Intertwined

As an owner of a flock of four parakeets, I will sometimes venture outside to find some branches for the birdies to jump on.  It is almost like a new pair of shoes for them.

They freak out when the new branches are introduced, but after a while, they are happily jumping on them and peeling off all the bark.

Since they had eaten a lot of the bark off the first branch I put in the cage, I went in search for more and noticed that my favorite Lilac bush had been damaged from the crazy October snow storm we had last year.

As I approached the bush, I noticed that the other branches had wrapped themselves around the dead branch, not allowing me to remove anything.

It was as if the branches went out and supported those branches that were injured so they could remain together.
Looking at my Lilac Bush showed me a good life lesson.

To wrap ourselves around each other in times of need to support the ones you love and hold each other up.

Pink, sparkly disco balls....

  Visualization....it is one the keys to success...in my mind anyway.  This week was one riddled with illness,  and one of the main "sickies" was me. Ugh. Being sick and being Mom is not easy. Thank God for my cooperative Hubby who takes on the role of Mr. Mom so seamlessly, I begin to wonder why I stayed home all those years ago and not him!  

  Anyway, one of the things that I did yesterday (besides buy Ultra Tums) was to visualize....happier times, happier things.  

What might that be?  Well for me, turning my thoughts to my Birthday party last year is just the cure I need to take my mind off my aching tummy. So after I took a nap in the afternoon (It hurts so much it keeps me up at night), I took the time to plan my 2nd Annual Club night with the girls.  3 months early.  Just designing it and sending the invites out made me feel better since I imagine I will be as healthy as a horse by then. 

   It has a pink, sparkly disco ball on the front of it, with pink balloons on the envelope and all the info for the party. (I did it at Punchbowl.com...one of the classier invite websites out there) Pink sparkly disco balls....just the cure for a tummy ache!

Gotta go take a tums....

Loudly yours,

Alicia

The best way to do death....

.....by Chocolate, that is!  It is that time of the year when we have our Annual Choir Party and it has become tradition that I bring Death by Chocolate, so I thought I would share my version of the recipe.

Here is what you need:

2 packages of this:

(Prepare as directed but with milk instead of water)

 2 big or 4 small packages of

3 containers of this:

3 tsp of this:

3 x 1/3 cup of this:

Small or medium bag of these:

And a bunch of drops of this (or any peppermint extract)

Prepare the brownies according to the box, except use milk instead of water. Cool and set aside. (mik, eggs, oil)

While the brownies are baking, prepare the pudding according to the box. (milk)

Put the chocolate chips in a blending machine of any sort or crush with a rolling pin and wax paper. Add the peppermint drops and mix until blended well.  Prepare to taste.

Take the whipping cream and put it in a blender or kitchen aid mixer. (I have a Blendtec and it whips up in about 25 seconds) Add 1/3 a cup of sugar for every 2 cups of cream.  Add 1 tsp of vanilla to every 2 cups as well.

After the browning mix cools, start making layers!

BROWNIE

PUDDING

WHIPPED CREAM

CRUSHED CHOCOLATE CHIPS

repeat 2 or 3 times 

...and you will get:

aHHHHHHHHHH! The ULTIMATE Chocolate lover's delight....DEATH BY CHOCOLATE!

Bon Apetite!

Loudly Yours,

Alicia

Our Anniversary Tree

   Today marks the 21st year of the Anniversary of day I married the Man that I love.  It was not raining that day, but it had snowed the night before and it was covered in a beautiful blanket of snow.  It was perfect, except I originally wanted a fall wedding....oh well.  Such is life with its twists and turns!  Our Wedding Day was beautiful in many ways.  We were lucky enough to have a free choir singing and a beautiful day outside (it was so sunny!), so it was bonus when we got the chance to be married with Christmas Trees, a Manger Scene, gold Altar Cloth and Poinsettias.  We begged Fr. Joe to leave them up and thankfully, he did.  So, every year, we leave our Christmas Tree up until after our Anniversary, to honor the memory of a family begun on that special day!

Loudly yours,

Alicia

ps- This year I started a tradition of putting the Christmas Cards on the Tree.  I love it and will do it again next year....it was the tape's fault....since it got itself lost! ;)

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND with NET team #9

This Thanksgiving weekend, we got to meet NET Team #9.....

