Lenten Sacrifice

Today is the last day of Lent.  As practicing Catholics, we choose to practice personal sacrifice (among other things) during the 40 days of Lent leading up to Easter.  We do this not because we think it makes us 'more worthy' of Jesus' sacrifice, because hello!  Nothing could ever make us worthy of the gift he gave us by sacrificing his very life for us.  We do it because fasting is a time-honored method for clearing one's mind and making oneself aware of the abundance around us.  It's  a way of clearing out the cobwebs and inviting God into our hearts.

 

People who trade a typical American diet for a 'clean' one will tell you that no amount of money would have convinced them that an apple was a sweet treat, compared to all the sugary garbage they regularly ate.  But take the high fructose corn syrup away (as painful as that transition is) and eating a ripe apple becomes a rewarding treat, an almost enlightening experience!

 

So it is with Lent - by practicing the three pillars; fasting, prayer and almsgiving, we can purge ourselves of some of the spiritual clutter that gets in the way of our relationsip with God. 

 

Frankly, we should do this all the time, not just during Lent. 

But 40 days is a good start. 

Kind of like a new year's resolution for your soul.

 

In years past, I've blogged about what we were doing for Lent at the beginning.

But it never felt right to me.  Kind of like the 'sackloth and ashes' hypocrites spoken of in the Bible, who looked fantastically pious and sacrificial to others, when in in reality their hearts were unclean. 

Better, I thought, that I should blog about Lenten sacrifice at the END of Lent, when we'd actually DONE it, than in the beginning when it was all cheap idealism.

So now that it's done, I feel more prepared to write about it.

 

What did we give up for Lent this year?

 

The Granddaddy of them all...

ELECTRONICS!

 

That meant no TV.

No computer.

No Wii

No XBox

No DSi

No iPod

No iPad

No i-anything.

 

I thought my kids were going to die of shock when I told them.
So we gave them a few little nuggets to keep them going.

Friday Family Movie Night
We busted out the popocorn and turned on the TV each Friday night.
Our movie was Mom-chosen and most of the time Mom chose Veggietales. 
Before going on our 'clean diet', they would have spat out Veggietales like that apple I alluded to earlier.  But without TV clogging their brains all week like high fructose corn syrup, Ben and Molly fell in LOVE with Veggietales!  Jack, notsomuch.  You can't win 'em all...

No-Sacrifice Sundays
Sundays are technically not Lent, so we let the kids EARN up to two hours of electronics time by doing things like cleaning their rooms, finishing their homework, packing their bags for school Monday morning, and doing extra chores.  Just knowing they had this coming to them helped them get through the week, and it sure lit a fire under them to do their chores come Sunday morning!  Jack even did his on Saturday, just to be ready (I know, I could hardly believe it myself!)

 

Marc chose not to join us on the adventure, so the TV was also on for weekend sports

(which the kids and I don't appreciate anyway so it didn't derail our efforts).

 

As for me, I kept my iPhone going for phone calls, email, directions and texting,

because I was afraid I'd miss somethimg important

like a call from school or Marc.

In hindsight, I can see that only about 5% of what I do with my phone is essential.  While I managed to cut out about 50% of what I do with my phone, by deleting my Facebook app for instance, I could have, should have, and plan to cut out more in the future.

 

I also kept my laptop going for blogging and family photography,

but other things crept in

(curse you, Google!) 

Next year, Google will have to be banned outright,

because I'm the queen of justification

and I can manufacture a 'need' at will

even if it's really just a 'want' I need to fill.

 

Without all the electronics going,

I was terrified that I'd have three bored kids

up my nose every day begging for TV or something to do.
Because I was so NOT able to be Julie McCoy, cruise director,
with sweet Maeve needing my attention 24/7.

I figured it would be a bumpy road, and might get ugly at times. 

I was pleasantly surprised that was not the case!

What I DID find, was that minutes, and sometimes HOURS would go by when I would wonder, "What are they up to, it's so quiet!"

