Revolution of Love

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

A Week in My Life 2014 – Tues & Wed: Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This

Revolution of Love Blog - wiml_tues_201bI think this is pretty but if only bath time was as calm and sweet as this photo implied.

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Today I am linking up with…

Kathryn over at Team Whitaker for Week in My Life 2014. (See my Monday here.)

Cari over at Clan Donaldson for Theme Thursday: Lean. (Scroll down to the last photo.)

The lovely ladies over at Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real}.

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Revolution of Love Blog - wiml_tues_201adNo school + Target run = One happy boy.

Okay, I have to admit that Tuesday was uneventful. I am seriously sitting here thinking what in the world did I do that day? Well, there was only one moment that stands out in my mind. On Monday the three older kids had the day off to celebrate Veteran’s Day. Matthew’s pre school has done the same for years. Well, I did not check the pre school calendar to see that THIS year they get Tuesday off instead of Monday. So it was the usual morning routine of getting the older kids off to their school then getting Matthew off to pre school. However, when I arrived there were no cars and all the lights were off. A quick check to the online pre school calendar showed my mistake. Sigh. So much for my pre-planning. Oh well, that just meant that Matthew had to come with me on my morning shopping challenge where I hit four stores within two hours – Costco, Target, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. He loved it.

The rest of the day was a blur so let’s move on to…WITL4Revolution of Love Blog - wiml_wed_2014bYeah, it’s funny now but it wasn’t then! And the drawer was open just enough for the sauce to drip in and dirty the dish towels.

Okay, mama said there would be days like this. At first, it seemed like an ordinary day with me going about my business when some time in the late morning, there was a shift and everything started going wrong. Now, nothing major, mind you, but you know those crazy little things – spilled food, unrolled toilet paper, kid with a marker and a wall, broken dish, toys everywhere, brothers fighting, kids screaming, boys that can’t aim in the toilet, dirty behinds to wipe, and laundry and dishes that you swear your neighbors sneak into your house because there’s no way one family could make that much mess!

Maybe it was the fact that the kids had only a 1/2 day of school. Maybe because it was raining and they couldn’t go outside. Maybe because I have so little patience and I groan and rant when things are not going right. Whatever, it was no buneo. I somehow managed to get dinner on the table early, even though I had no time to eat myself because I had to get Bella to her youth group on time that night.

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After dropping Bella off, I pulled out my little finger rosary to say say a decade, asking God to help me calm down. I started thinking about Mary and told her, “You know, Blessed Mother, sometimes it drives me nuts that I am supposed to be all calm and humble like you. I’m not like you. I am not ‘let it be done unto me…’ I’m more, ‘What the @#$% is going on?!’ How am I supposed to relate to you when I am the opposite of you?”

Then I thought about my own kids and all the naughty moments they have throughout the day. Do I love them any less because they misbehave? No. Do I have the desire to jump off the bunk bed and land on my little brother? No, but just because I am not tempted to do that doesn’t mean I love my kiddo any less or that I’m incapable of helping him correct his behavior. The same thing with our heavenly Mother. She doesn’t have to experience the same temptations in order to love us and and help us.

Mary is my Mother and she is constantly lifting my head and looking at me in the eye and saying, “Why are you being so disobedient to your Father? Does he not love you unconditionally? Do you not want to return that love to him?” Sigh. Of course, I do.

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Like a loving and good mother that lets you lean on her, Mary hugs me and points me right back to where I should be – at the feet of Jesus. So I turned my heart back to God and asked for his forgiveness for being so self-centered and bratty. I asked for his mercy and shed a few tears of thanks for bringing peace to my heart once again.Β  God is good. All the time.

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, Letterboxd or Instagram. πŸ˜‰


A Week in My Life 2014: Monday

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Kathryn over at Team Whitaker is hosting Week in My Life 2014. The point is to record a week with all the joys and bumps along the road. She explains:

These sweet people in your life, those toddlers screaming at you, that pre-teen rolling his eyes, that husband winking from across the room – they love you. And you’re going to want to remember this time in your life. In its crazy, messy, un-Pinteresty pictures, you’ll want this snapshot.

