Nightly Musings

A quick post as I hold a non sleeping baby in my arms....

~ I've been sick all week, I had gotten better, I took 3 steps back today
~ J's shower was today at my house. I feel so lousy cause I had to feign energy. Nice. But I hope she got how much I love her and my god baby!!
~ I went to bed at 6pm and only woke up when Hubby had trouble getting Baby down. She's off her routine big.
~ I'm going back to bed ASAP.
~ I'll probably stay home in the morning and try to kick this thing. My mom's b-day is tomorrow and my aunt is in town.
~ My sister took Lovely with her to sleep over! AWESOME. Thank you!
~ It's supposed to snow tomorrow....really? It's like 70 degrees.
~ ok, I'm done. Going to bed. Again. :)

I hope you have a better weekend!! Take Care!

Day 4 Thoughts

Here ya go. Enjoy. This stuck out at me cause I've had very little patience this week, need to stop looking around and look up, and need to show more.

Fast: Stop looking around you for ways to affirm your self worth. Look up.

Pray: Don’t just tell God you love him. Show him.

Give: Treat your children’s feelings with the same care and sensitivity with which you expect others to treat yours.

Blessings to you!!!

Uplifting Thoughts?

Hey!

Happy Friday. Even with the rain and clouds, it is a a lovely day! I've been running around today getting things ready for J's baby shower tomorrow here, but I was stopped by a cool e-mail. I wanted to share its contents.

I want this blog to show all the aspects of my life. My faith plays a big role in each aspect. I don't want to turn readers away from hearing about it, and I know I have launched into it because I happened to start blogging with Lent, but I can't deny what I feel. When I am filled with self-doubt (which is an issue I need to work on often and you'll also read about here) my faith jumps in....sometimes slowly. I forget to cling to it when I crave the verbal affirmations of others, but I eventually come back around to it.

So, you, the reader, will get to hear about my ponderings about faith often, and I welcome to hear what you think, or what inspires or touches you. This is a time to walk together, no matter where we are on the journey!!!

So, anyways...back to what was cool to read today! I got some mini meditations for Lent. They are quick, to the point, not overly done or religiously in your face that turns people away instead of listening! I loved them. They tackle the 3 areas of Lent - to fast (sacrifice), pray or do, and alms giving. These though, don't focus on the normal ideas people have of lent (fast from food, give $$) and are aimed at women and caregivers. You can easily modify them for your life. I love the wisdom in them.

Check them out! I'll try to post them as I get them.

Day 1:

Fast: Skip reading magazines, blogs, or anything else in the world that inspires self-pity instead of self-confidence.

Pray: Listen. God is speaking to you right now. Stop interrupting.

Give: People are more important than things. Remember that your time and your attention are more valuable commodities to your family than your accomplishments.

Day 2:

Fast: Let the answering machine pick it up! Let your caller leave a message and only return essential phone calls today.

Pray: “Blessed are the ears which hear God’s whisper and listen not unto the whispers of the world”—Thomas a Kempis

Give: “Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.” — Mother Teresa

Day 3 (Today's)

Fast: Think of a time when you knew you were a good wife or a good mom. Re-create that moment today.

Pray: When some small person tugs at your sleeve, remember that God’s voice is sometimes very small.

Give: Be your real self. What does it matter if every person in the world admires you, but none of it is real?

God Bless!! Much love to you!!

Oh - if you want to look for these - I got these from a website called faithandfamilylive.com - they are posted everyday with topics of all types of things dealing with faith and family.

Need a reason to smile today?

the start of the season

So much has been done before 1:30pm today!!!

These pictures are posted out of order (not sure why, or how to fix it) but these are of our day.

Today, along with it being Ash Wednesday, was PJ Day at Lovely's school. She was so excited, and SO cute! She picked out her PJ combo to wear. She wanted to be both like Lola (of the books and show on Disney "Charlie and Lola") and in one of her favorite nightgowns (anyone recognize the gown? lol). The picture of her standing was taken before school, the others after pickup and mass. She got her face painted with hearts, and along with her cross of Ashes, she looks ready to be in the musical Godspell!! And yes, she went to church all dolled up like this. Hey - Jesus said..."let the children come to me...." It's all good!

