Lenten Reflection

Okay so I just realized I have been spelling Lenten incorrectly.  Not a big deal but it just shows how attached I have gotten to spell check and that little red line that appears under a word when Word thinks that I have misspelled it!  But back to the post:

FAMILY:  Pray with your children today.  Talk to them about the meaning and significance of prayer, even if you don't think that they really understand you.
FRIENDS:  Do you know anyone who has a loved one in the military who is deployed?  Send that person a special note today thanking them for what they do for us.  (This is a friends and family one for me since my first cousin's husband is in Afghanistan.  We are sending him a package this week!)
FAITH:  I love this prayer that I found today.  It really hit me this morning.
Dear Lord,
I know you receive what is in my heart.
Let me be inspired by your words
and by the actions of your son, Jesus.
Guide me to make sacrifices this Lent
in the spirit of self-denial
and with greater attention to you
and to those around me.
Help me to believe that you will grant me this
because of the sacrifice Jesus made for me.

Lenton Reflection

FAMILY: Be patient with a child today who needs a little extra patience.

FRIENDS:  Smile at a stranger today.  It may be the only smile s/he sees all day.

FAITH:  Try to be more selfless in all that you do.
Father of my soul,
Mother of my heart,
I know your love for me is limitless beyond imagining.
You care for me as a loving parent.
Through my smallest Lenten sacrifices,
help me to become less selfish
and more aware of your ways.
Fan the flame of my desire
to draw ever closer to you.
Guide me to seek your love.

Snow

It has snowed in Birmingham more this winter than it did all myyears of growing up here.  I think that my kids think that it always snows here . . . they have a lot to learn!  The latest snow occurred on Friday, February 12.  It was my kind of snow since it didn't get icy, hinder any driving, and we didn't loose power.  The kids were out of school, but they had a blast.  I have been meaning to post the pictures.  They had the best time!

The couldn't wait to get into the snow as soon as they saw it!

Ward decided that he was going to make a snowman . . . all by himself!

STRONG MAN!

Ward's snowman - made without any adult help!

Once Ted got home, he took Ward sledding

The sunset was beautiful that afternoon.

Lenton Reflection

FAMILY:  Our church is collecting money in baby bottles for "Her Choice" a Catholic crisis pregnancy cetner in Birmingham.  I am going to challenge my kids to dig into their piggy banks and to do some chores around the house to fill the baby bottle with money.
FRIENDS:  Think of a friend who may be struggling.  Call her and ask her if you can bring her a meal this week.
FAITH:  Last night at Mass, the Gospel was one of my favorite readings.  It is when Jesus goes into the desert and fasts for 40 days and then is tempted by the Devil.  With each temptation, Jesus refuses the Devil by quoting the Bible.  Father Bob told us that it is always the Gospel reading the first Sunday during Lent.  It always challenges me to resist temptation by focusing on the Word.  Becuase if I don't know what God thinks about something, how can I adequately resist the Devil??

Lent Day 2

Before I do my Lenton reflection fr the day, I have to say Happy Birthday to Ted!  He is 36 years young today.  We are heading to Grey Rocks this morning to spend his birthday weekend at his favorite place.  Should be a great time.

FAMILY:  Be aware of your husband's needs.  Do something for him unexpected.

FRIENDS:  Show compassion to someone who needs it, whether it is a friend, co-worker or stranger.

FAITH:  Lord, 

               I know how much you love me.
               It’s hard for me to feel it sometimes,
               but I know your love is always with me.

               Help me to use your love as a way
               to persevere in my Lenten intentions.
               I am weak, but I know with your help,
               I can use these small sacrifices in my life to draw closer to you.

I found this prayer at a website called "Praying Lent 2010" from Creighton University.  It lists the readings for each day as well as giving some small prayers and meditations.  I will be citing from it regularly in my Lenton relfections.  The website is http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent if you want to check it out.

Lenton reflections

So the past couple of years I have done a daily Lenton reflection.  I am going to try to remember to do that each day this Lent as well.  I usually don't get to it on the weekends, especially when we are at Grey Rocks (like this weekend).  I have used different formats (I can't really remember what I did last year), but I like this one.  Here goes:

FAMILY:   Spend a little extra time with one child, whether it be reading an extra bedtime story, or taking him/her to run errands with you by themselves.  Make them feel special.
FRIENDS:  Call or e-mail a friend you have lost touch with.
FAITH:  Send five extra minutes in prayer.

