June 2010 Archives

I love this blog post from Faith & Family Live! It was just what I needed to hear. (Thanks, Rachel!)

Encouraging Women

Several years ago, when my boys were very, very little, a friend with older children told me to enjoy these years--because they were "easy." Compared to what she was going through with teenagers, I guess it seemed like my life with four boys under aged five was a cinch.

She told me to enjoy these grand years and I proceeded to hyperventilate--things certainly didn't seem all that easy from where I stood!

Now that I have some older children (but no real teens just yet) I see what she meant in a sense --things are a bit simpler when the children are younger. But I will tell you right now that life with little children is challenging in a very unique way, and I have found it to be the most challenging.

I still remember how very discouraged I felt after that comment. I didn't need to hear that things were going to get harder because I felt like I was barely treading water as it is. Comparing myself to others didn't give me any extra grace to move through my day.

Likewise, I think it can be very easy for mothers to look at a family with more children and wonder "how they do it" (I certainly do this from time to time). It is tempting to compare family size and then wonder why we struggle to get through the day when another woman with more children seems to do just fine. But this gets us nowhere!

As women, as nurturers, as mothers-to-be or mothers of many or a few, we need to encourage each other. None of us should ever feel like we are doing less (or made to feel that way) because our family size is smaller or our children are at an "easier" stage--we are all operating on the grace given to us to live our own life, the one God has given us. There is not grace for me to have nine children because God has given me six. Likewise, the mother of three children has the grace for that--she doesn't need grace for anything else.

Be encouraged! Whether you have one baby or six babies, whether your children are tiny or teens or somewhere in-between--keep up the good work. And don't compare--don't think for a minute things *should* be easier because you have fewer children or older children--embrace where you are at right now and know the grace God sends will be exactly what you need, to help you through your day.

A friend of my sister on the east coast is moving to the San Francisco and they were asking me if I knew of any solid Catholic churches there. I had no idea but thanks to Lisa in San Fran I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of great churches. (I'll have to plan a trip soon to check some of these out!)

So in case you are traveling to San Francisco and want to find a church to attend Mass or make a visit, here's Lisa's recommendations.

San Francisco is blessed with many beautiful and good churches. Here are a couple of suggestions.

St. Dominic's Catholic Church (Dominican Friars)
2390 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 567-7824
www.stdominics.org

I've been a long-time parishioner here and it's one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese. It's one of the most beautiful churches in SF; good homilies and holy priests; reverent Masses; a solid parish with various devotions and activities throughout the year; excellent choir; vibrant young adult group. They've been very supportive of the Walk for Life West Coast since we first started it in 2005, and youth groups camp out there during that weekend each January.

SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church (Salesian Priests and Sisters)
666 Filbert Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 421-0809
http://www.stspeterpaul.san-francisco.ca.us/

Very beautiful church in the North Beach section of SF. Much smaller parish, but very solid and orthodox, and reverent Masses. Has a young adult group also. They've been most supportive of the Walk for Life West Coast since we first started it in 2005. They let hundreds of young adults camp out that weekend each year who travel from all over to attend the WFL.

Carmelite Monastery of Cristo Rey (Carmelite Nuns across the street from St. Ignatius Church at USF)
721 Parker Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 387-2640

Daily Mass: 7:00 a.m. each day

The Nuns here are great - have known them half my life.

Monastery of Perpetual Adoration
771 Ashbury Street (between Waller St. & Frederick St.)
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 566-2743

Haight/Ashbury section of SF

Daily Mass: 7:00 a.m. each day (The Chaplain is solid and orthodox)

Cathedral of St. Mary
1111 Gough Street
San Francisco, Ca
(415) 567-2020
http://www.stmarycathedralsf.org/

I rarely go here myself, but they have good and solid priests, the homilies are good and the Masses are reverent, and they have a good choir. The Cathedral is in the modern style.

There are many other churches worth visiting/seeing like Mission Dolores .

There are also other special places that I can recommend in the Bay Area that are worth a weekend visit -- like Our Lady of Peace Shrine in Santa Clara, and St. Albert's Priory in Oakland.

Bobbi's note: Brian and I have visited the Our Lady of Peace Shrine in Santa Clara. It is a beautiful church and worth a visit!

Thanks to The Wine Dark Sea (a blog I recently discovered and am thoroughly enjoying) I found this fun handwriting meme. Back in the day, I was a huge letter writer ("novels" as my friends would call them) and at times I'll still forgo the email or text and send an old fashioned hand written note. (I practically collect cute note cards and writing paper!)

Here's how the project works:

Write down the following, snap a picture (or scan the document), post it, and tag others.

1. Name/Blog Name
2. Right handed, left handed or both
3. Favorite letters to write
4. Least favorite letters to write
5. Write: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
6. Write in caps:
CRAB
HUMOR
KALEIDOSCOPE
PAJAMAS
GAZILLION
7. Favorite song lyrics
8. Tag 7 people
9. Any special note or drawing

The only thing is that I have three different types of handwriting, depending on what I am doing. There is the traditional handwriting (see #1-5) when I am writing a letter or note to someone or signing my name. Then there is the all cap printing (see #6) when I need to keep something very clear and legible. Lastly, there is my informal writing that is a hybrid of messy handwriting and printing (see # 7-9). It is what I use most often when I am jotting things down. Okay, here's the first page.

