A Trip to the Wild Animal Park

We had a wonderful trip to the Wild Animal Park this past weekend. The weather was great and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Emily and Kathryn enjoyed trying on the masks.

Here's a momma giraffe with her baby!

Some lionesses lounging around.

Rhinos are much bigger than I thought!

Kathryn got a beautiful flower painted on her face.

We had a wonderful time. I'm sure we'll be back again!

Happy Birthday Emily!

My baby turned 4 on Saturday!

Catching Up

Last weekend was tournament weekend and we all had a great time. Kathryn's team didn't do so well (they lost all their games and didn't score one goal), but it was a good experience for her team. Most all the teams in the tournament were competetive teams meaning they practice almost everyday and just go around playing in tournaments. Kathryn's team is your basic recreational soccer team. And believe me, you can tell the difference. They were a little intimidated at first because all the other teams they played were so good. But by the third game, they were a little less shell shocked and just played the best they could. They even made the other team sweat a little bit! :) Kathryn's has a wonderful coach and she explained to them that she didn't put them in this tournament so they could get smeared by the opponents. She put them in so they could have some experience playing against better teams and raise their level of play and just to have some fun playing in a tournament. In spite of the outcome, they all had a super time and so did the parents. Last weekend was super hot, but playing by the beach was great. We had ocean breezes the whole time!

Kathryn in her uniform.

This picture is kind of hard to see but it's a shot of Kathryn standing next to a girl on the other team. This other girl is probably over six feet tall! And these are 10 year old girls! It was kind of hard to play defense against her!

Remember the story about my trees? Well, I had a visit from the supervisor of tree maintenance for my city. He looked around, checked the roots, checked the dirt, and said the trees were getting too much water! My trees are Holly Oaks and he said these trees don't need a lot of water. He suggested I change the schedule for my sprinkler system so that the trees don't get as much water. I can't believe that we are the only homeowners who are watering around the trees so much, but our trees are almost the only ones that look the way they do. The tree man said that over time, if the trees get too much water, they will start looking like ours. I find it a little odd that watering a tree too much will make it look like ours but I guess I'll start watering around the tree less. I'll have to adjust the sprinklers and make sure the water is not hitting the tree trunks and set the timer for a shorter amount of time. I'll have to find the right balance so that the grass doesn't suffer and turn all yellow, especially in the coming hot summer months.

I also had a visit from the plumber this week. We've had two leaks on the faucets outside of our house for the longest time, but we finally had to call when my kids tried to pull the backyard garden hose to the front yard, even though it wouldn't reach. I don't know why they didn't realize that we have a hose in the front. Well, they pulled and pulled until it popped out of the faucet, taking with it some ring part of the faucet! Kathryn came in the house saying something happened with the hose so when I went out to look, I saw the water gushing out of the faucet. It looked much worse than it actually was. But, the plumber needed to be called because now that the hose was no longer attached, I could see how much water was really leaking out. Enough to leave the ground in a puddle.

Luckily the plumber just had to put some new part. He did the same thing to our leak in the front yard and that was that. I was thinking since the leaks were there for a while that we would have some damage on some old pipes, but he said they didn't look too bad. So I think we made out pretty good.

Tomorrow we're off to the wild animal park for a day with the animals!

Tournament Weekend

Kathryn is playing in her first soccer tournament this weekend and we are all excited. It's going to be hot over here but where she's playing is real close to the beach so we should have nice cool breezes.

Kathryn will be playing two games today and in between I need to take Ryan for a haircut. I've delayed it so many times already that he really couldn't go much longer without him starting to look too unkempt.

This past week has been mostly spent doing some spring cleaning of our patio. The weather has been very warm so I've hosed down the patio, cleaned windows, dusted cobwebs, beat out some old mats and just did some sprucing up. While out there, I'm sure finding a lot of those black beetles I mentioned before. I think I'm kind of getting used to them now. I'm not so freaked out.

Well, I'm off to the tournament. I hope I can take some decent pictures to post later.
I'll leave with this link for a free Fruitista Freeze from Taco Bell if you like that type of food. It looks delicious, especially on a nice warm day!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mothers!!

Photo Credit: Thank you to Esther!

Weekend Update (the previous one - hee hee)

Aside from the usual sporting activities, we (the whole family) made a trip to a nice library in the city next to us. It's a nice, new huge one. The kids had a ball. They have a wonderful children's section with lots of computers and even a few for younger kids that are already loaded with learning programs. Even 3 yr old Emily could play some toddler games and listen to stories. There were a couple of tables with wooden puzzles that little ones like to play with. Plenty of kids DVD's, CD's, and books on tape/CD. And of course, a wonderful section of books! I would have loved this when I was a kid!

I didn't get a chance to take a peek at the adult books, but I'll get around to it when I can get away by myself. Oh yeah, and this library has self-checkout! It's very interesting how I can just lay some books on this square thingie, and through the magic of radio waves (so said the librarian), it can "read" what books I'm checking out and print out all the information on a little receipt! When I return books, I put them in a slot in the wall and a conveyor belt takes them and automatically sorts them into the proper bin for shelving. You can see the whole procedure on a computer screen. I am quite impressed!

My Emily had a tough weekend. On Saturday, she was being pulled in a wagon by Kathryn, in the kitchen no less, and started to get up while it was starting to move and fell out of it, hitting her chin on the floor. I thought she was going to have some broken teeth because all I saw was her face hitting the floor. She made it through with no broken teeth but a badly bruised chin. It got really red, but no skin was cut. Then on Sunday at church, while busily talking with Ryan, she tripped on the steps and hit her forehead on the edge of one of the steps. I could actually hear it making contact. Steve picked her up, she was crying so hard, and right away a big lump appeared right above her eye. Thank God nothing happened to her eye. We kept a real close watch on her to make sure she was acting normal, we asked her questions and she was able to answer them correctly. She was bruised, but again, no major gashes or anything like that. Then, later on that day, she's running (I guess she was feeling good) from the hallway into the living room and falls again, this time right on her tailbone, but thankfully it's only an inconvenience for a minute or two and she's OK. My word, her guardian angel has been working overtime!
I'm just glad I didn't have to make any trips to the emergency room. I would've hated to be placed under a cloud of suspicion because of all her recent injuries!
Now, she's just a little black on her eyelid and mostly has that yellow tinge that comes after some bad bruises.

I finally finished watching Gone With the Wind. I really enjoyed it. I loved the Scarlett character, even though she was so spoiled and selfish. I have the book somewhere in my bookshelf. I'll have to dust it off and read it sometime.
Now it's back to watching The Waltons. I never saw it when it was originally on TV so I've started with Season One. I haven't made up my mind yet about whether I really like it enough to rent the other seasons, but I guess I like it enough to finish this first one.

