Five Favorites (Vol 8): Summer Edition & What We’re Reading Wednesday

By bobbi
July 10, 2013
6 Comments

Today I am linking this post with Hallie for Five Favorites and Jessica for What We’re Reading Wednesday. (Scroll to #5 for that.) 🙂

~ 1 ~

Beach Bonfires & Multi-Weinie Roasting Stick

This weekend we went to a beach party with two other Catholic families and we had so much fun! (And Catholic style, 3 families equaled 14 kids. ;-)) We had a bonfire and I tried my new hotdog roasting stick that held 4 hotdogs at once. (Which I picked up at Target, natch.) It worked great and kept tiny hands in the sand and out of the hot fire pit. Although, I relented and let them roast their own marshmallows when they promised they wouldn’t use it as a flaming light saber. 😉

~ 2 ~

Black-Out Curtains

On those days when we aren’t watching the sun set over the Pacific, the boys are in bed and lights out by 8:00 PM. However, it makes it hard when it is still bright and sunny outside. We bought some denim black-out curtains similar to these and they are an answer to prayer. They really block out the light and make it feel more like a dark night so the boys can go right to sleep.

~ 3 ~

Imagine Dragons – Night Visions

So far this album has been my soundtrack of my summer. On those occasions when I get to go to Target and Costco solo, you’ll find me driving down Highway 1 singing along. Here is my current fave of the album.

~ 4 ~

Link-ups!

Summer gives me a little more time to spend on the blog but I must admit that lately the majority of my blog posts are link-ups to other blogs. Heck, even this post is being linked TWICE. So which are my favorite link-up’s? Here they are…

Five Favorites by Hallie (Wed) – Of course!
What We’re Reading Wednesday by Jessica (This is my debut contribution. Scroll to #5.)
Theme Thursday by Cari (Thurs)
{pretty, happy, funny, real} by Like Mother, Like Daughter (Thurs)
7 Quick Takes by Jen (Fri)
Catholic Woman’s Almanac by Suscipio (Mon)

I don’t have a place to play on Tuesday so I stay home and have my own link-up – A Pinterest Party. (Yes, that was a shameless plug and here are accompanying photos!)

Link-up your post! (Old or new.)

This week’s post: Pinterest Party & Link-up (vol 7): Dinosaur Kits for Your Little Paleontologist

What are your favorite link-ups??

~ 5 ~

I love that summer also allows me to stay up late reading and not worry about an alarm clock in the morning. (Well, unless you count the two year old bouncing on my head in the AM.) I love to read but I have a habit of starting five books at once and only finishing one or two, months later. Plus, I love to read fiction but I am never sure which books are worth the read and which are a waste of time (or worse, immoral.) Then a friend told me about Good Reads.com and I love it. Imagine it as Instagram for readers. Instead of looking at your friends photos of the day, you can see what books they are reading, how they rated them, and any comments or reviews they had about them. I love it. You can check out the books on my lists here: https://www.goodreads.com/bobbi_rol

Which brings me to Housewifespice’s new link-up What We’re Reading Wednesday.

I just finished two books this week.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Amazon.com Description:

Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man-perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Predjudice. When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, however, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined. Is this total immersion in a fake Austenland enough to make Jane kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

This was a fun summer read. I am a big Austen fan and when the author talked about the BBC adaption of the book fans know the scenes she mentioned by heart – Darcy after his swim, Darcy and Elizabeth exchanging looks at the piano, etc it reminded me of years ago when my sister and I would watch and swoon together. I was eager to revisit the P&P love. I’ll admit that at first it was a little hard to get into it because the premise seemed a bit unbelievable but once I got into it I was thoroughly enjoying it and rooting for my favorite characters. If you aren’t looking for anything terribly deep, are an Austen fan, hopeless romantic and love a love story (no matter how improbable) then you’ll want to check it out.

The Night Sky: A Journey from Dachau to Denver and Back by Maria Sutton

Amazon.com Description:

This extraordinary and unflinchingly honest memoir takes us on a riveting journey into the hearts and souls of three enigmatic people whose destinies are forever changed by the events of World War II. The secrets of misguided love and passions are revealed as the author journeys between the past and the present to solve the mystery of a handsome Polish officer with piercing blue eyes and sun-colored hair. Maria Sutton takes us to the dark green hills and valleys of the ancient Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine, where the woody fragrance of birch trees and new-mown hay fills the fresh, crisp air after a heavy rain. Vicariously, we see a sunrise over Poland obscured by brightly colored swastikas on warplanes and then we will be taken into suffocating cattle cars, lice-infested stalags, and to the Dachau death camp. Further down a country road, the hearty laughter and beer steins clinking with each salute to the Fuhrer s astonishing victories can be heard. As Maria takes us on this odyssey to solve a decades-long mystery, she learns the family secrets of untold heroism, quiet courage, and a mother s love and of tragedy, disillusionment, and heartbreak. At the end of her long journey, Maria uncovers a shattering and painful truth. But the secret, however heartbreaking, would also become the greatest gift she would receive.

