Five Favorites (Vol 14): Family, Jane Austen & Sherlock

By bobbi
January 22, 2014
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I’m linking up with Hallie for Five Favorites this week. 🙂

~ 1 ~

Family Time

I have been relishing the time we can spent together as a family, particularly before Brian goes for his surgery. I know it is wrong of me but in the back on my mind I will think…what if something goes wrong? What if they can’t get all the cancer out? What if the unspeakable happens… I try not to go there and think positively but my drama queen tendency rears its ugly head. That is when I say a quick prayer and just focus on loving my sweet man and my babies and ignore the what ifs.

~ 2 ~

Monterey Walking Trail

The stress of these days would normally have me munching stale Christmas cookies but when Brian found out the cancer returned, we revamped our diets and stopped eating take out, processed food, white flour and regular sugar (as much as we can.) I have also been trying to deal with the stress by going for walks on my favorite trail along the beach. One good side affect of these changes is that I’ve lost a couple of pounds. There’s many more to go, but it’s a start. 😉

~ 3 ~

The Support of Family

On Thursday two of my sisters will come and stay a few days with us to take care of the kids and the household so I can spend time with Brian in the hospital. And if that wasn’t a big enough blessing, once they leave my mom will be flying in and staying a week with us. Just knowing that they are coming is a balm to my soul. They know just when to give me a sympathetic hug and when to get me laughing hysterically. I wish it were under different circumstances but I’m loving that they are coming anyway.

~ 4 ~

Jane Austen Bookmarks

When I saw these Etsy Jane Austen Bookmarks from Castle on the Hill, I could not resist them! They have each of the Bennet sisters from Pride and Prejudice and one with Mr. Darcey for good measure. So cute!

There are also sweet prints like this one –

Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice – Jane Bennett and Mr Bingley take A Stroll

Or maybe you prefer a more modern print. Try this –

Downton Abbey Lady Mary

~ 5 ~

Sunday Night Sherlock/Downton Abbey Fest

I think these guys have made it to my Five Faves before but they deserve to a repeat performance. Brian and I just finished watching the premiere of Sherlock, Season 3. The show has a different feel and Sherlock has been humanized a bit but I loved it. Sunday nights have become my night of TV bliss. Downton Abbey followed by Sherlock. It doesn’t get much better than that, baby! (Even though next week’s bliss will be watched in a hospital room. 🙂 ) Also, if you are into Downton Abbey, here’s my take of Sunday night’s episode.

Thanks again for the prayers!! Keep em coming. 🙂

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. 😉

Theme Thursday: Craft and 7 Quick Takes (1/17/14): Crosses, Cancer & Booty Shaking

By bobbi
January 17, 2014
4 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Jen for 7 Quick Takes and Cari for Theme Thursday: Craft. (Scroll down to #7 for that.) 🙂

~ 1 ~

I started writing these Quick Takes last night but I was having such a bad day that I was in no mood to write. Life has been super busy. The boys are sick with colds. Despite illness, Matthew has not slowed down from being a Terrible Twos poster child, driving me up the wall. Did I mention that I am also his human kleenex? He wipes his nose on me all the time. The other day he hugged me and them wiped his nose on my hair. On. My. Hair. I didn’t need any gel that day. It’s no wonder that yesterday I woke up sick myself.

I think all the cancer stress had finally worn me down. So today I cleared off my schedule completely. I am not stepping outside the house. I put Thomas the Train on for the boys and put their tracks where they could theoretically play quietly while I rest on the couch and maybe finish these quick takes. To be honest with you, I was upset last night but I am feeling better today. I’m still sick but at least I can laugh at the craziness now.

Since many of you have been asking how things are going, we are hanging in there. I just looked at the calendar and realized that it was one year ago on this day (it was the feast of the Baptism of Jesus) that Brian had his first surgery to remove the cancer in his body. Next Friday he has to go through it all over again. The surgeon called in a specialist to help so we had to wait two weeks for them to coordinate their schedules.

