13): Prayer, Discipline and Foyle’s War

By bobbi
September 5, 2013
2 Comments

I’m linking up with Jen today for 7 Quick Takes. 🙂

~ 1 ~

Pray for Peace – You’ve most likely seen these already but in case you haven’t, I’m posting it here. The Holy Father has called for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria. It is on Saturday, September 7. I think I will fast from my phone/computer/camera. Hopefully I can make it 24 hours. 😉 But seriously, whatever level you can do, we should all be joining in!

~ 2 ~

Prayer Request – Speaking of prayer, please say a prayer for my little guy Matthew. He has an issue with his legs – he is pigeon toed and has relatively severe bow legs. His tibula bone (particularly on his left leg is facing outward instead of forward. Usually in time, it will rotate but he is going to be 2 1/2 and it is still pretty bad. So now we need to take him to a pediatric orthopedic up in Stanford (about 2 hours north of us) to get an evaluation done. We are hoping he will not need surgery. So an extra prayer for my little guy is much appreciated!!

~ 3 ~

Quiet time – Speaking of Matthew, with Bella and Andrew back in school and John-Paul going three days out of the week for a few hours, Matthew and I have more time alone together. After dropping JP off at preschool we’ll often go make a visit to the Chapel. It’s good for him and definitely good for me. Sometimes I get so busy with day to day living I forget to just stop, quiet myself and be in the presence of Our Lord. Amazingly, Matthew is quiet and just sits/kneels with me patiently. Quite the opposite of how he acts with his brothers at Sunday Mass!

~~ 4 ~~

Slackers Unite – Along with spending a little more time in quiet before God, I could also use a reboot in the discipline department. That is why I was intrigued when I read Jen’s post about doing an online book discussion of the e-book 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life. I clicked over and read the intro of the book, not expecting much. Then I read this section:

Who is this book for?

You have trouble following through.

You get overwhelmed by huge projects.

You start strong, but your passion fizzles out.

You are super-disciplined in a few areas of your life, but you have one or two pet areas that you just can’t get under control.

You check out 10 different books on discipline and organization from the library, but return all of them late.

The last one had me laughing out loud. Yeah, that is so me. This summer I was in super slacker mode and as I mentioned on Monday, September 1st is my Jan 1. My drive to improve my problem areas is strongest right now. I pulled out my planner and got back into using it (cuz if I don’t write it down, I don’t remember it!) and I am ready to work on a little discipline that doesn’t burn out in a day or two. I downloaded the e-book and will be joining in the discussion. If you are interested, join us!

~ 5 ~

Bday Wishes – Bella’s birthday is coming at the end of the month. She is going to be 12! She loves the music from the Broadway musical “Newsies” so I thought I would give her a Newsies themed party. The poster is my base. Colors could be black, white and red. Any other suggestions??

~ 6 ~

Foyle’s War – Are you a Foyle’s War fan? Brian and I have been watching Foyle’s War of PBS for years and were ecstatic when the show was coming out of retirement and picking up where it left off. Season 7 starts on Sunday, Sept 15 on PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery. If you’ve never watched it before and like period dramas or mysteries, you should check it out on Netflix.

~ 7 ~

Okay, it is an hour past my bed time (and you wonder why I need a book on discipline) and I can barely keep my eyes open so I better stop here. Have a great Friday!

UPDATE: At midnight last night I could not remember what the #7 Take was supposed to be. Now in the light of morning, I remember!

I wanted to join Suscipio in their 3-2-1 Fantastically Fun Friday Link-up without the link-up! Whether you are a blogger or a non-blogger, just answer the 3 questions in their comment box. This week Angela is hosting. Here is my contribution:

3 Things I’m Thankful For
~ When my little guy hugs me from behind and says, “I wub you, mama.” Swoon.
~ For the upcoming weekend and having everyone home.
~ For packages in the mail with sweet surprises.

