No S!

Today I tried out the No S way of eating. I wanted to try this so that I can start working on my issue of food and the sin of gluttony. It is funny how when you try to start thinking a new way, all you do is think about the old way!

I was surprised about how many times I thought about food and what I was going to eat. It was almost like a panic that I would not eat enough food at lunch and I would not be able to make it to dinner. It was almost at a subconscious level that food was permeating my thinking. It makes me very sad when I think about it.

When it came time for dinner, all I kept thinking about was how I was going to make it through the evening. We usually have something "Sweet" after dinner. There is a lemon cake from Costco that we had been snacking on since Saturday and I will be so happy when it is gone! I am also going to bed as soon as my husband does so I am not tempted to eat.

Gluttony

On Saturday when I was reading some of my favorite blogs, I came across a great post by Et Tu? She has great thought provoking posts and this Saturday was no different. It was about a diet that had made her reflect on the sin of gluttony. It is a good read and I recommend it.

She was talking about the "No-S" Diet. This is a book written by Reinhard Engels. It says that you stay away from Snacking, Sweets and Seconds; except sometimes on Special days (weekdays that start with S or on National holidays, religious holidays or immediate family birthdays.)

Since I have read this, I have been thinking a lot about gluttony in my life. I know that I have a problem with food. I am overweight and I have been having a very difficult time dealing with it. I can do good for a short time but then revert back to my old ways. No matter how much I believe that I am tired of being overweight and I am ready to lose the weight, I quickly give up and give in to food. I do not eat to live, I live to eat.

When I went to find out exactly what the definition of gluttony was, it was like a slap in my face. I don't think that I have ever really considered the sin of gluttony, but I really need to.

According to St. Gregory, one of the doctors of the church, I have been committing the sin of gluttony for some time. Here are the five ways by which one can commit the sin of gluttony:

Eating before the time of meal in order to satisfy the palate.
Seeking delicacies and better quality of food to gratify the "vile sense of taste."
Seeking after sauces and seasonings for the enjoyment of the palate.
Exceeding the necessary amount of food.
Taking food with too much eagerness, although eating the proper amount.
The fifth way is worse than all others, said the saint, because it shows attachment to pleasure most clearly among others. He said then that one may succumb to the sin of gluttony by:
time (when)
quality
stimulants
quantity
eagerness

Wow, this made me have to stop and think. I definitely have a problem with exceeding the necessary amount of food, if I didn't I wouldn't need to lose a large amount of weight! I liked the way St. Thomas Aquinas reiterated the list of five ways to commit gluttony:
Praepropere - eating too soon
Laute - eating too expensively
Nimis - eating too much
Ardenter - eating too eagerly
Studiose - eating too daintily ( I probably don't have to worry about this one!)

I am going to have to really examine my life, my eating habits and praying about this problem. Now that I know this is a sin, I am responsible for it. I am going to have to think about how I can change things so that I can correct this. I think that this "No S" way of thinking could help in at least making me think and be conscious of what and when I am eating.

Please say a prayer for me as I struggle to work on this problem. It is something that I have struggled with for most of my life. I am going to really have to pray about this and ask God to help me. I probably need to go to confession too!

Three Years Ago!

I was browsing through some old photos and found these two of my children. These are from almost exactly three years ago. This was one of the first pictures of both of my children at the beach. My son did not like the big big beach for along time! I can't believe he is actually lying on it in this picture. I forgot how blond his hair was at this age.

And my sweet little Gerber baby! She loved riding in the backpack with my husband. Oh how I miss this age. When you are going through it, it is tough at times, but they were so sweet

back then. Dear Lord, I pray that you bless me with many more wonderful moments with my children!

Killing Time

When we went on the train trip Monday, there was a lot of time spent waiting. At the beginning, the train was delayed twenty minutes. Since I had my camera, I of course started taking pictures of my son. Usually my son will not just stand there and let me take his picture. He is starting to be at the age where he wants to be making a silly face or posing as a Power Ranger. On Monday, because he was in front of his teachers, he pretty much let me snap away. These are a few of my favorites.

