quietness and lent

By on March 6, 2014 in being Catholic

The past few days I have felt the need for some quiet.  Some spiritual quiet as well as physical.  Preparing our hearts for this lenten season which has already started.  I hope you have not noticed my absence.  I am also dealing with this head cold which because the heater in our cavernous bedroom has decided to stop working, has gotten a bit worse. I went to 4 stores yesterday looking for a space heater to find none.

I have a very busy day today with a new venture, I promise to share more about it soon, but wanted to come by quickly and share our lenten traditions.

Borrowing my own words from this post last year:

During Lent in our home we try to not only give things up but since Jesus gave everything for us we make it a goal to give to others.  When the kids were all little I wanted a visual to encourage them to do good thing for others, especially each other, that is when the Lenten jar was born.

For every good deed done for someone else without being asked, they may put a bean in the empty jar.  On Holy Thursday before bedtime I will put the beans into the crock pot along with pasta, and veggies to make the soup we will eat on Good Friday.  If they do not do for others then our soup will be very meager.

They start up gung ho and the jar begins to fill very quickly but as the season goes on they begin to forget and I have to encourage them to do good things but that is a job that I don’t mind.

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We will also be adding Wednesdays to our no meat fast since we do not eat meat on any Friday of the year (except the Friday after Thanksgiving :).  This is the way Catholics fasted many years ago and some ate no meat at all which would be very difficult for us.

Looking for something to give up for Lent?
Give up resentment and become more forgiving.
Give up hatred and return good for evil.
Give up complaining and be more grateful.
Give up pessimism and become more hopeful.
Give up worry and become more trusting.
Give up anger and become more patient.
Give up pettiness and become more noble.
Give up gloom and become more joyful.
Give up doubt and turn to God.

We each have our list of small things we are giving up or doing for others and we unite our prayers to yours this Lenten season.  I will be back here tomorrow for Real Food on a Real Budget.

 

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Pinafores for a Pin-along

By on March 1, 2014 in Pinterest Pin-along, Sewing and Crafts

Last night during our Friday night movie night, I began to feel cold.  Not the kind of cold that goes away from a nice warm room or blanket.  No, the kind of cold that makes you want to go to bed.  In the middle of the night, my throat started to ache and one of my ears is following suit.  I am really not feeling well. This morning, I handed Matthew to one of the girls and gave myself permission to go back to bed.

The problem with that one, is that I must have really needed it and just woke up to realize that I never uploaded my pinalong post.  Alarming yes, but there has not really been all that much fuss or fanfare over it to begin with so, here it is.  It is super late in the morning and if by some off chance you were waiting to linkup, I am really sorry but something tells me that is not the case 🙂  Tis OK.

This week, I tried to summon spring by making one of my favorite dresses for the girls.  I have made dozens of these over the past 6 years when Alexandra first showed me a picture of one and asked “momma, you can make this for me right?”  And, yes I can.  It is a very simple construction.  Basically, the skirt is a tube with a hem on one end and gathering on the other.  I measure the hips and then times it by 4 and that is how much fabric goes into the skirt.  Then measure the waist so that it will be perfectly snug and decide how wide you want it and double that.  Fold over the waist and pin in place over the gathered top of the edge.  Make straps the length you want and sew them in place.  There is a bit more to it but that would give you enough of an idea to take off with it.  I hope 🙂

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Here’s what to do.

1.  Pick a pin you have pinned from your Pinterest boards and do it.

2. Take a picture of your project or progress and blog about it or post a picture to flickr.

3. Then come back here on Saturdays and post a link to your blog post (please make sure the link you post is to your Pin-along post and not your main blog)

4. Don’t forget to link back to the Pin-along  so others can find us and get encouraged too.

5.  We all love comments and encouragement so please leave a comment here and visit at least 1 other pinner and leave them a comment  too :)
Fair enough?

Below is the link up tool.  Let me know if you need help!

You are invited to a Pin-along party.  Bring along all your Pinterest ideas and pinned projects and make them a reality.  Don’t just pin it, Make it, Bake it, Do it and then Share it!

 


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