Hi Kelly! Go say hi too...
{one}
This week was a quiet one around here. I felt as if I was going to get all caught up on things but really it turned out be not drowning in laundry and sorting through children's books. But I should be grateful for these small mercies with how much time and gumption I have for these kinda thing! I even threw away board books! Guys, I have issues even giving away books. I feel like books are one of THE only things you don't throw away, ever. But I threw some board books that I just could not repair for the 500th time and were in multiple pieces, and the thought of never seeing them again fills me with joy!
{two}
I've been feeling anxious this week and I really don't want it to become full blown. The thing is it's anxiety about stuff I cannot control at all. Also, it's things that are so far removed from me and my life personally that it seems a bit crazy to care so much. But there's Nepal, and Baltimore, and ISIS, and we really need rain, and there's a provincial election going on and I hate politics in this province with a fiery passion, and just...so much of that kinda thing. It's that kind of anxiety thought patterns creeping in and I'm really trying to not let it get away from me.
{three}
In happier news I'm feeling so happy that my kids are outside and exploring and puttering around. It's really one of my favourite things about watching my children grow. (But I'm not going to talk about them growing, because I'm beginning to feel sentimental because Gemma's birthday is coming up so I'll spare you that for another post!) Max is so much happier when he gets at least two hours of outdoors time, although he still viciously fights an afternoon quiet time. He is enamoured with checking cows for calves with my dad when he rides by and feeding cows on the tractor. The older kids are running and biking and climbing. And Nora is literally stomping around seeing things with brand new walking eyes. It's really nice. Someone remind me of this when I complain next!
{four}
May is really going to pick up and be busy, and you know I never get out of the house when Dom's twice a week soccer practices are sending me into spasms of organizational despair. It's partly because the practices are right at dinner time and I hate crock pots. I think I might just do sandwiches for dinner those days and just walk away.
{five}
Have you guys seen Katrina's beautiful shop that launched this week?? She beautifully painted the word "Pax" in a crown of thorns just like the opening paragraph of In This House of Brede!! It's beautiful and I love it.
{six}
Have I talked enough about Mad Men this week? No, I probably haven't. It was really and truly too much fun talking about Mad Men for about an hour with Haley and Kathryn on this week's Fountains of Carrots podcast episode. I felt like a giant fan girl, but it was really satisfying digging deep into the show.
{seven}
And last but definitely most important -- I'm giving away 3 digital copies of the new book that I was so excited to be a part of, Rosaries Aren't Just For Teething: Reflections on Mary by Mothers
! I've already started reading the reflections by the great writers in this book and I'm trying to pace myself because it's such good stuff. It's a great book for any mom in your life with Mother's Day coming up, and of course, for yourself. You can buy the paperback right now from Amazon, and next week the Kindle and digital versions will be available too.
! I've already started reading the reflections by the great writers in this book and I'm trying to pace myself because it's such good stuff. It's a great book for any mom in your life with Mother's Day coming up, and of course, for yourself. You can buy the paperback right now from Amazon, and next week the Kindle and digital versions will be available too.
But! If you'd like to win a digital copy right now I'm giving away 3! So 'copter away and good luck friends, I really want to give you one!
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I can't WAIT to read this book. My views on rosary meditations have been so deepened by my experience as a mother and I can't wait for them to grow even deeper!
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to read this book! So many wonderful contributors! How fun!
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds great! I have to admit that most rosaries that are prayed these days are interrupted by telling children to stop jumping on the couch or throwing that ball....
ReplyDeleteI love seeing your pictures of your kids roaming around outside - it makes me miss Canada so much!
The girls go to swimming twice a week and that is really the only time I get out of the house... and it is exhausting! I don't know how people do school drop offs and pick ups AND four extra curricular activities....
I'm with you on the anxiety thing. It get so bad sometimes I can't even look at the news!
ReplyDeleteAs for the rosary, I go through periods where I will pray it everyday. I love the idea of looking at it through the eyes of a mother. I am really looking forward to this book.
