A St. Patrick’s Day Book Review in My Sunday Best

Last Sunday was a doozy. This week, although we still had a screecher in our pew and a reticent preschooler in tow, Mass attendance was a little more successful, and slightly more enlightening.

Let’s jump in to My Sunday Best shall we?

First off, the night before Ash Wednesday, I threw in one new concept for Lent – I was only going to buy groceries or needed items (i.e. diapers, etc.) during Lent.

Imagine my surprise, when I won a skirt from a LuLa Roe (LLR) contest I had forgotten I had entered! I had been reticent to buy a “Cassie” skirt previously, since I wasn’t sure it would meet my modesty requirements – bending over to pick up one of the kids without flashing people behind me. Since I won the skirt, I was willing to give the skirt a try, knowing on the LLR black market, there would be someone willing to take it off my hands if it didn’t work.

I was delighted to find my skepticism was ill placed. According to my dealer LLR consultant, all of LLR’s dresses and skirts meet modesty requirements – and, the same goes with little girls’ dresses as well. While I continue to maintain some skepticism with the cut of some of the dresses for myself, I am definitely now sold on the Cassie. I am also not so secretly hoping someone else doesn’t scoop up the newer inventory Cassie skirts in my size, before Lent is over… I’ve got my eye on a couple more!

As you can see, Little Miss wanted her mommy when my Sunday best picture was taken. She, herself, is decked out in the LLR dress I bought on a whim the Monday before Ash Wednesday – and, may have been the reason I decided to not purchase anything for the 40 days of Lent (aside from her Easter dress, a little closer to the day). Today, she was sporting her new “Adeline,” in the smallest size it comes. She also wore it a couple days ago, and modeled it better then.

Pretty sure we got our money’s worth – she should be able to wear this size for a couple years at the rate my children grow…

This week is Saint Patrick’s Day! All military members – and, by service extension, their families – have been granted a dispensation from the abstinence of meat on Friday. You can read the letter from Archbishop Broglio here, and keep in mind – if you don’t abstain from meat on Friday, and you are not deployed, you are still obligated to abstain from meat on another day this week.

I’m a little late on a review of the following book. With our family vacation, life got away from me, and I remembered to order the book last weekend. There is still time to order!

**I received the following children’s book and accompanying color book free of charge by Gracewatch Media, in exchange for an honest review of the books. The link to the books on Amazon are affiliate links, and if you purchase from the links provided, I will receive a compensation from Amazon at no cost to you.**

I received Paddy & the Wolves on Thursday, and quickly opened it, excited! My son was resistant to reading the story, for no particular reason. So, I broke it open during lunchtime, when he was a captive audience. I handed him the accompanying coloring book, and encouraged him to follow along.

As a mother, I was immediately struck with the parallel between “fidgety Paddy” during his family prayer time with his mom, and my four year old. The story follows young Paddy (St. Patrick) on a journey with a family friend, who is also a shepherd. In the story, young Paddy wanders away, and finds some exquisite beauty in nature, as well as some creatures we would rather our children not play with on a regular basis! All the while, the story shows how prayer is infused into a young child’s daily life, and how the prayers Paddy’s mother says regularly follow Paddy through his adventures.

The pictures are beautiful, the artistry in the book is superb, and the story line is encouraging. One (of many) excuse my son shared as to why he didn’t want to read the story was, “I don’t like wolves Mom, I only like stories about doggies.” However, by the middle of the story, he was peeking over my shoulder to follow along. At bedtime, he was more amiable to sitting next to me, and following along with the story. Furthermore, in my son’s words, “Coloring is not my favorite idea.” So, I was pleasantly surprised to see one page colored in the coloring book – I’m saving the coloring for the one year old, since she’s more of a coloring kind of kid.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book – it teaches young children to turn to God in moments of need, but also equally encourages mothers to continue praying their Rosaries, praying for their children, and sharing their faith with their families. I would say it is book for all ages – and, there are extra prayers and hands-on activities at the back. There is an added bonus that, while this book is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, it is actually a storyline which can be read throughout the year, meaning it won’t have to be tucked into holiday-specific bins!

I’m hoping to get back to my regularly blogging schedule this week. My time away from regular posting crystalized my priorities – of being a daughter of God, a wife and mother next, and blogger somewhere further down the line. I have become too wrapped up in self-promotion, and I don’t like that kind of blogging – someday I would love to be a speaker, but that’s not my focus right now. So, as a new week approaches, and we begin this second week of Lent, I am curious to insight from my readers – what would you like to hear more about?

Let me know in the comments!