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Weekly warbling..

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Joining in with the usual suspects @Conversion Diary for a wild weekly wrap-up.  You never know what you’re going to get, there’s some great stuff in those who join in, from theological discussions to Pinterest, to Youtube silliness, funny kid stories and so on….check ’em out!

This will be quick because I need to get the girls and I out the door in the next hour…I’m an envelope pusher like that.

1.  It’s been a good week in the exercise category, what with switching it up and all.  I’m back to the a.m. workout cycle AND mixing in some afternoon lunch cardio as well.  It worked THIS week.

2.  As an added motivator in my switching things up, I’ve been positively obsessed with success stories and Socially Fit has their usual every Friday, as well as Peak313 on Wednesdays, so if you need a little boost they are a good place to start!

3.  Also from Peak313, I stole this and put it on my Facebook….

4.  I also snuck in some veggies to our pseudo Thanksgiving-in-July dinner the other night with Cauliflower Mashed potatoes.  It’s the little changes.  The kids loved it AND it was a bonus veggie.  Win-win all around.  well, except for the extra gas….

5.  We have passed the 1/2 way mark of Summer.  Can I get a Hallelujah??  We have 5 full weeks of summer left.  If you shop at Wal-mart or Target you might think it’s next week….since they have all the school supplies displayed in plenty.  I just can’t even go there mentally yet.  I still have some beach time to get in and some non-rushed mornings and homework-free afternoons left!!  But…..I do miss the routine (hence the need for a Hallelujah).  It’s a double-edged sword…

6.  Anyone who is using NFP and Marquette, we are finally online charting with an interactive model.  You can find it here and the staff is very helpful if you have any questions.  You can find it HERE.  Just takes a few minutes to register and you are good to go.

7.  A few months ago my neighbor made a reference to his “Outlaw” neighbors as a young guy on his Harley rode by.  He has a dry little sense of humor and I thought he was joking….the subject of their Very.  Loud.  Bikes.  had come up a few times. Since they kept rather late hours and early mornings, sleeping with the windows open was a bummer with these guys.  Anyhooo….  This morning I was walking and they were leaving (later than usual) and lo and behold….HOLY COW, they really ARE Outlaws.  Wearing their colors and all.  wow.  To be fair, aside from their noisy cycles they haven’t bothered us, nor do I expect them to.  It’s just that you don’t expect to see infamous motorcycle gang dudes riding out of your sleep little ‘hood in the a.m.  On that note….

I’m out.  It’s time to make lunches and get rockin’ and rollin’…..Y’all have a good weekend ya hear?!

Life giving friendships

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These girls, ladies, women, amazing friends and sisters in Christ.  They’ve been an integral thread in my life for a dozen years.  We met during a women’s retreat at our parish and many of our husbands participated in the men’s retreat that took place after ours.  Our retreat group was probably twice this size after formation, but this group……THIS group struck a bond.  A bond that went beyond formation and providing the next retreat.  A bond strengthened over bible studies, rosaries, dinners and desserts.  In spite of busy lives and season changes, we’ve managed to stick together, each taking a piece of the other’s heart so that we are all forever sisters regardless of distance and life’s plans for us.  These are life giving friends.

This picture captures a rare moment of togetherness recently,  and marks the move of one friend and her family to Washington D.C.  The fact that we were ALL able to make the dinner (with school over and summer ON, one with laryngitis, one leaving the next day with her husband and 6 kiddos on vacation, myself being 4 hours away, and one with a newborn) was an amazing accomplishment in itself–on a Wednesday night no less!  It was a bittersweet dinner (saying goodbye is NEVER easy) however, we were ALL able to take turns “catching up” in a roundtable discussion and enjoy each other’s company, laughing at stories and enjoying super delicious food, too–BONUS!

12 years brings much opportunity for prayer, encouragement, hope, love and comfort.  What a blessing in these friendships, an abundant harvest resulting from following the prompting of our Lord to attend a weekend retreat.

These friendships are a tapestry of prayer and God reveals the image one story at a time.  Through the years He’s weaved that tapestry through praying for one another and sharing in each other’s lives.

Prayers for struggling marriages and praises for God’s gift of forgiveness, compromise, commitment, and strength in fighting through the challenges and the fruit of  healed hearts.

