Jeremy has been of town for a week fishing in Alaska
(Here is a pic Jeremy took on his phone, looking so handsome with one of his prizes....not one of the big ones, but he just looks so cute and genuinely joyful out in the wild.....that I had to post this one)
Here is another pretty fish.....same kind. I think that these are the prettiest colored fish in the river. Look at the beautiful greens that run together with the pretty orange accents.....God really has an Eye for color....He did really good with His festinating and stunning wildlife.
Jeremy and his dad....they look just alike!! And they are both such GREAT men!! I am so blessed to have them in my life.
WHAT DID I DO WHILE JEREMY BRAVED THE WILDS OF ALASKA
So this weekend (after a great first week of school), we had a little sleepover party (each girl had a friend stay over night) I took the girls shopping at the mall, out to dinner, and then back to our house for some much needed giggling and movie watching......with a LITTLE sleep at some point.
HERE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF PICS
Savannah and her friend, Kileigh sipping on milkshakes at Red Robbin after trying on clothes at Savannah and Kileigh's favorite store, Justice
For the first time, I DROPPED Madison off at the mall with her friend Gianna to shop while we went across the street to shop at some other stores and eat dinner.....they LOVED it!! So grown-up!!
WHERE WAS NICHOLAS?
Well, he was my super handsome and sweet date that night!! He hung out with me and helped me drive the girls around town.....Then we got to campout together in my room. He is such a thoughtful little boy
AFTER A LONG NIGHT OF LISTENING TO JOYFUL GIRLY GIGGLES
I got myself slowly out of bed when I heard Savannah and her friend up and wanting to go outside.....didn't we JUST go to sleep, I thought?
Well, Saturday morning was in full swing, so I got dressed and did what I HAD to do......I took all 5 kids to Starbucks for breakfast
So, picture this.....
I have all 5 kids with me at Starbucks...in line......each kid ordering one by one.....line backing up behind us!! I am trying to hurry them all along....but after telling me that they all knew what they wanted, it turned out, that they did not all know what they wanted!! At this point, I break into a cold sweat, totally wanting to just run away!!!
You know that everyone in there wanted to throw their coffees at me....(well, if they had coffee...they didn't have any coffee b/c they were stuck waiting behind ME in line!!!) Anyway...I kept apologizing and everyone was very kind to me (at least they pretended to be okay with it)
Here we are taking up all of the comfy chairs in the entire place (you know these chairs are a hot commodity in Starbucks....I had to just let it go!!) Humility is a hard virtue to practice!!
Here is Madison and Gianna (in their matching tie dye shirts...being a girl is so much fun...I love matching!!) They sat on the OTHER side of Starbucks from the rest of us "visiting" like 2 young ladies.....Madison said that she NOW understands why I absolutely LOVE meeting my girlfriends at Starbucks so much!! Frappuccinos make girl time even better!!
Then I drove everyone home....it was a successful venture indeed! Everyone had a great time, and for that, I am truly thankful!!
Well, I just brought Savannah home from a birthday party a little while ago and now I finally sit in the silence of another late night, remembering all of the happenings of this past week and feeling really happy AND exhausted....it is way past bedtime and all of my little ones are fast asleep, as they are completely tired. I have to wait until the stillness of night to really look back on all of the Grace that poured down on me in my service as a mom and how thankful I am to be a mom
All in all It was a very blessed weekend, even though it came with very little sleep!! I am happy that the kids had fun and we are ALL so happy that our daddy (my best friend and the love of my life) will be home early tomorrow morning before Holy Mass (he's on an all night flight from Alaska) I am making his favorite breakfast casserole to celebrate.....it's a surprise!!