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This week, hosted by Hallie at Betty Beguiles.com.

Good morning! Matthew just fell asleep and the boys are watching Cars 2 and re-enacting scenes from the movie so I have a small window to write before I have to tackle a long list of To Do's so let's get going!

I'll Have A Scoop of Chocolate with Nuts - Remember the car accident I was in a few weeks ago? The lady involved has gone above and beyond to make sure we get our car fixed and that she covers any expenses we incur. She even offered to pay for a babysitter to watch the kids while I have to get the car fixed etc. Thankfully the damage was minimal and the only inconvenience was being without our minivan for 5 days and having to squeeze three car seats in the back seat of the rental, but we survived. Yesterday I got a letter from the lady with a check to cover some last expenses that her insurance didn't cover. She also enclosed a $50 gift card for Cold Stone Ice Cream for the kids (I assume to ease their emotional distress.) How sweet is that? So thanks, Ms. X! If I had to get hit from behind in the rain, I'm glad it was you. LOL. :-)

Toonton Abbey - Yesterday I had to go through my DVR and deleted a bunch of stuff since we were almost full. Even the kids had to go and trim their saved items. For Bella it would be Good Luck Charlie and Austin & Allie, although I let her keep Radio Rebel. For Andrew it's Team Umi Zoomi and the Octonauts (did I spell those right?) and for JP it is Pocoyo and Max & Ruby. Last night Brian and I only had 45 minutes to watch TV so we caught up with The Middle and Modern Family. My two favorite lines of Modern Family were both by Mitchell. First: "Everybody's looking at us. I haven't been judged by this many people since I forgot my canvas bags at Whole Foods." Hahaha!! The Second: "Okay, it's Toontown, not Toonton. You've been watching too much PBS." This was funny since I used to think Downton Abbey was Downtown Abbey when it first aired. LOL.

Next on the Reading List - I saw a post on Catholic Mom.com last month about a new book called Lessons in the Journey by Patrick Dawson. Despite the fact that Hallie is suspicious of books about women written by a man, I'm going to give it a try since the Kindle edition is only $2.99. I'll let you know how it goes.

What Kind of Nap Was That? - Unfortunately, Matthew just woke up but he only slept for 15 minutes. I think he has a tooth coming out because he is drooling again like crazy. I picked him up and he fell back asleep in my arms so I'll just hold him for now. But if you see more typos than usual, forgive me since I'm typing with one hand.

Put to the Test - As I am sitting here I can see that some guys from the C.A. Wastewater District have arrived at our house. They stopped by yesterday to let us know that the neighbor below us (we love on an inclined street) believes that water from our drainage system is leaking into her yard. They said they'd come by tomorrow to test it out and see if there is a fault in our drainage. I certainly hope not. They are running the tests now so we'll find out one way or another shortly. Oh, wait! The guy's knocking... Okay, that was timely. He said everything looked fine and the overflow of water is not coming from our house. Phew. (And thanks to the burly teddy bear of a guy for whispering so he wouldn't wake the sleeping baby in my arms. :-)

Mama's Day & Gift - Do you have any special plans for Mother's Day? I want to do something outdoors so I was thinking either the beach or Point Lobos but if the weather is too cold and windy (since we have runny noses in the house right now) we may stick to a walk where it is a little warmer and maybe pack a picnic lunch as well.

As for a Mother's Day gift, I just ordered it this morning. (Brian can take a cue from Fred Mertz: 'What did I give you?.. (cough)... I mean, how do you like what I gave you?") I have been working on putting together a home management binder but it is taking me forever to first, find the time to work on it and second, figure out what to put in it and third, create the spreadsheets on my computer. I finally gave up and went to my favorite organizing girl Jen at i heart organizing and ordered her Personalized Household Binder "Everything" Printable Kit. I have already used Jen's printables before (as seen in Operation Clean & Organize) and they are perfect for what I need. I mentioned with my order that this was a mother's day gift so she rush ordered it and I have the order completed already! I'm so excited. I'll post about it later!

And the Winner Is... - Okay, the last take is the moment you have all been waiting for! The winner of the RoL Birthday contest! We put all the names in a hat and Andrew did the honors. (He even closed his eyes.)

He picked .....

Congratulations to Laura S. of MS! Your RoL care package will be on it's way soon.

Now, I must say that John-Paul was upset that he was not able to pick out a winner so I told him that I'd let him choose a name and that person would get a smaller RoL care package. So he picked his name...

And the winner is...

LOL! He picked his own aunt, my beloved sis EML. So a smaller care package is on your way too!

That's it for today. Thanks for all who entered! Have a wonderful weekend!!

Back in July of 2008 I wrote this post about Andrew and baby proofing.

Brian and I have been baby proofing our house for months, now that Andrew has mastered walking and climbing low objects. However, we were still struggling with what to do about our brick fireplace hearth.

We considered buying one of those specialty gates that go around it, but they are pricey. In the meantime, we simply blocked off the sitting area by the fireplace with our dining room chairs entwined like a puzzle. (Yeah, that was real attractive.) But our incredibly small Hercules always figured out a way to move the chairs or wiggle his way through them. Finally, I saw a perfect solution in one of those parent magazines sitting in the doctor's office. A mom suggested using one of those connect-a-mat floor puzzles to cover the hearth. Brilliant. We tried it and I'm happy to say, it works! (At least until Andrew discovers how to disconnect it.)

That was almost four years ago, when Andrew looked like this.