I love the idea! I may not be be able to post each day but I’ll pop in when I can and remember the highlights of my days this week. πŸ™‚

WITL2The morning started with a nice treat since the kids had the day off and I was able to sleep in an extra 1/2 hour. It may have been longer if certain munchkins didn’t decide to dance in my bed with me in it.

After a quick shower and feeding the kids, I made myself some breakfast and headed to my desk. I try to do my daily mediation in the morning to get me in the right frame of mind. One day I may actually manage to wake up a half hour earlier and pray first thing in the morning but knowing me… it may be a while. For now, I say my prayers at my desk using the Blessed Is She daily meditations. I love that they are written by other Catholic women who are trying to find holiness in the nitty gritty of their daily lives.

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Mondays are my planning days and when I get my computer work done. After I finish my prayers, I go over my schedule and make my TO DO lists and catch up on emails, room mom stuff and the like.

The kids were home but they were playing and building train tracks. However, Matthew came to see what I was doing and, as usual, asked if he could sit on my lap.

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I just can’t resist those cute chubby cheeks! I savor these moments when he still loves to spend time with me.

But enough of the fun. There is laundry to be done. Always laundry. If I miss even one day or two the laundry baskets look like this.

Normally I wash then fold the clothes as I pull them out of the dryer and I have stacks of each person’s clothes on top of the dryer. More often than not, I never get around to putting the boys clothes into their drawers. They in turn just grab clean clothes from the top of the dryer. After a couple days the clothes are gone. I wash again and the cycle continues.

Today I actually cleared off the dryer and put away all the piles of clothes. Then this happened.

Me: Boys it’s time to get washed up and get dressed.

John-Paul: But Moooom! I don’t have any clean clothes!

Me: What are you talking about? I just did all the wash?

John-Paul: But look! (Pointing to the cleared off dryer.)

Me: I put the clothes away in your drawer.

John-Paul: (Looking puzzled.) Oh. (And he walks away.)

(JP was also the one who thought I got a new bed on the day I happened to make my bed.) Yeah, housekeeping is not my strong suit. πŸ˜‰

But every now and then the domestic bug hits me. I pulled out the slow cooker and tried a new recipe – Paleo Beef Stew. (Although I added potatoes and celery that I needed to use up.)

wiml_mon_3While that was cooking, I packed the kids’ lunch.

Revolution of Love Blog - wiml_mon_4Then we headed to speech therapy for Andrew and John-Paul.

Revolution of Love Blog - wiml_mon_5While the kids were eating their lunch in the car and watching a movie, I snapped this shot. I love her garden!

The rest of the day was pretty much the usual… we got home. More laundry. Dishes. Step on Legos. Swear under my breath. Make the kids clean up their mess. Walk outside while the kids ride their bikes. Laugh. Giggle. Get Brian’s text that he is on his way home. Run back into the kitchen to finish the dishes and get dinner on the table.

wiml_mon_7 I had high hopes for the stew but it came out too spicy. Luckily I had some beef broth left over so I was able to fix it up. Oh, well at least we had a treat of fresh bread.

When dinner was over I remembered that the Blessed Is She twitter chat was happening. So while the boys cleared the table and Bella unloaded the dishwasher. I was able to jump in for the last 15 minutes.

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The topic was prayer and there were a lot of great ideas and and shared experiences. Have I mentioned that I love BIS. πŸ˜‰

After 15 minutes of fun, I bathed the boys and got them ready for bed. Brian read them their stories and we said prayers and kissed them good night. I love my babies but I relish when 8 pm hits and the boys are asleep and Bella is reading and the night belongs to me and Brian. I take a little time to say my prayers and then we meet in the family room, talk alone and then watch something together before going to bed.

It’s been an enjoyable day. I’m grateful it wasn’t too hectic and I felt like I was able to catch up on some work. After some really busy weeks, I needed the breather. Blessed be God. πŸ™‚

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, Letterboxd or Instagram. πŸ˜‰