Tag Archives: family

Bon-Bon Tuesday

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My workout partner bailed on me this morning.  (payback for yesterday….hmmmm…nah.)  Probably a good thing, because we did opposite body parts yesterday and that was going to make for a tricky workout, by Thursday we’ll be good!  So, I ‘ll hit it again at lunch today, which is fine by me.

Rather than go back to bed, I had my bon-bon time this morning.  Catching up on blogs.  Sending out a couple of emails.  Chatting with Hubby.  And you watch, somehow I will still end up running late this morning.  <sigh>

Yesterday, I was listening to a podcast by Pat Gohn and she was talking about “social tithing” and rethinking how we come across this vast internet and the “what if” we gave 1/10 of our social media time, tweets, status updates, blogs, etc to God.  A grateful tweet.  A shout out to God.

Then a friend posted on Facebook, “Break my heart for what breaks Yours”.

And I’ve been chewing on it subconsciously.  I think (I hope) it showed in enjoying the time with Hubby and the girls at the beach last night for an evening “surf practice” and swim session.  And in putting the kids to bed last night.  And in being grateful for the chaos of the morning rush (coming soon).  And in looking forward to the “End-of-the-year” singing concert for our youngest tonight. And in watching old home movies last night.  Much to be thankful and a reminder of priorities and what’s really important.

Before I go though, this quote was in my “Small steps for Catholic Moms” this morning and kind of ties those thoughts together:

“The soul which remains attached to anything, even to the least thing, however many its virtues may be, will never arrive at the liberty of the divine union.  It matters little whether a bird be fastened by a stout or slender cord–as long as he does not break it, slender as it may be, it will prevent him from flying freely.”  St. John Chrysostom

**and don’t forget the rest of the May bloggers:

Laura

Lynnell

Apurva 

MB

Brite  

Amanda 

Lea 

Listen to your body….

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Or eventually it will give you no choice.  Yesterday, I blogged about my headache.  That was earlier in the day.  After I picked up our girls from Religious Ed. I came home, and promptly got into bed to REALLY get rid of that meddling headache for once and all.  It was about 11:45 a.m.  I briefly said hello to Hubby when he came in to check on me after Mass and the next thing I knew….it was 2:45 p.m.   So much for the day!!!  I had two hours to kill before Mass with the girls @ 5!!  (so we made Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls to continue celebrating our Easter Octave!!)  However, my headache was GONE.  And boy, was I rested!!  I thought I’d have a hard time going to sleep last night, but ZERO problem.  In fact, I was supposed to get up and meet my girlfriend at the gym and after turning off my alarm, fell BACK to sleep for another 90 minutes.  OY!  I’m blaming it on the ceiling fans.  It’s really making sleep phenomenal.  But truly, I obviously needed the sleep and since I didn’t give my body what it needed, it took it anyway.  So beware!!  What are you neglecting YOUR body of?  You might want to tend to those oversights, otherwise the body may just take over and give you no choice.

Have a great day!  Check in with the rest of the May-bloggers and see what they’ve been up to, hopefully they’ve been doing more than sleeping!!

Laura

Lynnell

Apurva 

MB

Brite  

Amanda 

Lea 

See?  Our cat has NO problem just sleeping whenever he feels like it.  I should take my cue from him!

“Resting” Day….

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Here I sit in my quiet Sunday morning house.  Not a sound except my typing on the laptop.  Bliss.  As rare as the supermoon.  OK, more than that, but pretty scarce.  Yesterday was a seriously full day, ironic since, on Friday, my girlfriend and I were both basking in the fact that neither of us had a single plan for the entire weekend.  And we didn’t have a plan..but here’s how it shook out anyway:

  • Power walk in a.m.
  • Grocery run
  • Laundry and start house chores
  • Hubby started installing ceiling fans in all three bedrooms–he is so persistent and refused to give up until they were all in and in correctly–QUITE the task!!
  • Son had his French horn lesson
  • @the same time, my oldest son’s friend came by to fix my cracked screen on my phone (for FAR less $$$ than the mall or apple store)
  • Grandparents came by with fresh homemade bread and short visit
  • Finished helping Hubby hang fans in bedrooms
  • Picked up youngest and her friend and we all took a break to the beach with neighbors for an hour or so
  • Rejuvenated, home to finish fans, make dinner and pick up oldest son from skatepark
  • Bring home daughter’s friend
  • Shower, dessert
  • Finish the LAST episode of Downton Abbey–<boo hoo!>  (Glad it wasn’t a total cliffhanger though…still looking forward to Season 3)
  • Checked out the moon with very little luck on pics…my “good” camera just not good enough. Looked like a giant lightbulb in the sky.  But very cool with the human eye!!  No meteors sighted…
  • Bed–under the awesome breeze of the ceiling fans!  LOVE my handy Hubby!!

Then,  unfortunately, I woke @ 4:30 a.m. with the beginnings of a migraine.  took an aspirin and went back to bed.  Made it through the morning and coffee helped but still needed another aspirin and am waiting for the last of it to kick off!!  Blessedly, they don’t come often!!