2 Things in My Purse That Don’t Need to Be There
~ A 1/2 of string cheese that’s hard as a rock
~ A roll of scotch tape. (My 4 year old would disagree. He is always accidentally tearing a page in one of the books he’s always carrying around. He likes me to fix it immediately, not when we get home. 😉

1 Thing I Love, Love, Love to Eat
~ It’s a tie between a BBQ Turkey Burger or Taco Salad. Yum.

Thanks for hosting, Angela!

Okay, now you can have a great weekend. 😉

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, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉

7 Quick Takes (2/8/12) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 59 Mash-Up: Spring, Pebble Beach & Pinterest

By bobbi
February 8, 2013
3 Comments

AND

My computer time is so limited these days that I have to combine posts and kill two bugs with one stone. (I hate killing birds…unless it is that nasty seagull that did his business on my windshield.) So today we have a 7 Quick Takes & {pretty, happy, funny, real} Mash-up. Enjoy!

~~ 1 ~~

{pretty}

I hesitate to post photos of flowers or sunny skies when people are sitting in snow but hopefully it will give you something to look forward to as you wait for spring. It seems to be arriving early in California.

~~ 2 ~~

{happy}

I can’t tell you how happy I am to have Brian feeling better and cancer free! As I mentioned in yesterday’s Theme Thursday (Cari rocks!), Brian and I had the opportunity to go out to dinner at Pebble Beach (where Brian works.) It was much needed outing after Brian’s surgery and all the stress we’ve been under lately. I love the Spanish Bay Inn there and they have a great restaurant called Sticks. It is a tradition that each evening The Bagpiper plays at sunset to close the day.

However, our original babysitting plans changed and my in-laws watched the kids instead. To make it easier on them we brought Matthew to dinner with us as our chaperone. I loooove this photo of Matty’s precious face and rosy cheeks. (He had just woken up.)

~~ 3 ~~

Speaking of Pebble Beach, this weekend is the AT&T Pro Am. It is a big deal to the town but as for me, it just mostly means everything will be super crowded so we won’t venture far from the house this weekend. There are a number of “stars” and athletes on the Peninsula but unless they happen to stop by Target in the next day or two, I’ll not be seeing them. (Although there was that time I sat behind Kevin James at Mass. ;-))

~~ 4 ~~

{funny}

As I mentioned earlier, I have not had time to blog much this week. But Matthew offered to help me out.

~~ 5 ~~

{real}

I finally took down the Christmas wreath on our door this week and put up our Valentine’s welcome sign. How is it possible that both Valentine’s and Lent start next week??? I am still in shock.

~~ 6 ~~

More {real}

Remember when I mentioned a couple weeks back that the kids got lice from school? Well, we went through the treatment and got rid of the nasty things only to go back and to school and get reinfected. It lands out a number of kids had it without knowing and it was being passed back and forth. Thankfully, the school took care of things now. (It still baffles me that we even have lice in our day and age!)

So now we are on Round 2 of the lice war and on Tuesday I just broke down and sobbed. I mean I cried my eyes out. Not so much because of the lice, but it was finally the straw that broke the camel’s back. With Brian’s illness, and cancer, and surgery I was uncharacteristically calm and unworried and dry eyed. But you know how it is, you can only stay strong for so long until you’ve got to get it all out. I thought all the crying I did at Sybil’s death was enough but I still had more in me. Now I am feeling back to myself and the lice war seems to be ending, although I still spend over 2 hours each day going through the kids hair with a nit comb (Bella’s long hair is the worse) to make sure it stays away.

On top of that, the washing everything in hot water that touched their head is insane and this is what my house has looked like all week. The dirty piles were far outweighing the clean piles but I am finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Praise God!

~~ 7 ~~

Once I get all the laundry done I’ll work on something for next week’s Making it Count Tuesday. Actually, let me ask you a question about that. Originally the link up was called Pinning It Down.

It was hosted by Sarah at AmongstLovelyThings.com and Pam at EveryDaySnapshots. It encouraged people to make or do some of the things they pinned on Pinterest. But then there was the concern about breaking copyright laws and not giving the right people credit for their work etc.

