Most of April was focused on preparing for and then observing Holy Week and Easter, but since this blog is turning into my own little scrapbook of sorts, I did want to include a monthly update of a few other things.
First of all, our sweet Cecilia turned one!
Pulling up, but not quite cruising yet!
This month we have continued to struggle a bit with Miriam's behavior - which everyone informs us is typical for three year olds. She's always been just so easy and so delightful, though, that it's tough to have anything other than happiness every minute of every day!
Okay, it is still mostly smiles around here.
Sewing
Most of the month was spent making the girls' Easter dresses. I really liked the vintage feel of the floral fabric!
I went all out and made classic girls party dresses with a nice lining and everything. I even put in a tag with the size, pattern number, date - pretty much anything I might ever want to know a few years from now.
I didn't get a picture of the shirt I made to match them. It was the same floral print, only on a knit fabric. And I had enough leftover after making the shirt to make Miss Miriam a pair of leggings, which I have to say I think I love almost more than the dresses! She's already getting a lot of wear out of them.
She loves the capris, too, believe it or not.
She is just not into getting her picture taken right now.
(Notice her awesome sweater!)
I also finally got around to making Miriam another skort for school. Not as fun to look at as the other things, but she should get a lot of wear out of it. (And more fun to make than, say, Cecilia's curtains, which are still languishing on the basement floor. I find sewing clothes to be so much more fun than sewing home decor!)
Reading
We didn't actually do much reading this month. The bits I did with Miriam were mostly from Easter books.
I finished reading the book of the prophet Isaiah. Other than that I only did some light coffee table-type books, basically just looking at pictures. Oh, and I did start The Religious Potential of the Child, which I've been wanting to read for a while.
Goal-Tackling
As I've been mentioning, celebrating the liturgical year has been one of my goals for this year. I was tickled pink with how Holy Week went, but I have to say we had a total FAIL on the Feast of St. George. It all started with a delicious dinner I made. When my husband got home and I told him we were having shepherd's pie for the first time, he made the most repulsed face that I have ever seen. Turns out shepherd's pie disgusts him. I half expected him to throw up at the table. Neither he nor Miriam ate it. (I on the other hand thought it tasted really good!)Next, I've never found a St. George book that I love. I know some people really like the one by Margaret Hodges, but I don't care for it at all. I got a different one from the library this time, but Miriam was so unengaged by it that I didn't even finish it. (And that is very rare.)
And it was at that moment that I remembered we don't in fact need to celebrate certain saints just because they're popular. The whole reason we celebrate saints is because they are meaningful to us - because they inspire us and ultimately because they can bring us closer to Jesus. I have two daughters who could care less about fighting dragons and a family that apparently hates shepherd's pie. St. George is a fantastic model for some families, but he is not for us. And that's a good thing to realize.
Because then when something does go right, we can appreciate it. And let me tell you, we certainly did appreciate these divine mercy brownies.
Also on the Catholic homefront: I've been wanting to make a home altar for quite a while now, but kept waiting to find the perfect table, the perfect crucifix to set on it, the perfect fabric to make liturgical-themed tablecloths, the perfect pictures... I finally stopped waiting for perfection and just did it. It is very imperfect - on the top of a bookshelf, too high for the girls to notice and appreciate, with only a cross and a thrifted picture frame. But I am thrilled that it's there. The other things will come.
Finally, we are venturing into edible landscaping. Actually, there's very little "landscaping" and it's mostly just me planting random vegetables in our front bed that my husband doesn't want to put in our vegetable garden out back. Kale, brussels sprouts, eggplant, and several herbs.
Welcome spring!