Two years later, the baby proofing was done for John-Paul.

Now it is Matthew's turn.

We needed to replace the floor mat and I wanted to find something that looked a little less "day care center," trying to keep at least one room in the house free of toy overload.

I found this one in wood tones, which works so much better for us. The color matches the room and they don't have the letters that the boys can pop out. You can find them at Amazon.

(Usually hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.) This week hosted by Hailey at Betty Beguiles.com.

Until Next Year, Dear Downton - It's been a busy week and these Quick Takes will be perfect to catch you up. For Valentine's Day Brian got me the Downton Abbey Season 2 Blu-ray. We were so excited to finish the series. It was a Valentine treat! I won't tell you what happens but if you don't want even a hint then please skip to the next Quick Take. This episode wasn't as emotional as others have been but there were two moments when I reached for a hankie - one was sad tears and one was happy tears. Brian thought this episode was a little anti-climatic but I think that was because one major storyline was resolved but a number of other storylines were not. After all, Season 3 needs drama too. The one thing I did not enjoy was the various Ouija board scenes. We could have done without that. But all in all it was a great season and I can't wait for season 3!

That's Amore - Speaking of Valentines, I was looking through a box of mementos looking for an old cassette tape of Dean Martin's greatest hits. (Yes, I am so old I can remember when we used to have ghetto blasters and Walkmans!) I wanted to find it because when Brian and I were married for our honeymoon we went on a road trip to Northern California and we played that tape over and over again. (There are a number of greatest hits CD's but none of them had the exact songs from that cassette.) Whenever I hear Return to Me or You Belong to Me or Memories Are Made of These I can't help but think of our courtship, our long distance relationship, our honeymoon etc. (Music can be powerful like that - transporting you to the places that your memories hold!) I know he loved that tape and I wanted to find the list of songs from it so I could download them for him. I burned a CD that he could listen to in his car or download into his iPod. He was so touched and excited. :-)

Love "Letters" - I also found in my treasure box a collection of love letters - the traditional hand written ones but also old blank cassettes that were "letter tapes" that Brian and I made when we were dating. We lived 400 miles from each other and we tried a number of things to bring us closer. We each had small tape recorders and we'd leave them in our cars. Whenever we were in the car (at the time I was commuting to San Diego a few days a week) we'd turn the recorder on and just chat about how our day was going, what was on our mind etc. I found my old recorder and started listening to one of the tapes. It was recorded shortly after we made it "official" that we were in love and were thinking about marriage in the future. It was funny to hear him talk about a possible job opening at Pebble Beach. (He had just left the seminary before we met and was doing various temp work. He got his current job at PB two weeks before we were married. Talk about trusting in God to provide!) He shared about his hopes for the future and how much he loved me. It brought tears to my eyes because he has kept his promise to love me and take care of me and our future children. He has been a better husband and best friend than I could have ever imagined. I think now I'll go back and listen to one of my letter tapes that I recorded and remind myself of the promises I made to him to be a good wife and mother to his children. :-)

Free Kindle Giveaway -I know that many of us in this Catholic blogging mom community are eagerly awaiting the release of Hailey Lord's (beloved blogging mom, fashionista and this week's QT host) new book Style, Sex, and Substance: 10 Catholic Women Consider the Things that Really Matter. If that wasn't exciting enough, if you preorder your book you can enter to win a new Kindle Touch. Fun! Just place your order and then head to Betty Beguiles.com to enter. I'll be ordering and entering as soon as I'm done with this post!

Pampered Chef Online Party - My sister-in-law Maria is hosting a Pampered Chef online party. I found out about Pampered Chef a few years back through a friend. I bought a few products and still love using them today. So if you are looking for some kitchen items, please feel free to browse Maria's Pampered Chef page. (Orders due 2/26.) These are some of my favorite products.

Sick of Spam - You may have noticed that a week or two ago I switched the comment box to allow people to comment without having to sign in. It did allow for people to comment more often but it also allowed the spambots to easily post spam comments. Normally it's not too bad and I just delete them at the end of the day but the other night my inbox was filling up like crazy. It downloaded over a hundred spams in minutes and they kept coming. I had to turn the comment box to requiring you sign in first. Sorry about the inconvenience. By the way, why do they call it spam? Is it because they both are poor substitutes for the real thing?

That's it for today. I was going to post about the boys speech therapy and preschool decisions but it became too long for a quick take so I'll post about it later today if time allows.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

I was late in watching this week's episode of The Gist but I was able to watch it today before tomorrow's new show airs (Wednesday at 7:30 AM Pacific.) The 1/18/12 show was about meal planning and confession. Sort of a strange pairing but I enjoyed it none the less. ;-)

If you missed the show you can see it here. Below are a few comments I had.

Meal Planning

It was fun hearing the ladies talk about their meal planning/feeding the family adventures. Sometimes we think that these amazing Catholic moms must have it sooooooo together yet they are facing the same challenges we do. (The occasional chocolate chip cereal and Chinese take out? Love it.)

For my meal planning it has still been working really well using my menu board. I usually plan my meals on Sunday allowing for at least one leftovers day and one eat out day. With a magnetic meal board I can easily switch meals around to another day when something unexpected pops up.

I also have a recipe folder/binder that was a complete shambles (shocker, I know!) but I have been working on organizing it I have my tried and true recipes handy and new recipes I want to try ready to go. If I have time later this week I'll post my before and after pics.