In one sense, everything seems normal. Brian is at work. I am busy at home and there are moments when I actually forget about it. But when I wake up in the morning, I’ll have this heaviness in my heart and wonder why. Then I remember…oh yeah, there’s a cancer eating away at my husband. Thankfully, there are so many of you praying for us and God’s grace is carrying us through so the moments of complete freak out are few. Also, a big, big thanks to those who prayed the St. Peregrine novena with us. 🙂

~ 2 ~

Source: The next recipe I want to try.

One big change we’ve gone through is our diet. The first time around, we made some dietary changes but definitely not enough. This time we have cut out processed food, take out, white flour and as much sugar as we can. (It’s hard to get completely rid of it since there seems to be sugar in everything) but there’s definitely no more of his favorite sugary baked goods. We’ve also started juicing and on the plus side of all this, Brian had been feeling really tired and run down but the other day for the first time he felt a lot better and energetic. I hope that is due to all the toxins flushing out of this body, particularly after all the junk food we ate over the holidays.

Giving up desserts has been hard especially since the family is used to having a sweet treat after Mass. Since donuts and coffee cake are out, I am looking for an alternative. I did find a few muffin recipes using whole wheat and honey instead of sugar so I’m going to give those a try. Which reminds me, if you have a favorite healthy dessert recipe (or Pinterest board), let me know. It can be gluten free or use whole wheat flour but no white sugar. Thanks!

~ 3~

One thing that has helps us get through this tough time it to remember that we are not alone on our journey. The more we stop looking at ourselves and instead look around at others around us, we realize how many other people are carrying their own heavy crosses. There are numerous people asking for prayers. One prayer request that particularly moved me was from Dwija. One of her readers shared that their one month old daughter Cecilia was diagnosed with an an aggressive form of cancer. One month! At least my Brian is strong and able to fight…I can’t imagine if it were my little baby girl. So please pray for Baby Cecilia and learn how you can help them out.

It also goes to show that no matter how much you “plan out” your life, you never know where God will lead you. Sometime you are blessed beyond your wildest imagination. Sometimes you are asked to suffer in a way you hoped you’d never have to. It’s hard to let go and let God but somehow He manages to get us through. I was thinking about this when I read Annery’s heartfelt post Let Me Tell You of My Foolishness. I have been foolish far too many times.

~ 4~

However, don’t think that all my thoughts have been on the somber side. A sense of humor is what always seems to pull us up and get us through many tough times. That’s why I appreciate posts like Cari’s Seven Pre-Coffee Quick Takes. Besides loving her Lego commentary, I was couldn’t stop laughing when she said she didn’t like her kids calling their rear-ends a “booty.” I don’t know if it is totally normal but my boys are going through that “bathroom talk” phase where they love to talk about rear ends. They used to call it a “behind” until my brother once referred to it as a “boom-boom” and it has become their new favorite word.

They also love to watch the movie Despicable Me and one of their favorite scenes is when they dance at the end, particularly when Vector dances on the moon and smacks his behind as he’s dancing. It is their favorite dance move. It wouldn’t be so bad if they kept it in the home but the other day we were at Mass and they were acting up. At one point John-Paul started his Vector dance move and said, “Look mom, I’m shaking my boom-boom.” Matthew, who imitates everything JP does, smacks his own behind singing, “Oh, yeah.” Not exactly one one my finer mother moments. (Insert eye roll.)

~ 5 ~

Photo source: 4Life4Life

Okay, another random blog post I loved was Carolyn’s post What’s in My Mompurse? {In Which I Pretend You Really Want to Know}. First she had me laughing with her “keeping it real” photo of the contents of her purse. Then the detailed container photos had be giddy with organizational ideas for my messy life. Not to mention that I carry around a bag that weighs almost as much as my 40 pound pre schooler.