 

And I'd find them doing this...

 

 

 

 

In fact, there was so much reading going on, I wasn't sure our library bag could handle it all!

I took the boys one day when Molly had an art camp,

and they couldn't wait to get home to read their books.  They had to start right that minute!

 

 

 

 

 

 At one point, our stacks of books in the Family Room needed to be organized into three separate piles.  One for magazines, one for library books, and one for seasonal books from our own collection that I like to drag out at appropriate times of year.
 

 

There was also fort building...

 

 

 

 More crafting and drawing than you can shake a stick at. 
In fact, I'm pretty sure we used up every last piece of printer paper in the city.  I finally had to start rationing it!

 

 Quite a bit of pretend play...

 

The dread pirate "Bat Toad"

 

 some cooking and baking too.

This picture is Ben's 'breakfast in bed' creation that he brought to me one morning.

 

 

here's another...

 

 

He was very serious about making it a 'healthy breakfast' so he offset

the muffin with fresh produce and some milk
 (and ranch dressing for the carrots - he thought of everything!)

 

We played with toys that haven't seen action in a very long time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And even made some new ones...

 

 You have no idea how hard it is to find reasonably priced Ghostbusters paraphernalia! Slimer on a stick was Ben's own creation - I just helped with finding the image to print out and color.

 

We let the kids start blogging
and making their own video tutorials and movies
(yes, technically the camcorder is an electronic, but it's not a mindless one, like TV or video games, and it helped foster their creativity, so we let them roll with it.)

 

Lest you think this Lent was all creativity, rainbows and unicorns, let me be honest and say that there was plenty of MESS (creativity comes at a price, you know?).  In fact, at times it threatened my sanity.  I've gained 10 pounds during Lent from staying up late to catch up on work that I couldn't do doing daylight hours because I spent all that time cleaning up messes (late night eating is my nemesis, as the Cheez-Its I'm eating right now prove).

 

For example...

 

 Shudder....I'm getting nauseous just looking at these.

 

In addition to the mess, there was lots of sibling squabbling too.  The cost of so much time spent together is grating on each others nerves.  Case in point; tomorrow Ben will be sporting his Easter best along with a nice bruise on his cheek, courtesy of Molly's knee.  Apparently he was bothering her, but it was an accident (meaning she meant to kick him, but not to leave a mark and make him cry...ugh!)

 

So tomorrow as Lent ends, you will hear a sigh of relief from ALL of us, for a variety of reasons.  But lessons WERE learned.

 

Some of the lessons this Lenten sacrifice taught me were;

 

1. My kids can do just fine without electronics, thrive even!

 

2. I like my kids WAY MORE when they are not begging and whining for electronics.

 

3. They have spectacular imaginations, and are able to entertain themselves for long periods of time, alone and dare I say it, together!  Seeing this makes my Mommy heart happy :)

 

4. Our whole family needs to reevaluate how much time we spend on electronics, because while there are benefits to using them, they can/may/do cause us to check out of real life and our relationships with the people around us. 

 

5. Marc and I have to be RUTHLESS as parents to make sure that electronics overuse and the begging and whining it can lead to are not tolerated EVER.  We've told the kids that when Easter comes, we may allow electronics back into our lives, but that if they don't follow the rules, there will be no second chances and they'll be cut off for the day, period.

 

 Now none of this sacrifice, as interesting an experiment as it was, brought us closer to God.

What DID bring us closer to God, and helped us focus on Jesus' sacrifice, were the talks we had and the prayers we said together using the reclaimed time we had, thanks to the things we gave up.  I taught the kids about the rosary, and we worked our way up to saying a decade at a time together. We talked daily about why Jesus died and why Easter is the most important holiday for us as Christians.

 

But we could have done more.

So we will.

 I'm not waiting until next Lent to put into practice some of the things I learned during these 40 days and nights.  They are going live right now.  Like New Year's Resolutions, not all of them will stick, but hopefully some of them will work for us well enough to stay for the long term so that next Lent we won't have to start over at square one.

