a while, take a moment to remember that things aren't always what they seem.
Everyone has problems.
Some more than others.
And some have loads of problems and just choose not to put a billboard on the highway about it.

Have compassion.
Show kindness.

Because it is the right thing to do.

The end.

(wow -where'd that come from?!?!)

The JOY

There are so many things that bring me joy on a daily basis.

The little things.

I often find myself looking at the pictures in my phone and smiling because of the happy things that have been captured.

parking at middle school - oopsie, i'm on the sidewalk

beautiful morning views on the way to school captured by my kids

a woman so moved by both of our presidential candidates that she named her unborn babies after them

neighborly neighbors

chicken on the soccer field

our neighbor dog watching me walk our dogs

clean plates

marquees that call people out