The Sun is Out, The Son is Risen!

I sit and write this on a gloomy, cloudy, rainy day, but when we celebrated Easter a couple of weeks ago the weather was perfect! It was sunny but not hot, ideal for sitting on my parents' patio sipping drinks and watching the kids hunt for Easter Eggs.

We took the family to Mass first thing in the morning and sang all of the Alleluias! The church was beautiful, with flowers and silks piled on every surface. Everyone wore their very best attire, and Audrey was especially proud of her twirly dress with pink flowers. She insisted on keeping it on until we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house so everyone could see her in all her beauty.

After Mass we returned home to grab a change of clothes and the kids found their Easter baskets waiting for them on the couch! As a family we gave up all sweets for Lent, so they literally couldn't contain their excitement when they saw Pez and Cadbury eggs and jelly beans, all for them! We let them choose a few treats to sample before leaving, and I'm pretty sure Edith ate an entire plastic egg's worth of jelly beans in one gulp.

We were sad to miss Tony and Catherine and the kids who were home with a stomach bug, but we did get to celebrate with THREE sets of grandparents and Uncle Ben! Whenever I tell people that my kids have all of their grandparents and six great grandparents to dote on them, I am reminded what a blessing that is! I love that for every family gathering we have to answer over and over the question, "So, which grandmas and grandpas are going to be there?"

It was a beautiful day of joy and celebration!

Happy Easter!

Ready the Way

Every year it seems that Advent comes along and I have a list a mile long. Not a list of things I need to get done for Christmas, no, those seem to take care of themselves in due time. My list is of the things I want my children to do and learn during Advent to get the most out of this beautiful liturgical season. Inevitably, though, my list becomes more of a hindrance than a help as I attempt to cram in as much preparation as possible. When I don't get to everything, I feel like I let my kids down. I don't know why it is, but I treat it as if this is our only chance to get to know Jesus! In part it is because the church has so many beautiful traditions during this season, but mostly I think I see what other families are doing to prepare and I want to do it all.

But this year, I finally realized I am totally missing the point. The reason we wait to decorate for Christmas, the reason we avoid bringing our kids to crazy shopping malls, is to instill a sense of hopeful, peaceful wonder as we approach the coming of Jesus. My frenetic attempts to make them experience these things is exactly the way to ensure that they will not experience them. "Come on kids! Hurry up and ponder the mystery of the coming of Jesus! Now!"

So I revamped my plan for Advent this year. Actually, I didn't change too much, but I drastically changed my approach and attitude. And I added one very important thing.

Stories.

Our family is a story family. If everything is falling apart around us, if every child is screaming, I can sit down on the couch and open a book and soon peace reigns again. I realized this year that the missing piece of our Advent preparation was stories. This is where we find our peace and our inspiration! Not in workbook pages or coloring sheets, but in stories. That is why the Jesse Tree is a tradition that works so well for us; the kids decorate and cut out ornaments while I read from the Bible about salvation history.

This year, I decided to go a step further with our stories and choose one book for each day of Advent. We read the book in the morning, then the kids look through a box to find an envelope labeled with the title of the book we just finished. In the envelope is an activity that is somehow (sometimes distantly) related to the story. Some activities are super simple (paper snowflakes, video clips) and some are a little more involved. This way, I can choose which activity I want to do on a given day, depending on how much time we have and how the littles are doing, and then choose the book to read accordingly. Then they still have the joy and surprise of opening the envelope to discover the day's activity.

This being my first year, I used the random assortment of Christmas books we already had on hand, added some from the library, and picked a couple of gems to add permanently to our collection. In future years as we continue this tradition, I hope to replace some of this year's stories with others from the seemingly endless trove of beautiful Christmas books. (I am open to suggestions!) While it may look like a lot of work, in fact planning these daily stories and activities has simplified my days. If we get nothing else done, my goal is to read one book, do one simple activity, and put up a Jesse Tree ornament. That's not so overwhelming, and the kids really enjoy it!