The top picture is of Val and I after we got home. I try to get pics of the girls' "firsts" and this marked Val's 1st Ash Wednesday and ashes! We were all excited. Lovely enjoyed seeing her baby sister get ashes. I was rather proud of my girls too and loved sharing today with them. Lovely is quite the "spirited" (energetic?) one in person, but not many people (unless you go to the same service as we do) ever see Lovely at church. It is indeed one of her favorite places. She's always (for the most part) in her seat, participating! She's never been in a nursery, she's always attended with us, sat with us and never has had to be taken out (I say that now which means this Sunday I'll be taking her out lol). She LOVES mass!!! Valiant did well too - especially for going to two services lol! We went to visit my old workplace high school and did mass with them (she promptly wiped her ashes on my shirt and I'm still in shock my last bunch of students are now Seniors and Juniors...time runs by) and then after picking Lovely up from school, we went to our parish for Lovely's turn. Val got new ashes too!

I love our liturgical seasons. I'm a history buff, and LOVE tradition. I love adding to traditions, etc. I love how the liturgical seasons extend the excitement of the big "one day" holidays on our calendars. Christmas becomes 12 days AFTER a wonderful time of preparation of Advent (not just one day!). Easter is 7 weeks long until Pentecost Sunday (again, not just one day) and is led into by Lent; 40 days of focus, reconciliation, and sacrifice. Also, the Lenten season is sprinkled with special days like Palm Sunday, and then the Tridium. So much time for learning, tradition, and preparation! Plus, along with a practice of deepening our faith for Hubby and I, it is just FUN to share with the kids. We can color, build, donate, paint, hide, bake, sing, and more during these times! It is rich in tradition and memory making - and reminds us of the journey we are called to take and to live as abundantly as possible! It makes the day to day stressors easier to deal with, that's for sure!!

So, now we focus on Lent. We've all been thinking of what we can give up, or add to, for Lent. It won't be easy (it never is! Hubby will miss his soda, and I'll have to be living with the man with no soda HAHAHAHA) but we all are figuring out what to do; anything to make us feel the pinch in a way that makes us focus and be thankful for all God has given us, and what Jesus has done for us. Please do not think this entry is something all pious and we're set for a perfect Lent. I have a feeling we'll be struggling a LOT. The stuff for the kids will be easy....the stuff for me....DIFFICULT. I'm actually quite selfish.....and I "talk the talk" well, but walking it is another story. Lent, well....as wonderful of a tool it is, it is the hardest time of the year for me growth wise. I sometimes wonder if I grow at all. I may have the desire to have a great Lent - but living it is an entirely different bugger!

I guess I'll take it one day at a time, 40 x's over.

Much love!!! And I'm excited to feel the unity of Lent and Easter with so many walks of faith.
God's Peace to you!!

Hugged a Rhino lately?

I think one of my top favorites in life is the Rhino Virus. It's sooo stinking fun! You feel a bit stiff and achy a few days before (but what's new with that - could be anything) and then WHAM overnight you have this congestion, headache, blurry vision, impacted hearing, and fatigue. There is nothing like it. It is genius actually. I mean, come on - the common cold wiped out the aliens during the War of the Worlds. Biology at its best!

Then, if you are prone, and REALLY lucky - The Rhino creates the perfect environment for a sinus infection. A civilization of a million infective cells and 1 rhino inhabit the small recesses in my face. It's facinating, and I've gotten to experience it first hand for 4 days now. I'm "one" and bonded with some of the tiniest creatures of God's creation. It's a beautiful thing.

Now, everyone take a moment to create a quiet space, empty your mind, and meditate on the goodness of life - the tiniest germ cell, the miracle of biology. Inhale...

.........


.........






oh wait. I can't inhale.

@%#$# cold!!!

Fine, Fine Fine....I GIVE in!!!

Enough Already!! I'll blog!!!

Ok, ok...so I'm heading back into the trenches! After the birth of baby girl #1 in 2003, I discovered the online baby community of iP, and discovered wonderful people, a way to share with family and friends, post pics, and talk and talk and talk other than directly in your ear ;) 2004 dragged me in to the world of blogs, and I have to say it was therapeutic! Then we moved, and I just fell away from it all.

Well, fast forward to 2009. I'm still reading those blogs, and have even more best friends who use the internet to share their lives. I've had a second baby girl, am still addicted to my camera, like to post pics, and need to capture the firsts in my life again in word and film. Also, those who know me best know I talk. I talk and talk and talk. I ramble on what I'm feeling, pray about feeling, think about feeling, want to feel, assume you feel, feel like feeling....ZZZZZzzzzzzzz.....