Regarding my trees, my plan is to first talk with my gardener. Maybe he has some suggestions. Maybe they need more water or some pruning. If he doesn't know, I'll ask at the nursery. Then as my last resort, I'll call the city again. Since the trees are on the parkway and that's considered city property or something like that, they're the ones that would have to do any pruning or tree care taking.

I think you are now all caught up with things going on in my household! Thanks for visiting!

What's Been Going On

I've been busy catching up on some reading. I've had St. Frances de Sales book Introduction to the Devout Life sitting on my nightstand for what seems like forever. There are so many things to ponder that I was trudging, wanting to savor or reflect on what I just read, until I finally decided to just go ahead and read at a regular pace and just wait for something to really jump out at me. I figured the Holy Spirit would lead me to where I needed to concentrate. So I'm finally making headway with the book and should be finished soon.

Another book that I recently finished but want to re-read is Dressing with Dignity by Colleen Hammond. This book really opened my eyes about how the way we dress can be an occasion of sin for others, especially men. It's made me really think about modest dressing and whether I will be making changes in how I dress. I haven't sorted it out yet but I'm praying about it.

I'm still working on the Minnie Mouse afghan. I also started working on a knitted dishcloth, but I made a mistake, dropped a stitch and will have to do some ripping out of stitches. I've always had problems correcting mistakes in knitting because I don't quite know what to do. My knitting teacher, back when I was taking the knitting class, showed me what to do so I was beginning to recognize exactly what kind of mistake I made and make the correction. Well, I couldn't make heads or tails of my mistake so I think I need to rip out the stitches. I easily get intimidated when these things happen and end up just putting the thing away for a while. I don't want to do that this time. I will forge ahead!

I'm also still trying to finish watching Gone With the Wind. The only time I get a chance to watch it is when the kids are in bed. By then, I'm so tuckered out that I only get to watch about 15 or 20 minutes before I start dozing off! But, I'm enjoying it so far.

I think I have some sick, hopefully not dead, trees in my front yard. There's hardly any leaves on them and they just look so bare! All the other trees in the neighborhood look normal, but somethings not right with mine.

This is what my tree should look like right now. Nice and bushy, giving lots of shade.

This is one of my trees. It looks pretty sparse.

This is the other tree. Quite pathetic.

I called the city to come investigate, but of course no human answered the phone, so I left a message with the tree maintenance supervisor to have someone come out to take a look. I haven't seen anyone from the city around, so I don't know if they came around or not. I haven't gotten a call back either. I'll have to call again this coming week. I'm going to miss the shade this summer!

Well, I'm off to relax for the rest of the night. Shall I attempt to watch Gone With the Wind?

Saturday

Today started out with Kathryn's soccer game. Her team won 4-0 so that was great. Right after that, we headed out to my great-niece's 2yr birthday party. We had a great time even though it was super hot! It was held at a park but thankfully, there was lots of shade. Later, all the kids got to go in the sprinkler they had going. I didn't know there would be one at this park so I didn't bring any change of clothes or towels or anything. But no one cared. It was so hot anyway, they all dried up with the heat pretty fast anyway. They had a blast so that's what counts.

Tomorrow, we are off to the Youth Expo. There will be lots of exhibits from the youth of our county (I think). Kathryn's mission will be on display as well as those of her classmates. Her class had a field trip there yesterday, so she got a sneak preview. She says her mission got first place, but I think actually they all got blue ribbons.



I made a discovery today. I think this summer, we (meaning our area) are going to have an abundance of black beetles. I saw two of them this morning in our garage. Yuck! Then I saw a couple at Kathryn's soccer game. Then I saw one at the party today! I'm not sure if they are stag beetles, but they're big and black. Maybe they're ground beetles? I just hope they don't find a way into the house.

Now, I'm off to watch Gone With the Wind. I've never seen it before and I thought I'd give it a try. Sometimes, nothing beats watching an old classic movie!

Saturday

Tonight I got to have an unexpected date night with Steve! My brother and SIL had tickets to the Angel's game against the Seattle Mariners that they couldn't attend so Steve and I got to go in their place!

We had a great time! I ate some Chinese food (YUM) and some peanuts. I still can't quite get over how the ballpark food has changed since 20 or so years ago. It used to be that all you could get were hot dogs, peanuts, pretzels, ice cream ( and even that was just the stuff in the container with the wooden spoon) and the other traditional baseball fare. Tonight I had a choice of some pizza, Chinese food, Car*ls Jr., Mexican food, gourmet this, gourmet that. Lots of choices. It was almost hard to pick!

It was a little chilly, but it was still nice to be in the fresh air and have some nice conversation. Oh yeah, the Angels won 4-1.

Tomorrow I hope to be able to attend the Latin Mass at a local church. I've gone before and loved it so I'd like to attend another one. I think seeing the Pope has gotten me yearning for some Latin/choral music. It will be soothing to my soul.

By the way, if you like listening to choral music, you can listen on line at this site.

Monday

I'm tired! I've been busy this weekend helping Kathryn with her California Mission project. Most every 4th grader in California has to do one of these projects so it's sort of a rite of passage in elementary school. She had her written report turned in a while ago, but tomorrow her mission model is due. Kathryn helped out some, but Steve and I did a lot of the work. Is that the way it ends up going? Some of these kids turn in beautiful, exact replicas of the missions. I don't see how they can do such precise work without lots of involvement from mom or dad. I wish I had my camera to take a picture of it, but I accidentally left it at my mom's house.

Emily had a dentist appointment today. She did very well with her cleaning. She just loves going there. The fist thing she said when she woke up this morning was, "Do I get to go to the dentist today?" Of course they just love her over there because she's so cooperative with them. When she was finished, she received her courtesy Cinderella toothbrush and a sticker. She was thrilled.

I'm so excited about the Pope's visit to our country tomorrow. I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say to us. I pray that he can rekindle the fire for some lukewarm Catholics as well as for all the faithful flock. His theme is "Christ our Hope." You can watch complete coverage on EWTN. That would be better that watching the secular media. I'm sure they will be having commentary from priests and others who dissent from the truth of what the Church teaches.

Now that the mission work is completed, the rest of the week should be a little less hectic.
The main work will be cleaning up the house. It's a mess! I have laundry baskets full of clothes that need to be folded and put away, menus to plan for the rest of the week, and just general items to be put back in their proper places. Lots of the usual stuff. But I love it. That's my life right now, and I love it!

Some Photos

I haven't posted any photos in awhile, so I thought I'd share a few.

Ryan in his Chicago Cubs uniform.

Emily sulking after I told her she had to come in to wash her face. She got quite dirty!

