Theme Thursday: Shaming & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 80: The “I’m ashamed to say…” Edition

By bobbi
November 21, 2013
2 Comments

It’s a photo mash-up as I link up with two of my favorite blogs/bloggers – Cari for Theme Thursday: Shaming (I’m ashamed of the language that came out of my mouth when I read the theme for today) and Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real} .

{pretty}

Last night we had our first real rain of the season and we desperately needed it! When I woke up the next morning I am ashamed to say that the kids were late for school because instead of making their breakfast I went out on the deck in my pj’s and bare feet to watch the sun rise over the trees and snap some photos.

It looked like a scene from a tropical paradise, especially as the fog sat at the bottom of the hills.

So they were late getting to school…and I’m ashamed to say I’d do it all over again!

{happy}

I’m ashamed to say that for the last week the housework has suffered (Never mind that it’s not a shock. I mean more than usual!), the dishes have been left in the sink every night and everyone has run out of clean underwear because we have been using all our spare time to send Christmas care packages to our soldiers before the Post Office deadline. However, I am happy that my three little elves have gotten into the spirit of Christmas and have been helping me out fill out the soldier’s Christmas stockings…

…even though I am ashamed to say that after 15 minutes of their “help” I sent them to their room to play with Legos because the chaos was driving me nuts. 😉

{funny}

I was dumping out some old magazines and I’m ashamed to admit how my reading material compares to Brian’s. While he is reading about the Pope’s latest homily…

…I’m checking to see what Daryl is up to and what the Governor will do to Rick and the gang.

{real}

I’m ashamed to admit that I have been celebrating Christmas since Halloween. I am ashamed to admit that I love to watch every single movie on the Hallmark Channel’s countdown to Christmas movie list, especially the romantic ones. And the other night Brian sat down with me to watch one (doesn’t he just rock!) and the two main characters were falling in love as they baked Christmas cookies and made hot chocolate. Brian suggested that we make some hot chocolate so we paused the movie and made our treats. The only thing missing? The cookies. Then I remembered that I bought a tin of Christmas cookies for a friend who loved them and I hid them in the garage so no one would be tempted to eat them.

I’m ashamed to say that I sneaked out to the garage, took them from their hiding place and opened them up so Brian and I could enjoy. Then I hid the box so the kids wouldn’t see them and Brian and I could have a secret treat another night. heehee. Yeah, I’d totally do that again, too.

(As I am typing this, Bella came into the room and saw this photo of the cookies. She said, “When did you guys have those?” I stammered and said, “Have you finished your homework?” She said no so I sent her off. I escaped this time but my crime may be found out once they start sniffing around. 😉 )

Have a blessed week! Please pray for us that we have a safe trip. I’ll post a pic from Disneyland. 🙂

xoxo,

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. 😉

Five Favorites (Vol 13) & What We’re Reading (Vol 5): Catching Fire, Advent & Holiday Planning

By bobbi
November 20, 2013
4 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Hallie’s Five Favorites and Fave #4-5 is linked to Jessica’s What We’re Reading Wednesday. Enjoy!

~ 1 ~

Movie Nights – Catching Fire

Last year I finished reading The Hunger Games a couple weeks before the movie was coming out. I was so excited to see the movie that although I was getting a fever and (unknowingly) coming down with the flu, I was there in the theater during the opening weekend. I purposely did not read the second book Catching Fire until closer to the movie release so I would would be completely hyped up for the movie. Well, I finished the book last night at 1:30 AM and just purchased tickets to tomorrow night’s showing. Now I just have to figure out a way to get all the kids in bed and Brian okay with me sneaking out for a couple hours. 😉

NOTE: Technically, Catching Fire is what I have also been reading, but I didn’t include it since I didn’t review it. Others have done that better than I could. 🙂

~ 2 ~

Chevron Print Sash Bag

Source

The website Jane.com has so many cute etsy finds on sale and I particularly love this Chevron print sash bag that is 50% off ($24.95) for the next 12 hours. I am really, really tempted to buy it but it is not in the budget right now, especially with our Disneyland trip coming up next week. I don’t know…I may have to hint to Brian that it would make a great Christmas gift but he has to act now. LOL.

~ 3 ~

ABFOL’s The Holiday Planner

Source

You know how much I love a cute planner and A Bowl Full of Lemons is one of my favorite organizing sources so I was excited to see Toni’s new Holiday Planner. The downloadable sheets are great for keeping track of (and budgeting for) Christmas.

