Child-like faith

Time for some really adorable sibling stories!

My little brother JP is probably the most adorable little guy ever. I know, I am biased. But I've been told this on a regular basis by everyone else, so it's probably true ;)

However, more than just being cute, he unknowingly calls me on in my faith on a regular basis. Jesus really knew what He was talking about when He said that we need to have the faith of a child. Here is one example:

The other day, JP had a huge splinter in his hand and was freaking out as I was about to start removing it. Through his tears he said "Hold on, just give me a minute to pray to God first." He ran to the couch and prayed and came back and said "ok, now I'm ready."

Talk about a great reminder to pray in the midst of trials, and we will be given strength!

Another great example:

I got home from work the other day, and JP ran over to me saying "Maggie! I just want to hug you! I love you, I love you! But I don't love you the most, because I love God the most".
And then proceeded to yell "I love you" to the sky because he was telling God he loves him. Heart puddle. 

If only we all had such unreserved expression of love for our Creator....

Little man also had his first Confession last night, so he is a holy roller ;)

And example number 3:

My 12 year old sister, Rachel, asked me a couple days ago if I was planning on going to 6:30 mass this morning (Wednesday). In my head I'm going Um...wasn't planning on it... but I should probably go.... snap....  So I told her "maybe". Why did she want to know? Because she wanted me to take her to mass. At 6:30. Before school. How can I say no to that? 

Needless to say, that was plenty of motivation to get my butt out to the car and to church this morning before the sun even came up. (Thank you, daylight savings).

I hope that these little examples of child-like faith inspire you as much as they do me! There is always something to be learned from His little ones. We only need to take the time and the humility to allow them to teach us.

Maybe lent is a good time for us to take a step back and re-evaluate our relationship with God, and learn how we can better love and serve Him and His people.

A depiction of my day...

Today is my little sisters birthday. Rachel turns 12 today! This morning, I was meandering around the kitchen making coffee at around 6:15 when my dad stumbles downstairs. He starting preheating the oven and told me that mom wanted him to make Cinnamon Rolls for Rachel's birthday.

A few minutes later, he started waking the kids up for school saying, "Happy Bunch's birthday!" (We call Rachel "Bunch"... there is a long story there somewhere...). As soon as he says this he quickly looks over at me and says,

"Wait, it is Bunch's birthday, right?" 

"Yes dad, that is why you made the Cinnamon Rolls"  

"Oh....right.... coffee..."

Needless to say, this made my morning. But I am also greatly relating to this early morning sentiment as I am enduring the crash hours of the day.

I've already had two cups of coffee. Now currently consuming a bottle of Coke.

A fun little bakery opened up down the street and today was free doughnut day! You were allowed to take two! (They were minis, in case anyone was wondering, I did not eat two giant doughnuts!) This one was absolutely adorable though. It was an Oreo doughnut with EDIBLE GLITTER on top! I didn't know that was a thing until I went in this store and they had bon-bons completely covered in glitter. Anyways, I thought it was cool.

Tired eyes.

Anyways, I know you all wanted my stream of conscious thoughts. I decided though that my family should be on a reality show, so you might be reading some more hilarious/embarrassing/real-life-crazy stories from my abode.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday :) 

Coffee....

Christmas Eve Traditions

I love Christmas. It is so full of tradition and family and all those things that just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. One of my favorite traditions, the Feast of the Seven Fishes, is eating 7 different types of fish on Christmas Eve. This is an Italian tradition, origins are  not completely known, but it has to do with fasting before Christmas and the '7' has something to do with the 7 Sacraments or the number of days it took God to create the world. And Italians are just the best. :)

We don't do ours exactly by the books because we have picky fish eaters and little children, but we still carry out the tradition as best as we can. Here is how we do "7 fish" in the Andreola house:

Btw my mom makes all of this and it is amazing

First we start with hors d'oeuvres of a tuna ball with crackers and shrimp cocktail! 

1:

2:

 3: Then we have Crab Bisque which is to DIE for. It has just the right amount of kick to it. 

A giant vat of course

Then we move on to the main meal. All of this is served with a giant bowl of pasta with olive oil and garlic and red and green bell peppers for a festive appearance. 

4: Tilapia 

5: Salmon 

 6: Crab legs

 7: Scallops 

And of course for the picky eaters who won't eat the above 7 fish, 

they are free to stuff themselves full of fish sticks :) 

Like I said, my mom made all of this so I can't really tell you how she made anything, but everything was SO delicious. I've been eating leftover bisque for two days now and haven't gotten sick of it. I think we have polished off the last bit though. Sad day. Until next time....