I don’t often read non-fiction books for “fun” but I received a free copy of this book and thought I’d give it a try. I was intrigued by the author’s journey and how it personalized history lessons of the past. I was especially interested in the refugee camps since Brian’s family spent time in a refugee camp after the war and before immigrating to the United States. There were a few parts when the story dragged and jumped around a little but as the author got closer to the truth I could not put the book down. I was excited and heart broken as she learned the truth about her father and other family members. In the end, I loved how the experience strengthened her and gave her peace. Well worth the read.

Well, that’s it for this week! Thanks again to Hallie and Jessica for hosting!

Pinterest Party & Link-up (vol 7): Dinosaur Kits for Your Little Paleontologist

By bobbi
July 9, 2013
1 Comment

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 in 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 a week 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. Post your photo and a description on the RoL Facebook page. 🙂

* * * * *

This week I am sharing something I pinned to my “kids board” on Pinterest.

A couple weeks before school was over Andrew was learning about dinosaurs and fossils in science. He came home and implored Brian to go dig out in the backyard to look for fossils. Brian agreed and they filled their backpacks with hammers, shovels, canteens and such. They spent the afternoon digging and found some interesting rocks that Andrew believed had fossils in them.

A few days later I showed Andrew a photo my sister took of a dinosaur skeleton at the Museum of Natural Science in LA.

Photo Credit: My sis JC

Andrew sighed and wearily said, “No wonder I couldn’t find any bones in the backyard. These guys found them already.” I told him not to give up and Brian gave me a look that said, “Yeah, next weekend you can dig with him all afternoon.” 😉

I felt bad for my little paleontologist and while browsing a local toy shop for a birthday gift for him I found this Kidz Lab T Rex Dino Dig Excavation Kit. There were a number of dinosaurs available but I got Andrew the T-Rex.

The kit comes with a block of clay-like substance and inside were numerous dinosaur bones that had to be chipped and dug out using the instruments included.

The kit is for ages 8 and up but Andrew was able to do it with the help of Brian. (Or as Brian may describe it, he was digging away while Andrew kept asking, “Are you done yet??”) 😉 They worked a little on it each evening and after all the pieces were found (and much rejoicing) Andrew was able to piece together the bones to form the T-Rex skeleton.

We were all impressed and will be buying one of the other models to excavate. 🙂

* * * * *

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 a week 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

{pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 70 & Theme Thursday: Freedom

By bobbi
July 4, 2013
1 Comment

It’s another photo mash-up today as I link up with Like Mother, Like Daughter with {pretty, happy, funny, real} and with Cari for Theme Thursday. The theme this week is “Freedom” and although I was thinking of various red, white and blue subject matter, I never had a chance to plan anything. Instead I was enjoying a day of picnicking and hiking with my family.

We took a different trail that lead us to a high (but not too high) hill that overlooked the ocean and the forests of Point Lobos. As the cool wind whipped around us and we breathed in the glorious views, I called to mind the scripture from Romans 8:18-21. (I couldn’t remember the exact wording so I had to look it up later. ) It reads:

“I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because creation itself will be set free from its bondage of decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.

It is a gentle reminder that our faith should not be shaken when we look around at all that is wrong in the world. Whatever crosses we are bearing now, they will not compare to the Resurrection to come. Creation itself groans at the disorder caused by sin. Yet when we gaze upon the beauty of God’s nature we see his power and ironically, his gentle touch. It is like a soothing balm to a weary soul. It is then that we experience freedom from despair because we know God will never abandon us and he will always give us the strength to complete the mission before us.

So although, these photos are void of the usual patriotic symbols, for me they are a reminder of God’s gift of freedom as well as the biggest blessings of my life – my family.

{pretty, happy, funny & real}

We started our trail at the parking lot as pointed out by the photo.

We went up the rocky hill trail. (You can see someone walking along to the trail at the upper right hand of the photo.)

Matthew was having a fit because he didn’t want to hold anyone’s hand so Brian stood at the bottom of the hill with him as I went ahead with Bella, Andrew and John-Paul.

We made it to the top and on the other side of the hill, this was our view.