As for getting picky kids to eat better, I don't have any quick solutions. Since Bella was a baby she was an excellent eater and loved all sorts of fruits and veggies (Even brussel sprouts! I don't even like those.) However, the boys have been much pickier. Andrew loves roasted chicken but won't eat pasta or hotdogs. (What kid does not like spaghetti or hotdogs??) His only fruit is apples (and orange juice) and his only veggie is carrots. I've got to sneak veggie in meatballs and baked bread. I recently bought him that V8 veggie/fruit juice to help him get more of his veggies. I am getting desperate! As for JP, he could live on a continental breakfast all day long - fruit, cheese, bread, yogurt and eggs. I guess technically that's all the main food groups. Do you have any tips that work for your picky eaters?

I was thinking about trying this book - Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld. Any of you use this book?

Confession

The second half of the show was about Confession. I was happy to see Lino Rulli on the show. I've heard him a few times on his Catholic Guy radio show and I think he is hilarious on Twitter so it was fun to see him on The Gist.

I've finally reached a point where Confession is not scary anymore. I try to go at the very least, once a month and I can always tell when I am about due. In fact, yesterday I was having a horrible day. The kind of day where I am so angry and frustrated that I literally have to walk out of the room and take a deep breath before I lose it or break down in a ball and sob. Part of it was due from my lack of sleep with the kids being sick and Matthew up at night teething but I could also hear that voice in my head telling me that I need the grace of confession to recharge my batteries. I looked at the calendar and yep, it has been one month. So come Saturday morning, you'll know where to find me - in line for confession.

Have a good night!

B.

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

I've been reading a lot on other blogs about resolutions. I hate resolutions because I'll do well for a day or two then go right back to where I started. Instead, I have a couple of work-in-process projects. I've been working on two areas specifically last year. One was to get my house more organized. For those who know me or have been reading my blog, you also know that my three sisters are neat and organized and I'm the one most likely to appears on "Hoarders: Buried Alive." Okay, maybe I'm not that bad but I could appear on the show "My Desk Is Covered with So Much Junk I Can't See My Computer Monitor" as seen here. That is why I started Operation Clean & Organize. I haven't done much since autumn with all the holiday busyness but things have settled down now and I can refocus.

The second work-in-progress is to eat healthier and move more. (Do you ever watch Good Luck Charlie on Disney? As the overweight Bob Duncan was told - "Less bacon and more shakin!") I already joined Weight Watchers and I've lost the baby weight but, again, once the holidays came everything stalled. I stopped keeping track. I kept what I lost off but I haven't made any progress on the still long road ahead. So that, too, must be refocused.

The last two are more mini-goals than projects. And they are more "fun." The first - don't be afraid to try some "feminine touches" in how I dress. When I was younger my favorite colors were navy blue, army green and burgundy. I wore either converse of doc martins. However, as I've gotten older, I have finally let go of that more "tomboy" mentality. I still hate wearing dresses or skirts and run from any shoe that has a heel more than ½ an inch but I can now say my favorite colors are red, orange and yellow - bright and happy colors. I like wearing pink and buying things that are less boyish and more cute. I think I have also been influenced by Betty Beguiles and have learned to better embrace the feminine side of myself. For example, when I see my sisters wearing pretty flowers in their hair or a really pretty accessory I think to myself - that looks great on them but I couldn't wear it. Well, Bobbi, why not? So I experimented with little things. For Christmas I wore a flower clip in my hair. I also love headbands so I wore this crocheted one I found that had a pretty crocheted flower on it.

I liked it and no one laughed at me. (Do we ever get over those negative junior high feelings that sometimes creep up on us?) And who knows, in the future I may even be blogging about the day I wore one of those cute dresses I pinned on Pinterest. After all, I do believe in miracles.

The other mini-goal is to watch a little less TV. Having cable TV and a DVR, I can pretty much record whatever I want and just watch it later, especially when I am up with the baby. However, it has gotten a bit out of hand. I have had to delete some shows that have just become time wasters. (Sorry, Mom, if I can't discuss the latest person voted off Biggest Loser or why I voted for so-and-so on American Idol.) I will still watch favorites with Brian in the evening and I will certainly still obsess over Downton Abbey (See, Mom, we can still discuss how much we can't stand Vera Bates and how we long for Mary and Matthew to finally get together.) but paring down on TV in general will give me more time to read a few of those books I wanted to get into and read some of the mom blogs I've wanted to follow.

Speaking of reading more, I have already started reading more on my new Kindle Fire. Yes, as I mentioned in last week's quick takes, I finally decided to use my Christmas money to buy one and I don't regret it! I love my iphone but reading on the kindle is so much easier. Plus, I can also read my magazines (did you see that the National Catholic Register is available on the Kindle?) and my Google Reader is a lot easier than on my phone. It is perfect for the evenings when I am trying to get the baby to sleep and have extra time to myself.

And speaking of mom blogs, I first came across By Sun and Candlelight when I was reading a post about Downton Abbey. (Great comments in the com box. btw!) I started browsing around and I am really enjoying Dawn's posts. You should check it out.

Lastly, Dawn (from above) also mentioned that she got the book The World of Downton Abbey for her birthday. I browsed through the pages they had on Amazon and it looks so pretty and informative. It's the kind of book a Downton geek would love. (It is available on Kindle but a book like that, you have to hold it in your hands and feel the paper.)