Kathryn & Ryan in the church courtyard after Mass on Easter Sunday. They could barely tolerate smiling/posing as the sun was shining right in their eyes. Emily was running away and would not come to join in the picture!

Yea! Everyone is looking at the camera! Taken on Easter Sunday.

I caught a squirrel munching on an avocado in our backyard.

The latest project I'm working on. It's a crocheted afghan with Minnie Mouse cross stitched on it. I'm embarrased to say that I started this right before Kathryn (aged 10) was going to start Kindergarten!!!! She is now in the 4th grade!!!! I had gotten bogged down with the cross stitch. It was taking forever. So I stopped, picked it up again probably a couple of years later, then got bogged down again. Well, I picked it back up again and finally completed Minnie's face. It doesn't show it in the photo, but it is completed. I now need to do her dress, then her feet. Then I'm supposed to crochet squares to border all around the afghan. Still a lot of work to be done, but I vow to finish it! I told Kathryn maybe it will be a gift for her first daughter, LOL!

This is a close-up view of Minnie's face.

Well, that's it for now!

A Little Housekeeping

I'm trying to experiment with my blog appearance so there will probably be some changes going on. I'm not good with color so we'll see what I can come up with. I don't know. I'm going to be changing some fonts so that my sidebar info can be a little easier to read, maybe I'll change the template with some other Blogger design.

So pardon the dust!

Radio Waves

I love listening to the radio while I'm driving in the car. My usual fare is talk radio. But sometimes I like listening to music. And when the kids are in the car, they find the talk radio shows quite boring so I end up switching to the music, our favorite genre being rock/alternative or for one person in particular, the quite grating, Radio Dis*ney.



I'm very selective about what is playing while the kids are around. For sure, no swear words (those usually get bleeped out anyway, but sometimes they sneak in), and no songs about sleeping around, drug use, or dark/suicidal thoughts. I think that eliminates most songs that are out nowadays, right?



What I have found is that while listening to the radio, I now need to be aware of what kind of talk goes on in between songs. For a long time, I haven't listened to morning talk on the music stations because they have a lot of silly talk. Talking about parties they went to, how drunk they got, the latest on Britney Spears, etc. etc. Talk that doesn't make me think, other than thinking, how shallow these peoples' lives are (IMHO). Now I hear DJ's frequently tossing around off-color words. Words like (you can guess what I'm alluding to) donkey, female dog, and of course the favorite, taking the Lord's name in vain.



I think our society has gotten so used to this kind of talk that we don't think twice about it. I don't remember radio being that way, but maybe I'm just now noticing it. I thought the FCC regulated that kind of stuff.



I know that my kids will hear all this kind of talk eventually, but I'm trying to shelter their ears as much as I can so it doesn't become part of their everyday language, it doesn't become, "But, everyone talks like that!" I am reminded of the children's song, Oh, Be Careful Little Ears. I think that's what it's called.

Oh, be careful little ears, what you hear

Oh, be careful little ears, what you hear

For the Father up above,

is looking down in love,

So be careful little ears

what you hear.

One good thing about driving my big monster SUV rental (yes, I'm still driving it, no incidents, yea!) is that it has Sirius satellite radio. So I've been able to listen to EWTN radio, much to my children's chagrin. I love being able to listen to Catholic talk while I drive! We don't have Catholic radio here so this has been a blessing!



Here are some things that I've done to make our listening more safe:



Bring CD's from our own collection. We download songs that we really like and burn them onto the CD so that we can hear current songs (lyrics have been checked out) without having to listen to any DJ talk.



Listen to Christian music stations.



Listen to classical music, although the kids don't care for this one too much. I put a classical station on when there is too much bickering going on. That causes them to settle down.



Then of course, the most obvious choice when I've had it with noise, TURN THE RADIO OFF! PERIOD! That one can be nice, too. It clears your head.

No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29

You Are Not Going To Believe What Happened!!!

I don't believe it either. I went to pick up my rental car today. The car was waiting for me and after signing the paperwork, I went out to the back of the little rental car place to take a look at it and verify with the nice gentleman worker that there were no nicks or dings, whatever. Everything was A-OK, so after initialing in the proper places, I took the keys and prepared to take off.

Well, to get out the back lot, I had to maneuver this big minivan through a narrow, narrow driveway. Did I mention it was narrow? Yep, you can guess what happened. I had to turn into this driveway at a funny angle because the huge car was positioned in a way that was difficult to pull out. There were other big cars in the lot (very tiny lot by the way). And of course it being a totally new car, I wasn't comfortable in it. So, being stupid, instead of getting one of the nice employees to pull it out for me, I tried to do it myself. I backed in, backed out, backed in, backed out, just like in parallel parking. I couldn't get it, and just as I was going to back out for the last time, I got too close to the corner of the building and busted the side mirror on the passenger side. It's probably hard to visualize, but the lot was so tiny for having such big cars in there! I couldn't believe it. I wanted to cry! That's the third time I damaged a car in less than two weeks! Read here for my other incidents.


To make a long story shorter, I'll probably have to pay some out of pocket expense. They told me that the damage wasn't major and probably wouldn't be worth the trouble of filing a claim with my insurance company. We shall see. I really don't want to have to tell my insurance company that I'm such a klutz and they end up raising my rates! So now I'm driving a monster SUV that I sort of need a step stool to get in.

I'm really nervous about driving now. What will happen next??? Thankfully, the kids are on Easter break so I don't have to be taking them to school everyday! But I'm sure I will have some errands to run (like shopping for Easter outfits). Well, I guess it's like when you fall off a horse, they say you should get back on so you don't give fear a chance to take over.

I know most of you don't know what I look like , but if you see someone nervously driving a silver Chrys*ler Aspen, turn the other way!

Preparations

I still have lots to do before Easter.

Today I am getting a rental car so that I can be driving something while my car is in the shop. Tomorrow I take my car into the body shop so they can fix my ugly gash. I will try to take a picture of said gash so you can compare when the car comes back all nice and spiffy. That reminds me, I need to charge up the batteries so I can take the picture :)

I need to check through closets to make sure we all have something nice to wear on Easter Sunday. I have a feeling I'll be doing some shopping on Saturday. Little Emily is getting to be bigger Emily. She is growing like a weed. She is only three years old, soon to be four, but she is more comfortable wearing size 6 clothes!.

Hopefully we will (or a combination of us) be able to attend Mass on Holy Thursday and the Good Friday service. I hope so because they are so meaningful to me.

Oh yeah, I forgot that I bought a dye kit, so we will be dying some Easter eggs, too! I need to get out our old plastic eggs and fill those up so we can have a hunt on Sunday morning. I already have Easter baskets and grass so I just need to add some candy to them.

