church picnic

"It is in the Church, in communion with all the baptized, that the Christian fulfills his vocation. From the Church he receives the Word of God containing the teachings of “the law of Christ.” From the Church he receives the grace of the sacraments that sustains him on the “way.” From the Church he learns the example of holiness...he discerns it in the authentic witness of those who live it; he discovers it in the spiritual tradition and long history of the saints who have gone before him and whom the liturgy celebrates in the rhythms of the sanctoral cycle."

Josie was a bit grumpy at first

Look at that big boy!

Just hangin' out with grandpa

Lou playing some games with her friends at church

Me and my friend Mary!

TJ and Lou made a great team!

the mommy's joined in (later daddy did a round too)

Just visiting (can you spot all the babies? :)

The importance of having a solid church community cannot be overstated. As the quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church above indicates, it is in the church where we "discern in the authentic witness of those who live [the Christian life]" We cannot walk the life alone....we need to surround ourselves with other people who are struggling to walk to narrow path along with us!

I find it especially helpful to be involved in a church that has lots to get involved with! :) If you just want to go to mass (or service) every Sunday, then that's your choice, but you may not find yourself stretched to grow as much. While no church is perfect (which is actually a good thing!) I think it's important that you still make a decision and stick with it. Through the difficulties, annoyances, changes, hypocrisy, boredom, and even scandals, I'm so grateful Mike and I have chosen a place to raise our family and grow in holiness. I wonder sometimes if people truly recognize the role your church community has in your faith journey and spiritual direction.

Pray for your church community, pray for your priest/pastor & pray for your fellow Christians! As Fr. Joe likes to say, "You think it's easy!" (No Fr. I know it's definitely not easy, but it's worth it :)

PS

Here is Louisa at our first church picnic as a family. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by!! That is even little TJ with her in that last pic! awwwww!

And here Louisa is pumping on that same swing! What a big girl!! (And yes, that's me in the bottom left, probably posting a pic on Instagram ;)

friday qt's

-1-

Michael loves flowers. More accurately - he loves to grab flowers and eat them. Since this little boy absolutely adores food, I think he sees the colorful flowers and thinks they must be some tasty form of food! 

-2-

I took a bath this morning. How crazy is that? I woke up at 6, and since everyone was still asleep I thought, why not? I was able to read some and just enjoyed soaking in my lavender bath salts.

See, for the past week I've been making a real effort to go to bed at 10:30. This little experiment has had amazing results. Even just ONE WEEK of better sleep and I feel much, much better. Seriously. My original goal was to try and aim for this bedtime for two weeks, but it's clear already that getting 8 hours has already turned me into a MUCH BETTER PERSON. 

-3- 

Last night we went to Walmart. It was a terrifically bad idea! There are no Walmarts in our immediate area, but we had gone out to the mall and there is a new-ish "market" Walmart out there. Even though it's new, it still already feels dingy. NO offense if you love Walmart, but I really don't. We needed some groceries though so we decided to go. 3 kids and 8 oclock at night. We couldn't be quick enough to avoid meltdowns and grabs. Poor Michael was just tired of sitting (he had to sit all through dinner) so I had to let him out of the stroller. Needless to say, we not doing this again for a while!

-4-

One reason I really like Weight Watchers is because you truly can eat what you want and still lose weight. (Yes I know I sound like a commercial) I've said this to people before, but you just eat less! Haha; amazing concept, huh? I've noticed with me that it really works because it's very daunting to think, "I'm on a diet" and I cannot eat certain foods. The way Weight Watchers teaches you to think though, is that there are limits to how much you should be taking in every day [of certain kinds of foods] If you want to eat more - then just eat healthy stuff! Again, easy concept (and I'm really simplifying it even more, but you get what I'm saying.) Anyways, I'm not sure what this take is about except that even though I ate THIS for my afternoon snack yesterday, I was still able to buy a pair of (clearance) jeans one size smaller than my previous size. Coolio.

-5-

Yesterday we had a fun little impromptu play date. Josie and Louisa love their little friend Macie, and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. They played with My Little Ponies (yes, vintage :) while us mommy's had a nice lunch and chatted. 

-6-

I'm looking forward to a little college friend's reunion next weekend. We will be seeing quite a few friends from our Newman Center (where Mike and I met eachother) and best of all the priest who baptized and confirmed me will be there! He had been transferred to another parish in the far corner of the state and we haven't seen him since Louisa was a baby. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing this priest who will always be very special to me as he assisted me in becoming Catholic!

-7-

Okay my friends, last "take" I have to share this video with you. Remember when I shared with you the blog of a friend who lost her son at just 12 days old? 

 Here is the last part in her 4 part post about their incredible journey with him.

and here is a video Beth shared, which I absolutely must also share. 

Love you three.

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. " -Mother Teresa

Have a blessed weekend.

My nearly-walkin' baby

Jeez. Wasn't he just brand new? How can he be almost walking? I swear I was just pregnant with this sweet boy, and now, in less than two weeks - he will be turning 1.

Time...will you please slow down!?!