Beside us some deer where enjoying their lunch. As I was snapping this photo Bella said she saw Brian coming up the hill. I told her it couldn’t be him.

But there he was with Matthew running beside him. Matthew’s hair was blowing and his arms were stretched out like a soaring eagle. My first thought – the freedom of childhood innocence and joy.

Upon seeing Brian the boys cheered and ran to him. Matthew then became a dinosaur. I looked at Brian and said, “God, I love that man!”

At this point we were tired and wanted to go home but not without one last shot of our view back as we descended the hill. (Unfortunately, I am not skilled enough to really do the view justice so this will have to suffice. ;-))

Happy 4th, everyone!!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 69 & Theme Thursday: Black & White

By bobbi
June 26, 2013
12 Comments

It’s another photo celebration mash-up today as I link up with Like Mother, Like Daughter with {pretty, happy, funny, real} and with Cari for Theme Thursday: Black & White. (Scroll down to {funny} and {real} for that. :-))

I know I already had two photos of Lake Tahoe for last week’s Theme Thursday: Water and some on Tuesday’s Pinterest Party & Link-up: Travel Tips but I promise this will be the last time I post photos from this trip. LOL. 😉

{pretty}

On the drive to Lake Tahoe along Hwy 50 I pulled to the side of the road to snap this photo. The drive up there is as gorgeous as the destination.

One of our favorite spots is the Taylor Creek Visitor Center and Trail.

Along the trail.

The sun shining through the trees.

A view of the mountains.

Where we stayed during our trip.

The boys are following in their father’s footsteps on trail behind our hotel.

{happiness}

Happiness was beach day! It was a completely different experience from playing along the ocean. I am always worried about the kids and the pull of the waves but the lake was so calm, it was lovely and peaceful. (At least until a boat went by :-))

Bella

Andrew

John-Paul

Matthew

One of those speed boats went by and kicked up some waves. The boys giggled like crazy as they played “Don’t let the wave get you.”

{funny}

After one of our picnics the boys wanted to play Star Wars. Matthew found the perfect light saber, even if he could barely lift it. 🙂

{real}

I used my iphone to snap this one of Brian, my parents, my sister and the kids walking through the forest. I was so, so blessed to have my them (my dad, mom and sis) with us on our trip.

I liked the way the sunlight was breaking through a tiny patch between the trees.

A close-up of a tree.

I hope you enjoyed this peek at our trip. 🙂

Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 6): Travel Tips

By bobbi
June 24, 2013
2 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.

Don’t have a post ready? The link-up will be open for a week 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. Post your photo and a description on the RoL Facebook page. 🙂

* * * * *

We just returned from a fun trip to Lake Tahoe and since so many of us will be traveling this summer I thought I’d share a few tips that made our trip smoother.

Disclaimer – I am naturally disorganized and a bit scatterbrained so it took me awhile to get organized in regards to traveling. I have used these tips successfully, even though I still over pack waaaay too much, I am always running late (it’s hard to pack when all the clothes are still in the dirty laundry) and I stress out about getting it all done until we are rolling out of the driveway!

PACKING/VACATION INFO

Packing List – Years ago I typed up a packing list on the computer with everything I need for a trip – clothes, toiletries, kitchen items for the hotel, beach items, etc. I have been printing off the same one every year and updating as we go along. (Although, I haven’t updated it recently since it still listed a binky and diapers for John-Paul. :-)) There are many you can print off from Pinterest but I have found making my own with the exact items we use is much more convenient.

As for packing clothes, I followed my sister’s packing tip and packed outfits for each person to wear each day. It made it a lot easier in the hotel to just hand the kids their whole matching outfit. (Although I always pack an extra outfit for each person and include in the outfit shorts and pants for changeable weather.)

Photo credit: Barefoot & Sometimes Pregnant Blog

Vacation Binder – I used to keep vacation info in my regular Family Binder but this year I started a separate binder just for our Lake Tahoe trips because it was taking up too much space.

I found a binder at Target and purchased some Avery Worksaver Big Tab Plastic Dividers with Slash Pocket (11903). I like these because they have a built in file to store papers in each tab. (Note: these tabs are extra wide so they will stick out of a regular sized binder.)

In the binder I have 8 dividers.

Packing Lists

Directions/Notes – Although we have GPS on our phones I like to have a hard copy of the directions to our hotel at Lake Tahoe. I have actually been using the same copy over the last decade! (I think it’s about time to print off a fresh copy.) On the directions I’ve made notes of the highway exits with the best places to eat or clean restrooms so we have that info the following year. (Otherwise next year it’s a game of “Which offramp did we take to get to that McDonald’s with the super clean restrooms??”)

