work

Last week we went back to work! We had BopBop (Steven's dad) here for the week, helping out around the house and being a great support as we get through these last few weeks of Steven's difficult work schedule. I got on the ball with homeschooling, making sure we got through our checklist each day. A few mornings, Mary Clare was even doing schoolwork early while BopBop had his coffee and his Divine Mercy reading time!

Yesterday I worked all day trying to add little cap sleeves to Mary Clare's First Communion dress. Just as I was nearing the end, I went a little too far in sewing some pleats, and ruined one of the sleeves. I was feeling extremely agitated and flustered by the whole thing, spending an entire day focused on this one project, allowing myself to get frustrated with the kids, and then in the end it was all for naught. A good lesson for me in priorities and considering how to use my time wisely and not overwhelm myself trying to take on too much.

Tomorrow we'll take the dress to a seamstress to complete it. After deciding that adjusting my own wedding veil was going to be too difficult, I bought a veil at the Catholic bookstore. But then I changed my mind and decided we'd create one ourselves. Mary Clare chose lace and a beautiful floral crown headpiece, which I'm putting together. Hopefully the veil won't be quite as hard of a project! I think it's a little more my speed than dress alterations :) We bought her shoes today, and are planning to have some professional photos in the bluebonnets next weekend. Hopefully it all comes together!

I'm SO excited about our upcoming camping trip! I think we're going to visit the state park we had planned to go to a couple years back. Hurricane Ike ruined our plans, so we're going to make up for it now! It will be very nice to get away and have some family time to rest and enjoy each other without the daily stresses that seem to plague a busy life with young children! April will be a busy month with ballet exam rehearsals each weekend, swim team starting the 25th, planning for Ellie's Birthday and Mary Clare's First Holy Communion, and getting ready for the rest of the end-of-year activities.

Steven worked all day yesterday, but took us to the park last night when he got home. We decided to choose a close one since it was getting dark, and ended up at the park behind the apartment complex where we lived when Mary Clare was a toddler. It brought back lots of memories of our early days of parenthood. For a short time, we only had one car and I spent many days biking with Mary Clare to the park or to a mom's group at church. Ellie came home from the hospital to that apartment and we have many fond memories at that park, pond, and pool. The hardest part was remembering Kelly and the boys. That was where we first met and got to know each other. Steven and I both remember where we were when she first told us she had cancer.

My favorite memory of Kelly at Parkside was a simple day when I was walking to get my mail. I think her older son might have been at school, but the younger one was walking around the parking lot with his mom. He had a bunch of little cars all tied together with string and was having such a fun time pulling his "train" with him! I thought it was such a creative little way to play with his toys! Oh how I sometimes long to go back to those fun times with my first babies and the early days of family life! I was realizing tonight that I need to go back and document more of the time before I started my blog in 2006.

After finally emailing our mayor and city council with my internet complaints, I've found out that there isn't much hope for improvement. They'll likely stop offering free wifi to the city at the end of the year, so it's probably time we fork out the money for a reliable connection. So hopefully I'll be back to more consistent blogging soon! Up next will be some photos from our visit to the farm!