It's been a pretty good 2 weeks! Lots of little stuff to do and I didn't pick up
one single extra shift! Decent weather, time with my loves, activities... it's been good.
Mostly. A few bits of heartache have touched our family, but as is life.
Ups and downs and you just have to keep moving forward, knowing there will be more
"ups" coming around again to get you through the downs.
I'm going to do bad news first. A childhood friend of mine (and longtime friend of my familys')
ended his life recently. It came as a total shock and has been a little hard to process that he is really gone.
I haven't seen him in years, but know and care deeply for his family and can't begin to imagine
I haven't seen him in years, but know and care deeply for his family and can't begin to imagine
what they are going through. Visitation is today and I'm trying to prepare myself for that.
Utterly heartbreaking.
Also, we made a 6hr to and from trek to WI to visit Ryan's grandma in the hospital, as she isn't
doing well at all. She fell recently after being home independently just a few days and crushed a few
vertebrae in her back, so she's back in ICU. It was difficult to see her uncomfortable and she didn't talk much to anyone. She recognized Ryan and seemed to focus a bit when the girls were there. The girls did well, and I was glad they were so well behaved after such a long trip and spending a few hours at the hospital.
Lastly, both my grandparents have been hospitalized recently as well. My grandma has been ill for some time and is very weak. My grandpa is a tough old mule and I think forgets sometimes he's not a spry young chicken and does things that he probably shouldn't! He landed himself a little stay in the hospital as well over the last few days and I know it's been tough on my mom and her siblings as they try to coordinate care helping out both of their parents! Hopefully Grandpa will be home soon and back to his old shenanigans (maybe just not as many of them!)
OK... So, moving on to the good stuff!
Ellie is doing great riding her bike, which is so fun! I'm excited knowing the girls will both be cruising around on their bikes this summer together! Maybe I'll have to get myself a bike, and then the whole family can go for rides some summer evenings!
Lila had her Track and Field day at school and really lucked out with some gorgeous weather! I took Ellie with me and we had a great time cheering her on (especially in the tug of war!)
Ryan and I went to our first St. Paul Saints game together! Our neighbor Bryan had a Birthday, and it gave us reason to gather our "hood" and go out! The Saints won 9-2 (although I will be honest and say I spent most of the game gabbing). I loved the Fireworks at the end and it was overall, a great night! Happy Birthday Bryan!
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| The new Saints stadium is pretty cool! |
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| Drinks at the Bulldog pre-game! |
The girls send me love texts sometimes while I'm at work!
I got some new ink that I've been wanting for a long time! Needs a tiny bit of touch ups, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!!
(this is immediately after my 3.5 HOUR session, so it looks a little raw)
Porch season is a good season!
My kids are weird. Good thing I'm weird too. We kinda work out! ;)
We celebrated a special lady's Birthday a little early, since next weekend is packed solid. Happy Early Birthday Mom! We love you so much!
(Dinner at Osaka was delicious and lots of fun, as usual!)
We have chicken in our neighborhood! The girls think they are just delightful, and our neighbor sent us this pic! Guess the girls were having a little play time with the hens while they were over visiting! Haha
The girls have gotten very good at climbing our tree in the front and I snapped a few pics yesterday before I went for a run! Goofy kiddos!
They also spent some time playing together on our swingset and swinging their bats around!
Makes my heart so happy!!!
Yesterday was also Memorial Day and it wasn't lost on us!
I'm grateful for all those who have served and especially those who have given their lives
protecting the country we live in. We are forever thankful and appreciative of your sacrifice.
Now, I'm going to sit quietly in my chair for a little bit until the girls wake up. I've got a nasty sore throat and an extremely busy week ahead, so I plan to rest every bit that I can! Don't have time to get knocked down with a cold!
