Church hop ⛪️

We went to a different parish for the 11:30 a.m. Mass today. (That’s where I took these rainy Sunday pictures, by the way—in the peaceful parish garden. 😌🌧🌻)

It’s the third church we visited within these last seven days.

We like to do what Travis and I call “church hop.” That means visit different parishes throughout the week.

(Okay, this next part might sound a bit confusing. 😄)

During the work week (Mon. – Fri.), our family attends the 7 p.m. daily Mass two to three times a week, and each evening Mass we attend is at a different parish.

Then, on the weekend, we attend either the Saturday Vigil Mass or a Sunday morning/afternoon Mass at a nearby local parish.

For the daily evening Mass, it is generally offered only once a week at select parishes. Not every Catholic Church offers an evening Mass.

The evening Mass may be at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m., just depends on that particular parish’s Mass schedule.

Whereas, early morning daily Masses are offered pretty much at all parishes (there are a few exceptions, of course) four to five days out of the work week.

Morning daily Mass times range from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.. Also, each daily Mass, mornkng or evwning, is about 30 minutes long.

We’re just not able to go to a daily Mass in the morning right now. Travis has to be at work by 6 a.m., and we only have one working vehicle at the moment.

But boy, are we thankful we found a few evening Mass options at several local parishes during the work week! 😊🙏🏽

After today’s morning Mass, we went to say hello to the priest, and he said, “Don’t I know you?!” 🤔😆

We explained he probably remembered us from a different church we visited a couple of weeks ago when he was the celebrant at that Mass.

“Oh, yes!” he exclaimed remembering where he had last seen us. 😅

We do have a “home church” that we make the best effort to attend on the weekend a few times in the month.

However, Travis works a lot (six days a week), and life gets pretty busy with the kids, so having the flexibility to also attend a Saturday Vigil (at 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m. or 5 p.m.) or a Sunday Mass time (at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12 p.m., or even 5:30 p.m.!) that fits our schedule works best for us.

As you can see, living in a metropolitan means we have A LOT of options! 😂 And that’s another great blessing for us. 🙏🏽

This is just the stage of life we’re in right now, ya know. 😄 #busybigfamilylife

Honestly, I wish we would have thought to do this (church hop) when the kids were babies and toddlers instead of always being late to church. Haha 😂🫣

💜 XO


Happy Friday

Three things to reflect on in honor of September 11th.

Brunch, Garden, Mass, and H-Mart

The day started with a cozy brunch at home. I’ve mentioned before on Fridays we have Pizza Friday.

I always order my pizza from a local Italian market. They always use fresh ingredients and cook the pizza using a wood-burning oven. It’s the best fresh pizza I’ve ever had! 😋

You get an 11″ pizza with unlimited toppings for just $12! Great deal! I always order the meat lovers pizza with artichoke as an extra topping.

For brunch on the weekends, I like to have my favorite tea with a slice of my leftover pizza with a fried egg and honey drizzle on top. I put on my jazz playlist and just enjoy the vibes.

Last Saturday, I introduced my pizza brunch recreation to Travis and he was amazed at how delicious the leftover pizza tasted with fried egg.

“Yo! This is REALLY good!” he exclaimed. “How did you come up with this?” 😲🍕

A little work in the garden

We did a little work in the garden. I planted another sugar baby watermelon start, and Zaya (5) wanted to plant a cosmos flower seed in her little baby pot. 🥹🌸

This makes two sugar baby watermelon starts we are growing in the garden.

Zhen (13) chose the mini watermelon to grow because she LOVES watermelon. 🍉

I’m a little nervous about having enough space for the watermelon to vine, but I’ve been researching ways to grow vertically, so I think we can make it work! 🤞🏾😁

It looks like he’s smiling at me. 😄🐸

Mr. Toad back again

And while I was tending to the patio garden, my little toad friend was hopping behind me. 😄🐸 It’s so cute because I often see this toad pop out when I am working in the garden.

It seems he was on his way to the garden section of our peppers and tomatoes. Lol 😅 That was perfect because some bugs have been hanging around the plants. 🪲

Mass and a quick stop at H-Mart

Later in the afternoon, we went to the Saturday vigil Mass.

Since Travis works six days a week, we have found going to Saturday Mass is a little easier on him. That way he can sleep in and fully rest on Sundays.

After Mass, we stopped by H-Mart to get lo mein noodles and a few other ingredients. I had a craving for homemade chicken lo mein and I wanted to cook it for dinner.

These Canton Style Egg Noodles are so easy to cook and the texture is perfect for my homemade stir-fry. 😋🍜
I also saw these lo mein egg noodles. I’ve never cooked them before, so I thought I’d give it a try. 🍜

The kids LOVE H-Mart! 😍 Every time we go, they always want to get ramyun and snacks. This time, they found K-Pop Demon Hunters snacks, so of course, we had to get it! 😂🫶🏾

What we bought at H-Mart…

I love H-Mart because they sell so many varieties of noodles, rice, kimchi, and other unique foods that you can’t find at American supermarkets.

The kids wanted to check out the toy section (obviously lol), and they wanted us to buy something.

I told them to save up their allowance money so we can come back and they can buy the toy they really want to get. 🤓💡

Before leaving H-Mart, we played a game of Toy House—the claw machine game.

We didn’t win anything (does anyone ever win these games? 😏 lol), but it was still fun trying. 😊

💜 XO


Happy Friday!

Four fun things for Friday, including a new art exhibit I’m excited to see.

First Sunday of Advent

Sunday, November 29th, kicked off Advent season— a time to slow down and make room for Him.

The holiday season gets so busy, and I have been trying my best to not get caught up in the busyness.

But it hasn’t been that easy with just the day to day busyness of our big family life. I often feel guilty when I slow down, or I feel as if I should be doing something. Always doing something.

I’m hoping and praying this Advent season will help me remember to take more time to reflect on my faith and slow everything down.

I recently read a post by another fellow homeschool mom, and she said their family’s holiday break starts around Thanksgiving and ends after the Ephiany (January 6th).

She said they spend the holiday season focusing on celebrating Advent and Christmas with family.

And slowing down.

We’ve been enjoying Advent activities and crafts, like this fun Advent sticker craft (above photo) the kids created. Next week, we’re going to make a Jesse Tree.

Her words reminded me that taking time to truly celebrate and reflect on Advent and Christmas and slow down this month is exactly what we need.

So, we’re doing just that— starting our holiday break a little earlier this year. That’s one of the blessings of homeschooling— finding your family’s rhythm so you can create your own schedule.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” — Roman’s 15:13