13) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 61 Mash-up: Photos, Boys’ Play & Motherhood

By bobbi
February 23, 2013
5 Comments

AND

I started this yesterday but it just wasn’t happening. However, the kids are quiet so I must strike while I can before the boys start their morning chorus of “Mine!” “No, Mine!” “MINE!” and “Mom!” 😉

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{pretty}

This week for Cari’s Theme Thursday it was about architecture. Here are two photos I took of the Carmel Mission.

You can see the rest of the Mission photos here and all the other fabulous photos on Cari’s link up here. And a huge thank you to those who mentioned my photos on their blog (Cari and EML) and those who left kind comments. I truly appreciate it but it’s incredibly embarrassing because any photos I take outside or out in nature require ZERO talent. You cannot take a bad photo around here and even if you do, photo editing fixes that right up. My 3 year old with my iphone camera proves it. (But I love your appreciation anyway! xoxo)

This photo is for Day 5 of #cslentipj – Light. The sun #light is shining through my kitchen window.

~~ 2 ~~

{happy}

For Day 4 of #cslentipj – the subject was #love.

I posted this pic of Brian sitting in the crying room before Mass praying. I #love this man more than I can express and he brings me such happiness! Although, I know my mom is asking, “What are you doing taking a photo at Mass, Ms. Paparazzi?” Well, technically Mass hadn’t started yet and I just snapped this quickly with my phone while Brian had his eyes closed, which explains the poor quality. I didn’t notice until after, St. Joseph is just over his head. Quite appropriate. 🙂

~~ 3 ~~

Speaking of my prayerful man, yesterday was the feast of The Chair of St. Peter and Brian put together a Novena for the Papacy. It is a beautiful collection of traditional prayers and short, modern day reflections. Go check it out and see why he is called my better half. (While he is doing stuff like this I’m shopping at Target or browsing Pinterest. ;-))

~~ 4 ~~

{funny}

But just so you don’t think it is all work and no play, here is Day 6 of #cslentipj – Happiness.

I love when Brian’s playful, boyish side comes out and I hear the blissful happy squeals of the boys as they are playing. For Christmas the boys watched Star Wars for the first time and afterwards they begged me to take them to Target and get them those glow-in-the-dark light sabers. (Snort. As if someone had to beg me to go to Target. Refer to QT #3.) Of course I did, so now in the evenings we’ll often have lights out in the hallway as they do their battle.

The top half of the photo shows them playing. The bottom half has Matthew getting ready for battle next with my colander as a helmet. So funny. 🙂 Gotta love them boys!

~~ 5 ~~

{funny}

Speaking of life with boys…

Note to self: Remind the boys that after they eat an apple, throw it away. Don’t stick it back in the fruit bowl.

Day 5 of #40daysofphotos – #40. Here are #40 toy trains lined up in a row.

Matthew walked into the photo shoot and was ecstatic. It’s funny because we’ve had some of these trains for almost a decade. Bella used to love Thomas the Train and we started collecting them back then. The tradition continues with Andrew, John-Paul and now Matthew as he plays with them. (I’ve been talking a lot about the boys lately. Next week I’ll make one of the takes about Bella. It’s just harder with a tween who values her privacy. 😉

~~ 6 ~~

{real}

Day 6 of #40daysofphotos – My Lenten Sacrifice.

For lent, I have also been trying to curb my impatience and not lose my cool when things like permanent marker, broken glass, dumped wipes and spilled milk happens and offer it up for love of God. (Refer to my 2013 credo.) Sorry to say that I failed miserably the other day and after losing my temper I broke down and was literally crying over spilled milk. Time to get to confession and recharge the ol’ spiritual batteries. 😉

~~ 7 ~~

Confession is the first cure but you know what the second best cure is? I found out Thursday night when I had a huge treat. For the first time since I was pregnant with Matthew (say what?) I went to a mom’s night out. I was as giddy as a school girl because I had been craving some Catholic girl time in real life and I hadn’t seen a number of my old friends in ages. The food was delicious, the conversation was humorous yet uplifting and it just perked up my spirits. We decided to make this a regular thing and I wondered how Brian would feel about that. Well, the next day Brian was pleased to see me in such a good mood and so playful with the kids and affectionate with him. As long as this keeps up, he said he didn’t mind watching the kids again for the next outing. 😉 Woohoo!

~~ Bonus Take ~~

My sis Bridge with her godchild Matthew.

