WoW ~ Week 8
It’s Wednesday, and time for me to report this weeks results. This past week, I only exercised twice, but I’ve been making healthier food choices and eating lots of lean protein, only whole grains (for the most part), lots of vegetables, some fruit, and staying away from sugar. I feel so much healthier, and as a result, I lost another 1 1/2 pounds. It has taken 8 weeks, but I have now lost 9 pounds and I am getting closer to being at a very healthy weight for me… I still would like to lose another 10-15 pounds, as well as build more muscle, but it is starting to seem like an achievable goal!My Summary:
- Week Eight Weight Loss/Gain: -1.5 pounds
- Inches Loss/Gain: -1.75 inches
- Overall Results: -9 pounds and -8.75 inches
A Boy and his Tricycle
I know I posted a couple pictures of Snuggles in my Daybook, but I wanted to post a couple more favorites!! Yesterday we had a beautiful sunny day, until the rain hit, and Snuggles insisted on playing outside with his siblings. While we were out there, I started realizing how quickly he is growing up! He was so small, for *SO* long, that I still think of him as my little baby. He is still just as snugly as ever (at least some of the time!), but he is also becoming much more independent and stubborn. I can’t believe he will be TWO in just a few months!
A Lenten Daybook ~ March 3, 2009
Outside my Window… it is quiet and peaceful after the rain we had last night. According to the forecast, it won’t be long till the rain is back.
I am thinking… I can’t believe it is already March! Where did January and February go??
I am thankful… that we all seem to be on the mend, other than a couple runny noses.
From the kitchen… lots of lean protein, no-sugar, whole grains, and fiber filled foods for me… It seems to be working: I am losing weight and feeling healthier. I’ve been hoping to post a few meatless recipes over at Catholic Cuisine for Lent, but I just haven’t had a chance. If any of you have a favorite Lenten recipe, and would like to submit a guest post, please let me know!!
From the school room… lots of Lenten projects!! We are also finally settling into a nice routine, now that everyone (mainly hubby and I) is starting to feel better. Hopefully we can keep it up…
Living the Liturgical year at Home… Since today is the optional feast of St. Katherine Drexel, we will listen to Treasure in Heaven: The Story of St. Katherine Drexel. Since St. Katharine Drexel was a missionary to the Native American and African-American poor, I am trying to find a simple native American recipe to make with my kiddos this afternoon… Perhaps some Native America Fry Bread?
I am creating… the rest of our notebook pages for Little Flowers. I spent most of Saturday working on finding clip art and quotes. It will be so nice not to be scrambling at the last second (like is usually the case) to pull them together for our last four meetings!
I am going… to pull out all of our Lenten and Easter books. I gathered most of them last week, and placed them in a basket in our schoolroom so they are easily assessable, but I know I still have a few more around here somewhere.
I am wearing… warm clothes and slippers. It is freezing in our house… I really should go and try to start a fire.
I am reading… The New Catholic Picture Bible
I am hoping… to start our “Spring Cleaning” soon!
I am listening… to the sermon Lent: Our Spiritual Tithe (for the second time) and Let Us Make Ourselves Altars of Sacrifice. I am always so very inspired by the sermons posted at Audio Sancto.
Around the house… we finally hung curtains over the sliding glass door in our bedroom! I’ve been meaning to do this since we added the room on, oh, almost 4 years ago.
One of my favorite things… is being able to actually sleep again!! I am so thankful that the Vitamin D supplements seem to be working!
Hubby and I may attend a baby-shower for our friends who are expecting twins in June. I may just go, if we can’t find a babysitter… We are also considering driving (3 hrs one way) to a new “once a month, trail based” Latin Mass that is being offered on Sunday. We’ll see! I also have 3 siblings that are having birthdays, as well as a couple friends!
A picture thought I am sharing:
Book Review: Saints at the Dinner Table
Last fall I signed up to be a book reviewer for The Catholic Company. Once they accepted my application, I was able to choose a book to review from a number of options.
As most of you know from my posts here and at my other blog, I love finding cookbooks and recipes that tie in the celebrations of the feasts and seasons of the liturgical year, and so I was excited to be able to choose: Saints at the Dinner Table by Amy Heyd.
Saints at the Dinner Table contains twelve menus, in honor of twelve different saints. Each menu (which has it’s own chapter) includes a brief introduction, a reflection, what inspired the menu, the actual menu with all original recipes, a meal prayer in honor of the saintly hero, and questions for dinner conversation.
I was pleased to see that the “Featured Saints” include both my daughter’s patron saint and one of my own Confirmation saints. (Being as indecisive as I am, I choose two!) Here is a list of the saints included:
Saint Joseph, Saint Andrew the Apostle, Saint Martha, Saint Brigid of Ireland, Saint Isadore the Farmer, Saint Margaret of Scotland, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Clare of Assisi, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Saint Notburga, Saint Didacus of Spain, and Saint Josephine Bakhita.
