It's a Date!

With my DVR that is!

I LOVE this lady & can't wait to see how her Saturday Night Live gig goes.

It's a fabulous gift to be able to make people laugh like she does...enjoy this promo from hulu.com :)

A Night Spent with...

Friends = Mental clarity, Worries swept aside, Knowing they will always have my back if I need it & Feeling like myself again!

Thanks Girls!!! :)

Supermarket Singing Star?

Over the past several months, we have been doing most of our grocery shopping together as a family. For the most part, it works out okay-it allows us to split up so that we can find things a bit quicker & it allows us each to take our time if we need to for some reason. When this happens & I am the one with Luke in the cart & Scott gets out of eyeshot, then every once in a while Luke starts singing...

First you need a little back story, for quite a long time now (at least a year), Luke & I have had a little game that we play every so often. Basically, he hides under the island in the kitchen & I walk around pretending that I don't know where he is while singing...

"Where, oh where, could my little Lukey be? Oh, where, oh where can he be? With his hair so short & his eyes so brown. Oh, where, oh where can he be?"
(to the tune of "Where, oh where, has my little dog gone?" just in case you didn't realize it :)

Yes, just like with words-I like to make up my own words to songs too ;)

Anyway, back to the grocery store, Scott is out of eyesight, & Luke starts singing...

"Where, oh where, has my daddy gone? Oh, where, oh where can he be? With his hair so short & his tail so long. Oh, where, oh where can he be?"

Scott does not, in fact, have a tail, but Luke's version of this song sure does bring out a few chuckles from me & the store employees :)

Happy Blogoversary to Me! :)

Last year at this time, I could not believe that I had been doing this for a whole year already & now here it has become TWO years! If you'd like to take a look back, here is my very first post & here is last year's post.

The last two years have been full of many ups & downs & when I look back it is so hard to believe just how much life has changed over the past two years & just how much it has stayed the same as well. It has been an amazing journey & experience! It has definitely not always been the easiest journey, but even during the roughest times over these past two years-I have always been glad to have had this blog to turn to-to pour my heart/words out onto the screen. I have also been blessed to have had several of you kind enough to leave us words of encouragement, kindness, laughter, joy, sadness, etc based on whatever I may have written on any given day. This blog has been a wonderful experience & I am looking forward to seeing what this next year has in store for us!

Thank you for joining me on this blogging journey! :)

#2 Being Catholic

"Being Catholic" is one of the biggest parts of my childhood/memories/adulthood. I was born & raised a Catholic in a very strong, rural Catholic community. I always saw my parents participating in/helping out at church. Receiving our sacraments was a big deal that called for celebration. Many of my childhood friends were not only people whom I went to school with but also whom I went to church with as well (plus we all lived within a country mile or two of each other, which was a convenient bike riding distance :) I have great memories of being able to "explore" church while mom & other ladies were cleaning or while mom was doing things in the office. When we could get the chance to be the "reader" at the real microphone in church while they were doing those things-it was awesome! We loved "playing church" at home with smarties/vanilla wafers & having "mass" with real (the old ones or leftovers) missalettes from church. I remember attending Catholic youth activities once I hit junior high, attempting to be an organist because mom wanted me to try it, being a reader for a short time, trying to sing in the choir & bringing up gifts with my family. We always attended every Holy Day mass & even "had" to go on First Fridays occasionally (even though us kids could never understand why there was church on a Friday! :) sometimes we even had to go TWICE on the same weekend! One of my mom's most famous lines was always "It never hurts you to go twice!"-I ask you-how in the world do you argue with that! Needless to say, being catholic became a huge part of my identity-not just a group that I belonged to for the sake of belonging.

For a long time, being Catholic to me meant that things were either "black or white." I left very little room for "gray" areas & admittedly, was very quick to judge people/things as either right or wrong-no maybe's here! This worked wonderfully until people I knew started falling into the "wrong" category come high school/college/adulthood-then what? Drop the friendships? Worry about their lives "doomed to hell"? Miss out on terrific memories because they might 'mess' me up? Well now, that doesn't sound very nice...

