Hello there!

Another quickie "hello." I'm at the midday point of our day, in the midst of lunch clean-up and thought of this space. I really don't have any great pictures to share. Actually, I'm not happy with the pictures I'm snapping these days in general. When our last camera broke we picked up a Nikon Coolpix. Not impressed. But anywho, I at least wanted to say "hello."  I'll get back here one of these days with some longer (more interesting?) posts.

This last week I got in a mama's weekend!  Yay! (and yay for my supportive, sacrificing husband) It's been a while I've had a little time "off."  It was nice to get a large dose of silence and stillness in a my life.  I need that. You need that too?

I drove up to St. Paul, Minnesota for a homeschooling conference at the University of St. Thomas. I stayed in one of the apartments/dorms on campus. One of the nights I roomed with a couple we know from our days living in Minnesota. It was good to catch up a bit with them.

The keynote speaker is a blogger from the town where we lived in Washington. She had/has some really great stuff to share.  Big picture stuff: living out the good, true and beautiful with your children. Much of it from her new(ish) book. Check it out. I was able to say 'hello' real quick to Sarah.

I picked up a few resources at the used book sale and vendor fair for our next year of learning. A chunk of my time was spent just walking around talking with vendors. It's encouraging to talk with parents who have lived out passionate learning alongside their children (and now grandchildren) for decades.

Cathedral of St. Paul 

What else? Ate a couple of yummy meals at Whole Foods, short run beside the Mississippi River, a couple of tearfully beautiful masses, and a very brief visit with my gorgeous niece on the way home.

Twas a good weekend!

Back at it this week! Cleaning up from the weekend, signing up for summer activities, hitting the books, and preparing for a visit from a college friend whom I haven't seen in YEARS.

Whatcha up to yourself??

St. Luke

Oh, and I can't forget.  And a great trip to IKEA in Minneapolis.  Got a set of dinnerware doe $20! Oh yeah!  Gotta love IKEA.  The kids love how attractive their food looks on the new plates. Got artsy with our food today. The boys wanted me to take pictures of the lunches they made today.