7 Quick Takes – 7/1/11

By bobbi
July 1, 2011
5 Comments

– 1 –

Blessed Junipero Serra & the Carmel Mission: I can’t believe that it is July 1st already! Time just goes too fast! On the plus side, today we celebrate two great feast days, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Blessed Junipero Serra. Living in California, on summer vacations we would often visit the various missions when we were younger. It’s funny that years later my parish church is the Mission San Carlos (Carmel Mission.) Brian and I were married here and our children were baptized here. It really is a beautiful Mission and it has the distinction of being where Blessed Serra is buried. If you are ever in the area, you should make a visit. In fact…

– 2 –

Founder’s Day: …if you’ll be in the Monterey Bay area tomorrow (Saturday, July 2) stop by the Mission for the Founders Day celebration. There is music and live demonstrations of how things were made during the early days of the mission (ie. food and crafts) and a special Mass at 5:30 PM. (There is a dinner afterwords but you need tickets for that.) It’s always interesting and a lot of fun.

– 3 –

Cars 2 is too scary for little kids!: We are big Pixar fans in our house with the favorite movies of the kids being Cars, Toy Story and Walle. Bella used to be obsessed with Cars and had all the toys for it. Now Andrew loves Cars (and inherited the toys) and was so excited to see the new movie for his birthday. Since I am the one who usually takes them to the movies, Andrew was excited to have a daddy date with Brian as his movie buddy. Bella had a treat and was movie buddies with my visiting sister. From what Brian told me, the movie started out okay but it was really violent and should have been rated PG not G. By the last third of the movie Andrew (who just turned 4) got too scared with all the shooting, cars dying and the bad guys trying to kill Lightning. He started crying so Brian had to take him out to the lobby. Bella finished the movie with my sister and she enjoyed it but she is 9 years old. So if you are taking your younger kids to see it, beware.

– 4 –

Is there such a thing as low cal food that’s yummy?: I’ve been trying to eat healthier so I can get off the rest of the baby weight (and then some) so I tried a Weight Watchers recipe for macaroni salad. I’m a little leery of “light” recipes but this was really good. I used bow tie pasta, substituted half the celery with red bell pepper and added a bit more fresh Italian parsley, which gave it a nice touch. It was really tasty. Check it out at Weight Watchers.com Recipies: Macaroni Salad

– 5 –

Summer Reading: Brian purchased the book Poor Banished Children and I hope to start reading it next week. There is an interesting interview with the author Fiorella De Maria over at Ignatius Insight. If I like this book, I’ll check out her other novels.

– 6 –

He can’t possibly be teething??: How soon can a baby start teething? Matthew is not yet three months but he is drooling and gnawing as if he’s teething. It just seems too early for that.

– 7 –

“JFT”: My “just for today” goals: First, when things get hectic I’ll recall today’s gospel reading “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” and I will turn my heart to Christ for strength. Second, I’ll get that overflowing basket of clean laundry folded!

That’s it for today. Have a wonderful 4th of July holiday! God bless America and watch over our troops.

{pretty, happy, funny, real} – vol 4

By bobbi
June 30, 2011
1 Comment

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

{pretty}

This is the view from our deck (with the rooftops cropped out.) One of the things I love about Carmel is that you have the beauty of the mountains/hills, the pine forests and the ocean all in one place. When I first came here to visit Brian I was awestruck!

{happy}

I was trying to get a photo of Bella but Andrew ran into the picture at the last minute. It’s funny that they are 5 1/2 years apart but still love to play with each other. I’m enjoying it while it lasts!

{funny}

Sometimes the house can get pretty loud with Andrew and John-Paul running around chasing each other. Add Bella to the mix and it can be a bit much. On this noisy day poor Matthew just wanted to take a nap. I’d caption this “Oh, how much longer must I suffer?”

{real}

I went into the kitchen and found that the cookie thief had struck again. So I went in search of him and found him hiding in the front room. He couldn’t deny the crime since he still had the evidence in his hands!

7 Quick Takes – 6/24/11

By bobbi
June 24, 2011
No Comments

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary. (Congrats to Jen on the birth of her daughter!! Read about it here.)

– 1 –

My youngest sister J.D. is visiting us for almost two weeks. We hired her to help me with the kids while I got my spring cleaning and some other projects done. It has been so nice having her around! Not just because the kids adore her and she’s so good with them but i love spending time with her. I miss my sisters!

– 2 –

Speaking of missing sisters, My sis EL mentioned in her Quick Takes that she plans to travel from VA to CA to visit the family. Unfortunately that weekend we have another obligation at Andrew’s school so we can’t make the 400 mile trip to So Calif while they are here. I’m so bummed! Although in the back of my mind I’m trying to figure out if I could still make it happen…if I could get out of the obligation, have Bella and Andrew play hooky, get Brian to take a couple days off work and drive…hmmm, I don’t know. We’ll see what I can figure out.

– 3 –

This week I have been working on cleaning, organizing and purging all the unused items out of our house. During one of my breaks I was browsing Colleen’s Green Grass Blog blog. Her post about a messy house was just what I needed to hear. She also mentioned a book that I was thinking of getting – Smart Martha’s Catholic Guide for Busy Moms by Tami Kiser. I have to make an Amazon order tonight so I think I’ll get a copy and check it out. I’ll let you know what I think.

