Recently in eml Category

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

Rain, Rain Go Away... - This month we are definitely getting the April showers that bring May flowers but I don't remember every having such a wet April before. Having lived in Southern California for the first three decade of my life, I am used to one kind of weather pattern - sunny. Now that I am living on the central coast of California, I am used to two kinds of weather - sunny or cool and foggy. So having four days in a row of rain and a thunder and lightning storm last night, well, that worthy of its own Quick Take! I just hope that the rain stops by next week because Bella is going on a two day trip with her class to Sacramento and the Gold Country to learn about California history. I'll be one of the chaperones and although we won't be sleeping in tents (I think it's more of a primitive cabin) I'd rather do it in sunny weather!

The Family Tree Grows - It may be grey and dreary but we received joyous news this week - my sister EL gave birth to her fourth child, a little girl named Harriet Rose. Congratulations, sis! And I am an aunt for the fifth time. Yay! Just call me Auntie B. ;-) Look at her...how sweet is she?!

(This Quick Take is long so it counts as two.)

Accidents, Threats & Videotapes - Unfortunately that bit of news was hampered a couple days later when I got into a car accident. Remember what I said about the rain? On Tuesday, I dropped the boys off at pre school. Bella was on Easter break so she, Matthew and I were driving home. Just as we turned around a bend in the highway there was a pile up from a previous accident. I hit the brakes and the car seemed to slide all over the road but I was able to stop in time. I breathed a sigh of relief and just as I was thinking, "I hope the guy in back of me stops in time...bam! We get slammed from behind. I move to the side of the road and the woman (60ish?) was very apologetic. We see that no one is hurt and the damage doesn't look too bad etc. As we exchange info some guy comes up and starts videotaping us. She walks over to him and tells him to turn off his video camera (it was a larger one), that the accident is over, this is a private matter etc. They sort of get into it and I hear the guy yell, "I know my rights... don't touch me... I'm suing... assault... " and the like. I'm thinking what kind of crazy guy is this and why is she talking to him and not ignoring him so we can get out of here?

I finish writing my info down (I already had hers) and I see the lady talking and gesturing to the guy as he is walking backwards videotaping her, sort of egging her on. Soon they have walked so far down the road I can't see them anymore. I look around. Am I being punked? Should I leave? I left my info in her car and got back into my van and out of the rain. I am sitting there wondering if I should make a u-turn and go find the lady. I don't want her to get hurt. Thankfully, just then some cops stopped to make sure I am okay. I explain to them what happened and they said I could leave and they'd go and check on the guy and the lady. To make a long story short (oops, too late!) the lady came back safely. (And she has been more than generous in making sure we are okay.) She told me later that the guy likes to videotape people and threatens to sue but he has no case here. Meanwhile, my Sienna is in the shop to see what kind of damage has been done. However, if you are browsing the internet and you find a YouTube video of an older woman arguing with some random guy on the road and you see a short, chubby Hispanic mom with a WTH? look on her face in the background, you'll know that's me. ;-)

Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti - After that harrowing accident, Bella and I decided to go home and make a cup of hot chocolate, warm up some cinnamon rolls for breakfast and watch an old movie. We've been on a musical kick and it all started when she said they were singing songs from the Sound of Music in her music class. I told her we should watch the movie together since every night when the boys are going to sleep and Brian is showering or getting things ready for work the next day, Bella and I have a half hour window where we cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie (well, a portion of it) together. Sometimes it will be a Disney tween movie or an episode of Good Luck, Charlie (which I, ahem, actually enjoy) but last week I put on The Sound of Music instead. She loved it! We watched a little each night, completing it twice. This week we finished watching Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland. Tonight we are going to start the 1949 version of Little Women with June Allyson. It's not actually a musical but it is such a sweet movie, I think she'll like it. Any other suggestions of what we should watch? (She prefers color and is not really into black and white, which is a bummer since ¾ of my movie collection is in B&W.)

Birthday Contest - I also wanted to mention, if you haven't been reading the blog regularly (What? Am I the only one with 500 posts in my Google reader waiting to be read??) that we are celebrating the blogs 9th birthday with a contest. You can win an RoL care package that will include your choice of books (selections include Style, Sex and Substance, The Catholics Next Door, The Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and The Catholic Girl's Survival Guide for the Single Years) as well as a Divine Mercy icon, Mystic Monk coffee or tea and, of course, chocolate. Get the details here.