I can definitely say that my religious nature has been tested again & again over the past several years, especially this past year-partially due to a few books that I read (that unexpectedly caused me to start asking myself lots of questions about what is right or wrong) & partially due to the losses we have faced over the last year. I have asked myself lots of questions about my faith & what I believe/don't believe (poor Scott has been on the receiving end of several of these discussions. :) I have questioned my viewpoints on many different topics as well. And I have come out the other end (although not completely unscathed) a bit different than I did going into it. Gone is the "blind" faith in whatever my church says is right or wrong & in its place is a more questioning nature-not so much of whether it is right or wrong, but whether or not it makes me a better person & whether it seems like the "loving" decision. I truly believe "God is Love" and that is what He wants us all to be as well.

So going into the next 30 years, "Being Catholic" is still one of my most important identities, but it will probably be from a little bit different viewpoint than that of most of the first 30 years. One thing that hasn't changed though is my belief in the importance of my child(ren) seeing me/us participating in the Mass & with Church activities (the "fun" stuff as well as those that can cause many a headache :) so that, hopefully, they will grow to see that it doesn't just have to be something that we "do on Sundays", but that being Catholic is a way of life & a way of living. And attending Sunday/Holy Day Masses regularly is just the cornerstone of that for me (& yes, that means sometimes even having to go twice on the same weekend because "it never hurt anyone!" :)

"Quotastic" Thursday!

(I'm fond of making up 'new' words so I hope you enjoy that one up there in the title. ;) I'm considering making this a recurring theme, since there are always so many quotes that touch me & so little time to remember them or write them all down-enjoy!)

"Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day." ~ Author Unknown

This quote stares me in the face every single day from the mantle of our fireplace. It appeals to my positive nature. Although, I may sound like a "Negative Nelly" at times (my apologies to any readers named Nelly :) and those who know me in real life know that I can do my own fair share of complaining and then some! When push comes to shove, though, my natural tendency is to say "It will get better" and then to try to find a way to make it better (even if that means complaining to someone who I know will be sympathetic! ;)
This quote inspires me to find something good about even my crummiest days. It also forces me to take a look at myself when I'm feeling down and to think of happier things and times, so that I can appreciate all that I am and all that I have in that moment!
I'm so glad to have this quote in front of me every single day to help me remember what is truly important in my life!

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Terrible! Just terrible! I'm a poor poet & I know it, but it sure is fun to try! :)

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Can it really be so?

Is it really the middle of April already????

Where has the time gone this month? I'm really not sure, but I do know that it is flying by. We've not really been super busy here at the "Faith, Hope & Poop" household, but I guess with all of this GORGEOUS weather lately-sitting in front of the computer & typing a post has been low on my list of priorities (but ironically always at the front of my brain-now please tell me, how does that work? :)

Anyway, we have been spending quite a bit of time outdoors-walking, enjoying the flowers, weeding a little, pulling wagons, looking for bumblebees, watching tractors, etc-so please, excuse my absence from the blogosphere as of late-I have been enjoying life instead I guess! ;)

I have jumped back on the "IComLeave" wagon again for the month of April & am planning a WHOLE WEEK'S WORTH OF POSTS-I know, I know-"what has gotten into her" is what you're probably asking yourself-well "I just feel like it" is probably the best answer I can come up with ;)

But, also, there are only 5 1/2 weeks of school left this year, so I need to get back into a "bloggin' groove" for summer time, plus IComLeave week also coicides with my blogoversary this month so it will be like a miny celebration too-to post things so you guys don't have to keep reading the "same old" post over & over again (at least for a week anyway-hehe;)

It won't all be sunshine & roses, but I am hoping to get a good little mixture of different topics & ideas to help remind all of you out there of who I am & who we are here at the Faith, Hope & Poop? household!