And I do happen to have a few dollars of my Christmas money left...and it is burning a hole in my pocket...and who wants to bet that for next week's {pretty, happy, funny, real} you are going to see a photo of that book sitting on my desk. I'm just saying... ;-)

LOL! Have a great weekend!

xoxo,
b.

Happy New Year! We are back in town, back to school, back to work and I'm back at my computer. I have a house full of Christmas decor that needs to be packed, suitcase that need to be unpacked, and huge messes wherever you look. The thought of tackling all that does not sound too appealing so for the moment I am going to make the posts I was supposed to do last week! This should have been posted 12/30/11 but I didn't make it online until now. Oh, well. ;-)

It's funny that the top three most popular posts this year all had to do with Brian and I meeting, dating and marrying. I guess we are all suckers for a love story. It is also no surprise that the top three were all initiated by blogging queen and fashionista Betty Beguiles. So kick up your heels (or flats, in my case) and enjoy!

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

Heart of Gratitude: Day 1 & The Email That Started It All (Engagement - Synopsis Version)

It's been so busy lately that I hardly have any time online to blog or catch up on my google reader. I had a few moments this morning and I saw that Hailey started a "Heart of Gratitude" 14-day challenge for your husband. I looked at the date to see when it started and I realized it was today, November 9th, which is a special date for me and Brian.

It was thirteen years ago on November 1 when a young man left the seminary after a year and a half stay. He had discerned that it wasn't his vocation and felt God calling him to a new chapter of his life. He thought about marriage but he had dated before and it never really worked out. He recalled reading about a new Catholic online dating service (AMSCOL) and gave them a try, filling out their questionnaire that day. Later he knelt before God and humbly poured out his heart. He told God that if he was called to the vocation of marriage, then God would have to place the girl on his doorstep. With a resolved sigh, he began the first day of his novena trusting that it was all in the hands of Our Lord and Our Lady. (Continue reading...)

Our Engagement Story: An Answer to Prayer (Longer Version)

Yesterday Hallie at Betty Beguiles had the great idea of asking bloggers to post their engagement stories. It was so much fun to go back to my old journals and read about our early months together. Sometimes it's easy to forget the romance when you are dealing with the every day busyness of raising little ones. It was a good reminder that Brian and I need to carve out a little alone time no matter how busy. I don't have time to write out the story (I'm typing with one hand and holding a restless baby with the other) so instead I'll just repost the story of our "courtship" which includes our engagement. Brian and wrote this together so you'll get his side of the story too. (Also, after we were married I found the notes Brian used write down what he wanted to say when he proposed. I was so happy to find that because in the emotion of the moment I don't think my mind was registering all the beautiful words he was saying to me. Now that they are in my scrapbook I can go back and relive them word for word. )

Now, on with the story...

BOBBI: In my late twenties, it started to become the family joke that if I was not married the age of thirty then I was going to pack my bags, move to Zimbabwe, live with the natives and die for a noble cause! (Okay, so I was a little dramatic.) Time was ticking and I was trying to grow closer to God and accept my singleness at the moment. My younger sister Elena suggested I try the website Single Catholics Online (now known as Ave Maria SCOL). I laughed at the idea, insisting that I was not desperate enough to look for a good Catholic husband on some dating service! She gave me that knowing look, smiled and walked out of the room saying, "Instead of crying about wanting a husband, get to work and check it out." How does she know me so well? (Continue reading...)

Betty's Wedding Dress Round-Up

Betty at Betty Beguiles.com asked bloggers to share about their wedding dress and if they still loved it or wished they had done things differently.

When I was prepping for my wedding and looking for a dress I was a little worried since I hated wearing dresses to begin with and I'm a plus size and didn't have as many choices as other brides-to-be. I remember my sister BC and I were shopping in Orange County and we decided to stop into a bridal store just to see styles and prices. After looking at the stick-thin girls and big price tags, I felt really out of place and didn't stay very long. Shortly after, my family moved to the Calif high dessert where it was more "cowboy country" than we were used to. I was driving with JC, another one of my sisters, and we came across a local wedding boutique. It looked more home-town humble than high-class snooty so we stopped to take a look.

The sales lady was really nice and brought out some dresses in my size. The first one I tried on confirmed all my fears. It had a "western" look to it and in it I looked like a big, white marshmallow cowboy bride. I looked over at my sister who was in the dressing room with me and we bust out laughing. Not quiet-giggles laughing but the I'm-going-to-wet-my-pants-if-I-don't-stop laughing. The sales woman came over and asked if anything was wrong. I bit my tongue hard enough to make myself calm down and told her that we were fine. I quickly changed and after a few more tries we came across a dress with an empire waist and I loved the way it looked and fit. I looked at the price tag and even the discounted $800 was more than I could really afford. But at least I now knew that there was a dress style that would work on me and not send me into hysterics.(Continue reading...)

Those Perfect Catholic Moms Are Killing Me

I recently added a number of new blogs into my google reader and I'm sifting through them to see which ones I'll read regularly and which ones are good but not where I am in life.

The first ones to go are the blogs that depress me. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that have countless posts by talented moms showing their beautiful gardens, their homemade baked goods and home cooked meals, their hand sewn clothes, and their Catholic craft of the day. I can take these in small doses but not all the time. Like I said, it depresses me.

