Playing with the tripod and the timer on the digital camera can be really fun! You can count on MG to feed into the silliness. I love the upside-down and sideways look.

But sometimes you end up with a good picture!

It’s hard to get a decent picture of 4 people, especially when 3 are kids.

We can all rejoice that there is a current picture of me I don’t hate! Someday I’ll find a pic of myself I love – my favorite pic of myself is a year old, and shows more red in my hair than there is now.

Anyone else have some fun self-portraits?

Last Sunday (3/22) was my birthday. We had a fun weekend! And yes, it’s now almost Friday, and I’m finally posting. Well, um, it was busy, and we have kept ourselves busy.

Thursday and Friday we had our friends B&Z over for trips to the Y and a couple of sleepovers. They are sweet, high-energy boys, and we had a blast. The house is still standing, too!

Saturday we had planned to take a trip to CT, but the girls ended up having a visit with their dad & roller skating. Then we made cupcakes for the birthday party on Sunday, and finally got some sleep.

Sunday was my birthday, and I was glad to have the girls all day, even if it was a busy day! First, we had Church, where I did a reading (!!!). Then left early so we could go to Z’s birthday party at the YMCA rock wall (yes, my girls were greeted as regulars. that’s good, right?).

After Z’s party we packed up the van and went to CT. We did a little visit with my Nana, then went over to stay with K and P&P. Always fun, since we can visit with their pups, kitties, birds, and guinea pigs. And our Ra-puppy! I miss him so much when we’re apart. We also miss our dear friends in CT too. It’s wonderful to spend time with them, and they are lovely to let us stay overnight. I’m hoping that Nana’s health improves, though, so we can visit some of our other friends, too! (Visit = foist ourselves upon)

To make it even more fun, they made me special cakelets. K&P made such beautiful butterflies! They also made a delicious sweet & sour chicken that included pieces of tempura chicken made with rice flour. mmmmm…. They also know about my current obsession/totem animal, and managed to give me a gorgeous phoenix kite! Anyone want to help me fly it? It’s got a 6 1/2 foot wingspan, and I’m feeling intimidated. (Anyone who wants to give me phoenix objects is welcome to feed my obsession. They are hard to find, though. Dragons were much easier.)

We spent Monday morning with K&P&P and our puppy, then went over to visit Nana for a few hours. Nana was doing OK, but not great. It’s so hard to see her struggling with so many physical challenges at once. She wasn’t up for pictures, so instead I took one of the girls eating their first pizzaria pizza in 6 years! Illiano’s Pizza sells gf pizza with crusts made by Still Riding Pizza. They were happy to make it without cheese, too. Great people, and a wonderful crust & sauce! (fyi – the crust does contain egg, but is free of other major allergens)

This weekend is looking a bit quieter – just an overnight Friday with B&Z, a birthday party for their cousin on Saturday, visitation with Dad on Saturday, grandparents come home late Saturday night, Church Sunday morning, and then recuperating and relaxing Sunday afternoon.

There are so many little things that bring great joy, amazement, sorrow, and wonder. As we have been going through so many trials and tribulations lately, I’ve tried to appreciate the little things.

