melted smoosh

last week, my mom was visiting during her February vacation from school (the local schools only get President's Day off but she gets the whole week!). it's a wonderful chance to spend time with her apart from the chaos of our whole family get-together in the summer. last February, we took the opportunity to visit Phipps Conservatory while the girls were in school, and decided to do it again this year. the girls used to enjoy going, but now they apparently find it "boring" and "horrible" to soak up room after room of gorgeous flowers and plants, so Mom and I go by ourselves and all parties are quite happy with this arrangement.  it was a cool, overcast day with occasional drizzle. even with cloud cover, the natural light came pouring in through the glass, and we left with a bonus inoculation of vitamin D against the dreary late winter days to come. it may always be five o'clock somewhere, but at Phipps, it's perpetually spring.  Mom and I both upgrade

1) the easiest smoothies in the world: a pre-portioned bag of frozen fruit and kale from Costco blended with one vanilla protein shake from Aldi. each smoothie made this way costs $3.40. obviously, I could make them for cheaper measuring out my own fruit and protein powder with milk, but in this season of life, I wouldn't  actually do that. in what may be the world's least shocking outcome, on the mornings I have a smoothie for breakfast, I feel pleasantly satiated and energized without bloating. wahoo! 2) a new carpooling arrangement with one of Greta's basketball teammates. instead of loading up all four kids in the van at 5 pm to get to practice by 5:30, then running errands or hanging out in the car or entertaining the younger three in the gym until practice ends at 7:30 and unloading everybody from the car at 8 to start the bedtime rush, now I just drop off Greta and her friend and come straight home. Greta rides back with her friend and I magically have two more hou

  1) New Year's Eve. we hosted a casual New Year's Eve party and somehow managed to actually stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year! we kept the food and drinks simple and just enjoyed spending time with each other. I found a fantastic playlist from Apple music called "New Year's Eve: Dinner Party", featuring big band music and easy listening classics. for New Year's Day, I cooked a pork roast and we feasted on Nick's homemade sauerkraut (he and some friends recently canned jars of it).  shoutout to Aldi for our NYE hats and beads! decorating cookie cutouts (still Christmas, remember?) best friends from college :) we all have wildly different careers, personalities, and worldviews and yet we are family. toddler party Greta immediately created this sign to warn guests after a drink spilled on the couch BFFs! a rousing 10 PM game of Mousetrap we had to do a couples photo shoot after the ball dropped. also, I have no champagne flutes, so these wonky f

I truly love Christmas as a parent. creating the magic for our own family is such a gift. it can also be a tricky balancing act to keep Jesus at the center of the celebration, and to make each child feel truly seen and cherished without blowing the budget and filling up the house with more and more STUFF. one of my favourite childhood memories is going on Christmas dates with my dad to buy gifts for the rest of the family (and to go out to dinner at my choice of restaurant!), and we've continued that tradition with our girls. they are always so excited to give their gifts and it's been a tangible reminder that the thought and effort that goes into the gifts is equally important as the gift itself.  this year, there was plenty of church involved with Christmas Eve falling on a Sunday and Christmas Day falling on a Monday. as Catholics, we are obligated to attend Christmas mass and also Sunday mass. I love the beauty and uniqueness of Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, but am not wi