Ash Wednesday + Kids + Mass = Always Interesting

This evening, we attended our parish’s Ash Wednesday Mass.

BP was to go with us, but unfortunately, he was in bed and sick, sick, sick.

The Mommy Show was on.

Frack led us straight to the very front row, which actually helps the boys pay a bit more attention.

As I genuflected and crossed myself, I said a desperate silent prayer that  these lively, precious boys would behave, pray and be non-squirmy in that very front row, with the congregation behind us.

Each boy knelt with their hands folded and angelic faces looking to the crucifix.

Frog was most precious in this pose.

After his prayer, he did his version of the sign of the cross.

So cute.

During communion, Frog was transfixed.

In the front row at our church, you must sit in your seat and not kneel after receiving The Eucharist, as people are receiving the sacrament right in front of you.

So there sat Frog watching all the people walk by and take communion.

And then he pipes up,

“Hey!  Hey guy!” (he was referring to the Eucharistic Minister) “I want some!”

I gently whisper to him that he must make the sacrament and will when he is 8.

Silence.

Moments pass.

“Ok.  I 8 now.  Gimme some.”

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The boys were perfect.  And pious.  And especially precious.

What a sight it is to see your child looking to God in the most reverent way with his hands folded.

I may have teared up a little.

Sigh.

Reprising the Roles

The Christmas season is underway and full of the usual craziness.

This year, we once again reprised our roles as Mary and Joseph in a live nativity at the church down the street.

BP and I were  in the scene called “The Journey”.  The first year we were in this scene, I was 7 months pregnant with Frack, which was perfect.

Now I just wear a pillow under my robe.

BP and I are beginning to realize that we may be getting a tad old for this role.  After all, we are pushing 40 and Mary and Joseph were in their teens.

Sigh.

On the fourth night of the event, the boys joined us in The Village, making their first Bethlehem appearance.

Check out the post below from a past Bethlehem excursion, which pretty much sums up the last 6 years we have participated.

Always tons of fun.

Mary and Joseph Revisited

7 Quick Takes

I’ve posted these “Brain Dump” type posts in the past.  Brain Dump posts were for all of those things floating inside my head that aren’t worthy of a post to themselves but still needed to be jotted down.

Then I realized my friend, Angie, links to The Conversion Diary’s “7 Quick Takes” each week.  What a fabulous idea!  This has just become my new Friday dump post.

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-1-

Frick and Frack had their 5K and 4K graduations yesterday.  What a bittersweet moment!  They looked so grown up while singing and getting their diplomas.  Frick’s class even donned caps and gowns.  So precious!

-2-

I took a box of tissues to the graduations.  I don’t do well with milestones.  Or slideshows of pictures of my sweet guys throughout their school year coupled with music such as “Butterfly Kisses” by Bob Carlise (can never make it through that one without tears!), “Find Your Wings” by Mark Harris, and “These Are Days” by 10,000 Maniacs.

Basket.Case.

-3-

I am extremely frustrated with my camera.  I cannot get the pictures to upload to my computer.  That explains the hold up in the graduation posts.  Sorry family.  Those posts are coming.

-4-

On a lighter note….

We are officially in summer vacation mode at The Money Pit.  Bring on the pool!

-5-

I signed the boys up for the swim team I used to swim for and then coach.  This year’s coaches are teenagers I have either taught to swim, coached, or  babysat.  Now these girls babysit and coach my kids!

I am always amazed at how cyclical life is.

-6-

Overheard from the backseat:

Frick:  Frack, when you go to heaven, there’s no sickness, death, hunger, or thirst.  But when you go to “hail” (guess we are raising a southern boy), you will get sick, die, be hungry and thirsty.  Where are you going cuz I don’t want those things!

-7-

Remember the bike show Frick planned?

We’ve tentatively planned it for June 4 and Frick is all about party planning.  Here’s his list:

Apparently this is an all day affair.

Sheesh.

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Stop by Conversion Diary for more Seven Quick Takes!

Lent

I was raised Catholic, BP was not.

We married in a Catholic church.

We attended a wonderful Methodist church until BP converted to Catholicsm 2 years ago.

Being Catholic is a big part of who we are.

Lent starts today, Ash Wednesday, and continues until Easter Sunday.

The homily our priest gave Sunday morning was fabulous, focusing on how to grow closer to Jesus during Lent.

He suggested some things to do during this holy time:

 

1.  Try to make it to daily Mass or at least more often than Sunday morning.  Obviously, attending Mass applies to Catholics.  But praying and immersing yourself in the Word more than usual extends to all Christians.

2.  Not only fast on Fridays, but give up a pleasure such as dessert, wine, beer, soda pop, etc. In addition to not eating meat on Fridays, I refrain from sweets each Lent.  It always proves to be a challenge for me.  Always.  I went out with a bang this year, feasting on a dee-lish cookies and cream milkshake from Chick-fil-A.  hehehe

3. Attend Stations of the Cross on Fridays.  This is something we are going to try to do this year.  It’s a humbling experience and definitely brings you closer to Jesus and the trials he went through.

4.  Watch less TV.

5. Use the computer/cell phone/internet less or not at all.

6.  Live simply and frugally.  Give what you normally would have spent to charity.  I am happy to say this is one we are doing already through couponing.  I donate a lot of surplus items in my pantry to our local community ministry.  Our priest also suggested donating the items or money to your local Catholic Social Services.