On Easter Sunday, we will be going to my mother's house for a family get together. It will be a little nontraditional as we will be having a barbecue! I think the weather's supposed to be in the mid to upper 70's so it should be perfect. I'm not sure what I'm going to bring yet. I need to look through my cookbook.

Through this busyness, I must not forget to ponder and pray about this most holy of seasons. Remembering the great love that our Savior has for us and the price he paid for our redemption.

Meditations

SUBJECTS FOR DAILY MEDITATION

Remember, O Christian soul, that thou hast this day, and every day of thy life:

God to glorify

Jesus to imitate

The Angels and Saints to invoke

A soul to save

A body to mortify

Sins to expiate

Virtues to acquire

Hell to avoid

Heaven to gain

Eternity to prepare for

Time to profit by

Neighbors to edify

The world to despise

Devils to combat

Passions to subdue

Death perhaps to suffer

Judgment to undergo

Source: Latin-English Booklet Missal for Praying the Traditional Mass

Car Troubles

Gosh, this just hasn't been my week for driving the car. It started out on Monday when I dropped Ryan off with Steve at work so that they could go together to baseball practice. I misjudged the huge concrete curb while turning to get out of that section of the parking lot. It's not a normal curb but it comes up about a foot from the ground. So, I'm turning and I hear a very loud grinding noise. I figure I must have scraped the tire and rim so I pull over to survey the damage and I don't see a thing. The tire looks fine and the hubcap has no nicks. I'm puzzled because the noise was so loud! So I figure that it must have scraped the area kind of around the tire. It seems a little bent but nothing major. I feel lucky I came out of that without major damage or a flat tire - so I think to myself. Well, I then stop at Staples to get some needed stuff. As I'm opening the sliding door (I have a minivan) to get Emily out, I notice that right under the doors, almost going underneath the car, is a huge scrape! It's about a foot long, all white with paint scraped off, paint about to peel off, just a yucky looking mess! Tomorrow I need to call the insurance company to find out what to do about that. I know I'll need to take it to get fixed, rent a car, and all that fun expensive stuff. I could kick myself for not being more attentive and misjudging that curb. I go through that parking lot all the time and I know it's tricky, but I've always managed.

Now for my next incident. Yesterday, I'm taking Kathryn to soccer practice. We arrive at the school where the practice is held. As I'm making the turn to pull into the parking lot, I have to make kind of a sharp turn. So, as I'm making this turn the car goes bump, bump. I've misjudged again, but the bumps are so clunky that I know I didn't just glaze the curb but probably actually jumped the curb! At this point I can't believe my stupidity and am beginning to feel that I'm a sorry driver! We arrive in the parking stall so I go around to take a look at the tire to see if there are any cuts, tears, etc. I look at the tire and can hear the air coming out and the tire slowly becoming flat!!! ARGH!!!! Steve can't help because he's with Ryan at his baseball game. I call my insurance company and they send a tower to come and change my tire. After soccer practice, we head to buy two new tires. Thankfully, they are able to put the new tires on right then so I won't have to do it today.

Hopefully, I won't have any more of these things happening for a long while! Now I wait to see what the insurance company says!

Weekend

Ryan and Kathryn both had games this weekend. Kathryn's team won 5-1. Yea! She's one of the older players on her team and enjoys her "leadership." For once she's not the littlest one wet behind the ears. At Ryan's level of play, they don't keep score so his team doesn't have wins or losses. He just has fun out there - as long as he's not playing at the pitcher's position. He doesn't like that at all.

We made a trip to the library this weekend. Lots of picture books for Emily and lots of readers for Ryan. One book that we've enjoyed so far is Bark, George by Jules Feiffer. The story is cute and the illustrations are hilarious. I'll have to check out some more by this author. I guess he's a famous cartoonist, but I'd never heard of him.

Worked some more with Kathryn on schoolwork. I mostly am trying to focus her and keep her from getting distracted. I plan on reading more with her to try to develop better comprehension.

Today, I went out to lunch with my good friends. We celebrate each other's birthdays by going out to lunch then a movie. This time, we skipped the movie and just window shopped. We don't need to have big celebrations. We just like to get together and have girlfriend time. All of us are so busy raising kids and whatnot that we don't get to see each other too often, but we talk on the phone more.

Tomorrow morning will interesting to see how easy or difficult it will be for the kids to wake up with this Daylight Savings Time. I tried to get them to bed earlier, but no one was really sleepy. I'm sure they'll feel sleepy when it's time to get up. I hope I can get up :)! I do like the sunlight being out a little longer. I can feel spring in the air. It was probably about 80 degrees today!

It was a nice weekend!

Favorite Parable Meme

Tracy at Tracy's Simple Life has tagged me for this meme:

1. You name your five favorite parables.
2. You tag one blogger per parable.
3. It would be nice if you linked back to this post.


Here are my favorite parables:

1. The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
2. The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-10)
3. The Ten Virgins (Matt 25:1-13)
4. The Faithful and Unfaithful Servants (Matt24:45-51)
5. The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)


Consider yourself tagged if you'd like to play!

Quick Note

Just popping in for a quick note. I've been extra busy lately and computer time is quite limited.
Kathryn has been working on her California Mission report for school and the computer is being used for lots of research and typing. Her grades have also been slipping so I'm trying to get her back into focus for studying well - I'm having to teach her study skills, some organization, planning ahead, etc, etc. It's been a little tiring so at the end of the day, I just want to flop into bed and relax.

I hope to pop back in soon with more to say!

Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance

Ok. I know it's Lent and all, but it's my birthday, and it only comes every four years! This is one of my all-time favorite 80's songs. Just indulge me for a few minutes. The video's not too clear, but the music's what I really want to hear.

The week has flown by and now I'm getting ready for a busy weekend.

First, a bloggy item, Jane recently tagged me for the middle name meme. I did that one before, and you can find it here.

Our neighborhood puts on garage sale weekends four times a year and this weekend is one of those weekends. It's in the city code or something that we are not allowed to hold garage sales unless it's during those certain weekends in the year. It ends up working out really well because you can plan ahead and then drive all around checking out the sales. The kids are searching around their rooms to find things to sell, dreaming of the riches they'll make, HA! I'm going to put out a few things to see what luck I have. Even my mom is here to do some selling! We'll see!

Ryan has his first baseball game tomorrow. This year, his team is the Chicago Cubs. His uniform is cute with the pinstripes and blue and red cap. This is his last year with the Shetland division, then he moves up to the Bronco division (I think that's the one). Kathryn starts her soccer season next Saturday.

Ryan and Emily both need haircuts. They've been postponed because of sicknesses, but now they can't wait any longer. Appointments need to be made NOW!!

