Happy Things

Last week I attended a mission at our parish. A mission is like a retreat, except you don't stay anywhere, you just go to church everyday to listen to a priest speak on a specific topic. The priest that came to Holy Redeemer was Father Ben Cameron from the Brothers of Mercy and his talk each day was on the Seven Deadly Sins & the Cardinal Virtues. It was very inspiring and I really enjoyed going each day. After attending the mission, I have started to make some significant changes to my spiritual life and am happy that our parish offered this wonderful opportunity for me to grow in my Catholic faith. 

Our little munchkin has become very proficient in navigating the iPad! She can open all of the kid-friendly apps and play games with ease, and she can open the Netflix app and watch cartoons at her leisure. I observed Ella playing on it Saturday afternoon and I was amazed at how quickly she learned how to use it all on her own!

 Next month Ella will be two and a half, and as she nears her half birthday, her language skills are really taking off! She has started to speak in complete sentences and uses new words every single day. She also understands her brother quite well and translates for others when necessary. It's so amazing to see such a young child grow so much in language and vocabulary in just a few short months. 

 A few evenings ago, our friends came over for dinner and Ella was super excited to spend time with her favorite friend, Bella. The girls are a little over a year apart in age and really seem to enjoy each other's company. 

 These faces crack me up!

 Ella seems to be quite obsessed with socks, but they never seem to stay on her feet for long. She picked out these owl ones at Target last week and was really excited to wear them over the weekend. However, about twenty minutes after they went on her feet, they came off. The laundry is really piling up here what with socks being put on and taken off all day, along with various other articles of toddler clothing. 

Aren't these lilies so pretty?! A good friend of mine brought them over. They make the whole house smell lovely. 

Last Saturday Jeff participated in the Polar Plunge in downtown Portland to benefit Special Olympics. He, along with several of his co-workers, stripped down to swim trunks and jumped into the icy Willamette River. I am so proud of my hubby for donating his time (and money) to such a worthy cause. 

Today was Nicholas's first day back to preschool after being home for three months. He wore this pseudo tie sweater and his huge grin because he was very excited to be back! It was a great morning. He painted a Valentine heart, played cars and house, played ball in the gym, completed some building apps on the iPad, and participated in circle time by singing the ABCs and listening attentively to a story about a polar bear. There were several times that I got choked up with emotion because Nicholas truly thrives at school and to watch him using his arms to paint (among other things) and feeling such a sense of accomplishment is such an amazing thing to witness. He was greeted upon arrival by some of his dearest friends, who were so happy to see him again. That made his day. It was such a great morning!

Last Friday we went to Shriners and picked up Nicholas's new AFO's (foot orthopedics). They fit great and don't hurt his feet like his old ones did. He was especially excited to see the car/plane pattern he picked out on them too! Some of his classmates commented on how cool they are and Nicholas loved their comments. 

I am slowly starting to shake off my winter funk. I think the mission last week really helped because I got out of the house everyday and spent time reflecting upon my spiritual life and how I can transform my mind to reflect that of my soul. I also have quite a few work events that I am in charge of this month, so I have been keeping busy preparing for those instead of sitting inside and counting the days until spring arrives. Approximately thirty-eight. But who's counting?