They changed the link up to Making It Count with the idea being to…

“Simply start with any one of those fabulous ideas you’ve found online or on Pinterest. Then, do it. Make it. Cook it. Create it. Take it from the screen, give it life and let it bless your world. When you’re done, snap a photo, write about it and share it with us. Make your time online count!”

However, with their busy schedules, Sarah and Pam couldn’t host anymore. I offered to take over hosting duties and Sarah gladly let me but she warned me that participation dropped off once they switched from Pinning It Down to Making It Count. And once it moved blogs, it really dropped.

My question to you, after all that, should I go back to a Pinterest themed link up and just require links to the original site (rather than their pin link)? It could be a Pinterest Party or something. Or should I make it more general? For example, a link up to share something you did creatively (cooking, crafting, photography, a school project) whether the idea came from an online source or not. Please give me some ideas or let me know if I should just leave it as is and give it time to build up again. Thanks in advance!

Okay, I just heard the washer buzz so my blogging time is up. Time for another load. Have a great weekend!

Sunday Afternoon {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 46 / 7 Quick Takes (9/30/12) Mash-Up: Welcome Autumn!

By bobbi
September 30, 2012
No Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

AND

September is always a busy month for us with family, school and parish activities scheduled. Here’s a recap of some of the highlights with a Sunday afternoon {pretty, happy, funny, real} / 7 Quick Takes Mash-up.
Note: The {pretty, happy, funny, real} can apply to many photos so I’ll do them in order rather than category.

– 1 –

Happy birthday, baby! – Yesterday was my sweet Bella’s 11th birthday. Has a decade and a year really gone by so quickly?? I remember when I was holding her in my arms like this…

Now my sweet girl stands next to me like this. Happy birthday, baby!

– 2 –

I Heart Autumn – We are so ready for Fall! I decorated our front porch to welcome the season and our visitors.

It is also the perfect time for Pumpkin Picking. Thanks to Brian rearranging his schedule, he was able to babysit the younger boys so I could attend Andrew’s school field trip to The Farm where they have a few farm animals, a pumpkin patch, crops and an organic produce/ products store. We had a lot of fun, although the sweetest part was the ride on the bus when he held my hand and rested his head on me with a contented sigh. It was the kind of moment that mamas live for.

Checking out the animals.

He found his perfect pumpkin.

– 3 –

Fiesta Fun – September is also the time for our parish’s annual Fiesta. There is delicious food, mariachi music, numerous booths and a kids’ carnival. What more can you ask for?

Andrew is practicing his swing.

John-Paul on the other hand thought it was “Whack A Mole” as he swung the bat over his head like a club.

JP had better luck pitching his curve ball.

Meanwhile Matthew was waiting his turn to be let loose at the playground.

– 4 –

Random Funny Shots -September must have been a busy month in the delivery rooms years ago because we have received countless invitations to birthday parties this month. One party was particularly fun because the whole family was able to attend. I find this shot of Brian funny because he is having as much fun as the kids with his race car game.

I know when John-Paul has been playing with my phone because I will find photos like this. He literally took 77 photos (I counted them) of Angry Birds in various poses.

– 5 –

Is It the Kid’s Bedtime Yet? – Tonight when we come home from dinner at my in-laws I plan to get cozy on the couch with Brian and watch the new (for the USA) PBS show Call the Midwives. I’ve heard good things about it. Here is the trailer.

– 6 –

Go Pack Go! – As I am typing this I can hear Brian cheering for the Packers as the game is on right now. They have been in a comfortable lead but I fear that is changing because I hear a lot of “Oh Come On!!” coming from the family room. There goes the Packer lead. Funny how the Packers are the only ones that can get my mild mannered hubby all fired up. He turns a bit more like me for those few hours. hee hee

– 7 –

Last one – I was going to do a quick take on a bit of Downton Abbey news but I’ve run out of time so I’ll save it for tomorrow. I leave you with a pretty shot of a flower that caught my eye this week.