Flashback Friday Five - Back in 2003, bloggers looked forward to filling out "The Friday Five" at the end of the week. I'll close with a flashback of what I posted nine years ago, almost to the day.

Friday Five: Music Edition

1. What was the first band you saw in concert? Let's see, years back it was a big Rock for Life concert in Orange County, CA. I think that first really got me into Christian alternative/hardcore music. But one of the first concerts I most vividly remember was when I drove to Santa Barbara, CA with my sister BC to see the hardcore band Focused. Oh, those guys were so awesome and so in love with God. They were the first band I ever interviewed (for the underground music zine I used to do.) Ah, such memories!

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now? Okay, you can tell I am a mommy now because at the moment I am listening to "Wags the Dog" by the Wiggles. (It is Bella's Wiggle's hour; that is the only time I am guaranteed some uninterrupted computer time!) But as far as I'm concerned, I have been listening to a lot of Jeremy Camp, Kutless, and Sixpense None the Richer. But I must say that I also loooove 80's alternative music - The Cure, The Smiths, Morrissey, New Order, Psychedelic Furs, etc. Plus, good old classics like Dean Martin (reminds me of our honeymoon. Sigh.)

3. What's your favorite song? This is a tough one. The song that always reminds me of Brian is The Cure's "Lovesong." I never tire of it.

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be? Um, I always wished I could play the guitar, write my own music and sing my own songs. I may be able to get away with writing lyrics but the only instrument I can play is the Fisher-Price toddler drum set and my voice it not fit for anyplace other than the car while driving or perhaps in church if the choir sings real loud and drowns me out.

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why? Back in my teen days I may have said someone like Morrissey from the Smiths but now I just see musical "icons" as regular joes and can't think of one in particular that I'd single out. So I'll have to think about that one.

LOL! Have a great weekend!

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

TTIF Already? - How can it possibly be Friday already? The days we were absent from school has thrown me off so in my mind it feels like it's only Wednesday. On the one hand, that's great news since it is the weekend already. On the other hand, I'm two days short with the things I had to get done this week. Oh, well. That means I better quickly get this done and get back to work.

BaSP Blog Contest - First things first, I have to tell you that you must go over to my sister's blog Barefoot and Sometimes Pregnant and enter her Year 3 Blog Birthday contest. She is simply fabulous! Whereas I share with you my struggles to keep a clean house or get more crafty or not kill my garden within the first few weeks, EL is a Martha Stewart-like chica. She is the sister most likely to be in labor with her fourth child and in between contractions she'll manage to bake a loaf of bread, can a jar of preserves, gather vegetable in her garden for a homemade stew, milk the cow, sew a new outfit for the baby and whittle a baby crib. I kid you not. She amazes me. Anyway... she says:

Since barefoot and sometime pregnant is all about homemaking, I am giving away the perfect gift for any homemaker or future homemaker. Enter to win a copy of Style, Sex and Substance by Hallie Lord (if you already have a copy, you can give this one away to a friend), an All-in-one Organizer from the company thirty-one, and a custom apron. Yes, I will sew you an apron of your choice! (I will give you some pattern types to choice from and fabric options.) The giveaway will close on Sunday and I will post the winner on Monday.

Click on over and tell her that I sent you! ;-)

Call Me Aunt B. - Oh, and also keep my sister in your prayers because she is now 39 weeks pregnant and any day she could have baby #4 (although she tends to go late.) We are all excited to meet our new family member! I can't wait to see if I'm an auntie to a little niece or nephew.

RoL - Speaking of Blog Birthdays, this year our original website Revolution of Love.com will be ten years old in November! Can you believe it?! We started it when we were newly married and only had Bella. I had a lot more time to write back then! Since I was still new to mommyhood I wrote more for newly married couples and Catholic singles. There are a few articles about dating/courtship and chastity that still get a lot of hits. That's why we haven't pulled the site off the web. Over the next few months I'll be reposting some of those articles here since the blog gets a lot for traffic that the website does.