Today is my 44th birthday. Steve and I will be going out dinner. Not sure where yet. My mom will watch the kids. We haven't gone out on a date/dinner in ages, so this is a nice treat.

Everyone have a blessed weekend!

Sweetness from My Boy

I can get weary hearing things like this:

"Why can't you buy us a playstation (Gameboy, such and such DVD, or any substitution of your choice) . Everyone else has one!"

"I don't like this chicken!"

"Can I have some cookies?" Requested at 7:00 AM.

"You're so mean!"


Then I hear from my sick Ryan, droopy eyed and feverish, looking me right in the eye:

"Thank you for doing your best to make me feel better." Then he kissed me on the cheek.

I wouldn't trade being my children's mom for anything in the world!

Zoo Day

No, I'm not talking about the zoo at my house, but the day (Sunday) that we went to the LA Zoo.

Ryan is on an animal kick and is into reading about animals, watching Animal Planet, and playing with animal toys. So we decided to make a day out of going to the zoo.

This is Emily, Kathryn, and Ryan standing in front of the pelican exhibit.

And here are the pelicans!

The kids behaved well for the most part. We enjoyed seeing the koalas, giraffes and gorillas. Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures, but these are some that came out OK.

There was also a spider exhibit going on but I didnt' want to see that. YUCK! But I was able to get a shot of Ryan with one of those photo boards.

In other news, we've got the sickies again. Ryan has developed a cold that's making him feel miserable. He's missed two days of school because he has a low grade fever. He was complaining that he thinks he may be getting an ear infection because his ear hurt a little. That was enough for me to make an appointment with the doctor. He's had plenty of ear infections in his lifetime and I didn't want to wait for it to get bad enough where he wakes up in the middle of the night with ear pain. No fun! So we see the nurse practitioner who examines him and says that his lungs are clear and his ears are clear. She says he just has a cold and it could last one to two weeks. I was so happy to hear that his lungs and ears were clear. Hopefully he's in his worst days and he should be on the way back up. Let's just hope this doesn't spread.

We're supposed to have four more days of rain. I don't mind the rain. I just don't like having to go out in it. I think it's rained more this winter than last, but I don't think it's enough to stop our drought. Our rainfall levels are way off. At least it's been enough to keep the grass green.

Now I'm off to look for some lunch. I haven't been good at getting my menus together so I think I'll be heating up some leftovers!

I hope there's not too many typos. I need spellchecker back!!!

Blogging Slump

I've been in a blogging slump. Not much inspirational thoughts going through my head, nothing exciting to share. Just my ordinary life, so I think I'll write about that.

I've been doing some reading from Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. So far, it's been inspirational for me and I'm only in the first couple of chapters! These kinds of books I like to read a little slow so that I can absorb what it's saying to me. I wish I could leave a quote right now, but I can't seem to find the book right now. Gosh, I just have so many books laying around that it must be buried among a book pile! I'm sure I'll find it.

I don't know if I mentioned that I finished knitting a hat for Ryan. I also finished a pair of mittens for Kathryn. Next up are some scarves and some dishcloths.

Yesterday, I took Emily to the park to play and feed the ducks. She just loves the ducks. She wishes we could have a pet duck. I told her that would be cute, but I don't think they make good pets.

I also took Emily to storytime at the library. She/We made a cute Valentine's card. She was quite proud of herself. We enjoy our little outings to the library. Maybe she'll be my bookreader out of all my kids?!

I'm looking forward to this three day weekend. We will be busy. Ryan will be attending a birthday party for one of his school friends. We will also be going to the zoo.

This week has been quite ordinary, but it's been a blessing, too! The ordinariness of life is still an oportunity to live out my vocation, to guide my kids, to practice virtue. It can strengthen me when the not so ordinary times come. Those times when the kids are sick or bickering, the car breaks down, the money is not there for some needed expense, etc. Thank you, Lord for the ordinary times.

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Tracy at Tracy's Simple Life for this middle name meme.

The rules are:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each leter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).
3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

My parents did not give me a middle name so instead of doing my maiden name, I'm going to do the middle name that every Lisa I know has - Marie! Or so it seems!

M - married to my sweetie for 13 years.
A - amiable. I think I'm friendly to most people.
R- reader. I love to read
I - inquisitive. I'm curious about many things and usually like to find out more about something.
E - enthusiastic. I'm enthusiastic about my Catholic faith!

I'm going to now break the rules and just tag whoever wants to do this!

Making the World a Better Place

Sweet Suzy at Sailing by Starlight (her site is temporarily off at this time) passed this award on to me. It touches me to think that something I might say can enlighten, encourage, or help someone else. I thank God that He can use me in even a tiny way.

The rules are that I need to link to Ukok's Place and award this to five others.

Tracy

Therese

Michelle

Lori (an invitation only blog)

Jane

All of you make the world a better place!

Lent

On Ash Wednesday, I went to the Liturgy of the Word service at my kid's school. That service was for the K-2 kids. It entailed having the readings for the day, a little homily by the priest, and then the distribution of ashes. Steve took half the day off of work, so we took Emily and went to that service. Ryan was there with his class so we got to take a quick peek at him.

Kathryn and her class went earlier in the day to the Mass. I couldn't make it to that.



Tonight I went to the Stations of the Cross. I took Ryan with me. I'm not sure if the kids will be doing that at school, so I want to expose them to some of the devotional practices of Lent. When I was younger, single, and living at home, I was able to participate in many devotions at church during Lent. I remember them being very meaningful to me and they helped me tremendously in my spiritual life. So this year I want to try and do a little more. I plan on doing the Stations of the Cross every Friday during Lent. I also want to go to Adoration once a week.



I have a handful of books I would like to read during this time. I don't plan on getting through all of them and I'll just pick the one that I'm led to at that time. Here's my list:

The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur
The Lamb's Supper - Scott Hahn
Exposition of the Seven Penitential Psalms - St. John Fisher
Encyclical Letter God is Love - Pope Benedict XVI
The Art of Praying - Romano Guardini
Introduction to the Devout Live - St. Francis de Sales

I'm limiting my computer time during this Lenten season, so I may not be visiting or commenting as often but I'll get around to read what all of you are doing!

Monday

Today was not a productive day. And it just goes to show that when I mess up and am not disciplined to do what I'm supposed to do, things kind of stay a mess. It seems I go in spurts. Last week, I was very productive in my work. I was focused and things got done. Some areas of the house actually looked presentable. So with that, it usually follows that with all that work, I tend to slack off a little afterwards.