Pictures taken by Lou (4) this morning!

I know I already shared this on instagram and facebook, but there are still a couple people who check here for pics of the kids (mom :)

How to have a good day with your kids

Stay with me, I swear I know what I'm talking about :)

Sometimes when I am having a bad day, it helps to remind myself of all the successful, fun days I've had with my children over the last four years of being a stay at home mama. (You see, this is one big reason why I blog :)

Last Friday, for example, I was having a hard time not throwing in the towel...by the time it was 9:30 a.m.! (Yeah, don't ask me how you really "throw in the towel" when you have three kids...it's not like you can just leave early...) Other than begging my husband to give me a pep talk over gmail chat, I didn't have much else in me to salvage the day. I was able to limp through, and it was only after the kids had gone to bed that it occurred to me that I should have a better plan of action for those days that start to slip away from me. Leila has written a wonderful post on this (I seriously love this post and go back to it OFTEN!)

But this post is actually slightly different from hers with ideas to getting a day back on track. More what I was thinking is some helpful tips to START the day right, and how to face the day determined to make it a good one, and things I try to keep in the back of my mind during my stay at home years.

Here are a couple of tips that are personally very helpful:

Start the day off right by cleaning up the night before.

Oh my goodness, this is super important to me. If I wake up to a disaster of a house, I just know that the first part of my day is not going to go well. Believe me, I know it's much easier said than done, to clean at night after the kids have gone to bed. All you want to do is RELAX. Watch a show. Snuggle with your husband. ANYTHING but more work. But, you have to face the fact that at some point, the kitchen counters need to be wiped, the toys tidied, and the spaghetti noodles picked out of the carpet! If you make it a point to spend, oh, 20-30 minutes to tidy up after the kids go to bed (and before you start to relax) then you WILL have a more peaceful, happy morning. At least I do!! It's just too hard to clean with kids underfoot and I simply love drinking my morning coffee with clean counter tops.

Spend time snuggling with kids when they wake up

If you take a few minutes (I try to give each child at least 5-10 minutes) to really hug them, kiss them, and ask them how sweet their dreams were - you will feel much better about meeting their morning demands. The mornings where I'm already so busy when Lou or Josie comes stumbling in to the kitchen with pigtails all disheveled (so cute), and I don't take a moment to give them my full attention - I find I'm in a more irritated, hurried mood.

If I sit with them on the couch - look them in the eye and tell them how much I love them - well then, I find it easier to lovingly get them their cereal and meeting the rest of their needs. And in baby Michael's case - clean up the lovely mess he's left me the last couple days on the floor. (What, I can't get the new diaper on him fast enough!!)

Take them somewhere!

Now this is important for some of us mama's, not as important for others. And special circumstances are always going to come up -sickness, morning sickness, too tired, etc. But I firmly believe most days should include at least one outing. It may be as simple as taking a walk around the neighborhood. If it means just playing in the backyard - I think that's okay too. But you should really go out there with them, at least for a little while. Have an iced tea. Chase after the toddler on the lawn. The key here is that it's beneficial for both the kids AND YOU, to get out of your house. I am a homebody at heart - but I also recognize that I need a change of scenery. I like to do my outings in the mornings 9 times out of 10. Luckily, we live within walking distance of lots of places (the library, the little grocery store, the salmon hatchery, etc.) so I don't always have to use the car to make these outings happen!

Don't let tantrums get you down.

When I just had Lou, temper tantrums seemed to have the potential to really de-rail my entire day. But that's cause I was new to them. They really stressed me out! Now, I realize that they really are a part of life. I've learned so many ways (from trial and error) to avoid them, but even some days you cannot predict or prevent some major tantrums. The key for me is to let them pass without me getting worked up. The worst is when they happen in public, or when you are in a hurry to go somewhere. That's when I still get frazzled. Try not to rush anywhere. Kids (especially toddlers) HATE to feel like they are in a hurry. And in public, I've found my best strategy is to look straight ahead, paste a fake smile on your face, and make your exit as quickly as possible, with screaming kid in tow. I don't think you can win or save face when the tantrum is going on. You just have to get the heck out of there and deal with it elsewhere.

Rest

Again, obviously easier said than done. But I have to have down time. My worst days are those where I don't get a break. Right now I'm using my break to blog. I still need to take a shower, but even if I don't get to that, I had a chance to do something mommy-centric and not kid-centric (though, ironically, I am talking about my kids :) Your kids should nap, and if they don't, you need to give them quiet time away from you. Doesn't matter the age.

Kiss your kids, play with your kids, and still try to be productive.

Again, so hard to actually do! But I find if these things get too out of balance, then at the end of the day I don't feel as accomplished. I need to feel like I gave my kids enough attention and affection. That is so important! There are times when the house is super clean - the laundry is done - but I think back and wonder, did I leave the kids in front of the t.v. too much? Did they fight with each other an extra lot?

 On the other side of it - if I DON'T do any chores, then the house feels yucky and messy and I also feel lousy. I do not believe your kids need you to be at their side every waking moment. That would just be hard on both of you! So, take the time when they are happily building with their Leggos or drawing, and unload the dishwasher, mop the floor, or make your bed. That will really help you feel better throughout the day.

