All Hallow’s Eve

The best thing about our school is the religious on campus every day, teaching in the classroom, supervising lunch and recess, and generally being credible witnesses.

They are so loved.

We survived another year of costuming.

This one insisted on using his costume from last year.

I am the photography liaison for school this year. Often I try to coordinate another volunteer. This event was all on me though. Not a bad event to take on! It was also grandparents day; and I captured every single one I could.

Firstborn served Mass with the red team on Friday.

The Fabulous Fourth with his best school friend. We borrowed that costume from a generous mom.

Sweet Pea trick-or-treated with friends. Their dad pulled her and her friend in a wagon for two-and-a-half hours!

 We had a bunch of the Firstborn’s friends over for trick-or-treating in our quiet neighborhood. I love having friends come to our place because I know they’re safe. DH walked them around the neighborhood; and they had a great time.

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Retreat at Palomar

The theme is Women in the Gospels. Some points of meditation:

How May I see the people and events around me the way that Jesus sees them?

Why does the Lord allow good people to suffer?

We’ve been given gifts, each of us, for the service of others. 

How am I using my gifts to serve? God Himself is total gift.

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Football

The Eldest is No. 20 and was guarding against defensive lineman No. 41 all game. It was not the easiest task but he stayed the course. It was edifying.

More from Wednesday:

Some of us found the chickens more interesting:

 

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Choir

We officially have one child in every extracurricular except for drama. I’m sure the Fabulous Fourth will carry that torch.

Marty Haugen for the win. 🙄

I love my sweet girl! This is her the rest of the time:

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Soccer

Win or lose, it’s nice to see your kid hustle. Today this one made a strategic steal followed by a goal.

More from the season is here.

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Fourteen Years!

This was a Wednesday. We went to a new coffee shop at 8pm because we had a First Communion meeting and soccer coaching respectively. On Friday, we went to our favorite beach bar.

 It's truly very hard to do anything extra at the moment. We find ourselves being covetous of the little free time we do have. (There actually isn't any free time. We just pull from prayer time, workout time, or quality time with the kids -- sometimes to blog or sleep... But we do best when we hand all of our time back to the Lord and just do all the former things anyway, which is easier said than done.)

Here are our other anniversary celebrations:

Thirteen, Twelve, Eleven, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One.

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Sol’s First Day of School!

It’s quite possible no one has ever been more excited to go to school than he!

 

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Mr. Agreeable Turns Eight!

We can’t say enough about this one! He is an emotionally intelligent, gentle and strong soul. He loves his people. He loves when all of his people are together. He is faithful and dependable. 

He is simple and candid. He does not like being alone. He does not like being in a crowd. He likes being at home with his family. 

He is deep and thoughtful. He has existential conversations with his surf instructor, who gets a kick out of him. 

He has a couple of best friends. I love his candid dialogue. 

Current Stats:

Height 4’ 1.5”, 33rd%

Weight 58 lbs., 55th%

Previous Stats:

Previous well checks: Birth, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year, 15 months, 18 months, 2 years, 30 months, 3 Years, 4 Years, 5 Years, 6 Years, and 7 Years. We love him so much!

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The Crew

I was given these t-shirts for our kids at the local paralegal association’s educational conference. All I can see when I look at this photo is how far we’ve come from newly-wed 14 years ago. I don’t know how we got here. Really. The memory of all the hard parts is gone when I look at this. I’m just glad we let ourselves be led. What an amazing thing we have built with the Lord!

 

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This Smile

I cannot get enough! 

“What are you doing,” he asks.

“Going to talk to Jesus.”

“Can I come talk to Jesus with you?!”

Definitely a yes! He knows he’ll get a treat afterward, but he’d join me regardless.

 

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Sweet Virginia

My heart is full. ❤️ Saw family, a BFF, college friends (20 year reunion!), and a priest I’ve known for as long. Witnessed so many 20-year marriages, celebrated a beautiful liturgy in the church where we were married with the same readings. So many intended and unintended blessings this weekend. God is so good! +

This one came with me. He had some outstanding gems this trip. One included, “Mom don’t ever jump on an airplane.” “Why do you say that?” “Because the airplane is moving and you might hit the back of the plane if you jump.” “Have you tried this?” “Yes. In the bathroom.” “Did you hit the wall?” “Yes.” [Raucous laughter by mom.] He’s been considered the implications of gravity, velocity, and geometry this entire trip. Special minds, I tell you!