– 4 –

In our kitchen there are always big bowls of fresh fruit ready to be eaten. Unfortunately we had way too many bananas and they were getting pretty ripe. (I mean like “I’m starting to see gnats” ripe) so I made a batch of chocolate chip banana oatmeal cookies for the kids. (Yes, the kids. And no, that is not chocolate you see on my face.) I still had more bananas to finish so my sister tried a recipe we just saw on Mexican Made Easy for Mexican chocolate banana muffins. The recipe was super easy and instead of using chocolate chips you used crushed Mexican chocolate. They were so good and would taste great with a cup of Mexican chocolate. (if you haven’t had Mex choc, it’s like regular hot chocolate but with a cinnamony flavor.)

– 5 –

It’s probably a little futile talking about hot chocolate when people are sweating in the heat of summer. I forget about that since Carmel has reverted to it’s foggy, cold summer days. My poor sister (who lives in the high dessert) is used to the heat and she’s shivering at our house. We crack up that we are in shorts and she’s in a long sleeve tee and vest jacket. 🙂

– 6 –

On Wednesday it was gorgeous and sunny outside at 10 AM so we decided to hit the beach. An hour later we had our picnic lunch packed and the kids were standing by the door in their shorts and sunglasses. Before leaving I looked out the kitchen window and saw the dreaded fog rolling in over the ocean. Oh no! We ran out the door, jumped in the van and I felt like John Cusack on that mediocre 2012 movie trying to race against impending doom. Well you can’t beat Mother Nature and by the time we set up camp there wasn’t a spot of blue sky, just thick gray. Oh well, we still had fun and truth be told, I’d prefer the fog over blistering heat.

– 7 –

Lastly, Brian and I got a special treat since he won a complimentary lunch at Pebble Beach. The last time we were there John Paul was a baby and we took him with us. This time Matthew is the baby but Jacinta offered to watch all four kids so we could eat alone. (I love that girl!) So we enjoyed our lunch child free – although we were happy when we received texta with pics of the kids having fun with their aunt. We could eat without worry. Here’s a pic I took of us that day. Brian doesn’t like it because he’s squinting but I still think he looks great.

That’s it for today. Have a wonderful weekend!!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} – vol 3

By bobbi
June 23, 2011
3 Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

{pretty}

We went walking in downtown Carmel (CA) this weekend and passed this little shop covered with flowers. So pretty!

{happy}

I desperately wanted to get a photo of all the kids together. I had a great shot at my mother-in-laws house – everyone was looking and smiling – but the flash didn’t go off . The next day I took one outside but I couldn’t get all the kids to smile and look at me at the same time. Oh, well. They still make me very happy. 🙂

{funny}

Okay, this is my act of humility. Confession time. I can be a little messy at times. (If my sister is reading then she just spit out her coffee and exclaimed, “A little?!” Living at home, when it came to neatness, she was the Felix to my Oscar.) Anyway, we’ve been doing some serious housecleaning this week and as I cleaned up I’d tell the kids, “put this on my desk.” (See how nicely I shift the blame to the kiddos so I don’t look so bad…) Finally the desk looked like it exploded and even I was shocked by the mess. I couldn’t help but laugh, hence the “funny.”

{real}

And for the real…tada! I got everything cleaned and sorted and even found a few things I thought I’d lost. I can’t guarantee it will stay looking like this but at least for today it will remain spotless. (I’ll just stay away from it.)

7 Quick Takes – 6/17/11

By bobbi
June 17, 2011
No Comments

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

– 1 –

Right now I am listening to Elenowen. I first heard of them when they appeared on “The Voice.” The married duo has a great “singer/songwriter” vibe and a beautiful, pure sound. I’m really enjoying them at the quieter moments of my day. (As few as those moments may be.) You can download their album “Pulling Back the Veil” on itunes.

– 2 –

Today is Brian’s birthday. (Happy birthday, sweetie!) Brian is truly an amazing man and such a good husband and father. His example constantly teaches me how I should unite myself more deeply to Christ and how to put my faith into action within the trials of daily life. Sigh. I love that man.

– 3 –

Today is also a special day because this morning I picked up my younger sister from the airport. She is going to be here for almost two weeks as a companion and part time nanny so I can catch up on some household projects I need to get done. I loooove when my family (I’m the oldest of nine) comes for a visit (and not so I can put them to work!) But because we are really close and it is hard not to have them living just around the corner. At least they are only about 7 hours away, unlike my sister EL who lives on the east coast. Grr. (For long distance situations like these, facebook rocks!)

– 4 –

The weather here has been nice although it has been unusually cool these past two days. The weather is one of the reasons I don’t usually visit my family in So Cal during the summer. They live in the high desert and it is stinkin hot! I am a wimp in the heat and get headaches and bloody noses with the air so dry and the heat over 90 degrees. So instead I lure them up to Carmel to enjoy cool weather and ocean breezes!

– 5 –

Although it’s Brian’s bday, instead of going out to dinner we’ll be seeing a lawyer to put together our will. (Memorable, I know.) We’ve been talking about it forever but now that Matthew is born we had to seriously get matters together in case the unspeakable happens. At least this way we’ll have our guardian named and make sure the kids are taken care of us. Hopefully, with Murphy’s Law, now that we are prepared we won’t need it. (Or would Murphy’s Law be that we are killed on the way to the lawyers? Ugh. Scary thought!)

– 6 –

Tomorrow Brian will get his special meal since he won a prize at work for a free lunch at the Pebble Beach Resorts. (That’s where he works.) Since my sister is here she can watch the kids and I may even attempt to leave the baby home as well and go solo with Brian. I’m not sure about that yet so I’ll have to think about it.

– 7-

Okay, Matthew is having a fit on my lap so #7 will have to be wishing a great weekend!

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Category Archives: family chit chat

7 Quick Takes – 7/1/11

{pretty, happy, funny, real} – vol 4

7 Quick Takes – 6/24/11

{pretty, happy, funny, real} – vol 3

7 Quick Takes – 6/17/11