Do different things
Routines are good. Ruts are bad. Do fun, different things. Be creative. Have your regular places you go, and then throw in some crazy, fun, even ridiculous places. Eat frozen yogurt at 10am. Surprise daddy for lunch at the office. Brave the mall or just turn Pandora on and let your kids dance to One Direction. Don't let the fear of it being too much stop you from doing fun things with your kids. I know I have made plenty of fun memories with mine by doing things that made me cringe at first. (Taking cupcakes to daddy's office downtown with a huge belly and two toddlers comes to mind! :)



So these are just a few of my tips. Again, there are always going to be special circumstances. Just today I found out that one of my good friends' baby is pretty sick. Another one of my friend's has a 4 year old with Type I diabetes. My hats' off to them - as they have other kids to attend to and obviously this kind of advice isn't much help to them! They have to deal with the important things going on RIGHT NOW for them. But this is more of an outline for more normal circumstances. It also mostly applies to stay at home mom's. I have no idea how working mom's do it. I'm sure they have their own set of tips on how to make the time they have with their children as meaningful as possible.

When I sat down to think about it, these are the main ideas that came to mind on how to have a good (hopefully GREAT) day with your little ones!!

Do you have anything to add? I'd love to hear your tips!

Date night lovelines

Mike and I went out on Friday night and it turned to be one of the best nights I've had in a while!

The natural beauty around our area makes little excursions like this especially awesome.

First we ate at a restaurant that overlooks the Falls - which is where Mike proposed to me! (Not in the restaurant, but down in the gazebo)

After a tasty meal (I had honey, pear, and arugula pizza, and Mike had an aged grilled cheese with tomato soup) we took a walk around the area and remembered what it was like when we first got engaged.

Summertime wild flowers always make me smile

Three kids later! ;)

 (And they re-did the entire area surrounding the falls, so the gazebo where he proposed is actually no longer there! It's okay, I'm actually fine with it. That place is ours forever, now no one else can get engaged there ;) 

Well, of course they can, just not in the same spot as us :)

 It was a beautiful day, and we ended the evening with cocktails and another stroll. Very fun and romantical! I think I already said it, but we sure needed this! Hopefully the next date night comes at a good time too. 

Thanks again to my sister and James for babysitting all three kids!

Camp fire and camp out!

setting up the tent

'smores stuff

say "fluffy bunny" :)

the Michael's

They taste better to me with Reeces

Yum!

 They did so well sleeping in the tent ALL NIGHT! Lou loved it! They didn't wake up until 8:20 am the next morning :)

A wonderful weekend, minus the bad broccoli

Lou on our walk, showing off a little rose she picked (from our yard, not a neighbors :)

It's funny. I had been sitting there Sunday after dinner, typing up a blog post in my mind as I sometimes do. I was thinking about how we were having the best weekend, and how I had pictures I could post from our date night Friday and the backyard camp out on Saturday. I was going to write about how I had made it to my Weight Watchers meeting early Saturday morning, and despite missing several weeks, I had still managed to lose 1lb. (Which isn't that great, considering had I been trying I could have done better...) But yes, I was all set to tell you about our weekend!

Then we decided to go on a little family walk before getting the kids ready for bed. At first we were going to walk downtown (which is about a mile from our house down the hill) but then we decided to stay closer and just do a few laps around our neighborhood. After walking for a short time my tummy started to grumble. It was getting slightly painful as I felt more gas building up. I figured I probably needed to get home soon and was grateful we had decided against going downtown. But after we got home and I lay down for a bit and started feeling nauseous, I was beginning to wonder if I had eaten something bad with dinner. The kids seemed fine, and Mike said although his tummy felt a little weird, he wasn't in pain or anything.

We had fondu. We purchase the cheese at the store, then dip apples, carrots, bread, broccoli, and sometimes other foods into the heated up cheese. So yeah, the only thing I figured was that the broccoli was bad, since I was pretty much the only one who ate more than a few pieces of it. I looked in the fridge and noticed that I did grab some older broccoli that I had instead of the newer stuff I had just bought. Anyway, this tummy ache wasn't just the result of a touch of gas from eating broccoli (which, sometimes that does happen.) No, this was making me double over. I ended up laying in bed for the rest of the night moaning and groaning. :( I didn't end up throwing up, but I felt like it for several hours. It was pretty bad. This morning I still feel like my tummy is sore and I'm not fully recovered. Blech. I think I'm going to be scarred from the thought of eating broccoli for a while.

Mike took some pics on our walk. 

Here I am just before starting to feel like my tummy was going to explode!!

So, despite that unfortunate episode last night, the rest of the weekend was totally blessed and wonderful. The five of us had some good solid family time together. It was especially nice because we had no obligations - we could just decide what we wanted to do. It was refreshing, and it made me realize we need more of these kind of weekends!

(P.S. I'm still going to post some pics of our date night at the Falls and the backyard camp out!)