Because Dads are Great!

I'm a little late for the Father's Day train that passed by yesterday, but thought I would jump in the fun over at CatholicAllYear.com for some Answer Me This...

And this week's question were Dad themed because well, dads are great. 

1. What's the best thing about your dad?

He lets my little teether gnaw on his fingers.  

Just kidding. 

 (but that is pretty hard core because she has two teeth and knows how to use them)

The best thing about Dad is that he's humble, generous, and lives out his faith with gentleness and genuine love.  

He just retired this year from teaching and coaching Cross Country and Track and Field.  His teams have done awesome the last couple years and he gives all the credit to his assistant coaches and the kids working hard and putting forth their best efforts.  He gives of his time, talent, and treasure and he's always been the best listener. Plus he's over 65 and runs about 4-6 miles a day.  He's pretty much awesome. 

2. If you've got kids, what the best thing about THEIR dad?

Everything. 

Can I say everything?

Cheating?  Ok, then I pick his goofiness and his incredible hugging abilities.  Our girls are so lucky to have a dad whose arms are always open to run to.  And I'm lucky as his wife to have his arms to run to as well.  I always feel safe and loved there, and I know our girls do too.  Just like our heavenly Father.  His incredible love shows me in just a small way a little about what the Father's love for us is like.  Arms wide open.  

And he's so silly.  So, so silly.  I love him. 

3. What's the best advice your father ever gave you?

My dad is the most amazing budget-er.  One of my brother's recently commented that he could probably save Dave Ramsey money.  He's incredible and though it's not spoken advice, that's something huge that I've taken away from my dad.  Work hard, save, and stick to your budget, and the ability to do many things is possible.  

4. What's something you have in common with your dad?

We like to fight for the underdog.  

(unless it's a USC game, and then we cheer for USC no matter what)

And it's not just limited to sports.  We like to fight for the people whose voices don't seem to be heard and for those who are misunderstood or just need someone to let them have their say.  

5. What's the manliest thing you know how to do?

Hmmm. 

I've been known to lay out (often in the mud) for many a great frisbee catch.  

My husband taught me how to light the charcoal (no lighter fluid--using the chimney method) in our grill.  

I can do a decent amount of push-ups (real ones, not the girl ones), but I'm awful at pull-ups (chin-ups if you prefer). 

I'm not a girly girl, but I'm not really much of a tom boy either....sorry folks!

6. Who is your favorite fictional dad?

Atticus Finch.  To Kill a Mockingbird.  And I love that Gregory Peck played him in the film version.  Great character.  Great actor to make him come to life on screen.  

"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."  

I like Pa from the Little House series as well.  He's faith-filled, strong, moral, and fun-loving.  

found on wikimedia commons

apparently that's him in real life.  I kinda have him in my head as a combination of the story illustrations and Michael Landon.  ha.  

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Check out all the fun answers over at CatholicAllYear.com and join the link-up.  

Answer Me This! and Musical Monday: Favorite Things

I love Kendra's questions each week in her Answer Me This link-up, so I thought I'd link up again this week.

You should link-up too, or just answer a few of your favorite questions in the comments!  I'd love to hear your answers too!

1. Are you becoming your mother? 

Who isn't at least to some degree?  I've been told we sound similar and we definitely have some personality  traits in common.  We like to plan parties and get people together.  But we have a lot of differences too.  We even go about our party planning differently, so though we have things in common, we each put our own twist on things for the most part.


The longer I am a mom, the more I notice that I say things my mom said when I was growing up though.  That's probably the way I am most becoming my mother.  I say stuff she said ALL THE TIME and sing all the songs she sang to me at bedtime to my kids...

all my sisters and I kinda look like my mom, I think.  My little sis is on the far left my older sister is the middle right next to my mom(middle left) and I'm on the far right.  

And like my mom, I love the movie, The Sound of Music.  So I had to choose a classic song from the movie for Musical Monday!  What are some of your favorite things???

                 



2. Coffee or Tea?



Neither.  I have never really liked either.  My husband sometimes makes an iced coffee that I enjoy every once in a long while and there are also a few fruity teas that I can and will drink at times, but lemonade is the drink I usually choose if I'm not drinking water or milk.




3. What foreign country would you like to visit?



Tough question.  I spent a semester abroad and visited France, Austria, Italy, Ireland (briefly), Poland, Switzerland, and several other countries in Europe.  I'd pretty much go back and visit any of them again. Honestly there's almost no where I wouldn't go if given the option.  I love traveling!  If we are talking about visiting with kids...that is an entirely different question, though....

4.  Do you cry easily?



I think, Yes. But not in front of people I don't really know that well--unless I'm at a movie.  At home, I wear my heart on my sleeve, so there's a lot more crying that happens.  Plus I'm kind of hard on myself, too, and I sometimes have unrealistic expectations for the hubby and kids, so I have to slow myself down a lot and have a little cry or some quiet time.  And I'm sleep deprived a lot of the time--the hubby says I cry a lot more when I need sleep.