Mainly for my sake, so I can access this list next year, here is our list of books and activities:

Who is Coming to Our House, by Joseph Slate: Make a sacrifice manger (our is simple construction paper and yarn, but the link gives you an idea of what it is)
The Friendly Beasts, by Tomie dePaola: Telephone Christmas Caroling
The Nutcracker, by Vladimir Vagin: Watch the Nutcracker Ballet
The Miracle of St. Nicholas, by Gloria Whelan: Make a list of blessings
The Legend of the Poinsettia, by Tomie dePaola: Make a paper poinsettia
Mortimer's Christmas Manger, by Karma Wilson: Set up children's Nativity set
Christmas in the Manger, by Nola Buck: Make tinfoil stars
Reindeer Wish, by Lori Evert: Make ice candle holders
The Clown of God, by Tomie dePaola: Make "juggling ball" cookies
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers: Make paper snowflakes
Three Wise Women, by Mary Hoffman: Bake bread (probably banana or zucchini... something easy)
Charlie Brown Christmas, by Charles Schulz: Make pom pom pinecones
God Gave us Christmas, by Lisa Tawn Bergren: Make a popcorn cranberry garland
An Orange for Frankie, by Patricia Polacco: Make orange pomanders
Cobweb Christmas, by Shirley Climo: Make pipe cleaner spiders
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, by Susan Wojciechowski: Soap carving
Lucia, Saint of Light, by Katherine Bolger Hyde: Bake Lucia Buns
The Twelve Days of Christmas, by Jan Brett: Color 12 Days coloring pages
The Story of Holly and Ivy, by Rumer Godden: Listen to the Christmas carol The Holly and the Ivy
The Lady of Guadalupe, by Tomie dePaola: Make paper bag tilmas
The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg: Drink hot chocolate stirred with a candy cane
Christmas Day in the Morning, by Pearl S. Buck: Make a card for someone and send it to them
The Little Drummer Boy, by Ezra Jack Keats: Watch the Claymation Christmas Little Drummer Boy video clip

Feel free to use all of these ideas if you feel they will help your family prepare for Christmas, or none of them if it seems like just one more thing to worry about. If you have any Christmas favorites, or simple activities, I'd love to hear about them!

Up From the Waters

You know one thing I love about being Catholic? We have so many opportunities to celebrate! On October 9 at 5:00 pm, Blaise Lawrence was welcomed into the church through baptism, surrounded by friends and family. We don't ever want to wait long after our babies are born to have them baptized, so we picked a date that worked for us, the priest, and the Godparents and then hoped that others could make it too. We were so excited when we found out that Paul, Maureen and Liam, Monica and Glenn and their family, and Patrick and Anne could all make the trip and stay for the weekend! My Grandma and Grandpa (after whom Blaise Lawrence was named) drove up from Marshall, and close to fifty other family members, friends, and their children came to witness Blaise's important day!

Fr. Kyle performed a beautiful ceremony while making sure to explain what was happening in a way that all of the kids in attendance (upwards of 20!) could understand. Blaise's wonderful Godparents Angela and Luke stood by us and promised to pray for him. And as the water was poured over Blaise's head, every child in the room leaned forward in anticipation and excitment. It was an incredible moment.

The photos make it look idealistic, but actually Blaise was crying inconsolably throughout much of the ceremony. Everyone tells me that it wasn't that bad, but even Fr. Kyle took a moment to remind everyone, "Don't worry, this is his death day" in reference to his earlier homily referring to Baptism as a death to sin. I guess dying to sin can be painful!

After the ceremony, everyone came back to our house for a celebration. Paul and I both love to host gatherings, but we are not good planners. So it's great that every couple of years we are forced to get our act together and throw a party in honor of our children's sacraments! By the time we run out of baptisms and first communions, the older kids will be moving on to confirmation, and then... marriage? Holy Orders? Only time will tell! Like I said, it's good to be Catholic.

Bread of Life

On Saturday, Max received his First Holy Communion! I am almost at a loss for words to describe the feeling of this day. Max has a joy and a love of life that are contagious, and when he is excited for something, he nearly vibrates with anticipation. He swept us all up in his excitement and carried us through an amazing, beautiful day!

His preparations included a full day retreat at our church on Friday, so I dropped him off in the morning and picked him up six hours later. Six hours! It felt like an eternity to me... but my husband reminded me that if we weren't homeschooling, he would be gone that much every day. Ha, good point honey. During the retreat, the second graders had prayer times, craft times, work time in the Atrium, and the opportunity to go to confession again. Max told me he went, but "I don't think I had any mortal sins to confess, Mom." No, sweetie, you probably didn't.