Another nougat was when he had to use the bathroom and insisted on it being the bathroom in which I was brushing my teeth and taking out my contacts. Apparently he was in pain and said in exasperation, “This hurts more than your c-sections!” Indeed.

We had to deplane and replane during our layover. While descending, he asked to use my water bottle so he could hold it level to the floor and tell which angles we were moving based on what the water did. I asked him if he knew what a level was. He said no. He just thought that that would be a good way to tell direction.

While on the plane, I received a recruiter call and an email from my boss telling me that he was giving me a raise larger than the one I asked for along with a bonus and that I had absolutely earned it. When good things happen, they happen in droves. Same thing with the bad things. I’m not sure why the events are never balanced, but I try to fully enjoy the good moments without anxiety or foreboding.

We’re both kind of infatuated with the Volkswagen now, although the fuel efficiency really kills the engine. I’m used to a very responsive pedal and no felt gear shifting. 

Scheduled a client signing here. My job fills a part of me that is mentally rewarding. It’s not as important or long-lasting as parenting; but it helps me to be a better parent. Making people’s lives easier and solving their problems is personally satisfying.

We saw Sr. E. One of the nuns made derby pie.

We had roughly 4 hours, our annual total. They are so joy-filled. She is a huge encouragement to me and friend to our family.

The time always goes quickly; but we’re better at saying goodbye now knowing that we’ll meet again either here or on the other side. Spiritual friends are never far.

Virginia is for lovers.

The Engineer was really digging our coffee shop stops while I worked. He thinks adulting is easy now, haha.

One of my classmates hosted a pre-party at her home. This was the only reunion event I attended. It was so joyful and encouraging. Everyone was so much more mature, seasoned, confident, less opinionated…just delightful. More than half the people had been married roughly 20 years. We talked about checking in and prioritizing your spouse. It was so nice to hang around good people who have known me for 25 years.

It turns out that this friend goes to the same North Carolina church as a friend from my very small hometown.

This makes me so happy:

The Engineer worked with his cousin’s maze ball for an hour-and-a-half and then informed me that he was ready to go.

Melatonin at its best:

My sweet niece Mercy made lemon loaf on Friday morning and French toast on Saturday morning. There’s nothing like waking up to the smell of gourmet breakfast. Naturally, with so many children, signs need to be in place. We have to do this in our home too.

This one is in his high school senior year. He’s articulate and thoughtful. I am so proud of him.

This is what I saw of him. He pitched a travel game and forced 6 strike outs in 3 innings. Below is the biggest versus smallest in his family.

Kid tower. They were so loving and affectionate.

We visited Sky Meadows and what appeared to be a cicada infestation. The Engineer hasn’t seen a bug since we moved to California and freaked out. Nevermind that he picks up lizards at home and thinks nothing of it. He said the bugs were gross.

The farms day offered hay rides and other 1800s farming/crafting lessons.

Gas, which we never have to buy these days, is much cheaper in Virginia.

We went to Sunday vigil Mass at the parish where we were married and ran into the priest who concelebrated our wedding Mass. The first reading and Gospel were actually the same as our wedding selection! The Lord gave me that nougat, I am sure.

It was so encouraging to see him come out to help with distribution of the Holy Eucharist even though he wasn’t offering Mass. It’s a simple fidelity to vocation which is very encouraging to me. He’s become quite busy, but nonetheless cheerful and personable as always.

The Engineer said it was worth a trip to Virginia just to eat here. My goddaughter joined us. Padre knew immediately she belonged to my brother-in-law. She is a sweet, intelligent, well-spoken girl, who has grown so much since I saw her last!

The requisite sister shot:

The girls wanted in:

We woke up at 2am to make our cheap flight back to Cali. DH was still awake playing Axis and Allies when I woke up, haha!

We were literally the first people in the security line. Exactly one breakfast shop opened up before our flight took off.

Until next time, Virginia…

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