And it's not their fault. It's mine. I just can't seem to follow their lead. I've tried to garden. Truly, I have. In fact, just a few months ago I decided to start again but to keep it simple. No veggies or elaborate flower beds. Instead I have two simple window boxes of flowers and three herbs - basil, Italian parsley and cilantro. I was doing really well but as usual I forgot to water and not just once or twice but for days. Yesterday I went outside to check on my herbs and lo and behold, I'm the only person on my block to have a garden of dried herbs. (Dried... dead... is there really much difference?) Yeah, so gardens and I don't do so well. (Continue reading...)

Operation Clean & Organize: Vol 1

I've discussed in a number of previous posts (like here and here) about my battle with keeping a clean and organized house. I'm naturally messy and the amount of work I have to do to clean up and organize our house is overwhelming. However, it's a project I want to undertake because it's important to me. I think there is some truth to the saying "cleanliness is next to godliness." Someone once told me that a person's exterior life reflects their interior life. I don't know if that is true but I do know that after awhile I get tired, frustrated and grouchy with all the piles of papers and junk and disorganized areas of the house. A house with little kids will never look like a museum - and never should - but I could definitely use a little more order in my life and I know the difference it makes.

When I do clean up an area and have it organized it makes my life run a little bit smoother. (Who can't use that?!) I am more at peace and feel that I am better accomplishing my mission in life - to raise a happy family and make our home a little taste of heaven on earth as we work towards entering our eternal home. It is my small way of showing God that I love him - to put aside my natural messy tendencies and find the orderly and creative woman I know is lurking in there somewhere. (Continue reading...)

Catholic Baby Shower Ideas

I've updated our main website Revolution of Love.com with ideas for a Catholic Baby Shower. I thought I'd post the prayers, activities and gift ideas on the blog as well.

The First Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph. The angel said to Mary, "Hail full of grace! The Lord is with you. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:26-29, 38)

Blessed Mother, through your humility and obedience God's plan of salvation was put into motion by a simple "yes." May (NAME) be given the grace to say yes to God in the small and big things of her life, so that she, too, may participate in God's plan of salvation through her vocation as a wife and mother. (Continue reading...)

10 Year Anniversary: Where Were You on 9/11?

When I was younger I used to always wonder why people would ask "Where were you when Kennedy died?" I didn't get what the big deal was. Now when someone asks me "Where were you on 9/11?" I understand perfectly what they were talking about. On 9/11 I was no where near NY. I was living in Pacific Grove, CA with Brian. I was almost 8 months pregnant with Bella. I woke up to kiss Brian goodbye for work and he told me I had better check the news because he saw online that there was news of a terrorist attack.

When I turned on the TV, I first thought a single terrorist flew his own plane into the Twin Towers. Then a realized a regular commercial flight with innocent people on board were made into human bombs. And not just one flight - many of them. I kept thinking that the Twin Tower workers probably never saw it coming but the people on the plane were aware and watching it unfold. I was dumbstruck until all I could do was sob. (Even now its hard to hold back the tears when I think about it.) I don't think I ever got off the couch that day as I watched and cried. Brian came home and eventually made me turn off the TV so I'd stop thinking about it. (Continue reading...)

One of my family's favorite bread is Banana Blueberry Bread. I found the recipe in a much loved cookbook Pillsbury Best Muffins and Quick Breads Cookbook: Favorite Recipes from America's Most-Trusted Kitchen that I received when I got married. I especially like this one because it is lower in fat. Here is the original recipe and my modified version.

Original Recipe

-- 1 cup sugar
-- 1/2 cup oil
-- 3 mashed ripe bananas
-- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
-- 1 teaspoon vanilla
-- 2 eggs
-- 2 cups all-purpose flour
-- 1 teaspoon baking soda
-- 1/2 teaspoon salt
-- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)

Modified Recipe

-- 3/4 cup sugar
-- 1/2 cup oil
-- 3 very ripe bananas
-- 1/2 cup apple sauce or vanilla yogurt
-- 1 teaspoon vanilla
-- 2 eggs
-- 1 cup all-purpose flour
-- 1 cup whole wheat flour
-- 1 teaspoon baking soda
-- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
-- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
-- 1/2 teaspoon salt
-- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)

Directions:

1. Heat oven 350. Grease and flour bottoms only of pans. (I use nonstick spray and skip this step.) In large bowl, combine sugar and oil; beat well. Add bananas, yogurt, vanilla and sugars. Blend well.

2. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; add to wet ingredients. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently stir in blueberries. Pour into pans.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes (for mini-loaves) and 60-70 minutes (for a regular 9x5 loaf pan) or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans. Cool 30 minutes or until completely cooled. (Make sure to cool on a wire rack to avoid bread getting soggy.) Wrap tightly and store in refrigerator. (I just realized it said store in the fridge. I never have. It's gone before it gets a chance to spoil.)

I made this bread the other day but we were out of blueberries so Brian asked me to use chocolate chips instead. Chocolate?? You don't have to ask me twice! It was even yummier. :-)

Here are my "helpers" in the kitchen. ;-) And the finished product.

It's been hard working on my organizing project since things have been so busy lately! This time of year will only get busier so if I don't post on this topic that often, you'll know why. However, I have been able to work a little bit on my pantry. My kitchen is on the small side, and technically, there is no pantry. I have the usual cupboards for dishes, plastics and pots and pans. Anything left over, I can use for food storage.

The one cupboard that gives me the most trouble is a tall and narrow cabinet on the side of the fridge and behind the swinging door that leads into the family room. The shelving is weird - the top has short shelves and there is a huge empty section on the bottom. I could try to redo the shelving but time is short and I needed a quick fix that I can live with right now.