The author recommends using the book for special family dinners, dinners with friends (Saint Club), and to find out more about the saints. Personally, I prefer to celebrate the saints with the Church, on their feast days, and my favorite cookbooks have been those that are based on old traditions and the actual liturgical calendar. However, I am sure that when these feast days roll around, I will be incorporating some of the author’s recipes into our celebrations!
In fact, there is a recipe for Saint Joseph’s Rocky Road Cake which I am planning to make on March 19th, the feast of St. Joseph. The author, Amy Heyd, says that, “The Rocky Road Cake is symbolic of the difficult roads, both literally and symbolically that Mary and Joseph had to travel during Mary’s pregnancy and throughout Jesus’ childhood.” It includes pecans, cocoa and marshmallows, and sounds delicious!
The recipes seem relatively simple to make and call for ingredients that are easily obtainable.
This review was written as part of the Catholic Book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Saints at the Dinner Table.
The Passion for Children
I know that I’ve mentioned it before, but my children *love* all of the Glory Story CD’s that are put out by Catholic World Missions. The last couple years, my children have each gotten one of the CD’s in their Easter Basket and we now all 10 CD’s.
One of our favorite CD’s during Lent is The Passion for Children: The Way of the Cross. This CD teaches children how to pray the Stations of the Cross, and also includes dramatized explanations of “what happened” at each station.
Right now, you can listen to the full “The Passion for Children” CD online!
Also, for those of you interested in ordering a couple CD’s for Easter Baskets… 😉 My *favorite* place to purchase them is Sacred Heart Books and Gifts. Not only do they offer the Glory Story CD’s at a 25% discount, they also offer free shipping with a $25 order, making them very affordable. (I also order most of my Little Flower supplies from them too!! You can’t beat their prices!)
Spreading a Little Love :: Pay it Forward
I recently agreed to take part in the Pay it Forward gift exchange… Not only will Regina be making me something, I get to spoil three of you with something handmade too! Okay, maybe I shouldn’t say spoil you, since I can’t knit or crochet, and I can barely sew, but I am sure there must be something I can make… I just haven’t decided WHAT yet!
:: The Rules ::
I will send a handmade gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this Pay it Forward Exchange.
All the gifts will be made and mailed out “sometime within the next year“. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive!
What you need to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.
This Exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs.
:: Added Bonus ::
After I have three people who want to play along, I am also going to randomly select a fourth person to send something to, so you don’t have to worry if you aren’t the first, second or third to comment (or if you don’t have a blog) – there is still a chance! Since this person will be randomly selected, they will not be obligated to participate in the Pay it Forward exchange {perhaps they could opt to commit a random act of kindness for someone in their day-to-day life instead}.
UPDATE: It looks like I will be sending something to Aimee, Eileen, and Erin! Thank you for playing along! Please email me your mailing address, and remember to pass it forward on your own blogs!! My kiddos will draw a name for the added bonus {4th giveaway} on Monday, so the rest of you have all weekend to add a comment, if you’d like.
Another Update: Cathy, could you also email me with your address? Your name was drawn for my bonus “Pay it Forward” gift!! =)
Could you please…
… say a prayer for a dear friend of mine and her family? I just got off the phone with her, and she could really use all the prayers we can send. I am going to go and pray a rosary for them right now, but would you all mind adding a prayer (or two!) as well? Thank you all so much!
Lenten Adventure
I never did get a chance to sign up for the Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure, but since we had previously signed up for their Advent Adventure, we are getting the emails. My boys were so excited when I pulled up the videos and printed out the activities for this week!
There is no charge to join and, once you sign up, you will receive three emails a week (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) linking you to videos, activities, and printable resources throughout the season of Lent. In the last email, they said, “As Lent progresses, additional types of learning activities for children of all ages will be added, such as coloring pages, crosswords, word searches, fun quizzes, prayers, songs, and more.”
I know this has been posted on various blogs already, but I thought I would share it too, just in case any of you haven’t heard of it yet.
Garden of the Good Shepherd
Last year, inspired by Charlotte, my family really enjoyed using Tomie de Paola’s Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Album to Count the 50 Days to celebrate the Easter season.
Normally it retails for $19.95, but right now you can purchase it for just $3.00 from Liturgy Training Publications. Shipping is rather high, but it is still cheaper than purchasing it from Amazon
In a thread over at 4Real, Anne (who just made an amazing Jesus Tree) suggested making a homemade felt Garden of the Good Shepherd as well. I would totally *love* to do that, but I am not sure I’ll be able to this year. We’ll see!
Even though it is early, I went ahead and updated my sidebar with links to our Garden of the Good Shepherd posts from last year. I may update them and add a few new activities when it comes time to do them this year, but I thought I’d link them anyway.
Our Lenten Calendar ~ 2009
I finally finished making our Lenten Calendar this morning, just before Mass. Yes, it is almost identical to last year’s calendar, but that is what my children requested! ☺
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