Thankful For Everyday Life-A Link-Up

I do believe this is my first ever link up.  Jamie over at Lord, Make Me A Saint, is hosting a "Thankful for Everyday Life" post.  Here is my list for this week.

1. My health.  There is some sadness, worry, and fear happening to people I know and love this week.  I am ever so grateful for this body of mine that works.  I have been spending way too much time whining about the weight I've gained, my ugly hair, and my jowls, when I should be rejoicing in the fact that I am a perfect specimen of health!  Thank you, Lord.

2. Time out with Bill's sisters and sisters-in-law. We went out to dinner to celebrate the newest soon-to-be member of the family.  Bill's brother Tim is marrying Beth in May. Hooray!

3. My Tommy.  The kid cracks me up.  The other day he said quite seriously, "I would give up everything I have to become an Avenger." 

4. My mother- and father-in-law.  Six years ago Bill and I went on our parish's weekend retreat.  The following year we went again because we were asked to be on the retreat team.  Now, this year we are on the team again.  Guess who has babysat for all those weekends away? Yep, my in-laws.  Not to mention the many weeks in total they babysat while I delivered babies. They are the best and such a gift to me/us.

5. Laughs.  All seven of us had a big laugh when our dog (named Vader) picked up a lightsaber and started playing with Bill.  The kids got the biggest kick out of that.

6. Bill's coming home in 2 days!!  Bill has been working far away this past year and was coming home only on the weekends.  It was 375 days ago that he started.  But who's counting?

ME!!  That's who.  I'm so thankful the year is done; that we survived.  That "absence makes the heart grow fonder" trumped "out of sight out of mind." 

Right, hon?

Hon?

Confirmed!

Someone special made his Confirmation this week.

Introducing:  William Francis Sebastian

 

Saint Sebastian is the patron saint of athletes and soldiers.

 Aunt Mary Grace was Billy's sponsor.  Uncle Mike came along for the "ride."

My Dad with Billy

For those not familiar with Confirmation, it is "the sacrament in which the Holy Spirit comes to us in a special way to join us more closely to Jesus and His Church and to seal and strengthen us as Christ's witnesses."

We had dinner and cake to celebrate back home.

We are so proud of you, Billy.
Congratulations.

"When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth
                                                                                                         -Psalm 104:30

And The Winner Is.....

Thanks to those of you who played along with my silly little love trivia!!  I hope you had as much fun playing as I did reading all of your answers.

The post was written back on Friday.  You can find it here.  I purposely didn't publish the comments in the hopes that more people would play. (they are published now)

Our winner is Susan!  Although there is one title she didn't know, she did know the group, so that not only counted, that proved to me she didn't cheat and look up the title!!

Way to go, Susan.  The book is on it's way.

Here are the answers:


1.) I could stay awake just to hear you breathing.
"I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith.


2.) If a man could be two places at one time, I'd be with you.
"If" by Bread

3.) Through the years, as the fires start to mellow, burning lines in the book of our lives; though the binding cracks, and the pages start to yellow, I'll be in love with you.
"Longer" by Dan Folgelberg

4.) I wanna make you understand-I'm talkin' about a lifetime plan.
"Reminicing" by Little River Band

5.) ....such complete intoxication....
"High On You" by Survivor

6.) I wanna love you all over.
"Do You Believe In Love" by Huey Lewis and the News

7.) ...when you can see your unborn children in her eyes.
"Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" by Bryan Adams

8.) Now and then when I see her face it takes me away to that special place and if I stare too long, I'll probably break down and cry.
"Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N Roses

9.) If ever a man had it all, it would have to be me.
"I Love You" by Climax Blues Band

10.) Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow.
"Hello" by Lionel Ritchie.


#6 really tripped up a lot of you.  Most said it was Exile's "I Want to Kiss You All Over." 
And thanks to you, that song was in my head all weekend.  Another great one!  Best line of that one IS the title, so that wouldn't have worked in the game.

Thanks for the fun!

Let's do it again sometime, shall we?

Big 80's Love Trivia & A Giveaway

A dear friend recently said to me, "Music unearths our deepest feelings."  How true.  Songs can bring you up or down, evoking many different emotions that may not otherwise come out of us.

I have always had such a love for music.  From those early years of singing in front of the mirror, to my country line dancing phase, and now to my love of contemporary Christian music, I have been all over the place.