Today was one of those days. I started out fine. Did some of my morning routine, then realized I really needed to get some necessary items from Target. Did that, but then I thought I would rest a little before picking up Kathryn & Ryan from school. I kind of got the knitting bug so I did a little of that. I saw how much progress I was making on Ryan's hat, that I continued with that. Needless to say, I never got back in the work groove. So I'm a little frazzled now because I'm playing catch up with kitchen clean-up, laundry sorting and general getting stuff ready for tomorrow. But at least I have an almost completed knitted hat to show for it! And I have to say that I did enjoy that! :)

Tomorrow we're going to have breakfast at school. They are having a Fat Tuesday Pancake Breakfast and we are looking forward to it. We have to leave even earlier than usual to make it, at least by 7:00 AM!

Lately, I've been having such a precious time with little Emily. She's been my little helper when I unload the dishwasher. Her favorite task is cleaning the bathroom, believe it or not. I don't give her any yucky stuff to do, just things like straighten things out on the counter. She does like to swish the toilet with the brush, but I make sure that I've done the main cleaning. And of course, we both thoroughly wash our hands! She loves to come up to me and say, "Hug and kiss!" Then she'll reach for me, give me a kiss, then rub her little face against my cheek. That's her hug! I just love those! I thank God that I've been able to be at home to experience all this. These are such precious times that will be over before I realize it. I want to truly savor these moments.
Thank you, Lord!

David Crowder Band's

Praise the Lord, O my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Lost - Season 4 Promo

I'm so giddy with excitement that I had to post this!

My Days

It's a good thing I've been tagged for all kinds of memes as I haven't had much to say. I've been doing the usual cleaning, running errands, dental visits, homework monitor, etc., etc.

Lent is coming up so I've been doing some thinking about what we can do as a family to make it personal. I'm still thinking/praying about what I can do. I've picked out a couple of books to read through. I also want to "do" something rather than just "give up" something like I usually do. I'll do another post about all that.

My days have been busy with duties that I haven't been able to read or knit as much as I'd like.
I have three movies waiting from Netflix that are going to have to wait a little longer. Waiting in the wings are Walk the Line, National Treasure, and Miss Potter.

One thing I've been waiting for has been the season premier of Lost. I just love that show! Tomorrow is the big day. I'll have to program the DVR just in case something interrupts me, things like children needing their mom, or a husband who needs to talk!

So, not much going on. But I love these kinds of days. I'm doing what I love to do. It can be tiring and draining, but I'm doing what I've been called to do.

Random Things About Me

I have been tagged by Tracy at Tracy's Simple Life to do this meme.


The rules are: Link to the person that tagged you and leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours. Post the rules on your blog. Share 7 random facts about yourself on your blog. Tag 7 random people at the bottom of your post, linking to their blog. Let each person know by leaving a comment on their blog.




Here are 7 random facts about me:



1. I love 80's new wave music. I can listen to it anytime.

2. I am a big I Love Lucy fan. Those shows can bring me out of a funk.

3. I used to have frequent dreams of planes colliding mid-air. I haven't had too many of those lately.

4. I was tormented by a bully in 2nd grade.

5. I traveled to Spain by myself when I was 23. As chicken as I am, I don't know how I did it!

6. I don't know how to swim, but I can dog paddle!!

7. I get to celebrate a birthday this year (Leap Year)!

OK, I'm going to break the rules and tag the following three:

GrandmaK

Cmerie

SuzyQ

Award!

I've been awarded the E for Excellent award! Thank you so much to GrandmaK, SuzyQ, Tracy, and Mrs L. for bestowing this to my blog! I am very grateful!



I award this and in some cases, send this back to the following:

A Bit of the Blarney

Aussie Coffee Shop

Dei Gratia, By the Grace of God

Grandma's Musings

A Catholic Mother's Thoughts

Tracy's Simple Life

At the Wellsprings of Traditional Life

Catholic Wife and Mother

Building the Ark

Sailing by Starlight

You all have wonderful, excellent blogs!

A Different Book Meme

I was tagged for this one by Cmerie at Catholic Wife and Mother.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.


"I was no longer on the outside looking in. You can't live in Washington for very long without becoming cynical about politicians and their motives, but I've never doubted the greatness of a country in which a person like me could travel all the way from Pinpoint to Capitol Hill. I didn't have much time for sightseeing".

Taken from My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas.

I think many people have done this one, but if you'd like to have a go at it, leave me a comment!

Tagged for a Meme

Suzy has tagged me for this meme, so here goes:


1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday. I was watching an episode of Little House on the Prairie!
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes, I guess it's decent enough.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ham
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes. 2 Girls and 1 Boy
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes, I would hope so.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Not really, but maybe sometimes.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Sure do!
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No way!!!! I'm not very adventurous!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? My favorites are Lucky Charms and Frosted Mini Wheats. Although they are my favorites, I don't eat them very often. I try to stick with the non-sugary ones like Corn Flakes or Cheerios for my breakfast choices.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Not really.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Rocky Road
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Whether they are smiling or not.
15. RED OR PINK? Pink
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? My lack of discipline.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My father, who passed away almost 10 years ago.
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Grey sweats with white tennis shoes.
19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A terrible Lean Cuisine chicken panini sandwich (I didn't even finish it)!!! I had to get rid of some stuff taking up space in the freezer!
YUCK!
20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Wrap up show after the Ducks/Kings hockey game.
21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Lavender
22. FAVORITE SMELLS? The ocean, cookies baking in the oven, fresh mountain air
23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Virgin Mobile phone representative.
24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Baseball
25. HAIR COLOR? Brown.
26. EYE COLOR? Brown
27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No
28. FAVORITE FOOD? Pizza!
29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.
30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Eight Below
31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Pink.
32. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer.
33. HUGS OR KISSES? Kisses.
34. FAVORITE DESSERT? A tie between Chocolate cake or Banberry Pie
35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The Elevator by Angela Hunt
36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSEPAD? Nothing. It's a solid grey color.
37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Supernanny
38. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Rain falling, birds chirping first thing in the morning, hearing my kids laugh.
39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Barcelona, Spain
41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I don't think so. I can knit a little and crochet!
42. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? California

Wow! I think I got all the questions down! I tag whoever wants to do this one.

Feeling Much Better

Thank you to everyone who prayed and sent such kind thoughts my way! I'm feeling so much better now. Other than still being a little tired, I'm pretty much back to my old self.

Emily had a little relapse yesterday. She started with a fever again and had a terrible stuffy nose. She just laid around all day yesterday. That worked out for me because it allowed me to take a nap when she did. Plus I didn't have to chase her around much. Today, she still has a stuffy nose but not as bad, and her fever is gone. Thank the Lord! She's back to playing around and I have some energy to join her!

