16): Homecoming and Fave Links

By bobbi
October 24, 2016
4 Comments

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Grateful for…

A fun weekend with family time and relaxing time when we unplugged and rested.
School field trips and the opportunity to have fun one-on-one time with the kids.
Brian’s good results from his cancer tests/bloodwork.
Brian’s mother-in-law is healing and doing well.

Praying for..

Many special intentions from friends.
Those suffering from hardship, illness, violence and depression.
Our nation.
All pregnant moms (especially family members), those trying to get pregnant, those who have lost their babies and for moms contemplating an abortion.
The souls in purgatory, especially family, friend and those most forgotten.

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Around the House…

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On Friday the boys were off school so I let them help me decorate the house with some fall decor. It looks cute but there are still the endless little piles of clutter around. I feel like I clear one spot and two more pop up to take its place. I have been bagging things to give away so I am hoping that will help. I figure, less stuff means less mess but I’ve got a long way to go. 😉

Family Chit Chat…

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Last week Brian had his routine bloodwork to check and see if there were any signs of the cancer returning. I’m happy to say that everything looked good. His red and white blood count was steadily rising and his blood pressure was great. Every time we get a bit of good news I can breathe a sigh of relief… until the next test!

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This weekend was Homecoming at Bella’s school. We went to the JV Football game to cheer family friends who were playing. Can you believe it was my first football game ever? I never got into it when I was younger but now that I am married to a football fan and have three little guys, our house it all about football – from playing it in the driveway and watching it on TV to collecting football cards. Andrew and Matthew were bouncing with excitement to see there first live game. We all had a great time!

RevolutionofLove.com - odb_jp_10_23_16 Well, except for John-Paul. He did have fun but he could only take so much sports until he needed some “me time” to zone out. The only way I could get him to sit through two hours of football was to let him play a couple video games between quarters. 😉

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Later that evening, Bella attended her first high school dance with her friends. This photo doesn’t do her justice or the pretty dress she wore but she had a great time and I breathed a sigh of relief when she was back home and safe in her bed. (I don’t know what I’ll be like when she actually starts dating! I told her not to be surprised if she continuously finds me incognito in the background on her dates. 😉 )

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In the Kitchen…

Monday: Chicken tortilla soup, quesadillas and broccoli

Tuesday: (Dentist appt day) Pizza and salad

Wednesday: Slow cooker BBQ chicken sandwiches, green beans and salad

Thursday: Taco Salad

Friday: Turkey burgers and salad

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Quick and Easy Cheesy Pasta with Kale

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Reading…

I just finished…

What Alice Forgot by Lian Moriarty*

Next on the list…

The Awakening of Miss Primby Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera*

Watching…

I’m still loving This Is US and Speechless. We also started watching Lethal Weapon, which has become a favorite too. Poldark is a given as well.

We are watching Designated Survivor and want to start a drinking game every time Kiefer Sutherland squints and mumbles. 😉

I gave up on The Good Place and have yet to watch last night’s episode of The Walking Dead. It is sitting in my DVR while I debate whether or not I will submit myself to some emotional torture. Maybe I’ll watch this weekend… or wait until I need a really good cry. (In the meantime, no spoilers, please!)

Listening to …

(MUSIC)

Love this one by Coin and not just because Brian knows the best way to shut me up. 😉

(PODCASTS)

Girlfriends#043: Do One Thing at a Time with Danielle Bean

Fountains of Carrots #053: Finding Faith and Delight in The Awakening of Miss Prim with Christy Isinger and Haley Stewart

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Recent Posts:

I am making up for lost time in not posting in the past. I am on Day 24 out of the Write 31 Days Challenge. I think I just may make it to the finish line!! You can check out the 31 Days of Gratitude 2016 posts here.

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Pinned…

practicepin

Brush Lettering Practice Page by One Artsy Mama

Around the blogosphere…

Moving into My Filofax Bullet Journal by Bohoberry.com
Praying Unceasingly for Our Children by Someday Saints.com
31 Days of Bible Quotes About Patience: 2 Timothy 2:24 by The Littlest Way.com
All You Need Is Love by The Fike Life.com
Saint Costumes 101 (and a whole bunch of All Saints’ ideas for boys!) by Better than Eden.com
My Favorite Green Smoothie + Other On-the-go Breakfast Ideas! by 100 Days of Real Food
Tattle-Taling on your friend’s kids: 11 quick tips to make it easier by Parenting with Peer Review

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The reason this post is so late is because I spent the day with Matthew at The Farm with little guys like this. I’ll save the rest of the photos for another post. 🙂

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately. What about you? What’s currently happening in your life? Any book or movie recommendations? Do share.

I’m linking up with Kelly for 7 Quick Takes.

Have a great week!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, 😉

PPS – * Disclaimer: “Revolution of Love.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”

In other words, if you click on my affiliated links and make a purchase, I get a small compensation that goes towards keeping the blog online. Big hugs to those who click and help support the blog! xoxo 🙂

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31 Days of Gratitude (Day 23): Quote of the Day

By bobbi
October 23, 2016
No Comments

Happy Sunday! Today is Day 23 of the #write31days challenge and my 31 Days of Gratitude 2016. Here is your Sunday gratitude quote of the week. 🙂

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Have a restful Sunday. 🙂

For more 31 Days of Gratitude, visit the homepage here.

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Want to join the writing challenge but are unable to write everyday? Join me for the Weekly Writing Challenge in October instead.

Weekly Writing in October 2016 Link-up – Week 4

By bobbi
October 22, 2016
1 Comment

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Welcome to the Weekly Writing in October Challenge – Week 4! A big thanks to all of you who linked up last week! Over the next few days, I’ll be reading through your posts. 🙂

If you didn’t get a chance to link-up last week, hop in this week. The main thing, as bloggers, is to work our writing muscles and share a bit of our hearts to our readers. You can get more info and read the introductory post here.