The cabinet is mostly used for snack foods, lunch box items and taller bottles (oils, vinegars, cooking wine, etc) that don't fit in the other cupboards.

I went to Target and purchase six stacking containers and one mini-drawer container. (Unfortunately the two stores I went to had only four white stacking boxes left but I found two black ones on clearance for 75 cents. I can live with two tones.)

I put all the lunch box items in the containers and labeled them.

The smaller items like boxes of raisins and fruit chew and the items the kids don't eat (protein bars) are put in the mini-drawer container.

On the door of the cabinet I keep my pantry inventory list for food in my fridge and freezer.

For my labels, I printed on Avery Labels #8163 and stuck it to a colored index cards and trimmed the edges. For this door label, instead of an index card, I used a blank stationary card with a pretty pattern and cut it down to size. (I picked up a box of the cards at Target in the $1 section.)

I ordered the personalized pantry lists from Jen at iheartorganizing.blogspot.com. They are available through her etsy shop.

Large size: View image

Then I placed them in sheet protectors and attached them to the door with blue painters tape. That way I can easily remove and update a list.

The last problem I had with this cabinet is that there was no way to keep the door locked so John-Paul wouldn't dump out all the containers and snacks on the floor (after he sampled a few.) I finally figured out a solution. I purchased a package of Command Mini-Hooks.

I placed one next to the cabinet handle then I took a large rubber band and looped it through the handle and hung it on the hook. Now JP can't get his little fingers into the cabinet and open it up. Problem solved!

Well, that's all I have time for today. In the next weeks I'll be finishing organizing the food cabinets in the kitchen and organizing the garage pantry. In the meantime, feel free to share your own thoughts and ideas! Enjoy your day. :-)

I purchased this cross from FlorLarios and I love the way it looks in my kitchen. So pretty. And a nice reminder to turn my mind to the Our Lord and Our Lady as I'm busy in mommyhood.

I loooove this shot. It's a rare occurrence when I can snap a photo and have more than one person smiling and happy at the same time. Which makes me happy. Yay!

Andrew may be my oldest boy but he has the smallest frame of the fellas...as seen with his body sitting in this rather small wagon. (JP can get his rear in but his legs, not so much.)

Brian loves the novels by Michael O'Brien and he was excited to purchase his latest book A Father's Tale. When I saw the cover I though, "Oh, how nice...."

But then I saw how thick it was and gasped. It's over 1,000 pages! Dang, Brian can forget about reading in bed and holding that book up. If he accidentally drops it, it'll give him a concussion.

Speaking of books, I recently came across the blog Family Menu Planning Book.com by Catholic convert Elizabeth Hawbaker and saw her e-book Family Menu Planning: A Practical Guide to Mealtime Management. I just downloaded it and I'm loving it so far. Some of the shopping tips I already mentioned here but there is a lot of great info that will help me with my meal planning. The e-book is only $3.99 for the Amazon Kindle version. It is worth it.

Note: You don't have to actually have a Kindle to read the book. You can download kindle onto your PC or smart phone. I have mine on my iphone and I'm using Amazon Cloud (until Apple gets their cloud!) so I can read it on any computer.

Over the past month or two I've been slowly working my way through a number of books for Catholic moms. Here are a few.

I am really enjoying this daily devotional book! I admire both the authors very much so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did because it is perfect for my morning prayer time. Often my mind is filled with thoughts about the day ahead of me and I have trouble quieting down and focusing. This book makes the transition to prayer easier because it is short and concise.

Each month is dedicated to one virtue. (This month is diligence.) Each day is divided into three parts - Think (a scripture or saint quote), Pray (a short prayer) and Act (a resolution or goal to work on that day.) Sometimes I follow the material completely and sometimes I'll adapt it to my circumstances that day. You can keep your prayer time short or dwell on your conversation with God as long as your time allows. If you don't already have a prayer routine or if you are just starting out, this is a great place to start.

I've seen this book mentioned on a number of blogs and thought I'd read it for myself. The chapters are as follows:

1. The Toys 'R' Taking Over Us: Finding Play That Is Purposeful and Manageable
2. The Media Monster: Managing Our Technical "Toys" in this Media Driven Culture
3. Dinner: Getting the Food and Everyone to the Table to Feed Body and Soul
4. It's Your Home Too: Getting the Chores and Work Done. Hint: "M" Is for Mom, Not Maid. (LOL!)
5. From T-Ball to Trombone: Keeping Track of Everyone's Comings and Goings
6. Memories...In the Corner of Our Closet: Collecting and Storing Memorabilia
7. The Heart of the Matter: Stirring What Is true, Beautiful, and Good in Our Children
8. Babies: Bringing Out the Mary in Us

I am about ½ way through and I have found it really helpful with my Operation Clean and Organize. The author is a busy of mom of nine kids and if she is able to keep a clean, organized and happy family that loves Our Lord then I certainly want to know some of her secrets! And so far, so good!

I bought this book a couple months ago and started reading it but frankly, I don't think I was in the right state of mind because when Dr. Meeker gave examples of moms who were formerly in the corporate world or who were doing outside ministries along with raising their families, it turned me off. I didn't think the book was for me since I am "just a mom" with little kids trying to make it through the day with the dishes washed, some laundry done and my sanity intact.

However, when I saw that Elizabeth Floss was gong to do an online book study of this book, I thought I'd give it another try. I'm so glad I did because now it is clicking and making sense to me. This book is just as beneficial to a mom "like me." I have been reading along, but at a slower pace than the book discussion, and I've found myself rereading sections and thinking over the material so I can better apply them to my life.

