A Memorial to a Really Good Monday

Some weeks Mondays just stink! But not today. Today was a really good Monday. This post is to remind myself that some Mondays are really good.

*I felt really good on my run this morning.

*I finally found cute Christmas headbands!

*I purchased some fun gifts.

*I got to eat Chick-fil-A with Elisabeth while we watched the final episode of season 1 of Doctor Who. 

*Midway through the episode, Patches came and sat on me! She stayed there for over an hour!

*We ate warm chocolate chip cookies for snack this evening.

*It's Christmas time!

February Reflections

Even though February is such a short month, I learned many things.

1. Rebecca's 4 1/2 month old kitten can (and did) go into heat! The poor thing was pitiful, meowing and rolling around. Fortunately, she never was very loud, and it only lasted three days! The vet wants us to wait a few weeks after the rabies shot she got this week before we spay her, so we will have that done as soon as we can.

2. Some things are worth missing the Super Bowl. Hannah had ballet intensive auditions several hours away on Superbowl Sunday. This is the school she most wants to attend, and she was accepted into the program.

3.  The Frozen Sing-Along was awesome! I loved the movie just as much the second time around. And since we've been listening to the CD in the car, we knew the songs really well.

4.  Our DMV will only conduct road tests for drivers' licenses by appointment. The downside of this is that getting hold of someone to make the appointment took an hour of calling. (I can't believe that I kept getting a busy signal. It felt like 1987!) The upside is that we didn't have to wait for hours for Hannah to take the test, which she passed.

5. I was not as nervous having a newly-licensed driver as I thought I would be.  (But I did use the Find Friends app to check on her when ballet ran late. That really gave me peace of mind.)

6.  We can survive a house full of boys! We hosted 9th and 10th grade boys for D-Now. They were good kids, and Paul really enjoyed having some guys around. But I was glad to have my girls home when the weekend was over. 

7.  I clean the house best when I have external motivation. The week before D-Now, I was more motivated to clean than normal, even though high school boys probably wouldn't notice or care. I guess that means we should have people over more often.

8.  Being fussed at for something I thought I was doing well is disheartening!  I had a terrible visit with a new doctor (who I don't think I'll be seeing again) this week.  She has some rather out-of-the-mainstream views that she is adamant about. I'm still processing this, but plan to post about it soon. The visit really opened my eyes to how non-Christians may feel when well-meaning Christians confront them.  

I'm looking forward to the things I'll learn in March. And to the warmer weather!

Happy Hobbit Day

If I were organized and on top of things I would have thought to take a photo or two of the fun and interesting parts of our day today. But, since I'm not, I'll have to paint a picture with words.

One of the fun things about homeschooling is flexibility. Today we finished our work early and went to see the 12:45 showing of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  The girls and I all loved it! Usually I am a book purist (bordering on a book snob) when it comes to the movie adaptation of a beloved book.  I want the film makers to stick as closely to the book as possible. The Hobbit added quite a bit of material, but it worked. I feel like this is the story Tolkien would have told had he had the whole Lord of the Rings saga already formed in his mind when he wrote The Hobbit. 

I really like how the beginnings of some of the plot lines in The Lord of the Rings saga are fleshed out in this movie.  And, of course, the elves are truly spectacular. I want to be that cool! And I want their amazing hair!

We did a little shopping after the movie so the girls could be a little more specific with their Christmas list items. After a short break at home, I brought the younger three girls to a birthday party, and Hannah and I had a girls night of supper at Panera and some more shopping. 

And now I feel like this:

Tired but content.

The Hobbit

 

Since the second Hobbit movie comes out in one week, we watched the first Hobbit movie tonight. We gathered around the television eating our supper of warm potato soup, chicken, and homemade biscuits. And the movie was long enough for the girls to enjoy some warm cookies at the end of the movie.  I'm about to enjoy my warm cookies right now. 

I love how my girls are drawn to the great stories of love and sacrifice, courage and hope and redemption. I think we are drawn to these stories written by humans because they reflect THE story written by God. Of His love for us. Of Jesus' sacrifice. Of the courage of Jesus going to the Cross. Of the hope and redemption we have because of Him.  

 

Everyday Joys

PThere are so many truly big and serious things in life. Big things that bring joy and sorrow. Big things that bring worry and peace. And when I look at those things from the daily smallness of my life, I can convince myself that the small things that bring me joy or frustration don't really count. But that's not what God tells us. Jesus said that God remembers the sparrows and counts the hairs on our heads. 

Today I celebrate some of the ordinary joys I've been experiencing:

* Fresh highlights! My last hair appointment I chose to do an all-over color, and it turned out darker than I realized it would. I lived with it until it was time to get my hair done again. I went with highlights again, and I'm loving them!

* Getting in to see a new hairdresser the same day I called! My usual hairdresser can fit me in pretty quickly, but, since she is not able to work right now, I had to call someone new. She happened to have a cancellation for that day and she did a great job!

* This sunset!

* A costume party with friends. Our theme was Awkward Family Photos. Our family dressed like hipsters with one goth child. Unbeknownst to us one the other families dressed up goth with a preppy child! 

* Baylor victories!

* Buying a wallet from women in Thailand who made them as an alternative to working in the s*x trade. I love being able to help people achieve freedom with dignity!

* Kittens! We got to visit a friend's little fluff-ball of a kitten last weekend. So cute!