#3 - B A and S. Funny I didn't realize until after that they are actually my initials. :-)

#4 - I hate the cursive Q. Looks like the number two.

#6 - I had no idea that was how you spelled "kaleidoscope."

I used the last sheet of that tablet so I grabbed a different tablet on my desk to finish.

#7 - It's hard to choose just one song so I wrote what I was listening to at the moment. Closer to Love by Mat Kearney. It actually has some beautiful lyrics.

#8 - I tag my sis Elena at , Maria at Hail Mary, Full of Grace, Eileen at Our Happy Clan, Teresa at The Kramer Family, Trish at A Wonderful Life and Katherine at Having Left the Altar. Granted they are all busy ladies whom I doubt have time for this but I'll tag anyway! My last tag is an open call to anyone reading this who wants to join the fun. Just leave your name in the comment box so I can take a peak at your blog. :-)

#9 - I don't know why but for years I have not written the word "and" when I am writing. I always use my version of the "&" sign. Also, I don't usually sign my name to letters of people I know well. It's just "B" and a smiley face. :-)

Well, that was a fun little diversion but now it's back to work. Laundry and dishes call before the baby wakes up! Enjoy your day!

We have many June birthdays in our family and here are two of my favorite guys celebrating together. Happy Birthday to Andrew (last week) and Brian (today.) Love you both!!

A couple weeks ago Brian and I were watching EWTN's World Over and William Peter Blatty (who wrote The Exorcist) was on talking about his new book Dimiter. It sounded like a great mystery read so I ordered it for Brian's birthday. (His "wish list" was books and Mystic Monk coffee. There's a shocker!) It arrived today and I was thumbing through it. Looks good! I'll let you know what he thinks after he reads it and passes it on to me.

Also, here's the clip of Blatty's interview.

I saw this lemon pasta dish at Faith & Family this afternoon and made it for lunch. I added some roasted chicken breast I had leftover and together it was perfect. Everyone loved it. Yum!

Disclaimer: The following post pertains to TV entertainment. If you do not feel that is a suitable subject for a Catholic blog, please skip this post. Thank you.

Okay, so last night Brian and I finally got to watch the season premiere of The Next Food Network Star. We enjoy calling out our favorite chefs after only watching the first five minutes of contestant introductions. Then we watch as the weeks go by to see if our favorites rise to the occasion or make a sad exit.

After the intro my three fave guys were Brad (cute kid with hat), Herb (former chubby guy with muscles) and Das (Dr. Smoooooth.) My fave girls were Aria (teary eyed mom with 3 yr old) and Aarti (perky flower-haired girl. Brian's fave guys were Tom (big guy with hair like Andrew when it's not cut), Brad and Das. His fave girls were Aria and Dzintra (off-the-wall blonde - that pick caught me by surprise since she annoyed me right off).

By the end of the show I was loving Aria and hoping sweet boy Brad gets a bit more confidence. Herb and Das can still do well if they channel their energy and let their cooking do all the big talking. By the end of the show Brian still liked Tom (who reminds him of his fave last year, Adam Gertler) and he was bummed that Dzintra's "quirkiness" was getting a little bizarre. (I told you, honey!) Looks like an interesting season! :-) So who were your faves??

Wow, it has literally been two months since I posted here! Life has just been extra busy, especially with the remodel, and I just haven't had any free time. However, the bulk of the construction is over and the boys are asleep so I have a few minutes to catch up here. So let the Quick Take Friday begin!

Thanks to the generosity of my father-in-law, we were able to convert our garage into a third bedroom, fix up the kids' rooms and spruce of the bathrooms. We had a wonderful contractor who got the job done on time and within budget. (Hats off to you, Alex!) I must say that I always thought shopping at Home Depot was boring but now I love the place! Although, the only problem with fixing up the house is that your eye is now trained to see all the other defects that need fixing. Unless you have an endless supply of money, you have to work with what you have and just save for the big stuff! Here is a peak at the kids' new rooms.

Earlier today I was getting some laundry done and watching last year's The Next Food Network Star. I can't believe the new season starts up on Sunday already! I'm looking forward to it. :-)

The books on my nightstand at the moment: The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman and Jane Austen's Persuasion. (Time to revisit a favorite classic.)

Congratulations to Bella who made her First Communion last month. It is so beautiful to see her innocent soul excited to receive Our Lord for the first time. May God be the center of her life always!

Andrew is approaching his third birthday and it is so cute to watch his little personality bloom. He has been especially good at playing loving big brother to JP, rubbing his hand on his back or giving him a kiss on the head. He still comes by and discreetly knocks him over once in awhile but for the most part, they get along well.

Lastly, our little John-Paul (JP) is not so little anymore. He is nine months now and can crawl at remarkable speed considering that his knees never touch the ground! (It is hilarious!) And he is standing and cruising along the furniture so walking will be here before you know it!

That's it for now. Have a great weekend!!