Category Archives: Life

Weekend SURPRISE!!

My nephews are big ole baseball players. You know the travel team, All-star team, any team you can put together and they’re IN! My brother in law loves the game and coaches and my sister loves the game and brings the cheers. This past weekend they had a travel game tourney of several days long scheduled, sadly, it superceded our July 4th plans. And then……the baseball mojo just wasn’t clicking and they lost and were done. Early. Days early. What do my sister and her hubs do? They drive south, of course! Surprising me at work and stayed with us the weekend. Super fun. Super spontaneous. Super idea. Props to my brother in law for the great idea.

Sister love!

Dinner out Friday night (gift certificate from Christmas FINALLY put to good use!), beach day, ice cream, fishing and enjoying each other’s company. Good for the soul!

Cousins….yeah, YOU get a good picture of all of them!

Weekend collage!

Step out of the box.

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Originally sent as a private message, however, I felt led to share because we ALL need to remember the marvels the Lord has done. Especially when we might not particularly be “feeling the love” right this second.

From today’s readings:

Psalm 105: 16-17

When the LORD called down a famine on the land
and ruined the crop that sustained them,
He sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

Bottom line: It seemed pretty crappy what Joseph had to endure and yet GOD USED IT. He used the poor choices of his brothers driven by jealousy. HE became THEIR saviour, in a sense. God allowed it and yet had an even bigger plan in store for Joseph AND his brothers, even though, to our eyes, they were not worthy. HE, GOD, made them worthy. You are worthy. I am worthy. WE are worthy of these amazing gifts we receive on a daily basis. Our jobs, health, kids, marriage, family. Even beyond that. We put our “plan” in a tidy little box, but God’s plan for us is so much bigger. Squash those thoughts from haunting you. Step out of the past. Step back from the future. Today is what matters. There is NOTHING man can do to us that God will not allow and USE for HIS and OUR good. We only need to look back and see we have always been firmly in the palm of HIs hand.

Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

Indeed.

Parenting. Not for the weak.

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It’s summer. Need I say more?

I didn’t think so.

It’s rained this week. All. Week. Every. Day.

I actually enjoyed working because I knew I wasn’t cooped up in the house with bored kids trying to fray each other’s last nerve as a past-time. I was glad the girls had day-camp to go to. Glad the boys are old enough to entertain themselves with bike rides and skateboarding (in between the rain) and horn practice and video editing.

Last night though. The rain mojo. Oy. So bad. So bad that on the way to our son’s July 4th concert I turned the car around. Yes I did. We kicked the girls out. Yes we did. We made them go back in the house. Yes we did. It cancelled all “rest and relaxation” time for our 15-year-old, but hey if Mama and Papa aren’t getting any R&R why should he?

We asked each other, “What the he** are we doing wrong???”

Reality: Rainy week. Less than adequate planning. Tired kids. Tired parents. Boom!

Answer to our question: “nothing”. We are doing everything right. Life happens. Especially when you have 6 personalities to deal with. And rain. Life happens.

Moving on.

Back porch re-do

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We finally decorated our back porch. It’s been a few months and I figured I’d post pictures! My original inspiration came from Pinterest (of course), however, we made a few adjustments along the way.

Photo Credit and Pinspiration….

Our porch when we moved in

Pieces and parts to hang the rods on the aluminum

Drop cloths and curtain rods. Initially we tried the PVC and paint for the curtain rods, however, because we opened and closed them depending on the sun, the paint easily peeled off despite priming. FYI. The curtain rods were rods we already had in the living room that were the wrong size and needed replacing.

Lovely flowers to look at (our FINALLY blooming hydrangeas…a fun rug and accessories to liven up the place!

Voila! Our view the majority of the time.

Our view when the sun is going down and in our eyes! Don’t mind the wrinkles in the curtains, I don’t!!

And so concludes our tour of our decorated back porch. Eventually, I’d like to get some comfy furniture, but for now this is a good (and FREE) fit for our family!

WIWS Vol. 10

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Linking back up with All the fine, fine ladies @ Fine Linen and Purple with this Sunday’s outfit. I’ve stopped linking due to outfit repeat, however…..Kendra so sweetly reminded me last week (and others….) that it’s all about sharing, inspiring and having some fun. So, here goes this week’s Mass fashion:

Mama

Skirt: Kohl’s, also seen HERE

Shirt: IDK, Cardigan: Kohl’s

Ring and necklace: Lia Sophia

Barrette: Target (I think)

Shoes: Target (I think)

Girls

I went thrifting yesterday with our oldest son (he loves to thrift!!) and our oldest girl (also a thrifter!!) and scored a ton for all. Here are two dresses we picked up yesterday. And when the heck did my oldest girl get so tall and old????!!! Be still my heart!

Boys

They all looked handsome but don’t really enjoy the photo shoots, so just imagine, khakis, plaids and combed hair. K?

Including the outtake explaining to my girl to include the WHOLE outfit.

making the trek

Trekking through life: Faith, family, friends and a whole lot of coffee!