And on this day...

1. My husband. 
   How he bought Thomas a stash of tickets for the Tacoma Rainiers, for just the two of them. Thomas has been looking forward to this all week, and I have relished in the calm of a quiet home and savored sweet one-on-one time with John Paul.  And I totally love logging into Facebook to find a photo of a foul ball they caught...and then reading the comments below to see how a friend of ours sent Rhubarb over to sign the ball.  And I also totally love reading how other people are seeing them at the game. 
2. The Annual Catholic Appeal.
   Jonathan and I were the witness speakers a few weeks ago at the Masses at St. Columban, in an effort to raise support for this year's Appeal.  It's a little like "Catholic United Way" in that the donations support 60 ministries of the Archdiocese of Seattle.  The funniest response after one of the Masses?  From an older woman, "wow, you must be a lot of fun to hang out with!"  I hope Fr. Duc is still happy that he asked us to be part of it.  :)  But by all accounts, the parish is on track for a great return, so we can't be that bad.  
3. Grateful for lots of little blessings this week.
   A fun lunch with my mom on Monday.  Good girlfriend time with Stella -- an extra long walk to exhaust the Wee Ski 1.0, lunch and wander time at the Mall.  Hitting the Creme Brulee Kids sale on the consignment opening (thank you, Theresa, for the pass!!), and stocking up on a stash of great clothes for Thomas as he grows. Running into Sarah at the sale and getting to hug and congratulate her in person on her family's winning ticket in the shoot to fight cancer. Great one-on-one time with Becky last night, which had me walking in the door on the farm just after one in the morning.  I have no idea the last time I was out so late. It was awesome. Lots of errands checked off and stuff to put away.
4. The bad before the good.
   Thomas was so awful in Mass on Thursday.  Seriously, so awful that I was ready to crawl under the pew chairs myself and hide.  The anti-highlight of that experience?  When he stood up on the chair and started reciting the words from the consecration about 2 minutes too early which threw Fr. Duc off his game for the prayers he was reciting.  I was at the same time proud at how much he pays attention, and mortified that he caused Fr. Duc to start giggling. But today was infinitely better -- and reminded me of just how much I love bringing the boys to daily Mass.  Perhaps I needed the reminder of how awful he can behave when he makes poor decisions...so I appreciated the sweet boy that showed up today all the more!
5. Bananas from Costco.
   We go through an insane amount of bananas in a week.  10 lbs, maybe?  Between smoothies, snacks and breakfast, we usually pick up 3 bags of bananas and they're gone by the end of the week.  Thanks to storing them near my apples and onions, we never have green bananas! 
6. Being back in the kitchen.
   So many tasty delicious treats this week. Turkey and cheddar meatloaf, an awesome tostada recipe that I thought I'd forgotten, homemade strawberry frozen yogurt (with fresh berries and greek yogurt!), my first attempt at creamed corn, lots of fresh veggies and Thomas deciding that he "really likes broccoli".  And if Thomas likes it, John Paul likes it. And all is right in the world.