Have a great night!

Saturday Morning {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 45 / 7 Quick Takes (9/8/12) Mash-Up: Back to School, Baking & Toddler Terror

By bobbi
September 8, 2012
No Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

AND

It’s been a busy week (AGAIN) so it is time for another Saturday morning {pretty, happy, funny, real}/7 Quick Takes Mash-up.

– 1 –

{happy}

All the kids are officially back in school. Bella started the 5th grade – and moved out of jumpers and into skirts. (Although, after this photo day she is wearing her favored uniform pants since she doesn’t like skirts. Oops, a little like her mama.)

Andrew started Pre-K and was all smiles when he found out he got to get out earlier than Bella. (He only goes half-day.)

– 2 –

It’s funny that I imagined myself having all this free time and I had my plans of continuing to clean and organize, I thought of all the projects I’d start and blog posts I’d write but I’ve done nada! First of all, between three kids attending two schools with three separate school schedules, I spend a good portion of my day lugging kids in and out of the car. In fact, yesterday when I took John-Paul to school, I must have been on auto pilot because I accidentally drive him to School A instead of School B. Luckily, I had enough time to turn around and head in the opposite direction. Anyway, add in a few errands into the mix and I have to drive right back to School A & B for the 1/2 dayers and literally don’t get back from “taking them to school” until 1:30, unless it’s a speech therapy day, then add an extra hour. By 3pm I’m finally putting the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. Thankfully next week Brian and my father-in-law will be doing a couple of the shifts so that should ease things up.

– 3 –

My other misconception was that mothering would be easier with only Matthew in the house. Egads, I am more exhausted just watching Matthew than I am caring for all four. He is at that “Cyclone Stage” where he runs around the house leaving a path of destruction everywhere. At least with the kids at home he is occupied playing with them and there is always another set of eyes to lets me know when he is causing trouble. We are both getting adjusted. In the meantime, this is what happens when I try to get some housework done.

{funny}

Put in a load of laundry – find him on the table throwing puzzle pieces.

Put my breakfast dishes in the dishwasher – find that he gave himself a yogurt facial and shampoo.

Try to make dinner – it’s his invitation to dump out the kitchen cabinets, again.

The first few times, this is cute and photoworthy but as I pick up the dumped cookware he runs and dumps out a book shelf. As I am putting the books back on the shelf, he opens the dishwasher and climbs inside. I get him out and wipe his dirty feet prints off the washer and he runs over and dumps over the trash can. I pick up the trash and find in the rubbish the remote control, my serving spoon and his lost shoe. He’s too young for a time out chair and I’m not into spanking but even a little swat on the bottom does nothing. I tried throwing him in his crib and fencing him in but he climbed out and knocked down the barricades. I don’t remember any of the kids being this persistent in giving me a heart attack. I don’t understand how someone so small and cute can be so strong and relentless. So we’ll see how we manage together as the weeks progress.

– 4 –

Okay, since I am getting my complaints off my chest, let me just add one more thing. Normally, the boys get along fairly well but every once in awhile Matthew likes to tease John-Paul by taking one of his toys and running away with it. John-Paul, unable to fully verbalize his displeasure, will resort to screeching at the top of his lungs and grab his toy back. Matthew in turn will yell and screech at the top of his lungs. They were so loud I got flashbacks of those nature shows where the monkeys, chimpanzees, or gorillas go crazy. The boys sounded just like this…

I ran into the room and broke it up and I swear I am still shocked that the neighbors did not call child protective services or the animal control center.

– 5 –

{real}

Somehow all this craziness has made me want to enjoy some of the quieter moments of mothering and homemaking. On the weekends or during a moment of uninterrupted, blessed naptime, I have been feeling domestic and cooking and baking more. I think it is partly because of the weather. Normally we have warmer weather in September but there are still those days when the fog starts to creep in…

It looks like this.

