Happy Good Friday!!! (the week in review)

It has been a good week. 

I had my monthly book club Tuesday night. We had to cancel the month before, so we talked a little about both books. We read The Aviator's Wife and The Storyteller. They are both great books and I highly recommend them!

Wednesday night, I filled in at AWANA for my friend's husband who leads a group with her. I love getting to watch my kiddos interact with their friends. I also got to watch them both during game time! I also found out that C Girl will be moving up to the next level next year. I was shell shocked. I thought she was still going to be a Spark. I wish they would stop growing up!

I also had lunch with a friend at a local tea room on Wednesday. I cannot tell you how awesome their orange rolls are!

Last night, we had a Sunday school class get together over at the home of a lady (Susan) from our church who is also a counselor. She does these evenings every couple of months with us to talk to us about different topics. 

Last night's topic was comparison. What a topic. This is such a big thing for us as women. We compare ourselves to each other, but we also compare ourselves to what we think we should be. I tend to be hard on myself about my home and never feeling like I can keep up and keep it orderly or have things caught up. I also struggle with a friend comparison, such as, "why does she not like me as much as she likes her?" 
I think we all struggle with situations like that. I also know that it is silly, but it is one of those things that sneaks into my head. I've never been one to wish for others' material things or talents or such. I have wished that I had more of someone's personality or humor. It's strange how it works. 

Susan told us last night that we need to not be worrying about what someone else has, but to ask God, "with what I've been given, what do you want me to do with it?" 
Comparison is poison and comparison breeds discontentment always.

Today is my sister in law and best friend's birthday!!! Happy birthday Jessica!!!

I have so many things to get accomplished today! I hate having to be so busy, but I kept putting things off this week! C Girl performs at school tonight and we have Good Friday service at church. I also have to make food for our family Easter tomorrow. I cannot wait to see my little nephews!!!

Here is some great music for this Good Friday:

Stream of consciousness

We've had a good, but busy week around here. 

Tuesdays are always my full day, but this Tuesday had even more than normal.  I had a meeting before Bible study, yoga, Tuesday folders and then my dentist called Tuesday morning to let me know that my permanent crown was in and that they could see me at 3. Whew!  

I also had a book club meeting Tuesday evening.  Our book last month was Gone Girl. It was a very interesting book.  It was very suspenseful, and I liked that, but I'm not sure how I feel about the ending.  We met at the Pressroom and I dream about the chai tea latte with almond milk! So glad I got to have one! 

I have really been on a reading kick this year. Last night I started my 12th book of the year!!! Crazy!

Yesterday, I spent trying to knock out a few items on my never ending to-do list.  We also met April & Ryan at the park after school to enjoy the beautiful weather!  A cold front moved in today, but the next two days are still going to be pretty.  It will be cold again next week :-(

We are a little sad around these parts that tonight is the last night of Olympic competition. We have been really into it this year!

I have a lot to do tomorrow.  We are visiting family this weekend (my brothers turn 30!!!) and I have to pack, make a cake, get everything together and we have a Bunco night at church tomorrow night. There is also a men's event at a different location that Tim is attending. I had a lot of fun the last time we had Bunco!

a long update

I feel like all I have done lately is just recap the past days since the last time I blogged.  I guess that is all I have been motivated to do. I have a lot of things going on and I've been reading a ton, so I think my brain is just full right now.

I haven't updated since Wednesday so I'll start with last Thursday.  It was a pretty busy day.  

A while back, a friend from church asked if any of us wanted to go to a new yoga class with her.  I immediately said yes because I had been wanting to try yoga for a long time, but I had never wanted to go alone. I need to add that this was a "hot yoga" class.  I was pretty nervous about the "hot" part because I wasn't sure how it would be.  I'm not a "workout" type girl, so I had to run around and purchase some workout clothing and a yoga mat before I went to the class.  The class went really well! It wasn't nearly as hot as I thought it might be.  I was exhausted by the end, but I felt great the rest of the day- endorphins, I guess!  However, the next day I was extremely sore (I'm very out of shape.) I hurt in places that I didn't even know could hurt.  I'm still so excited to go back.  I really want to get my body in shape and I can already tell that this type of exercising could be addicting for me!  I love that it is intense, but also peaceful.

Proof that I did, indeed, exercise.

C Girl had gymnastics that afternoon and then we all had to hurry around and get ready for her 2nd grade musical at school that evening!  It was super cute!  C Girl's friend, Emily, from school and church had a solo and she did SO good!!!-----

I left from there and headed to church for a women's event that we had that night.  It was called Sweet Retreat and our speaker was Debbie Stuart. It was a packed house and she is so funny and also spoke good truth to us. It was a great evening.

Friday was a meeting, then getting groceries, and for dinner we decided to try out Chuy's that had opened in our area recently.  We've never eaten at one and were excited to try it.  We thought getting there right at 5 pm would mean little to no wait.  Nope.  We had a 45 minute wait! That place was insane!  It WAS really good though!

Saturday was a super lazy day.  I finished reading Allegiant.  Like everyone else said, the ending was not what I expected.  It was not awful, but so not how I imagined it ending. That's all I will say.  I started reading Gone Girl for my book club this month.  I am already halfway finished.  I'm obsessed with it so far.

Sunday.  Well, our plan was to go to church and C Girl was going to go with the GA's to carol to our shut-ins from the church.  They were going to do this in December, but it was canceled due to weather.  Well, guess what?  It was once again canceled due to weather. We originally were only supposed to get a dusting to 1 inch of snow.  We ended up getting almost 5 inches of snow.  Thankfully, our church live-streams the service and I was able to watch from home.  It was great!  Our high school football coach, Barry Lunney, Sr., spoke and shared his testimony.  It is so wonderful having Christian influences in our schools and on teams/groups.  Our football team won the 7A state championship this year (this made coach Lunney's 7th state title in his career) and many of the guys were at our church yesterday as well. Tim has shared so many stories from his playing/coaching experiences about how big of an influence that a coach can have on your life.  I'm so thankful for the way coach Lunney uses his job as an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these students.

