{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter

 

Why not join 2 link-ups for this last Thursday in January?

 {pretty}

 My favorite photo of the week :)

Pretty kids after Sunday Mass on our pretty new cedar porch swing!

Our other pretty porch purchase!

 

 Pretty girls at the Botanical Gardens

{happy}

We got the guitars out of the garage and have started to play again! 

Happy that my fingers still remember some chords.

My rainbow WWJD bracelet and yarn from my now-a-priest friend's 

winter hat make me happy thinking of college memories! 

 

Happy boys doing their "hunting" in the backyard,

while happy girls have been sewing indoors!

{funny}

Thomas had fun with Mary Clare's homeschool checklist last week!

{real}

 What it's really like to take a picture of 4 kids!

And what my bed really looked like last night when Daddy was away.

 Well, I've really jogged a few times this week (with the girls),

but still feel very unprepared for the 5K this weekend.

Hope I do okay!

Hope you've found some pretty, happy, funny, and real moments

around you this week!

Photography Theme Thursdays

Cari over at Clan Donaldson has started a link-up for photography, and this week's theme happens to be "Sunflare or Haze."  Well, that worked perfectly for me since I'd taken these photos of the girls this weekend.  If you missed them on Sunday, here they are again in their glowing glory :)

I learned on an online photography group that this is called "backlighting" and I likely had the settings wrong on my camera to focus correctly with this type of light, but I think they still turned out great!  I used my Canon T3 with my new 50mm lens.

And it is actually getting cool again in South Texas, so don't any Northerners get too jealous.  I just wish we had some snow days every now and then...

 (this first one was edited by my friend, Kristen)

 

Thanks for hosting, Cari!

Check out some more photo links over at Clan Donaldson.

The Circus!

I admit that both Steven and I have had pretty much no interest in taking our kids to the circus.  Really, we have our own (Barnum &) Bailey Circus here, if you know what I mean!  All the lights and crazy acts just seemed overwhelming in my head, but actually it was a really fun afternoon and not too overwhelming for our crew.

We were gifted with box seats to the Shriner's Circus from a generous friend, which was a great setup with food and drinks and a little sofa seating area as well as the stadium seats.  What a treat!  Here are a few photos...

Rope climbing/spinning

They also had trapeze artists and ladies who hung from their hair!  Ouch!

Tiger tamer with 7 tigers!  He's sitting on one.

Thomas fell asleep on the drive there, and we were able to carry him 

into the arena and up to the sofa in the box area to continue his nap!  

But once we saw the elephants coming out, we woke him up!  

Love his little tummy and the doll hanging out next to him :)

Dogs

The elephants!

This guy was amazing, balancing Chinese pots on his head, 

spinning and throwing them, too!

An attempt to get the kids to look and smile...

Too much to look at!

I think the favorite acts of the boys were the motorcycles 

and this guy who was launched out of a canon!

It was a fun afternoon and maybe we won't be so biased against circuses anymore!  Have you taken your kids to the circus? 

What We Wore Sunday

 

This outfit wasn't too exciting.  We were in a rush to get off to Mass since my oldest and I sang in the choir for the first time.

Turquoise sweater was seen last week, it's from Stein Mart, black peasant skirt is old, and shoes are Born clogs.  I guess you'll have to get used to the dirty mirror and hanging towel :-)

Plain silver hoop earrings and beautiful necklace that belonged to my late friend, Kelly.  After Mass, we were invited to the circus with some friends!  I switched to a lavender shirt underneath the sweater, and changed into jeans and my tan clogs.

And here are my sweet kiddos after Mass today!  It is WARM in Texas this January!  Oh and that's our new porch swing that got hung up last night.  We also got some porch rockers, and had our neighbors over to sit around the firepit last night.  We're enjoying the outdoors in our new house!

 

Go and visit Fine Linen and Purple for more Sunday fun!

Sunday Sunshine and some Monday Motivation

Sunshine-y photos are actually from Friday evening, but I'm up early on Sunday and we have a full day of mass (MC and I are joining the choir), and our first visit to the CIRCUS!

A friend just started a Facebook photography group for moms so I'm trying to learn how to better use my camera!  Here are some I took on Friday; I've since learned that this is called "backlighting" and I need to adjust the settings so their faces are clearer.  But I still love all of these photos, and the subjects even more!

 (this first one was edited by my friend, Kristen)

 

MONDAY MOTIVATION

Goals from last week:
1. Order remainder of homeschooling books.
2. Bills, file, and phone calls (bank, dentist, hospital)
3. Workout 3x
4. Daily readings on Laudate
5. Put away remainder of Christmas decor
6. Start prepping guest room
7. Furniture purchases
8. Meals: Leftover tortilla soup, baked chicken tenders, baked potatoes, breakfast for dinner, pizza
9. Blog posts: Livestock Show, Steven Joseph funnies, Instagram collage, PrettyFunnyHappyReal,  WIWS      

Goals for this week:
1. Bills, update budget
2. DENTIST (I just found a hole in the side of my tooth, yikes!)
3. Workout DAILY to prep for 5K
4. Clothes for 5K
5. Daily Readings on Laudate
6. Finish putting away Christmas decor and CLEAN HOUSE and yard for guests
7. Prep guest room
8. Meals: Baked chicken, pizza, breakfast for dinner, Calabaza con Pollo, lasagna
9. Blog posts: WIWS, backyard, prettyhappyfunnyreal, circus, 5K!