Lent, My Days 28-33

Maybe I'm getting lazier, but I can't believe it's been almost a week since I updated my Lent Thankfulness List here.  So bear with me as I tear through six joy-filled days (okay, so not completely joy-filled, but I'm trying to think about the good stuff right now).

Day 28, Tuesday
I am thankful for a flexible schedule to be able to rest up after our whirlwind trip to Arizona.  We didn't do much of anything this day except some unpacking and straightening up.  I watched E and drove my older nieces to and/or from school.  C was at work, of course, so that made me even more thankful for my job at home since he didn't get much of a break at all after all that driving.

Day 29, Wednesday
I am thankful S was finally able to decide on a new bra.  Bra shopping with her is so time-consuming because she is very particular and because she hasn't really settled on one brand or style, so it always requires hours of deliberation and trying them on.  We'd tried several stores starting before our trip and then on our trip and it wasn't till this day that she finally found something she liked.

Maybe some day she'll settle on a brand and model like I have done.  Bra shopping for me is quick and easy -- I know which store carries them and right where to look.  It's also readily available online when the store is out of stock.

Is this a silly thing to be thankful for?

Well, if you don't like that one, I got the honor of attending youth group in the evening so I could photograph their all-worship music night.  It was a fabulous time and really uplifting to me midweek.  Plus, I got some nice pictures that evening, I think.  Brought the wrong lens, but it still worked out pretty good.  I am so thankful for time to appreciate the young people of our church and be reminded of just how talented they are -- and what great kids!!  A lot of credit goes to our awesome youth pastor, too.  He has far more patience for this group of teens than I could ever imagine having for them.

A photo of the overhead screen with the lyrics from one of the songs from the evening.

Day 30, Thursday
Easy.  I am thankful for my one-on-one special night with O.  I am enjoying most of my one-on-one with kids nights so far, but sometimes, there is something almost magical about the time and this was one of those nights.

Finding good skipping rocks.

Teaching O how to skip rocks.

O distracted for 30 seconds by an unearthed treasure.  He grew disinterested quickly when he realized digging this up was too big a challenge.

Onto demonstrating his new skip-skills.

I used to love climbing trees.

I'm teaching our kids to love it as well.

 

I wish I'd had my big camera, because I only brought my iPhone and there were so many opportunities for a great little photo shoot.  But alas, these are just a sampling of the shots I took to overload my phone.  (You'll notice, I let him take pictures of me so he'd be more at ease about my photographing him.)

I didn't want it to just be another day where he rides his bike at the park ... too many of those and the time stops being special.  So I asked if he trusted me to pick something more fun.  He said he did.

We went over to one of the parking spots along the Rio Grande and got out to walk along and explore. We skipped rocks, we climbed trees. I got my hair caught in some low-hanging branches because I let O lead us back to the truck and he forgets that compared with him, I'm a giant.  We talked a little, but mostly, we just spent time outdoors, getting exercise and having fun together.

I grabbed this rock as we headed back.  At home I wrote him this message and tucked it into his special memories box (each kid has one that they will receive when they grow up and have their own home to store stuff in).  I said to C, "Someday, maybe he'll appreciate this memory rock ... when I'm dead or something." Ha.


Day 31, Friday
I'm thankful for Friday because we got to shop for some fun St. Patrick's Day stuff for our upcoming dinner party and it was DATE NIGHT! 

On our date, we went to a new burger place in town called Freddy's Steakburgers.  It's a lot like Steak 'n Shake that we visited in Oklahoma (and never wanted to leave). Freddy's is another place that could be really super dangerous for me.  They have beer-battered onion rings (it's so hard to find places with beer-battered and not breaded and crumbly) -- so good.


(Side Note:  I think this post is taking me longer than any other to post -- I've written like one paragraph a day for a week and still have two more days to go, plus a post for the days SINCE these.  What is up with my time-management skills lately?!  Spring fever, I guess.)


Day 32, Saturday
Mostly we cleaned the house for our guests coming on Sunday and C did some advance preparations for some of the meal, which made things smell pretty great around here.  I was thankful for good smells and a cleaner house.

Z played football and the team lost again, but not without an awesome fight.  Z pulled four flags that day (more than anyone else), proving he's a real strength on the defensive team.  The whole team dug in and did a great job out there though.  It's so fun to watch these guys having fun, yet taking it all so seriously.

I also got really daring on the smoothie front.  You'll thank me for not making a recipe post for this smoothie though because it really was sort of terrible.  You might have seen Z's comment about it on Instagram.  I called it the BLT Smoothie.  I'll just declare it now: Spicy V-8 has no business taking part in a smoothie.  I love V-8 drinks of all kinds, but maybe not so much when I mix it with ice, spinach, apple and bacon.  I drank it for the health of it, but I will not be making that recipe a second time.

I'm just thankful I felt emboldened in that moment so I could adventurously try a new recipe -- even though it was a huge flop -- attempts that lead to failings often challenge me to try harder next time.  Back on the smoothie horse, I say!


Day 33, Sunday
So even though we all know what I'm going to be thankful about because most of the days this week have led up to it and even though we all know (now) that Sundays don't really count, I'm going to write it anyway.

I'm thankful for friends and family who joined us for our St. Patrick's Day dinner party.  Five terrific families gathered together under our roof and enjoyed some good food (not only what C made, but what everyone else brought, too) and wonderful conversation and/or play.  I had a great time.  Thanks everyone who came!

 

Yes, my husband rocks the kitchen.  Wish you were here!