What an impish little smile and face he has. This was at the end of the trip.

A big smile!

And this one is a favorite. I bet he is thinking "I just wish she would stop all ready!"

Bowling

My son's summer school group went on a field trip today to our local bowling alley. My daughter and I tagged along to watch and bowl. Neither of my children have ever bowled at the bowling alley before, only on their cousins, Wii. They discovered that this is quite different. Here my son is getting ready to throw the ball down the lane, and I do mean "throw".
His ball would go "clunk" on the lane and then proceed, ever so slowly down the lane. It would take some time before it would get to the pins. But he always patiently waited until it did!

He did pretty darn good for the first time bowling! The bumpers did help though! He scored better then a couple of the older kids that were bowling with him and next to him and this made him happy.

My daughter and I bowled on a different lane by ourselves. We could take as long as we wanted, and we needed it! She also has the "clunk" bowling down! Once her ball stopped half way down the lane! When the man got it, he pushed it down the lane and got her a good score. That made her happy, because it was her ball after all.

Her very first frame she scored a 9! The other 9 frames weren't quite as successful. But she looked awfully cute trying!

We had a great cheeseburger and fries from the grill for lunch when we were done. The teachers told me this is why they always make it a point to go to the bowling alley at least once during the summer. It was as good as they said it would be.

When we left, I asked my son if he had fun. He said he did but said that he liked bowling on Aunt T's Wii better! We got to get a Wii.

National Champions!

How about them Fresno State Bulldogs! What an impressive job that this team did at the College World Series. They did Fresno Proud! We can always count on Fresno State to shock the sports world with an upset! These guys worked hard, played as a team and never got down. Way To Go DOGS! Fresno Bulldogs that is!

Riding the Train

On Monday, my son got to ride the train to Saint John's Cathedral. It was a planned field trip for his summer school program. I was excited to be able to go with him and enjoy a relaxing train ride. We were the largest group waiting for the train, but there were lots of people that morning.

The children had been studying about the cathedral the week before, unfortunately this was the week that my son was sick. He hadn't seen the video but he was still excited to ride the train and to be going on an adventure after being couped up in the house all last week.

We separated into groups at the cathedral. We stayed close to the teacher so we could see and hear about the things the kids had learned about the week before. One of the things that they learned about was the mural that is painted on the altar. It is hard to see in the picture, but it is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost with angels around them. A parishioner commissioned the mural. They had two of the angels painted in memory of two children from the school, one had passed away and the other had polio. The teacher had the children try and pick out which angels in the mural were these children.

We also looked at all the beautiful stained glass windows. This window is of the Nativity. It is the only picture west of the Mississippi of the baby Jesus that has auburn hair. This makes it an unusual depiction of Jesus. It is hard to see in the picture but it is very clear when you are looking at it in person.

On the side of the church is the "Avenue of the Saints". My son said, "I guess that would be called Saint Avenue, huh Mommy!" There are statues of different saints with prayers under each name. Most are in memory of priest and monsignors who have been at the church in the past.

There were lots of parents who went on the trip, so each of us were only in charge of one or two extra children. The little boy they assigned to me was a year older than my son. He was very sweet and we had a good time with him.

After touring the Cathedral we walked down to the city square. It was several blocks away but we had such nice weather that it was an enjoyable walk. When the kids got there we took a group picture in front of the fountain.

Then we played a fun game of Duck Duck Goose in the park! It has been a long time since I got to enjoy that game. All the kids had a good time and got to work off a little bit a energy!

I think what my son liked the best about the trip was playing solitaire on the train. When we went to the cafeteria car at the beginning of the trip, all he wanted was a deck of playing cards. I got a cup of coffee and he got cards! All he was concerned about when we were leaving was getting a seat with a table so he could play on the way home. On the trip home it was standing room only, since we were a planned group, they had sectioned off enough seats for us!

We had a great time. I am glad I took the day off to go and enjoy the trip with him. I think it would be a lot of fun for our whole family to go on a trip on the train. I will have to look into it because it has to be cheaper then driving right now!