I haven't posted about what I've read, except for the first chapter on Habit 1. Hopefully I'll be able to post more later. (By the way, this book can be for any mom, not just a Catholic one.)

I've only skimmed through this because I wanted to get through the other ones first but it looks really good! It's next on my list. I'll post about it when I start it but you may want to check it out now.

I've discussed in a number of previous posts (like here and here) about my battle with keeping a clean and organized house. I'm naturally messy and the amount of work I have to do to clean up and organize our house is overwhelming. However, it's a project I want to undertake because it's important to me.

I think there is some truth to the saying "cleanliness is next to godliness." Someone once told me that a person's exterior life reflects their interior life. I don't know if that is true but I do know that after awhile I get tired, frustrated and grouchy with all the piles of papers and junk and disorganized areas of the house. A house with little kids will never look like a museum - and never should - but I could definitely use a little more order in my life and I know the difference it makes.

When I do clean up an area and have it organized it makes my life run a little bit smoother. (Who can't use that?!) I am more at peace and feel that I am better accomplishing my mission in life - to raise a happy family and make our home a little taste of heaven on earth as we work towards entering our eternal home. It is my small way of showing God that I love him - to put aside my natural messy tendencies and find the orderly and creative woman I know is lurking in there somewhere.

So I've decided to start "Operation Clean and Organize." Every week (or two) I'll post what I am working on and how it is progressing. To start things off, I sat down and made a list of all the chores I need to do each day and those I can do once a week. I used the Family Chore Chart from iheartorganizing to organize my list. (I still haven't figured out the quarterly or annual jobs. I'm barely getting the basics down.) Here is what I have so far. View image. As the weeks go by, I'll tweak it as needed. (And although, prayer time isn't a "chore" I wrote it down as a reminder that it can't be skipped. ;-)

There is a small wall in my kitchen that is covered by the swing door that leads into the family room. I hung up the chart on that wall after I put it in a $1.99 Ikea frame that I had. I can use a dry erase marker to check off the list as I complete my work. I also hung up a clipboard that holds our Family Home To-Do List. I went through each room in the house and wrote down everything I wanted to do in there - from cleaning out closets to dusting tops of book shelves - as well as other projects I'd like to work on - from organizing the photos to updating my recipe binder to finishing the baby books. It may take years to complete my list but at least I can work on one thing at a time instead of doing ten projects at once and finishing none!

I also hung up in my kitchen a small board next to the counter where I cook and prepare food. I use it to keep notes and jot down things I need to remember. Above it I hung up (using removable Command hooks) a clip board for the recipes I'll be cooking that week. I can read the recipe off the clipboard as I'm fixing it. So far it has worked great.

Next project - Making a weekly menu.

Are you working on organizing your home? Is your home already organized? Share your stories and tips in the comment section. Thanks!

UPDATE: (9/9/11) Misty at Misty's Mornings Blog has some creative ideas in her post Creating An Autumn Rhythm {four steps to a cleaning schedule}. I love making lists but not because I'm super organized. Sadly, the opposite. If I don't write things down, I completely forget those same things! Anyway, Misty has some great ideas and advice, so head over and check it out.

Today is my birthday so Brian brought me these beautiful flowers along with a letter he wrote telling how much he loves me. Reading that is more than I could ever ask for. He is a gem. I am truly, truly blessed to be married to such a man and to be the mama to our children.

I have lots of {happy} pictures this week. I received an early birthday present this weekend when my brother Rob, my sister-in-law Maria and my new nephew Max came to visit us. This is the first time I have been able to see Rob since he was really sick. A special thanks to all of you who were praying for him. I wanted you to see the answer to your prayers - he is much better now, thank God. Here he is with Matthew.

I was also happy to see the cousins meet for the first time. Matthew is a month older than Max but Max has a head start on size. They both are such cuties!! I love these photos of them together, and the one of my smiley boy as his usual cheerful self. Lastly, we were happy because my brother brought the So Calif sun with him. It was the first sunny day we have seen in a looong time!

This morning I had errands to run in Carmel. I dropped Andrew off at speech therapy and then headed downtown to return our library books and go to the post office. I couldn't figure what was going on because the street was roped off, there were police everywhere and people were lined up along the sides of the road with cameras and video recorders. It was as if they were waiting for a parade. Then it dawned on me. This weekend is the Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance and many of the fancy cars are being displayed in downtown Carmel this afternoon. Unfortunately, I happened to be on the road just as the cars were driving into town. The cops had us stop so all the cars could pass. I didn't have my camera with me so I snapped a few pics on my iphone. Unfortunately, it is really gloomy today so the colors are very muted but the whole situation still made me laugh.

Last week I showed you a picture of our deck torn apart. This week I am happy to say that it is complete. We landed out forgoing the traditional wood flooring because it did not do well and instead put in a TimberTech composite wood deck. It looks nice and is super sturdy. The kids looove it! They run and ride their tricycle and scooters up and down and I'm happy that it is done without chipping paint or getting splinters! A special thanks to the hardworking guy who did it for us. He did a great job!

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

I was going to skip the quick takes today because I had a lot to get done but Matthew is being a super crank and wants to be held. So here I am again rocking him with one arm and typing with the other. It's not really his fault since it's hard for him to sleep with all the banging going on outside with the guy fixing the deck.

