{this moment}

The Weekend in Review

We had such a fun weekend! It was jammed packed with non stop action, mostly outside (YAY!) due to great weather.

There was the Testosterone Zone.

  I am the queen in my house of blue and boys will be boys and we had LOTS of boys {and one lone girl} hanging out and playing.  We usually have lots of kids over, but, this summer our little group seems to have grown. A good amount of the pictures I took came out blurry and you can't tell, but, we had ten boys here riding bikes.  It was pretty entertaining!

We had a birthday party for Lovey Dovey's Webkinz.  They all turned TWO on Saturday.  I thought it was very sweet of them to all celebrate their birthday on the same day! 

Here is Lovey Dovey making his GF, EF, DF, NF chocolate cake for them bright and early Saturday morning.  This cake is amazing and it is probably one of the best I have
come across!

{notice that Lovey Dovey could not wait until their party to have some cake!}

We even had some basketball to round off the weekend nicely.

 

I hope you enjoyed your weekend with your family as much as I did mine!

I Take Joy

in the little and not so little things in life.

I take JOY in the three beautiful and best blessings that God has graced me with.

I take JOY in remembering to slow down the pace of my life, heart and mind to be present with my blessings at every little step along the way.


But mostly I take JOY in....

 

My ten year old who is filled with lots of love and wonder about life and still loves to cuddle up next to me and talk about his hopes, dreams and what is in his heart. This is my boy who lives for Lego and makes unbelievably imaginable creations that I could never dream of doing.  This is the child that takes after his momma most...in strengths as well as weaknesses and my heart tugs a little bit more for this boy when I know there is something that he is about to encounter that *I* might fear.  What can I say...he is my first born and first Momma love!

 

My eight year old who has always made me walk and think a bit faster since the day I met him.  He continues to challenge me in ways that I never thought possible and has helped me to grow as both a faith filled momma, advocate and overall better person.  This boy has a heart the size of the moon and wears it on his sleeve at all times.  He is probably one of the sweetest, kindest people I have met.   This is my child that gets my subtle jokes and always follows them up with "Good one, Mom!"

My five year old who has truly filled me with God's never ending grace from the day he was conceived.  This is the child who radiates grace, love and the spirit of boyhood adventure.  He is my child that still wants to marry his momma and lives to snuggle up close to me and smooch and hug.  He is the child who has numerous food allergies and asthma and thanks me for "Feeling him better" when we are done with nebulizer treatments.  He is the one who never, ever complains and each day*I* try to be more like him!  He is the one that I turn to when I am feeling low to "Fill my heart up with love."

Childhood Lost

My second son, Kit Kat, turned eight today.
We had a nice birthday party for him on Saturday.  We decided to have the party at home this year and keep it simple.  Since he always tells me that I make the best cookies in the world I decided to make him a giant chocolate chip cookie cake!

We set up volleyball and ladderball in the backyard, had a cookout and just planned to relax and enjoy the abundant sunshine!

Of course the best plans do not always go the way that you expect.

We had five boys (plus my three) over here and I would say that  3/4 of them immediately and constantly gravitated to the almighty screen.  They wanted to play on the computer, or watch television or play a video game.


*sigh*

I think I am really starting to date myself since all of this is not floating in my house at all lately!


I have been feeling the need urge to disconnect for quite some time.
I cannot really explain it too much, but, I truly feel that we are too plugged in at times and I really am pretty strict about what I allow.


My kids do not have an iPhone, iTouch or any handheld game thingies.  I just don't think they need to have these things.  I watch as all of their friends walk around the neighborhood oblivious to anyone around them like little moths to a flame and just don't feel that we were put here to sit in front of a screen for extended periods of time.



Of course I could say the same for what I do here on Blogger, but, I am trying to keep this as a journal of our experiences and really do limit the frequency of my posting.


Getting back to the party...
My kids were the ones who mostly stayed outside and played along with their bff from next door.  They have friends whose parents admit that their kids are addicted to the computer.  I hate that we as a society are like this and am so very thankful that I did not grow up in this era where there is so much coming at you all of the time.

This morning I spent 55 minutes in a live chat with Kodak because something happened with my son's camera and it would not transfer the pictures to the computer.  55 minutes that I will not get back.  I am not saying that I am not grateful for the assistance with the camera, but, really was using film that bad?
You took pictures, you had them developed and you got what you got.  There was time for things and everything had its place in time.  Now we have so much and not enough time to do it all!

Again...I am dating myself, but, things were simpler when I was a child.

That is why I am probably known as the unfun mom on the street who won't let her kids and their friends sit around playing video games aimlessly for hours on end.  I am also the mom who makes lots of cookies with her kids and their friends to sell at their lemonade stand during the summer and always makes sure we have a freezer filled with popsicles for those hot summer days.  My husband cannot believe we got through so many popsicles in a week!

I just want life to slow down a bit and for everyone to enjoy it the way it is supposed to be.
Can you imagine how much would have been missed throughout history if everyone was constantly plugged in most of the time?

I am also the mom who is prayerfully contemplating cutting the cable and going to regular tv for the summer.
We can do so much more if that is not an option.  Like I said we don't watch alot of tv, but, getting rid of it appeals to me for many reasons (money being one of the perks too!).

The most amazing things happen when we slow down and just take a deep breath of fresh air and look at all of God's beautiful creations around us.

It is just the way it's supposed to be, but, this is just one momma's opinion.

***First Holy Communion***

Yesterday we were so blessed!
We celebrated my second son, Kit Kat's, First Holy Communion.  It was such a gorgeous day all around.  We had spent most of last week in dreary rainy weather so to see the sun shining was such a pleasant change!  I could not have asked for a more gorgeous day.

Kit Kat was so excited too.  This is my son who loves Jesus with his whole heart and soul and really is on fire for the Lord.  He is the one who rushes to get his bottle of Holy Water to bless someone who is not feeling well.  His blessings really work too!  He is the one I have the deepest discussions with about at the dinner table about God. There is no topic that is off limits for him and he really makes me think too!

Before Mass, I have to admit to tearing up quite a bit.  It is always a very emotional moment for me when my sons make their First Communion.  It touches me more than Baptism.  When they are baptized we are making the decision for them, but, with each new Sacrament they receive they are renewing their own faith in our Lord and it just makes my heart so full with happiness.


All of the children were very well behaved  and the ceremony was so nice.  They had practiced for weeks to perform The Table Prayer and while they sang they also signed the song as well. I truly need a better camera and sorry that this picture is very blurry, but, trust me it was precious!

Here is a picture of the big moment.  This picture came out clearer than his receiving the Eucharist.  Did I mention I need to get a better camera, lol! 

 

We were also blessed to have Kit Kat's Godfather visiting for the weekend with his new fiancee.  What a nice time we all had together celebrating.

 

We went to a fabulous brunch and the food was fantastic!  Here with us are Grandma and Grandpa, my husband's parents.  Mine are watching lovingly from Above.

I think this was probably the best part of the meal for Kit Kat....

 

A gigantic hot fudge sundae with five Oreos on top! What child wouldn't love that?

Can't you tell by the look on his face?


I am one proud Momma :-)