What We’re Reading

~ 4 ~

The Advent Christmas Planner

Source

Speaking of planners, to also keep track of the spiritual aspect of Advent and Christmas, I downloaded and have been reading Catholic Icing’s e-book The Advent Christmas Planner. Anyone who has browsed Laci’s website knows that it is ground zero for any kind of Catholic craft you may have in mind. This is what Laci says about her book:

“This whole ebook has been designed to help the average mother actually execute living the liturgical year at home during the Advent and Christmas seasons rather than just dreaming, filling Pinterest boards, and then becoming overwhelmed.This ebook was written to help you actually accomplish the things you’ve always wanted to by integrating it into your life.

This ebook integrates all the religious aspects of celebrating Christmas with all the practical stuff us mothers also have to take care of this time of year. From stocking stuffers to Jesse Trees, from Advent Saint celebrations to gift budgeting, from meal planning to Epiphany door blessings- it’s all in one easy place for you. No searching all over the internet, or picking from this book and that book…

Love that! I was a little leery at first because some Catholic books frown on any kind of Christmas fun before the actual Christmas day. Whereas I am one of those people that officially listens to Christmas music every day since the day after Halloween. So not decorating or not putting up our tree until Christmas was not going to work in our house. However, I knew this e-book would be good for me when Lacy says:

“If you really want to celebrate Advent and then Christmas, Advent is a time of waiting and preparation. But you don’t want to look like a scrooge, or make your kids hate being Catholic because the Advent season is not fun and festive. What you want to do is replace all the empty stuff this time of year with feast day celebrations and rich traditions that the whole family can enjoy!”

Well, I can certainly can do a better job at incorporating the Catholic feast days into our Advent/Christmas activities and Laci’s suggestions are just the motivation I need to make it happen. I won’t be doing everything at once but I’ll be picking just a couple things we can do to start new family traditions. Lastly, the book also has a number of printable organizer pages (which will go great in my Christmas planner from above). 🙂

The e-book is normally $12 but right now it is on sale for $10 if you order before Advent starts. 🙂

~ 5 ~

The Parish Picnic

The other day someone ordered the book The Parish Picnic from our old website and I had completely forgotten we had it! So I took out my copy and gave it to Brian to read to the boys during their nightly bedtime stories. The boys were intrigued with the story of Caleb and his two best friends and how he would solve his dilemma at the parish picnic. I heard groans of “Awww” when Brian shut the book half way through and said, “To be continued tomorrow night.”

The Parish Picnic (Book One of the New Illustrated Catholic Children’s Series) is a heartwarming story about friendship, self-sacrifice and the love of Christ. It was written by Carmen Marcoux (Catholic wife, mother of nine and author of Arms of Love and Surrender) with her husband James. Together they have authored the first of a series of books aimed at the younger reader. The book is beautifully illustrated by their daughter Rebekah.

The Parish Picnic is a celebration of our Catholic heritage and the life we share as the family of God. 🙂

You can see a preview of the book here.

I still have a few copies left of the book so if you’ d like a copy, you can place an order here. They cost $16.95 but I’ll mark it down to $14.95 and include shipping. 🙂

BONUS FAVE – FREE BOOKS!

~ 6 ~

I just saw that the new novel by Erin McCole Cupp called Don’t You Forget about Me is free on Amazon (Kindle) until Nov 21, 2013. It is listed as a “Catholic thriller.” I just downloaded a copy. 🙂

Okay, that’s it for now! Thanks to Hallie and Jessica for hosting!

Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 14): Slow Cooker Beef Stew

By bobbi
November 11, 2013
No 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, did, or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards.

Not on Pinterest? No problem. Link-up your own creation to inspire us so we can pin it to our own boards. It can be a recipe, sewing project, Catholic craft, homeschool project, organizing/ homemaking tip, themed birthday party, whatever you’d like. Don’t have a post ready? The link-up will be open for 10 days so there’s still time. Plus, feel free to link up a new post or an older post that hasn’t had much traffic lately. Don’t have a blog? No problem. Tell us about it in the comment box. Or post your photo and a description on the RoL Facebook page. 🙂

* * * * *

For our wedding Brian and I received a slow cooker and the first recipe I made was from the little recipe booklet that came with the cooker. It was for an easy Beef Stew. That was nearly 14 years ago. The cooker has since died and the recipe was lost when we moved from our apartment into our current home. I bought a new slow cooker and tried other fancier beef stews since. They were good but nothing seemed to mach that first simple stew. Finally, the other day I searched online and found the original recipe here.

