Wordless Wednesday: Father/Daughter

At Home Manicure

Who needs Oprah's Favorite Things when you've got bloggers who share their finds?! And let me add that ours are far less expensive than Oprah's any day.

I received the Seacret Dead Sea Manicure Set as a birthday gift and I LOVE it!!

As a mom with rare moments for doing a little something extra for myself nor with the assets to afford regular nail care, this product is wonderful. Not a high-maintenance mama, I've never cared to spend salon prices maintaining me. I have, however, enjoyed when my hands are silky smooth and nails look decent.

This product only takes minutes to use every couple of weeks and makes my nails look healthy and shiny, as if they were cared for in a salon. I quickly file and buff the tops of my nails and there are no more flaws or ridges. They seriously shine as if I had clear nail polish on them. And it lasts for weeks!!

Treat yourself or give your hubby numerous hints for this Christmas gift item! It's great for getting and for giving too!


**I'm sure you may be able to find this at some malls depending on your area, in addition to online. My friend found it at MOA for those of you who are local.

Ready For The Voyage?

Our family cannot wait for the upcoming Narnia installment, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader! Arriving in theatres December 10th, it's only a couple weeks away!

Reed has been especially fond of Narnia since a very young age, Lily is in love with the movies (and perhaps some of those darling male actors) and I've grown to enjoy the Narnians as well.

I'm not sure if we'll catch it in the theatre, but I certainly hope we can. We've had to wait two years for this and have been counting it down, hate to miss it!

How about you, are you a Narnia fan and looking forward to the movie debut?

Early Morning

I am awake much too early, but cannot sleep.

Baby and I cozy up on the couch in the chilly morning and we enjoy the stillness here.

Together we await the morning light.

He/she stirs and wiggles about while I silently type.

A little one so small and yet so strong that every movement is felt.

It's hard to imagine what it was like before.

A weary heart longing for this moment.

Silent hours shared between the two of us getting to know each other.

Mother and child.

My mind skips ahead several months.

We are here again, but baby is sleeping cradled in my arms.

Imagine the time we will spend together.

Precious moments that we will share.

And perhaps some very sleepless, unhappy nights.

Changes ahead for all of us, but so worth it.

I try to imagine it all, but can't.

So in awe am I of this little wonder and of the God who chose to bring him/her to bless our family.

In Time For Thanksgiving

Some of you may recall this prayer request. Almost a year later, there's good news! We just found out this week that my cousin is in REMISSION!! His cancer that was found last year and his original diagnosed cancer, are both in remission.

Praise God!

We are definitely celebrating this miracle and thanking God for His healing touch that He laid upon him. Thank you for your prayers too!

Our family is now offering prayers of Thanksgiving for this wonderful news. Please join us in this season of Thankfulness.

Discarding And Reorganizing

I love blogging. I love the little place here in cyberspace that has allowed me to meet so many amazing women of faith, excellent role models and faithful friends.

But sometimes my blog list needs a little revamping. Don't get me wrong, I love reading others' posts. Sometimes though there are certain blogs that just don't 'hit' me as much as they did once upon a time. They last for a season and then I move on. Have you been there? It's not that the writer has nothing important to say, it's just not as pertinent in my life. At some point I came to realize that it's just fine not to be everyones Follower.

Recently I took another look at my list of Favorite blogs and realized that a number of them were ones I just barely skimmed their content when they popped up in Google Read. I do love Reader, don't you?

I also have a habit of Reader becoming a file cabinet of sorts. If there is a post I want to come back to to reread or even if I don't have time to comment and want to later on, I 'star' it and keep it in my Starred File. Every so often I need to do some housekeeping in that folder too because there is just too much stuff in there. Again, a post maybe inspired or touched me for a season (or a day or two) but no longer has the same affect. I've had to learn to let go of those precious Starred posts that just take up space.

Rest assured, if you are a faithful reader/follower/commenter here, I'm still sharing the journey with you and still reading from you. And even if you think that I am not out there reading your posts because I'm simply not commenting, rest assured that I still stop by. I'm just a little more silent these days.

I've also noticed that my numbers in Sitemeter have gone down a bit in recent weeks. No biggie. It's not like my pregnant brain has allowed for a whole lot of profound writing as of late. I hope you don't mind. I also hope the my frequent baby updates and pregnancy related themes have not become too much for you. Bear with me, really, there are other things going on here in our house, but the growing belly seems to be in the forefront of our minds. I'm sure you understand.

I still value my faithful readers and though far away, faithful friends. Thank you for always coming back here and encouraging my days!

And thanks for making it to the end of this otherwise rather boring, blogging housekeeping sort of post.


How do you keep your blog reading list to a minimum? Are you a blog junkie too?

Visiting The Poor Clares

The Poor Clares are a cloistered, contemplative order, seeking union with God through a life of prayer and sacrifice, in the spirit of St. Clare, to whom St. Francis was mentor and guide.



No photos were taken. No children were restless. It's as if the serenity of the Poor Clares convent there upon a hill was a secret retreat. An hour and a half from our day that quickly brought joy and memories.

Our Little Flowers group decided to take a trip to the Poor Clares after learning about St. Clare and the virtue of JOY at our last meeting. Working ahead on our next meeting's virtue of GENEROSITY and our first meeting this year on MERCY, we knew that we could also bring along groceries for the Sisters and put into practice what we're learning as a group.

As it turned out, six of the girls from the group could make it, along with their moms. I also ended up bringing Jonah along and hoped I wouldn't regret it lest he become bored and antsy. You know, I think he enjoyed it just as much as the girls did! When we shared our stories with daddy in the evening, Jonah could rattle off many of the details of the Sisters lives as easily as Lily. I couldn't believe it. He sat still and listened intently.

The girls were wonderful and listened as well as asked excellent questions throughout. Of course, I was ready to jump right in there with them since I was utterly fascinated too!

From what I knew of the Sisters, I knew that they had three Sisters that were Externs (nuns who do not take the vow of Enclosure and therefore are free to take care of the external business matters for the monastery) and I assumed that we would be speaking to one of them. Instead, we walked into the Parlor and there, on the other side of the golden grill stood a beloved Sister in full habit. We actually got to spend our time with Sr. Barbara who is one of the Cloistered Sisters. What an honor! And there, as she stood and shared their daily lives with us, the peace and joy that she also radiated was beyond explainable. She was on that side and we were on this side. She lives a life of simple poverty, prayer and dedication as a bride of our Lord and while there she was on the other side, she also so beautifully shared the mystery of her life within the walls of their community.

There are so many things I'd like to write here and all that Sr. Barabara shared with us, but words couldn't even begin to express or explain them all.

Our visit left not only a memorable impression on myself, but also on my children. What a precious gift Sr. Barbara and the Poor Clares bestowed on us that day. Hopefully this will be a treasured memory that will stay in our hearts and we'll be able to make a return visit in the future.