A Picture Update

First up- Happy Birthday Papa!! We hope you had an awesome day! 

It is Friday and I’m pretty wiped out, so here are pictures without much narration.

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday: 

Also, it was Teacher Appreciation Week and Laura posted this:

We have a fun and busy weekend ahead. I hope you enjoy yours!

Timehop Tuesday

I have springy Timehops for you today!

And then our cute boxers- Kona and Luna.

Weekend Wrap-Up

It finally kind of feels like it is almost summer. But our tree and lilacs haven’t bloomed yet (which they usually do by early May) so I’m still very much waiting for that.

While Chris took Cal to dance yesterday, Maya and I met Boom at Centennial Lakes.

Later that afternoon we got out the sprinkler and had our first dose of water fun.

I met Jenna for a movie last night, and happened to drive to the theater exactly when a HUGE thunderstorm came through. I got a cool pic of the theater through the rainy window, though.

This morning the girls decided to move out of the house and onto our front yard.

Then after church we went on an adventure downtown with Boom and Iris.

We also stopped by Izzy’s. Because why not?

And finally a couple of shots that sum up the late afternoon/early evening.

Despite the sweetness of the bottom picture, the sister fighting has been unbelievable. I’m trying to remind myself that it is normal. But I think I might have lost my damn mind. 

Have a great week!

A Picture Update

This has been quite a week. If you haven’t read my post from Monday, you can read it here..

I took Monday off and spent the day downtown with my mom, Maya, and Lucy. And then we met Laura, Mari and Chris for lunch. 

Then I had a couple hours to myself and I napped in the hammock. We made corn-in-the-cob for dinner.  For Bops. And then I caught the sunset sunrays.

Maya watered the flowers on Tuesday afternoon.

The girls had fun playing outside on Wednesday and Thursday and G-ma and Pa’s house.

Maya had her last ever spring concert on Thursday night (waaaaaaahhhhh!) and she was soooooooo excited. Pa told me that in the afternoon she said, “We are coming up on the most exciting part of the day.  Mommy is coming to pick me up. Then I get to go to my concert and sing.  It will be the best part of my day. I can feel it in my heart.”

And she was adorable, of course.

Here are some video clips. It is a little hard to see her, but you can see her little head peeking out in the 2nd to the back row towards the left.

Last night the sky was beautiful.

Today we walked to the park and stopped at BK for some cones.

Callie told me that her class ran the mile today and she came in 2nd (and was the first girl!). Her classmates asked her how she runs so fast, and she told them “Well my mom is a professional runner!”

I smiled so big when she told me that. I am definitely not a professional, but I’m glad that I can be such a positive role model for her when it comes to running. In fact, my very first half marathon was exactly 10 years ago today.

I have been a major running slacker the past couple of months. My plan for the weekend is to go get new shoes, figure out a race to train for, and set up a training schedule. If you see me anytime soon... ask me about it! 

Have a great weekend!

Timehop Tuesday

I’ll be honest- I do not particularly enjoy looking at the Timehops leading up to April 30 and May 1.  The ones that are from 3+ years ago taunt my brain a little by saying “You have no idea what sh!tstorm is coming your way” and the ones less than 3 years ago just remind me of the things we have done to manage the end of April.

So I’ll leave it with just one Timehop- snuggly girls. Callie and Maya on the left are both probably a year older than Maya and Lucy on the right. But still cute and sweet, nonetheless.

3 Years

It’s Saturday morning at 6:30am and I’m out on a run. It’s a pretty wooded area around a small pond. 

For the past couple of years the month of April has been one to just get through, and this year I feel like I barreled through, with the added struggle of my Grammy’s death.

It all caught up to me during my run and I have had a good cry. 

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I’ll be posting this on Monday, April 30th, 2018. On this day in 2015 my dad died suddenly and my family’s world completely shifted.

Three years.

It seems like just yesterday and also like an eternity. Like this is how life has always been, but with 33 years of happy memories that have some sharp edges.  It feels confusing.

The initial shock and anguish of grief has lessened significantly. The times of joy and contentment are many. 

But every once in awhile something knocks you off your feet a bit. For me, it is dreams.

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I don’t dream about my dad often. I’ve had maybe 3 or 4 of them since he died. But a few months ago I did dream about him and it was so vivid. Our family was on vacation. We were in some combination of a tropical location and a Disney theme park, which totally makes sense if you know how my family always traveled. In my dream it was early in the morning and I was by myself down on the beach by the water. All of a sudden I heard my dad’s voice behind me, clear as day, calling my name.  Calling to me to come join the rest of the family for our next adventure.

And then I woke up. And then all I could think about was that I heard his voice again. I remembered it in my dream.

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There’s a song in the show “Waitress” where the main character sings about her mother who passed away. The song is beautiful and the lyrics are poignant. She sings about her dreams.

Sometimes I still see her

My mother the dreamer

She'd say, "Nothing's impossible child"

A dream needs believing

To taste like the real thing

Like some stranger you recognize

So pure, so pure, so electric

So sure, so sure, so connected

To those little believers inside

May we all be so lucky

But dreams are elusive

The kind we've gotten used to

Is nothing I can feel

Nothing I can hold, nothing I can have, nothing that I know

Dreams come and they go

But hold them and keep them (but hold them and keep them)

And know that you need them (and know that you need them)

When your breaking point's all that you have 

A dream is a soft place to land

May we all be

So lucky.

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I like thinking that dreams are soft places to land instead of things that knock us off our feet. And that we should feel lucky and thankful for them.

It reminds me of the word we have hung on to for three years. 

Gratitude.

I love you, Dad. And I miss you so much.

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(If you’d like to hear “Soft Place to Land” by Sara Bareilles, you can find it here.)

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunny Sunday!

We had a fun weekend. The girls went to the MIA with G-ma and Pa yesterday morning.

The big event of the weekend was yesterday afternoon when we threw Hanna a bridal shower and bachelorette party. It was SUCH A FUN DAY.

The shower was “Nacho Average Bridal Shower” theme complete with mini sombreros, sangria, and a nacho bar. 

We played a game that involves me filming Dan answering questions and Hanna trying to match his answers, with the threat of having to chew a big piece of bubble gum for each question she got wrong.

As you can see, she was a major trooper.  Then she opened lots of great gifts!

The evening continued at Upstairs Circus for an evening of crafting in a funky bar atmosphere.

And the evening ended at Shout House- a piano bar where Hanna got to dance on stage for a bit!

It was so fun to meet some more of Hanna’s friends and it makes me even more excited for the wedding.

Today we spent a lot of time outside. Chris cleaned out a chunk of our garage and Maya helped spray down all the summer toys.

We went downtown for a little adventure with Boom, Auntie Mari and Iris.

I hope you all got time to soak in the spring sunshine. I’m in anxious anticipation of our tree and lilacs blooming. Once that happens I may just believe spring is really here.