The Saturday 7

1. Week 3 of being stranded at home. I didn't handle it as gracefully this week. I lost my mind on Wednesday and didn't know how I'd ever make it through Thursday. But my marvelous sister brought me Olive Garden and sat and chatted with me for a few hours. Amazing what good food and adult conversation can do for the mood! I called about my car and it's not going to be finished until the end of next week, so if anyone's up for bringing me Olive Garden . . . Haha. No, the repair shop said they would get me a loaner vehicle. 

2. In the midst of my doldrums this week, I was encouraged by this article. I love how she writes, "just do the next thing." She actually posted a poem earlier this week by the same title. It's such a simple but important sentiment. When I'm overwhelmed by the state of my house or the months of homeschooling yet to plan and carry out or the utter lack of spiritual growth in my life, I start to panic. So I have to remember to just do the next thing. Clean one room at a time. Plan one week of school at a time. Pick up one book to encourage my walk with God and read it whenever I can. Which leads me to point three . . .

3. I started Loving God With All Your Mind by Elizabeth George this week. A friend recommended it, and I thought it would be good for me. So far, I don't identify with it a ton, but it has a lot of good, practical advice. I thought it was interesting that George wrote pretty much the same thing the blogger in my previous point did. George says, "make a plan and carry it out. Don't get stressed by the big picture. Do all the little things that need to be done." (Paraphrased by me.) It's ironic because this week for the first time, I dusted off my planner and really planned out my week: what we're going to do for school each day, what chores I need to get done each day, what we're having for dinner each day, etc. I knew this week would be hard on me with being trapped at home, so I made myself a concrete plan so I wouldn't lay on my bed crying about how bored I was. Haha. It worked to an extent. ;-) I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on the book once I actually finish it.

4. Our week finished on a much better note than it began. Justin has Fridays off and he knew I was going stir-crazy, so he let me sleep in then take some time for myself. I spent 2 solid hours in the library all by myself making lists and writing Lena's 2 year update. Then I went to Meijer and the dollar store alone! It was glorious!

5. Friday was also Lena's 2nd birthday. She was adorable the night before, telling me as I put her to bed, "Almost birthday! Open presents!" I knew she'd wake up at 6 demanding to open her presents, so I told her she could open them after Lucy woke up. On Friday morning the first thing out of her mouth was "open presents!" Haha. But she waited patiently until Lucy woke up at 8, then promptly tore into her presents. We got her an Elmo potty chair that she's not real thrilled about using, but loves to play with. Haha. (She's getting the rest of her presents from us at her family party tomorrow.) We continued her birthday celebration with lunch at B.C. Pizza. The girl loves pizza and Justin and I love B.C's buffet which is only available at lunch during weekdays so we don't often get the chance to go. Lena's a big fan of the cinnamon sticks:

She took a long afternoon nap, then we watched a movie in my bed and ran around the house giggling and screaming and having tickle fights. Perfection.

6. I loved all the Timehop reminders of Lena's actual birth day two years ago. So many precious memories of the anticipation of meeting her, giving birth and seeing her for the first time, Lucy's reaction to her, and all those pictures of her as a newborn. It gives me major baby fever. I had easy deliveries and loved giving birth. I loved those first few weeks/months of having a newborn. I want that again so badly. But I know I see it all through rose colored glasses and conveniently forget post-partum recovery, mood swings, emotions, nursing problems, babies that won't sleep and learning to juggle multiple children. Still giving my body and my mental state time to strengthen and heal before I'm ready to tackle that again. Haha.

7. Today was also a big day: Justin's 30th birthday! His birthday has been overshadowed the past few years by my miscarriage and Lena's birth, so I made it a point to celebrate him today! I toyed with the idea of throwing him a surprise birthday party, but couldn't think of anything relatively cheap to do, so kind of gave up on it. But in the past few days I decided I really wanted to do it, so I made sure a bunch of our friends were available and threw together a little shindig at home. I already had plans to go to a baby shower today, so I told Justin I'd take the girls with me and he could spend a few hours ice fishing. I made a big deal about how long the shower would be and how my parents were busy and couldn't babysit until later tonight so he should just take his time. I told him to be home around 6 so we could go to dinner and a movie. We picked a movie. (I looked up times and lied to him about when it was.) We picked a restaurant. I had him totally fooled. ;-) I did go to the baby shower but left early to come home and decorate. I had my sister pick up pizzas and everyone met here just before 6. The weather was perfect for ice fishing, but I was sooooo nervous that he'd get bored or the fish wouldn't be biting and he'd come home early. He did come home 10 minutes before 6, but pretty much everyone was here by then and he was genuinely surprised when he walked in the door. Woohoo! Mission accomplished! I made him this Big Bang Theory inspired cake (thanks to an idea from Pinterest, of course):

It's a terrible picture, but it's supposed to be Sheldon in the ball pit shouting "Bazinga!" If you haven't seen this show/episode, that will mean nothing to you. Haha.

I hooked up YouTube on the TV and searched for "free bass fishing shows" to have playing in the background. Haha. And I made a playlist on Spotify of some of our old favorite songs. (Kutless, Evanescence, POD, Kenny Chesney, Phil Vassar - mostly high school songs.) We had a blast just hanging out with our friends. Everyone brought their kids (per my suggestion), so they all left by 8. It's apparent you're a parent . . . Haha. It was probably for the best, though, because tomorrow is Lena's family party at our house, so I had to clean up and get everything ready for that! It is just party central around here!