A friend of mine hosts many baby showers for our moms group and she has this purse game where you get points for having various items in your bag. After wining the game a few times in a row I had to be banned from playing because I happen to carry around so many random things – Dried up cheese stick. Check. Church bulletin. Check. Roll of scotch tape. Check. Spanish maracas. Check. Don’t ask what those were doing in my bag but it may or may not have involved kids shaking their boom-booms singing, “Oh, yeah…” 😉

~ 6 ~

Photo source: A Knotted Life

Since I’ve been mentioning various blogs, Bonnie over at A Knotted Life is hosting The Second Annual Sheenazing Blogger Awards. You can nominate your favorite blogs in various categories like – Funniest, Coolest, Most Inspiring, Best Looking, Best Under appreciated, Best Link-up and more! How fun! My only problem is narrowing it down because I have far too many favorites!! Go check it out and vote. 🙂

~ 7 ~

Lastly, since I never got a chance to post it yesterday, here is my photo for Cari’s Theme Thursday: Craft. I love looking at all the other moms sewing and embroidering and knitting skills but I have ZERO skills in that department. I am more of a paper and pen gal than a needle and thread one. I have always wanted to scrapbook (I think the last one I did was when Bella was born over a decade ago) but I just don’t have the time. Instead I am giving Project Life a try. I’ve got my supplies and my photos ready, now I just have to put it all together and journal a few favorite memories. I’ll be doing a post on it in the future but there is a quick peek. 🙂

(Hey, and don’t forget to also link up those crafty posts on the RoL Pinterest Party. I don’t think Cari would mind. 😉 )

Well, that’s it for today. Have a great weekend.

Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 16): Slow Cooker Lentil Soup with Kale

By bobbi
January 14, 2014
4 Comments

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

* * * * *

In dealing with Brian’s cancer, we have been trying to eat more natural food and stay away from canned and processed food. I was looking for a recipe to make lentil soup in my slow cooker and I came across this recipe from Mary Sperling of OR and pinned it to my boards. I made the soup last night, although I changed the recipe slightly to add more veggies and garlic.

Ingredients:

3 carrots, chopped (I used 5 med carrots.)
3 ribs of celery, chopped (I used 5.)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed (I used 4 garlic.)
8 cups water or vegetable broth (I used chicken broth this time but I use veggie broth during Lent.)
2 cups lentils, rinsed (I used a 2 lb bag.)
1 tsp. dried thyme

Directions: Put all of these ingredients in the slow cooker. Set it on low if you are leaving it all day, high if you are starting it around lunchtime.

About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve the soup, add:
1 ½ tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. salt (I used about 1 tsp.)
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 bunch of kale, washed and chopped

Variations:

You can add potatoes if you want more bulk. Add cubed potatoes at the beginning of cooking if you do.

Tomatoes are also good in this dish. Add one 14 ½ ounce can of diced tomatoes at the beginning of cooking if you like. (I haven’t tried any of the variations yet.)

I made the soup without the balsamic and kale since I don’t like the smell of vinegar and prefer my leafy greens raw rather than cooked. It tasted really good and the house smelled great as it was cooking. The next day I rewarmed the soup and added the kale and balsamic. It was still really good and much thicker after sitting in the fridge overnight. Everyone loved the soup and it has been added to our regular family meal list. 🙂

UPDATE: I have since grown accustomed to the taste of kale and love it in the soup. I still haven’t tried tomatoes or potatoes yet. That’s next on the list. 😉

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

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

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

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

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

Lastly, you can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. 🙂

An InLinkz Link-up

Catholic Woman’s Almanac (12/29/13): Sunday Night Edition

By bobbi
December 29, 2013
2 Comments

Hosted by Jen at PlainGrace.com (Formerly Suscipio)

Moments of Gratitude…

Today I am especially thankful for

The joy of the Christmas season.
14 years of marriage to my Sweetie.
A date night to watch The Hobbit.
Another week of vacation with staying up late and (relatively) sleeping in.
Hugs and kisses from my littles.
The Packers winning today’s’ game. I have one happy hubby (who almost had a heart attack.)