I challenge all to do these three little things today (or tomorrow since it is now late and all kids should be asleep!!)

Lent

As I am sure that you are all aware, Lent begins tomorrow.  I have always observed Lent, but it is a very big deal in the Catholic Church.  For instance, I will fast tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, and I will not eat meat on Fridays during Lent.  Since I was pregnant last year, I forgot what the definition of fasting was in the Catholic Church (it is NOT not eating all day).  Here is a pretty good explanation from EWTN's website:

Fasting The law of fasting requires a Catholic from the 18th Birthday [Canon 97] to the 59th Birthday [i.e. the beginning of the 60th year, a year which will be completed on the 60th birthday] to reduce the amount of food eaten from normal. The Church defines this as one meal a day, and two smaller meals which if added together would not exceed the main meal in quantity. Such fasting is obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The fast is broken by eating between meals and by drinks which could be considered food (milk shakes, but not milk). Alcoholic beverages do not break the fast; however, they seem contrary to the spirit of doing penance.

The same website also describes the reasoning behind fasting and abstaining from meat.  It also talked about the traditional "giving something up for Lent" idea:


It is a traditional doctrine of Christian spirituality that a constituent part of repentance, of turning away from sin and back to God, includes some form of penance, without which the Christian is unlikely to remain on the narrow path and be saved (Jer. 18:11, 25:5; Ez.  18:30, 33:11-15; Joel 2:12; Mt. 3:2; Mt. 4:17; Acts 2:38). Christ Himself said that His disciples would fast once He had departed (Lk. 5:35). The general law of penance, therefore, is part of the law of God for man.
Aside from these minimum penitential requirements Catholics are encouraged to impose some personal penance on themselves at other times. It could be modeled after abstinence and fasting. A person could, for example, multiply the number of days they abstain. Some people give up meat entirely for religious motives (as opposed to those who give it up for health or other motives). Some religious orders, as a penance, never eat meat. Similarly, one could multiply the number of days that one fasted. The early Church had a practice of a Wednesday and Saturday fast. This fast could be the same as the Church's law (one main meal and two smaller ones) or stricter, even bread and water. Such freely chosen fasting could also consist in giving up something one enjoys - candy, soft drinks, smoking, that cocktail before supper, and so on. This is left to the individual.
One final consideration. Before all else we are obliged to perform the duties of our state in life. When considering stricter practices than the norm, it is prudent to discuss the matter with one's confessor or director. Any deprivation that would seriously hinder us in carrying out our work, as students, employees or parents would be contrary to the will of God.

So the question becomes, what should I do in honor of Lent.  In the past I have done the typical things like give up chocolate, caffeine, and the like.  And that was definitely a sacrifice - especially considering that my birthday is during Lent so some years I didn't even have a cake!  But this year, I wanted to do something different.  I always go to Stations of the Cross on Fridays during Lent.  It is one of my favorite things in the Catholic Church.  They go through all the stages of Christ being convicted, carrying the cross, and finally dying.  It is very powerful and a perfect reminder of what Lent is all about.  So I will definitely do that again.  But my cousin Louisa challenged me even more - to do something "spiritual" for Lent that will last far longer than giving up chocolate.  She suggested that I try to read the Bible every day for 30 minutes.  So I am going to try.  My time is very precious and it may be late each night that I do it, but I will try.  That is all I can ask of myself.

Valentine's Day

I am not really into Valentine's Day.  I know that everyone says that, and a lot of people don't mean it, but I really do.  You are supposed to love every day and show the people you love that you love them every day.  I don't always live up to that standard, but I try . . . usually.  So today was really no different than any other Sunday in our house - except Ted ran the Mercedes Half Marathon this morning and left the house at the crack of dawn so I have the daunting task of getting myself and all the kids ready for 8:30 AM Mass, surviving with them all during Mass, and getting them home in one piece - which I did - rather well, if I may say so myself, especially considering the fact that I got a last-minute ticket to see Black Eyed Peas last night (AMAZING, by the way - go if you have the chance) and had a little too much fun.

