It was a very normal week, with several warm nights and lots of family fun. The boys were busy with school. We got a really lovely note from Xander’s teacher-
I just wanted to share a lovely little moment from Xander today. We typically eat snack right before the kids head to Spanish class so we have a hard stop time. Xander ate his snack and was drawing happily when it was time to line up. He approached me and said, “Ms. Santiago, I think we need more snack time when we come back from Spanish.” I replied, “Oh, I thought you had finished your snack already.” And he surprised me by saying, “Yes, I did, but I noticed (classmate) didn’t get to finish eating and I think she could use more time.”
I love the way he noticed and advocated for a friend! Thank you for raising such a kind human being.
Gussie and Grandma were busy on Wednesday- at the park, shopping, and lots of playing. A few nights, we joined the neighbors and walked to 2 different parks for some after dinner play time. On Thursday, Xander’s class had an after school crepe party with the french teacher. It was a silent auction item that one of his classmates parents’ bought, and then invited the whole class to join. I was dying to see the crepe party in action, so I arrived a little early to watch and even got to have my own crepe!
Soccer began with a practice week- Xander was very excited and Augustus is super ready to start next week. I think soccer is lame and boring, but it was really fun to watch Xander, so maybe I will become a soccer mom despite my resistance.
I had an order for 12 dozen frog macarons, which was a very fun project for me and an honor to do as it was for a celebration of life for a young man. Baking is just a fun hobby for me, but being able to provide cookies for important parts of people’s lives is such a privilege. I was happy to be able to make as many frogs as I possibly could!
On Saturday, part 2 of my 40th birthday celebration happened when I ran the Women Run the Twin Cities 10 mile race. I wanted to start my 40th year with a physical challenge, proving to myself that I’m strong and capable. The first mile felt awesome. And then the hills came. It was the hilliest course I’ve ever run. I think we ran downhill for a full mile, and as I watched the super fast runners come back up the hill (there was a turn around), I kept thinking, “I am NEVER going to get myself back up this hill!” It was GRUELING, easily the hardest race I’ve ever run. I completed it in 2 hours. Not an impressive time by any means, but I earned every inch of that race. At mile 7, I was DONE. Like, near tears. And then I heard someone cheering my name. First I thought maybe I had a nametag somewhere on me. And then I thought, “what are the odds someone with the same name would be right behind me?!” It took me a VERY long time to recognize my best friend in the whole world but when I did, I burst out laughing (it was that or tears!). What an amazing surprise (and a great sign!) and I was able to drag my body the final 3 miles.
Running races is such a weird hobby. It’s hard to describe the collective energy of so many people running together but it’s so wonderful. And it’s also hard to explain how meaningful it is to have people there to support me- it’s just running, but seeing Christine, and then my 3 men at the end was so amazing and it filled my soul with so much appreciation.
Saturday night was pizza, hoagies, and movie night on the couch. Mama was too tired for anything else. We watched “Bad Guys” the movie and it was SO cute. The boys giggled through the whole movie.
Nate and his friend Jake were busy with a golf tournament today. It had been rescheduled from a few weeks ago when the course was too wet from rain. Late May, but it was still a pretty chilly day for them!
The boys spent the day at Grandma Debbie’s house. They went to the mall play place, McDonald’s and played all day. When they got home, there was an intense kids vs. grow ups soccer game before dinner. Tonight we had our own crepe party, inspired by the kindergarten crepe party earlier in the week. A perfect end to a great week!
