Fun times, people. I've been having some fun. It's a good thing.
Last Friday we went to a great Mardi Gras Party. Thanks for the fun Mike & Sandy! It was just what we needed as a diversion - great food, fun conversation, and lots-o-laughter. We connected with old friends, met a few new great people and just had a great time. Fun, fun, fun.
Saturday night was a night out for us - a date at a local restaurant, Sip. I know, we're crazy - baby sitting two nights in a row. It was fabulous. Good times with my husband, good marriage stuff. I like my husband. I really do. I love him. Dates remind me of that it. It's a good thing.
Sunday - Valentine's Day. Oh yes, there were heart shaped pancakes, chocolate, heart shaped sugar cookies that were decorated with WAAAAY too much frosting on them, and chocolate fondue for dessert. I even managed to make a nice dinner for our family, before we ate our faces off with the strawberries, bananas, angel food cake and chocolate fondue. 'Oh yum' is all I can say.
Roll, literally and figuratively, right into Fat Tuesday. Time to make jambalaya for my jambalaya-loving-husband, along with a King's Cake for my kiddo's. We ate jambalaya while the kids devoured every piece of shrimp they could find that wasn't too spicey. Funny rascals.
Happy to report Dominick got the King's Cake slice with the baby in it - the boy is all too happy to have good luck for the upcoming year. Anna was very skeptical of the baby in the cake. I think it kinda freaked her out.
Funny thing - explaining to an 8 and 6 year old what 'Fat Tuesday' means. I explained the idea of Ash Wednesday, giving up things for Lent, fasting to show your faith, etc. I then said, it is kind of a tradition to 'pig out' on Fat Tuesday. Eat lots of yummy food, one last hurrah before Lent. Well, as the words 'pig out' came of my mouth, my boys fell on the floor in hysterics. That was funny.
Fat Tuesday was also a night to gather with some gal pals to celebrate my pal LeAnne's birthday. I roasted garlic, made crustini, served up some cambozola, we ordered pizza. I had just a small smidge of jambalaya because I knew the cambozola was coming my way. Love that stuff. I should never roast garlic and buy cambozola. Bad for my thighs, people.
Ash Wednesday. Lots of chatter in our house about what meat 'is'. Example: Dominick was shocked to learn that Turkey is meat. Matteo was making a point that he thinks fish is meat, as it is not a vegetable or fruit and is considered a source of protein. I told him that yes, that is all true, but in a Catholic-Lent-kind of way, fish is not meat. How is that for logic?!
Cute to see what the kids gave up for Lent. Matteo settled on candy, Dominick chose whining. Anna - nada. She's four and wasn't sure what it all meant or that she could do anything for 40 days. We'll see how that all works out. Me - I'm staying away from chocolate. No brownies, no Hershey kisses, no m&m's. It's a challenge. And, I'm doing my daily rosary thing - I pray the rosary daily during Lent. Grounds me, which I like.
Thursday...we're day four into our kiddo's winter break from school. It's been sunny out, we have no schedule, had a kid-proclaimed pajama day, took a nap, went to the zoo, have done legos, puzzles, games, and went swimming today. I love, love, love it - no schedule and time to play with the kids. I'm not saying there haven't been moments when we need to all separate for some necessary quiet time! It's just been good to have my kiddo's around.
Other random fun - the kids are loving the Olympics. Matteo & Dominick are in awe of Shaun White and love talking about the snow boarding half pipe, double cork, etc. They're boys. They also like the "ice skating with tricks" and can't wait to watch speed skating and downhill events. Anna, as you can imagine, is very interested in the "figure skating dancing".
It's been a good week. There have been a few stressful things in our lives lately - job stress for Don, an unexpected car repair that cost lots-o-cash, etc. Despite all that, it's just been good to have some fun.
Other goodness, it's Lent. I love this Catholic season. For me, it is time for peace, prayer and I force myself to sit and be in my faith. To quote a good friend, "I could use a little more Lent in my life". Not only for the faith stuff, but also the idea of fasting and not eating my way through life. All though, I enjoy that a great deal too!
Happiness, peace, and faith. These are my words to describe me lately. They kind of capture where I am at the moment, today, which feels good. I have felt lost in the past few weeks and it feels good to not be lost.
No irony here - my faith and the start of Lent has made me find a bit of happiness and peace. And that is a good thing for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment