Custodians of Beauty

Coincidentally,  St. Valentine's Day falls on Ash Wednesday this year so we moved our valentine feasting and sweet eating to Fat Tuesday.  It has not been our custom to take the kids to Mass on Ash Wednesday, since it's not considered a holy day of obligation. However, we do try to keep things low key and prayerful to help us enter into the season of Lent. (This silly little poem rings true for Catholics. Remember, you can't spell valentine without Lent!) Our children have not reached the age requirement for fasting and abstaining, but we encourage them to offer up little sacrifices (ex. going to bed without a stuffed animal for one night, letting a sibling pick which Netflix show to watch, or skipping the Mc D's fries when out and about running errands.) So far, so good! They have willingly (no whining or pouting) given up their favorites, their treasures, and their comforts for Our Lord. What pure hearts, those children have. If only we could learn to love ...

The morning of the feast of St. Valentine, the girls and I ate pink heart-shaped pancakes topped with raspberry jam for breakfast. They gobbled them up, I barely had a chance to eat a few myself! For lunch, continuing the heart theme, PB sandwiches and carrots (making good use out of that cookie cutter). Unfortunately, the munchkins didn't have an appetite and only ate half of what was on their plates. Stinkers. Serves me right for making lunch FUN for a change, golly.  I did, however, enjoy creating said themed foods. Bud was snoozin' in the front carrier as I made the lunches. He's so cute when he sleeps.  When he wakes from his nap, I just can't keep myself from kissing those warm and rosy baby cheeks. I hid a few love notes for my husband to discover throughout the day. The Downton Abby printable  valentines from Do Small Things With Love  blog were perfect! We loved that series. I hid one in his drawer, one in his work backpack and one the car. Ap...