7QT/3-2-1: TGIF!!!

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3 Things I'm grateful for:
Health. We've had a bought of colds and allergies in this home. Sweet Linus was the bearer of most of it all - poor baby. He was a champ though and we seem to be over the most of it!
Family. We get to see my brother and Erin tonight. See Uncle A and Rebekah tonight and all weekend. And, I get to see my cousin play college basketball tonight! So exciting! Really looking forward to spending time with everyone!
Grace. These past few weeks have been a little rough with sickness and life, so I'm very grateful for all the graces that God has shared with me to do the best I can with our little family.

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2 of my favorite Thanksgiving menu foods:

Sweet Potato Casserole. Prior to this recipe, I never cared for sweet potato anything during Thanksgiving. No Yams. No Casseroles. No nada. Until this recipe!

Recipe:

3 to 4 c. sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

1/2 c. milk

1 c. sugar-- I used 1/2 c.

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 stick butter or margarine, softened

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. pecans, chopped

1/2 c. flour

5 T. butter, softened-- I used 1/2 of that

In large bowl, mix first 8 ingredients together. Pour into a well-greased 3-quart casserole dish. 

Mix together 4 topping ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes, or until bubbly.

*I'm adding this recipe to Clan-Donaldson's Thanksgiving Recipe Link-up! After making it again for this year's Thanksgiving I decided it is definitely an absolute favorito!!!! DELICIOUSO*

Turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes!!! These don't count as three things, but one! Because they are the spoonful that makes my tastebuds happy!

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One of my Favorite Christmas Movies/Shows:
Elf. Definitely Elf. I laugh and enjoy every. single. time!

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Those 3-2-1s make me want the season to be here right now! The family. The food. The smiles. The laughs. The memories! But, as much as I would love to have some celebration, I also am no where near ready. I feel like there are so many other things that need to happen prior to these fun times, and I have a feeling they are just not going to because time is just going to continue to slip through my fingers.

What I mean by so many things is all the unknowns that may or may not happen. We are presently house hunting, so who knows if we find the one tomorrow? the next day? next week? And, then what if Sign-Sealed-Delivered and BAM we have a new home to move in?? by Christmas??? I'll tell you what this would mean. This would mean I have a ton to do (*ahem* this would mean I have lots of PACKING to do!!) Bleh.

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Ok, I"m going to stop thinking about the potential for craziness and get excited about this weekend.

Tonight I get to go see my cousin play college basketball. I can't tell you how excited I am about this and how much I love watching her play! The first time I ever watched her play was last year when I was pregnant with Linus. I got all emotional on her and teary-eyed telling her how awesome she did and how I loved watching her play/am so proud of her. Haha. It was a smidge awkward. Good thing we grew up together and she knows I love her and hopefully that combo means she knows I'm not too terribly weird.

Point, I'm excited. I get to see her play again. Bigfoot loves watching her play too, so that will be a majorly fun time in his little two year old world. This will be a first for little Linus. Annd, my brother will be meeting up with us. I'm telling you lots of fun is to be had tonight!
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Okay, I got swept up in life, getting the boys ready to go meet my brother and GeekMan for the game that I didn't get to finish these QT. But, since I started them I am going to finish them! Even if that means I'm the absolute last person to link-up!

Game was awesome! Much fun was had!! They won! Linus had fun. Bigfoot had fun. We all enjoyed watching her and her team do great and I'm so grateful we were able to be there! Such a gift!

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Now, we are back home, boys are asleep, and we are awaiting the arrival of Uncle A and Rebekah. Can't wait to see them! I know Bigfoot is going to be so excited to see them too. I just love when family comes to visit. His little heart just lights up like Christmas. It's so sweet and beautiful.

So, now that our weekend officially started a number of hours ago, we have so much more weekend to make so many more awesome memories with family and friends! We will be having an early start tomorrow to go look at some houses while Uncle A and Rebekah go see her cousin who just had twins. How fun is that?! I have the annual Christ-Child Luncheon tomorrow, which I look forward to every year. I may slip in to watch my cousin again if time allows, and then it's playtime with Uncle A and Rebekah for us for the rest of the weekend.