We filled at least a whole pew at church with family and friends who were there to witness and support Max; Auntie Monica and Uncle Glenn, Paul's parents, my parents, all of my grandparents, Uncle Tony and Auntie Catherine, Uncle Ben, Godparents Aaron and Emily... and of course, a bunch of kids and cousins.

All throughout Mass, Max kept leaning over and asking, "When is it time for Communion?" even though he knows the Mass like the back of his hand. When the moment came, he approached the Deacon and was handed the host. For a minute, he held it up and just looked at it, as if he was unsure if he was actually allowed to do something so special... He looked up at me and I gave him a nod. With a big grin, he received Jesus for the first time!

After Mass we took pictures and then went home to continue the celebration. Max kept telling me how exciting Mass was, how he wants to start going to daily Mass, how "It didn't look or taste very special, but it WAS SO special! It was really Jesus!" His continued excitement had a profound impact on me, one that I'm hoping will last. It is easy to forget how great is the gift we receive each Mass, but seeing the Eucharist through the eyes of a child was a powerful reminder to me. Thank you, Max, for your witness! Thank you, Jesus, for your gift to my son and to his whole family!

 

 

Blest Assurance

What joy the blest assurance gives,

I know that my redeemer lives!

We had a beautiful Holy Week as a family this year, starting with our participation in the Palm Sunday procession for the first time at St. Joseph's! This year the kids showed a very strong desire to join in, and while processing down the center aisle is neither Paul's nor my preferred way of entering the church, we took one for the team and let the kids wave their palms to their heart's content, along with about half of the congregation. And it really was beautiful! Besides having to constantly remind the kids to keep their palms out of the hair of the people in front of us, Mass went surprisingly smoothly. After Mass, we had the cousins over for brunch, and the kids had a grand old time together! 

Monday was a day filled with joy! On Sunday evening, Max and I had sat together in our room and gone through an examination of conscience in preparation for his first Reconciliation Monday evening. It is so beautiful seeing our Catholic faith through the eyes of a child. He felt nothing but joy at the prospect of going to confession. He felt sorrow for his sins, yes, but he was simply bubbling with excitement when the time came near to head to church! The Good Shepherd program, through which we're doing our sacrament prep, sets up a mini-retreat for parents and their kids to walk through individually before getting in line. We lit candles, read about baptism and our white garment, prayed with scripture, and discussed the important moment to come. Then we joined the line and waited, Max with a big grin... and me quietly shivering with nerves for him. I don't know why I was nervous, he sure wasn't! He entered the confessional and I waited for a few minutes. Then the door burst open and he practically skipped out of the room! He ran up to me and said, "Mom! I feel like I could FLY!" I am lucky I was able to hold it together and not turn instantly into a blubbering mess. He went to the adoration chapel to pray while I confessed, and then we walked together back to the great room. He was invited to light a candle with his name on it in gold wax, while I prayed over him. Then we floated home to tell Dad and his siblings all about the experience. "Dad, do you feel like you could fly? Mom, do you feel like you could fly? How long am I going to feel like I could fly??" It was a good day.

On Wednesday, Edith and I visited the doctor for her well-child and my 16-week appointment. I got to hear a healthy heartbeat while Edith sat quietly in a chair glaring at my doctor. In the late afternoon I taught Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, presenting the work of the Last Supper. It was such a beautiful experience to proclaim the story to the children the day before Holy Thursday. Every week I feel the Holy Spirit working in that space, and that day was no exception!

If preparing for Holy Thursday was spirit-filled and prayerful, the actual celebration of Holy Thursday was anything but. A 7pm Mass with our children is an invitation to terrible behavior. Paul and I took turns with Edith in the back of the church, while the three kids were antsy and squirmy in the pews for the whole nearly two hours. I have come to expect that this it the most difficult Mass of the year, and yet we continue to go.... I keep praying that some year it will get easier! It is one of my favorite liturgies; someday I will actually get to pray.

On Good Friday we attended Living Stations of the Cross at another parish. A close friend of mine sang, and the presentation was beautifully moving. I found myself staring at the ceiling for most of the hour to keep the tears from pouring down. The kids were engaged and extremely well behaved. Thank you, God for that blessing!

