“April Showers Bring May Crawlers”
I love May. While there are 11 other months to choose from, there’s something about May that just speaks LIFE. What other month has a day to celebrate itself? November Day? Lame. February Day? Fail. May Day – YES. It could be the 16 school days remaining. (It IS.) It could be that Dallas has entered a zone of perfection that makes us want to enjoy evenings outside with a margarita on the patio (clarification: margaritaS). It could be baseball is in… wait for the pun… full swing. It could be because some of my favorite people are to be celebrated in May: My brother Mark (who shares a bday with Pope JP II), St. Philip Neri’s feast day (patron saint of pranks), Renee Winkel (future patroness of pranks), Ali Pries, Sara Brauner (cinco de Mayo!!!), Julie Figoni (patroness of pranks gone wrong), and several prayer group friends such as Cynthia Linder, Erin Mueller, and Cristi Asmussen (which I just realized we are halvsies – I’m Nov. 19, you’re May 19 = winning)… that’s pretty much like one cool person a day in May. Then you have Pentecost which is the Birthday of the Church (and you better believe my students are getting cupcakes to celebrate its birthday with little candles as “tongues of fire”).
Favorite Words:
- Baba, Mama, Dada… and boy does he use them. The baby knows how to work the system. I put him down in his crib and two minutes later I can hear him whimpering, Mama, over the monitor – SO manipulative.
Favorite Foods:
Favorite Activities:
- “Moves
Like Jagger”… Crawling, Planking, Lurching forward, Sitting up, Trying to pull
up, Trying to climb on top of the dog, Trying to pull away from diaper changes,
Getting poop on the floor trying to pull away from diaper changes, Trying to
eat the drain in the bathtub, Trying to catch water from the faucet, Trying to
eat the water faucet, Hunting more crunchy bugs, Slamming hands on the
high chair tray to make the food fly à Baby boy is WILD.
- Then Uncle Airplane (Mark) surprised us all by making a quick Dallas visit before he left for Bahrain. God bless Mark and his mission.
Something to Share…
(This post is "expired" as it applied more to yesterday when I started writing, but read on if you wish.) And, if you are still reading, you get a gold star. Today is the National Day of Prayer. Many of us excuse ourselves from even ten minutes of silence and contemplation. We are busy people. My sophomores were studying monasticism in the early church, and I took them outside for ten minutes of silence. It’s amazing how powerful that time can be when we allow God to work in us. Today, there was a substitute teacher at lunch who was telling us about how some scientists found a gene that they are calling the “God gene” and it predisposes humans to higher level thinking and spiritual/religious thought. In our nature, we are made to search for Him. (I don’t know much about this, but I thought it was fascinating!)
The priest’s prayer from mass resonated in me this morning, “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE to give you thanks.”
God be glorified in us.
Love,
Mandy
I love May. While there are 11 other months to choose from, there’s something about May that just speaks LIFE. What other month has a day to celebrate itself? November Day? Lame. February Day? Fail. May Day – YES. It could be the 16 school days remaining. (It IS.) It could be that Dallas has entered a zone of perfection that makes us want to enjoy evenings outside with a margarita on the patio (clarification: margaritaS). It could be baseball is in… wait for the pun… full swing. It could be because some of my favorite people are to be celebrated in May: My brother Mark (who shares a bday with Pope JP II), St. Philip Neri’s feast day (patron saint of pranks), Renee Winkel (future patroness of pranks), Ali Pries, Sara Brauner (cinco de Mayo!!!), Julie Figoni (patroness of pranks gone wrong), and several prayer group friends such as Cynthia Linder, Erin Mueller, and Cristi Asmussen (which I just realized we are halvsies – I’m Nov. 19, you’re May 19 = winning)… that’s pretty much like one cool person a day in May. Then you have Pentecost which is the Birthday of the Church (and you better believe my students are getting cupcakes to celebrate its birthday with little candles as “tongues of fire”).
God bless Texas and the month of May.