While I was laying around these past days, I was able to watch three movies and do plenty of reading. I finished watching St. Rita. It was a good movie and did a good job in trying to humanize her and not seem so supernatural or mystical. Eight Below was alright. I believe I was at my most feverish, so I couldn't focus too much. It also wasn't as sad as I thought it might be. The last movie I saw was Love Comes Softly. I loved that one. I really enjoy those wholesome movies that take place in pioneer times. Of course, now I have to rent all the sequels and read the books that the movies were based on. Well, I'll just add them to my already long list of must reads.

That brings up the question of what will I be reading for Lent this year? I should be done with Fr. Dubay's book any day now so I will be looking in my bookcase for some new spiritual books. I have so many that I haven't read yet that there will be plenty to choose from.

I've been tagged for a meme so I will be working on that, but for now I'm off to do a little reading before sleep.

Just Popping In

Just a quick post to say Hi! Don't get too close or you might catch what I got. Yep, I caught the flu. Whaaaaaa! Yesterday, I was feeling like I might be coming under the weather, so I did all the laundry and cleaned up the kitchen a little. That way, if I got sick, that stuff would be taken care of. (What an optimist I am, right?) No, just want to be prepared so I'm not having to think about all that stuff when I'm miserable in bed!

Luckily, Ryan and Emily are on the mend and doing so much better.

I hope to visit you all soon. Stay healthy and blessings to all of you!

Around the House

Sick germs are around this house today. The flu is making its way.

Ryan started it with a fever in the middle of the night on Tuesday. He was feverish most of the day on Wednesday but by Thursday was feeling better. Now he just has the cold symptoms and feels well enough to torment his sisters!

Then last night, Emily started with the fever and a sore throat. I was mentally prepared to be up most of the night with her, but surprisingly, she slept pretty well. She had a slight fever throughout the day but it got higher by the evening. She does not like her grape flavored acetaminophen so this morning I had to crush it all up and put it in her oatmeal. She ate a little of it but not enough to get the full amount of medicine. So tonight I went and bought some bubblegum flavored medicine and by the time I got back from the drugstore, she had fallen asleep. When she awakened briefly, she refused the medicine again. So, I don't know how she's going to sleep tonight. Hopefully, the fever will break.

So, with all that, I'm just trying to keep up with the laundry and dishes! Hopefully, no one else will get sick.

We have no plans for this weekend other that puttering around the house and tending to the sick ones. We'll see what comes up!

Blessings to you all!

Spread the Love Award

Thank you so much to Suzy and Tracy for spreading some love around and sending this to me!

You made my day!

I'm not sure how many others have received this already, but it doesn't hurt to send someone a little more love, right?

I send this to:

Michelle at Dei Gratia, By the Grace of God

Maryellen at Grandma's Musings

Jane at Building the Ark

Therese at Aussie Coffee Shop

They inspire me with the witness to their faith and I love to hear what they have to say!

The Tooth Fairy Will Be Visiting!

Yep! Ryan lost his first tooth tonight!

This tooth had been hanging and it was only a matter of time before it finally came out. He was eating a bowl of cereal and bit a little hard. He said it was hanging crooked so he pulled the tooth out himself!

He's excited to be getting a visit from the Tooth Fairy!

Morning Routine

This past week was spent trying to get back into the daily routine. Having Steve and the kids home, Christmas, doing fun things was all great but now everyone is back to work and school.

My concentration has been on re-establishing my morning routine. My morning routine consists of:

Making the bed
Shower
Devotional time
Swish/Swipe bathrooms
Unload dishwasher
Reload dishwasher (if dishes were left from the previous night-has been happening way
too much!)
Get laundry going ( I do two loads a day)
Help Emily get dressed
Some dinner prep if needed
Go over to-do list
Do a 2 minute Hot Spot cleanup (per FlyLady)
Oh yeah, I eat breakfast somewhere in there!

If I can finish all that by 10:00 AM, I'm doing pretty well. That sets the tone for the rest of the day. Then I can get to the detailed cleaning items. I wish I could have most of it done prior to that, but it seems like the earlier I get up, Emily wakes up just as early. Plus, I have to make sure that laziness doesn't creep in. I can easily get distracted with the computer, a book, the newspaper, just about anything. It pretty much is a constant thinking on my part to say "yes" to the Lord's will for me - doing my duties. I recently ran across a quote from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. It said:

The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God,
secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.

Holly Pierlot talks about that idea in her book, A Mother's Rule of Life. That's why I really like her book and would recommend it to anyone who's looking for meaning in doing their daily duties.

I think I got off on a tangent. Back to what I had been saying, I can get easily distracted from what I should be doing. So, for me, trying to get my morning routine down pat does a long way in getting much more done throughout the day!

Emily has been learning to be my helper. She helps me unload the dishwasher, load and unload the washing machine/dryer, and helps make the beds. I hope to train her better than I did with Kathryn and Ryan in doing chores.

This is planning to be a busy weekend. I'm taking Ryan to go shopping for a birthday present for a little friend of his. Tomorrow is the birthday party. He also has a baseball tryout tomorrow. I don't know why 6 year olds have to try out but that's the way it's done in this league. Also, Kathryn and Ryan's school is participating in a basketball tournament so everyone has been encouraged to attend and show school spirit. We like to show spirit so we'll be going.

If I have time (hahaha), I have some movies that I rented that I'd like to watch. One is St. Rita. I rented this from the church library and it looks good. I don't know about St. Rita, so it will be nice to see what's she's all about. My other movie is Eight Below. I must have heard something good about it at one time because I had it on my Netflix queue forever. Now that I'm reading the description about it, I don't know if I'll make it through the movie! It says that some Antarctic scientists have to leave their sled dogs behind amid a cruel winter to fend for themselves. I have a feeling I'll be crying and feeling so sad for these dogs! We'll see if I can watch it.

Well, for someone who doesn't have much time, I'd better end this post and get going!

Knitting Project

My knitting project that I began for Emily eons ago has been completed and here it is!

I think they came out pretty good for being my first attempts in years. The hat and one of the mittens came out better than the others because I was knitting those while attending a knitting class, so the instructor helped a lot. The other mitten came out with a big hole where the thumb and the body of the mitten meet but luckily, you can't see it! At least everything is wearable without it being embarrassing. That's a success in my book!

Book Meme

GrandmaK from A Bit of the Blarney tagged me for this meme. I've read so many books but it's hard for me to remember a lot of what I've read in the past. I've since decided to write down in a notebook of what I read and make little notes about what I liked or didn't like about a particular book. Well, here it goes!

1. One book that changed my life: A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot. This book completed the picture when I started to try to organize my life, homemaking skills, etc. It helped clarify my thoughts when I was searching for meaning in my vocation of motherhood.


2. One book that you have read more than once: Same as #1. I keep going back to that book when I need to refocus on my calling.

