Answer Me This and What I Wore Sunday

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1. Do you have a smart phone?
Yes, I have an iPhone. I'm working on my iPhone addiction. (Step 1: Acknowledge your problem.) I do a lot on the phone throughout the day. Chimes ring for prayer time, I look up recipes, I text and call friends and family, I take pictures, I pin fun stuff on Pinterest, I check out pictures on Instagram. And...I read Facebook and the blogs on Feedly which are the big time-suckers. I need to do better at just leaving it in my room to use while I'm feeding the baby or resting. That will be my goal this week!


2. Which is your favorite meal of the day?
I guess I'll say dinner. I'm not a big fan of cooking or eating, unless it's at a restaurant where I don't have to cook or clean up, and the food is usually better than mine! Sometimes my kind husband makes dinner, and every now and then the girls cook a meal (we're trying to make that a weekly thing). The girls actually make breakfast often, which is so nice. I guess my most favorite meal is Sunday "linner" (between lunch and dinner), which is usually something yummy and grilled by Steven. My other favorite meals are when we have guests; I really enjoy hosting friends and sharing meals together.  Oh, and I love breakfast buffets with unlimited bacon.  Those are the best!


3. Shower or bath?
I am a huge fan of the bath, and this is our first house to have a big garden tub. I am so spoiled by the bath, and our beautiful bathroom. It's big and bright and oh so nice!  I'm already grieving the loss of it, and trying to figure out a way to transform the shower-only master bathroom in our other house.


4. Think of a person you love. How many days have you been in love with that person?

Wow, I have been in love with my husband for 16 years and 16 days, or 5860 days! Our first date was May 16, 1998, and we will celebrate 13 years of marriage in July. The picture above is the night of our first date, with the nieces and nephew of my roommate. I felt like Cinderella that night; he asked me just a few hours before the formal dance, and my roommates and these children quickly helped me get ready for the big "Boot Dance." Steven surprised his buddies who thought he wasn't coming, and then he showed up with a date!



5. What's the best church you've ever been inside?
Oh wow, well St. Peter's is definitely first, and since it's my blog I'll do the top three:

Numero Uno:

St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Best place on earth!

Even better after you just had your marriage blessed by the Pope!

1/2/2002

source

Numero Dos:

Annunciation Church in Downtown Houston

This is the 2nd oldest Catholic Church in Houston, completed in 1874.

I feel like we are in Europe when we go to this church.  There just aren't many like this anymore, especially in Texas!  The girls both celebrated their First Holy Communions there, and little Katherine Maria Grace was baptized there in February, pictured here.

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Numero Tres:

My favorite for being the most special to me is St. Mary's in College Station, Texas

Steven and I met on the steps of St. Mary's after daily mass, and we were married there.  It's where we were formed in our Catholic faith and met many lifelong friends.

Here's a snapshot from the anniversary mass for 

now-Bishop Michael Sis who married us!

Reciting our vows in front of Fr. Mike

And the church during Easter Vigil

photo by Ed Rhodes via The Loveliest Hour (thanks, Lauren!)

6. Happy Feast of the Visitation! Has anyone ever come to help YOU?

I have had so many people help me!  This past pregnancy, we spent six weeks in a rental cabin near the hospital, and we had many friends and family members help by watching kids and offering meals.  My sister-in-law Jill usually watches the kids on baby day, and my in-laws have spent time staying with us after the boys' births.  My parents come often to help during the day.  I haven't had anyone come and stay during pregnancy, but that would be nice.  What a gift Mary was to her cousin Elizabeth!

The Visitation is one of my favorite feast days, it's meaningful to me as a woman and a mother.  Mary and Elizabeth are favorite saints, and favorite names, hence the first names of my first two girls.  I told them that it's their feast day today!  I need to start figuring out a permanent feast day for each of the kids.  We usually try to celebrate St. Clare in August for Mary Clare.  Ellie is named for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, but her memorial is in early January which is hard after Christmas and right after big sister's birthday.  St. Stephen is the day after Christmas, and St. Thomas More is June 22.  St. Katharine Drexel is March 3, soon after Katie's birthday.  Maybe I should ask the kids to pick a feast day to be their special day, and hopefully not too close to their birthdays.  They were all baptized at 1-2 weeks old, so often we are still celebrating their birthdays and don't remember to celebrate their baptismal day.  I need to put them all on my iPhone calendar so that we will remember!

Last year we hosted a Visitation Tea Party and May Crowning, but this week I wasn't sure about hosting something at our house, plus I really wanted to plan a beach day before schools let out here.  So we had a May Crowning at the Beach with some homeschool friends on Friday!  So much fun.  Will share more tomorrow.

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What I Wore Sunday

Link up at Fine Linen and Purple

Old clothes but new adorable baby, new haircut I gave myself this morning (just some layers in the front), and new camera lens!  Loving the lens and the new iMac we got last week.

photo by Ellie :) 

Sweet baby girl is all over her hands the past few days!

I'd say she's changed quite a bit since she first wore this dress at her baptism party!  It belonged to Steven's beautiful sister Mary when she was a baby :)

And welcome to June!  We're ready for some more fun in the sun this summer!  Hope your week is filled with sunshine and smiles :)