Gift

Life as we know can get a little out of control, we have so much on our plates these days. I know for me it's a wonder that I ever get some one on one time with the kids. I was blessed these past 2 days to spend some time with my son (my daughter is off on a 13 college tour with her high school).  After he came home from a weekend of camping we had about 3 hours to relax before we went to Sunday night Mass. We normally don't go to Sunday night Mass so when we showed up 15 minutes late I felt awful. Good thing we still had 15 minutes to go to the other Catholic church in our area. We made it just in time.

Today we spent the day kind of doing our own thing. I had to do my weekly menu and other fun housework, My son was going to mow the lawn but decided to sleep in and relax in his room. He said he's do the yard at 5. I thought for sure he was going to try and brush it off for another day but 5 o'clock rolled around and sure enough he got up and started the yard. The dog and I went and got the mail and then hung out outside for awhile but then went inside so we wouldn't get in my son's way.
Now my son could have done the bare minimum but he didn't. Instead he got out the weed-whacker and then he pulled out the rake (that's his sister's job).  The pride I felt. Well you could just imagine. Most teenagers don't like doing their own work yet alone volunteer to do their sibling's work. I went outside and told him I was going to take him out to dinner. His first question was, was it in the budget.  I told him it was, we had the best dinner from Panda Express and had an even better time together.

Solitude

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I know a lot of people celebrate this day by drinking GREEN beer but here we had left over BBQ pork chops and the only thing that screamed that it was St. Patrick's Day was the extra GREEN Key Lime cake my daughter made. 

To say that she likes to bake in SOLITUDE is an understatement. 1) She LOVES to bake and gets upset if we even try- it's her thing and I love that she likes to do it. 2) She also only bakes with nobody in the kitchen or even in the living room for that matter. To take this picture I had to be 10 feet away and then promise to leave as soon as it was taken. 

 

Alone with her tunes and a mixer, making a cake she won't even eat because she doesn't like Key Lime. She is truly an amazing young lady. Giving without asking what's in it for me. Oh and since she thought the Key Lime wasn't GREEN enough she added more GREEN food coloring for us. 

  Ahh and the mess left behind. Good thing she as dishes tonight after her homework is done .

Adore

Today the kids and I had a great day out and about. We started the day with Mass and being challenged to have a better relationship with Our Lord by making sure we go to Mass EVERY Sunday and Holy Days of Obligations and if we can Daily Mass. Growing up we were raised already believing that Sundays were Holy Days of Obligation and there wasn't any excuse not to go. After I got married I got very lazy and we always came up an excuse as why we couldn't go; now there are no more excuses. The kids and I will be going to mass every Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation. 

Canon 1246
1. Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church. Also to be observed are the day of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Holy Mary Mother of God and her Immaculate Conception and Assumption, Saint Joseph, the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, and finally, All Saints.

In addition to Sunday, the days to be observed as holy days of obligation in the Latin Rite dioceses of the United States of America, in conformity with canon 1246, are as follows:

1) January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
2) Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, the solemnity of the Ascension
3) August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the  Blessed Virgin Mary
4) November 1, the solemnity of All Saints
5) December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
6) December 25, the solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 

We also met up my my son's Godmother and her little girl. It was so good to see them, We hadn't seen them for a couple of years now and it was good to reconnect with them. My son then bought himself an ipod. He's been saving up for it a years now. When we got home his sister invited him in her room so she could help him with all the apps. It was so cool to hear them talking and laughing. I ADORE these two.

Meatless

Ah not eating meat on Friday is one of those things that we Catholics are known for. Those who aren't Catholic don't understand and even some Catholics don't get it. To put it simply we don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent because Jesus died on Good Friday as a SACRIFICE for everybody so the least we can do is SACRIFICE as a whole by not eating meat. Some Catholics mostly outside of the United States actually go MEATLESS every Friday for this same reason.
Tonight the kids and I had Ricotta Pasta with Tomatoes and Peas. It was the first time I made it and will now be put into our recipe box.

Talent

Isn't it amazing when life and something like a photo challenge go hand in hand. Today's challenge word is TALENT and today was also my son's WRESTLING BANQUET. When I say my son isn't a sports guy I mean I have to force him to watch any sport let along participate is not an exaggeration. The only sport  he does like is baseball but he's not as into as he was when he was little, so when he was asked to join the school's FIRST wrestling team and he jumped at it it took us all by surprise. Not only did he join the wrestling team he made the Varsity Team. I'll never forget his FIRST match,

 so far everybody on his team had lost, they weren't planning on winning they were there to get their feet wet and do the best they could with only two weeks of practice. Well J went up and lasted all 6 minutes and would have gone longer but the referee noticed he didn't have a mouth piece (we hadn't got it yet) so the match was over. I was so PROUD of him. He truly FOUGHT and took what he LEARNED and UTILIZED it. 

Tonight J received his VARSITY LETTER. To say I am proud of him is not saying enough.

Purple

It is so fitting that PURPLE was the photo challenge today. My first PURPLE moment was while getting into the truck to take the kids to school today there was a patch of a RAINBOW in the sky. Sure there was a little moisture in the air from the night before and when I say little I mean hardly any and here in Southern California our Winter has been a HOT one. Heck yesterday was 82 and today should be about the same so to see a RAINBOW was a pleasant surprise to say the least. It reminded of the GREAT FLOOD and that I needed to water my yard. But back to the GREAT FLOOD and my PATCH of a RAINBOW, it just reminded me GOD LOVES US SO MUCH and HE WILL NEVER ABANDON US. So where does PURPLE  and LENT come into play here? During Lent we go on our own personal walk with the LORD and sometimes we forget that He's there to SHOW US THE WAY kind of like how PURPLE isn't seen in the RAINBOW but we know IT'S THERE so to is JESUS.  The picture below is the sky this morning.     

My second PURPLE moment was on the way to Boy Scouts. The SUNSET was a beautiful light violet. It was breathtaking, sadly I didn't have my camera but it was a good reminder to CONTINUE the JOURNEY and to NOT GIVE UP.  

Reflection

During Lent we look into our hearts and see how we can improve to become more holy. My picture for today is of both my kids. They are a reflection of me and how I conduct my life both the good and the bad. This Lent I have been praying more about how to better raise them and be the example God wants me to be and be more of a REFLECTION of HIM.

God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer. ~Mother Teresa