The blessings continue… Baby Tressan is growing. Here’s
the update:
Favorite Words:
- Baba, Mama, Dada… and boy does he use them. The baby knows how to work the system. I put him down in his crib and two minutes later I can hear him whimpering, Mama, over the monitor – SO manipulative.
-
Other than that, he likes to scream. Not angry, he’s just screaming because he
can (and he does this all day long). All day. Josh got the full experience when
he worked from home with the baby boy two days last month. The babysitter tells
me every day when I pick him up, “He’s so LOUD.” Joshua and I should have seen
this coming.
- We
are working on “Cubs Suck” and “Buenos Dias”
- He
is extremely opinionated these days. He shakes his head NO and will holler if
he doesn’t want something. This morning he tried to bite me when I was clipping
his nails. He only has three teeth (four more are just breaking through), but
it doesn’t take many of those tiny teeth to get your point across. And those
little teeth cause a lot of drama in his little world. Honestly, I think it’s a
horrible design that just when babies are becoming so cute and interactive and
fun, the teeth make their debut and turn my sweet little bean into a fussy ear-pulling
mess. And it’s x4 right now. All-in-all, he’s pretty tough.
Favorite Foods:
- What
does a 9 month old eat? June bugs, carpet strands – he picks at them until he find
a loose one he can eat, dog hair he pulls straight from Lucy’s tail, a sticker
he picked off another kid at the gym… you really have to keep up with him. It
reminds me of that Reading Rainbow story (there’s an old school reference) about
the goat that ate trash (Gregory the
Terrible Eater, I believe).
- What
doesn’t he eat? Any kind of green vegetable. You’d think if this kid chomps on
June bugs he wouldn’t discriminate, but not true. He will gag like a cat on a hairball. Below, Dad tries to give baby broccoli, carrots and cheese.
Favorite Activities:
- “Life is a Highway”… He runs the house in his
walker, and poor Lucy falls victim to his maniacal driving all too often. He
loves to pin the dog in a corner or up against the furniture. Not only that,
but he found he can reach the dirt of our large potted plant in the living
room. The first time it was strewn all around the room, and Lucy quickly was punished
for the mess. The second time, Josh caught him brown-handed with dirt on his
face and on his tray as he was tossing it all over himself. Busted.
(See Exhibit A)
WATCH THIS VIDEO UNTIL THE END, HE IS CRACKING HIMSELF UP!!!
The Latest…
- First, there was Easter and Grandma and Grandpa Hahn came in town. Got our first taste of Babe's BBQ and our first trip out on Grandpa Briones' boat. Tressan loved the visit from Aunt Barb's battery-powered Easter Bunny.
- And I got to see Aunt Stephanie and Casey!
- Then Uncle Airplane (Mark) surprised us all by making a quick Dallas visit before he left for Bahrain. God bless Mark and his mission.
- Noah (3) and Sofia (1) celebrated April birthdays!
- And my Godsister, Kennedy, came to play with me!
- We also enjoyed dinner with Adrienne, Raeann, Diedra, Peyton and Coogan at the end of April!
- The Hunger Games phenomenon subsided an has been replaced with Rangers Games fever (especially after the disappointment that was the 3rd book). We went to our first game last week with Grandma and Grandpa Briones, and it felt like home. No feeling can replace that of being at the ballpark on a perfect spring night watching our team kick the pants off the competition. (I'm going to add a plug for the Chik-fil-A spicy chicken sandwich which we had before the game. It was my second time, and I KNOW that sandwich and I are long-lost lovers.) Josh and I are both looking forward to watching the continuing demise of C.J. and Pujols when we play the Angels.
- The Hunger Games phenomenon subsided an has been replaced with Rangers Games fever (especially after the disappointment that was the 3rd book). We went to our first game last week with Grandma and Grandpa Briones, and it felt like home. No feeling can replace that of being at the ballpark on a perfect spring night watching our team kick the pants off the competition. (I'm going to add a plug for the Chik-fil-A spicy chicken sandwich which we had before the game. It was my second time, and I KNOW that sandwich and I are long-lost lovers.) Josh and I are both looking forward to watching the continuing demise of C.J. and Pujols when we play the Angels.