5. How often do you wear heels?



Not much--about 35% of the time to Mass and usually at weddings.  I pretty much live in flip flops, flats, and tennis shoes.  Mostly flip flops.  I'm a California girl--what can I say?





6. Do you play an instrument?



I've played the guitar since 4th grade.  I'm not great, but I can play enough to accompany myself for fun and play silly songs for my kids.  My husband is a really good guitar player though, so these days I mostly just sing and he plays.  I think we make a pretty good team.  Someday when I don't have small ones crawling around, I'd like him to teach me a bit more.

this is when I tried to teach my niece to play...  :)

Answer Me This- Link-up- Happy Clappy Edition

I saw this link-up a few weeks back over at Catholicallyear.com and finally got around to participating in one. She gives out questions and you answer them.  Fun and thought provoking.  Come join in the fun!


1. Do you hate happy clappy church music? 

I confess I do not.  In fact, I love it.  I also love a mystical, solemn Gregorian chant.  Depending on the occasion and how the Spirit leads, either one (and everything in between) has been a means of praising my Lord many times in the past.  After all the Bible says in Isaiah 55:12 "You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace.  The mountains and the hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands"  If the trees of the fields get to clap to honor and praise their Creator, why not me?


2.  What is your priority: eating or sleeping?

Neither, most of the time.  And both, every once in awhile.

I'm a mom.  It's pretty normal for me to get to nap time and realize I ate next to nothing because I was so busy serving Kid 1, then Kid 2, then Kid 3, then repeat two times (our kids love food), then clean up after Kid 2, and hose off Kid 3, then we go to the park to get some exercise and fresh air, and head to the store to get more food so we can come home for lunch and repeat the earlier meal routine with lunch food instead of breakfast.  After that's all through, I scuttle them up to bed for naps and realize that I'M STARVING!  But relax, that only happens about 3 days of the week.  The rest of the time I at least make myself a fruit smoothie for breakfast and have a PB&J for lunch.  But I LIKE eating and cooking and baking and eating what I cook and cake, so eating is probably the priority I suppose.  And sleeping....gee, I love the idea of it, but I just never have time.  But I'm working on getting more since my youngest is currently 18 months and I have NO GOOD REASON not to be getting at least 8-9 hours a night.

3. What type of milk do you drink in your house?

Generally the whole milk (from a cow).  Yeah, we're fatties.   Sometimes we go down to 2%.  No skim for this fam--we want big boned kids with thunder thighs around here.  ;)

photo found at minimalistmum.blogspot.com

Yeah, we drink the milk from this cow.  Makes you healthy and fun, right?


4. What is a book that changed your perspective on things?

I've just been discussing books that have impacted my life with the girls who have joined me for 33 Days to Morning Glory....

but changed my perspective??  hmmmm.....

I'd say Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge.  I read it in high school and remember being touched by the idea that the life of a woman is not just  cooking, cleaning, and caring for children.  It's about so much more when you allow God to touch your life and reveal your true beauty (which is a reflection of His beauty).  But it also makes those sometimes menial tasks seem more incredible sometimes because you can see the bigger picture instead of just another task.
I also love books on any of the saints, because every single one changes my perspective about life and makes me want to be more holy and receive even a small part of the grace that is bestowed on those spiritual champions who have gone before us.


5. Who is your favorite Saint?

That is such a tough question.  I love, love, love so many.

St. Cecilia- I love music.  Since a very young age, I could identify with her and wished to have her childlike faith, her purity of mind and body, and her gift of song. I chose her for my Confirmation saint and our eldest daughter's middle name is Cecilia.  It is a joy to hear her speak of her love for this favorite saint of mine and hear her chatter about how she wants to love Jesus and sing for him and become a patron saint of music someday too.  

St. Rose- She's my namesake Saint (my middle name is Rose) so I've always been drawn to her.  Her story is one filled with much sacrifice and many countless acts of love.  She only ever wanted to love and serve Christ and never wanted to draw attention to herself.

I could seriously go on and on...but here's a story that I just came across recently; Chiara Corbella Petrillo  Her story is incredible.  I cried a lot and it gave me a lot of perspective as a mother.  Wonder when she'll be canonized....I hope it's in my lifetime.


6. Introvert or Extrovert?

Extrovert.  I love being with people.  My hubby, my kids, my family, my friends.

I do also value my alone time though.  And crave it when I've gone through several weeks where everyone is up in my business constantly or I'm out of my routine (i.e. when we go on vacation, or when lots of family gets together, or when my 5 year old has been talking non-stop for the past 10 hours and counting...can you give me 5 minutes to myself in the bathroom, darling?  Mommy needs to hear nothing for a couple minutes.