Prayers for babies born and unborn and praises for those who took their sweet, sweet time.

Prayers for being open to life  and praises for the many varied gifts of life in this culture of death.

Prayers for children’s health, novenas for treatment and praises in God’s gift of talented physicians, compassionate nurses and a network of prayer warriors storming heaven.

Prayers for children lost in the sea of peer pressure and hurt as they spread their wings and fly solo, praises for God’s path and the gift of  healing through angels on earth who allow the Holy Spirit to form their words and gently redirect their path.

Prayers for the unfairness of cancer and all the promises it robs, praises for the power of prayer, God’s will and the promises of His plan far exceeding our own.

Prayers for guidance and advice in the ongoing vocation of motherhood and marriage, and praises for God’s wisdom and love provided through friends as we all weave our families through this obstacle course of life.

Prayers through job loss and financial struggles and praises for jobs found, opportunities presented a faith to step out of comfort zones into Trust.

Prayers throughout a family’s prison ordeal and praises for a family restored.

Prayers for friends who move away and praises for the unexpected gifts received in stepping out in love and hope.

Prayers spoken, fears whispered, tears shed, hope restored, love shared, faith renewed.  Prayer warriors and lifetime friends.  A bond not weakened by distance.  A bond strengthened through prayer, sharing, love and faith.

Thank you, Lord for the gift of friends.  I am truly blessed.

Proverbs 11:14 

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

For more on friendship Scripture check here…

Put a Fork in me….it’s Friday!!

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Finally Friday…WHEW, because I think I am done with this week!!

Join me @ Conversion Diary and see what everyone else is up to….all the cool kids are doing it ;-)….and apparently Jennifer and I have similar dinner plans for the evening (we have friends visiting also!)….except our store was OUT of brisket…..URGH!!!  Wish me luck on the London Broil…..

  1. Mid-week I started feeling a little sluggish…blah, summer colds.  No boot camp for me this week, just no energy, but I’m packing my gym bag and hitting it at lunch time and going to class Saturday morning.  There.  I said it.  Now I have to do it!!
  2. I finished pulling my 222 blog posts off of iWeb and moved them over to WordPress.  Since my hard drive crashed I didn’t have the luxury of pulling them over later before iWeb goes away “poof” June 30….I know, I’ve been whining about it all week, I’m done.
  3. Started a novena this week for my dear friend’s daughter who leaves for Boston for radiation therapy on a very rare cancer in her head.  She’s young, vivacious and has an incredibly strong faith.  If you could offer up L in your prayers, her husband, her parents and her doctor and his team, I know they’d appreciate it!
  4. Speaking of prayers, we’ve added the Bishops fortnight for freedom prayer to after dinner.  After yesterday’s ruling, it’s even more important.  It’s not over yet!!!  There’s so much left to do!
  5. Adoration was my lunch break yesterday.  I had to process the ruling and gain some perspective.  I left with peace and renewed spirit.  God IS in control and this time on earth is temporary.  I wanted to stay in that awesome peaceful Adoration bubble, but I had to go back to work….<sigh>
  6. Littlest wanted to make a dessert for the fam last night so we whipped up a pumpkin pie.  Not too bad.  Crushed up some graham crackers and butter for the crust.  1 can of pumpkin.  1 can of sweetened condensed milk.  2 eggs.  cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger.  Bake @ 425 for 15 minutes and then @ 350 for 40 minutes.  Serve with some ice cream (we were out of cool whip) and voila!  She was so proud.
  7. Took the girls and 2 friends to see Brave for our youngest’s birthday.  I mean she DOES have red hair….we had to go see it!!  Super cute movie although the bear was a little intense.  Big sister was worried little sister was going to have nightmares.  Fortunately, they wrapped it up well after the “scary” part (yes, I jumped in my seat!) and we all slept well.

Well, I am the “early girl” today and should try to be on time….finish the week strong!  Blessings and happy weekend!!

Date night and U2

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Hubby and I celebrated our 18th anniversary a couple of weeks ago, however, it was smack DAB at the end of the school year with a flurry of kiddo stuff, so we finally went to a nice dinner to celebrate last night.  Hey, better late than never, right?

Impressive building, eh? Not only houses the culinary school but the Photography school and Museum.

