Chocolate and Shrove Tuesday

Sometimes chocolate is just a good idea. It comes in a variety of sweetness levels, satisfying the severest sweet tooth to just one that needs a lit kick in the pants and everything in between! We're working on lifting spirits here this week. After another week of "fever baby" we could all use a little lift, and so what if we use chocolate as a motivator?!

 

 

Luckily for me (and really, do I need an excuse?) Valentine's Day is this week and today just happens to be Fat Tuesday, perfect time to indulge a little and bring out the bulk chocolate that's been sitting in the freezer since Christmas! 

 

A few weeks ago I bought a few packages of dried fruits: cranberries, blueberries, cherries, and plums. My original intention was to bake with them but then I realized.....who doesn't love chocolate covered dried fruit? Chocolate covered raisins has always been a hit, maybe we could take a walk on the wild side and try something new! Thank goodness we're a fearless bunch because these are just simply divine!

 

The littles we're thrilled to get their hands in a plate full of melted chocolate. I didn't have my eye on them the whole time so I wonder how much actually made it on the plate as opposed to in their bellies :)

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Then there is always the cliche of chocolate covered strawberries.

 

As this is the start of the Lenten season, I feel a very strong pull to just let the spirit flow and do whatever it is that I'm being led to. I haven't always allowed myself that luxury, and well.....having five children can make that a wee bit challenging at times. Our Lenten journey is described well here in this older post; how we hold on to the reverence of this time and nourish our spiritual bodies. As I form a clearer picture of our current state as a family, I'm realizing that nourishment for our collective and individual selves is paramount. We've all had to sacrifice quite a bit as of late, it's time now to figure out how to manage the difficulties in our lives without sacrificing our family body. I am really quite inspired that all of this seems to be culminating at the time of Lent.

 

"I believe Lent is the time to work with what gets in our way - the obstacles to our desire to fulfill our destiny." ~ Lynn Jericho on the spiritual practices of Inner Lent.

 

You can read her full post about Inner Lent here.

 

How will you work with what gets in your way this Lenten season?

 

Shrove Tuesday

Here we are.......nearing the end of another month! It's amazing how fast these days and weeks pass us by. I am grateful we have chosen to live in harmony with the rhythms that surround us......the seasons, festivals and holidays, birthdays, and our quiet days. They are all pregnant with meaning and experiences that create memories for our children that will carry them through to a time when they might have their own families. It is there that they will choose what rhythms they will follow, they will recall on their moments in childhood and reflect on a time when they, too, celebrated a day, for whatever reason. I am excited to think that by simply choosing to live and celebrate the seasonal rhythms with our children we are creating another generation that will live a little more closely to the world around them. What a lovely thought!

Today is Mardi Gras and Shrove Tuesday. All over the world folks are celebrating with masks and costumes to end almost 40 days (or more depending on the region but usually begins on or after Epiphany) worth of carnival celebrations. The biggest celebration is today, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season.

Mardi Gras in French literally means 'Fat Tuesday' referring to the last night before the annual fasting of rich and fatty foods before Lent. In English tradition the week leading up to Ash Wednesday is called 'shrovetide' and has it's own celebratory activities like football games and pancake races!

Today, It's a Simple Life is celebrating by making masks and using our felted beads from the other day to make a necklace. We will make pancakes for dinner and an applesauce cookie that I have been dreaming of for days now! Choosing these simple activities to share with our children will allow us to feel apart of our greater world, celebrating a moment rich with history as well as giving a beginning to the next phase of 'quiet' celebration for Lent, leading up to Palm Sunday, Holy Week and then Easter! Spring abounds with so many reasons to celebrate the newness in our lives; how will you celebrate Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday and then the beginning of the Lenten season with your family?

We wish you a beautiful start to your season of Lent!

New Post on FEEL

Come join us on our journey in felting beads! It's fun! It's wet and soapy! It's a wonderful way to spend an afternoon........try it! Let me know what you think!

Click here to visit our new Post on FEEL