Finishing Thoughts!

Here are the last of the pictures from the past
weekend.

This is third falls, the tallest and fastest of the waterfalls. We only swim at the very bottom of the falls. What we can do, is climb up the side and hike up to the creek that feeds the falls. It is very beautiful up there and if you look carefully in the dirt you can find pieces of obsidian that the Indians had chipped off their arrowheads. Arrowheads have been found up there, but I have never found one. It has been awhile since I have been up there, maybe with all the walking, we will be in better shape to take our kids up there when they get a little bigger.

A very, very rare picture of me posted on the blog! Especially since I have no makeup, and probably had not even combed my hair! I liked this one, besides all that, and thankfully we had my nephew to take the picture.

What will kids do when they are waiting for their parents? Well in this case, my nephew had a willing kid to tie up! She was so happy that he tied her up. It is probably because he is not her older brother. I know his younger sister would never willingly allow this to happen!

And last but not least, I thought this was a really cool picture. It was taken by my son while he was laying on the hammock. My children Love to take pictures! I think they do a pretty good job most of the time. I love digital for this reason. They can take as many as they want and I can delete the crazy ones!

For the Birds

One of our favorite things to do in the morning at the cabin is to feed the Blue Jays. We almost always have a large bag of peanuts in the shell to leave out for the birds. Once they are laid out on the rail of the deck, we sit back and watch. Here is my Dad enjoying his coffee with three of his grandchildren.

The birds are funny because they will pick up the peanuts and put them down until they find the right one. They also try to get more then one in their beaks. They go after each other to keep each other away from the good peanuts!.

They are very used to getting fed so they will come even if we are sitting on the deck, as long as we are not too close. We watched them fly off and put the peanuts in the holes of the trees that the wood peckers had made.

I always thought that they would go and bury them. We wondered why we never found peanut plants growing up here!

The beauty of the mornings at the cabin are a favorite memory. As a little one there was always a fire going to keep us warm. We would sit on the couch and watch the birds and wake up slowly, anticipating what adventure we would have. As an adult it is sitting in the cool of the deck, drinking a mug of coffee, and waking up slowly to the promise of a quiet stress free day. I love this place and always will!

Under the Weather

My little guy has been sick this week. He started to get sick when we were up in the mountains. He kept trying to plug along, but we could tell that he was just not his normal self. I guess the first week of summer school did him in!

When we were out hiking on Sunday morning, he got tired after a short time and we knew that we had better hurry back. I thought this was a cute picture of him and my husband out hiking in the woods. It doesn't tell the tale of what is really happening.

Not to far from the cabin, he was just tuckered out. Daddy then gave him a ride. The scenery is just so beautiful and peaceful, even though my son is not!

This was taken early in the day on Saturday. It should have given me a hint of what was to come. It is just not like him to want to take a rest, especially since there is so much exploring to do.

This picture again does not foretell what was to happen in just a few minutes. I will just say that we were thankful that we had all finished eating and that his plate was empty in front of him!

We took him to the doctor today and he was not too happy about it. The last time he had to get shots, so he was thinking that he was going to have to get another one. No reassurance or bribery would convince him otherwise. I wish I would have had my camera in the car. The look on his face was priceless. He was very quite and I asked him if he was thinking about how much he loved his mother. Of course the answer was "NO!" He just has a viral infection that will have to run its course. I hope that it is soon because I sure miss having my sweet little guy around!

The Door

I again decided to take a hint from the Pioneer Woman and decided to take some pictures in the doorway of Papa's Cabin. For just a regular old point and shoot camera, I think these turned out pretty good. It was fun getting my daughter to let me take them. I wonder how long she will do this willingly?

I wouldn't have thought that a doorway would make such interesting pictures. I think each one, although very similar, is also very different. I don't know which one is my favorite. I think it is probably the first one!

P.S. Okay I went back and looked at the post on Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, and mine don't even slightly compare! But I love the subject in mine much better!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the wonderful man that made me a Mother! I am so glad that God brought you into my life and gave us these two beautiful children. Thank you for loving our children and being the great Daddy that you are!

