Dana Daily

I signed up to start receiving daily meditations and this one struck a chord. I may be able to talk more about what prompted this post later, but for now I'm putting it here so that I can refer to it from time to time. While the future may be uncertain to us, we can rest comfortably in the loving control and sovereignty of our Heavenly Father. We can trust his plan, and we can rely upon his fatherly design and control.                              -from Zealous

We should have paid more attention to this. Since we went to Franklin yesterday, I had copious amounts of laundry to contend with today. It was quite the project. Since the weather didn't cooperate for a trip to Kennywood, I told Sal I wanted to run the girls to the mall and then hit Target for baby cereal. I didn't know what time the mall opened, but figured it would be 10 or 11am. We arrived at 10:40. Sears was the only store open, but lucky for us that's where I had parked. We mosied through the upper level and stopped by the perfume department to try a few different scents. I'm sure we smelled simply divine. We window-shopped through the mall to the food court and took the escalator down to the lower level. We waited for Auntie Anne's to open and I bought us a little snack. We shared a cup of pretzel bites. Sarah and I dipped ours in cheese, but Emmy opted for plain, as I knew she would. The girls said they'd never had Auntie Anne's and it had be...

First of all, Seth would like to thank cousin William for the adorable outfit, which was perfect for this chilly June day. Secondly, he would like everyone to know this is his first time sitting at the table. Until now he'd been hanging out on the floor in his bouncy seat while we ate dinner. Sal and I had been high chair shopping, but we were having heartburn over paying close to a hundred dollars for a chair that we will not need once Seth outgrows it. And that was at a consignment store. It's one thing to buy pieces when you know multiple children will use it. It's another to be one and done. I thought perhaps my parents had kept the little booster that Sarah and Emmy had used at their house and sure enough they had. We visited today and found this treasure in their attic. It fit this spare chair perfectly, and it fits ours as well. Score. Emmy sure loves her little brother.

Today was the kind of day that always seems to stress me out. It started out easy enough. I checked my email and got a few work-related tasks accomplished while Sal took the girls to Bible School for their last day. Parents were invited to Mass at St. Catherine of Sweden with the VBS attendees. Afterward there would be a light reception in Farmer Hall with a slide show of the week. Mass was nice. Father Dorsey, from St. Ursula's, participated along with two priests from St. Catherine's. Seth let out a very loud belch at the most inopportune time, but other th at, it was uneventful. The children were enthusiastic participants and during the homily we got an overview of their week. It was when we made our way downstairs that things took a turn for the worse. Admittedly, that's a bit dramatic. It was controlled chaos, parents and children everywhere. There were lines to sign children out, there were lines for cookies and punch, and there was a slide show playing. It wa...

On nice evenings, we've been making it a point to take a walk. We found a few side streets in our neighborhood that are quiet and perfect for walking. Last night we found a nice overlook to the Allegheny River. We decided to head up a street we hadn't ever taken and at the end we found ourselves looking down on Route 28 and the Allegheny River. We could see Children's Hospital, the UPMC building, and other landmarks as well. This evening our walk led us to a very small playground, and I use that term loosely, not too far from our house. The girls tried out the swings, Seth napped (we did lower the back of his stroller shortly after this picture was taken), and Sal and I talked on a bench.

This is the first year for Sarah and Emmy to participate in VBS. The theme is "Journey Off The Map."  The promo states, " Journey Off The Map takes your kids to uncharted territory where they will begin to understand that obedience to God can lead them beyond the expected. So, toss the map, stick close to your guide, and prepare to listen for God’s direction in this journey that is unknown to us, but known by Him." I arrived a little early for pick-up, but couldn't find my daughters in this mass of humanity. The counselors wear blue and the kids wear green. They are divided by age, as far as I can tell. Sarah is a lemur and Emmy is a toad. Today was the first day and they had a great time. Snack was fishing themed. They were each given pretzel rods, a cup of either cream cheese or icing, and a cup of goldfish crackers. Apparently they were to dip their "fishing rod" in the cream cheese or icing and then "catch" a fish. My kids went for ic...