Like I said, so much more weekend to make many more memories. Hope your weekend is fun-filled too!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary! And, for more 3-2-1 fun, head over to Theresa's at My Desert Heart. She's hosting the 3-2-1 Link-up party...without the link-up.

3-2-1: Love

3 things you would rather be doing right now
:: Reading. I'd love to have some nice coffee shop reading with some old classic jazz playing in the background with a delicious cup o' joe in my hand.
:: Would love for the rain to hit our area again so that we could just go outside and get soaked. Walk around. Dance around. And just let the water hit.
:: I would also love for that rain to come back and get in an awesome nap wrapped in a cozy blanket. 

2 people you would like to meet in heaven (and God is a given – we all get to meet Him!)
:: I want to see my grandparents again. I miss them.
:: Our Lady

1 thing you would like to be known for
:: I would love to be known for my love of our Lord and Lady. If I could just figure out how to best love them I know that love would pour fourth onto my family, friends, loved ones, and all who I met - sharing with them nothing but His Goodness, Joy, and Love. (Totally failing at this more often than not as of late.)

Head over to Cristina's at Filling my Prayer Closet to see more 3-2-1 fun. :)  And, thank you Jenny at Suscipio, for this sweet and simple link-up for my sleepy-mom brain!

7QT/3-2-1: Last Saturday was a Tired-Busy-Good Day

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If you haven't been around, let me catch you up! Our little family got back home this past Sunday from a mini-vacay to South Padre Island, TX. We had a beautiful time with family and friends - some new and some old. To read more about the few days we were out and about soaking up God's beauty, check out this, this, this, and this post.

Now, onto the Saturday of our little trip. It was a tired-busy-good one, filled with family, love, good food, and no sleep.

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Saturday morning was a doozy! We woke up early so that we could pack up all our vehicles, check out, and head off to brunch on the main land at Isabel's (I'll share more about Isabel's later in the quick takes).

To say I was sleepy is an understatement. We had stayed up the night before and lovely Linus loves to wake up Mama around those odd hours that make her feel as if she didn't sleep a wink.

At least you don't have to think too much in order to pack up all your stuff. My brain just switched into auto-mode throwing all things into whatever suitcase/bag we had. Floor checks were made, bathrooms were searched, van was loaded by GeekMan and Papa Ram and we were OFF! It all happened in sort of blur, really. But, it did happen, as evidenced by the fact that I am no longer there.

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1 Thing I Love LoVe LOVE to Eat:

Breakfast tacos from Isabel's! Once we left the condo we headed over to Isabel's for some brunch. Let me tell you it was YUMMY! 

and, HUGE! They are known for their larger than normal tacos. This was their "regular". I know, their "regular" taco is ginormous! But, it was oh-so-delicious!

Haha, and if you thought that was huge, get a load of this bad boy:

See!??? HUGE!!! Huge tacos filled with lots of yumminess. So, if you are ever in the area, do yourself another favor and make your way to Isabel's. Just like Dirty Al's for the best seafood on the island, you'll be thankful for Isabel's for the best breakfast tacos! Your welcome!

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When we got home (felt like we should have been calling it a night by this time, but it was only 1:00PM???), we were all so sleeeepppyyyyy! Most everyone took a nap of sorts, minus me, because that is my life right now. We watched most of the Aggie game (WH05P!) and then got ready to go to Mass. This segment felt like a blur too, but was enjoyable for the most part because the Aggies won (WH05P!).

Once we got out of Mass we high-tailed it over to my in-laws side of the family. They were all gathering for a birthday (which, that Saturday was also my Mom's birthday! I'll add to that in a later quick-take) and we wanted them to meet little Linus. As soon as we got there we soaked up every beautiful moment we could! Onto the next quick-take for photos of these moments!

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3 Things I'm Thankful For::

::Babies!!!

Here's the newest member of the family! How cute is he??!