I'm so excited about this book! David and I tried to pray the rosary together every day, but most of the time it ends up getting pushed off until the end of the day when we're crawling into bed exhausted. So there's not a whole lot of meditation happening (at least on my end). I really do need to be more mindful about it.
ReplyDeleteThis book looks great! I started praying the rosary a few months before we started RCIA and I was a little sheepish about it since we were still evangelicals. But I was pregnant and Marian devotion started to make sense to me. Of course we would reverence Jesus' mother in light of who Christ is! I read somewhere that all Marian devotion must flow from our Christology and that made so much more sense to me after I became a mother. Jesus was and is of Mary in substance, just like my son received all he needed in the womb from me.
ReplyDeleteI am being hit with pregnancy anxiety and it can be so horrid. I recently picked up this little booklet by St. Alphonsus Ligouri at our adoration chapel and have been reading it during holy hour and it is giving me so much peace... maybe it might help a little too? https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/uniformity-with-god-s-will.html
ReplyDeleteAlso... such a happy post.. yay for warm weather!!!
I hadn't really, but now I will! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this awesome giveaway!
Really looking forward to this book! Lately, when I do pray the rosary it's with the kids so I kind of a try to approach it all from a perspective they can relate to. It would be lovely to make some time to pray by myself with mediations just for moms!
ReplyDeleteI also have the hardest time getting rid of books. We bought 3 new giant bookshelves off of kijiji because of it... Hey, books are amazing. Also, I definitely want copy of this rosary book. Free would be nice. 😉
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying spring! Thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteSaying a prayer for your anxiety, Christy. And yay spring! // I would love to read this book! I have always struggled to really have a devotion to the rosary. The desire is there, I just have terrible follow through. As a new mom I have a new perspective to consider when praying it, too. Thank you for hosting the giveaway, Christy!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the link love, lady!! And I can't wait to finally listen to that podcast - I don't even like Mad Men (goes and hides), but I love listening to you and Haley and with Kathryn in the mix I don't know how I'll handle it.
ReplyDeleteThis book looks great! I feel like I do have a devotion to the rosary, but oddly enough I don't always think of it from a mother's perspective.
ReplyDeleteAnd, prayers for you over the anxiety! I've been there way too many times! It's so hard when it feels like "bad news" just snowballs. Not sure if this will help you, but I find that when I get in that anxiety pattern, taking a week or so "off" from world/national/higher-level news (pretty much any news that isn't fun things happening in my town that week, ha!) really helps. It's not that I want to ignore what's really going on, but *sometimes* I think it's easier and healthier to pray for peace in this world without knowing that week's nitty gritty details.
You always make me feel so normal, but in an encouraging way. Thank you for writing, and being honest, and being kind of awesome. I found your blog through your podcast and have been reading ever since. ;)
ReplyDeleteI do try to pray the rosary daily, especially while I'm commuting/walking. So I wouldn't say it's the most meditative, but I do try. I would love to read the reflections in the book. Thanks for putting together this giveaway!
ReplyDeleteWould love to read this book! Yes, my perspective on both the rosary and Mary in general have definitely been affected by the experience of becoming a mother myself.
ReplyDeleteHello! Massive congratulations on getting rid of those books... it's so, so hard to do, but hugely satisfying when it's done!
ReplyDeleteI pray the rosary when the toddlers are being foul - it helps put things into perspective and gives me a bit more patience (not my strong point).
Also, thank you for being so honest on your blog about the hard stuff- sometimes I think people gloss over it a bit too much and it's really not helpful for the rest of us!
I would love to hear more about your anxiety. You may have seen that I mentioned my own in the last post I shared, and I'm really curious about what others experience. Before I had a panic attack, I really had no idea of how anxiety affected people.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a devotion to the rosary (yet) but after giving birth to my first little just before Christmas a few years ago, I gained a whole new respect for Mary (and love for our Lord Jesus). I pray a Hail Mary at least once a day now as a result!
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