3. One book you want on a desert island: The Bible

4. One book that made me laugh: My choices in books don't usually make me laugh but the Jan Karon Mitford books put smiles on my face, so I'll just pick the first one in the series, At Home in Mitford.

5. One book that made me cry: A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. This story is so sweet that it made me cry. And I just loved the character of Jamie.

6. One book I wish had been written: How to Get Your Picky Eater to Love Everything You Cook!

7. One book I wish had not been written: I don't know. Maybe something like OJ Simpson's book.

8. One book I am currently reading: Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer by Fr. Thomas Dubay. This one is so meaty that I've been taking my time so that I can absorb what I'm reading.

9. One book I've been meaning to read: Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. This one is on my shelf waiting to be read!


I know many have already done this meme, so if anyone wants to do this one leave me a comment so I can go see your answers!

Pictures to Share

Wednesday, we headed on out to see the Rose Parade floats. We didn't go to the parade itself, but went to see them displayed at a park. They looked very beautiful but already some of the flowers were getting a little droopy. There were so many people that it was hard to get some good shots, but I tried.

Here are a few:



This float is from the City of Anaheim. It had some of the city's attractions, like this sleeping beauty castle from Disneyland and trolley car.

I wanted to get this one in. It's a little replica of the Honda Center where the Anaheim Ducks play hockey and other things like concerts take place.

Obviously, this is not a float, but I wanted to show what the real Honda Center looks like (taken at the Ducks Stanley Cup celebration!)

Cute little truck with oranges loaded in.

Here are a few close-up shots:

Emily has had enough!!

New Year's 2008

Happy New Year to everyone! We said goodbye to 2007 by watching the ball drop in Times Square on television as is our custom. Since we've had children, Steve and I don't go out for New Years anymore. Steve would like to go out to some celebration concert, but I prefer to stay home. I'm not able to be out late anymore :) I get too sleepy. Last night, one by one, the kids conked out. Kathryn almost made it to midnight, but dozed off about 11:45. She did say to wake her up, so we did. After the mandatory smooches, it was off to bed.

Today, we didn't do much. I tried to just take it easy. After all the Christmas preparations and running around, I just wanted to kick back and basically do nothing except cook and wash the dishes afterwards. I finally was able to finish Emily's scarf that I had been knitting forever. So now she has the complete set of mittens, scarf and hat. Maybe I can post a picture tomorrow.
My next projects are to make a complete set for Ryan and Kathryn. Maybe I can have that done by next Christmas!! LOL!

I don't usually do New Year's resolutions, but this year, I'm going to concentrate on two.
I'd like to have the household more organized. That would include being a little more scheduled as far as daily activities go. I'd like the house to be less cluttered. We waste so much time trying to find things that it's ridiculous. Since this resolution is kind of broad, if I'm able to see consistent improvement in any area that makes the household run smoother, I'll consider that a success!
My next resolution is more personal. I'm going to work on being less lazy. I seem to naturally be a lazy person that it can be difficult for me to get going with what needs to be done. So much more could be done around here if I could just get better at fighting this bad vice.

I wish everyone a wonderful 2008. May it be full of good health and blessings from the Lord!

Christmas Memories

On Christmas Eve, we went to an early (4:00) Mass. We arrived a little bit late, but lucky for us, they were just opening an upstairs room so we were able to get seats and also had a wonderful view. Christmas masses are so crowded that our church opens up the hall. So for a few Mass times, Mass goes on in the church as well as the hall.


Upon arriving home, we made some gingerbread cookies for Santa. We watched a little of White Christmas and did the last minute wrapping. The kids were so excited that it wasn't so hard to get them to sleep. We reminded them that Santa doesn't come unless every one's asleep!



Christmas morning, we were awakened bright and early by the little ones. They were ready to see what Santa brought them. Before we started opening gifts, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.

Here are a few things the kids got. Please don't look too closely at the iron and ironing board in the background - Hee Hee!

Emily and her My Little Pony Fashion Boutique

Ryan and some cars from Cars (the movie)

Kathryn and her "professional" Bingo kit

I didn't have my picture taken ( I didn't look too great), but I got some warm PJ's, two Christmas CD's (Josh Groban & Martina McBride), and a book (Clarence Thomas's new one).

After opening presents at home, we got ready to go to my mom's house for our get together with extended family. It was a full house with my brother and his wife, my sister, her husband, their kids and grandkids, spouses, etc, etc, and of course, the matriarch of the family, my mother. It was a crazy house, but we had lots of fun and food! Every year, my mother serves tamales, a traditional Mexican dish. We so look forward to eating this each year and she did not disappoint us! They were so good, I can taste them right now as I'm typing this. I say this every year, but I really do need her to teach me how to make them. I can always find them in the stores, but it's just not the same as eating homemade ones! My mother is getting along in years and no one else in the family knows how to make them. She adds her special touch!

Next up was to visit Steve's mom. Due to illness and advancing years, she's living in a private residential guest home. She enjoyed opening her gifts and visiting with all of us. She especially enjoys seeing the kids.

After all that, we were pooped and made it back home. But then there was more work to do! Time to untie all those twisters that come with children's toys! I don't know how many we untied but it was a lot! We played with moonsand and played a game of Mousetrap. By then, I needed to relax and it was time for bed.

So, that was it! It was an enjoyable day. I'm trying to remind the kids that even though Christmas Day is over, the Christmas season continues for a little while longer. We need to continue to ponder the wonderful gift that God bestowed on us in sending us His son.

Merry Christmas

HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS!

Where Has The Week Gone???

Gosh, I didn't think it had been that long since I last posted! I've been caught in the hustle and bustle that I didn't intend to be in, but it seems to happen every year.



The kids started their vacation on Wednesday and Steve started his on Thursday. We've been plotting how to get shopping done while the other watches the kids. So far, we've been pretty successful. The only thing left is to get a few gift cards and do a little more wrapping. I'm hoping it will get done today so that the few remaining days can be spent a little more relaxed and reflective. Edited to Add: I did not get everything done, so I will be out Sunday after church. :(

Tonight we went out to see some beautifully decorated homes out by the waterfront. There was a lot of walking but the homes were just beautiful so it was worth it. Lots of lights, Christmas music playing and boats sailing through the canals. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but since it was night, the pictures wouldn't have come out. Most of the homes have huge windows out front with a wide open view of the inside living areas. They could be right out of magazines - just beautifully decorated.

Tomorrow after all the shopping is done, I hope to be able to relax a little and watch my favorite Christmas movie, White Christmas. I watch it every year and love all the music.

Right now, I'm off to watch an episode of Lost that I rented from Netflix. I'm hooked on that show! I need to catch up with Season 3 before the new season starts. With the writers strike I don't know when that will be so I think I have some time.