All that being said, Ted always does something for me on Valentine's Day.  He usually sends me flowers at work, which I love.  I know that they hike up the prices (he usually doesn't do roses), but flowers are the best.  They make me happy. I am the type of girl who buys flowers at Publix just to have some in the house.  But this year there was no flowers.  He definitely upped the anty (sp?) and got me this amazing necklace from one of my favorite jewelry stores in town.  It is a rosary-type necklace with a beautiful green stone on the end.  Instead of having Mary on it, however, it has Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is the protector of children.  I adore it.  It is gorgeous and really different.  I wore it all day and got tons of compliments on it.  He is the best.  Makes the Izod shirt I got him look pretty bad.  Oh well.  I got him a really funny card!

Taxes

I am sure that everyone out there hates tax season . . . accountants more so than us common folks, to be sure.  All year long I have a file labeled "income taxes" and I diligently place all our receipts and the like in there like a good little girl.  And then February comes.  And I know that I have to go through it all and get it all organized.  And, no, I don't do our taxes.  I know that I am a lawyer and I took a course on tax, but that does not make me qualified to do our taxes.  I still can't believe that there are people out there who do their own taxes . . . you amaze me.  I don't understand it all and I went to 3 years of law school.  Congress, that should say something to you people.

But anyway, what was I saying?  Oh yeah. Dreading putting everything together for our accountant.  See, he sends us this big package in January with this long questionnaire that you have to fill out and attach every document imaginable.  Some that I know I don't have.  Others that Ted has, but never gives me.  And, no, Ted does not help with this tax chore.  Oh, I am sure that he would if I asked.  He might even do it himself.  But I handle all the money around here so this kinda landed in my lap.  Plus he would procrastinate or not do it the way I would and that would stress me out.  So instead I stress myself out by doing it all by myself.  Make sense?  Well, it does to me.  So I will complain about filling it out.  I may even be a little bit bitchier to Ted because I have to fill it out.  But it will get done.  My way.  The right way.  And I won't worry about it once it is done.

Wrapping up Disney

Okay, enough procrastinating.  Time to wrap up the Disney review.  We met John and Emily Holmes and their twin boys, Sam and Turner. (they left their baby, Bennett, at home as well) on Saturday morning for Animal Kingdom.  The boys are in Ann Park's grade but just turned 4, so they are really right between Ward and Ann Park.  Turner is our godson. They both really love Ward, especially Sam.  The weather was kinda cold and rainy but it definitely didn't damper the spirits.  Here is the group waiting to get into the park:

As advised, we headed straight to Africa, for the safari.  There was a tiny wait (5 minutes at the most) and the kids couldn't wait.  I had heard mixed reviews about the safari but it definitely didn't disappoint.  We saw every animal they had out there and some very close up.  It was a great experience and Ward, my animal-lover, really enjoyed it.  Ted took some pretty good shots of the animals as well, but I won't post those since there are a ton.

daddy and Ann Park waiting for the safari

After the safari, we walked through a zoo-type area and then headed to Camp Mickey and Minnie where they have a live Lion King show.  It is very similar to the Broadway show and pretty impressive.  I loved it, although Ann Park started screaming towards the end because it was too loud and I had to leave with her.  For some reason she has very sensitive ears.  Not sure why that is.  But we saw Pochahontis on our way out (didn't get a picture, unfortunately) which made it worth her while.

We then headed to the Dinosaur area of the park.  Here, they have lots of fun rides as well as a massive playground and a place to dig for dinosaur bones.  I think that we probably spent about 3 hours playing around here and the kids loved it.  It was also nice not to have to stroll the kids around the park all day like we did in Magic Kingdom and Epcot.  

 

After lunch John, Emily and Ted decided they wanted to ride Everest, the big rollercoaster in Animal Kingdom.  They had to get a fastpass since the line was so long and we had about an hour to kill.  The kids decided that was a good time to get their goodies and we had fun seeing all the strange creatures about Animal Kingdom.  I took the kids to a really cool live bird show while the not-so-scarypants adults rode the rollercoaster.  I had a great time with the kids, but it was getting colder and starting to rain.  

goodies

 

tree lady - she was kinda scary!

The day was far from over when we left, however, as the kids decided they wanted to swim in the cold (65 degrees probably) rain.  Thank goodness the pool was heated and John got in with them.  Ward had a great time and with a little peer pressure, he did the big slide about 10 times.  We broke from the Holmes clan at that point and went back to our room to bathe and dress.  We then headed back to the Magic Kingdom for dinner and to hit our favorite rides one more time.  Home on Sunday never looked better!

daddy and Ann Park on Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride

after Buzz Light Year, Ward's favorite ride

Bye Disney!  See you next time . . . in about 3 years!