Category Archives: Faith

Faith, Family, Fun

Gently

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This afternoon I searched the garage for some old water balloons and the little do-hickey that goes over the outdoor faucet to make filling them easier. I was fortunate to find both and spent a good 30 minutes perfecting my balloon filling and tying skills and getting ready for summer.

The kids gently tossed the balloons back and forth ~ one thing is for sure….30 minutes filling = 5 minutes to break. NOT a good ratio, but they had fun and that’s all that matters. They then resorted to filling the bucket and tossing that onto each other.

Summer has definitely been teasing us this weekend.

Sleepovers.

Gentle warm breezes.

Grills being lit up.

Sorbet recipes being googled.

Corn being spotted in all the grocery stores.

Fun foods and cool beverages being pinned on The Big P.

Taking in these last few weeks before school is out and I officially have a kindergartner and a second grader…

*****

And today we are sitting still and gentle…thinking about and remembering ALL who have served, are currently serving and will serve our country.

Praying for those who are waiting for their loved ones to return and praising those who did not return.

This day is for YOU.

Happy Memorial Day!

For love of country they accepted death. ~ James A. Garfield

Faith, Family, Fitness, Friends

Cartwheels

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Hi friends!

Again, so sorry I haven’t checked in for much of this week. Just taking care of business, I guess…sometimes the days can become monotonous, but then again the routine and structure is what I feel works best.

Always trying to find the {perfect} balance between homework, play dates, activities, chores, down time, etc.

Last night I went and signed up both kiddos for AYSO. This will be our first year and I am very excited about it. Holden was placed on a wait list because for his age group there aren’t enough coaches. I was a little bummed because he is the one that I most wanted to get signed up! Elliott does dance and has CCD so adding soccer is a little bit of a stretch, but we are more than willing to make it work. I was told that if I volunteered as a coach, Holden would automatically have a place on a team. I sort of laughed because I have not played a game of soccer in my life…maybe in PE back in the day, but soccer was not one of the sports I participated in as a kid. I think it is a fantastic sport and I am so thrilled that both Elliott and Holden are equally excited about it. After Elliott’s evaluation last night, the guy mentioned that all I would have to do to become a coach is read a book or something and become certified and run a 1 hour a week practice, blah, blah, blah. I was thinking my services would be more along the line of hair bow making or fancy post-game snack assembling, but I drove off with a little voice in the telling me, “Maybe you SHOULD be a coach”.

Am I crazy?

I will keep it on the back burner, but in the meantime I will pray that a more qualified soul will come forth and volunteer to coach another BU6 team.

*****

Speaking of cartwheels, this week has also be sprinkled with a little bit of summer agenda drawing up ~ scheduling weekly camps for Holden and coordinating gymnastic day camps for Elliott. For me, I try to have them be at an activity AT THE SAME TIME so that I can maintain my summer sanity and have a little alone time. Sometimes I feel guilty about this, but then I overhear a mama {raising her voice} at her kids in Target and I realize that {I am not the only one}…always a welcome feeling when it comes to parenting.

I also completed our 2012 Summer To-Do List that I will be sharing here real soon. We have done this the past two years and have really enjoyed it. You can read about that here and here.

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Anywhoo….just cartwheeling through our weeks making sure we don’t forget anything! Somedays I feel like there is so much to remember and I worry that something will slip by…anyone else feel like that?

This weekend I look forward to a 3-generation pedicure, a formal Mother’s Day tea that Jay so sweetly arranged and taking a wee break to sit back and enjoy the beauty of motherhood.

What about you? What are you up to?

XO

Faith, Family

Sugar Overdose

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Easter was nice.

We went to the 7:00 am mass.

We decided we like the 7:00 am mass because it’s just as hectic getting everyone ready and out the door for 7am as it is for 8:30 am. Sure you get to sleep in a little longer, but it’s also nice to take a little Easter nappy nap, too.

I OD’d on sweets yesterday.

Gave up all desserts and diet soda for Lent.

I must say the soda part was much harder and my Diet Coke tasted much better than my Cadbury Creme Egg did.

And guess what…didn’t lose a single pound due to giving up sweets for 40 days. What does that tell you?

A.) Made up for it in other forms of calories.

B.) Wasn’t as active as I should be.

Shame on me.

*****

I’ve been a terrible blogger lately. Please forgive me.

Hopefully this sugary sweet pic will help my cause…

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There were extremely well behaved in church.

Promise.

*****

Happy Monday!

Faith, Friends

Twenty Three And A Half Hours

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Picked up this book at 10:00am yesterday, started reading it around noon and finished it this morning at 9:30am.

{amongst preparing fish sticks and ham sandwiches, making blue cheese coleslaw for a Spring Break cul-de-sac party, attending said cul-de-sac party and letting the kids run wild ’til 9:45pm and getting almost 7 hours sleep}

I’ve been following Kelle’s blog, Enjoying The Small Things, for over two years now…wasn’t planning on running out to buy it on it’s release date, but it just happened. I also follow @etst on Instagram and her posts yesterday morning lit a little fire under me. I called and reserved a copy at my local Barnes & Noble.

This book is for all mothers. For anyone that wants to live life to the fullest. For anyone that {thinks} they can’t turn their life around in whatever capacity.

You just have to change the way you see things.

Not always easy, but certainly doable.

*****

Again, I’m passing it around to anyone that’s interested in reading it. Handing it off to a friend today, but if you want to be next in line, just holler!

Faith

Common Yet Extraordinary

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Started off Holy Week by reading this book with my morning coffee…

Simple yet complex.