Until it completely covers the mountains behind us.

That is when I am most likely to go baking crazy.

Here we used up all the over ripe bananas with Banana Blueberry Muffins, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies. In fact someone was asking me for the recipe for the cookies (I tried making them a little lower in fat) so I’ll post it next week.

– 6 –

I also dusted off my bread machine and have been making fresh bread for the family. Last night we had Italian wheat bread. The smell of bread baking is lovely!

It went fast.

– 7 –

{pretty}

Well, with all the mommy craziness, I certainly need more of God’s grace to get through it. I took this photo at the Mission’s garden and it reminds me of a mama and her baby.

It also reminds me of St Therese of the Little Flower. I have to remember that my life with Matthew (and all the kids) is my specific road to sanctity. God knows exactly how selfish, self-centered and impatient I am. He gave me just the little guy I need to help me chip away at those faults and give me opportunities to practice patience, charity and selfless giving. (It also helps to repeat my motto, “And this too shall pass.”)
With that, I must get off the computer and practice some virtue in the form of a stinky diaper that needs to be changed, breakfast dishes that need to be washed and countless piles of laundry to be tackled. 😉
Have a great weekend!

7 Quick Takes (8/24/12): JP’s 3rd Bday & Photography Fun

By bobbi
August 24, 2012
1 Comment

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

– 1 –

Well, another week and another 7 days of no blog entries. I seriously doubt I will get back to my normal posting until after all the kids return to school. (The rest start the day after Labor Day.) John-Paul started this week and he was a little apprehensive at first but by the end of the day he had fun and was all smiles.

JP after his first day of school.

Meanwhile Matthew was at Target trying on new hats.

“Evening, ladies.”

– 2 –

This was also the last week of JP being 2 years old! Today my little man turned 3. It seems like such a short time ago that we brought him home from the hospital.

JP at 1 day old.

Bella & JP

Andrew & JP

– 3 –

These days you can find him giggling and playing and making us laugh with his developing vocabulary.

Although, he has mellowed out a little in his old age and has taken to books. He carries one around with him all the time. The other day I told him he had to go outside and get some fresh air. My sister snapped a photo of his version of getting fresh air.

– 4 –

As you may have noticed, I love taking photos and I hope to one day get a “real” camera. Lately, it seems all I ever have on me in my iphone and I have been snapping away. Usually I use Instagram and occasionally Hipstamatic and Tadaa to filter my iphone photos. The only thing with these apps is that you can only use them on your phone. I wanted to find something that I could use online to quickly filter a photo. I started using Pixlr.com. It is a great little system with three levels, depending on how comfortable you feel with editing. I used it on the photos posted in Takes 2 & 3. (The one of him reading was done darker with JP closer to my hair color. 😉

– 5 –

Speaking of photos, this weekend is the fun and exciting Snapshots from a Sunday from Clan Donaldson. There is a different take this month and I am touched that Cari thought of me when deciding to experiment with a different format. Instead of each of us getting a different hour in the day (hello 3AM), we will all take photos at the same time – 4:00 PM (Eastern Time). Should be fun!

– 6 –

Okay, let’s just add one more photo topic. If you are looking for photo hints while snapping your kids, check out How to Take Great Pictures of Kids over at Slow Mama.com. (And congrats to Zoe & B on the adoption of their two precious girls from Ethiopia.)

– 7 –

Have a great weekend, everyone!
xoxo,

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Category Archives: matthew’s world

7 Quick Takes (9/6/13): Prayer, Discipline and Foyle’s War

7 Quick Takes (2/8/12) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 59 Mash-Up: Spring, Pebble Beach & Pinterest

Sunday Afternoon {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 46 / 7 Quick Takes (9/30/12) Mash-Up: Welcome Autumn!

Saturday Morning {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 45 / 7 Quick Takes (9/8/12) Mash-Up: Back to School, Baking & Toddler Terror

7 Quick Takes (8/24/12): JP’s 3rd Bday & Photography Fun