If, like me, you are also participating in the 31 Day Challenge, feel free to link up your favorite post of the week. And since today I am grateful for other bloggers who are posting more often this month, I am counting this post as my 31 Days of Gratitude (Day 22) post. 😉

The Weekly Writing Challenge main page is here.

Have a great week! 🙂

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Link-up Guidelines

1. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

2. Add a link back here so others can play along.

3. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

The link up will be active for a week. Have fun!

An InLinkz Link-up

31 Days of Gratitude (Day 21): Five Minute Friday – Park

By bobbi
October 21, 2016
6 Comments

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Today I am linking up with Kate for Five Minute Friday: Park.

Happy Friday! Today is Day 21 of #write31days challenge and my 31 Days of Gratitude 2016. I’ve got the three boys home today and I promised them we would finally get out the fall decor and decorate the house (since I never got beyond decorating the front porch.) However, while they are doing a quick morning clean up (the threat of no playtime until it is done is good incentive), I am going to participate in Five Minute Friday. I did my first last week and it was so much fun, here I am again. 🙂

The rule is to write 5-minutes straight about the topic of the day, more specifically, as the blog states, “This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.” Okay, setting the timer and go…

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Earlier this morning I was looking through a computer file of old photos and I found one from a past trip to Disneyland Park. The boys were in the room with me and they asked if I could start from the beginning and look at the photos with me.

We went to the beginning when Bella was the only child of the family. I remember that first trip to Disneyland Park so vividly. I had so many fond memories of visiting DL with my family as a kid and a teen and I was eager to give her the same memories. As the boys and I scrolled though the photos we saw Andrew, John-Paul and Matthew as they were babies and as they got older, laughing and playing.

Sure there were also meltdown and babies that had accidents (and forgot to put the change of clothes in my backpack) but all the fun far outweighed it.

This year we will go pack to the Disney Parks when we visit my family at Thanksgiving. We thought my mom wouldn’t be able to join us after her cancer surgery over the summer but the other day, she changed her mind and said she wanted to keep up the tradition of joining us for our annual visit.

Now I’m counting down the days until I once again roam the park with my kids, laugh on rides with them and hug my mom and remember the joy I felt of being by her side on these special trips. 🙂

STOP.

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That was fun! And I couldn’t help but add a little collage of trips to Disneyland Park over the years. 🙂

For all the great memories I have with my family (past and current) and for future memories to come, I am truly grateful. 🙂

Have a great Friday! Don’t forget today is the last day to link-up for Weekly Writing in October. (If you are doing 31 Days, just add your favorite post.) The new link-up for Week 3 will be up tomorrow morning.

For more 31 Days of Gratitude, visit the homepage here.

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Want to join the writing challenge but are unable to write everyday? Join me for the Weekly Writing Challenge in October instead.

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31 Days of Gratitude (Day 20): Throwback Thursday – Letting Go of the Idea of Having One More Baby

By bobbi
October 20, 2016
2 Comments

The #write31days challenge continues. It’s Day 13 of my 31 Days of Gratitude 2016. In a new tradition, I’ll be having Throwback Thursdays and reposting past posts. Here is one I originally posted in exactly a year ago. (Funnyy thing, I am scheduled to join Matthew at The Farm for a Kindergarten field trip next week. 🙂 )

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Today was Matthew’s school field trip to the “The Farm,” an organic farm in Salinas, CA. It is an annual field trip the pre-school class takes every year and I’ve been lucky enough to join each of the kids on their trip. Even a decade ago, before Bella was in school, I went with a group of home schooling friends. (Can you tell we didn’t have cell phones then, so no selfies. I also didn’t realize how much heavier I was then!) I’m so grateful to have these one-on-one moments with my children doing something special with them.

Our trips to The Farm. 2015 with Matthew, 2014 with John-Paul, 2012 with Andrew and 2004 with Bella.

As I was riding on the bus with Matthew leaning on me and holding my hand tightly, I thought about that fact that this was most likely my last field trip here with a pre-schooler. Before Brian got cancer a couple years ago, we were thinking about having one more baby. On the one hand, I was feeling my age and family responsibilities but on the other hand I really wanted a sister for Bella! However, after Brian got sick we had to be prudent, especially while he was going through chemo. The more we prayed about it, the more we felt like it was something we wanted but not necessarily what God wanted for us. A part of me had a hard time letting go of having another baby girl (or boy) and accepting that my last baby was most likely my last baby.

Thankfully, now I can say that instead of being regretful, I am filled with gratitude for my four blessings (plus two in heaven), especially when I consider that in between Bella and Andrew, we thought we’d never be able to conceive and carry to term a second child. Today I no longer feel that tug for a baby. I am truly at peace with our family and realize that God knew what was best for us especially when you factor in Brian’s parents and the help they now need from us.

It is not always easy to let go of our idea of what our life should look like, whether we want more kids or are dealing with a surprise pregnancy. Thankfully God is ready to give us all the grace we need to let go of the negative and worry and instead focus on the blessings of what is before us. For that, I am truly grateful.

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For more 31 Days of Gratitude, visit the homepage here.

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Want to join the writing challenge but are unable to write everyday? Join me for the Weekly Writing Challenge in October instead.

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Blog Archives

Online Daybook/ 31 Days of Gratitude (Day 24) / 7 QT (10/24/16): Homecoming and Fave Links

31 Days of Gratitude (Day 23): Quote of the Day

Weekly Writing in October 2016 Link-up – Week 4

31 Days of Gratitude (Day 21): Five Minute Friday – Park

31 Days of Gratitude (Day 20): Throwback Thursday – Letting Go of the Idea of Having One More Baby