Happy Easter 2015

All of us here at Building Cathedrals wish you a blessed and happy Easter!

My family in full Easter joy

It is with great joy that we celebrate our risen Lord today with our families and those dear to us. We pray you are doing the same and finding a renewed sense of Christ in your lives. Part of me sat in Mass today and imagined this as the Catholic Church's "new year" as I felt my own rebirth in the acknowledgment of my Savior conquering death. Alleluia!!! The same part of me yearns to wake up tomorrow with renewed goals and better direction in my spiritual walk going forth from the celebration. What habits of Lent can I continue into the coming weeks? How has Lent shaped me into a more devoted follower and how can I maintain that? These questions and more will be part of my post-Easter reflection.

Another thing is for certain, I will be hitting the gym tomorrow with fresh enthusiasm due to all the Easter feasting we did today!

God bless as you begin again tomorrow! Peace to you, B-mama

Building Cathedrals Continued...

Hello friends who might be stopping by!

After 4 years with Patheos, the BC girls are making some changes and moving back to our original site. As our families expand and our responsibilities change, so will the nature of this blog. We hope to keep it as an archive of all the wonderful thoughts and discussions we've shared. We also hope to add a nugget of wisdom or two here along the way. Thanks for hanging with us and understanding our need to grow and find space...

God bless,
The Building Cathedrals gals

Building Cathedrals Has Moved!!!!!!

Dear Readers,

Building Cathedrals has moved! That's right, as of today, our new site is--

www.buildingcathedrals.com

Thank you for your loyal readership. When we started this blog 2.5 years ago, we had no idea how much our blog audience would grow, and how much we would love the fellowship of our little online community. In response to our growth, we decided we needed a website with more capabilities and a better layout. We posted about this almost 2 years ago, and the husband of one of our readers volunteered to set up our new site. Jonathan did an amazing job, and we are forever grateful for his generosity of time and his joyful spirit! B-Mama worked with Jonathan to design the new site, and it looks fabulous. B-Mama had this hard task as her one last "to do" before the arrival of her new baby. Check!!

Thank you B-Mama and thank you Jonathan for all your hard work!

Please visit us at our amazing new location, let us know what you think, and please subscribe!

books for the iPad

Wow, I don't know what to make of this yet. It never occurred to me that digital readers would change books and reading in this way. The animating seems interesting, exciting and in some cases very artistic, but at the same time, what does it do to our attention span (or the kids') if even our books make noise and have moving pictures? I would say these fall into the category of "high end screen time" rather than reading -- better than watching junk, but not really reading either? Perhaps like watching learn to read shows on PBS? Also, the "read to you" function is really just a leap pad -- though this illustrates another way that the iPad is great for a mom who only has to carry one thing with her.

Swagger Wagon

B-Mama and I both love our minivans. Maybe because we've never been car people? Maybe because I lack perspective? After all, my nicest set of wheels prior to owning our minivan was a 92' Honda Accord (I drove this from 1999-2007). And that Honda was a huge upgrade from the 92' Ford Taurus Station Wagon I used to drive. Below is a picture of that beautiful car. Mr. Red actually drove this baby to work for about a year. I think his boss wanted him to park it in the lot next door (notice the missing bumper?!?)


So when we bought our used 2005 Honda Odyssey in 2008, I felt like I was driving a BMW. I love my minivan and I am very aware that someday I may have to drive something even bigger, so for right now, I'm feeling pretty cool in my car.

And then a fellow mom friend sent me this hilarious video. As a shout out to all those playground mamas lamenting the jump from SUV to minivan, this video is for you. Have you seen this? Hilarious.

Signs of Summer

Signs of summer in my garden.


I'm hoping we will get our first squash this week.


Eggplant

Cantaloupe, which I'm growing for the 1st time.

Gianna's bug catcher. She used her money at a local market to buy this bug catcher. She and Charlie spend 1/2 hour before bed each night catching fireflies.


Can you tell that someone got a new camera?

Six Years a Christian...

Yesterday marked the six-year anniversary of our first-born's Baptism, an anniversary that (I am ashamed to admit!) would have come and gone without recognition had it not been for this boy's wonderful godparents, B-Mama and GG! Thanks for keeping us on our toes, friends, and for being such great godparents to our son!

I love the idea of celebrating Baptismal "birthdays" with great fanfare. I think that it sets a great example for our children of having our priorities straight - after all, the day of their Baptism was the day that they entered into the family of the Church and became new creations in Christ. Unfortunately, I have failed miserably in celebrating these occasions over the years, but am comforted in knowing that my children's godparents are always remembering them in their prayers and keeping up with the important anniversaries!

How do you celebrate baptismal anniversaries? Cake? Gifts? A special family tradition? And if you have a special system for remembering such occasions, please do share - my family will greatly appreciate any help you can offer me!

God bless all of you on this Monday morning. Let's make it a great week together!