Tuesday Tip of the Day...Natural Beauties

Tip of the Day:

When someone says, "Oh, you don't have to get me anything. Especially flowers. They're too expensive and they'll just die in a day anyway!" Don't believe them. Flowers will always put a smile on someone's face. Especially if they came from someone you care about. Flowers are God's natural wonders of beauty. From a small seed, beauty erupts at the right time and will display such amazing + vibrant colours and shapes.

For longer lasting flowers, just take care of your flowers when you receive them. Cut bottom stems at an angle. Remove some of the leaves from the flower bunch. Put them in water, add flower medicine (or crushed tylenol). Remember to keep your flowers away from air conditioners or heat registers. Change the water everyday and cut the ends off on an angle.

Now, go ahead and surround yourself with these natural beauties and enjoy every moment!

oui, oui!
jo xoxo

a shining example to the human race...Merci Beaucoup Mondays

VIRGIN MARY and baby Jesus at the Courtyard of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, L'Erable, Illinois
photo by labour of love

For many Christians, especially the Roman Catholics, Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, today is The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary~August 15 . (information from Loyola Press here and Wikipedia over here .)

Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was born without sin, was taken, body and soul, into the glory of heaven on this day. Because of Mary's role in God's plan of salvation, she does not suffer from the effects of sin, which are death and decay. Mary is the first to receive the fullness of the redemption that her son has won for all of humanity. The Church, therefore, recognizes Mary as the sign of the salvation promised to all.

Mary's faith enabled her to recognize the work of God in her people's history and in her own life. Her openness to God allowed God to work through her so that salvation might come to all. Mary is a model and symbol of the Church. May we be like Mary, open and cooperative in God's plan of salvation.

A Catholic Theologian, Ludwig Ott, viewed Mary as having completed her life as a shining example to the human race, with the perspective that the gift of assumption is offered to the whole human race. (information from Wikipedia here )

Merci Beaucoup, Sweet, Blessed Virgin Mary for having faith in God and happily accepting God's plan. I pray that I can continue to have Faith and continue to do God's will, just as you had.

until next time
bonne nuit,

jo;) xoxo

Hello August!

This summer surely is going by so fast! Maybe because the munchkins and I are absolutely busy every single day. Not one day goes by where we aren't doing something or going somewhere. I guess that's good in a way. It keeps us hopping. But it prevents me from updating my social media outlets big time...July went by like a flash. I do have photos to prove it but I just haven't had the chance to upload them. Soon...I know I sound like a broken record, but I promise myself that I will post soon.

Last month we went on a mini-vacation to Michigan, with my very creative sis, Mary Ann (whom we lovingly call Reya). We stayed at my sis' good friend's, Joanne's sweet B&B and went to another of my sis' good friend, Angela's BBQ&Pool Party. It was beautiful. Their homes were absolutely divine!!! A much needed getaway! Sooooooo very, very, very...Hoooooooooooooot but very beautiful! Joanne and Angela surely made us feel so welcomed. Thank you so very much ladies for sharing your homes, your weekend + your hearts with us. The munchkins and I loved every minute!!! I met some wonderful + Creative Soules...so much inspiration going on...(again, I took some great pics of our trip...and will post soon...)

We also had the chance to visit the Sketchbook Project when it came to Chi-Town. We met so many wonderful artists that I can't wait to share some great photos of their work and photos of the artists themselves! We met this mother-daughter duo from Indiana. Ann + Kelly . They are the sweetest duo ever!!!! Their journals were so beautiful and inspirational. Please check Kelly's post to see more of their fabulous visit to Chi-Town over here... (I will hopefully post my pics soon of these amazing women and our visits)

I hope you are all enjoying these dog days of summer and having a blast with your loved ones. In the meantime, please enjoy the above desktop calendars for August (sweet french vanilla angel cuppies & lazy summer days=sunflower) (and sorry about my late July photos~delicious blueberry puffs w/ blueberry lemon tea~yum!)

until next time... au revoir...

xoxo jo

Parades, Fireworks, Stars+Stripes...oh my!

cheerleading camp. done!
my lil' gal is one jumpin, flyin' cheerleader to be...she loves all her flip-flops. all those gymnastic classes sure has helped her physically and mentally.

