Hail Mary, full of grace.....

In the past few months, I have really come to love praying the rosary.  I'll admit that I use to just not get it- the repetition was enough to send my self-diagnosed ADD into overdrive.  Also, the end prayer was intimidating.  Throw in a little Catholic guilt (shouldn't everyone who has donned a plaid skirt love the rosary?) and I tended to avoid picking it up.  But then I went on a retreat and then Bart went on the same retreat for men- and he came back loving the rosary.  We decided that we wanted our family to start praying the rosary together.    Since Bart leaves for work at 6:30 am and bedtimes vary based on homework, we knew 6:00 am was our time.  Selling it to our kids was not easy, especially one boy in particular who loves his sleep.  But after just a few weeks of greeting the dawn on Friday  mornings, something changed in us.  What started as passive obligation has become active participation.  We each lead a decade ( toddler still sleeping- another good reason for a 6:00 start!).   I am so struck everytime I  hear one  of my children praying outloud.  It takes my breath away.  Due to schedules, it is the only weekday morning that we all connect and it is the start of our weekend.  Three months in and we are still going strong.  Now everyone has favorite rosaries and says on Thursday nights "tomorrow is rosary day!"  We are saying our rosary in the car during our Thanksgiving trip and I have just learned to make cord rosaries for the next retreat.

This year, I am thankful for many many things, but the gift of the rosary has been an unexpected blessing.  I know that like Mary, the Lord is with me.

Christmas organized

I've made a vow to be totally organized going into the holidays.   Those who know me know that I am never really unorganized but this year, I'm taking it up a notch.   Every year when we hang our Christmas wreaths, I think that I should have cleaned the windows beforehand.  So, this weekend's project was cleaning the windows.  Exhibit A:

A clean window - screen removed and ready for a Christmas wreath.  It just makes me happy.

Today's project, my little crafting area.  This area has become less for creating and more for storing things lately,  a trend that I'm not loving.  So, in the interest of full disclosure, here are the before pictures:

My goal- to turn this space into a happy, cozy, Christmas space to giftwrap and create.    Stay tuned!