Papa and Nana took the entire family on a week getaway. We spent three days at a theme park. It was a nice opportunity for me to work on eutrapelia.
This is my picture re-cap – the PRETTY, HAPPY, FUNNY, AND REAL.
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Day 1
10am – 8:30
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striving to radiate Him always
by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: GFG, Summer, Vacation
Papa and Nana took the entire family on a week getaway. We spent three days at a theme park. It was a nice opportunity for me to work on eutrapelia.
This is my picture re-cap – the PRETTY, HAPPY, FUNNY, AND REAL.
~~~
Day 1
10am – 8:30
~~~
by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Birthday, GFG, Sweetie
This is a belated birthday post for Sweetie, Papi’s birthday buddy. She turned seven on August 25, 2012.
She opted for a simple dinner for her birthday date. Dad and I doubled it up, of course. It was an anniversary-birthday date night.
The food was not great but Sweetie didn’t mind. She was too busy being giddy about being out alone with mom and dad.
We returned home for Dad’s cake creation – a fruit cake like no other.
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Sweetie celebrated her birthday with Papi the night before.
She open her presents from Nana and Papa.
She received a cute magnetic doll and a digital camcorder. She’s been making movie non-stop.
~~~
We give thanks for Sweetie and each day You grant us. We pray that she walk in Your light and be filled with Your JOY.
by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Birthday, GFG, Papi
This is a belated birthday post for Papi’s fifth birthday – August 24, 2012.
He planned his birthday date with mom and dad and invited all of his sibling. His spot of choice was Chuck E. Cheese’s. He even found his own coupon.
We went during the early hours to avoid a crowd. Papi passed out the tokens and they ventured off. It was nice to have Veggie Tales music playing in the background instead of pop music.
The kids shared a cheese pizza and had a sliver of chocolate cake.
We returned home to detox from the sugar and excitement rest. Rose and I prepped for our birthday-buddies’ dinner with Nana and Papa.
We made one of Papi’s favorite dishes, baked ziti and tri-tip, it was gluten free. Turns out, Papi isn’t fond of pasta anymore but he did get his fill of meat.
Rose made a delicious gluten free chocolate strawberry cake.
The birthday buddies opened their gifts from Nana and Papa.
Papi received an eclectic guitar and a digital camera.
The night ended with a late night birthday swim.
May the Good Lord bless you and keep you.
by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: GFG, New Look
7.21.12
The girls were due for another hair donation. The deal was that they could get their haircut after swim season. I find that it’s easier to magically maneuver thick long hair into a swim cap than to expect the swim cap to hold thick short hair. Anyway, the time had come but I kept putting off the haircuts because the budget was too tight to justify such an expense.
Cutting their hair did not seem to be an option since I have only found one hair dresser who can properly cut our thick hair. Not wanting to disappoint, I sought an alternative. I found the CreaClip. It’s price was slightly under what one hair cut for the girls would cost me. Dad approved.
The CreaClip arrived shortly after I had ordered and it sat on the counter for about a week. I said to the girls that I had to wait until I had my energy back but I think it was really more a matter of gaining courage to chop their hair on my own. I watched online tutorials almost everyday to gain confidence.
Finally, I found enough energy to pop out of bed. We were all still in our PJs. Rose helped prep the kids since Dad was away. I started with Dragonfly. We all favor his curls so I usually scissor cut his hair. This wasn’t much of a deviation for him. He’s a trooper as long as he gets his lollipop.
Papi was next. That was a BIG mistake. He doesn’t have the patience to sit long enough for me to work my way through his massive head of thick hair. He also has a real aversion to cut hair on his skin. I’ve yet to find a covering that works for him. I think I’ll stick to the trimmers when it comes to Papi and be certain to wait for reinforcement to be present.
By this time I was ready to hop back into bed. The girls were not having it so I carried on. Dad arrived home and was surprised that I started without cleaning up myself or the girls and had not taken one pic. So he did what any blogger’s husband would do, grabbed his cell phone and started snapping away. (Side note, most of pics these days come from either Dad or Sparkles. Both are bloggers at heart.)
Sparkles wanted to be first. I was hesitant since she is very meticulous about her hair. I had to prep her about perfection on this earth. She understood were I was going with my talk and consented to move forward with the much anticipated cut. She opted for an a-line bob.
Sparkles quickly filled the seat. She chose to have a slightly longer cut since she had enough to yield the donation without going above the shoulders. Her style of choice was a long straight bob cut.
Both girls were thrilled with their new cuts. That’s the benefit of making them wait so long for a hair cut, it doesn’t take much to please them.
I was on a roll and found my next guinea pig willing participant, Rose. I ended up only trimming and layering her hair. She too, was happy with the results. I later turned the scissors on myself. I needed a could cleaning up. Dad was the overseeing stylist, keeping me in check so that I didn’t get carried away. (The hair cutting rule applies to me, too.) I loved being able to trim up my own hair at home without an expense.
Overall the CreaClip did it’s job. If anything, it provided me with the courage to attempt the girl’s hair cutting at home. Patience and some skill is still required to get the desired look.
Better before and after pics are on their way.
by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: GFG, Summer
8.4.12
We ventured out to a local State Park only 30 min from home.
swim, hike, picnic, explore, sand, sunshine, rain, animals, uma, family…
adventure all day long!
We ended the blessed day with a grand finale, the car breaks went out on the freeway. Praise God that we were safe and were able to make it to Mass and the Parish Pig Roast the following day.
Hi! I'm Lena, mama of JOYfilledfamily.
We are a traditional Catholic family striving to live for Jesus Christ in everything we do. We pray to completely surrender our will to His and to become His servants. Our mission of this blog is to share our JOY.
This blog serves as a journal of us making good memories, living the liturgical year, and our spiritual journey.