And so, Hubby wanted to try out surfing and left with a neighbor about 6:30 a.m.  The girls have Religious Ed this morning between Masses.  So…..Hubby and the boys went to 11 a.m. Mass and I’ll take the girls tonight to Youth Mass.  And that’s left me with some nice quiet time to let this headache finish up.  A silver lining, huh?  🙂

Therefore, today will be “restful”.  As it should be.  At least one day a week.  Happy Sunday!!

Wrapping it up! (or, I thought Friday would never get here!)

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Friday and time to take a look at the week in review or “7 Quick takes with Conversion Diary’s Jennifer Fulwiler and friends“….

Since  my internet connection is down and I may or may not be mooching off a neighbor’s wireless with an extremely slow connection, I’ll make this brief (I hope), since I am procrastinating (as usual) and do need to start waking the kiddies for school shortly….

1.  The internet is down.  (see above)  Fortunately, Hubby worked from home all day yesterday with no problem, so apparently we lost connection sometime late in the afternoon.  Our phone is internet phone (Magic Jack), our TV is internet (Roku) and know what?  It didn’t make too much of a difference last night.  Now tonight…..I want to watch Downton Abbey with Hubby (our weekly date) so that AT&T dude better fix it up tonight!!!  or not….whatever…the longer it’s broke the bigger discount they will give us for next month; at least that’s the way it’s worked in the past.

2.  My favorite Pyrex pan (13X9) EXPLODED the other night with the kid’s FAVE new dinner in it.  URGH!!!  Note to self, no multitasking while butter is melting in the pan.  Apparently the butter was too hot when I took out the pan and the biscuits, though sitting at room temp for quite some time were too cold.  Well…..SHAZAM.  It was loud.  It was messy.  Fortunately, just a couple little cuts on my 2 fingers from cleaning up and my sweet daughter took a hit to the shin from the shrapnel (small cut, we didn’t even notice for an hour or so)…so it could have been much worse.   A trip to Publix for some comfort fried chicken, coleslaw and key lime pie….lesson learned!!

3.  Hubby and I have joined together in prayer and a united front to once and for all (I hope and pray, DEAR GOD HEAR OUR PRAYERS!!!) to break our youngest from her hideous bedtime drama routine.  she’s 8.  It’s so overdue.  After a long talk, a visual chart to mark progress, clear expectations and goal stated, I am pleased to report we are 4 nights in to success!  Fingers and toes crossed and prayers storming heaven!

4.  The weather has been PHENOMENAL all week long….though starting to warm up again.  So I have walked almost every day and today will get day 2 of strength training.  Shooting for 3, but I’m not going to whine about it, something is better than nothing!!!

5.  I have been spending far too much time with Stephanie Plum.  (Hubby is surely kicking himself for introducing us as she keeps me up far later than I should be at night!!)  She’s a train wreck and a clutz (I can really relate there!) and I am addicted.  However, once I finish book 10, I’m putting her away for a bit.  I’m starting to dream about the books in which I am solving the mystery and it’s really ruining it for me.  So….it’s time!

6.  Hubby has taken up our landscaping lumber around our little plant island in the front of the house (it was rotting) and replaced it with huge pavers his dad had lying around their house and it looks great!  I’ll post pics at some point.  probably.  maybe.  once the internet is up and running.

7.  Hubby’s tomatoes are growing!  YAY!  This weekend he’s adding cucumbers and I’m going to get some pots for a herb garden.  Summer is upon us!!!  I foresee lots of salad and salsa in our future…BRING IT!!

Happy weekend and be sure to check out lots of other recaps at Conversion Diary!!  Blessings!!

Motivation. Encouragement. Give and take circle.

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This weekend we watched a fantastic sermon by an Evangelical preacher, Nick Vujicic.  If you’ve not heard of him, or his book Life without Limbs,  do yourself a favor and check him out.  We were introduced to him two-fold: 1)My son’s AMAZING 5th grade teacher gifted him with Nick’s book and 2) at a similar time my husband watched a video of a sermon of his.  The message was simple and true:  the “things” we think that will fill the hole in our lives to bring happiness will NEVER fill the “GOD-shaped” hole in our hearts.  One of the many examples was Nick praying repeatedly in his life for arms and legs.  “If I only had arms and legs, God, THEN I would be happy.”  And then he asked the audience, “YOU have arms and legs.  Are YOU happy?”  The grass is always greener on the other side, isn’t it?

And so, we discussed with the kids the message.  The examples.  The Truth that Christ brings into our lives and the fulfillment we receive when we live out our lives stepping out in faith that the One who brought us out of the darkness WILL bring us to an everlasting joy.  Our time here is fleeting and what awaits us is so far beyond our wildest hopes and dreams.  While we are trekking through this life though, motivating each other to take one more step, encouraging each other on through hardships and difficulty, we spread Christ’s message through our actions, examples and words.  It starts at home and we are to be content in what we are given and to use those gifts to their maximum.  Life comes full circle.  When we are in need, we receive and when we encounter misfortune we do what we can to provide comfort and aid.  If the man with no arms and no legs can overcome depression and live his life for the glory of God, surfing, getting married and bringing 500,000 people to know Jesus, can we not look within and live our own lives maximizing the gifts we have been given?

For me, my own excuses the last few days in response to whatever tasks lie in front of me, have sounded hollow, empty and weak.  Because, He has far more in mind for me than excuses.

Hebrews 3:13

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

**all photos pulled from the web, from Nick’s website and general Google search!