Holy Saturday was a quiet day at home, preparing and waiting, baking bread, transforming our crown and changing our prayer table. The kids had some trouble settling down for the evening, but once they were quiet we set up their Easter baskets for them to find in the morning. Then we crashed after a long, but wonderful, week of preparation.

At 7:00 in the morning, Paul and I got ourselves up and began to prepare for Mass. Edith woke up a few minutes later, and we sent her in to wake up the other kids. She attacked their beds as we yelled "Alleluia!" It didn't take long for all of them to be up and bouncing on their beds. They ran downstairs and discovered their Easter baskets. After perusing the goodies, they had some breakfast and got ready for Mass. My parents met us at 9:00 Mass, and I am so thankful to them! I got to pray more at Easter Mass than I have in about as long as I can remember... because they graciously allowed all four kids to pile on and around them for the whole time. 

After Mass, we went back to our house for an Easter Egg hunt and a small brunch, my mom gave the kids a photo book of pictures from our Florida trip, and we took a few family pictures. Then we packed it up and drove to my grandparents' condo for the Easter Feast! It was such a laid-back, fun day with family. We ate and played some games, the kids got to hunt for some surprises and eat WAY too much candy. Edith took a power nap, thanks to my dad's persistence in walking her until she fell asleep. I actually had to wake her up after 5pm, to make sure she would actually go to bed that night!

We didn't head home until nearly bedtime, and once home we lit a whole row of candles (why have just one? It's Easter!) and sang our Easter hymn! After 40 days of O Sacred Head Surrounded, it was a joy and relief to finally sing "He lives, He lives, who once was dead. He lives, my everlasting Head!"  

 

Happy Easter!

On Holy Saturday

These holiest days of the liturgical year have taken on somewhat of a stressful undertone for me for the past few years. I am constantly worried about whether I am doing enough to instill in my children a love for their Catholic faith, a respect for traditions, a desire to grow in holiness. We have many traditions that we return to year after year, ones that our children have come to expect and joyfully anticipate. We attend soup supper and Stations of the Cross every Friday throughout Lent, culminating in a visit to a neighboring church on Good Friday for the Living Stations. We make a crown of thorns out of salt dough and toothpicks each year, and when all of the toothpicks have been removed (through acts of love and sacrifice by the kids), we spray paint the crown gold and glue on jewels for Easter. For two years now, we have done a simple version of a Seder meal to give the kids an idea of what the Last Supper might have actually looked like. And yet, I always worry that it's falling flat. There is so much richness and we are barely scratching the surface.

But tonight, everything came into focus, even if just for a moment. We had spent the evening decorating our crown and our prayer corner for Easter, and we had sent the kids to bed before praying the second day of the Divine Mercy Novena. Of course, with Easter tomorrow, the boys were absolutely nowhere near ready to fall asleep. Partway into the second decade, I glanced up and saw one little boy creeping down the stairs. When he saw my smile, he dove for the couch and joined right in. His brother was close behind, and also waited for my go-ahead before snuggling in between his mom and dad. We didn't skip a beat as the boys joined in for the remainder of the Chaplet. When we were finished, we said goodnight again and they went back upstairs.

I am so thankful to have been given a small reprieve from my worries as a mother. In that moment, I saw so clearly that what we do is sinking in. They are taking to heart what we are teaching them. But maybe the most important realization I had was the importance of leading by example. I'm convinced that finding their parents praying together after bedtime is worth more to my children than all of the activities I could possibly plan for them. If I never make another liturgical year themed craft with my children again but they catch me praying regularly, I will have nothing to worry about. If I can show my children love and compassion rather than constantly reminding them how they should be treating one another, I'm on the right path as a mother.

On this Holy Saturday, I will rest in the hope of the resurrection, and in the joy of knowing my children are doing the same.

Our prayer corner decorated for Easter

Joy, Joy, Joy

I am so sorry for my lack of posting! I have a bad habit of getting overwhelmed when there is too much to write about, so I just don't write at all. These past two months have been nothing but a long string of events I could write about, with no time to write! So I will try to give a quick synopsis of our Advent and Christmas seasons before the details escape my brain. 