Linus is also a farely new addition. I'm so glad everyone got to meet him and pretty sure all the aunts were able to carry and play with him. He was such a good boy and enjoyed all the arms and smiles.

Here are the three newest babies! All boys and incredibly sweet! Our family is so blessed! 

::Grandparents

The boys got to see their Nonna! They were pretty excited. Linus greeted her with some cute shy smiles.

And, Bigfoot greeted her with a game of chase. The boy was non-stop in this huge yard. Bigfoot loves his Nonna tons, so we're glad we got to see her for the time we did.

We love great-grandma! The boys got to her too! Always a gift when that happens!

::Uncle A and Rebekah

Bigfoot was so excited to see Uncle A! He ran right up to him ready to give a big hug!

We love these two! Rebekah, beautiful as always!

Uncle A's mini-me! Love it!

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As mentioned earlier, it was my mom's birthday. It was so nice to be able to be with her on such a special day. Things like this don't always happen since we don't live near our parents, so when it does it's nice to try and be present to the little gift God has shared.

My mom is such a blessing. She is beautiful and wonderful. She loves her grandson's so much and her kids and son-in-law as well! We're grateful for her health and all that she is. Love that we were able to celebrate Mass together on her Birthday, and spend the little bit of evening we had together (since we were all so spent in the morning/afternoon). God is good and we are thankful.

Haha, and I'm especially thankful for the next moments captured.

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it! Eli was fussing, I was setting the timer on the new camera that I don't yet know how to work properly, and my brother kept lighting matches (DANGEROUS!). In the chaos, Eli managed to grab my mom's hair, pull with all his strength; meanwhile, my mom was trying to blow out the match that my brother kept sticking in her face! Yikes! But, yay for this awesome time!

We did a little rearranging after the last picture we got, and then were blessed with this awesome moment! WOOHOO! Such a great picture of us all! Love it, and love my mom so very much! Prayers for another awesome year, filled with His Goodness, Love, Joy, and Peace!

So, right after the pictures were snapped, the boys needed to be put to bed. This unfortunately meant that I would spend a good hour of the rest of the evening nursing, bouncing, and swaying Linus to get to bed (because he was that fussy). I didn't get to spend too much time with my mom that evening since the boys were calling, but I'm thankful for the little time I did get, and all the time we had at the beach.

Honestly, while I was putting the boys down, I was really wanting to stuff my face with ICE-CREAM CAKE! I really heart ice-cream cake! So, when I finally finally was able to put Linus down without him crying, I ran as quietly as I could to go get my share. It was fabulous, friends! I mean, absolutely happy!

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Our Saturday was a good one, but as you can see it was non-stop! Thankfully, it was non-stop with lots of goodness.

Now, onto the last bit from 3-2-1 and my last quick-take...

2 Things in my Purse that don't need to be there:
::A wrapped fortune cookie from God-knows when.
::Bigfoot's sandle. Just one. The jury is out for the other one.

Thanks for stopping by!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary! And, Check out Angela for more 3-2-1 FUN!

7 Quick Takes Friday: 3-2-1 and some!

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3 Things I Am Thankful For

::I'm thankful for my husband planning a date night to celebrate our engagement anniversary (yup, we do this, and it's great!). I get to have the steak and margarita I was wanting in this post! Woohoo! And, as excited I am about eating out with the hubster, I am most excited to spend some QT with him! EXCITED!!

::Seeing how Bigfoot isn't old enough to hold down the fort, we are so very thankful for our friends who will be watching Bigfoot and Linus! We're hoping to squeeze in a dessert too, but we'll see how Linus does. Our friends, God-sends, I tell you! They seriously have no idea how they are blessing us!!

::Lastly, I'm thankful that things are starting to come together! The past few weeks-month, I have been an absolute hot mess! But things are calming down a little. I'm getting a little more sleep and feeling slightly more normal on the day-to-day. Wahoo! Mama feeling slightly more normal ForTheWin!

