Happy Halloween!

We went trick-or-treating with the girls' friend Caleb!

 

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Grief Update Edition

Today is October 30th, 2016, which means we have lived 18 months without my dad. A year and a half. That first year, all of the month anniversaries on the 30th hit hard. Those have eased, but today this half year anniversary is hitting me.

I went to the cemetery this morning. The leaves near his spot were dull and brown, so I brought in 18 bright shiny leaves from a few trees down to add some light.

 

I looked back at my post a year ago, six months after, and thought I'd link to it.

Here.

There are times that I think about everything, think back to a year ago, and wonder how the heck we have made it this far with all we went through. 

I guess a year and a half later I can say that the grief is less intense more often. There is joy and laughter and silliness and so much gratitude. 

There is a lot of all that, a lot of the time. 

But there are times that it still hits me -surprises me- with the same intensity as a year ago. 

The passage of time gets me every once in awhile, too,  especially when I remember that Callie was just 5 and Maya was just 21 months when he died. They are so much bigger now. So much smarter. So much goofier. Gosh he would have had a blast with them.

I still pay attention to sunrays, though the camera roll on my phone isn't as filled with them, like a year ago:

 

  

It is now all the girls, all the time.

 

So that's where I'm at. Thanks for reading all that to get to the weekend wrap-up.

Yesterday was pretty chill. Callie had her annual Halloween costume dance class.

 

And she continues to stun the world with her outfit creations.

We had playtime and dinner over at G-ma and Pa's house. The highlight was a scavenger hunt that led to playing a new dice game!

 

 

Today we went to Boom's condo after church. Auntie Yoda and Auntie Mari came over, and we did some crafting.

 

 

The girls did some crafting too.

 

We tried out a new park today too. It was a little chilly, but we love us some parks!

 

And now tomorrow is Halloween. On a Monday. Godspeed to all the teachers and parents out there. It is going to be a long week full of crazy sugar highs and crabby sugar crashes. Good luck to you all.

A Picture Update

Happy Friday!

This week was super busy, and Chris and I both agreed it kicked our butts a little bit. But we made it to Friday. And it is 70 degrees at the end of October. So that's awesome.

Maya hung out with Boom on Monday. She got cinnamon ice cream for their weekly trip to Izzy's.

 

Both girls enjoyed learning activities- bath spelling and reading.

 

They both wanted to wear bibs at G-ma's house.

 

Callie created her own acrostic poem- totally on her own. And I love it.

 Crazy. Amazing. Loved. Loyal. Independent. Ethical.

Callie's first grade class had a fall party today, where they could wear costumes. Her teacher posted this picture and it is adorable (I edited it to focus on her).

 

Any ideas what she is?!?

We have been fairly obsessed with the trailer to the new movie "Trolls" that comes out soon. So Callie chose to be Poppy!

 

I think she nailed it. The $20 wig from Amazon helps. 

 

Maya also is a troll. Named Branch. The  $5 troll hair headband I ordered for her doesn't have the same pinache, but she's ok with it. 

 

 

Tonight we went to Lund's for their Halloween festival!

 

Have a great weekend!

Preschool (Il)Logic QOTD

Maya: (punching herself in the face) Mommy I have hard hands!

Me: Then you probably shouldn't punch yourself in the face!

Maya: (pausing to think about it) Yeah.

 

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

Here are the Timehops. The first one I wrote about on Sunday:

 

Then we have the fall leaf pile picture with Maya:

 

And both girls:

 

Weekend Wrap-Up: The 39-Month-Old Edition!

It is the 23rd and Maya is another month older! Her new favorite thing to do is get herself dressed in the morning. It takes forever, but she does a pretty decent job. This morning she came down wearing this:

 

And then I looked on my Timehop and saw this:

 

How did that happen? She fits into the big girl version of the first matching outfits!

She is sassy and sweet and the biggest goofball I know. She can spell her name (though not on video- I have tried countless times) and is so excited about learning.

 

The mental gymnastics it takes to deal with her lack of reason and logic is exhausting, but her squishy smile is the best.

 

And guess what, y'all? The kitty hat is BACK!

 

On to our super fun weekend! We started it out yesterday morning by going to the Nature center near our house.

 

Then we made a leaf project.

 

And then there was some putting practice on the new putting green Chris ordered with my Amazon account "for the girls."

 

The girls and I went to the park with Hanna.

 

And ended the day at Uncle Dan's house for dinner and playtime with Shambles! Whew!

 

Today was less chaotic. There was church and then we went to Boom's house (and visited Elliott again).

 

We did lots of raking this afternoon and I finally got around to making my favorite potato corn chowder soup (my mom's recipe).

I also created a treasure hunt for the girls and Snapchatted part of it!

Hope you all had a great MEA weekend. 

 

A Picture Update

Happy MEA weekend!

I had yesterday and today off...so the girls and I spent 2 solid days together.  I'm tired. :)

We spent time outside, got flu shots (followed by ice cream!), played at our house, played at Boom's house, visited Elliott, and raked ourselves a big ol' leave pile.

Earlier this week, Maya hung out with Boom on Monday, and both girls hung out with G-ma on Wednesday.

Callie and I each got back our school pictures this past week.  I think it is safe to say we look related.

Lastly, last night was the championship game for the Lynx.  The game ended in a heartbreaking series of events that you can read about if you google "game 5 WNBA championship."  We lost by 1 point and it was unbelievable.  I went with my mom, and we sat courtside, and the place was PACKED.  G-ma and Pa came over to our house to watch the game with Chris and the girls.  And they saw us on TV! As did Mari and my friend Libby, who sent screenshots!

So proud of the Lynx.  They are a fantastic group of athletes, and we can't wait until next season!

Have a great weekend.

God Bless Maya Leigh!

Maya was baptized three years ago today! Here we are with Uncle Joe, who baptized her, and her two Godmothers. 

 

One of my very favorite pictures of my dad came from this baptism weekend. We had a lot of family over to our house one night, and he was holding Maya after dinner. His smile lit up the room.

 

It was after this picture was taken that we started calling her his mini-me.

I'm so grateful that Maya's middle name is Leigh, inspired by her Bops.

Timehop Tuesday

Hey all! It's Tuesday again. They come up fast every week!

First up: Callie. She looks so dang old now.

 

Next up: Maya and her cute mischevious face.

 

Lastly, the girls:

 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday!

The big event of our weekend was Laura Suurmeyer's wedding!!!! The girls spent the night at G-ma and Pa's house so we could actually enjoy ourselves at the wedding. :)

 

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was so much fun! There was a live band, great food and wonderful people.

 

 

 

It was my goal to get a picture of all of the original Henderson/Suurmeyers with each of their spouses. Mission accomplished!!

 

My next goal is to dig up a picture of the original 7 from our middle school years to do a side-by-side. Stay tuned for that!

The girls had a great time at their sleepover.

 

Today was spent cleaning. But it was worth it for our Lynx party! 

 

The game starts in 10 minutes and they have to win or the season is done. Fingers crossed!