Um.....you still there?

So, basically I am bringing back this outlet. Other friends are doing it. I like them doing it. I love reading, I keep in touch. So I guess I'll give it a go, again. I can't promise I'll update every day, week, or month. In fact, I'll probably update a lot at first, then blogging will lose its newness and excitement. It'll become like any worthy relationship - in need of constant work, dedication, and spirit to last, after the sexy new stage has passed. Yeah I said it...sexy. Oh yeah.

Wanna join me for the journey? Well than, welcome to your (hopefully) daily dose of a Rose-y (hehe) Outlook on Life. The name fits, for many reasons, the obvious and not so obvious. It fits our family unit, as well as my view on the world. I'm an optimist, spiritual "God's got me even if I struggle with letting go" happy go lucky, life is good and what you make of it, sunshiny gal. Life IS good, and I'd rather look at things happily, and have an er, ahem...rosy outlook on the life I've been given. Even though the flip side of me is a worrier, and I struggle at embracing a pure confidence in many things, I still prefer at the end of the day to embrace the good, because life is too short. I'm reminded every day. We need to find the joy - work at it if we have to. And, I have to use my brain, heart, and soul to do this - with a lot of help and faith.

Ok, so let me set the cast of characters. This isn't some network when you "friend" me and I allow you in. I'm exposed on the web, so I'll just attempt at changing things around. We'll see how long that lasts too.

ViolinMama - me. I get that from being both a Mama, and a Violinist. Both aspects pour from my soul. I'm a nurturer....and for better or for worse, one can't stop that flowing from inside! Though, I should break out the instrument more so to not be rusty....haha. I'm a former high school teacher (I still miss it, can't wait to visit this week!) now SAHM and love EVERY minute of it. I'm very grateful for that blessing everyday, and I can honestly say I still have not taken it for granted.

Hubby - Well, my Hubby. He is God's gift to me. Now, he's not perfect and he's pretty stubborn (come on babe, once you admit I'm always right it'll be all good! HA) - but we are committed to working at this for better or for worse. He's pretty awesome for living with me, and dealing with me, and demonstrates a forgiving love as close to unconditional as humans can get. As I said...he's a gift. Not sure what I did though to get him ;) Music is a theme in this blog, as it permeates our family. Hubby plays flute, among other things, and music brought us together. We definitely have a soundtrack playing in our lives.

Lovely - This is Daughter #1. She's 5. She is truly our 1st in all ways. Lovely does describe her. She came at our busiest time in life, and for a while was our only child - and is she ever loved!!! She's imaginative, hysterically funny, loving, a constant smiler, dramatic, formally only child, totally has us wrapped around her finger, enchants us, challenges us, is extremely musically inclined, creative, emotional, observant, smart, and SPIRITED. Oh wow. I'm exhausted at the end of the day, but it's the best kind of tired. She's inspiring me to think VERY hard about homeschooling. Not to keep her in some bubble - but to work with her and learn with her in a way that frees her up to tackle even more, be more involved and social in her many interests. We'll see if that ever takes us anywhere....but we have been doing a lot of preK activities at home, and she really loves it! I doubt we'd do anything like that till 1st grade because of where we are in life currently.

Valiant - This is daughter #2, our baby (seriously, she's still a baby). Her nickname isn't very feminine - so I can see her becoming "Val" - but it was a meaning of her name that we liked. She hasn't had to be valiant yet (unless putting up with us counts HAHAHA), but that inner strength could play a big role later on for her. Currently she has captured our hearts. When you have one child, you wonder how the heck you love another baby....then she showed up and our hearts just exploded, Lovely's too! She's captured us all. She is so smiley!! She loves her big sister, and loves on us, and it is so much fun to see all the milestones again. We definitely pray for more....but we need some more sleep first lol!

I've gotten some pics up around the blog of this family I'm head over heals for - so enjoy, and I'm sure I'll post a bazillion more. Thanks for wading through this verbiage (so me!). Instead of writing all this, I should have just left the 1st entry intro as simply my tagline:

a glimpse into the things that make or break my outlook on life. Most importantly, my faith, family and friends, the ramblings of my brain, the desires of my heart, and the sound track of my soul.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate you.