7.  Attend the penance service for forgiveness of your sins and confess on a regular basis. Reconciliation or confession is a Catholic sacrament where one confesses their sins to a priest.  Can you ask forgiveness in your own prayers without a priest?  Sure.  But the sacrament absolves you from your sins and leaves you with a feeling of the world lifted off your shoulders.  This is one sacrament I need to do more often.

 

There were a few more he mentioned, but these were the ones that jumped out at me.

How are you going to make Lent more meaningful?

 

Related Articles

• Lent (strugglingonthejourney.wordpress.com)
• What is Lent?. (greatriversofhope.wordpress.com)

Mary and Joseph Revisited

BP and I portrayed Mary and Joseph in a live nativity.  It was such a fun way to get into the real reason of the Christmas season.

Our scene was called The Journey, where Mary, who is very much with child, and Joseph were resting by a fire for the night before making their way into the city of Bethlehem.  Our donkey munched on some hay and remained quite calm this year. There have been years when Festus, the donkey, did not appreciate being tied to a stake in the ground.

There were other live animals throughout our little Bethlehem. One of the nights this week, some of the goats decided to move from one grassy knoll to another in the parking lot without the supervision of their handler.  The actors who were playing shepherds began to do just that…shepherd the goats back to their areas.  It’s been a very realistic nativity.

Several of my students, current and former, have been walking through Bethlehem this week.  Some had to be silenced by their parents upon recognizing me, just before a “Mrs. TEACHER!!” came flying out of their mouths.

I love my students.  :)

 

There was some of down time while we waited for groups to make their way to our scene.

To make good use of the time, BP and I practiced our lines.

 

BP: (holding his staff) Watch me turn this stick into a snake!

Me: I need an epidural…STAT!!

Donkey: Hee haw, hee haw, hee haw!!

BP took the above photo with his iPhone.  I am positive Joseph had one of those in his day.  He needed the GPS feature to find his way to Bethlehem, duh.

All joking aside, we understand the seriousness of our roles.  We were humbled to play these important people and thrilled to be a part of this nativity in our community.

Day 14: Nonfiction Book

I rarely read two books at one time.  It’s hard for me to keep up with story lines.

Heck, it’s hard for me to keep up with general household information (read: correctly calling my offspring by their given names instead of their brothers’ names.  Or my brother’s name.)

Moving on….

Cold Tangerines, by Shauna Niequist has been a great read introduced to me by my friends at The Mom-tage.

Click over there and you will see yours truly and sweet little Frog on the header.

This book could not come at a better time, for 2010 has been topsy turvy for us.  From dealing with the aftermath of a death in the family, having a newborn (read: no sleep), illnesses in Frog, typical day to day stresses, etc.  The list could go on and on.

Cold Tangerines is helping me put things in perspective.

Life with God at its core is about giving your life up to something bigger and more powerful.  It’s about saying at every turn that God knows better than we know, and that his Spirit will lead us in ways that we couldn’t have predicted. -Shauna Niequist

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Day 15 is actually today.

I am supposed to write about a fanfic.

What IS a fanfic?!?

I’ll be skipping that one.

Bobbled Blessings

We have a history of creating our own versions of prayers in our family.

Frack’s version of our blessing at dinner went something like this:

God is gweat, God is good.

Wetters fank Him for our food.

Bow His head

we all are fwends

give us Lord our day-wee bwead.

Ahhh men.

Translation:

God is great.  God is good.

Let us thank Him for our food.

By his hands

we all are fed.

Give us Lord our daily bread.

Kinda made an otherwise crappy week better.

Contraband Chocolate

Frack found a forgotten stash of Reese’s Cups in his Christmas stocking, buried in the playroom closet.

Candy wrappers and chocolate smudges were everywhere.

I don’t know what I was more upset about…

him eating every.single.one of them in one sitting and the mess that ensued

or

forgetting there was contraband chocolate somewhere in this house.

Yet another nudge God gave me

to stick with my Lenten sacrifice.

*sigh*

Lessons in Life

Lesson #1:

If your baby does not sleep for two nights, chances are he has an ear infection.

Frog’s second ear infection was confirmed at his 4 month appointment on Friday.

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Lesson #2:

My Facebook status from Saturday:

Note to self:  Never place reusable shopping bags filled with groceries haphazardly onto the electric stove top, unknowingly flip the burner on, and walk away while the bags melt/smoke/burn.

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Lesson #3:

Never try to convince yourself that you can in fact have a piece of wedding cake even though you gave it up for Lent (it was almost Sunday!).

Sitting beside your parish priest during the wedding reception will quickly make you change your mind.

God is always watching, eh?

It’s That Time Again…

Lent.

A time of sacrifice.

A SERIOUS sacrifice for me is refraining from sweet foods.

In fact, I would love to sink my teeth into a Twix bar now.

*sigh*

Last year’s ‘Sweets Sacrifice’ was a success…

I lost 12 pounds by Easter.

But as it stands now, in the last 48 hours, I have had:

no sleep (thanks for that, Frog)

and no sweet, delicious food.

Sounds like a disaster for all parties involved.