Man, I'm Old - As for this blog, next month I'll have been blogging for nine years! My first post was back in 2003. That's just crazy. Although I've been around awhile, some years I only posted a handful of times. In 2003 I have only 22 posts. (Although, I did delete a few that had dead links or outdated info.) I think 2011 is the first year that I posted consistently with over 100 posts. Okay, okay. Useless facts. I'll celebrate next month and, inspired by my sis, I'll put together a little contest too. :-)

The Hunger Games vs The Flu - My mom called while I was typing and she asked me how the movie was last week. I forgot I was going to mention that. (Thanks for the reminder, mom.) As I mentioned last week, I had just finished reading The Hunger Games and planned to go see the movie on Saturday. That is a story in itself. Friday night my stomach was a little queasy but I didn't think much of it. Matthew woke up at 6:30 AM but I was really feeling awful. Brian took the baby, I got sick and then went back to bed and slept until 10 AM. I woke up feeling a bit out of it but not too bad. I figured I must have gotten food poisoning. Brian said if I was up to it I could go ahead and go to the movies since I already bought my ticket and who knows when I'd get another afternoon off. True. I got ready and went. The movie was packed but luckily I found a secluded seat where I wouldn't be touching anyone, in case I really was sick.

The movie started and from the get go it was amazing. I thought they did a great job making the book come alive on the screen, editing what they needed to but still keeping the tone of the book. I certainly think you'd get more out of the movie if you read it first because there are a lot of subtle things that you won't pick up on unless you've read the book first. And although it was not gory-graphic it was still incredibly disturbing to see little kids get murdered like that. More disturbing was the fact that it was also viewed as reality tv/entertainment. With the current obsession with reality TV and the growing lack of disrespect for life, it does not seem too far fetched to think that we could one day return to the days of the martyrs in the Roman Coliseum.

As the movie continued we got to the part where Katniss was looking for the hurt Peeta and we lost our picture. We could hear it but not see it. We sat there as they tried to fix it. The manager came in and told us they were working on it but they couldn't rewind what we missed because it would throw off the show times for the people behind us. The theater nearly had a District 11 riot (that was one of the last scenes we just saw) when he told us that. Finally they got the movie back on and they rewound it to the part where Rue and Katniss were together. We yelled, "NO!!!" We were not going to sit there and watch Rue's death all over again. It was hard enough the first time when we could hear people in the theater quietly sobbing. Fifteen minutes later, they found the right spot and continued the movie. The end seemed a little rushed but I still loved the movie. Did you see it? What did you think?

After we were leaving the theater, the manager gave us all free passes so at least I got a free movie out of it! Plus, I got over my phobia of going to the movies alone, so I am ready to go! On a side note, however, I got home and by the end of the day I was much worse. I realized I had the flu and not food poisoning. As I lay on my bed dead to the world I kept praying I didn't get anyone sick in the theater...from touching the seat or the handrail or the door handle. I kept picturing the movie Contagion. Sorry, my fellow movie goers!

Tiny Bubbles - That's it for now. I better get back to my boys. While I type I'll often put the bubble machine on the bookshelf and they play happily trying to pop bubbles or catch them on their tongue. (Ew.) Here is a photo of them right now still in their pj's. Although Matthew looks like he's ignoring the bubbles and looking for a good book. Maybe he'll have a little more Brian than Bobbi in him. ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

First I want to start with an exciting take. I am going to be an aunt again. Yay! My little sis EML is expecting baby # 4 in April. Wow, she'll have four children under the age of four. That scares the beejeebies out of me! But if anyone can do it, (and with with amazing results) my sister can!

Okay, and to put a smile on your face, here is a photo of my little niece Greta announcing the upcoming arrival of her sibling. How cute is she? I love the expression on her face. LOL!

My own little guy turned five months old this week. We've nicknamed him Mr. Smiley because he lights up whenever you talk to him. He's a happy kid!

For the last five months I've been working to lose weight and get healthier. The good news is that I've lost all the baby weight and weight the same as when I got pregnant. Yay! The bad news is that I way the same as when I got pregnant. Boo. Now on Phase 2, I want to continue losing and get to a healthy weight. It's a lot more than a few pounds. I hear other moms in a size 12 or 14 saying how fat they are blah, blah, blah. Save it, honey. Size 14 is my goal weight! Just saying.... ;-)

I've been doing Weight Watchers and have been averaging a pound a week with just the food changes. I do better when I add in exercise but I'm still slacking on getting into an exercise routine. But I'm working on it.

You know, if I was to blow my diet I think this would be my weapon of choice - these chocolate and peanut butter brownies. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard...

Okay, got a busy day ahead of me so I better get to work. Have a great weekend!