Ingredients

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
3 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions

1. Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture.
2. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
3. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

It’s really easy to put together and once it is done, you have a delicious hot meal to warm you up on these cold days. Add a slice of fresh sourdough bread and you are good to go, baby! 🙂

* * * * *

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. Here is the html code:

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

You have 10 days to post your link, so if you can’t get things done by Tuesday, no worries, put it up when you can. We’ll be here. Have fun!

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

An InLinkz Link-up

7 Quick Takes (11/1/13): The Really Quick All Saints Edition

By bobbi
November 1, 2013
3 Comments

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

~ 1 ~

Last night I grabbed my laptop and sat down to write 7 Quick Takes after a nearly 3 week blogging break but I was just not in the mood. So I put the laptop away and snuggled up with Brian and watched the first episode of The Paradise, which has been patiently waiting on my DVR for weeks.

Now that it is Friday afternoon and the kids are quiet, (ha! Let’s see how long that lasts!) I will try again.

~ 2 ~

Photo Credit: Happy Saints.com (Love those guys!)

First off, Happy All Saints Day! We went to Mass this morning at the kids’ school and the 3rd grade always dresses up as their patron saints and gives a little presentation. It was really beautiful and sweet. We were supposed to go to an All Saints Day party at a friend’s house tonight but Brian and two of my little guys are not feeling well so I think we’ll have to stay home. Bummer.

(Looking for a costume idea? Check out the post Saint Costume Ideas for All Saints Day.)

~ 3 ~

We did have a nice Halloween (although JP was already a little under the weather) and went trick or treating at a local shopping center that has an afternoon non-scary Halloween party for kids. The shops give out candy and there is a pumpkin patch, etc. We love it and go every year.

As for costumes we had Bella as a “Newsie”, Andrew as Super Mario, John-Paul as a Star Wars clone trooper and Matthew as a Jedi Knight.

The best thing about afternoon trick or treating? By 7:30 we had the boys asleep, Bella reading in her bed and Brian and I ready to watch a movie and eat some candy. Yeah, the party days are over. 😉

~ 4 ~

Now that Halloween is officially over, I can watch my Christmas movies and listen to Christmas music without guilt. I know, I know, it is still too early but I love it and December – to mid Jan is just not long enough for me to celebrate. I like to start since early October but curb it until Nov 1. 😉

~ 5 ~

Disneyland 2012

I am also counting down until we return to So Cal for our annual trip to Disneyland and then Thanksgiving with my family. Although, we just saw each other at my sister’s wedding (which was beautiful!) we were so busy with the preparations and festivities that we didn’t really have a lot of one on one time together. That will be remedied in 24 days. 😉

~ 6 ~

Don’t forget to set your clocks back Saturday night! Happy dance!!

~ 7 ~

Have a great weekend!!

Theme Thursday: W & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 79: True Wuv Edition

By bobbi
October 24, 2013
2 Comments

Well, I’ve been gone for awhile but I am back home and happy to report that it was a lovely trip and my sister Bridgette had a wonderful wedding. Although I am on a blogging break and haven’t taken many recent photos for this, I am itching to post something. So I went through my iphone and found a few photos that I could use to join Cari for Theme Thursday: W and Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real} . Since I’ve got Love…true wuv on my mind, I bring to you…

“Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam…
And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva…”

True Wuv

The happy couple in honeymooning in my neck of the woods so here are some of the things they will see in Monterey, CA.

Waves of water washing over your weary feet.

Wall Murals on Cannery Row

The Wharf

Walkways in Downtown Carmel

Windows at the Carmel Mission

Okay, my honeymooning sister actually took this photo yesterday. (Hey, Bridge, I stole this photo off facebook but I thought you’d be cool with it since I am doing you laundry as I’m typing this. Yeah, okay, thanks.) 😉

Thanks to Cari & LMLD for hosting!

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Category Archives: weekly quizzes/questionnaires

Theme Thursday: Shaming & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 80: The “I’m ashamed to say…” Edition

Five Favorites (Vol 13) & What We’re Reading (Vol 5): Catching Fire, Advent & Holiday Planning

What We’re Reading

Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 14): Slow Cooker Beef Stew

7 Quick Takes (11/1/13): The Really Quick All Saints Edition

Theme Thursday: W & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 79: True Wuv Edition

True Wuv

Waves of water washing over your weary feet.

Wall Murals on Cannery Row

The Wharf

Walkways in Downtown Carmel

Windows at the Carmel Mission