Sixth Friday of Lent

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"Let us quieten our hearts again; let them be peaceful. This is a great week that we are entering. It is a week of total kenosis, which means emptying oneself, in Greek. It is said that when Christ came down from heaven at Christmas he emptied himself and became a servant. So this theme of servant comes to us again. This is our week of kenosis. What he has done, we should do."   

-Servant of God Catherine Doherty, Season of Mercy 

Some Mad Men fashion to brighten a Thursday.

I'm an unabashedly devout fan of Mad Men. This weekend's season premiere was so much fun to watch, and I'm a little giddy that each Sunday night will be a nice dose of 60's fashion.

Megan of course is Don's new wife who has a fantastic sense of style. She's obviously the most Mod character, and Janie Bryant's dresses this episode were perfect. 

This black dress is out of control cool. Short but not revealing. Sheer but long sleeved. Black with a little sparkle. 

I've been dreaming about this ruffle polka dot blouse all week. I think its perfect. I'd wear it everyday if I could. However, I have a slight obsession with polka dots lately. I love how its worn with this racing stripe skirt.

And an orange and white chevron coat?! If this existed in any vintage shops I would buy it instantly. 

To sum up, I loved everything she wore. If this keeps up I may change my entire wardrobe to 60's garb.

(photos via 1, 2, 3)

Some Annunciation cuteness

Yesterday morning after we had said our little morning prayers I explained to the kiddies that today was the day we celebrated the angel telling Mary she would have baby Jesus.

 To which Gemma replied: "Thats just like how you found out you were going to have me as a baby!"

I replied, "Not quite, honey." 

But I held back telling her that in actuality I found out I was going to have her when we had to pull over to the side of the road on the way home from Mass so I could throw up in the ditch. Pretty much completely opposite to the Annunciation, but memorable none the less!

Fifth Friday of Lent

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"My being born is not a mistake, then, but a grace. It is good to live even though I do not always perceive it. I am wanted; not a child of chance or necessity, but of choice and freedom. Therefore I shall also have a purpose in life; there will always be a meaning for me, a task designed just for me, there is a conception of me that I can seek and find and fulfill. When the school of life becomes unbearably hard, when I would like to cry out as Job did, as the psalmist did - then I can transform this cry into the word "Father" and the cry will gradually become a word, a reminder to trust, because from the Father's perspective it is clear that my distress, yes, my agony, is part of the greater love for which I give thanks."

-Pope Benedict XVI

side note: I've been posting my Friday's of Lent one week behind and I just noticed today! Yikes! So I went I corrected my lent-ignorance.

I'm hitting the "Lent" wall people!

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Ok, I think I've hit the "Lent" wall.

It seems like everything got much harder this week. And of course, I'm blaming Lent. Oh Lent. Why are you supposed to be so purifying? And so downright difficult!

I thought I was doing pretty well this Lent up until this week. I had done three weeks where I was concentrating more on fitting in more bits of prayer where I could. Less tv for all. More cuddles. More smiling when I felt irritated. More laughing at random potty accidents.

But apparently my road to sainthood can only last three weeks. This week everything seems ridiculously hard. Each day has been a "tough" mom day. Those days where you can't go 10 minutes without having to attend to a toddler crisis, a bad fight, discipline issue, or a fussy baby who needs you and only you. Obviously every mom has those days. I've had them before of course, and they're usually long and exhausting and sometimes send me into fits of bad mood-ness. But this week has been one tough day after another and has left me in a huge bad mood. The kind of bad mood that sees everything in life as a big problem to be dealt with.

Not only is it all the mom stuff, but its the me stuff too. I've got forgiveness issues. More like not wanting to forgive-issues. I've needed to go to Confession for at least two weeks, and each time I can get to Church the priest has been unavailable or I've had to do music for Mass. I'm feeling crumby everywhere.

And just for good measure I'm also going to blame the weather for not being sunny, warm, and spring-like. And of course the government for attempting to put through a ridiculous education law that just makes me plain angry. So that about covers the whole gamut of the blame game right?

But to be completely honest, doesn't all this tough stuff sound vaguely appropriate for Lent? Aren't I supposed to be welcoming the hard, purifying trails that make me holier? If only the trials that make one holier weren't the crumby, annoying, and difficult parts of everyday life. Its just more evidence that God is really trying to infuse more holiness in me, in my life, in my family. Lent is long, I've got a good couple weeks left, it might be this hard for the duration. Am I going to try and persevere to Easter? Absolutely. Will I get grumpy and ignore graces along the way? Absolutely. Am I alone in my life of small trials, am I  alone in my heart of sins, grudges, selfishness? Thankfully not.

Spring?!

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Its Spring! 

I mean, its spring?!?

Alberta in March is in reality, so far from spring its laughable. I always find it one of the toughest months to get through, because even though its warming up (for Alberta), and its officially spring, everything is still covered in old, crusty snow and the occasional blizzard still blows through every other day. So these fresh, pretty pictures are meant to cheer me. All of you who are in more glorious climes can just ignore them and look out your own windows!

The littles love it however, because they can readily find mud and water within seconds of leaving the indoors. So far Luke's walked across our front lawn with only one boot, all three have needed new pants and socks after each play outside, and only one of them have landed face first in a puddle! I guess that means spring really has sprung.

Fourth Friday of Lent

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"Today, a Friday in Lent, let us gaze upon "him whom they have pierced," the one who died sinless and for us. Mirrored in his wounds we see ours sins and we see his name, the abundance of the divine justice. The dying Son does not do away with justice; he dies to preserve it-his justice is thus so abundant that it is sufficient for us sinners also."

- Pope Benedict XVI, Journey to Easter