NET Ministries challenges young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the Church. Every August, 120 young Catholics aged 18-28 leave behind their jobs, school, family, and friends to devote nine months to serving with the National Evangelization teams. Divided into 11 teams, they travel across the U.S. for nine months to share the Gospel with young people and their families. Since 1981, NET teams have led over 25,000 retreats and ministered to more than 1.6 million young Catholics.

My son, Gavin, has been a part of NET Ministries for almost 2 yrs..  This year, our family was blessed with a visit from his team.  It was great to meet them all. 

They arrived in their NET van on a rainy Thanksgiving Eve. (Everyone in our home, prior to their arrival, was excited and the nervous energy was abundant!)  I knew we would never remember all of their names, so I made name tags to make it easier. The first thing we did after all the introductions, was to open the packages that had arrived at my home prior to their arrival.  One box was a Thanksgiving treat for all of the team members.  The gift was simple, but the sentiment was great. The next box had a coat for one of the girls.  (It is interesting for some of the team members who are from warmer parts of the country, who need heavier winter garments in the colder temps)

( Ivan is pictured here, buying his very first pair of gloves)

Next was dinner, Chinese food for all!  We spread ourselves all over the house as best we could, prayed, and shared our meal. 

After we had dinner, we piled on the couch (for the most part) and watched Nacho Libre. Love that movie.  It's a must see if you like Jack Black.  JB just cracks me up.

 

Then it was off to my Parent's house, were the team spent the night.  Some upstairs at my Sister's part of the house and some downstairs at my Parent's. In the morning, we all met at Notre Dame for Thanksgiving Mass. The team spent Thanksgiving Day  with my Parents and we met them at my Father in Law's house for Dessert.

THE DAY IN NYC

Since I knew that some of the team might never have a chance to see NYC, I thought a trip into the City was a must.  So, after Thanksgiving Dinner, I came home and mapped out a plan to give them some of the best of NYC. It took me a couple of hours to do it, but it was worth it at the end of the day. 

5:50 am (no kidding)

Early Black Friday monring, around 5:15 am, I was not sneaking out to the stores, but instead shaking children up to head to NYC. 

Since the team had their own van to travel in, we took 2 vans and headed to Staten Island, where we paid $8 for parking and headed on the Ferry, which was FREE! (We had tolls on the Goethels Bridge and another on the Parkway as well)

Getting onto the SI Ferry allowed them to A. be on a Ferry  B. See the Statue of Liberty C. See Ellis Island and D. See the Liberty Towers being built.  Bingo....4 attractions, crossed off the list.

7:30 am

For $2.50 each,  we got onto the subway  (an attraction for most of the team) and took it to 52nd St, right next to Central Park. 

8:20am

Central Park was very fun, as we were right at the entrance to the Zoo and we got some time to visit the Sea Lions and take pictures under the Central Park Zoo Clock and the huge rock right up the path.

8:45 am

Next it was past the Plaza Hotel (which some Team Members recognized as the Home Alone Hotel),

The Apple Store and FAO Swartz....check, check, check.  Remember that it was Black Friday, so they had it all dolled up for Christmas and the whole Holiday Season.

9:30 am

Walked along 5th Ave, looking at all the dressed up windows.....to St. Patrick Cathedral....

 

....Rockefeller Center

I packed lunch for the kids, so we had our lunch at 30 Rock on the benches there and the team went into RC to get some lunch at Subway.  (By the way, a great deal is to be found at the Drug Store in 30 Rock, where I found a 6 pack of water for around $4!....if you have ever traveled to NYC, you know what a deal that is! ~the water is about $3 each anywhere else!)

After lunch, we headed to 12 pm Mass at St Pat's....

12:40 pm


A quick stop to Nintendo World on 48th on the way to 7th Ave....

A QUICK PHOTO OPP...

 1:00 PM
TIMES SQUARE!

We arrived at our final destination!  Some of us were overwhelmed by the wall to wall crowd, some drinking it all in....I admit I had a little of the first and a whole lot of the second....

 After Times Square, we headed back to the subway, rode back to the Ferry and minutes after leaving the Staten Island Ferry parking lot, the kids were mostly fast asleep! 

In the end, if I could, I would do it all over again!

Every single part.

THE END!!!!

For more information on NET TEAM # 9, click on the link below...

NET TEAM #9