Stay tuned & Happy Reading!!! :)

P.S. I should probably mention that IComLeave week doesn't start til the 21st, but if you can read this post, then you have probably already read the little box over there on the side that says the exact same thing ;)

What I Know About 2 1/2 Year Olds...

(well at least mine anyway ;)

1. "No!" means hurry up and do it before mom or dad gets to him.
2. "Don't!" results in looking straight at you, smiling & then doing whatever it was he shouldn't be doing.
3. "Chase" is the ultimate game in any situation, especially when one of the words listed above is used.
4. His bare feet are immune to temperature variations: -30 or 100 degrees, it doesn't matter, when he's outside-it doesn't bother him!
5. Learning to express himself in words, especially with other kids is hard! Many times it just seems easier to have a tantrum, hit, pull hair, scratch, etc even though he knows it's a bad choice.
6. On the other hand, it is fascinating to watch how much his conversational skills & personality develops with each passing month!
7. Mastering the art of riding a tricycle means he can pretend to "go to the store" many times a day all around the house.
8. Being outside is the best thing ever, but the hardest thing to bring to an end.
9. "Jingle Bells" is much more fun to sing if he can hit something while he sings it!
10. He will repeat anything you say to him LOUDLY, especially when in quiet places like church!

I continue to learn more each and every day. When I start to get furstrated about progress/lack of progress in certain areas, I just think back to how it was even a few short months ago and realize that he is making progress and that in just a few more months this is the time I will be reflecting back on and smiling realizing that he has come so far since this time right now! :)

Happy Easter! Maybe?

Last night, we went to an Easter party with my relatives from my mom's family (her siblings/my aunts & uncles, their kids & grandkids). It always used to be my "small" side of the family, but over the past 6-7 years it has become considerably larger with marriages and many new additions. In fact, quite a considerable number of these new additions just happen to be 6 years old and younger ;)

Anyway, we had all just finished supper in the basement & several of these little ones had finished eating & were now playing. Some of them had also wandered upstairs & in no time at all many of them had noticed that the EASTER BUNNY had been there because they had spotted eggs in the yard. As you can imagine, the excitement spread quickly & there were many trips made up & down the stairs by many of those little feet & many reports/updates given to all of us by those same little bodies. Needless to say, these kids were very excited & itching to get outside so they could hunt eggs. Well as all of this is going on, my dad turns to us grown-ups sitting at the same table and says...

"Someone should put a dead bunny* in the yard, I wonder what those kids would do then?"

Laughter ensued & eventually those kiddos did get to hunt the eggs, but no bunny was ever spotted! He is a tricky fella that Easter Bunny :)

*No worries! There were no bunnies harmed for this comment or in the making of this blog post! Happy Easter! :)

Wait a second...What?

Besides that title being one of Luke's favorite things to say right now, it is also something that I have been saying to myself recently in regards to some things that have been said around here...

Overheard:

Luke: "Ho where are you?"

Explanation: We were working on weeding my flower bed when I decided that I needed a hoe. I said "Let's go find a hoe" and the the question above started being repeated over & over again. Quite loudly too I might add.

Overheard:

My Mom: "I need to take my clothes off and mow the grass."

Explanation: She said this to my sister, Beth, yesterday on the phone while I was visiting. Beth hung up the phone & started laughing & repeated what mom had said~the important words she failed to mention were "off the line" as in "take my clothes off the clothesline" :) Knowing our mother, we found her actual statement to be quite hilarious ;)

Read:

"Warning: This establishment prepares food that has come in contact with fish and/or shellfish products. Food may contain fish and/or shellfish products." That's not exactly it, but it was something close to that.

Explanation: We were at Long John Silver's! If you have fish/shellfish allergies, I would hope that this would be the LAST place you would even think about entering and/or eating anything that was made there! It's a fish place for goodness sake...I realize that it is only an attempt at trying to keep themselves from being sued, but come on people, if you try to eat there & you're allergic, you should not be able to be rewarded by suing them-you should be reprimanded for not using your own common sense!