Beauty in the Ordinary…

When a hubby doesn’t care about your physical flaws and says you are still the most beautiful woman in his eyes. (Love is blind. 😉 )

In the Kitchen…

M – Leftover ham, broccoli and homemade Mac and cheese (made with low fat smoked Dutch cheese. Yum)

T – Pizza and salad.

W – (New Years Day) Party buffet – fave appetizers, cold cuts, etc

Th – Breakfast Dinner – Eggs, turkey breakfast links, country potatoes & tomato slices.

F – Tune Melts & Trader Joe’s Red Pepper and Tomato soup. Yum!

S – Leftovers.

S – Epiphany Party – Taco Salad Buffet.

Praying…

For those who are not enjoying the joys of the season and are dealing with loneliness or depression.
For those who have lost loved ones, especially recently.
For those suffering the cross of infertility.
For our military, especially those having a hard time being away from their loved ones during the holidays.
For some special intentions.

Pondering…

I’ve been thinking about the new year. For the last two years I’ve had a “theme” or word that I’ve worked on during that time. I am thinking about what this year’s them will be. (I’ll hopefully post about it in the week.)

Around the house…

The after Christmas mess was insane. I have pockets of it cleared out but there are far more areas that are still crazy messy. It will be a very busy week cleaning, decluttering and purging.

Reading…

Past Suspicion by Therese Heckenkamp I started this book some time ago and lost interest. I finally picked it back up and finished it. It was okay and had some great “I can’t wait to see what happens” moments but overall it was not a favorite. To be fair, I think she wrote this book when she was 18…so for an 18 year old, it was good. 😉 There is talent there so I am looking forward to seeing how her writing has developed. I’ve added her second book onto my list – Frozen Footsteps.

But for now, the next piece of fiction on my list is Divergent by Veronica Roth. (I don’t want to see the upcoming movie until I read the book first. 😉 )

Listening to…

The snores of the kids and the clicking of my typing on my laptop as I watch Christmas in Connecticut.

On my DVR…

We finally replaced our old broken DVR and boy, does this new one hold a lot more! I’ve got countless Christmas movies including all the new Hallmark movies and so far my faves are A Very Merry Mix Up and Finding Christmas. Currently, Brian and I are finally getting around to watching the PBS Masterpiece show The Paradise. We just finished watching the last episode tonight. Wow. I especially appreciated that there was romance without bed hopping. I am looking forward to Season 2. The storyline takes place a year after Season 1 ended. Here’s the trailer.

And who else is pumped for the start of Downton Abbey next Sunday?? Yeah, baby! 🙂

On the blog…

There are some great End of the Year link-ups coming up this week.

Monday I am linking up with Sarah of Amongst Lovely Things for “Most” Posts of 2013.

Tuesday I am linking up with Pam from Everyday Snapshots for 13 for 13 and Dwija for 2013 in 13. (Your favorite photos of 2013.)

Wednesday I will hopefully link up with Jen at Plain Grace for Naming the New Year.

Posts I’ve Liked on my Bloglovin

I’m behind on my blog reading but here are a couple…

Staying Peaceful When You’re Overwhelmed by Misty’s Mornings

Austenprose’s Top Jane Austen-inspired Books of 2013 by Austenprose

Pinned…

FREE Printable Home and Blogging Pages

Popular Organizing Posts of 2013 at I’m an Organizing Junkie

New Years Resolutions for Kids Printable

Plans for the Week…

A quiet New Year’s Eve, a family New Years Day get together, and an Epiphany party with some local Catholic families/friends. It’s the first party we’ve hosted in a long, long time. Wish me luck. 🙂

Captured…

Since Brian and I celebrated our 14th Anniversary on Dec 28, I thought it would be fun to post then and now pics. 🙂

Click on over to PlainGrace.com to read more almanacs/journals.

Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 15): Advent & Christmas Edition

By bobbi
December 12, 2013
1 Comment

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd Tuesday (yeah, I’m a little late 😉 ) as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, did, or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

* * * * *

Happy feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe! Happy middle of the second week of Advent!

As usual, I am late in posting my yearly Advent round-up but thankfully, no matter how much you have been slacking in the Advent department, there is still plenty of time to make the most of the next couple of weeks. If you are feeling overwhelmed, just pick one simple thing to do that will help you and your family.

For the rest of you that are on the ball, please link up your Advent and Christmas posts for this month’s Pinterest Party! (For the time being I am going to make the party once a month. If my schedule clears in the future I’ll go back to twice a month.) I love to read your ideas and see your crafts and learn about your recipes. It can be for Advent OR the Christmas season and does not have to be “religious”. So please share!

Okay, for my contribution, this is my pin – “Keeping Christ in Christmas” Advent Ideas. 🙂

The Advent Wreath

Last year we finally needed to make a new Advent wreath since ours was falling apart. After Christmas, I went to Target and picked up a door wreath on clearance. I also replaced our pathetic candle holder that never kept our candles straight no matter what tricks I tried. I finally managed to find three thick purple candles and one pink. Toppling candle problem solved. (It also lessened the boys’ desire to pick them up and use them like swords.)

For daily prayers, we use Sarah Reinhard’s book Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families. It only cost $1.99 at Amazon (and $0.99 on Kindle) but it has wonderful daily reflections that are simple enough for the kids to understand.

In a perfect world, each night we gather around the Advent wreath, light the candle(s), read the day’s reflection out of the book, and say our night prayers. However, it was hit and miss since evenings are hectic with homework, bathing, getting the boys to bed early, prep for the next morning, etc. Family evening prayer was just not happening. So Brian suggested we switch our prayer to before we say our dinner grace. It is the one time in the day when we are always all together at the same time. It has worked out a lot better! Some days we use the reflection book. Other days Brian says a short spontaneous prayer. The main thing is that we are praying something together.

The Advent Calendar

Last year I found this country house Advent calendar at Target and I loved it! I printed out the Children’s Advent Calendar from Loyola Press (they also have one for adults) then I simply cut up the calendar and put the little paper square into the corresponding day. So each day we had one sacrifice or act of kindness that everyone in the family would do.

Each night after our evening/dinner prayers we open the following day’s box and read what we’ll do that day. After we read the activity we then place the slip of paper in Jesus’ stocking. (See below.) At the end of Advent, Jesus has 25 little gifts that we offered for him.

During dinner, when everyone has to share one thing about their day, they can also share how their activity went. (For example, yesterday we had to be a peacemaker so instead of losing my temper and yelling at the kids, I first went into my room and screamed into my pillow, then came out of my bedroom and corrected the boys calmly. They got a kick out of that one.)

If you are looking for a nativity box, Amazon has a pretty Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic Figures. Or if you prefer a wall calendar there is the cute Little People Nativity Advent Calendar. But you certainly don’t need to spend money on these activities! You can make a simple Advent chain out of construction paper, such as the Advent Chain from CatholicMom.com.

The Jesus’ Stocking/ Gift Box

Years back we bought a pretty gold stocking that would be for Jesus. During Advent we all have been making small sacrifices for the Child Jesus and placing those little sacrifices in his stocking. The day before Christmas the kids make and decorate birthday cards for Jesus and the adults use card stock in which they write down an act of love or sacrifice for Jesus. It can be anything from making an extra Holy hour to sharing a toy with a sibling. Some years we make a special wrapped gift with a slot cut out on top so we can slip our cards inside. Other years we simply placed our card in Jesus’ gold stocking. Anything will do as long as offering acts of love for Christ is the focus. (After Christmas I date and save the kids’ cards. The ones the adults made on card stock can be used as a book markers in our prayer books so we’ll remember what we promised Jesus. 😉

A Birthday Party for Jesus

It is a family tradition that on each child’s birthday the dining room table is decorated with a birthday sign and stuffed animals to “greet” them when they wake up. Being Jesus’ birthday, it is only natural that it is celebrated in a similar fashion. Since Christ is the guest of honor, not Santa, our St. Nick plush holds Jesus’ birthday sign. I also place on the table the birthday cake we made for Jesus’ party.

