I stumbled across a post this evening written by a man who appears to have it out for the church.  So, it's going to be easy for him to find faults with Christians.

He shared his first-hand experience of how he witnessed the low-life down the street snow blow the sidewalk of the entire block.

He then shared how the man at the holy church next door has never gone an inch beyond their property line in their snow blowing efforts.

I know it can seem petty or insignificant, but Church, the world is watching.  Don't let them use you as their excuse.

So, I'm trying to write more this month.

I take part in this writing challenge for the month of February.



(So, I actually wrote this post two weeks ago.
And then I thought I needed to add a photo.
Which never happened.
And it sat and sat and sat.
The guilt increased.
The motivation decreased.
I thought it had to be perfect.

But I don't want the pressure of perfect.
I just want to write.
So now I'm sharing it so I can write more and share more.
Continue on.)

But sometimes I just have boring things to write about.

Heck, sometimes my day is just kinda slightly or majorly boring.

I don't always have a ton of interaction with anybody besides an adorable three year old.
Hubby is entering has now entered his busy season with extra long weekdays and Saturday commitments.
And in the snow and cold, honestly, some days I just can't bear the thought of leaving the house.

So hunker down for the next few weeks with me as I try to find the beauty in the boring.
The meaningful in the mundane.
And the holy in the humdrum of every day.

And I'm ok with the fact that some days may not be that interesting to my readers.  Some days I just write for me.  And you get to peek at those musings if you so choose.

But with a month full of writing to do, some days may need a little extra inspiration.

If you've got any writing prompts or suggestions, feel free to leave me a comment.

I am so grateful that Catherine has two sets of grandparents within the near vicinity!

A few days ago I made plans for Catherine to go to Josh's parents for a night so we could enjoy a nice evening alone.

We love going to restaurants, and it's a totally different experience to go out for dinner with a three year old vs. just the two of us!

Photo taken Dec. 2013, was this our last dressy date??

So, Saturday, we got to enjoy a fabulous dinner out, as well as wandering around Target for a bit.  I will point out the irony that 75% of the items in our cart were for Catherine.  That girl is just too easy to buy for!

Saturday night The Blizzard Linus hit.  Sidenote:  who knew they were now naming blizzards??

Church Sunday was canceled, and other than dropping off some Redbox rentals, we had no where to go.  So, Date Night extended into Date Day.  The snow kept coming Sunday, so it was a good thing I packed extra clothes for Catherine.

Today, I still didn't think it was safe to be out on the snow and ice covered roads, so our Date Weekend continued, as Josh had the day off work.

We've been able to FaceTime a few times with Catherine, so that keeps us from missing her too terribly.  And I think she'd be happy to spend countless days with Papa and Granice (that's Grandma Janice), watching Mickey and eating ice cream.

 I've enjoyed sleeping in, napping on the couch, watching non-cartoon dvd's, staying in PJ's, and soaking up a bit of quiet.  There have been a couple times I went back to default mode:  once I thought I heard her crying in bed, and at bedtime on the first night alone I locked the gate at the top of the stairs - something I do every night to help ensure her containment.

But, tomorrow Josh will head back to work.  I will dress and leave the house.  And Little Girl will return home.

Grateful for a nice little break.

Last week, somehow at dinner I ended up quoting a song by Simon & Garfunkel.  This then led to Josh finding it on his phone and playing it for us all.

Catherine is totally on a music kick currently.  She's still singing Christmas carols (her own versions of "Joy to the World" and "Away in a Manger").  And the toys she's enjoying most at this moment are ones that play music.  And that's all she wants to do with them - listen to the music.  Even two toys playing two different songs at the same time (yikes!).

So, she was hooked once Josh started playing the Simon and G-Funk.

He kept the songs coming, and before long, Catherine was standing up on her chair, arms raised, hips swaying, pig-tails bopping, dancing to the tunes.

After awhile, it developed into a daddy-daughter dance.




Eventually we all ended up on the kitchen floor with another of our family dance parties.

It.Was.Beautiful.

We could have reprimanded our daughter for standing on her chair.
We could have reminded her to eat her dinner and play later.
We could have said electronics don't belong at the table.

And we would have missed a beautiful moment.

Beauty in the mundane.



Don't miss it.