The kiddos had a lot of fun in the snow yesterday afternoon. 

 can you tell I was taking this picture from inside my warm house?!

And just look how the day ended! Beautiful!

An article in the paper on Sunday about Mr. Overstreet, the gentleman that I visit through our church visitation ministry. He is such a jewel!

And I'm sure you know that yesterday was the Super Bowl.  I made some appetizers- pigs in a blanket, guacamole, and corn dip. I adapted the corn dip just a smidgen, but pretty much used that recipe. The game was definitely not as exciting as previous years and I know that it was a very hard loss for Denver.  Congrats to the Seahawks on winning their first ever Super Bowl! 

We are out of school today due to the snow.  

We are also supposed to get more winter weather this week.  I have no way of planning the week, so I'm just taking it one day at a time. My kids are at an age where I do not have to entertain them as much. They play very well together and can find things to do for hours.  I think we will decorate for Valentine's day today. I'm in the need for some lovey dovey around here.  I LOVE Valentine's decorations and everything about the day.  I remember as a kid loving the whole shebang- hearts everywhere in the classroom, the party, and of course, the candy.  It is just so sweet and fun.

I'm sure I'll have another "update" this week :-)

this week....

It's been a pretty quiet week around here.  Tim stayed home Monday feeling under the weather, so we were pretty lazy.  Monday was a gorgeous day and the kids got to play outside for a long time after school. Tuesday, always my busy day, was filled with Bible study, a dentist appointment, Tuesday folders, and my girl's night out.  Yesterday, I spent the day at home.  I'm having lunch with some friends today at a new restaurant, Taziki's.

Other notable mentions:

• I've had a monster cold sore since last Friday that I think is finally healing up.
• I have to get a crown on a tooth next week.
• C's teacher is having a baby!  My girl is super excited about it!  So am I!
• I've been practicing a lot with my new camera.  I pretty much went from an entry level DSLR to the top DSLR in the amateur level.  It has many more bells and whistles that I had to learn and get used to! I love it a ton and the lens that I bought along with it.  There is one more lens on my wish list, but I think I will wait for a while.  I have two cameras and 4 lenses and it's just a hobby.

 Monday: sunny and 60 degrees

 I sat outside soaking up the vitamin D and longing for spring.

Today our high is 20 degrees.

They love Tim's Christmas gift so much.

Freshly bathed and doing homework.

 Devouring another Magic Tree House book.

This Bible study is very challenging and thought provoking.  I HIGHLY recommend it!  I'm not sure I've ever had a study make me consider my Christianity any more than this one.

Happy things

I always get a little case of seasonal affective disorder.  

January and February are the hardest months on me.  

So far, I have been holding steady and not experiencing any symptoms! 

I suppose there has been plenty of sunshine and things going on to keep me otherwise occupied.

Last week and this weekend were really, really great too- they were filled with lots of happy things!

In case you think my house might be clean....

I'm so proud of this girl!

Wednesday, I had my friends, April and Jennifer & her little girl over for donuts and visiting.

It was so great to chat and catch up!  I love getting to watch little ones grow up too!

Thursday, I had a BPTO meeting, C girl had gymnastics, and Tim had ball game duty in Springdale.

Friday, I got to go on C girl's field trip to the Rogers Historical Museum. 

The museum was built around the Hawkins House which is a permanent exhibit. 

The 1895 Hawkins House presents a glimpse of how a middle-class family lived in middle America at the turn of the 20th century.

My favorite part was touring the home.  

It gives you a deep appreciation of how much life has changed in the last 100 years.

My phone doesn't have the best camera and I so wish that I hadn't forgotten my camera!

This is a wreath made with human hair.  It's kinda pretty, but very, very odd.

Y'all.  I'm milking the big bows as long as humanly possible.  She has started balking a little and that makes me so sad!!!

I never thought I would be one of those moms who thought, "the bigger the bow, the better!" ha!

They also had a little presentation about Valentine's Day.  It was cool getting to learn the history behind it!  They got to set up an assembly line and make Valentine's cards!

Friday night, our church had a PNO so we got a date!!!  We finally tried out River Grille!  It was seriously one of the best meals of my life!

I mean, when your meal is described as- Two tenderloin medallions with jumbo lump crabmeat, asparagus and sauce bearnaise. Whoa! 

[And yet again, crappy phone camera :)]

and then you have a dessert called Sticky Toffee pudding?  oh my, what a meal!

Saturday brought my brother, Jessica and Parker!!!!  We were so glad to get to spend the weekend with them!!!  We spent the day visiting, had a yummy dinner, and then Jessica and I headed out for some friend time!  We shopped around Kohl's for a bit (love that store) and then went to see Catching Fire!

That movie stressed me out!!!  It was great, but very intense!

This girl got a loom for Christmas and has been obsessed.

A friend has taught her how to do it with her fingers!!!  She showed me tonight a "triple single" necklace that she made!

We had SUCH a great visit!

Tim made a wonderful breakfast this morning as always!!!

It gets better and better watching Parker and my kiddos together! 

It's just the best thing ever.

sweet cousins!

Jessica- I think the one on the left is the first one y'all ever took together!!!!  Isn't it crazy?!

Football has been on in our house all day. We made fish tacos.  C girl had her church activities tonight and I went to evening service.

It's time to get ready for the start of another week!