Holy Lents, Holy Easters

Has anyone noticed that the more penitential and prayerful the Lent you observe, the more joyful the Easter you will have?

Before I had kids, I had some really spiritually productive Lents.  There was the one year in college where I wrote out a big list of all the things I would give up - things like drinking coffee, checking Facebook before the evening, and "wearing my hair down"  - (my hair was pretty long at that point, and I'd noticed that I'd begun to spend way too much time and thought each morning primping it and making it look nice).  Even when I spent a week in Italy, I continued to experiment with new ways to wear it pinned up.  Including this unfortunate attempt at "Heidi braids" the day we visited Assisi:

Not a suitable look for you, Christine!

There was another Lent where I decided to join Tom (who I was dating at the time) in practicing the Byzantine-style fast for the whole of Lent.  This is where you not only give up meat EVERY day, but also pretty much all animals products - milk, butter, cheese, etc..  You're essentially a vegan.   Plus, you're not supposed to consume wine or olive oil.  So the foods available to you are...simple breads, and vegetables. Or, in our case, you could just eat a steady diet of french fries!  This was during the time when we were young and stupid and wasted lots of money going out to eat way too often.  And what's the one vegan option on most restaurant's menus?  French fries.

For the past 5+ years, I've been pregnant or breastfeeding during Lent.  So since I'm technically dispensed from the need to fast from food - on the two measly fasting days a year that are left on the church calendar -  I've definitely taken advantage of that, and not been very strict at all with any food-related penances during Lent.  And I feel like this laxity has carried over into the rest of my attitude towards Lent and any sacrifices I choose for myself.  I'll think, "well, I"m pregnant/recently post-partum!  That's sacrificial enough for me this year!"  And who knows?  Maybe I'm not entirely wrong in thinking this way....but I will say, in looking back over how I've actually welcomed and celebrated Easter these past few years, as compared to in the past....I  just don't think I've been living our holy or focused enough Lents.

*****

We went to the Easter vigil Mass again this year.  At our church, it doesn't start until 10pm, and ends sometime after 1am.  It's long!

This year, still being so newly post-partum and dealing with a baby who doesn't like to sleep in her own cradle at night, I'm already feeling tired much of the day.  I had told Tom there was a "100% chance" I would fall asleep if we decided to go to the vigil, but he still pressed for us to do it.  Well, I was right - I probably slept through about half of it.

It worked out okay, though.  All the kids slept as well - spread out across an entire pew :-)

For the small amount of the Mass I was actually fully awake for, I wasted way too much time stressing out over something I thought I heard our priest say to us.  As he was going down the aisle, sprinkling holy water on everyone during the Renewal of the Baptismal Vows, he glanced at all of our sleeping kids, and I heard him say something like "they're too young to be here."  I was so shocked that he would reprimand us like that, publicly, in the middle of the Mass.  Didn't Christ say "let the little children come to me"?  What does it matter if young children sleep through most of a vigil Mass?  They're not bothering anyone, and there are still plenty of open seats left!  At least we're all here as a family!

I spent the next twenty minutes thinking back over other little thing this priest had ever said or done that I wasn't entirely happy about, and basically letting myself feel totally victimized.  Not the best way to spend the holiest Mass of the year.....So it's probably for the best that I decided not to go up during Communion, considering I'd spent much of the last hour asleep, anyways.

When Mass had ended, Tom made some comment about how cute the kids all looked, asleep on the pew.  I sarcastically rejoined, "yeah, well, Fr. _______ didn't think so.".  Tom didn't understand what I was talking about.  After sharing what I thought the priest had said to us, Tom explained what had really happened.  The priest had been joking about Flora - being less than three weeks old - as being "young to be here", and then had added that he "couldn't bless her yet" (since she has not been baptized yet, and thus has no baptismal vows to renew).  Oh :-/

So I felt extremely petty for thinking all those thoughts.

A friend of ours snapped this photo of all our sleeping babes after Mass.  I know, I know, I look really sleepy!

*****

Easter Day itself was pretty nice.  The kids were quite excited to finally eat candy again (I'd convinced them all to give it up for Lent).  The weather was unseasonably warm - in the low 70s during March! During naptime, Tom and I took some time to pull out our rugs and furniture for the front porch, and get things set up for summer.  Then we went to my aunt's house for a nice Easter dinner with the extended family.

Happy Easter to all - Resurrexit Sicut Dixit!

Mardi Gras Feasting, Lenten Fasting

And once again, Lent seems to have sneaked up on me!  It's not here *quite* yet, though.  So make sure to spend today enjoying some good eating and the company of friends or family.

If you don't have a plan for dinner tonight yet (and I'm amazed I actually do, since "meal planning" hasn't existed in my house since before Linus was born), may I suggest making the ever-delicious Pasta Carbonara?  This is a dish I first tried when I visited Rome in college, and I looked up the recipe as soon as I got home.  It's a perfect dish for Mardi Gras, as it uses so many of the ingredients that were traditionally forbidden during Lent: eggs, cream, cheese, and bacon (!). 

This is the recipe I use, though I typically reduce the amount of bacon, because - and this is not something I ever say - there's simply too much bacon.
 

Fettuccini Carbonara

Rated: Submitted By: Sarah W. Lennox Photo By: mobiousz Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 25 Minutes Ready In: 35 Minutes Servings: 6

"Bacon, shallots, onion and garlic, cooked in a thick creamy sauce, and tossed with fettuccini."

Ingredients:

5 teaspoons olive oil 4 shallots, diced 1 large onion, cut into thin strips 1 pound bacon, cut into strips 1 clove garlic, chopped

1 (16 ounce) package fettuccini pasta 3 egg yolks 1/2 cup heavy cream 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.	Heat olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Saute shallots until softened. Stir in onion and bacon, and cook until bacon is evenly browned. Stir in garlic when bacon is about half done. Remove from heat.
2.	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta, then return it to the pot.
3.	In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, and shredded Parmesan. Pour the bacon mixture over the pasta, then stir in the cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

*****

Some Lenten practices we're going to try as a family this year:

Keeping the house sweet-free: no candy, cookies, juice, etc. during Lent (except Sundays!).  But if we are out of the house, and someone offers the kids a piece of candy or something, I'm just going to let it go.  I'll be reminding the kids why we're doing this, but I have a feeling that the first week or so will be filled with some whining and complaining.

Printing out Lenten calendars that the kids can color in each day as we get closer to Easter.  Catholic Icing has a good one, or check out the one at  Pondered in My Heart if you follow the traditional calendar (it includes Ember Days, Passion Sunday, etc.).

A crown of thorns to use as a sacrifice-counter.  This is a very similar idea the manger that our kids add "pieces of hay for baby Jesus" to during Advent.  Except in this case, each time they make some sacrifice during Lent, they will get to remove a "thorn" from the "crown of thorns."  I bought a grapevine wreath for $5 at Michael's, and we'll stick some toothpicks in it to represent the thorns.  I'm not certain whether the kids are quite old enough to really get this one yet - baby Jesus did not, as it turns out, have a very cushy bed by Christmas morning!  Either way, it will make for a good Lenten centerpiece on the table.

Stations of the Cross.  We say a family Rosary every night before the kids go to bed.  On Fridays of Lent, we'll switch to saying the Stations of the Cross, using the The Way of the Cross by St. Alphonsus Liguori (the booklets only cost a couple bucks, and are definitely worth having).  We also have a couple new Stations of the Cross chaplets, which I'm looking forward to using with the kids (similar to this).

Baking pretzels!  Pretzels are traditionally a Lenten food (and the recipe contains only Lent-friendly non-animal ingredients), and can help teach kids about the meaning of the season.  This one is still my favorite recipe.


That's it, so far.  Every Lent, I think about how the focus is meant to be on "prayer, fasting, and almsgiving."  And I always struggle to know what to do with the almsgiving part, especially with the kids.  If you have ideas, please share them with me!

What are your families doing to observe Lent this year?

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 37) - We Bought a House! and Lent

 -1- 

We officially own a house now!  We closed on it Tuesday.

It is exciting....I guess.  But mostly just relieving, now that the process is finally over.  I don't think it's fully set in yet that we are homeowners.  I haven't even been into the house since we've owned in.  And at this point, I'm mostly thinking about all the little things I want to add/change in it before our planned moving date in mid-April, and feeling like it will never get done.

I don't have any pictures to share yet, but I'll be spending some time at the house on Saturday, cleaning and getting things ready...so I'll try to take some then.

-2-

I'm pretty happy with the place, overall.  It has four bedrooms, but kind of five (there are two rooms on the third floor, but one is unheated so can't legally be considered a bedroom.  If we want to add baseboard heat in the future, though, it could be perfectly useable) - so there's some room to grow.  It's an arts and crafts style house (sometimes known as craftsman), which means it has lots of wooden beams, a (working!) fireplace, built-in bookshelves, stained glass, etc.  It has a spacious front porch with room for a porch swing (which I already told Tom I want as my only birthday gift this summer), a small back deck, and a small - but existant!!! - backyard.  It will be SO nice to finally have an "outdoors" where I can send the kids to play, set up a little baby pool, plant a few flowers, etc.

The major issues are the small kitchen, and the lack of good lighting throughout.  I have some plans to add a bit more in the way of cabinets/counter space in the kitchen, and am hoping Tom keeps up his end of our deal by installing some more light fixtures for me.

When the inspector was going through the house with us, he kept saying that it was in really great shape, and was one of the best-taken-care-of old houses he's ever seen.  He also told us that to build the same house today, with the same quality of materials would cost almost eight times more than we paid for it (I'm sure this is true of a lot of old houses, but it made us feel like we were getting a really good deal)!

-3-

The woman who owned the house before us was unable to get all her stuff moved out in time (not really her fault - she had some tough circumstances that made it difficult).  She took everything she needed, and told us that we are free to do as we please with everything that remains.  We did account for it during our closing negotiations, and she ended up giving us some extra money to use towards having someone haul it out, clean the place, etc.  But I think Tom and I will be able to get most of her stuff moved out and donated by ourselves, and thus save most of that money.  And then we will be able to afford to have some professional cleaners come in to steam the carpets, maybe wax the wood floors...or whatever else we want done.  I'm looking forward to moving into a freshly-scrubbed place!

Also, she definitely left behind a number of things that we will end up keeping: weed-whacker, hedge trimmers, new iron and ironing board, fans, etc.....So it's hard to mind too much about the extra hassle it will cause.

-4-

We attended a little Mardi Gras party for kids at our church Tuesday morning.  It was just me and three homeschooling moms (which means, though, that there were a LOT of kids.  We had by far the smallest family).  The other women were all a little older than me and have kids who are older as well...but it was good to get to know them all a bit more, and learn from them.

Funnily enough, Sly actually remembered the Mardi Gras masks we had last year (he was only two years old then! - I'm constantly amazed at his memory), and asked me if he could wear one to the party.  I dug them out of the basement for him, and he picked one out.  He seems to have gotten the concept of "mask" indelibly linked with Halloween, though, because he made it clear that he hoped to "scare all the other kids" in his mask.  He spent a lot of the party chasing them around trying to do just that :-)

We ate pancakes and other breakfast fare, listened to a talk (and, randomly, the singing of some Irish songs) by our priest, and the kids made a Jonah and the Whale craft and participated in a felt-board story about Jonah.  Until about a week ago - I am ashamed to admit - I never even knew that story.  But its themes of sin, penance, and rebirth are so perfect for Lent.  I will want to re-visit this story with the kids.

The whale has a party blower as a "tongue" and can spew out the tiny Jonah. see instructions

-5-

Ash Wednesday was a really rough day for me.  It always is.  Fasting always makes me very grumpy.  This year, I wasn't even fasting, though, since I'm pregnant.  I just didn't let myself eat any meat or "junk food" all day.  Unfortunately for me, there was a package of cupcakes I had bought for us to eat on Mardi Gras.  But when we got home really late - and really full from a late dinner - on Tuesday night, we all just went right to bed.  So the cupcakes were still sitting there on Ash Wednesday, just taunting me.  I could not stop thinking about them.

I think I was also in a bad mood because my whole family was going out to dinner to celebrate my brother's birthday, and we couldn't join them.  Tom and I never go out to dinner - seriously, never - because we just can't afford to.  So when someone invites us out, it's a major treat for us.  I really wanted to go, but Tom thought we should go to Mass instead (I know - Ash Wednesday is not a day of obligation, but it's still good to go).  I had mentioned that maybe the kids and I could hit up an earlier Mass and then still be able to go out with my family, while he attended the evening Mass alone....but Tom gave me a hard time about it, saying, "it's just going out to eat!  I think it's more important to go to Mass as a family."  Ugh.  So I felt all guilty and irritated about that.

And Sly was just being really tough to deal with all day.  He was being disobedient, and much too rough with Stella.  I was already in a bad mood, so I ended up yelling at him much more than I wanted to.  After Mass that evening, when Tom took him up to the altar rail to pray, Sly apparently told him that he wanted to ask Jesus "for Mommy not to yell at me."  Oh man.  That made me feel really bad.

And then after the kids went to bed, Tom and I got into a big huge fight over nothing.  I was cranky, which made him cranky, which made me even more cranky, and....you know how it goes.

Anyways, I know it was all just Satan's way of trying to keep me from having a productive Lent.  I may have given into the temptation to get irritated and focus way too much on my own comfort that day, but I am newly resolved to begin again and keep chugging along towards Easter!

-6-

A friend lent me her copy of Pippa Middleton's book, Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends.  It's a big coffee-table-sized book with ideas for celebrating all sorts of holidays and other traditional feasts and gatherings.  She shares some really nice ideas for decorations, food, games, etc.  I really appreciate that most of the ideas seem pretty easy to replicate - even if you're not Martha Stewart.  It's written with a British audience in mind, but I'm pretty sure this version has been "Americanized" in terms of the recipe quantities, etc.    The price is a little high, though, so you might want to keep an eye out for it at your local library.

-7-

Alright, I'm just gonna pull a lame move, and sign out here.  I've already said a lot in this post, and my mind is drawing a blank for #7.  And I just heard Tom come home with a load of boxes, and I know he's expecting my help to start packing.  Until next time!

Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary

Some Lenten Plans

Some years, I lay out pretty detailed plans for specific Lenten practices and sacrifices I would like to make.  I mean, I literally write out a list with very clearly worded rules to limit the possibility of "cheating."  This Lent, I feel like the busyness of our life is already going to lend itself well to various things I would have considered doing anyways, so I'm just going to let things sort of take their course.

For example, in the process of packing up our whole household for moving, we are inevitably going to do a serious purge of unnecessary stuff as we sort through every single item we own.  We'll be forced to eat a lot of things out of the freezer/pantry over the next month, because I don't want to have to move ALL that food.  And I'm guessing a lot of meals during Lent will be obligatorily simple because we'll be so busy packing/moving/unpacking/dealing with a brand-new baby!

I will admit, I'm pretty excited that being pregnant (and then breastfeeding) gives me a good excuse not to have to fast this year.  I don't know why, but fasting is *the* hardest thing for me.  I turn into a horrible human being very quickly when I'm hungry.  Tom has decided to follow the pre-Vatican II Lenten rules of fasting every day of Lent [eating one normal meal and two small ones, with nothing in between], as well as partial abstinence [i.e. meat only at one meal per day].  And this year, I don't have to feel guilty or wimpy for not joining him.

My main sacrifice is going to be giving up the internet anytime the kids are awake.  I can't even imagine how much more productive this is going to make me!  And how much more of an "available" mother...

I just need to make sure to work in some time amidst all this running around for some actual reflection and prayer.

We are moving across the street from a Catholic church.  Would I be insane to try to attend a daily Mass alone with two little ones and a newborn?


Lent for little kids

I've never done anything with the kids for Lent before since Sly seemed too young to "get it."  This year, I think he's ready for something simple.  He enjoyed "doing good things for baby Jesus" during Advent (as represented by a piece of hay he could put into the manger).  I would like to try something similar with him for Lent.  Mary Reed Newland (The Year & Our Children) suggests dying lima beans purple and having children add one to a jar each time they offer some sort of sacrifice.  Just as the beans (appear to) "die" when you bury them in the dirt, only to spring forth in new life, they remind us that when we die to ourselves, we will find new life in Christ.

We're going to try something similar.  Recently, Sly has been begging us to make him a little string of beads "like St. Therese had" to count up his "presents for God." 

 
Have you read the Catholic Children's Treasure Box books?  They are re-printed from the 1950s, and they are fantastic.  Sly loves the stories, and has learned so much about the Faith through reading and talking with us about them.  The writing is so much more direct and hard-hitting than most modern books for Catholic children.  This is where Sly learned about Therese's sacrifice counter.  One of the books tells the story about how she used one as a child (which, I believe, she writes about in Story of a Soul?), and has instructions at the end for making your own.

Every time the child makes a small sacrifice for God, he slides one bead along the string.  At the end of the day, he can tell God how many "presents" he has to offer Him.

Sly chose a St. Bernadette medal.  He's been talking about her a lot since her recent feast day :-)

Does anyone else have some good ideas to help young children (Sly is only three-and-a-half) understand a bit of the meaning of Lent? 
[I should note that my son refuses to do coloring pages, so I'm always looking for something more original!]

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 36)

 -1-

It just hit me this week that I'm going to have a baby in a MONTH.  It's not like there's much to get ready....I pretty much know what I'm doing by now, and we already have all the "baby stuff" - it's just a matter of dragging it all up from the basement (a job for my husband, and not me).  But I'm not sure that I've really mentally prepared for it.

-2-

Tom is scheduled to go on a business trip less than two weeks before my due date (!).  It's something he *could* get out of, but it's potentially useful for his career that he go.  We've been discussing the pros and cons.  My other two kids were born a little early - seven days and five days, respectively.  Still, the chances of this baby being farther ahead of schedule seem rather slim....

On the other hand, if I did go into labor while Tom was gone, it would be a pretty big deal.  To be honest, I don't think I'd mind too much about my husband missing the birth (at least I'll still have my doula with me!).  It's that I would have to deal with all the arrangements completely by myself - having contractions at home (hopefully at home, and not out somewhere!) while making frantic phone calls, trying to find someone willing to pick up and entertain my kids for the day (or night?) as well as a ride to the hospital for myself.  Usually, Tom handles all that stuff, because while I'm in labor, I'm just not in the right state of mind to deal with all that crap.

We still haven't made the final decision about what he's going to do....but I think we're leaning towards him going.  Yikes!

-3-

Earlier this week, I watched Milo and Otis for the first time since I was really young.  Oh. my. goodness.  First of all, I felt like the whole premise of the film was: "let's have Milo and Otis encounter any and every type of creature we can get ahold of - whether or not it makes sense for that species to appear in this particular landscape - and just see what they do with each other."  Did you know that lobsters and crabs live on farms?  Neither did I.  It really strained credibility to see the combinations of animals that supposedly lived together in this imaginary country.

But mostly, I was seriously disturbed the entire time by all the risky situations they put those poor animals into.  Was it really necessary to send the cat down a waterfall in a wooden box, or have the dog fight with a bear?  There is NO WAY some animals weren't killed or seriously injured during the filming.  I checked Wikipedia, and it seems that many others have had the same concerns...

-4-

It seems like all the cool bloggers are going to the Edel Gathering this summer.  It sounds like a really great event, but unfortunately, I won't be there.  Not only would it be difficult to swing financially, but....having to bring a four-month old baby would just make it a lot less enjoyable, I have to be honest!  I'll try not to feel jealous of the opportunity to meet so many interesting Catholic ladies.

-5-

I've been starting to think about Lent (which starts March 5th this year!), how I should observe it, and what to give up.  I'm afraid the whole season will get rather overshadowed by all the stressful (but exciting) things we have going on these next two months: signing on the house, fixing up some stuff in the house prior to move-in, giving birth, planning a baptism, moving day... (ideally in this order, but the "having a baby" part I don't really have any control over!).

-6-

I'm thinking I should definitely reduce my internet use during Lent, since it can get out-of-control at times.  And I don't even own a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or any of that stuff.  Very intentionally, we have only a desktop computer.  And that is temptation enough for me, believe me.  A practice I think would be good, yet challenging, is to not allow myself to use the internet except when the kids are in bed - for naps or the night.  So many times during the day, I pop into the room just to "check my e-mail", and it turns into twenty minutes of browsing Facebook or reading random articles people post about "23 things you'll only remember if you were born in the 80s" or something else stupid like that.  It's unnecessary, and it takes time away from my family.

Kendra has some great ideas for Lent that I will have to look over again.

-7-

Aaaaand, because I'm running out of ideas, I'll share a few recent quotes from my little man.

Listening to a song with the lyric, "there he knelt down on the floor."
Sly: "That song just said 'meltdown on the floor' - Stella does that!!"

Sly, to Tom, as soon as he walked in the door after work: "Mommy said I can't have a snack because I lied. What's up with that?!"

Sly and I were waiting forever for Stella to climb up the stairs.
Me: "What's taking her so long?"
Sly: "Probably gravity."

Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary

Preparing My Toddler For Easter

I've been pretty lazy about teaching Sly about Easter.  During Advent, I was really on top of implementing different devotions and traditions, and explaining them in ways he could understand.  I read Sly many versions of the Christmas story, let him play with a couple different nativity sets, had him add "hay" to the manger.  By the time Christmas rolled around, I was confident that he had a pretty solid understanding - at least for a two year-old - of what it all meant.

But this Lent, I haven't even tried to get Sly involved.  He's too young to be able to give anything up, or even participate in abstaining from meat.  So I haven't bothered to mention those aspects to him.  We've been praying the Rosary regularly again, but I haven't explained what prompted it.  Lent is supposed to focus not just on prayer and fasting, but also on almsgiving.  That would have been easier to involve Sly in...but I just didn't think about it.

He has said to me a few times, "It Lent, Mommy."  I know he has no clue what that means, but it is cute, and it tells me that at least he's picking up something from listening to our conversations.

But how do you explain Lent to a toddler?  How can I explain Jesus' death, when Sly is too young to grasp the concept of death?  And harder still, how to teach him about the Resurrection, which is a difficult thing even for adults to understand?

I think we have a couple books about Easter packed away, but I haven't dug out any Easter decorations yet.  Maybe we'll take a look at them this weekend while we dye our eggs.

Anyways, it's tempting to beat myself up for not being some kind of "Catholic super mom", but I think it would actually be prideful to expect myself to be.  Yes, I probably could have done more to prepare his little heart for Easter.  But as long as we've been consistent on slowly teaching him how to love God,  how to obey his parents, and how to pray...we're doing enough, I think.  He's only two-and-a-half!

And I remembered an incident which allowed me to see how much Sly is able to figure out, even without my help.  When our new missal arrived a few weeks ago, I sat down with Sly to show him some of the pictures.  On one page was a scene of the Crucifixion.  Sly described it to me, saying, "Jesus on cross.  Jesus have boo-boos."  Turning the page, we saw a drawing of Christ risen from the grave.  Sly said, "Jesus happy now."  <heart melting>

And I'm perfectly satisfied with that level of understanding from him right now.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 25)

-1-

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but I wasn't able to go online.  Thanks to several suggestions on my Lenten post, I've decided that on Wednesdays and Fridays, I will "fast" from all internet use (except a few e-mail checks).  On the other days of the week, I will limit my use to naptimes, bedtime, or other child-free moments.  I don't want the internet taking me away from my kids anymore.

-2-

Like many others, I was shocked and saddened by Monday's news of Pope Benedict XVI deciding to resign.  He has done a lot of good for the Church during his short pontificate, and I was hoping he'd have many more years to continue.  We need to pray for him and his successor.

-3-

I love seeing all the little reminders around my house that children live here.

the "trappings of childhood" - they warm my heart

-4-

Sly is really into doing crafts right now.  It's a good way to keep him entertained and out of trouble in that time between breakfast and lunch.  But I'm running out of ideas.  I do remember a lot of crafts I did in preschool or kindergarten, but we've already done most of the ones that are toddler-appropriate.  The others will have to wait a couple years.  I've started keeping a little Pinterest board for some ideas I've come across, but I could use more.  If anyone has a good idea or link, I'd love if you shared it with me!

Here's one I found on Pinterest.  Sly loves changing it each day.

-5-

Speaking of toddler distractions...something I've discovered that Sly LOVES to do is put away the silverware into the proper slots in the drawer.  When he wants to "help" me do something in the kitchen that he's not really capable of yet, I tell him, "actually, Sly, I could use some help putting away the silverware." There's always some in the drying rack, so he happily puts them away while I finish up the task I was doing.  Win-win.

-6-

We've had a rough time with Stella at night.  From one month old, Sly started sleeping through the night, and we never had an issue after.  Stella seemed to be following the same pattern for awhile.  But at about four months old, she suddenly began waking many many times each night, screaming and inconsolable.  It was a grueling and exhausting time for me, and I kept thinking of writing about it here, then hesitating - I mean, who wants to hear about someone else's baby's sleep problems? 

We were leaving Mass a few weeks ago, and a woman who I have talked with a couple times came up to ask about Stella, and specifically how she was sleeping (moms always ask other moms about that!).  I admitted that things had been pretty bad in that department.  Then she asked, simply, "have you prayed about it?"  And I just paused.  No. No I had not.  Way to go, Christine.  Something that was becoming a real and constant trouble in my life, but I hadn't even thought to ask for help.  How many times has this happened to me?  Why haven't I learned by now?  I just keeping trying to deal with some burden as it gets worse and worse, assuming there's nothing to be done.  I forget that I can bring anything - even something as "normal" and "expected" as a baby who doesn't like to sleep through the night - to God.  So I began praying about it.  And it has gotten better. 

 

-7-

For Valentine's Day, my mother-in-law gave me some cute new kitchen towels (Martha Stewart brand, so I'm guessing they came from Macy's?). 

Tom gave me roses - he still thinks fresh flowers are a really stupid gift, but I've finally convinced him that I really do enjoy them.  Both of us completely forgot to make each other homemade cards, something we did last year with the intention of continuing it as a yearly tradition!  We gave ourselves an "extension", though, and we'll exchange tomorrow instead. 

Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary

Lenten Planning

Ash Wednesday kicks off Lent next week, so I'm working out a plan for observing the season and whipping myself into better spiritual shape.

For a month now, I've been slowly working through Maria Von Trapp's (yes, that Maria Von Trapp.  The real-life would-be-nun who was portrayed in The Sound of Music) book, Around the Year With the Trapp Family.  The book discusses how their family lives out the seasons of the Church - the Liturgical year - so fully and beautifully.  It is absolutely the BEST book I've ever come across on the subject, very much based on tradition, and I highly recommend it to any Catholic.

Anyways, in her section on Lent, she has a suggestion that I thought was worthwhile:

It is important that Lenten resolutions do not use the negative approach only, such as, "I won't do this" and "I won't do that."  They should start positively, with "I will use these three books" (this as soon as the child can read); "I will use the time I save by abstaining from television for this and this...."  "I will use the money I save by not going to the movies for alms given to...." (pg. 102)

So here's what I'm thinking:

1. Food
One year, while we were still dating, Tom and I both followed the Lenten fast  used by Byzantine Catholics (they call it the "Great Fast") .  It's much more hardcore than we modern Roman Catholics are used to.  You have to abstain from all meat, dairy, and eggs.  Basically, you're vegan for all of Lent, plus they give up wine and olive oil on most days as well.  It was rewarding, but definitely difficult.  I got really sick of potatoes and rice.  And I have to say that I've been happy to have the "pregnant" or "breast feeding" excuse these past few years to convince Tom that it's a bad year to attempt it again.  I do want to make some food-related sacrifice this year, though.

So I am going to give up "junk food".  This probably sounds like "Lent 101", but...I have a major sweet-tooth, and have let myself fall into many bad dietary habits of late.  Not a day passes that I don't have a dessert.  This is going to be grueling.  Also, I don't plan to give up eating between meals entirely.  If I'm really hungry (hey, I'm still breastfeeding - cut me some slack!) I can have something healthy like fruit or yogurt.

I'd like to also add some additional "meatless" days to our weekly meal plans, since we already abstain from meat every Friday of the year.

Following Maria Von Trapp's advice, let me turn this positive:  "With the empty space in my hungry tummy where junk food would have gone, I will instead make sure to eat "at least one fruit and one vegetable a day."  Yes, I know.  How completely pathetic is this?  I have totally different standards for what I let Sly eat and what I let myself eat.  It's not that I hate healthy food, but...I am a raging carb-oholic...what can I say?? 

2.  Internet
I haven't fully worked this one out yet, but I know I need to seriously limit my internet usage.  Throughout the day, anytime I pass the computer [we still have an old-fashioned desktop, partially for the reason that I know a laptop/tablet/smart phone, etc. equipped with the internet would be the hugest temptation to idleness imaginable for me], I have to stop by to "check my e-mail".  This often translates to spending twenty minutes browsing Facebook, linking through internet articles, blogs, etc. and only being torn away because one of my children makes it clear that they need me now.

It's a really bad habit, and I know I need to nip it in the bud.  My problem is trying to figure out the best method for "fasting" from internet use.  I might keep the possibility of "limited access" Facebook open to me, since there are certain people I can only contact through there, etc.  It's my mindless scrolling through the newsfeed that's the main problem.   As for blogs, I don't see any problems with the amount of time I spend writing entries for my own, especially since they're mostly written while the kids are asleep and thus not taking me away from my mothering responsibilities.  What can become a problem is all the time devoted to reading the many other blogs which I so love.

Should I limit certain things entirely (e.g. no blog-reading at ALL during Lent) or just limit myself time-wise (e.g. only half an hour a day reading blogs, and only after the kids are in bed)?  My husband fears - and he might be right - that if I don't let myself read any during Lent, I'll feel the need to "catch up" after Easter.  And that would be bad.  I still need to work this one out.  I'm open to suggestions!

I know that the positive practice I want to replace my excessive internet-browsing with is prayer, for sure.  I'm going to nudge Tom to finally resume a daily family Rosary.  I'd like to add something else as well.  Perhaps I can carve out an hour a week to leave the kids with Daddy and go to Adoration for the first time in...three years?

***
As I finished writing all this, I began to wonder whether it was appropriate to share all of this.  Our Lenten sacrifices are very personal and specific to us, after all.  But it will help to hold me accountable, having put it in writing and informed people of my intentions.  So I feel comfortable with this.

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

It's been awhile since I've written. Holy week and Easter are such busy times, and the past few days have provided me with many little chores and tasks needing to be taken care of. Also, I felt like I had an overwhelming amount of things that I could write an entry about, so I took the noncommittal route, and chose to write nothing!

In an attempt to keep things short and sweet, I'll just post a few pictures from the past week, and speak about them as the inspiration strikes...

I hung up some of the lovely roses Tom gave me. This picture was taken over the weekend, so by now, they're mostly dried. We keep small vases of dried roses on our home altar, and I also have a large vase of them decorating our mantle. I'm not sure yet what the fate of these ones will be...we'll have to see how they turn out, color-wise. But I admit, I kind of like the rustic charm they add to the kitchen just when they're hanging there from the ceiling. I mentioned to Tom that it might be nice someday to decorate with bunches of dried flowers in this way, and he surprisingly agreed completely.


We spent Holy Saturday fixing up our garden and getting stuff planted. I finally got to get those tomato seedlings out of the kitchen! (The front planter has my lavender seeds, which seem to have just been complete duds, all of them).


The quality of this picture is pretty poor (it was taken from Sly's bedroom window), but this is a view of our backyard. The two garden patches in the back now have: tomatoes, carrots, Romaine lettuce, and sugar snap peas. We also planted morning glories along the side fence this summer, so they won't completely engulf all the crops again.


Sly really enjoyed picking the dandelions in the grass (which needs to be cut badly! I should call the landlord about that...)


I snatched it out of his mouth right away (well, after getting this picture of course :-P)

Saturday evening, we dyed our eggs. I also dipped twelve blown eggs into the dyes, to be decorated with wax at a later time. Notice how I have Sly AND Lance in my lap at once. They fight for my attention all the time.

I made a "Sly" egg with the handy clear crayon that comes in the dye set, and Tom suggested I make one for each of us as well. But it seemed inappropriate to write "Christine" and "Tom" on them. I mean...in relation to Sly, we are "Mom(my)" and "Dad(dy)." So that's what I wrote. And it did feel strange. I think that's the first time I've ever referred to myself that way in print before.


Our eggs looked much nicer the night we dyed them. This picture was from Sunday morning, after the fridge had already covered them with condensation and made the dye drip.

We went to the Easter Vigil Mass at 10:00. For weeks, I had been insisting that would be a bad idea. Tom really loves the Vigil, and I knew he wanted to go, but I didn't think Sly would feel the same. I kept trying to paint pictures of the awful scenes we could expect to endure, having a cranky baby out well past his bedtime. Somehow, though, in the end, Tom convinced me it would be okay. He assured me that Sly would just sleep through the whole thing.

Hah! I should've listened to my gut! He screamed through the entire first half, and I had to sit with him out in the narthex, missing everything. Well, technically, I could still hear the priest. But it was all in Latin, and we only own one missal that has the updated Easter Vigil Mass in it. So I really couldn't follow what was happening. But Sly finally did sleep, and we were even able to go out for food afterward with friends (I got a milkshake)!

On the way home, we were discussing what Easter traditions we may like to have once Sly gets a little older. In Tom's family, the kids had to find their Easter baskets as well as all their eggs on Easter morning. At my house, we came down to find the baskets on the coffee table, and the eggs in the fridge - just where we'd left them!

That night, Tom was very insistent that I should just go to bed, and he would stay down to clean up and get Sly's Easter basket ready. I should have known...

...that he was actually hiding all my wax eggs around the house for me to find in the morning! I spotted this one first, hidden in the coupon holder thingy.

Sly wore an adorable too-big Easter suit. This only lasted about half an hour, until we decided to change him into something we didn't mind getting dirty.

As soon as I saw he was getting green dye on his mouth, I took the egg away.

We read that babies can eat egg yolks, but not the whites, since they have a lot of allergens in them. "This will be perfect," I thought, "since I only like to eat the whites!" But no such luck. He did not enjoy egg yolks one bit, and started crying each time we tried to give him a second bite!


He got some Cheerios instead. Sly always reaches into the pocket on his bib to get the food he dropped. I think it's adorable - like he's digging for treasure.


The Easter Bunny brought him a basket filled with....plastic eggs to play with! No candy for babies!

After spending the morning around the house, getting our fill of chocolate and hard-boiled eggs, we headed over to my dad's house, where he was hosting the entire extended family for dinner.

For a while, Sly was the only baby there, so he was getting passed all around. At some point near the end of the night, someone must have given him a pretzel rod. He LOVED it and was munching away on it for a happy half hour, and getting himself covered with little bits of pretzel-turned-slime. Next time he was handed back to me, I saw that someone had given him a second pretzel, which he was clutching in the other hand. So for over an hour, he went back and forth, sucking on the two pretzels. Since it was well past his bedtime, he was amazingly cranky, and cried everytime we tried to take one away or clean him up.

Overall, a nice Easter spent with family and gorgeous weather!


And one last picture:


Sly's really starting to love solid foods. Monday night, I sat near the sink so I could clean him up, and he grabbed a slice of leftover pizza off my plate on the counter!

Latest Projects

1. This past Sunday was Passion Sunday, at least according to the old liturgical calendar. Since we attend the Latin Mass each week, that tends to be the calendar we observe. During Passiontide, some churches still maintain the practice of covering the crucifixes and statues with purple cloth.

For a couple years now, Tom has longed to do this at home too. Last year, we didn't think of it until it was almost too late - a few days before Easter. We purchased three yards of cloth, but never got around to doing anything with it. But last Saturday night, we amazingly remembered that the next day was Passion Sunday, and that we should dig out the cloth. Actually...by the time we had actually found the cloth, it was well past midnight. I decided to go to bed, and leave the statue-veiling to my wonderful husband. When I woke up in the morning, I thought it was kinda cute that he had covered every last statue in the house - including the tiny little St. Therese and St. Thomas Aquinas statues on the bookshelves. It's funny - there are just these two small purple bulges sitting there now.

For an idea of what the house looks like now,

On the mantle

Our home altar

On the way to Sunday Mass, we started asking ourselves why it is that Catholics cover statues at the end of Lent like this. We both liked the practice, but realized that we didn't have a good explanation for it. But this is one thing I love about our Catholic faith. Even when you don't fully understand the "why" of something - if it is Church teaching, you KNOW that it is true and good. So we were happy to observe the tradition, and learn the reasoning after the fact.

A little research turns up a satisfying explanation. According to Fisheaters:

Today, statues and sacred images (except for the Stations of the Cross) are veiled with purple cloth beginning at the Vespers of Passion Sunday, and they remain covered until the Gloria of Holy Saturday, at which point Lent ends and Eastertide begins. Catholics cover statues and icons, etc., in their homes for the same time period (the cloth shouldn't be transluscent or decorated in any way).

This veiling of the statues and icons stems from the Gospel reading of Passion Sunday (John 8:46-59), at the end of which the Jews take up stones to cast at Jesus, Who hides Himself away. The veiling also symbolizes the fact that Christ's Divinity was hidden at the time of His Passion and death, the very essence of Passiontide.

At the Vespers Mass on Holy Saturday, Lent ends and Easter begins: the statues are unveiled at that time in one of the most glorious liturgical moments of the entire Church year, a moment that affirms His divinity and proclaims that "He is risen!"

And here's more explanation at Father Z.'s blog.

2. A couple weeks ago, while waiting for one of my tutoring students to arrive at the library, I was browsing in the craft book section. I really enjoy doing crafty things, but I suffer from a severe lack of creativity. I need to have directions to follow or a friend showing me exactly what to do in order for me to produce something nice. I thought it would be fun to find an idea for a new project to start. I found a great book titled, appropriately, The Great Book of Egg Decorating. It was a fortuitous find, since I'd been saying to Tom only a week earlier that I would like to decorate blown eggs (which is when you literally blow the insides out a hole on the other end of the egg, allowing the shell to be decorated and last forever), as I used to do when I was a kid. The book does teach you the basics of how to do the ever-popular and ever-impressive Ukrainian-style eggs. But for the most part, it focuses on some different styles of decorating, using different tools.

Most of the decorations shown in the book are drawn onto the eggs with wax. They suggested that you construct a special wax-melting device. Knowing that Tom loves little projects like that (and wanting to try out some designs!), I asked him to make me one. He did a great job, and even added a little feature that will make the height of the "pot" adjustable.


When the wax is melted, you dip a pin head into it (which is inserted into a dowel rod or pencil, for ease of use), and "write" your designs onto the eggs. I imagine it's a lot like using a quill and an ink well. Pure beeswax makes the base, and then you can add things to color it.


I purchased candle dye in red, which I used on the wax of my first four attempts (the eggs shown in the back of the picture, below). But then I discovered that you can dye the wax for much cheaper but just as effectively with a chunk of Crayola crayon (used for the pink designs on the two front eggs).


So far, I've only been experimenting on undyed egg shells. Mostly, I just wanted to get the hang of using the tools. My first couple eggs were pretty sloppy, but I'm getting better. When we dye Easter eggs next week, I want to have a little stock of pre-blown eggs that I can dunk into the dyes.

They also show how you can drill "decorative" holes into the eggs with a tiny drill bit (which Tom already eagerly went out and purchased for me!), and can even lace little ribbons through the holes for a pretty effect. I'm looking forward to trying that out soon.

I will post more pictures as I create them!

3. Okay, this one is a really lame "project" to even mention, but...Today, my purse died, but I brought it back to life!

I'm not one of those gals who likes to own several purses at a time, and switch them out with her outfit, or with the season. I am a one-purse woman. And that one purse needs to have certain very exact features (such as a long strap so it can drape across my front from shoulder to opposite hip, and the right number of zipping or snapping compartments for my phone, camera, etc.). And while I only use one purse, I JAM that thing full of every item I might possibly want anytime I'm out of the house!

It takes me a lot of searching to find a worthy purse each time I need to replace one (which is only every three years or so). So I get worried when my purse is starting to get shabby, as mine has been doing lately. Today, while I was out, the strap completely broke off. But I managed to sew it back on, and I think it should hold for a little while more!


Though I think it's time to start shopping for a new one...

4. Sly got his first tooth a few days ago! And coincidentally, I had just decided to start trying out some new foods on him, and helping him learn to feed himself. The pureed baby foods are fine, but, let's be honest, it's inconvenient to always have to be spooning each bite into his mouth. I wanted to start trying him on foods that could be made into small baby-size pieces that he could grab in his hands.

For the past few days, he's been happily enjoying various breads, Graham crackers, Cheerios, small pieces of grapes, and banana chunks out of his own little hands. It's a lot of fun to introduce new things to him, and I'm definitely open to suggestions for some other baby-friendly foods, if anyone's got them.

Last night, he even got to enjoy some of the same dinner as Tom and I were eating - stuffing and cranberry sauce (I was in the mood for Thanksgiving foods last night, so I cooked up a pseudo-Thanksgiving dinner!)

Enjoying some of Tom's omelette from brunch on Sunday

But it certainly leaves a mess. I now have to scrub down his hands, his face, the entire high chair, and a 4-foot diameter of kitchen floor every time he finishes a meal! But it's great that we can eat our meals at the same time now. During breakfast and dinner for the past few days, I've been able to sit at the table with my food, while Sly sits with me in his high chair, and figures out how to feed himself.

5. My 40 Bags in 40 Days efforts were resumed again last night. I went through almost all my cds, put the discs and booklets into binders, and threw away the cases!

Seven Quick Takes 2: Self-improvement Edition

1. I woke up early today! And surprisingly, I feel like a million bucks. When Tom gets up for work in the mornings, the sound of him getting ready always wakes me up a little. But usually just enough for me to be semi-conscious while he kisses me goodbye. And then I roll over and fall back asleep. But this morning, for some reason, we struck up a conversation about something or other. And then I realized that I needed to use the bathroom. And then once I was out of bed, I felt pretty awake, and decided I should just stay up. This was 7:00am, by the way. A respectable time to wake up!

2. I managed, this morning, to get work done for my cyber school job, shower, eat a leisurely breakfast while reading a book, tend to Sly's needs (feeding, changing, entertainment), do some laundry, go to Mass, take a walk, get a cup of coffee at a coffee shop, pick up a card for my cousin's bridal shower....all before noon! This needs to happen more often!!

3. I've come to an unpleasant realization recently: that I have definitely put on weight since Sly was born. I know, I know - it's to be expected that your body changes after you have a baby. But that's not what I mean. I mean I've been putting on weight since his birth. At my 2-week checkup after he was born, I was already back to pre-pregnancy weight. By one month, I was fitting back in all my old pants and skirts (dresses are a different issue. I still can't get most of them zipped past the chest!). But in the months since then, I've felt myself slowly putting on more and more weight. It didn't make sense at first. Everyone always talks about how breastfeeding is this *magical* way to lose the weight after having a baby. But then it hit me: it's because, while caring for Sly inside the house all day, I have become MUCH more sedentary than I used to be. I've been hardly walking anywhere ("Where would I go with the baby?", "Too cold to have him outside!"), and I definitely never go running anymore.

4. Now that the weather is finally improving, I've been trying to go out for a walk with Sly as often as possible. Even if it's just 20 minutes. It's nice enough just to get some fresh air, and sunlight. Vitamin D!

5. And Tom and I made a plan for these upcoming Spring weekends. We're going to drive to a different park around town each week, and take a long walk (and maybe picnics when it's nice enough).

From last weekend's walk in Highland Park

6. I've also noticed that I've been feeling tired and sapped of energy a lot. I know that's probably how moms feel most of the time (haha), but this was pretty bad. I'd been finding it difficult to get out of bed before 10! I brought it up at the La Leche League meeting I attended the other day, assuming the women would tell me that breastfeeding had that effect on people. But they all shook their heads, and explained to me that I shouldn't be experiencing the energy lack to such an extent. What it comes down to is, I haven't been taking great care of myself.


7. So to that end, I'm starting to pay more attention to my health. I'm trying to drink more water (especially important when you're breastfeeding). Also, I started taking the prenatal vitatmins again which I should have been taking all this time (the bottle says "for pregnant and lactating women"). Oops. The extent of my fruit/veggie consumption recently has been something like one glass of juice in the morning, and one serving of vegetables at dinner. Not enough for me, even. But - and I'm not sure if this is actually true, but it makes sense that it would be - I think my body might give priority of the the vitamins and nutrients to the milk for the baby. And when I don't eat enough of them, I'm left with hardly anything for myself! Which explains why I've been so tired. So, I'm trying to do better with that - eating more of the good, less of the bad. And I've been drinking homemade carrot-apple-parsley juice in the afternoons. It actually tastes pretty good, and is very good for you. It's energizing...and Sly loves it too!

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It's nice that this urge to make some positive changes has come upon me right before Lent. I always find it rewarding to be able to connect such sacrifices to the Passion of Christ, and have the extra Lenten spirit helping you to examine your faults and give you the motivation to correct them.

Seven Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary