Go Hear Mary Beth Hicks!

Where will you be on Sunday, March 29th?

 

a.   Enjoying a great afternoon with friends at the

      Phases of Womanhood Spring Tea

      featuring writer and speaker, Mary Beth Hicks.

 

b.   At home, wishing I was at the Phases of Womanhood Spring Tea. 

 

c.   On the waiting list, wishing I had registered early for the Spring Tea.

 

d.   Wondering when the next Phases of Womanhood event will be since

       I missed out on the Spring Tea event.

 

 Don't be one of those who misses it!

 

  You are invited to meet Columnist - Author - Speaker

MARY BETH HICKS

 

 

Finding the ingredients to a balanced life

 

Mary Beth Hicks brings along her signature wit and wisdom as she takes her audience on a spiritual "shopping trip" according to

 

"God's Eternal Grocery List."  

 

For a cartful of faith and fun, come hear this entertaining and insightful presentation on our roles as women and ways to find the right ingredients for a balanced, healthful and holy life. 

 

  Marybeth will be signing her latest books, Bringing Up Geeks and The Perfect World Inside My Minivan.  

 

 

 WHEN:  March 29th,  1:00-4:00 p.m.

 

WHERE: Crown Plaza Hotel in Tyson's Corner

 

Please register HERE or call 703-378-2660

 

 

Sponsored by Phases of Womanhood, Inc. 

Oh, Great

Just when I had this baby sleeping on a predictable nighttime schedule AND I had two days in a row of a nap on schedule, we have to "save daylight."

Why is it that one hour messes up babies and toddlers for a whole week? Seems like we could just tweak it a little and all would be well. Instead, it's a total circadian rhythm short circuit. My clock watching child will be ever-so-frustrated all day long for at least a week because the light won't be the way it was the previous week.  And we will have "corrected time." That's when Nicky says, "It's 10:20 but it should be 9:20 and so it's time to go to Mass but really we shouldn't be going to Mass for another hour if this were still normal time." And he'll do that for pretty much every event, including meals, until at least next Sunday. Right around next Sunday, we'll all look up around 6:00 PM and marvel at how nice it is that it's still light outside. And we'll all forgive William Willet once again.

Small Successes~7

1
I wanted to post that I had done a deep cleaning in my bedroom--the first of the Lenten spring cleaning. Instead, I'm reporting that my desk and dresser are very clean and orderly. That was the first thing I saw this morning. That's my small victory. The rest will happen, no?

2
I woke up in the morning after a very bad day and was reminded once more that God grants grace sufficient for the day. Every Single Day. My success lies in being open to every last bit of that grace.

3
At her insistence, I played the "gem game" with Katie for hours on a Saturday morning when I really had so many other things to do. She thinks I'm the "best Mommy in the world."Good to know. I'm tucking the declaration away for when she's an early teen.

~

What are your successes this week? This is a great exercise in holding ourselves accountable and patting ourselves on the back. Mothering and homemaking don't have built in performance reviews and bonuses. The  internet can be a source of support and encouragement. Let's encourage one another in our small successes. Share them at Faith and Family Live! 

Lenten Prompts

When Danielle and I decided to run our daily Lenten prompts again this year, I  Patrick changed all the dates from last year's posts so that they would run on the right days this year. I guess that Google Reader doesn't see them as new posts, because they aren't appearing there. I don't see spending the time to cut and paste and completely re-post. So, if you rely on your Google Reader to tell you what's happening in the Heart of My Home, you're going to miss the Lenten prompts. But, you can still get them on your Reader if you're subscribed to Faith and Family Live.

 And now for my confession: I totally forgot to check the prompt today and I missed doing the blog/board fast. I'll do that tomorrow (and I think we should add Twitter and Facebook too, huh?). I'm looking forward to a more silent day--today's prompts were some of my favorites last year. I'll be pondering and praying what Ann has said about silence here and what Amy has written about how the habit of writing makes us more aware of the  sacred.

Lots to Chew On...

Marilyn has a thought-provoking post up with lots of links. She has us thinking about how we affect our daughters' self images for life, particularly with regard to their bodies. In part, she writes:

Watch What You Eat, Yes. But Also Watch What You Say and Do Around Your Daughterwhere Jennifer Huget talks about how our daughters are influenced by the signals we send out about our views of our bodies - that we are the role models for our daughters and will influence their body image. There is a quote that struck me: "But Chadwick notes that we all learn our self-image lessons from our own mothers (and grandmothers) and have to work hard not to pass damaging lessons on to our daughters". The author is talking about Dara Chadwick's new books, You'd Be So Pretty If . . .: Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies-Even When We Don't Love Our Own

and

An Innocent Word Can Be A Heavy Burden where the author states how a mother's comments can cause a daughter to have a poor body image, and set her on the path of eating disorders. Quote: "Not all eating disorders are triggered by parents, but experts increasingly recognize the dangerous role of thinness-obsessed adults".

A healthy body image is an invaluable gift our daughters take with them into adulthood. Click over and read the rest.