As you may know, I come from a large family – I’m the oldest of nine and so far three of us are married. Well, we can add another Mrs to the ranks because my sis Bridgette has announced her engagement to a wonderful man. (Bridge was born between me and my younger sister EML.) So not only will we be attending a wedding but we will be having a family reunion, which means EML and I will finally get to spend some face to face time together. (Insert happy dance.) We will also get to meet a number of little nieces and nephews/cousins that we have not met yet! I am soooo excited and will be spending even more time on Pinterest offering ever so helpful wedding suggestions to my sister. 😉

Have a fabulous weekend!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 60: Trees, Ashes & Valentines

By bobbi
February 14, 2013
No Comments

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

There are still 14 minutes of Thursday left so here are my favorite photos and instagrams of the week. 🙂

{pretty}

These two photos were featured in today’s Theme Thursday: Trees. You can see the rest of the photos here.

A few people commented on the post about how pretty it is here and I agree! I remember the first time I visited Brian here on the Monterey Peninsula (we met online and I lived 400 miles south in So Cal) I was flabbergasted at how ridiculously gorgeous it was here. You have the beautiful green pine, rolling hills and the breathtaking ocean. I told him he was spoiled to live here! Well, I’ve been spoiled now for 13 years and it’s been lovely. That’s another reason why I want to learn about photography and using a real camera, rather than my iphone. There is so much to shoot! But I digress, back to the post.

{happy}

I’m not exactly happy that Lent has started but I do enjoy the sense of buckling down and recharging my spiritual life. It’s sort of like being on vacation. As fun as it may be, it’s nice to get back home and back into your routine. A little discipline is a good thing.

The next two photos are really blurry but they still convey the idea.

I was trying to get a shot of our #ashtags but Matthew just wanted kisses. It was so sweet I couldn’t help but be happy.

Finally got it, even though it was more of a light blob than a cross.

John-Paul got the perfect cross!

{ funny}

Okay, who is trying to scare mom with the fake plastic spider in the laundry room? It’s becoming a game of “where will it show up next!”

{real}

We went to a St. Valentine’s party at a friends house. (I shared the Catholic valentines we made here.) The boys were busy decorating their bags, although I think Andrew was wondering when they would get to the treats. After the previous day of sacrifice he was looking forward to some sweets. (I don’t know how the guy is going to make it through 40 days of Lent!)

Happy St. Valentine’s Day. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be your first love!

xoxo,

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!

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{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!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 58: Brian’s Recovery Edition

By bobbi
February 3, 2013
1 Comment

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

Before my mom went back home (sniff) we took the scenic way home after picking up John-Paul from school. I pulled to the side of the road and quickly shot this.

{happy}

On Thursday Brian met with an oncologist. Thankfully he was given a clean bill of health. The surgery was successful and no radiation will be needed. The doc said it was the best case scenario for a person with cancer and he has a 90% chance that it will not return. Of course, he will now have to have regular screenings but this is still great news. Thank you so much for you prayers!! We are both very happy. (And a little tired looking. ;-))

The kids were happy to have dad back on the deck playing with them. (You could also count this as {funny} since shark-loving Andrew is wearing his shark fin head piece. LOL)

{funny}

The kids regularly get on a movie fixation where there is only one movie they want to watch over and over again. During Brian’s hospital stay it was Despicable Me. Now that he is home is is Cars & Mater Tales. Matthew is watching one of his favorite scenes.

Here I found Matthew and John-Paul recreating one of the crash scenes. I am still not sure what the animal crackers were supposed to be.

{real}

Brian returned to work last week, easing in slowly with 4 hour shifts. His co-workers were so supportive and happy to hear that he is doing well, that they wanted to help out the family by making us meals for a week. Brian and I were so touched by their generosity! You should have seen the food. Each meal was enough for two dinners so I froze half of each. To top it off, they must have heard Brian had a sweet tooth because the deserts made our home look like a church bake sale! We enjoyed the food, shared with other family members and have plenty of meals and desserts in the freezer for later. God bless them and their generosity. They rock!

Have a geat Sunday and enjoy watching ~~the Super Bowl~~ Downton Abbey tonight!

7 Quick Takes (1/18/13) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 57: Downton Abbey & Hospital Visits

By bobbi
January 18, 2013
6 Comments

Hosted by Jen.