We kept Advent pretty simple- by choice and by necessity. The kids were battling colds on and off throughout the entire season, keeping us homebound more often than I planned, but leaving plenty of time for snuggles and story time. We did our annual Jesse tree, watched lots of seasonal movies, baked Christmas goodies, and even managed to squeeze in a handful of fun outings between bouts of sickness. We visited the Christmas Trolley at Lake Harriet, saw a production of A Charlie Brown Christmas, went on a self-guided Christmas light tour, and delivered doughnuts to some of our neighbors for the Feast of St. Lucy. 

Then the fun ramped up even more when Grandma and Grandpa Yantes, Patrick and Liam rolled into town on their way to Wisconsin. They stayed with us a couple days and gave the kids their presents. The highlight was a set of Snap Circuits, a genius invention! The kids (and adults!) spent hours creating working electrical circuits, including a light-activated alarm and an AM radio. So cool.

The Yanteses traveled on to Wisconsin for Christmas while we stayed to celebrate with my side of the family. We hosted Christmas Eve at our house after Mass, and my younger brother even admitted that I pulled it off... although we still required that my mom make her traditional Clam Chowder. There are some things I'm just not ready to take on yet. 

Christmas morning came reeeeeeally early when Max woke me up at 3:30 am, too excited to sleep. Thankfully, after an hour and a half of not being able to relax, visiting our room every ten minutes, and finally being allowed to check his stocking, he fell asleep in our bed until a more reasonable hour when we all got up and opened presents, ate cinnamon rolls, and got dressed to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. There we celebrated Max's birthday and had a yummy brunch. So far he loves having his birthday on Christmas! The Radecki cousins came in the afternoon and the celebrations continued! There were legos built, stormtrooper helmets decorated, cookies devoured, and stories read. It was a great day! 

Saturday we woke up and spent the morning relaxing while the kids had a chance to play with all of their new toys. Then Paul and I packed up the car for our second annual overnight at the Horse and Hunt Club Lodge with my mom's side of the family. It's such a cozy spot, it just oozes Christmas spirit! We played pictionary and sang carols around the fireplace, and the kids stayed up way too late. Usually I'm in a hurry to get them to bed so I can relax and really enjoy myself, but they were so snuggly and fun to be around, I found that I couldn't motivate myself to do bedtime until after 10:00!

In the morning, we went to the little country church for Mass, had doughnuts for breakfast, and then hit the road for our trip to Wisconsin for the final leg of our Christmas adventure. Are you tired yet? I am, just from writing about it! But it was so worth it. It took about five hours to get to Monica and Glenn's house, which is nothing compared to the road trips we are accustomed to. We pulled in before dinner and were greeted by the whole Yantes clan. We had a little celebration for Kelley's birthday and, per her request, watched "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" while the menfolk played cards upstairs. 

Poor Paul got hit with an awful bug the next day and was down for the count most of the remainder of the trip. We still managed to have a great time playing in the snow, having a candy cane hunt, visiting the local children's museum, and sitting in front of the fireplace. Lucian was our firemaster, closely monitoring Uncle Glenn every time he built a fire, and every day when it would be lit. Audrey and Nathaniel were simultaneously best buddies and worst rivals, but in spite of the many pokes and screams and stolen toys between them, they came out on the other side as great little friends. 

As if we were worried that any grass might grow under our feet, we drove home on New Years Eve day almost directly to a New Years party at my friend Jess's house. I dropped Paul and the girls off at home- he was still sick and they were exhausted- and the boys and I went to ring in the new year among piles of friends. The countdown to 2016 took place at 8:00 pm, complete with noisemakers and party hats, and then the families cleared out fairly shortly after that to put kids to bed and ring in the actual new year at home. 

Paul and I tucked in the boys, sat down with some chocolate and watched a show until 11:58 (I may or may not have slept through the majority of it). When it was over, he asked, "So do you think we'll make it to midnight?" We watched the clock for two minutes, toasted the New Year, and went straight to bed. Oh the thrilling life of a parent of young kids!

And now to relax for a week until we pack our bags and hit the road again, this time to Mexico for the trip of a lifetime... 5 nights, 8 couples, no children. I'll be telling you all about that when I return. But for now I'll say Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and blessings on all of you!

Inside the Christmas Trolley

Christmas Trolley

St. Lucy

Making Christmas Bark with Grandma

Lightsaber battle with Grandpa

Edith's favorite gift: a toothbrush

Birthday presents too!

Christmas carols at the lodge