high and low

Have you ever had a week where you enjoyed so many wonderful things...and yet so many things went wrong? We just had a weekend like that, and let me tell you...I'm exhausted! Wearily exhausted. My brain hurts from being so confused. Here is a brief synopses of our 3-day weekend.

Friday
High: We've been trying to plan a trip to Duluth this month. We knew we couldn't squeeze it into our already busy weekend, so after consulting the 10-day forecast, my husband took Friday off. Such a beautiful high. I love Autumn in Duluth. I knew Simon would have a lot of fun there and I was hoping Miles would too - his first Duluth trip!

Happy to be out of the car.

We enjoyed many things and visited some of our favorite places.

Thompson Hill:

Enger Tower and Gardens:

To date, this is my favorite picture of Peter and Miles.

The water was so choppy that the only boat we saw that day was a huge barge heading toward the Lift Bridge.

We made it to the top of the tower! Our eyes are so different.

Of all the places we visited, Enger Tower had the prettiest colors.

This is so unlike Miles. He never sleeps on people!

A Japanese Peace Bell from Duluth's sister city in Ohara, Japan

Kitchi Gammi Park:

His favorite pastime. 

Canal Park Brewery Company (Dinner):
No pictures. They were all on my iPhone. More on that under Sunday. :(

Canal Park:

The weather was gorgeous - but very windy. My hair was a crazy mess by the end of the day, warranting a shower as soon as the boys were in bed.

Low: Finding out that after said shower, water has been leaking under our tub for the past couple of days, dripping down into our kitchen. Seeing the outline of our tub on our kitchen ceiling is not a happy sight. Instead of enjoying a lazy Friday night with my man after a long day and 6 hours in the car, our evening was spent worrying about the tub and praying for wisdom for my husband...and trying to encourage him as best as I could. I felt so helpless.

Saturday
High: Celebrating my Mother-in-Law's 60th birthday. I'm so glad we were able to celebrate her - she's one of my favorite people!  It was fun seeing all of the cousins playing together and visiting with the grownups.

Low: More tub drama. Another evening taken up by trying to fix the leak - my husband is amazing. Also, having a SUPER cranky 18mo. He's been having such a rough couple of months. I've felt up his back gums a few times, trying to determine if this is teething crankiness, or just 18mo crankiness. It's so hard to tell. His constant whine and shyness of people who aren't his immediate family is getting SO.old and frustrating.

Sunday
High: Napping and Small Group. Watching The Great Gatsby.

Low: Working in the nursery after a cranky-baby weekend. All I wanted to do was drop my kids off in nursery/kindergarten and sit with my husband and listen to a missionary talk about God and his goodness and faithfulness. I needed to hear that sermon and be reminded about the goodness of God. But instead, it was my week to work in the nursery, changing diapers and wiping runny noses. I'm grateful for these nurseries and the children - and even though I was fighting for joy on our way to church, my attitude changed once I walked into the room - it's funny how being completely adored by 2 year old's can make you feel so much better - even if you are wiping butts and noses.  A few more lows of the day were the Vikings losing and not being able to sleep as long as I wanted during my Sunday afternoon nap. Also, a very clingy 18mo at our Small Group meeting - so much for enjoying a little break. But, the biggest low was updating my phone and then losing everything - which of course included all of my pictures. Having to go through the steps of setting up a new phone was not how I wanted to end my weekend. Also, staying up until close to 2 am trying to restore it was not cool. Especially when the alarm went off this morning.  Oh Monday.

So to say that my brain is confused on whether it should be happy or sad is an understatement. I'm weary. I'm tying not to hyperventilate about a long week ahead with my kids (is it bad that I'm craving a break from the Motherhood?). I just want a worry-free, kid-free, problem-free hour...or two. But instead, it'll be spent indoors as I re-install my apps back onto my phone, trying to keep up with the household chores and keeping my boys happy and entertained. Highs and lows.

October.

Hello blog world. It's October now...7 days in. This is the month where I'm always undecided in whether I like it or not. I love October for many reasons. One of them being it's my husband's birth month. Another being that it's SO gorgeous here in Saint Paul with the leaves changing, contrasted by a brilliant blue sky and the usual dark green grass. After our dry Summer months, it's a nice change to see healthy grass again. But October is also when it starts to get cold here. The days are shorter and the temps are cooler. Sometimes there's even snow. Gasp. Thankfully we only had rain this past week, non of that icky white stuff that our neighboring states saw. Last week was a pretty depressing week weather-wise. It was much chillier, the sun played hooky and the skies drizzled and poured rain down upon us. Again, I'm grateful that it wasn't snow. But still. It made me realize that Summer is truly over with and Winter is just around the corner. BUT! There is hope for this upcoming week. Looks like we're back to sunshine and 70's. Maybe last week was just a silly little prank?

In honor of Fall, the berries outside our kitchen window started to turn a happy yellow. The birds are happy.

This morning, I met up with a few other women and their kids who live in our neighborhood for a playdate. It was a gorgeous morning - a bit nippy at first, but totally bearable with a couple of layers, a scarf and hat and warm boots. Add a tumbler of hot tea and warm sunshine and I was a happy momma. It was truly wonderful meeting up with other moms who not only have kids my kid's age, but they also live in the neighborhood! Since moving here 2.5 years ago, it's been slow-going getting to know our neighbors. This was a great ice-breaker, for sure! Facebook is such a wonderful tool in connecting people. We only have one car, so going to mom events at church and with friends usually doesn't work out for us during the week. I miss the fellowship. So this was perfect for me. Just an easy walk to a park where the boys can get their energy out and I can have some adult conversation and make new friends. I'm only bummed that I found the group so late in the season. Hopefully God will smile down on our fair city and allow us a mild fall/early winter.  A girl and dream and pray.

Miles finally wore a hat this morning. He NEVER wears hats. I found him so stinkin' cute with his daddy's hat on his little head, that I just had to snap a few pictures. 

 

One of the great things about summer being over is that our Sunday School classes start up again at church. Simon is LOVING being back in class. A kindergarten class at that! Once again, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude towards our church - they take such great care of our children, teaching them and loving on them. I'm loving being able to take notes again during the main service, sitting closer to the front and having all of my attention on the sermon. Such a gift.

Peter's 30th birthday was last Thursday.

I wanted it to be super special and something that he would never forget. But sometimes my most well-intentioned wishes don't always meet up with reality. Even though it wasn't what I wished for, it still ended up being special because we were all together. That was what counts, right? The boys were on their best behavior and I made birthday treats for my husband making him feel loved and special. His cake was delicious (came in at a close second to this one) - word of advice though: if your cake calls for homemade caramel inbetween the layers of your cake, do not refrigerate your cake or your caramel will harden and be near impossible to cut through - yeah. At least it was tasty and easier to cut after thawing. ;)

100 Grand Cake. The inside layer was so pretty.

I made a 6" cake due to the fact that we just didn't need to eat a huge 9" layered cake. This was plenty for our little family.

I also scored big points on the present department, which is a huge win for me (and him - lol) as I'm a horrible gift-giver...and he's a hard person to buy for. It's the little things. Simon was completely adorable and made the sweetest card for his dad. He was pretty excited about it.

Two things I am looking forward to this month are going to an apple orchard (or two) and visiting Duluth. Two things we try to do late September/October. We have yet to do either thanks to the rain and a busy schedule. But we WILL. We must!!