Happy Friday!

Perhaps spring has finally sprung around here!  We spent the afternoon outside enjoying the weather, and I will say, Olivia had a great time swinging!  Hopefully, it won't decide that tomorrow it should be 10 degrees a-la-winter again, and we can enjoy more days like these!

In other news....

--Trevor turned 5 last Friday.  We celebrated with an airplane themed party here at the house.  It was amazeballs.  I kid you not.  Big fat birthday party post to come, once I edit the pictures and get all my stuff in order.  [I feel no rush, since the 'Happy Birthday Trevor' banner is still up in the kitchen]

--Graduation is in T-minus-43 days.  I spend most every second I have that is not at the office or with the kiddos working on schoolwork.  I will make it, but wow, it is going to be quite the ride to get there.  

--Just started my second diet bet with friends...am loving to host them and work towards a goal....Last month, one of my great girlfriends walked away with close to $80 for winning.  Hopefully I will find my pocket lined with some extra cash at the end of this one!  

--Lenten goals....workin' towards them.  Fr. Barron is well, awesome.  His daily reflections are short, sweet, and strong.  De-cluttering is....going...I have gotten through my room and through the kitchen, but I really need to get moving on the rest of the house.  

.....research on Latin American liberation ecclesiology calls......

Lent 2014

Lent 2014 starts tomorrow with Ash Wednesday....so today, being Shrove Tuesday, I am eating and drinking all. the. things. in addition to laying out my final 'plan' for Lent.

I am not a fan of giving things up...for me at least, it doesn't always bring about a lasting change. It is more my style to set a goal, or choose something to focus on.....giving things up may come as part of that...but it is more likely to be a lasting change--which is the goal of Lent anyway, right?

So, for Lent 2014:

• Declutter/Organize the Stuff--I do a great job of sifting through stuff and getting rid of the bulk of the papers/mail here and there, but then it ends up with a pile to be filed, to be put away, to be something-ed.  But those piles is really as far as it gets.  Now, the piles are neat and they are all consolidated into one place, but just having all the "stuff" staring at me makes my mind just as cluttered as the piles, just knowing they are there.  Spring cleaning is going to get wrapped up into this as well.  I have a gazillion ideas pinned on my organizing board on Pinterest, now I need to actually put them into action.  
• Family Faith Formation:  We can't seem to get ourselves scheduled so that either of us could attend one of the small groups this Lent, so we will be participating in the Living the Eucharist program at home as a family, using the family reflection guide. 
• Personal Spiritual Formation:  I am going to focus on my personal formation by doing Fr. Robert Barron's daily reflections.  It really couldn't be easier, I signed up online and they will be delivered to my inbox first thing in the morning.  We'll see where it takes me.  

So, not giving anything up, but some goals that will hopefully set me up for some growth and change.  We'll see how it goes on the other side of the 40 days.  

Trevor's Valentine's/President's Day Program

Due to some crazy snow delays, Trevor's February program at school was moved to this past Friday.  He did a great job and made big improvements in how he was up on stage.....he sang along and really got into it for the whole time instead of only doing the songs that he really knew.  We were SUPER proud!