NAS: What I love about being single

I have to say that this topic came at perfect timing for me. I just last night had one of those dreams where you are married and have babies and then you wake up to reality... doesn't always put you in the best of moods to start your day! But I'm thankful for the ladies hosting this series because it is causing me to put those feelings aside and think about all the little things I love about my state in life. So without further ado:

What I love about being single

1. Practically speaking, I can focus on paying off all my student loans now so that when I am ready to move on to my next stage in life, I can do so debt free! That will be a huge blessing to not have those financial burdens later on.
   


2. I can hang out with these kids every free minute I can get:
   These are my 4 of my 6 siblings (I'm on the right). On Sunday we went to 7:30am mass and then spent all morning at the farm picking strawberries, and then went home and made delicious strawberry shortcake. I'm willing to bet that I probably wouldn't be able to go on all these fun outings with my family if I was off doing my own "non-single" things!
   


3. I can devote any other free time I have to doing things that I love: hanging out with good friends, catching up on all the books I've been meaning to read, taking millions of pictures and spending however long I need to editing them, playing music, laying out in the sun, blogging, going for runs, and just living life. My only time commitment right now is to my job (granted that takes up most of my time), but would I really even be able to have this wonderful job if I were busy raising a family? That answer is a big, fat no because I am definitely the stay-at-home mom type. And that will come in it's own time. But right now, I do enjoy spending my time how I feel is most rejuvenating and productive for me!
   


4. And most importantly, right now, it's just me and God. Not that I wouldn't love to have someone to pray with and to lead me, but I'll never get this precious time back. It is a great opportunity to work on my primary relationship with Him where all my other relationships should flow from. Having this time of healing and becoming more of myself through Him will build a solid foundation and enable me to be the best woman I can be in whatever vocation He brings me to. I won't always have the luxury of spending an hour in prayer if I need to or making the hour+ drive to Steubenville for Festivals of Praise once a month. Right now, it's about focusing my everything on Him and knowing that, in His time, His plan for me will continue to unfold. 

7 Quick Takes of Christmas break

This is my first time linking up with "7 Quick Takes" hosted by conversion diary, so here goes:

7: I just got back from a much enjoyable Christmas/ New Years break with my family. It is always tons of fun to be home with my brothers and sisters during the Holiday season! Here's a copy of the picture of our traditional visit with Santa ;)

6. Not to mention, its always fun to see my cats and the silly things that they do. This cracked me up! They look like book-ends:

5. A couple of my siblings got the stomach flu around Christmas, but luckily I was able to get by unscathed and was able to partake in all the various cookies and delicious food that Christmas brings! Since my family is Italian, we do the Italian tradition of having 7 different fish on Christmas Eve. This years selection started with a few appetizers: a Tuna ball and crackers and Shrimp. Then we moved on to my mothers incredible homemade Crab Bisque, followed by the main course of Orange Ruffy, Salmon, Scallops, and Crab legs (and fish sticks for those non-adventurous fish eaters!) all in addition to a huge pot of Spaghetti with olive oil and red and green bell peppers. Always a favorite, filling meal :)


4. We have gotten a good amount of snow lately. Unfortunately, it came the day after Christmas so we had a white boxing day, but it is still beautiful! If only it weren't so cold....

3. We also took the dog sledding with us, which was really cute until he started going nuts and jumping on top of people while they were going down the hill! In his mind, he is still a puppy even though he is full grown.  But it's hard to stay mad at this face! They don't call them puppy dog eyes for nothing...

2. Over break I started reading St. Francis DeSales Introduction to the Devout Life. I have not gotten very fair yet, but already it is kicking my butt. This seems like it is going to be one of those books that takes a lot to get through because of how rich it is, but it is such a worthwhile read. I am already learning so much and excited to keep on reading! If you have some extra time on your hands (who does anymore!), I highly suggest checking it out. Even if you just skim over a few sections. I might have to post about it later!

1. I spent my New Years eve with a handful of 12 year olds, playing Just Dance 4 and eating Pepperoni Rolls. I guess I'm just not into the hype of drinking and doing crazy things to welcome in the New Year. I think that we should be thankful for every single day and celebrate each one that passes. Every day of the year is a gift, and each day that I am alive, I need to remember to thank God for. I don't do a good job of this, but I am going to try to do better. New Years resolution: be more thankful for the beating of my heart and that my lungs are up and kicking. We are on His time, not ours.