On Christmas morning we all gather around the table that holds the empty manger. We place a large white candle in the center of the advent wreathe and light it. Then Mom or Dad (or an honored sibling) places the child Jesus in his manger and we sing Happy Birthday. Then the festivities begin.

A Nativity Set for the Littles

Anyone with children knows that they are very hands on. They also know how their blood pressure rises every time their little one grabs the ceramic Mary of St. Joseph from the nativity set and starts running down the hallway with it. One of the best investments I ever made was purchasing the Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set. They can be a bit pricey but it was worth it! A nativity scene that the kids can touch and move around makes life sooo much easier. Amazon has the Fisher Price deluxe models and the simple “To Go” Set.

The Spirit of Giving

The boys are packing stockings for soldiers in Afghanistan.

Nothing invokes greediness quite as quickly as a materialistic holiday season. To help conquer this, it is helpful to keep kids (and adults) focused on the spirit of giving, especially those less fortunate. If you have older kids this can be done through working at a soup kitchen, food pantry, or visiting the elderly. Most parishes have programs where you pick a name or number and by a gift for a specific child. Kids, including little ones, can do extra jobs and chores around the house to earn some extra money (or use their tithing money if they get an allowance) in order to buy small gifts for these needy children. Or they can help you buy canned good for the local food bank.

I also try to personalize the children to my kids. Instead of getting a gift for “Girl #96” or “Boy, age 5” I’ll give them a name. So when we go to shop we find the perfect gift for little Juan who just turned 5. Or we pick the kind of soup “Maria” and her Mama would like to have on a cold afternoon. It helps to put a face to the person in need. Remembering someone who is less fortunate through a simple gift or act of kindness, helps to instill generosity and thankfulness for our own blessing. Christmas is a good time to start this process but it can be carried on throughout the year, making giving of oneself not just a holiday thing, but a way of life.

Plan Ahead for Charitable Gifts

This year we had four pet projects.

Adopting military troops and sending care packages to them through AnySoldier.com (although we send packages year round).
Joining the kids’ school with making care packages for Operation Christmas Child.
Joining our parish’s Angel Tree to give gifts to local migrant workers.
Joining Brian’s work and Salvation Army with adopting a local family in need.

I’ll admit that the extra gift giving can add up to a lot of extra money! Luckily, I have been looking for bargains throughout the year. Once a month during one of my many Target visits, I’ll check out the dollar section for various care package items. You can pick up small toiletries, snacks and hand warmers to give to military troops or the homeless or you can find coloring books, games, craft projects, socks etc to fit into a child’s care package. During off-season sales or Pre-Thanksgiving sales or Black Friday sales I find generic gifts like baby dolls or skateboards for the Angel Tree children. To help the kids understand sacrificing for others, we’ll give away some of their older toys to St. Vincent de Paul and as a family we’ll give up one of our “Pizza Nights” and eat sandwiches or leftovers instead. The money we saved goes towards buying gifts and food for others.

With a little creativity, planning and sacrifice, you can make your charitable gift giving more affordable for your family. (NOTE – If you are anything like me, you may also want to download the free printable from the post Keeping Track of Your Hidden Gifts from Orgjunkie.com. I wish I had that last year because I have two Christmas presents that I know I bought but I can’t figure out where I stinkin hid them! LOL)

There are numerous other ways to keep Christ in Christmas but these are just a few suggestions that we practice. With a little imagination (and the prompting of the Holy Spirit) you can start your own family traditions of truly living Christmas!

The Advent Christmas Planner

Source

If you need more ideas and feast day projects, I recommend you check out Catholic Icing’s e-book The Advent Christmas Planner.

(You can also read these suggestions from Catholic families that I posted last year.)