Hotel Info -That’s pretty self explanatory.

General/Church Info – Here was general info about Tahoe and I kept a bulletin from the local church with Mass times, etc.

Places to Visit – This was our first year of going to Lake Tahoe without my in-laws so I thought it would be fun to try some new places to visit. I kept my info in this section. For example, there is a beach right next to our hotel but it is small, busy and not the best place for the kids to run around. I researched reviews and found the perfect place to set up camp for the day to play in the water, BBQ and picnic.

Note: If you ever go to South Lake Tahoe I HIGHLY recommend Pope Beach off of Hwy 50 & 89. It is perfect!)

I also recommend the nature trail at the Taylor Creek Visitor’s Center. It’s beautiful!

THE ROAD TRIP

In years past, whenever we went to Lake Tahoe (300 miles north of us) or So Cal (400 miles south of us) Brian and I would get up at 3:30 AM and carry the kids into the car so we could drive while they were sleeping. However, this year we had a change of schedule and we thought we’d try driving with the kids during the day like normal people.

Travel Games & Printables

I went on Pinterest and looked up travel games for the car ride. I found a pin of Jen’s blog My Delicious Ambiguity that had a number of travel game printables. I’m a little leery about downloading printables from sites I am unfamiliar with so we stuck to the big name sites like Nick Jr. This car bingo was really cute and fun.

Dora’s Colorful Car Bingo

There are also a lot of coloring pages and puzzles you can print off.

Andrew likes Team Umizoomi so I printed this Connect the Dots and Color page.

John-Paul loves Max and Ruby so this Coloring Pack was perfect for him.

You can find others on the Nick Jr Printable Pages.

There are also cute printables on the Disney Channel’s Coloring Pages

If you don’t watch TV and are unfamiliar with these characters you can google coloring pages, buy a coloring book or give your child blank paper to create their own drawings.

Treat Bags

After gathering all my printables I put together a bag of treats to give the kids. I usually wait to give it to them at the half way point. By then the novelty of the trip has worn off and the treats help them get through the second half. You can make it as elaborate or as simple as you’d like, depending on your budget.

Here is a sample treat bag.

It contains a clip board with blank paper, printable games and coloring pages, a coloring book, new crayons, a book to read with lots of pages, and a small toy. Normally, my treat bags are much simpler but this was part travel treat, part celebrating graduating to the next class and part reward for getting a good report card so I splurged more than I normally would.

Movie Time

I must also admit that I am a huge fan of watching movies during long trips. Our old portable DVD player broke after years of use so it was time to get a new one. I decided to get the RCA Twin Mobile DVD player with 9″ screens from Target. (Here is the 7″ screen version from Amazon.) It was a little pricey but so worth it!

They hook to the back of the seat headrests and the best feature is that you can choose to have both DVD players play the same movie or separate movies. There are a number of cords to connect the DVD players so it may not be ideal for little ones that cannot resist pulling them out. In our Sienna mini-van we set up the DVD’s in the back row using the plug in car power adapter in the trunk area. Bella, Andrew and John-Paul were able to watch their movies there without any problems. The one negative for this player is that while it does have a small flip out stand to place it on a table, my version did not come with an AC adapter. (Although one can be purchased separately.) However, so far we have not taken out of the car so it hasn’t been an issue.

Also, there were two versions of the dual player. When we turned off the car the less expensive one had the ANNOYING feature of not remembering where the DVD left off. So when you turned the car back on the DVD went back to the beginning. Yeah, we returned that one. The one that was a little more expensive remembered where you left off and went back to that spot when you tuned the car back on. It was worth the extra for that.

Well, these little things made the six hour drive unbelievably smooth. At one point I told Brian I feel like these aren’t my kids, they are being so good. Now granted, once we got to the hotel they were bouncing off the walls and making me wish we never came but as soon as they had a chance to get their energies out properly, the rest of the trip was a bast. And I can’t wait to do it again next year! 🙂

Do you have any traveling tips? Share them in the comments! Plus, I’ll add more photos from Tahoe in Thursday’s {pretty, happy, funny, real} post. 🙂

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

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

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 a week 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!

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 🙂

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Category Archives: weekly quizzes/questionnaires

Five Favorites (Vol 8): Summer Edition & What We’re Reading Wednesday

Pinterest Party & Link-up (vol 7): Dinosaur Kits for Your Little Paleontologist

{pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 70 & Theme Thursday: Freedom

{pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 69 & Theme Thursday: Black & White

Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 6): Travel Tips