Adventures in La La Land

1. It's been a crazy week. We're leaving for a week in Florida on Monday. Lena's birthday falls during our vacation, but she really wanted a party with her friends beforehand. We'll be staying with Justin's parents in FL, but also needed to work in a little party for Lena with my family before we go. So we had Lena's friend party today, will have her family "party" tomorrow (just lunch, cake, and presents), and then we're leaving on a jet plane on Monday. I've spent all week cleaning and shopping and making various and sundry lists. 2. Lena wanted a "game themed" party, which actually was very low maintenance. I planned it for 2:00 so I wouldn't have to provide a meal, we pulled out games we already have, plus the ever popular claw machine that Lena got for Christmas. She wanted to have a "decorate your own cupcake" station. I made cupcakes from a box mix, but we've been watching all kinds of Kids' Baking Shows

1. I haven't been doing great with my resolution to read less this year. I'm trying  to read only when I'm caught up on housework and my kids are either sleeping or otherwise occupied. "Trying" being the operative word. Lol. My first book of the year was a random one I found on Kindle Unlimited: The Overdue Life of Amy Byler . I was drawn to it because the main character starts a career as a school librarian after her kids are in school. It's a secular novel and has some sketchy moral leanings, but I did enjoy it. And it really made me want to finish my degree so I can work in a library someday. I actually started looking at a bunch of programs that offer online associate's degrees. I wish it was like online shopping and each one had a price right on it. I also wish I could just plug in my transcript and it would tell me how many classes I'd actually have to take. I had Cornerstone send me my official transcript. I have 66 credits, so theoretically I&#

1. After a gloriously warm Christmas, winter returned with a vengeance on Tuesday. I knew we were supposed to get some snow, but didn't realize it would be this much!! Look at our poor little picnic table! Haha. I should've stuck a ruler in it. That's got to be over a foot of snow! Lena and Levi were so excited to go play in it. Justin just bought them kid-sized snow shovels, so they bundled up with the intent to shovel the driveway. However, when I opened the door to let them out, we saw this: We've seriously never talked to this guy - rarely even seen him outside his house. But we dropped off homemade treats for Christmas and he stopped by a couple days later to thank me and introduce himself. And now he's our friend! Haha. A few minutes later I checked on the kids out the window and saw this: I love not having to go outside in the cold with them! 🤣  2. Tuesday night was New Year's Eve. We sent the kids to my parents' overnight so we cou

I know that you're not supposed to make resolutions anymore. We're just supposed to be present or something instead of making goals that are unlikely to be achieved. But I think this time of year is a good time to "reset." To see what worked vs. what didn't work, to notice where sin was left unchecked and to look for areas that could use growth. And I know from the outset that I won't complete all of my resolutions - some of them aren't even measurable. But I like to jot down areas I want to grow, and the ways I intend to achieve that. That said, here's an update on last year's resolutions Read one non-fiction book a month (fail - I think I read 4 or 5) Read Harry Potter (So many of my friends from all walks of life rave about this series. I'm finally going to give it a try.) (SUCCESS!) Do something about Lucy's diet - starting with actually reading  the book  I had the library buy, checked out for 6 weeks, and never read a word of [a