{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

(loaded a bunch of fuzzy iPhone photos from the past month!)

Pretty

My girls with their sweet teacher Miss Courtney at a fun dance playdate a couple weeks ago. She taught them a cute dance and then they all brought lunches and played on a waterslide in the backyard. We will miss Miss Courtney!

Happy

Welcoming the newest bundle of love to our group of friends. A sweet little girl to join their other daughter and 3 sons. We are all so happy for them!

Funny

The 3 of us dressed as cows for Chick-fil-a's Cow Appreciation Day! And they gave Ellie free food too, even though she didn't want to dress up. Tommy and Daddy stayed home, but Daddy got leftovers since they gave each of us a whole free (big) meal!

Real

My tupperware cabinet needed some serious cleaning today. Here are all the extra lids I had in there!!! This week I organized that cabinet, my shelf of photo albums, and had help from BopBop and MC with a bunch of paper organizing. A productive week!


Read more at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Jesus Makes a Difference Every Day

Last week was our first vacation bible school experience! I knew the girls would love it, and they did. It was at a Catholic church which we have never attended, but a friend from swim team was heading it up and allowed us to join in for free if I volunteered :) You all know that I can't turn down a free offer!

The first few days were a little hairy trying to be the "snack" leader with my 2 "helpers" you see here, but as the week went by things became easier and Steven enjoyed spending time with the other 3yr olds in the nursery.


All week we had the main chorus in our heads, which was "Jesus makes a difference every day!" I admit I had some theological concerns about why this had to be the main line of the main songs, and I wonder how in the world it has to do with the theme of Main Street? Why don't any of our local churches use the Catholic VBS options? (My critical nature shining through)


But you know...as I reflected on it more and more, I tried to let the main idea soften my heart. God is with us every day. Jesus makes a difference in our lives every day because of his grace working in our hearts. He blesses us with family, the Church, the Sacraments, our material possessions. Every day.


"You turn me inside-out and upside-down, show me how to turn everything around.
You change my life; you're all I need. Inside-out and upside-down on Main Street!"


Honestly, right now I do feel like some things in our life are changing...inside-out and upside-down! It happens all the time in this crazy family life with young kids. But every day Jesus is with us, making a difference in our lives and in the lives of others we encounter.


I pray that whatever twists and turns are facing us in the coming months, that we will find peace and solace in God's will. That Jesus will lead us down "Main Street" as we continue to follow him in our journey of life.

Just like Steven Joseph was having such a fun time chasing this precious darling around the gym, may we have fun chasing our dreams and God's will each and every day. Because He can make a difference in our lives every day, if we let Him!

Thanks to my friend K, and all the kind people at SH Catholic Church, who welcomed us on Main Street! We had a blast!

Fr. Mike's Jubilee

One of our favorite priests, the one who married us 10 years ago THIS WEEK, celebrated his 25 year Jubilee as a priest at St. Mary's last weekend. Msgr. Mike is an amazing priest, with a joy and a work ethic that is truly inspiring. He is sorely missed in Aggieland, but we were so happy to go up there to celebrate this special Mass with many of our college friends!

I was in tears as the priests processed in for the Mass. It was beautiful seeing over a dozen deacons and priests, and all the growing Catholic families, whose lives have all been touched by such an amazing priest. This church holds so many special memories for me, and the floodgates of tears came as we sang "Joyful Joyful" to begin the Mass. The kids did pretty well considering how early we arrived and how the Mass was a little longer than normal.

I did get a few pictures as they processed out of the church.


The man of honor! Greeting everyone as he exited the church.


Visiting with wonderful old friends!




Two of my favorite ladies!


The awesome B family with the three awesome priests we had while I was at St. Mary's.


The amazing and inspiring K family!


And our happy family :)


A wonderful day indeed.

a Nite with Br. Nate

We got together with college friends out at Little Way Farm for some fellowship and to visit with our friend from New York, Brother Nathanael Mary, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal!

We had a potluck dinner; here are the kiddos eating


And the daddies hanging out watching the kids parade inside.


The men always visit outside while the ladies hang inside the house


SJ and his favorite motorcycle!


Kids with bikes and baseball out in the field


SJ warns his friend Clara not to touch the electric fence!


Ladies hanging out in the schoolroom


Our cute girlies!


Baseball out back


Br. Nathanael


Some shots of the Brother and the Baby!




A late night game of Simon Says before we leave


Making our way to the door...


And home we went to get some sleep for another day of fun with friends! More to come! Thanks to the G family for hosting us this weekend.

A weekend celebrating a priest and future-priest!

Br. Nathanael


Fr. Mike


More photos to come soon; I got a bunch loaded on Facebook though!
I'm exhausted and we're doing our first VBS this week!

Tommy Boy

Independence Day 2011

I didn't get many photos of the other weekend festivities, including an evening with my parents and my visiting baseball-playing uncle, a birthday celebration on the 3rd for Steven's dad with lots of cousins, and a visit to the local waterpark aquatic center. We did get pics of the parade though!

The kids had been readying for days by making bags to put their goodies in. After a lot of driving around to figure out where we would watch, we ended up on Market Street :)


The parade begins with the colonial crew...


Always some high school bands


A sweaty baby who got tired of the festivities very quickly! He loved his first Jamba Juice smoothie though!


This little man felt a little sick all morning. Maybe because he had Tootsie Rolls for breakfast in the 100 degree heat?


And speaking of the heat, who would agree to wearing a Build A Bear costume in this kind of weather???


A cute float by a local hospital. I loved the purple house!


Mr. Misery


It's a bird?


It's a plane?


No, it's LifeFlight right above our heads!


Happy family leaving the parade early ;) Just too hot for our crew, so we were off to the waterpark!