Multitude of Thoughts: Happy Valentine's Day 2017

Thankful for one of my FAVE holidays of all time. The prep for V day... the store decorations... the foods... the crafts... the celebrations... seriously what's not to L.O.V.E!?!

Thankful for online inspiration for Hannah's card mailbox... ours was adorable, but finding the perfect square box was next to impossible in our time frame... so we did the best we could and today after her party I went to take a pic and 1/2 of the pieces are off haha.. so durability test failed, cuteness test passed.

Thankful that Auntie Paula was kind enough to be shared with us, taking a break from a newborn to come help with 3 crazies, was brave! But much appreciated :) And our 11 year old is the same height haha!

Thankful for a fun night out with Auntie Paula at Dave and Busters, where Hudsie mastered the art of Skee Ball!

With all these happy smiles, has to come a dose of reality ..or my blog is fake and a mask & that is against everything we want... soooo our parent hearts got broken last week by an incident at school with our big H... crazy how fast your world feels like it just fell apart... that one voicemail from the principal that makes me shudder... yeah that... the moment where you question your parenting... this is all new to us- this middle school age thing- so we try to do the best we can- learn from our experiences as young parents & pray that God intercedes in massive ways as we know we make too many errors... but thankful for the lessons we all learned together and for the grace that God gave me to literally shut my mouth. Thankful that Matt is my sounding board and was the 1st face to greet big H after school, after the call... and that there was a drive home by myself from work that day to process pray and sing ... and drink my iced coffee ;)
Both Matt & I had childhood's where the response during an incident would be anything but gracious, and forgiving and calm, and yes there is always an excited spark in me for the positive or the negative... but we do have an understanding that we all ( even my nearly perfect kids ... wink wink) make mistakes, do dumb things, say even dumber things and so if we, as the totally imperfect parents are washed in grace and redeemed every minute of every day- what better lesson of the gospel for us to share that with our kids too?! That in those mistakes, life lessons are learned... and God is glorified... and we all are humbled... but we are calm. full of hugs and ready to move on and hit reset! {Disclaimer, easy for me to write now, a week later... in the moment this would have been written slightly different :)}

Image result for scripture about being humble

Thankful for mini carts at Mariano's. Limits my shopping time and spending :)

So with Matt working night shift now, and Hudson still working on his social skills ... this day he got booted from childcare in the morning due to hitting, so I couldn't go back in the evening ( insert all the "are you kidding me??!!" faces), I got my ab workout and some love ... down & up with a lot of weight ;) {Real life unmade bed and laundry to tackle too ;0)}

Thankful for Food Friday where I was observed ( see Dr Shabazz scripting me), during my Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds. The lesson was not what I wanted it to be.. .but the student input, discussion and food time was ideal. Praise the Lord!

Here are some excerpts that I screen shot this weekend ... I really appreciated these words of wisdom...

Thankful for warmer temps and bros on bikes!!

Thankful for my Hannah and Hannah time. These girls are so special & we pray that they stay friends forever! Always a plus when you adore your kid's friend's parents!!

And Annabelle. The little princess who the shop is named after. She is always at the store with her mom and grandparents and is TOO CUTE.

Pink Ice Cream cones?! Yes please!

Thankful that we began this week with a Monday Movie Field Trip! Love that I planned it and was able to get them out of the city and up by our hood in the 'burbs, where the movie chairs recline :) It was 2 hours of bliss I tell ya, the best field trip yet :)

Hannah and Dad on a gym date!

Thankful for my hubby who knows one of the keys to my heart is Heart Shaped ANYTHING... sooo hooray for Costco having Heart Ravioli!! Since he was off Monday night we celebrated early...Woot Woot!

Thankful for a fun and cheap way to celebrate all the amazing people in Hudson's school day. He has the best Early Childhood team, with what seems like endless patience...