A Capricious Perspective: Insta-Friday Compulsive Randomness

Hello friends!

I was all set to blog last Friday.

Then I almost died of a sudden violent stomach bug. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 24 hours last Friday

I have made a full recovery, and I'm back in the game now.

And you a very long Insta-Friday post.

If I would have blogged last Friday, I would have blogged about how at the end of winter break we ventured downtown to the Denver Art Museum with good friends.

I could just leave it at that...

or I could give you some insight into my crazy head...

I survived the drive and parking and finding the museum.

I have to just dive into these adventures. And not think about it. I have a horrible fear of driving downtown.and taking the kids into the city.by myself.to an unfamiliar place. If I start to think about it, I freeze and start to panic and can't process what to do next. I totally freak out in my head.

So I just go and do it full steam ahead...not letting myself pause to think about it and let panic set in.

It was super easy. Drive where Lola, my nav system, says to go, park in the parking garage, take the elevator down, and the clouds part, the sun shines down and there is the entrance into the museum. Right there. I stop holding my breath and walk over to our friends.

We had a lovely day sketching in sketch books, watching a skit, and doing activities provided in a back pack that we checked out from the museum. It was super cool. If you haven't gone, I highly suggest it. Lots of cool stuff geared for kiddos.

Then at the end of the day we took the elevator back up to the top of the parking garage, walk out to where I parked the van, AND IT IS GONE.

GONE PEOPLE. GONE. NOT THERE. JUST AN EMPTY PARKING SPOT WITH A GREASE STAIN WHERE IT USED TO BE. GONE.

I clench the stroller handles, my heart rate speeds up, panic sets in, I start to sweat, I feel like I can't breath, my mind races with incomplete thoughts. I have 3 kids. Downtown. By myself. And no van. I'm freaking out in my head...did it get towed...was it stolen...who steals a mini-van?! Do I call Andy or 911?

Then AJ looks around the corner and says, "Oh, here's the van."

Oh thank you sweet Jesus.

Apparently the elevator we took down to the museum was a different elevator than than the one we took back up to the van.

Then we get stuck in rush hour traffic. Abby has to potty in rush hour traffic. And almost two hours later we make it home safe and sound.

And I crack open a cold Dr. Pepper.

*******pretend there is some sort of transition here*******

I love my new chalk markers! Love, love, love them! I want them in every color.

And I love Mother Teresa. She has always been an inspiration throughout my life.

Do small things with great love.

That's powerful if you really stop and think about it and try to live it everyday.

I wonder if she had any words of wisdom on driving downtown to new places. She would probably have said...You may have a panic attack taking your kids to awesome new places, do it anyway.

Every since the first time we set foot in Sharkey's Abby has wanted a birthday party there. She has talked about it and day dreamed about it for a year now.

I am so torn on birthday parties. I want to give my kids the world. But at what point is too much just too much? Some times I feel like we give them so many things and so many big things, they stop truly appreciating the little things. That they don't even notice the little things.

I feel like birthday parties have kinda gotten out of control. And I fell right into the crazy, over the top birthday party trap. And once you've gone there, it's hard to go back.

How do we reign it back in? How do we teach our kiddos to truly value sentiment over materialism?

I am loving the scarf look. Love how a scarf can turn a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and sloppy up-do into a cute trendy outfit...and transforms feeling frumpy to feeling cute with a simple twist of a knot.

These are the moments I just want to bottle up and keep forever.

Watching these bonds form and grow is simply magical.

I savor these quiet, peaceful moments after the kids go to bed.

Where you can just sit. That's it. Just sit.

Sit and let the exhaustion of the day settle in.

Andy and I are coaching a first grade Destination Imagination team.

10 first graders working together on creative problem solving.

It's loud, it's energetic, it's exhausting, it's exhilarating!

These young kiddos impress and amaze me every week.

It has begun. With the school turn-in deadline less than a month away, the planning, email and announcement writing, and trimming/sorting/counting/bundling has started! I am so very blessed to have awesome volunteers to help with all of this! I love them for so kindly giving of their time and energy with this crazy adventure.

I have to confess, there is something calming to me to trim/sort/count/bundle these things. Bringing order to the chaos of all the baggies and envelopes of torn packages satisfies my OCD.

Labels for Education means free stuff for our kiddos! This week I inventoried our first order that came in! It's so exciting to start to see the impact all those hours of trimming/sorting/counting/bundling have!

Some of my Young Life Capernaum friends graduated on to their next season in life beyond Young Life. We gathered to visit, eat, and celebrate this transition. It's a bitter sweet time as they leave to start something new.

I love how this boy has a passion for books.

He always has. Those little chubby hands melt my heart.

AJ started his Valentine's Day box. It's a work in progress.

I don't get Mindcraft. But AJ loves it.

I started reading Divergent on Wednesday and finished it Thursday. It was a fast read. It was intriguing. I'm sure I'll dive into the next book after a couple sewing projects.