 

In the end, we'll never be worthy of Jesus' sacrifice.

But we never needed to be.

That's what MERCY is about.

The mercy of a God who walked among us, who was one of us, who suffered for our sins, and died for US, so that our sins may be forgiven. 

And on the third day, He rose from the dead.  It doesn't get awsomer than that!

 

Happy Easter Everyone!

 

 

Saint Patrick's Day DAY 2013

We'd been getting ready all week...

 

 

Finally it was time to celebrate Maeve's First Saint Patrick's Day!

 

In all honesty, Mommy was so pooped from life and the big day in the city, that this event was rather slapped together.  I wrote the menu down in my best handwriting...

 

 

Peapod cooked dinner

 

 

and brought the ingredients for our Green River Floats

 (that would be vanilla ice cream with Green River Soda on top)

 

Sugar Monkey Cupcakes and Auntie Ulia took care of dessert.

 

 

 

and Auntie Treecie sent the decorations, crafts and party essentials.

 

 

Sometimes you can't be the hostess with the mostest, but that doesn't mean you can't have lots of fun!

 

Fun like the first annual SPD air hockey tournament...

 

 

 

Or like this kid, whose Irish eyes were smiling all day!

 

 

Even if his baby cousin's Irish eyes were screaming, haha.

 

 

Green certainly looks good on this family!

 

 

As does some silliness...

 

 

Here's Cindy Lou O'Who

 

 

Grouch O'Marx

 

 

 

The O'Screwballs

 

 

And Miss O'Dorable

 

 

Who finally stopped crying for Daddy.

 

 

Happy First Saint Patrick's Day sweet Maeve!

Next year let's hope for great weather so we can go back into the city and bring everyone with us for another authentic Chi-rish weekend!

Saint Patrick's Day EVE 2013

We had such a fun Saint Patrick's Day weekend this year!  My best friend Julie came to visit, and she and I, along with my trusty sidekick Maeve, spent March 15th at the Hyatt in Chicago, courtesy of Marc's points. 

 

 

 We got there early and while waiting for the room to be ready, hung out at the cool kids lounge - you know, for people with points who travel alot?  Ha!  We were so giddy at the free snacks and great view you could totally tell we were amateurs.  Amateurs who were happy to change diapers and snuggle babies with killer views of the city.

 

That's Julie for you...always has been a baby whisperer!

 

We did make one excursion to see the Cloud Gate, locally known as "The Bean" 

Maeve screamed, we got rained on, it was fabulous.

 

 

Can you spot us?  We're right in the middle, Julie is in a black jacket, I'm in grey with a camera up to my face, and Maeve's stroller is black and closed up tight as she screams her guts out under The Bean.  Boy was she ripped.  Not a fan of the bean at ALL.



Finally, with a binky and my iPhone White Noise app, she fell asleep.
I think all the bumps in the city sidewalks kicked up her reflux and made her tummy hurt.

 

We hustled back to the hotel, got our room squared away, and went to dinner at Bubba Gumps on Navy Pier, since it was a Friday in Lent and we couldn't eat meat.  We loved their margaritas, but the shrimp Po' Boys weren't so impressive.  Neither was Navy Pier in the pouring rain.  But the company was great regardless of weather! We enjoyed some dessert back at the lounge and then tucked ourselves in for a good night's sleep before the festivities the next morning.

 

The weather the next morning was supposed to be totally crummy, so I'd asked for a room with a view of the river, in case it was too miserable to venture out.  And it was, too cold for a baby that is, with snowflakes falling and no sun to be had.  But the sister-in-law of the century, Ulia, came to the rescue and drove all the way into the city to babysit Maeve at the hotel so that Julie and I could go out and watch them dye the river green.