• Little purpley-blue flowers pop through the dry leaves in the early spring

• Giving flowers to someone in the hospital or nursing home really brightens the room up. But bringing the first flowers of spring from their garden brightens up the person
• 1,250,000 ng = 1.25 mg = 50,000 iu
• There is no greater joy than to see someone awake and alert when you didn’t expect to see them alive again
• You can become vitamin D deficient even when taking 1,000 iu/day supplement
• Watching your kids read the funny pages in the paper brings you back to the time you did that as a kid
• Living with your kids’ grandparents means that there are 3 people to share bedtime stories
• Sometimes prayers work for little things, like traffic jams, not just for big things, like helping someone be comforted and stay strong
• Even the feistiest person looks weak when they are in the hospital with tubes
• No one wants to be inside when you can see the buds on the forsythia
• Adding 1 or 2 kids to the 3 you have ends up being less work (but more food!)
• It’s not healthy to subsist on soda and snacks, but one or two days of it due to a family emergency won’t kill anyone.
• Trader Joe’s has delicious crunchy dried green beans and freeze dried mango. Healthy snacks!
• Sometimes you remember great things just after you need them. Like there’s pizza place with gluten-free pizza available in the town where my grandmothers live
• Brownies and chocolates heal.
• When you toss many things into a pot and it turns out delicious, make sure you write down what you did!
• Sometimes you get blessed with friends who go above and beyond the call of duty. And sometimes that is balanced with family who don’t want to help.
• Prayer and meditation can help calm adults and children under stress
• If you want to get kids’ attention, science projects with fire are awesome!
• Paying it forward or karma is good. If one person watches your kids for a couple days, watching other friends’ kids (for 4 days) is a good thing.
• Quiet schedules can become very busy unexpectedly!
• Life is good

What little things have you been noticing?

We had quite the visiting weekend! We were quite scared on Thursday, when we found out suddenly that my Nana had a few seizures and possibly a stroke. My mother, BG, and I rushed down to Connecticut to be with her, and spent some sitting with her, talking with doctors, crying, and praying. It was a very difficult night with a lot of hard decisions and coming to terms with things none of us wanted to contemplate. We drove home quite anxious, wishing we didn’t need to leave. We were thrilled to learn that she had regained consciousness on Friday, and was responsive. Each phone call had a bi more good news in it than the previous one!

On Saturday we (my folks, the girls, and I) made a less-rushed trip down to Connecticut, and were able to spend some quality time with Nana. She had a bit of confusion, but her personality was back! The girls were able to visit with Nana and Grandpa Bob, as well as with their Uncle and his girlfriend. My uncle and his wife were there too, so it was a great day for family togetherness! They did a great job of keeping busy in the waiting room and were really patient.

While we were visiting Nana at the hospital, we walked over to see my other Nana, who lives one block away. She was being visited by my father & stepmother, so the girls were able to see their Grampy & Mimi.

Visiting with my grandmothers can be very difficult and emotionally draining. One has a body that is falling apart, but her mind is still really sharp. The other has a body that is doing great, but she’s developed memory problems. Since my grandmothers are 86 and 91, I am grateful they are around, but it’s still hard to see them so frail, when I remember them running around with me and taking long walks.

The girls and I went with my step-father to visit his mother, who is recovering from a fall. After spending so much time in a hospital on Saturday, I expected some complaining from the girls, but they were great – and BG even pushed Gram’s wheelchair down the hall! I was really impressed with all three of them.

Finally, to round out the weekend, the girls spent Sunday evening with some of their cousins. They had some supervised visitation with their father at their cousin’s house, and it sounds like it all went well.

So, 4 great-grandparents, 4 grandparents, plus several assorted uncles, aunts, and cousins, all in 48 hours! I don’t know if we can top that any time soon. I didn’t bring my camera, though, so you’ll have to make do with these pics of the girls with Nana, and me with Nana from a visit in early February.

So, it’s the day after U2’s new CD has been released. What are you doing? I’m sharing my love of a band with my kids, and you?

It’s been described as “the most thoroughly Christian thing they’ve done yet.”, but whether or not you are Christian, you’ll enjoy it. Heck, I never realized U2 had any religious overtones, and I’ve loved their music since the dark ages, when I was a teenager. I may be a smidge oblivious, though.

Because I’m cheap frugal, I downloaded No Line On The Horizon for $3.99. But there are a ton of other ways to buy U2’s new CD. I love a band that has options for an album that range in price from $4 to $65!

Admittedly, I also love No Line On The Horizon simply because I no longer have to hear the words while the girls are watching Space Buddies. As a bonus, I can also listen to it without headphones, unlike Lily Allen’s fun (but R-rated) new release, It’s Not Me, It’s You.

OK, that’s my rambling for the day completed. Anyone have any other great suggestions for new-release music? I’ve been reclaiming my love of music lately. And yes, that means some eclectic choices along with Lily Allen and U2, I’m also listening to Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift.