No Blogging Drama Here

I want to apologize for suddenly password protecting for a while there.  Nobody was given the password, I mostly did it so that I could make some changes.  I downgraded to the new typepad micro and wanted to mess with the settings before I made it public.  I was also contemplating some other changes that I might make over time here, and I wanted to take some identifying information off the page.  I got emails, facebook messages, and even texts wondering what happened, so I thought I had better explain myself.

This all came about in a moment where I considered ending my blogging altogether.  I'm not a huge fan of public service announcements about blogging breaks or contemplating online whether I should be contemplating anything online.  ha ha  So, I'm not going to do that.  For now, I'm not willing to pay for my site, so I downgraded.

Back to regular blogging soon I hope.

A Meatless Lent

Meatless meals are always a topic of conversation in the Catholic blogosphere before and during Lent.  There are so many delicious sounding recipes out there, many that I hope to try somewhere along the way.  An interesting thing has developed this Lent that I thought might be blog-worthy this evening (ahem, morning).

For weeks I've been probing Charlie, asking him what he was planning on doing for Lent.  What are you reading?  What are you giving up?  What are you praying about?  Question after question!  Poor guy.  It's sort of like when we are at a restaurant.  I always ask him what he's getting before I decide on my own meal.  It's not that I can't make a decision on my own, in fact, one gift I can recognize in myself is that I am a decisive person.  I can make a decision quickly and be comfortable with it, back it up, and so forth.  Nonetheless, I do ask him these questions because I always wonder if he might have some great idea that I haven't thought of!  Many a time has he decided on a meal that sounds fabulous to me that I may not have noticed otherwise, hence, my Lenten probing.

Well, I was afraid it might happen, and alas it did.  He has chosen to go meatless for the duration of this holy season.  Last year, his sacrifice kind of lead to an attitude problem on my part, I admit.  Why should *I* the planner, shopper, and executor of the meals have to go to all this extra work to be sure he doesn't eat meat at dinner every evening?  How selfish of me.  Thankfully, this year I took it to prayer and decided that where ever he goes, I go (lead me to think of Ruth 1: 16-17, a favorite verse) and I choose not to get all snippy about it but to take it a step further.* 

We sat down and decided on a Lenten menu plan for a week.  This is our menu for the whole season.  We will not go out for dinner, we will not randomly order pizza, we will not stray from the menu.  Part of the sacrifice is the simpleness, and the simpleness gives us room to think of Him who saved us, and to offer our love to Him who we adore.  (It also gave me peace to know that I don't have to think of 40 meatless meals!)

Our menu is as follows:

Monday: Crustless Spinach Quiche & a quick bread (corn bread, pumpkin bread, blueberry coffee cake, banana bread, zucchini bread, whatever is most handy that week)

Tuesday: Soup and Grilled Cheese - I'll probably stick my favorite minestrone recipe, but might also venture into a corn and crab chowder I love or something along those lines.

Wednesday: homemade pizza - I really need some great recipes for this.  I tried a crust in the breadmaker yesterday and was not impressed.  It tasted good, but didn't rise like I would have liked.  I made homemade sauce too, but that was good.

Thursday: Black bean burritos and homemade mexican rice in the rice cooker

Friday: Charlie's fish tacos.  These are nothing short of amazing.  I don't know if they count as penitential.

Saturday: Any random fish recipe, homemade amish bread (or beer bread, or baking soda biscuits - these three are my standby breads), and salad

Sunday: we eat at church with friends and anything goes

I'm really happy with this plan as of now, I feel that it meets a great variety of our preferences and leaves some room for a bit of variety but not too much.  I think that simplifying our Lenten menu will leave me more time to focus on my own work and personal sacrifices of the season.

Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as
nothing.
-St. Therese of Lisieux

*As a disclaimer, I am a nursing mom after all and I'm not going totally meatless.  I am making sure to meet all my nutritional needs, including meat at lunch!

I Am A Texas Driver

It's a blistery, snowy evening.  Supposedly it should be blistery and snowy for 3 to 4 more days, which means that unless Charlie decides to be my chauffeur, I will not be leaving my safe haven of a home where it's warm, safe, and dry.
The girls had swimming lessons this evening, and after a cool and clear day, of course the snow came dumping down approximately 20 minutes before it was time for me to get them ready to go.  When I went to the front room where there is a large window, I gasped audibly.  Getting 4 small children out into the snow by myself is quite a daunting task!  Much less for swimming lessons.  Oh the irony!  The beach towels...the snow boots...the swimsuits under fleece pants under heavy coats...  I called Charlie.  I hoped he would say, "Oh darling, stay home where it's warm!"  No.  He said, "You will be fine!  Just go!"
So, I went.  I woke up my peacefully sleeping baby (who has a cold by the way).  I bundled every one up.  I started the Suburban so it would be warm for my sweet angels.
Somehow, I managed to back out of my super long drive way with zero visibility.  It was nothing short of a miracle that I didn't knock over the fence, bump into a dumpster, or back into another car.  I got on the road, turned on to the main avenue that leads to the pool, spun out slightly, couldn't see due to wind and snow, and promptly turned around!  OH YEAH!  I'm a Texan.  I'm the Texas driver that people here hate.  I go way slow.  I freek out.  I ride my breaks.  I would turn my 4 wheel drive on if it weren't for the fact that apparently I did it wrong last time and made the car drive all crazy. 
Of course, once I turned around, the water works began to flow.  The girls were literally sobbing, they had been looking forward to their lesson all day.  I had to think fast.  I bribed them to stop crying with hot chocolate.  Hot chocolate is one of those things that I tend to resist...something about drinking down a cup of calories and sugar seems so very wrong to me.  That's why I don't give them chocolate milk, juice, or sodas (aren't I mean!?).  But, my guilt got the better of me.  It's not their fault that I'm a horrible driver in fair weather and a terrible driver in snow!  In fact, I even topped it off with whipped cream.

For now, I'm going to prepare a hot dinner to share with the family around the table while we watch the snow fall out the dining room window.  Then I'll put my littles in a warm bath, warm pajamas, and warm beds.  I'll settle in and watch some winter Olympics and enjoy this weather properly - by not being out in it.  I learned my lesson!

 

I've been thinking about cloth diapers a lot lately. Would there be any interest in a video blog about cloth diapers here?? Let me know. I think it'd be fun. :-)

Daybook February 15

It's Monday morning and I have that freshly-caffeinated-after-a-good-night's-sleep energy and enthusiasm that this is going to be a great week!  Blogging is on my list of things to do today, but I have limited time so I'm going to go with a daybook (my default blog entry when I'm crunched for time...which seems to be happening a lot lately!).

So for today, Monday, February 15....

Outside my window … it is a GORGEOUS, sunny Colorado day!  Not to be deceived, however, it is bitterly cold outside.  I'm ready for the snow to melt, the grass to turn green, and for Spring to make it's arrival.

I am listening to... my little ones watching Bearinstain Bears.  If they get up too soon after me, I buckle and let them have a show or two while I get dressed, pour a cup of coffee, and get my to-do list going.  It keeps every body happy, and thanks to On Demand, they can't watch hours and hours on end while I make excuses about being able to get things done.

I am wearing... yoga pants, one of Charlie's long sleeved t-shirts, running shoes, a ponytail, mascara and cherry lip gloss.  Before I can get dressed for the day, I've got to get in a run!  Hopefully during Serafina's "post wake up nap."

I am thinking … about Lent.  I really want to challenge myself this time and I've chosen a Lenten practice that is going to be hard for me.  I'm praying that I can persevere and make it happen, not to mention glean some fruits from it.  We also have some family-wide standards for Lent that will be a sacrifice for sure, but a joyful sacrifice offered to our Lord!  I also plan on getting in a very thorough, well prepared Confession during Lent.  I need to find a good confessor for this though, as my regular confessor has a tendency to rush me, which is understandable because he typically has a long line of penitential folks waiting for him!  Lastly, I hope to pick some great spiritual reading.  I'm always in the middle of several books, but I want to pick 2 or 3 for Lent.  For sure, I know I will read The Way of the Cross by St. Josemaria Escriva as I did last year.  Other than that, I am going to peruse my bookshelf and see what else I should pick up...

I am thankful for … my sweet husband.  Saturday was his birthday and I was reminded of how blessed I am by having him in my life.  It was a quiet birthday, he went to the gun show with his guy friends after a breakfast of his favorite treat, homemade cinnamon rolls (Pioneer Woman's recipe).  Then later he opened gifts, we all went out for dinner, and came home for his traditional birthday cake, angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.

Charlie reading my card.  I gave him a list of 29 things I love about him.  I hope he liked it.

I am reading … Covenanted Happiness

On my iPod... Faith & Family Live podcasts.  They are the perfect length to listen to while I clean the kitchen in the evening.

I am hoping …   for a productive week.  I'm itching to do some pre-Spring cleaning, but having a 6 month old sometimes makes it harder than usual since if we aren't touching at all times she becomes very unhappy.  This time is so fleeting though...I want to enjoy her babyhood.  I do secretly wish I had the funds to hire some cleaning help...just to do the things I can't always get to.  Alas, I can not, so I just do my best!

On my mind … all my little ones seem to have developed a cough.  Since they're still without fever or other symptoms of a cold, I'm concentrating on a) treating it naturally and avoiding the doctor, and b) focusing on my own immune system because I always seem to pick up what they have.  That means lots of sitting in the bathroom while a steamy shower runs (makes me feel like I'm back home in Texas!), lots of nose blowing, or suctioning in the case of the baby (which also means lots of crying from my sweet good natured little one), hot tea, and lots and lots of Vitamin C.

We’re learning … Felicity and Gabrielle are all over the Bob books.  They're doing great on that front, so I'm trying to decide if I want to pull out 100 Easy Lessons or the CHC reading program.  They have been learning the Glorious and Luminous mysteries of the Rosary, but will soon focus on the Sorrowful mysteries and the Stations of the Cross when Lent starts on Wednesday.

Noticing that … we are blessed with wonderful, generous Mission Partners within FOCUS.  We are praying and working hard to find some additional, new donors to join our support team.  God provides!  (If you don't know what I'm talking about, the shortened version is that my husband is a full time missionary and we fundraise 100% of our income from generous donors, "Mission Partners," who believe in the mission.  They are a blessing to us in so many ways!)

Pondering these words … I hate to be a copycat, but when I read this quote on Elizabeth Foss' blog yesterday it hit me between the eyes.  I'm going to write it down and put it in a very visible place.  "Wisdom enters through
love, silence, and mortification. It is great wisdom to know how to be
silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives
of others."- St. John of the Cross

From the kitchen … thanks to Charlie's birthday, I have 4 pans of homemade cinnamon rolls in the freezer.  They should go great with the lovely lattes that Charlie's been making us with his new espresso maker that he got for his birthday!

Around the house … I've been cleaning out the kitchen cabinets.  They are well organized, clean, and functional.  I heart my label maker.  Next up: closets and the toy box.  Detachment is the name of the game.

One of my favorite things … painting my nails.  I miss having the luxury of doing my nails all the time before the work of marriage and children, so when I take the opportunity to do them it cheers me up a lot!  I look at my hands, and I see my mother's hands.  And her hands are apparently my grandmother's hands, as I discovered in this beautiful picture of my grandma as a young woman (my wonderful, generous uncle sent me this!):
Wasn't she lovely?  Those are my mama's hands...and mine!

A picture I am sharing …

Order

Between this booklet (I'm reading a hard copy, but couldn't find where you could buy one anymore - but you can read the PDF for free) and this article I read yesterday, I am feeling inspired.

It's amazing what a bit of thought provoking reading can do to give hope!  

On Character and Vocations

The other day when I was sharing a Raisin Bran cookie with my sweet Felicity, I began to wax sentimental about how my mama used to make these cookies for me and that maybe, just maybe, she would make them with her little girl someday.

She stopped me in my tracks when she said,"If I *AM* a mommy someday!  Maybe I'll be a nun!" 

Of course, of course.  I backpedaled then and told her that of course she needs to be open to what God will call her to in her life and that if that is the case, then she can share the recipe with her Sisters!  haha

One of the greatest blessings of living a missionary life style is our access to men and women who have been called to religious vocations.  The girls are comfortable around priests (and love our parish priest!), they just adore religious sisters, and Colette even made friends with a monk at conference!  

I don't know to which vocations my daughters will be called.  Charlie and I pray for the young boys who may grow up to be their husbands.  We also pray that if one, some, or all of them are called to religious life, that they will follow God's will for them.  If I've learned anything from my own vocation, it has been that only the Lord knows what will give us the greatest joy and what will lead us closer to Him.  I hope that they also find such joy, peace, and growth in their own vocations.

In guiding our children to adulthood, our hopes can be summed up best by this excerpt from "Preparing for Peer Pressure: A Guide for Parents of Young Children" by James B. Stenson:

When parents up to our time thought of their children's futures, they though in terms of character:  Will my son be honored and respected for his integrity, his hard work, his responsibilities as breadwinner and citizen?  Will he bring honor to us, his parents?  Will our daughter be chaste and modest, giving us grandchildren to delight our old age?  Will all our children marry well?  Will some of them, please God, find a vocation to the service of the Church?

I have become increasingly aware of the fact that forming our children's character really is going to offer them the greatest opportunity for genuine happiness in life.  Focusing on virtue will benefit them no matter which vocation they are called to.  It is difficult to turn away from a conventional definition of success, that is educational, financial, and social success. 

We hope for Heaven for our little girls, no matter which vocation leads them there.  I had better to to work on that character formation, and I had better hit my knees!

"The raising of a house, or family, consists not in building up a fine
residence and in storing up a great quantity of worldly possessions,
but in the good education of children in the fear of God and in virtue.
In this no pains or labor should be spared, for children are the crown
of their father and mother." ~ St. Francis de Sales