Tag Archives: kids

Friday: The Rainbow edition

Leave a reply

A Friday tradition is to join in with Jennifer and her international friends @ Conversion Diary and share a weekly wrap up, not only is it a great way to boost the stats on the blog BUT……it’s a great way to find NEW blogs to read. Win-win, people, win-win.

I’ll be doing this in (mostly) photo version today, mostly because I need to wake up a bunch of kids and get to work, and because it seemed I took a bunch of pictures on my iPhone this week…..so, I thought I’d share!

1.  We are ready for the Olympics!!! Are you???  We are so excited!!  In fact, several months ago we gave up cable (no one was really watching anyway AND it saved us about $70 a month), BUT….in order to watch the Olympics (not on the laptop) hubby put up an antennae to grab signal so that we can get the local affiliate and join in.  It took MUCH sweat and effort on his part, lots of brain power and in the end….a sweet, crisp picture and now we also have a few local channels (which is great for severe weather, usually we are just oblivious and watch the skies) and SEVERAL Spanish channels.  Bring on the Olympic torch!!

Set up and ready to go!!

2.  Speaking of Olympic prowess and excitement, my personal buff and ripped self 😉

came to a screeching halt this week when somehow, someway I managed to pull something in my shoulder/upper back and had to skip most of the week babying it.  My new best friend is:

These things are the BOMB! Seriously, they last like 8 hours!!! And as a bonus, I don’t feel like I’m 80 anymore!

3.  Also, in preparation for the Olympics, we bought a great little buffet at an estate sale for $50 (Hubby is a good negotiator!) and after much sweat (his), some cursing (his) and some muscles (mine and his, I had to help him move it around a little) it’s been refurnished and now is our new entertainment stand…more to come in a before and after post:

Much cleaner look than our previous entertainment center.

4.  In other entertainment news, my current read

This book is FASCINATING!!! Why did I take so long to read it?!?!

5.  My forgetfulness has come to a whole new level, not one but TWO reminders this morning from my little entrepreneurs…..

Apparently my mantra of “if you want me to remember, write it down” has finally sunk in!

6.  An awesome sight the other night

Something about rainbows…

Our daughter looked up and said…”God’s promise”. Love it. A double promise this time!

7.  No picture of this, but since I’ve been getting as much overtime as possible this and last week, I am super glad it’s Friday.  It will be worth it when it takes the sting out of the back-to-school shopping comes.  Soon.  Far.  Too.  Soon.

Blessings to you all!!

 

 

Speedbumps

2 Replies

 

We all get them.  Those pesky little speed bumps along the way.  When life is just a plugging along and all is hunky-dorey and BUMP….not so much.  Like a car, we adjust our speed, take a little more care navigating and then move on along until the next one.  And there WILL be a next one.  It’s just life.  Therefore, there is the matter of how you react to each little (or big) speed bump.  You can let it completely derail your day/week/month/year or you can accept that such is life and do what you can to live your life IN SPITE of the speed bump nuisance.  I suppose personality has a lot to do with how we deal with problems, as well as faith, support systems and how we were taught to deal with life’s “unfairness” or inevitable changes.

This week we have been dealing with a “stomach ache” x several days with our youngest.  I HATE stomach aches.  When there are no other symptoms, I generally view it as a cry for attention.  Compassionate, aren’t I?  However…….when it continues for days, accompanied by sloth behavior and limited appetite?  Now you have my attention.  So off to the doctor’s we go and leave with a prescription in hand for Strep throat.  Again.  Now I just feel guilty.  Blah.  Stewing in it isn’t productive so I own my guilt for  a bit, realize I didn’t overreact (because seriously, if I went to the office for EVERY symptom, #1 I’d be broke (more than usual) and #2 I’d be Facebook friends with the entire office!).  Anyway, I went with my gut, it paid off, hugs and drugs administered….moving on.

We also had an issue come up with a dear friend who is really dealing with some challenging life choices and a denial of sorts as well as with poor coping skills.  It’s truly turning into a snowball of complications and it’s difficult to watch it happen.  Hubby was able to begin a dialogue with him, as his friend, and hopefully it’s the beginning of SOMETHING.  Sadly, we can only make our own decisions.  Sometimes we have to be the friend who steps in and speaks the hard truth out of love.  And that’s a tricky situation, stepping way out of the comfort zone.  At the end of the day though, we have to live with the choices WE make and if we’ve done the best we could, sometimes that has to be enough.

Here’s to navigating life’s speed bumps one at a time, fully focused and wisely adjusting our speed for each one!

He who fights even the smallest distractions faithfully when he says even the very smallest prayer, will also be faithful in great things.

— St. Louis de Montfort

Weekly warbling..

Leave a reply

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?!

Put a Fork in me….it’s Friday!!

Leave a reply

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!!

I think I can, I think I can….

Leave a reply

Just thought I’d take a little break from moving 3 years of blogs over with 4 days left…..however, I am only down to the last 3 months and I just finished the annual May blog-a-palooza, so it should go quickly from here (in theory).Since I am usually BURNED out after May I don’t blog too much for a bit, although last year was pretty intense from May on so I may have had lots to share…..either way, I hear the Rocky theme in my head and I’ve got this!!!  Just.  Three.  More.  Months.  ADRIANNE!!!!!

We had a little storm this week, starting Sunday and today, actually this evening, the skies FINALLY began to clear.  See above photo.  In celebration of sunshine, I opted out of boot camp and opted in for a brisk walk around the neighborhood with our youngest while big sis was at soccer, Dad was running at the soccer fields, our oldest was skating and our youngest son was bike riding with my nephew.  We weren’t going stir crazy at all……

I’m off to bed…two stinky nights of interrupted sleep, I’m ready to SLEEP the whole night through!!!  I hope….