- Josh and I were prom dates
last weekend. I love that I’m 30 and still going to prom. Once the students cleared out, Sarah Berry, Melanie Bolling, Annie Smith and I decided we would request our own songs. It was a good idea until we learned the DJ didn't even have "Ice, Ice, Baby," "Country Grammar" or anything Backstreet Boys/NSYNC. Tressan skipped prom
and went straight to an after-party at the Gothman’s house.
- At this moment, Dad (Josh)
is in Boston for work, as he has been since Monday. So I’ve been dealt the single
mom card. Lucy, Tressan and I are eating our emotions (Lucy
gets extra treats, and Tressan and I share a little cake). I told Josh he
better come home soon before all of us gain 10 pounds. It’s been pretty stable,
except for the night I left sprinkler on for two hours while we were running
errands, and (on the same errand) when Tressan peed all down the front of my
shirt at the store. Then there was the night I left the Pandora bracelet Josh
gifted to me at the gym (Josh doesn’t know I did this). Luckily a trainer
hunted it down and promised me not to sell it to a pawn shop. But since Josh
isn’t home, I have been indulging in sleeping in the middle of the bed – which really
is glorious! I also have been known to tune in to “Toddlers and Tiaras” and the
sermons of T.D. Jakes on TV (a non-denom pastor at The Potter’s House in Dallas).
Note, I’m such a theo nerd and this is totally my secret life. It’s like when
people discover you have Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and "MmmBop" in your “Recently
Played” itunes playlist. Shamefully, that might be true for me as well. Can’t wait for Josh to get back tonight. The unnatural feeling of his absence affirms just how "One" we are.
- Stay tuned for the marriage
of Theresa Blackwell and Justin Mason (this weekend)!!!!!
(This post is "expired" as it applied more to yesterday when I started writing, but read on if you wish.) And, if you are still reading, you get a gold star. Today is the National Day of Prayer. Many of us excuse ourselves from even ten minutes of silence and contemplation. We are busy people. My sophomores were studying monasticism in the early church, and I took them outside for ten minutes of silence. It’s amazing how powerful that time can be when we allow God to work in us. Today, there was a substitute teacher at lunch who was telling us about how some scientists found a gene that they are calling the “God gene” and it predisposes humans to higher level thinking and spiritual/religious thought. In our nature, we are made to search for Him. (I don’t know much about this, but I thought it was fascinating!)
St.
Benedict (shout out) coined a phrase, “Ora et Labora” which means “Pray and
Work.” May our work become a prayer. May our work be done for the glory of God.
Can I glorify God through grading essays? Can I glorify God through folding the
laundry? Can I glorify God through the little things? It doesn’t matter what we
do… spreadsheets, phone calls, conferences, physical work, caring for family… as
long as we do it so that God may be glorified.
Earlier
this week, I opened a spiral with notes I wrote at a conference a few years
back. Clearly, my attention span challenges were not overcome in high school
because, at the time of this conference, Joshua and I had recently started
dating and there are little scribbles about him throughout. Very sweet. Anyway,
Matthew Kelly was giving a talk on Becoming the Best Version of Yourself, and
his discourse moved to the direction of work…
Making money is the secondary
outcome .The primary is that we become a better version of ourselves. It doesn’t
matter what your job is; what matters is who you are. In every moment of the
day we choose between the best and some secondary option. And every time we say
yes to something, it affects who we are. The Spirit of the world says the money
you have is yours, you earned it, and work is about making your earning. The
Spirit of God says the money is a gift, a responsibility, and your work is a
contribution. (Paraphrased)
So, when our work becomes a prayer, we stop asking, “What
is the least I can do to get by?” and move into the mentality, “What is the
most I can do to contribute?” May we “cast our nets into the deep.”
The priest’s prayer from mass resonated in me this morning, “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE to give you thanks.”
God be glorified in us.
Mandy
