Blessed Is She

Big things and small things

Big things and small things

IT’S RETREAT WEEK.

In case you did not sense it, I am very excited to go on my retreat this weekend. I will be flying to see my beautiful friends as we get some much needed rest and spiritual renewal. IT’S RETREAT WEEK! A;JSDLKJF!

Any who, last week was full of big things and small things. It’s funny, something seemingly small like a kiddo getting dressed by himself or a baby signing “more” or a proud kindergartner showing off her desk are actually huge. My children are growing and thriving before my eyes and I could not be more grateful to be their mother. At the same time, as they grow, it seems like I’m being stretched in more directions. They all need me, all the time, even when they don’t think they do. It’s the conundrum of motherhood.

I felt a sense of peace wash over me the past week. I feel like I managed all the ups and downs of the week with my sanity (and a little grace) intact. I am grateful.

So today - I am grateful. And I just wanted to share that.

But on to the juicy stuff. Or the mundane stuff, depending on how you look at it. My gauge of what is interesting is limited to what’s the latest in the dental journal and what is going on with my kids sleeping patterns, ha!

Read More

Smile!

Smile!

I have realized that my weekly planner posts have somewhat turned into weekly updates/seven quick takes. Although, you know me, nothing I write is quick as I can be quite wordy. But, mama is stuck in her over-use of adjectives adverbs way.

On to it!

1) Last Monday was Labor Day and Paul and I both had work off. We spent the day lounging and playing then we slipped away to dinner. We went to this mall that is about 30 minutes away from us just for a change of scenery and they had a lego store AND a Nordstrom . You know what that means…

…we made some purchases at the lego store and Nordstrom. I’m nothing if not predictable. I used to go to Nordstrom a lot in college and dental school and oh how I’ve missed it. But my wallet has not.

2) Any who, we had another busy week even though it was a short one. I went up a level in my adult ballet class, I am now officially in the beginner class and not the introduction class. I feel myself becoming stronger and more graceful. It is one of the highlights of my week for sure.

3) Emma started her pre-ballet class for five year-olds Saturday. She was so excited to start and I am excited that her tights, leotard, and ballet slippers still fit because she definitely had a growth spurt this summer. Emma also started faith formation for the first time today and she was nervous but I am grateful for our parish’s faith formation program. I cannot wait for the kids to know the Lord and the church more fully as they grow.

Read More

Hi September!

Hi September!

Happy September the first, I hope your trunks are packed as you head to the Hogwarts express. Or if you’re not en route to Hogwarts, happy regular first day of September. But today is fun because I’m going to show you my Sept monthly spread and last week’s and this week’s spreads and here are some seven “quick” takes.

1) Okay listen, last Sunday, I was typing out a very lengthy seven quick takes/planner week 35 post and DUH DUH DUH something happened with my computer and/or the inter webs and I lost the post. I was so frustrated that I slammed the lid of my laptop shut and sulked like a giant baby.

I’m over it. Clearly.

But as there is no use crying over spilled milk (regular milk, not breast milk because you should cry over that) and no use in crying over lost blog posts, here I am with a new post that will hopefully get to your eyeballs.

(I’ll just periodically save this post just in case.)

2) Last week was insanely busy, in fact, I had a seven day work-week. (Lest you think, I’m a big whiner… dentists typically/traditionally have a four day or fewer work-week because of the high burnout potential. It’s a very physical profession. If you didn’t know that, maybe I’ll punch out a day in the life of a public health dentist post soon. Would anyone want to read that? But, I took an all-day continuing education course last Sunday, had my normal five days, which in and of itself is a lot, then had to go into work yesterday because a doctor called in sick last minute and all of my other doctors were not available.)

WHEW. But I’m going to try to relax today. That is after I corral my kids during mass which truthfully is a work out let me tell ya. And now you probably think all I do is complain so let’s get to the good stuff!

3) I have been looking forward to September since last September because this month is the Blessed Is She writer’s retreat! It’s one of my fav weekends of my year. It’s insanely restorative and life-giving and I just love my girls and Jesus. Last year I was a million weeks pregnant and apparently, you’re not allowed to fly if you have a baby near crowning so I missed the retreat and was super bummed about it. I have high FOMO.

But I am gearing up to travel to the writer’s retreat and I’m going to be giving so many hugs.

Read More

Planner | Week 34 and other things

Planner | Week 34 and other things

Happy Sunday friends.

The Wetterholm clan is recovering from some kind of stomach bug so that’s been fun. And so terrible. But we are all on the mend thankfully and good thing too because Emma starts kindergarten tomorrow.

For this week’s planner spread in my Blessed Is She liturgical planner, I wanted to do an ode to the end of summer and the start of school. I threw in a bunch of inspirational quotes which I sense I am going to need because I’m already emotional at this next milestone.

But here is what has been going on this week.

1. Like I said, everyone has been sick, except Paul somehow. He has an immune system like a robot. Wednesday night, our sweet Theo started vomiting and having diarrhea. I took him to the doctor on Thursday and she diagnosed a bad stomach virus. On Friday evening, just as we were planning to go out to dinner for my mom’s birthday, then Henry started throwing up. Then Emma threw up over night. And I was sick all day yesterday. But thankfully, the symptoms have let up for all of us today but we are still in recovery mode. And Theo has had MANY, MANY dirty diapers so that now we just let him waddle around naked.

2. Work has been busy and challenging. There are some administrative and staff challenges that can cause stress but I am trying not to take it home with me.

3. Emma starts Kindergarten tomorrow! We have her teacher assignment and we have heard great things about her. I’m so excited for her and nervous all at the same time. We bought her new backpack and lunch box and my momma heart is bursting.

Read More

Planner | Week 33

Planner | Week 33

Happy Sunday friends and planner enthusiasts!

Well this is blog post take two. I was ready to hit publish and somehow the post went POOF and disappeared. I grumbled for 0.2 seconds but oh well.

I had a lot of fun with this week’s planner spread. I used the empowering women sticker book by The Happy Planner. I am loving the full size of my Blessed Is She liturgical planner. It has more space to play and plan. Have you ordered your Blessed Is She planner yet? It’s not too late.

Well I finally ordered my plane ticket to travel to our annual Blessed Is She writer’s retreat. I was not able to make it to last year’s retreat because I was a whopping 37 weeks pregnant last year and apparently plane travel during that phase of pregnancy is frowned upon. I’m still not convinced.

Also, if you need me this week you will likely find me curled up under my covers sobbing and scrolling through baby pictures of Emma. She starts kindergarten next week and I am a bucket of tears and emotions. I just cannot believe that my sweet little girl is starting this next phase. I am so proud of her and honored to be her mother. And now I’m crying again.

Well now I’ll show you this week’s spread then get back to sipping sweet tea on the couch while (somehow) both boys nap.

Read More