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.  

the final "little boy" thing

At the end of last summer, I noticed that Trevor's hair had really changed from being baby fine and soft (and super manageable, too!) to being a bit coarser and much more unruly.  We have tried to keep his cute little boy haircut since then, but finally had to throw in the towel this weekend.

While we sat in church, Trevor told us that he wanted to cut his hair like his friend Luke, so since he was so specific about what he wanted on his own, we finally caved.

One last photo of Trevor with all his hair:

okay, maybe just one more.....

Only downside to the haircut?  iPhoto is now thoroughly confused as to who is Trevor and who is Olivia in every picture.  

January Snow

This January, we had snow dumped on us two weeks in a row, more or less shutting everything down for a couple of days each time.  The kids had a great time getting out and playing in it, which was nice, but we are all looking forward to warmer weather.

okay, so Olivia is not amused by the snow at all.  She's a summer baby through and through.

Happy Birthday Tiff!

In honor of my sister-in-law Tiffni's birthday, I thought I'd share some photos of her and my brother-in-law Brian as he returned from Afghanistan this October.  Grab the tissues before you continue scrolling!  I am in no way a legit photographer (just an overzealous mom with a nice camera) so if anything, I am just moonlighting (hah! gotta pay for the Midtown tunnel toll somehow! ...kidding...i couldn't charge two nickels for this stuff)

Anyway, here we go:

Tiff got ready for her big reunion by spending the day with me and the kiddos...to include going to a pediatrician visit with Olivia and I where Miss O got shots.  Moral support, you know.

So Brian's Seabee unit came home through the Norfolk Space-A terminal.  Very, very different than the Navy homecomings I am used to.  You get to the terminal and wait at these dark windows, to basically see your loved one come off the plane and walk through this glass hallway, pray that you have a spot that they can see you as they walk though.....

and then you book it to the lower level of the airport where they actually come out of the secured zone and you are able to have your reunion.  For Brian and Tiff their reunion took place at the bottom of the stairs  (Thanks again Tiff for not taking the escalator, b/c these would have been ten times more blurry).  

This shot is my absolute favorite of the evening:

And after Tiff and Brian reunited, it was Trevor's turn to welcome his Uncle home.  

Yep, nope, they aren't related at all.  Goofballs.  

This was my first time ever attending a homecoming that I wasn't meeting Shaner at and let me tell you....regardless of whether it is your servicemember or not, the emotional high is still there.  No joke.  These photos are from the beginning of October and I still get choked up looking at them.  

Happy Birthday Tiffni!  Thank you for letting me capture these special moments for you and Bri.  

D is for DADDY

Because everything fell perfectly into place the week of Homecoming (ok, well aside from the car accident) it was D week at Trevor's school. . We obviously pulled Trevor out for Thursday so that he could be on the pier, but Friday was his sharing day, so we really didn't want him to miss out.  Trevor chose to bring his Daddy to school for sharing, so it was a great way for our little T-rex to celebrate having his daddy home on his own!

Shane brought some of the stuff that he had picked up while on deployment to share with Trevor's class and it was so nice to see how proud Trevor is of his Daddy.