We went to the local state college because we had heard great things about their Cafe 101:  the culinary school that offers lunch (reservations only @ $10) and dinner on Wednesdays (reservations only @ $15).  The meal was fabulous.  I’m still full.  Four courses.  A limited menu, however, Hubby and I ordered opposite choices and pretty much sampled the menu.  I’ve never had such amazing conch fritters.  There goes my mouth, watering again!

Lovely, intimate atmosphere. Seats 75. I think there were 15 people tops the whole time we were there.

It was nice to get out.  We don’t realize how busy we are during the week, working and tending to children and family life.  Weekends are filled with chores and family outings (next weekend we have friends visiting–WOOT WOOT!!!) , so getting away just the two of us is rare.  Uninterrupted conversation, catching up on the week, etc, etc.  The funny thing is (or pathetic, depending on how you look at it), during the day, I jotted down notes on my phone of things I wanted to make sure we discussed during our date.  OY.  These aging, multitasking, distracted brain cells.  Know what?  It worked!

To top the evening off, we did a little price shopping on eyeglasses for our youngest and a new pair for Hubby.  Holy COW they are expensive, so we wanted to see if we could get a better deal than our ophthalmologist’s office–yes, about 1/2 off!!!!!

Came home to kiddos getting along, showered, full of pizza, settling in to watch America’s Funniest Videos and ready for bed.  It was a good night.  And my date was great!!  He smelled real good, too! Falling asleep, we both laughed recalling one of our first dates when he said something to me as U2 was playing SO SOFTLY on the radio that somehow I thought I heard “I love you”.  My response was , ” Love me?  You hardly even know me?!”  After laughing, he explained he loved U2—DUH!  That wasn’t awkward at all.  So we still laugh and we both remember EXACTLY where we were when I said it.  Good times.  Good times!  At least now I can say, “I love you, too”  and “I love U2”, because they are both still true!

Blessings and Happy GO SKATE DAY!!!

My boy, grinding a rail last year..generally he prefers to film!

Summer time….work ethic in progress

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Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it’s off to mow we go….

He’s not always this happy to get going….but there was a nice breeze that day!

Gassing up to get it done!

Companions to the workhorse lawn mower

Big Blue. Crucial accessory to summertime outdoors activity, whether it’s cutting the lawns, skateboarding or hitting the beach. HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE!!

Our boys’ summer.  Once a week they have 4 lawns to take care of.  3 they actually get paid for in cold hard cash or check.  The other is paid for in food, lodging, love, laundry, food, privileges, hugs, food, guidance, boundaries, kisses, security and food.

Hubby helped them to procure the jobs last year and though they don’t always enjoy the work aspect of the jobs (please, I’m grumbling every Monday so I can’t exactly fault them here…who REALLY loves work versus recreation), they DO enjoy the payment aspect of the jobs.  (They do these jobs year-round, not just summer)  They are learning the value of a dollar, taking pride in a job well-done, interacting with the public, working for a difficult boss, honing their communication skills, team work, and it passes the time at least one morning each week during the summer.

Realistically, we can’t provide for their every whim and fancy.  We have four children.  We work full-time.  Their little whims and fancies are getting progressively more expensive as they age.  Out of necessity comes valuable life lessons in work ethic, saving, tithing and communication.  We hope to add volunteering to their summer plans to further grow their hearts and spirits to a spirit of serving others and taking the focus off of “self” (a lifelong effort for us all, isn’t it?).

And so, coming across this quote on Facebook yesterday by John Talpene (though I’ve not been able to fully verify it is from him–the message is SPOT-ON!), I feel even better about encouraging their lawn business because maybe, just maybe, we are on the right path….and THAT is encouraging!!

John Talpene quote, image from HERE

This quote has been running around Facebook for a few months and though I can’t actually verify if this principal is the one who quoted it, I must say the message is OUTSTANDING!!  I fully plan on printing this out and sharing with out kiddos.  The crux of the message is old-fashioned values don’t go out of style (much like Audrey Hepburn’s LBD).  You can’t go wrong here, in fact we’ve often gotten so far from this message in our “instant gratification” society that it’s not so difficult to see the difference of the fruit born of the polar opposite styles in parenting of the message below and today’s “I-want-it-all-but-I don’t-want-to-work-for-it” generation.  A generation that WE are cultivating.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.