So proud of you, sweetie! until next year...GOOoooooooooo Shioban!

now, in a couple of hours, it'll be parade time over here. the munchkins are excited!

we're decorating their bikes with red, white + blue...this year they'll be able to enjoy some sparklers + snap poppers. my lil' guys are so cute.
they read the boxes of these lil' firecrackers and said:

i+s: "Guess what Mommy?"

j: "What is it munchkins?"

i+s: "It says not good for kids under 9. And guess what...we're the big 9!!!! Whoo-hoo! We get to touch these mini sparklers + poppin' thing-a-ma-jigs!"

j: "Rah-Roh...me thinks I created 2 monsters..."

well, better get our sparklers on...we're heading to some friends house for some birthday celebration + early 4th of July partying!

i'll post photos of our weekend soon.
in the meantime...hope you have the best + safe 4th of July weekend!
xoxo

merci beaucoup...

can't believe June's ending...like i've been saying all year long...where does the time go?!

this summer is flying...loads of stuff being done everyday!

so much has happened this June but running around with munchkins in tow to all of their summer activities, really leaves me no time to update this lil' blog of mine.

when i get the chance, i'm going to share some photos of some of the
neat things we've been doing this June.

first, the kiddos celebrated their 9th b-day in memory of our sweet Angel Sinead.

this year's theme was "Fear Factor." they (we) had a blast!
then, we ended the school year on June 13th-yay!
now, everyday, the kiddos and i have been busy with science enrichment programs, get-fit camps for kids, gymnastics, cheer tumbling, cheerleading camp, pom-poms, hip-hop, guitar, youth club commission, swimming, parties, playdates, zumba (thxs kristie for discovering this!), bootcamp (thxs coach luch for the serious, motivational+energetic program) , walking track (thxs cath/jen for the inspirational walks/talks)...and more...
the month of june had so many birthdays, including mine + my sweetheart. it was very low-key celebrations. those special peeps of mine who remembered and sent sweetness our way will always be treasured in our hearts. thank you very much for making us feel so special!


oh, yes... in the midst of all the chaos...new friendships have been formed.
it's good to know that there are still nice+sweet peeps out there.
i'm just lucky to have this opportunity to share some great times with them.
i want to thank these special hearts for taking the time to wish me well.

hoping you are all enjoying these beautiful days of summer...until next time!
bonne nuit
xoxo

Summertime...

summer has come early this year...record highs in the 90's for early June...but that's ok...it's a nice welcome after a long winter. it's also been such a stormy spring but i like the rain~just not tornados or hurricanes...with all the natural disasters going on in our world today, i think it's been affecting how people act in society. i mean, lots of stuff has been happening around my neck of the woods. kids almost done with school. it's been one rocky school year. no, not about their grades but about their social well-being. people can be strange. we've been dealing with crazy stuff this year. i don't like to bring negative karma to this lil' ol blog of mine but sometimes letting off steam can be a good thing.

just a simple question: why in the world can people be so weird?!

our lil' family is doing our best to maintain happiness amongst all the bs. no one can take our happiness away. here's a message to the negative person that's been bothering our family:

"hey you...yea you... the one that has been stalking and sending negative karma our way...it's NOT WORKING!"
we're still here in this world and we're as happy as can be... here's to you my sweet lil' family...thank you for being you and being great troopers...i love you my sweet family...here's to a great summer to come...exciting things will be happening for my munchkins...will post pics soon...until next time...enjoy the sweetness of SUMMER!

xoxo

June...sweetness

enjoy all that summer has to offer!

xoxo