And Lent begins...

I was so excited about Lent beginning this year that I was actually thinking about it when I was up with Anne last night. Oh, speaking of Anne, who thinks that because she had a Hall of Fame night on Sunday night (plus she's feeling a bit better, plus she already cut a tooth, so a break must be in store, right?) that this means she continued to sleep that way from that point forward?

Anybody? Anybody?

No, of course not. :) But I wasn't all that surprised. Monday night was a bit sucky, but last night actually wasn't that bad. I was up with her around 1:30 to nurse, and she wanted to get up quite early, but it's Ash Wednesday, so I thought it wasn't such a bad idea to force myself out of bed earlier than I would have liked. I'm off from work for the rest of the week to be with Mike and the kids during Henry's winter recess, so although early, I got up and felt chipper.

Anne actually played in her exersaucer (a rare treat these days) while we all ate breakfast, and then I settled in with my coffee and the Liturgy of the Hours volume for Lent and Easter. My goal is to pray morning and evening prayer each day. And I knew being at home that I would be interrupted quite a bit, so if morning prayer doesn't always get done in the morning, that's ok. I'm a mother to two young children, and my vocation to them has to take priority. I'll get back to the prayers whenever I can.

But this morning, I was able to pray morning prayer long before 8 am, although peppered with questions the whole time from Henry. After that, I knit a dishcloth for my sister for a short time while Anne played, and then I put her down for a morning nap.

Now, Mike is teaching, and Henry and I just played Life. I'm going to knit a little more and do a few chores around the house. After lunch, we may run some errands, including a trip to the local Catholic store to see if they have that little booklet/guide for the Liturgy of the Hours for 2012, since I don't have one and they're awful handy. We'll be heading for ashes at the 4 pm service.

So, that's my Ash Wednesday. Pretty low key. We're having black bean burritos for dinner, and Henry has definitely taken an interest in not eating meat today and on Fridays during Lent this year. They were discussing it at school. I talked to him about giving up something for Lent this morning, and he seemed quite horrified by the thought of giving up a beloved item of food or television watching. We'll work on that for next year. :) But he agreed to say a prayer every day for his grandfather that passed away this year, asking for the intercession of St. Maximillan Kolbe. That's his newest saint friend that he found in his much treasured children's saint book, which I'm really glad that I bought. He's also taken a shine to St. Michael, St. Dominic Savio, and St. Joan of Ark. So much death and suffering with those saints, but all the burning at the stake and beheadings seem to make them of great interest to Henry. I suppose I'll take it as a good thing.

Thus, I'm feeling very prayerful and happy today. How is everyone's Ash Wednesday going?