Big 80's music, however, holds a special place in my heart.  Today I thought I would share with you lines from some of my favorite songs.  Not all of them are slow; some are upbeat.  See if you can guess what songs they are.  You can play along in your head, leave a comment, or send an email, but whatever you do, DON'T CHEAT by googling the words.  However, if you do play along, you will have a chance to win a prize. (see below)

There may be some 70's and 90's songs in there as well, just to keep it interesting.  If you can't figure it out, just enjoy the romance in each line and find yourself swooning on this Valentine's Day.

I'll start with an easy one:

1.) I could stay awake just to hear you breathing.

2.) If a man could be two places at one time, I'd be with you.

3.) Through the years, as the fires start to mellow, burning lines in the book of our lives; though the binding cracks, and the pages start to yellow, I'll be in love with you.

4.) I wanna make you understand-I'm talkin' about a lifetime plan.

5.) ....such complete intoxication....

6.) I wanna love you all over.

7.) ...when you can see your unborn children in her eyes.

8.) Now and then when I see her face it takes me away to that special place and if I stare too long, I'll probably break down and cry.

9.) If ever a man had it all, it would have to be me.

10.) Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow.

Now, for the good part.  The Giveway.
I recently read a book that I thought was so incredibly romantic.  I enjoyed it so much, and think you might, too.  I will send a copy to the first person who answers all the above correctly. (remember, no cheating)  And for those of you who still can't figure out how to leave a comment, just send me an email.

Click here for an excerpt from the Charles Martin book, along with his reason for writing it.

Now go get your Big 80's prowess on!

Scenes From A {Yet Another} Snow Day

Earlier this week when I heard that another big snow storm was coming our way, I literally wanted to cower in a corner and suck my thumb.

 

Ok, slight exaggeration.  But, c'mon now.  Let's be done already.  And to make it worse, our school's make-up days are cutting into summer vacation. Boo hiss.

However, I did decide to make the best of it.  In the beginning of the week I gathered all the necessary supplies I needed to accomplish many things on the days we would inevitably have off.  There were Valentine's to make, special comfort foods to prepare, and a long list of duties for a project I'm working on.  We were all set.  I even used my trusty ol' white board to guide the kids in their snow day activities.

The boys and I spent quality time outside shoveling.  I had the idea to run in and ask Mary to take our picture.  The boys asked "why" and I told them, "For the blog, of course."

All five enjoyed some play time out in the snow with our neighbor, Claire.  Dear, dear Claire.  I don't know how she does it, but all is well in my kids' world whenever Claire is around.  She is a rock star.

In the afternoon we had lunch, we drank hot chocolate, finished the Valentine's, did most of the homework, practiced instruments, baked cookies, made hard-boiled eggs, and I even managed to check off a "to-do" from my project.

Billy's famous chili dog

Rock Star Claire, Matt, and Mary finding recipes while having lollipops

Ann, Matt, and Tommy's Valentine's

 

We asked Claire to stay for dinner.  As we gathered around the table, I thought, "This snow day wasn't so bad after all."

As we went to close the garage door after Claire went home, it wouldn't shut.  Just a humming sound.  I climbed on a folding chair to try to figure out 'what the heck'; followed the direction on the system to no avail; called Bill to ask for help-but really just wanted to yell at him for not being here to fix it, and so on and so on.
I couldn't get it to work, and in a fit of anger, released the manual do-hicky thing and practically flew off my folding chair trying to not let the door slam to the ground.  I managed to pull the door most of the way back up, because I figured I'd want my car outside because once the door is down, I am not getting it back up on my own manually---there is no handle.

Right now, everyone is safe and warm, and that's really all that should matter.  Another snow day tomorrow.  Who knows what the day will bring.  Hopefully no cowering or thumb sucking, but I'm not making any promises. 

I may have to knock up for Claire.

Everyday Happenings

1.

Last week on February 2nd  I went to lunch with "the girls."  Read our history here.  It was 30 years to the day that we named ourselves the Sexy Six and vowed to stay friends forever in our freshman year of high school. 

 #Bestfriendsever!

(or, in 80's lingo....Lulas! (love you like a sister))

2.

Two snow days and two delay days last week.

Pros and cons, people.  Pros and cons.

3.

Ann made her First Reconciliation!!

 

4.
Good stuff!
~Book study with friends.
~One of "The Six" driving an hour and a half to surprise me with a visit.
~Billy shoveling without being asked.
~Ann unloading the dishwasher without being asked.
(I think it was part of her penance-see #3)

5.
 Matt shaving.

5.
My happy place.

6.
Have a happy, love-filled week.