I need to get the house straightened because I'm having company coming over this weekend. My brother Rob (the one who was really sick last month), my sister-in-law and my new nephew Max are making a weekend trip to Carmel. I'm so excited to see them. And it'll be the first times the cousins get to meet! :-)

Which reminds me, I should snap some photos of how messy the entryway/front room looks right now as Leila has suggested. (See her post How Do Others See Your Home?) Yikes. That will be an act of humility since (for various reasons) I haven't been able to get anything done these last few days and stuff is piled everywhere. Sigh.

I'm trying to figure out what to eat this weekend - something healthy but tasty. I joined weight watchers a few weeks ago and it is going well but it is hard changing your eating habits and the way you look at food. Someone once asked me if I was an emotional eater. I wasn't sure what they meant. They asked, well do you eat when you are happy. Yes. Do you eat when you are sad? Yes. Do you eat when you are lonely? Yes. Do you...okay, let's cut to the chase. I eat! Everyday is a fiesta! (That is why I am built kinda like a piñata. Short and round.) About the only time I don't eat is when I am mad. I mean really mad. At those moments I am too upset to do something that would bring me pleasure. But by the looks of me, I don't hit that level of anger very often. Kidding aside, it is hard to readjust the way I look at food but I need to do my best to stick around for a long time to take care of my babies. (Not to mention that I could actually buy one of those cute dresses I like instead of just pinning them to pinterest!)

Speaking of food, have you been watching the Next Food Network Star? I've watched every season and love the show. I barely saw my recorded episode of the final four yesterday. Although I figured Mary Beth was going home, I didn't want her departure to give Penny any satisfaction. That girl just seems nasty. I hope it was more editing that made her seem so mean and that she's not really that bad. Brian and I are rooting for Jeff to win. (Not to mention that Brian is a huge sandwich fan. He could eat them every night!) But I like Suzy (such a sweetheart, although they already have Marcela) and Vic (he was a fave since the beginning, although I never thought he'd make it this far) so even if one of them won, I wouldn't mind.

Today when I was browsing pinterest I came across the artist Flor Larios (thanks to mamabear) and I love her work. It has a Spanish folk art feel. I ordered a couple things to hang in my kitchen.

Okay, and as my last post, my little guy has finally fallen asleep. I'll put him down in Bella's room since you can hear the hammering the least in there. Poor little guy. It's hard to believe that he is 4 months old today! He is usually such a happy baby - as long as he gets his sleep! (Kinda like his mama. ;-)

Have a great weekend!

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

I'm writing this Quick Posts while listening to Mat Kearny's new album Young Love. "Hey, mama. Hey, hey, mama..." (Funny, that's the same thing Bella said to me when she saw me dancing around the kitchen. Only she said it with that "omg, what is mom doing?" tone. LOL!)

Speaking of the kitchen, the freezer section of my fridge has always been jam packed with stuff so I have been thinking about getting a stand alone freezer for the garage. I asked Brian if I could get one for my birthday and he laughed. (It was like Ethel asking for a toaster for her birthday, for you Lucy fans.) But since I had the money saved, he agreed. I debated over a chest unit or an upright and went with the upright since it seemed easier to organize and more importantly, it was the perfect size for the space we had in the garage. The freezer finally arrived this week and I've been doing a happy dance ever since! It is so nice to buy bulk items and make double dinners and be able to freeze them. Yay!

Speaking of organizing, since I had to rearrange the garage to make room for the freezer, I've be organizing the pantry out there as well. We have wire shelves that we bought at Costco and since the shelves have rollers they are easy to move around. I was going to make a master pantry list when I saw these freezer and pantry inventory lists through a link at iheartorganizing.blogspot.com. Although I could create them myself, I wanted to support a mom by purchasing these from Jennifer's etsy shop. (Plus it saves me the time!) They were just what I needed.

Speaking of the pantry, I have been trying to use up some of the items that have been sitting there for awhile. I had two cans of this canned chicken meat that my father-in-law bought when he went to Costco. It seems a little weird to have chicken in a can (even though I eat tuna from a can) and frankly, I had been saving it for emergency food in case the "Big One" comes during my lifetime. (For you non Cali-residents, the Big One is the major earthquake that will supposedly cause part of CA to fall into the Pacific Ocean. But now that I think about it, I live near the ocean so I may not survive in the first place. But never mind that, I digress.) Anyway, the chicken needed to be eaten so I made chicken salad with it and it actually wasn't bad. I added a little light mayo, some chopped red onion, some chopped sweet red pepper (I love red peppers!) and a few dashes of Spice Hunter's Fajita Seasoning. Brian actually loved it so thanks, Dad.

Speaking of spices....last week my mother-in-law and I were talking about how we couldn't find the Spice Hunter salt-free seasonings as easily as we used to be able to. I could sometimes find them at Trader Joe's or World Market but they stopped carrying my favorite Fajita Seasoning and her favorite Fish Seasoning. I went online and luckily found them available through the company. I stocked up on what I needed plus I got free shipping and a free Grill Shakers as a sample. Cool!

Speaking of my mother-in-law, I have to get off of the computer and get the house cleaned since my in-laws are coming over for dinner this weekend. And the house has to be not just guest-passable but mother-in-law passable. ;-) So off I go.

Oh, wait. I need one more post....um....okay...speaking of cleaning, I also purchased the cleaning list from iheartorganizing to help me stay on top of keeping everything orderly. I tell ya, I am getting so on the ball I hardly recognize myself! LOL!

Have a great weekend!