Lenten Reading.

As a part of quieting the soul, here is a bit of what I've been reading this Lent. This year, since we've been so busy since the Fall, I haven't made the time for reading inspirational, spiritual, or theological writing. In fact, we've been so busy that I've hardly read anything! This is most unfortunate. I may be a busy mother, but keeping my mind sharp and my heart focused cannot be pushed to the wayside. Lent is a happy necessity for this mother.

My Cup of Tea: Musings of a Catholic Mom, by Danielle Bean. This is old hat among Catholic mothers. I've been told to read this book since I was a new mother of one. It is simple, anecdotal, and sweetly encouraging. Every once in a while it's good to have some solidarity in the mothering department. Danielle Bean is good at that. I like knowing after love, the rest is really just details. 

How Do You Tuck in a Superhero? by Rachel Balducci. Again, more encouragement, this time from a mother of FIVE boys! Balducci's blog is on my sidebar. I like reading about boys and all that lies ahead. 

A Love that Multiples, by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. I love the Duggars, I won't lie. In this book, they really open up about being parents. I especially love a chapter that Michelle writes to mothers. In it she writes things like "I don't yell," and "I speak calmly and gently," and "I expect very little from young children, so we applaud their small accomplishments." I took a lot in this book to heart. As someone who tries hard everyday to be better mother than I was the day before, I felt challenged, but uplifted, after reading this book.

Nothing in this list is "heavy." After a big move and more projects on the horizon, not to mention three busy boys (two still in diapers, one learning to walk), I need all the mommy-encouragement I can get! I will save Augustine and Therese for the Fall. They will be waiting for me after all the sandcastles have been built and the bicycles tucked away. 

Happy Habits.

A few months ago I read the Book 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, by Stephen Covey. I won't do a review of all the habits here; only one that I found to be worth noting on right now, and that is the need for families to establish traditions.

We all think of traditions as what we do on Christmas Eve, or an annual summer picnic, but I liked what Covey said about making the seemingly mundane a tradition. Some families have a family game night, or a movie night. The author wrote that for some families, a weekly trip to a bagel shop, or making a special meal is a great tradition.

My college roommate had a family in the double-digits, and their lives amazed me. They all got to Mass at 6:30am every morning and the whole family sat down for an actual breakfast afterward before dad went to work. This same family had a Friday night tradition of ordering pizza and watching old black and white films, and a Saturday tradition of date night for mom and dad. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in their home now as a mother instead of as a naive college student.

We are still working on traditions in our male-dominated domain. Our boys are just getting to the ages that they are able to remember birthdays and holidays of previous years, and are able to expect a routine. We are trying to establish their memories rooted in the traditions we are creating with the hopes of being a strong and effective family :-) .

One of our mundane, but special, traditions are our Saturday mornings. We call them "lazy Saturdays." Instead of rushing to get dressed, fed, and on to our day, we take it slow. Mark and I take the coffee carafe in to the living room and visit with each other while the kids sit and listen or play cars at our feet. It's so small, yet, we've come to expect that on most Saturdays, before 10am is sacred time for our family. It's the first time in the busy week that we are all able to sit together and not be thinking about washing dinner dishes, giving evening baths, or preparing for the next day's work.

And while the above tradition is special to us, as I thought about other traditions we have, like book reading, family prayer, Mass and brunch on Sundays, having music in the background of our days, and making the effort to include our family for learning experiences, while they aren't huge and elaborate, Covey says that they make a huge impact on thriving families. That is my hope. (*EDITED TO ADD: the first sentence of this paragraph has 63 words in it. I usually blog early in the morning. Have I mentioned I'm a morning person and have the IQ of lawn furniture after 8pm? Forgive me, it's late.)

I am curious to hear about the small, but special traditions that other families keep. Going out to lunch? Family bike rides? Campfires? Cooking together? I love all of it, and hope that we can all find Grace in the day-to-day.

Rio.

After a bit of reluctance, I relented and watched Rio with Mark and the kids. Mark had already taken Luke to see it in the theater last winter, and then we watched together as a family when it came out on DVD a few weeks ago. I have to admit that I absolutely LOVED it.

The majority of the movie takes place in Rio, but I have to give props to Minnesota, because some of the characters are from Moose Lake, MN, which is a real, live, small town in MN (wouldn't you know it, I used to run track against Moose Lake). 

After watching Rio with the kids, I bought the music and put it on my iPod. OH MY GOODNESS. I know I'm going to lose all my street credit by writing this, but I really like percussion. Seriously, love percussion. And since Rio is famous for Samba, there is percussion a-plenty. The boys and I have had a blast dancing around the living room to the bird-laden beats. 

I love it. I'm probably a little bit 'gangsta.  

The Rocky Road to Dublin

Am I the only one who really, really loved Sherlock Holmes?

I loved it. The musical score is on my iPod, my text message notification is The Rocky Road to Dublin (the song in the video), and I am genuinely looking forward to the sequel, which comes out on December 16th. 

I may, or may not, like the movie based solely upon the leading actor, Robert Downey, Jr. The jury's still out, but I might have been the only one that saw Iron Man 2 in the theater, and Robert Downey, Jr. seems to be the common denominator. 

Before you write me off for good, I swear my motives are purely innocent, Watson. This is just cool. 

Yeah, cool.