{pretty, happy, funny, real} ~ summer days

~Capturing the context of contentment of everyday life~

{pretty}

I know I post many pictures of our sweet Rose, but I know you would all probably agree that she most definitely qualifies as {pretty} and adorable and squishy and chubby and silly and on and on and on...  But since this is my first {pretty, happy, funny, real} post, I thought I better start off with one of my beauties.  First is one of her cheesy smile pictures and in the next few, she is showing off her bracelets and "new" purse that her sisters dug out and filled for her this morning.  

{happy}

Wanna makes kids {happy} in this house??  All you gotta do is take them to the library!!!  They LOVE to read and be read to!  Here are my six oldest posing after a library trip a few days ago holding one of the books they checked out....

{funny} 

Fone and Mario love to make videos with their Lego Stop Motion app on our iPad.  Some of the videos they have created take setting up and snapping 100+ pictures, all planned perfectly to tell a story.  The boys work so well together and love every minute of it.  I love their silly voices that they use too - just makes me giggle!!  This is one of my favorites - I think you would agree that it most definitely qualifies as {funny}....

{real}

We had some strong storms roll through the area on Monday, all within a few hours of each other.  We lost power during the first storm and our sump pump stopped working.  Tie that in with the 2-3 inches that fell already made for a slightly wet basement.  Our wetness was very minor compared to others in this area, so I am super thankful for that.  Things dried out pretty fast thanks to our dehumidifier and fans and my husband who rocks at using the shop vac!!  Our power returned a little before the second storm and thankfully, we kept our power through that one and didn't have any more water to deal with.  But....  when I woke up the next morning and looked out into our back yard, I saw another {real} issue that we were going to have to deal with from the storm...  (one of our trees broken in two - doh!!  Guess it's going to be coming down now!!)

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A Mom-ism Monday kind-of-day

My second attempt at another "Mom-ism Monday" post, linking it up with Donna Marie Cooper O'Boyle!  Cheer with me now, because I actually made it on a Monday!!  Woo hoo!!

Some, "mom-isms" or "mommy moments" from this past week...

#1

On Saturday, my oldest daughters and I attended our year-end Mother/Daughter Tea for our local Little Flowers girls club.  I have helped teach and lead our group ever since Melody was in wreath 1 and we started with a group of a little over a dozen girls that met at my home once a month. We have grown over the years to a group, this past year, of fifty plus girls and going strong and meet at our church hall now!  What a wonderful gift we can give our daughters to learn about the saints and the virtues they lived as they followed Christ - and what great examples they are for us to follow!  So the tea this weekend was a celebration of all that they have learned and the friendships they have formed along the way.  It included a yummy potluck of tea-party type foods, many games and crafts, and one of the favorite memories was the breaking at the pinata.  Just picture moms and daughters in their fancy dresses swinging and beating down a pinata - funny but a blast at the same time!!  If you want a peek into our celebration, click here for my write up.  Enjoy!!  

#2

Also, this weekend, we set up little Rose's toddler bed after a couple month transition of moving many bedrooms and kids around.  She's only slept in it once so far and still prefers her crib next to mommy and daddy in our room, but it's a small step into getting ready for her being a big sister soon.  We wanted to allow plenty of time for this and the transition to be as smooth as possible, so we will allow her as much time as she needs.  But doesn't she look like such a big girl in her big girl bed....

#3

Things are progressing daily with my pregnancy!  I am over the first sixteen weeks of nauseousness, so that part of me is feeling great.  Now the beautiful varicose veins and tailbone issues begin to make themselves known.  All more to offer up in prayer for our little man!!  We got a peek at our little guy today in my 20 week ultrasound.  What a wiggly little guy his is!! And adorable, must I add!!  He was kind of a stinker and didn't swallow and show us the stomach bubble, so I had to flip back and forth from side to side to get him to perform.  Thankfully, he did near the end of the ultrasound.  When I met with dr, she also shared that they saw an "echogenic focus" and we'll be following up with another more in-depth ultrasound soon.  Dr didn't seem too concerned since everything else looked okay, but they still need to have it looked at a second time.

So, we will pray and hope and trust!!  We also scheduled the c-section for early October!  Please continue to pray for babe and I, since this will be my 8th c-section.  And, with Fulton J. Sheen having an approved first miracle, it doesn't hurt asking for his miraculous intercession in this risky pregnancy and delivery...

 Eternal Father, You alone grant us every blessing in Heaven and on earth, through the redemptive mission of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and by the working of the Holy Spirit.If it be according to Your Will, glorify Your servant, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, by granting the favor I now request through his prayerful intercession - of this young baby's time in womb and delivery and safety for him and his momma -
I make this prayer confidently through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

And, our little guy's first official appearance here on the blog.  Say "hi" little guy....

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Please join in with your "Mom-ism Monday" on Donna Marie's blog as well!  Click on the picture below and add what God has been doing in your life as a mom this week.  (and don't feel bad if you are a tad late like I was last week)

Little Flowers Mother/Daughter Tea ~ 2014

***  Little Flowers ~ the girls  ***

***  Little Flowers ~ the momma's  ***

Today was our year-end celebration of a wonderful year of learning about the saints and virtues in our Little Flowers Girls Club.  Ariel was in wreath 2 and Melody was in the Hospitality group this past year. 

We began our gathering with a prayer (snitched the one Jessica and her crew used last year).

The mom and daughter pairs sat by each other and had to find their table according to a flower chart - each table had a certain flower on it - what a cute connection since our group is called "Little Flowers".  It was a so nice sitting with my girls too, because in years past I know the girls sat with girls, and the moms sat with other moms.  I was so happy to sit by my two beautiful daughters!!

 

For food, we had tea party treats and lots of mini sandwiches and desserts - potluck-style!  Of course, we also had a "tea table" so the girls and moms could pick their own flavor and make their own tea.  And, when each girl left, they were able to take home their very own teacup as a favor - what a special treat!!

The theme of our celebration was Our Lady Guadalupe and the girls colored pictures of Our Lady Guadalupe, made an Our Lady Guadalupe grotto, made a cute flower decoration, worked on a Virtue and Flower crossword puzzle and word find, and we even had 2 pinatas to break!  Wreaths 1 and 2 girls and their moms broke the first pinata, and wreath 3 and the Hospitality girls and their moms broke the second one.  Before the actual breaking of the pinata, the girls each wrote a sin/temptation and glued it onto the pinata, so as they slugged and beat the pinata, they are telling Satan and sin to "Be gone!".  It was neat to have the symbolization with this game!  All the hooting and hollering and cheering was quite funny as many of the moms and girls were in fancy dresses, yet at the same time swinging a stick and beating at the pinata!  This was one of the highlights of the celebration for sure!!

(Melody's crafts)

(Ariel's crafts)

We ended our gathering with three moms reading the "Patience" prayer from one of my favorite mother's prayer books by Donna Marie Cooper O'Boyle. 

 

++Thank you, God, for our Little Flowers Catholic Girls Club, and most especially my two darling, beautiful, faith-filled Little Flowers girls.++