A Piece of Heaven

(Photo by my three year old daughter!)

I am so blessed to have the wonderful Father that I do. He is not only a great Father, but he is a man of strong faith and a love for his family. We were able to spend some time with him up at his cabin this weekend. It is a little piece of heaven that he has built for his family.

When I was only a little over three years old, my grandmother, Opoe, died. Opoe, which is dutch for grandmother, was my father's mother. He was heartbroken when he lost his mother. I remember my mother telling me that it was one of the hardest things that she saw him go through. But he turned her loss into a beautiful legacy for himself and his children.

He took the money that he got from my grandmother's estate, it wasn't much when it was divided between nine children, and used it to buy a lot of land in the mountains. He then spent the next several years building a cabin on it. He wanted to leave his six children a place where they would always be able to go with their children.

We spent almost every weekend and several weeks at at time during the summer coming up here. We had so much fun playing games, swimming, fishing, hiking and enjoying time as a family. It is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I am now sharing this love with my children.

It is so peaceful and beautiful up here. This is one of the views from the deck. We would spend afternoons putting puzzles together, sharing snacks and sodas and reading on this deck. We almost always ate dinner out here.

There is a creek at the bottom of this little hill. You can hear the water running down to our little pond. It is such a peaceful sound. I love drinking my coffee on the deck in the morning, listening to the birds and the creek. It is a little piece of heaven.

This is the swimming hole. Oh the memories that I have here. I remember freezing my legs off when I was little, sliding down the natural water slide and trying to get a tan. We spent most afternoons playing in this swimming hole with other kids from the camp.

This is looking up the creek to what is Second Falls. Sometimes we would walk up the creek to get there, but it is a workout. It is so beautiful and this picture does not do it justice. Another piece of heaven.

This is looking from Second Falls down the same creek. Again, this is such a beautiful, peaceful place. The falls are steep enough to slide down. When the water is running like it is now, you go really fast. It is so much fun for the older kids.

There are so many waterfalls up the creek from Second Falls going to Third Falls. Even though my children have been up this way before, they didn't remember it. Luckily we had Cousin T with us to give us a hand on all the rocks. The kids loved having him with us.

Here my husband poses with Third Falls in the back ground. It was really beautiful with the water running like it was. All the little waterfalls were beautiful. Again, another piece of heaven.

I overheard my father telling my daughter yesterday that "this is all of our cabin. It belongs to all of us." This place will always be "Papa's Cabin" to me. It is a piece of heaven that he has built for his family. It is a place that will always hold many wonderful memories that were all made possible by a wonderful Father! I Love You Dad! Happy Father's Day!

Congratulations!

We celebrated with the Katviper and her husband Wednesday Night at the graduation of their oldest son Ryan. It was a very nice graduation even though there were like six hundred students! His high school had two campuses and they graduated both campuses in one ceremony! It has been a long time since I have actually attended the graduation ceremony. They did a great job at keeping the ceremony interesting. I really liked the fact that it was indoors!!
They allowed the students to sit with their friends. Ryan has a very entertaining set of friends and they were fun to watch. It wasn't a coincedince that the beach balls and balloons seem to originate in their area!

We wish Ryan and all of his class Good Luck on their future and may they all stay safe!

Happy Birthday Katviper!

I just wanted to give a shout out to my sister in law "The Katviper" who is celebrating a birthday today! She got to celebrate the day watching her oldest son graduate from high school.

She is a crazy and fun sister in law. I am so glad she has become my wine drinking buddy! When I first met her she only drank the boxed stuff! Now I can always count on her having a great bottle of wine when I go to her house!

I can also count on her to be doing something crazy, like trying to get arrested at Trace Atkins house in Tennessee. And then she calls me on my cell phone to tell me about, but when I answer she wants me to hang up so she can leave me a message! She does leave me some crazy messages! She is always good for a laugh.

So Happy Birthday Katviper! I hope you had a great day and we can celebrate in the next week or so!