Fabulous Photography From a Friend

How's that for alliteration! I wanted to tell you about a good friend of mine from highschool. Back then he stuck out because of his skater haircut and grunge clothes. Today he stands out because of his ability to capture the beauty around him.

Glenn Brogan, Glenn Brogan Fine Art, offers a glimpse of the awe inspiring landscape of the Desert West.

I was the lucky winner of a recent raffle he held and won a 20x30 liited Edition print entitled "Light from Above"



Glenn also does family portraits, wedding photography and high school senior pictures. You can contact him at info@glennbrogan.com

Glen Brogan Photography

Disconserting

I am sitting down to nurse El Bambino, iPad on my lap to go over the daily news. I see an alert on the CBS news app and click it. It's just an update about Obama's Afghanistan speech...scrolling thru the other headlines, I notice 3 with a common theme: Mothers who kill their children. Of course I click and read and am horrified and saddened and just....well, Sad.

I do not understand the mental place one must be in to hurt their children, in one case MICROWAVE a newborn, so severely.
I've been stressed out with the kids and even with El Bambino and beating, shaking or otherwise has never entered my mind.

I am saddened for the pain of the little defenseless one, but also for the mother who went to such a place. For the family members who must deal with the excruciating pain of losing two loved ones.

Last night I heard A recording of Jonas Salk, he asked the question "How do we apologize to our children for our profligate and destructive ways?" It makes me wonder if someone is bargaining with God on our behalf, as Abraham did. How bad was Soddom and Gomorrah before He took action? Are we headed for the same?

I don't mean to sound like a fear monger, but goodness gracious! It certainly seems like things are off the deep end for sure.

Oh! The Drama!

I've neglected my blog lately, sorry. It's just that summer is here and our business factor has increased 5 fold.
Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way.:)

It seems as if we are overcome with drama. The two middles are involved in a production of Folk Tales For Fun, a collection of folk tales from around the world. The full four are also attending a drama boot camp that will begin production on Beauty and the Beast Jr., in the fall. El Bambino comes along for the ride and is getting used to the fast pace of life with active teens.

I started working out with Jillian Michaels 30 Day shred. That creates drama of another sort.

Well my few minutes of computer time is up. Time to feed El Bambino and get the other kiddos up for Church.
Blessings ya'll!

The Beat Goes On

Busy, busy, busy! That's what we've been lately. I know it's that time of the year, the end of another school year. This year we are busy preparing for SAT's and investigating college and careers.

The girls are on track to finish by June, but the boys are looking at July. I don't mind tha they work during the summer, it keeps them up to date and saves me money. I don't have to worry about how to entertain them and keep them off the t.v and video games. My oldest is heading into his senior year and will have a very heavy workload with school, work and extra curricula activities. He's got his eye on the police academy. He had thought about serving in the military but has opted for service closer to home. I am happy about that. So we have begun the discovery process. Good thing, he can get a scholarship to cover the cost of the Academy! He will also earn 45 credits toward and associates in Criminal Justice.

The others are working hard and looking forward to next year. My youngest, El Bambino, is growing fast and finally falling in to a schedule of some sort. He's still waking up at night, I will be happy when he sleeps through. He's started taking naps during the day which means I can get some things done around the house.

I took the girls to a homesteading class on how to make Jam and butter. We made jars of strawberry jam and yesterday I made my own peach jam. Its much cheaper and much much quicker to purchase butter in the store. I think I enjoyed the class far more than the girls did. Next month we will learn about canning vegetables. I've always wanted to know how to do this!

I've started a very serious workout regimen. I walk 1.5 hill filled miles every day, add an extra 1.75 miles on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. My neighbor and I do Power 90 DVD on Mon, Wed and Fri and I do Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (holy cow that's a killer one!) on Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun. I also joined Weight Watchers. I enjoy knowing that I can eat what I want. Just not always as much as I want. I'm learning, very quickly, how big portion sizes really are. No wonder I got so dern fat. That bucket of a bowl I had was definitely NOT a portion size on this planet :)

Since I had El Bambino I've lost 43 lbs. Granted, he was 10 of that. But my excuses were the other 33. I would like to lose 75 more. That would put me at 160 and quite content. I haven't weighed 160 lbs since High school. *sigh* I'm not a fan of mentioning my weight, but accountability helps. So...don't let me quit!!!

So no more nappy for El Bambino, he needs to be fed so I can hit the store before the day is done. I've got some pics to frame. I can't wait to share one in particular with you. Hopefully this week.

Have a blessed Memorial Day! Thank you to all who serve in our nations military. Thank you to those who support them.

The First Day of the Rest of My Life

This was March 18th, 2011.

Life, as I had been experiencing it, changed completely. Instead of being a mom to 4 older children, I am now mom to 4 older children and one newborn. This doesn't sound like much until you begin to add up all that it means.

Older children make breakfast for themselves, newborns wake mom up for breakfast. :)
Older children wash and fold their own laundry, newborns wear diapers that sometimes leak because a sleepy mom put it on all wonky at 2 am and need to have their onesie changed and washed by sleepy mom.
Older children clean up their own rooms, newborns make no messes, but sleepy mom just tosses those cleaned onesies on the chair instead of putting them in the drawer and has to clean up babies room now.
Older children can ride their bikes and walk next to mom, newborns are pushed in a stroller or carried by mom who now realizes how out of shape she really was!
Older children say "Let's go on a field trip" and we do. A newborn says "Let's go on a fieldtrip after you feed me, put on a clean diaper, get the baby bag together, put the stroller in the car, oh yeah and feed me again please..Now I need a new diaper..don't worry we'll get there..next week"

I am not complaining, I love my lil' bambino more than I can even express and my older children love him too.

I have been a mom to older children for a while and now must relearn how to be a mom to a lil' one. It's a much different world.

My 16 yo stares at me like I'm crazy when he catches me baby talking to El Bambino. They have each taken to him in their own ways. I can see in my girls the beauty of nurturing and in my boys,the fathers they may one day be.

El Bambino has brought much to our family. Because of the gift of his life, our lives have been renewed. Thanks be to God.

Life's A Gas

The Ramones had no idea how true this would be for El Bambino. He's full of it. Gas, I mean.

The boy nurses like a racehorse! Not that I know what a racehorse nurses like..do thy even nurse? i don't think so...but what I mean is, he's fast. He gulps and smacks. There's no "quietly" nursing this guy.

I've read the book, the blogs, the forums. We've latched, un-latched an re-latched again. I've used the cradle hold, the football hold, nursed sitting up and lying down. I've dropped the beans and broccoli, even the occasional chocolate. All to no avail.

Life is just a gas right now.

A Biblical Walk Through The Mass - A Review

A few months ago I was sent this book to review for The Catholic Company. I've been reading and re-reading it since.

Dr. Edward Sri has brought the Mass home to me. In an easy to read format, using references from Scripture and The Church Fathers, he has opened the door to the Mass in a new and enlightening way.

With the new Roman Missal heading our way this Advent, I wanted to try to understand how the changes would affect me and my family and our worship. This book has shed new light on how we pray the Mass. It is a prayer, the Greatest prayer, and for far too long I was just reciting the prayers without much thought. The words were coming out but my heart was not in it and, here's the thing, I didn't even know it!

Dr. Sri's book has helped me find the meaning in the prayer. I've discovered a richer, fuller participation in the Mass than I have ever had and I don't even have to leave my pew.

This book will open your eyes and your heart to the way you pray the Mass. Pick it up today at The Catholic Company.