AND

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

~~ 1 ~~

A Mean and Cruel Trick – It’s just after 12:30 am and I am reluctant to sleep in an emty bed again so I am distracting myself by working on my Quick Takes & the {pretty, happy, funny, real} that I never had a chance to post yesterday. Brian has officially been in the hospital for a week now. He went in the ER last Friday and if all goes well, he will be released tomorrow (Fri.) Actually, we thought Brian was going to be released tonight. We were running around the house getting everything nice and pretty and the welcome home decorations up when Brian called and said he wasn’t coming home tonight after all. They wanted to keep him one more night to monitor a concern that popped up at the last minute. I completely understood the why but we were none the less bitterly disappointed.

I returned to the hospital to have dinner with Brian and watch a movie but when I had to say goodbye another night instead of bringing him home with me…well, I had to bite my tongue so hard that I nearly drew blood in order to not completely lose it in the hospital parking lot. I think that is why I am still typing so late, I want to be so tired that I knock out when my head hits the pillow and I don’t notice the empty space beside me.

I know, I know, I should be looking at the bright side of things, that he is alive and well and will be coming home soon…that is another reason why I am typing. It always perks me up so let the uplifting begin.

~~ 2 ~~

{pretty}

In the evenings, when we visit the hospital we love to look at the Fountain/ Fish Pond they have in the lobby. A portion of the ceiling is a dome with a huge sky light. You can see the moon and the stars on a clear night.

When I took Brian’s hospital bag home to wash his clothes I found his miraculous medal he always wears. I have been wearing it since then, waiting for the day I can return it to him.

~~ 3 ~~

Downton Abbey Spoiler Alert – (If you have not seen last Sunday’s episode, skip to the next Take.) After the kids are asleep I return to the hospital to watch TV or a DVD with Brian. We were able to see Downton Abbey together and what an episode! I haven’t even had a chance to write my comments but here they are in a nutshell. I’m glad Matthew stopped whining and just used the money to save DA, although I had to laugh at the size of their possible “downsized” home. Thomas may be a snake but I would not want to get on O’Brien’s bad side. Cora was making such strides. Why did she get whiney again and not give O’Brien a chance to explain herself? Edith, oh, Edith. She started out as a nuisance but after her better side came out when she was working with the wounded soldiers, I was really hoping she’d find love and happiness. Although it wasn’t a complete shock, I was truly upset to see her hurt. I just hope #TeamEdith does not become #TeamHavisham. And what is going on with the whole Bates situation? I sure hope there will be some kind of resolution by the end of the season and it better not be that Bates actually is guilty. It is bad enough that I accidentally saw the mother of all spoilers with another storyline and you know how much I HATE spoilers! As much as I try to put it out of my mind it sits there taunting me as I watch. Oh, well. I am too addicted to stop now.

~~ 4 ~

Movie Night – Instead of TV, Brian wanted to watch one of his religious movies so we viewed God’s Mighty Servant: Sister Pascalina Lehnert, Secretary of Pius XII . It is the story of Sister Pascalina Lehnert (1894-1983) who was the personal confidant and secretary to Pope Pius XII for 40 years, when he was the Papal Nuncio in Germany, and then after for his whole Pontificate. The Pope had great confidence in her wisdom, energy and loyalty, and she became known as “the most powerful woman in the history of the Vatican.” The movie was in German with English subtitles, so it was good that no kids were with me, but I really enjoyed the movie and found it both interesting and moving.

~~ 5 ~~

Too Many Tears – This week has been difficult on the kids not having Brian here. Bella hasn’t been sleeping well. The other night Andrew woke up twice crying. Tonight John-Paul woke up crying calling for Brian. And whenever someone comes through the door Matthew runs over calling, Daddy, only to find it isn’t him. I can’t help but wonder what a child must go through when a parent dies and they’ll never walk through the door again. How do they cope… okay, now is not the time to ponder that one. (Remember, Bobbi, uplifting.) We’ll move on and since it is nearly 1:00 AM, I better wrap this up. I leave you with photos taken this week. Thankfully we did have a few happy moments too. 🙂

{happy}

When the kids were unable to kiss Brian goodnight at the hospital they would send him a photo saying goodnight. That made him happy.

The kids were excited that their daddy would be home soon but it made it difficult to change the sheets with three little monkeys jumping on the bed!

~~ 6 ~~

{funny}

I made the mistake of leaving my food on the table unguarded and Matthew discovered the joys of chips and guacamole and took over. (It was so tasty because I used BC’s recipe.)