 

 

Maeve put on her best Irish smile for her Auntie, and Julie and I scored the abslolute BEST spot on the river to watch from.  I'm not kidding.  There was only one gap in the entire area surrounding the river - we had no idea why that one place wasn't mobbed like the rest, but we made our way for it.  Down Wacker Drive, down two sets of stairs and across Columbus Avenue we went.  And when we scored our spot right in the middle of the Columbus Avenue bridge, a nice young police officer came over and politely explained that he was keeping that area clear and that we'd have to move along.

 

Wop. Wop.

 

Just like we'd done at countless concerts and bars in our youth, we milled about a bit, shuffling around in the four foot area we'd claimed, pretending to discuss our options, while the police officer got sidetracked by some knuckleheads trying to run across Columbus Ave. in the middle of traffic.  By the time he was finished with them, the dyeing of the river had begun, and there were a dozen people behind us, so there was no way he was moving the crowd!!  Yippee!!

 

And there we were, as the rumble of speedboats came from

right below us under the Columbus Ave. bridge. 

 

 

The story behind how and why the river gets dyed green is a great one.  The mixture used to dye it is a concoction that plumbers use to find leaks in pipes that are submerged in water.  It starts out orange and then turns flourescent yellow, to bright green, and finally to the kelly green everyone knows and loves.

  To this day, it's the Plumber's Local that does the river dyeing. 

 Plumbers 130 - see the jumpsuits?

Only two boats - one does the dye dropping, and the other helps mix it up. 

See how orange it is in the mug he uses to dump it?

 

This one is the mixer boat.  How awesome is that color?!  I swear, Photoshop did not touch these images - this is exactly what it looked like!

 

 

 

And when they were done,

the river was as GREEN as green can be!

 

 

 

But wait!  I almost forgot to mention the leprechaun!!

You have to see this to believe it.

 

 

 

 

He's on a board, fitted with jets, that are powered by water coming from his buddy in the jetski.

And look at how high he can go on this thing!

 

 

Now that is one crazy job to have!

"What do you do?"

"I'm a leprechaun on water stilts. You?"

 

 

 

After the plumbers were finished, the crowd started to dissipate and the tour boats started cruising. 

 

 

 

 

And Julie and I had crossed one major thing off my Chicago bucket list...

but the best part was that we got to do it together!!

 

 

 

I'm so lucky to have a lifelong friend who loves me enough that when I go to the store to find a green sweater and instead come out with matching green fur hats (for $6 apiece on clearance, paid for with Kohls Cash, cha ching!) she smiles and wears it even though she'd probably definitely rather be caught dead.

 

But we WERE the coolest kids on the river thankyouverymuch. 

We had quite a few people ask to take our picture because we looked so festive! 

And there seriously wasn't a better spot to be had on the river that day,

so I'm so happy we braved the weather and made it happen!! 

 

When we got back to the room, we got to see the river from that vantage point too.

 

Our wee 'Colleen' enjoying her first Chicago Saint Paddy's Day.

With her favorite Illinois Auntie!

(or 'Anty' if you're from these parts)

 

Then we grabbed lunch at the hotel - I had the grilled cheese, it was delicious!

 

And washed it down with the requisite cup o' green beer.

 

SLAINTE!!

(for the uninitiated, that's pronounced "SLAWN-cha" - Gaelic for 'heatlh')

 

 

As we were headed out of the city, we grabbed a picture of Maeve down by the river

(she wasn't thrilled, but hey, you only get a first St. Patty's Day once!)

while Ulia, who should be sainted herself, helped the bellman put our stuff in the minivan.

 

 

Please excuse my pigtails.  I was not trying to pretend that I'm 20 when my crow's feet will tell you I'm clearly not.
It was the only hairdo I could think of that would work with my Irish fur trader hat!

 

 

 One last funny memory from the trip. 

They tried to charge me for a Red Bull from the minibar in the room.

I had to explain that we had to take the Red Bull out (and later put it back)

to make room for Maeve's breastmilk.

 

Watch out folks, not everyone can party like us!!