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2 of My Favorite Sounds

::Love, LoVe, LOVE hearing my boys laugh. It's the best sound EVER!

::My next favorite sound would be the sound of quiet stillness. It's a good sound. I do miss it. Whether it be the quiet stillness of outside, in a home, at a retreat, or in front of the blessed sacrament, all very nourishing.

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1 of My Favorite Smells

::Breastfed baby's breath!!!

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Now that I'm done with my 3-2-1, let's see what I can fill these quick takes with. As I mentioned in QT#1, things have been hectic, changing, busy, exhausting, and rejuvenating. Lots has happened and lots more is to come. I'll probably be sharing all of it in more detail in the next few months, but since things are still in the works, all I'll do now is ask for your prayers.

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Can I just say, I love my husband. He is pretty amazing. When things were terribly rough for me, I was absolutely miserable to live with (as much as he assured me I was not). He was working late and overtime, which meant I was doing so as well. And, if you know anything about me, I am not an OT type person. While I was working in mental health and as an interpreter, I would put in my hours and that was that. I treasured my time. I guarded my life outside of work. Anytime I put in extra hours, it weighed on me. It exhausted me instantly. I know my limits and OT is one that I would try not to cross in me pre-baby life.

Now, trying to explain to my boys about how I am not an OT person hasn't worked out as well as it did with my previous bosses/co-workers. They kind of just look at me funny and start running/rolling around like crazy.. or crying.. or they decide to make a poopy ..or {insert anything and everything under the sun that would make me get my job as a mama ON}. It's how things are right now. It's our season. With God's grace and LOTS and LOTS of prayer, I hope I can approach mama overtime with grace and love.

Feel free to pray for me in this area too. I'll milk all the prayers I can get!

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Funny thought: I think my days are starting to be defined by what link-up there is on said day. Most days my brain is scrambling to recognize what day of the week we are participating in. But, no worries! Blogging community to the rescue! I go to nurse sweet Linus, pull up my feedly, and VOILA! I know what day it is! It's pretty awesome. And, very reliable. So, thank you all you wonderful bloggers who keep me in the know!

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Speaking of you wonderful bloggers, you all are seriously so wonderful! I have so much to say about this little gem of a community that I have stumbled across. I'm still pretty new, but my goodness! Such a blessing!


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Ok, that's all I got for today. And, I need to pack these boys up so we can get to Mass on time before our dinner date!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

3-2-1: Thankful

Joining the 3-2-1 fun over at Suscipio. It's one of those days, refocusing on things I'm thankful for along with some fun is needed!

3 things I am thankful for…

::I'm thankful for Sister Kathleen. Dear Sister has had a very rough 2013. She broke her ankle back in January and had to have surgery and recovery for that only to fall and break her hip in March. I spoke with her yesterday to find out that she had been back in the hospital battling an infection for about three weeks. I'm thankful for her beautiful and Christ-like presence even in the midst of struggle. She has been an amazing blessing to me and my family. The two years of spiritual direction with her were a gift that I am forever grateful for.

Praying she recovers quickly and that our Precious Savior holds her close during these trying days of recovery.

::I'm thankful for coffee. Coffee is my friend.

::And, lastly, I'm thankful for opportunity. The opportunity that knocks on my face every morning to start new. All I need to do is greet it with a thankful heart. Lord, help me! Because my daily opportunities are typically greeted with a disheveled, sleepy, groan that says, "Please come back in an hour...or two."

Thank goodness opportunity is persistent, forgiving, and knocks on my husbands face too. He's been responding amazingly to it, and for that I am so incredibly thankful and proud. I hope to follow in his footsteps with God's grace and Eli sleeping better.

2 of my favorite  songs (1 secular, 1 religious)…

 ::Free by Zac Brown Band

::A Mother's Song by Danielle Rose

1 thing I wish were in my fridge right now…

::Steak! A frozen margarita made just right! And some fixings! nom-nom!

Well, I suppose that is more than one thing, but they all go together. So we'll just say they are my one thing.

Thanks for the perspective and fun, Jenni!