Quick read yet leaves you wanting more.

Ideal for those renewing, strengthening or seeking HIS love, yet a perfect reminder for HIS already faithful followers.

Common yet extraordinary.

A must read.

You’re welcome to borrow mine.

Just say the word.

*****

Thanks, Rhonda for the beautiful gift…not only of this book, but of your special friendship.

XO

Faith, Family, Flashbacks, Flip Flops On The Rocks, Friends, Fun

The Big Green Circle

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The other day I was thinking back to when I started going to Starbucks. It seems like now, after almost a couple decades, that it is just part of life. Just as we drop off and pick up our kids from school, run errands, fix dinner, etc. we run to the Starbucks drive-thru or pop into a store to fetch our morning, afternoon or evening cuppa joe {or tea. or hot chocolate.}.

It’s become part of the routine. At least for ME anyways.

My first real memory of Starbucks dates back to 1993 when I worked in Hillcrest at a doctor’s office. The office manager, Susan, and I would run across Washington Street to the corner Starbucks and always get a grande nonfat no foam latte with two Equals. A half caff coffee of the day for Dr. Schmidt.

A couple years later when I moved to Pacific Beach with my best friend, Denise, our thing was the coffee frappuccino. I remember one summer when a day might consist of a morning frap and an afternoon frap!

Then around 2000, my co-worker Deb, introduced me to the americano and it was over from there. We would go down to the little coffee cart at our building in the mornings and get a hot one, but once summer came I immediately started ordering them iced. I will say that a venti extra extra ice americano with 2 Splendas and a splash of half & half is my go to coffee beverage 9 months our of the year.

{via}

However, I do have other memories of phases that I went through in my own personal Starbucks evolution…

Like when my sister and I would carpool to work back in the day and grab 2 grande nonfat caramel macchiatos with extra vanilla for the road.

Or when we lived in Sunnyvale and I went through my tuxedo mocha {half regular mocha, half white mocha} stage.

At the holidays, of course, I get the pumpkin spice lattes and the peppermint white mochas.

*****

It was fun to sit and reminisce about how my preferences have changed over the years.

How something as simple as a cup of coffee can conjure  up so many old, happy, fun memories.

How many times have we sat and shared a conversation over a cup of coffee or tea?

Sometimes the most simple things in life hold the fondest memories.

I will try to never forget that.

Faith

Life Lessons From A Little Orange Guy With A Big Yellow Mustache

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{via}

Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. ~ Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Such a powerful message I took away this weekend from our little {$53} 3-D family adventure.

This quote can come into play in so many aspects of our lives.

In our own personal daily lives or in the bigger picture like our economy or the environment.

Of course I don’t have all the answers, but I can {CARE}.

Faith, Flashbacks, Friends, Fun

What happened?

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We went from this…

To this…

Her very first girlfriend from 6 years ago, Charlotte.

Together again…if only for just 2 days.

So thrilled she is maintaining dear friendships from our Nor Cal days…I will do everything in my power to keep these friendships alive.

*****

Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies ~ Aristotle

The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend ~ Henry David Thoreau

Faith, Family, Fashion, Fun

Lady Gaga, Daisy Dukes & Chuck E. Cheese

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My weekend consisted of moments with and conversations about these three {things}.

I find it ironic that while Holden worked on his family flag project {a week late!} for church class, we had Lady Gaga blaring in the background. Fortunately he did not draw her into our family portrait {no offense Lady G, but that would have just been weird}. Afterall, Poker Face DID help get me through my 13.1 in Vegas! I will be ever so grateful for that.

*****

Yesterday afternoon Elliott and I took a little outing to get my car washed {needed it!} and stop by Justice to see if we couldn’t find some {hip hop high tops}. As you can see in the picture below, we found some. All I can say is that if we didn’t have that $25 dollars off $50 card she would have been wearing a different pair of zapatos in this pic. And all I can say is that these sparkly peace sign numbers best do the job in hip hop class…

While we were browsing through glittertown, she mentioned that she also needed some new shorts…”not the kind that go towards your knee, but the kind that go up towards your shirt”. Me: “Oh you mean Daisy Dukes”. Uh, we’ll revisit that when the weather gets warmer. Or she turns 25.

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And the gift she’s holding in the pic above…that’s for a 6:30 Sunday evening party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Can I just say it was a little weird going to a birthday party in the dark on a Sunday night…not the kind of stimulus we would normally seek an hour before bed time. Yes, we could have politely declined, but this is a little classmate of hers that she always talks about. I have always told her, she can go to any of her classmates parties {they are all sweet kids and I know most of the parents} as long as we don’t have previous engagements or are out of town, etc.

Oy.

But we made it this morning…up and out the door on time.

In, what she now refers to as, her “tenniboots” ~ half tennis shoe, half boot.

And she was NOT wearing Daisy Dukes with them.

Monday’s off to a decent start!

Hope yours is too.

XO

Faith, Family, Flashbacks

Reflection

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Tonight I had to go back and remember when Elliott was a newborn.

{3 weeks old}

Back before the word “NO!”, the sassiness {and I’m not talking about the good sassy, either}, the resistance, the “I hate you’s”, the storming upstairs, THE SPELLING TESTS.

Homework this week has been bad ~ especially THE SPELLING TESTS.

Yes, I am a spelling nazi and yes, I want a 100%…but at what cost.

Flying off the handle because she still can’t spell {immigrant} correctly after 4 nights is not the answer.

I need to do LOTS of praying to get through the next 11 and a half years of homework.

And I mean LOTS.