7QTs - Consecrated Cathedrals, Lots of La Croix, Krazy Kids

Linking up with Kelly and co

---1---

This is how you go shopping with five kids... 

At the check out a supervisor handed me my (discounted) gift cards and asked if they were all mine...  I was like yes, I just bought them. She meant the kids, not the gift cards (which I didn't realize until after the fact)

It was a dicey time to go but laundry duty called and we left the house at 11:30 

Sample Saturday for the win and half of the kids lunch was taken care of 

---2---

Sunday we hit up church in Rocky Mount because Lee hadn't served here in forever. I don't miss the hour drive each way and it made the following Sunday drive seem a bit longer. Also, since we didn't have to spend two hours in the van we hit up donuts after church because, well that's what people do after Sunday Mass, right? 

Clearly...

Papa opted for a non-messy donut for A who wasn't pleased with his selection. E and R aren't into having their pics taken at the moment but they were thrilled for post-church donuts. 

I will say the kids did surprisingly awesome at Mass. I was in the second to last pew with C, A and M. R was in the next pew up with a family friend and E was in the choir loft because she loves to sing and we have an understanding music director. A only got upset after communion and kept charging down the center aisle to see Papa. He also thought it was hilarious seeing E in the choir loft (who was doing her fair share of making herself visible to him!) 

---3---

I took ALL the girls to the pool... 

C slept and ate

I got in the pool (oh pool how I have missed thee) and M got in the shallow end without her puddle jumper - which required extra eyes on my part but she did fine. It was BLAZING hot so we only stayed a few hours 

---4---

Which was good because we got home and it started to thunder and then by dinner (hello London broil cooked to perfection on the grill) it was raining 

And after it was a super loud storm. A enjoyed watching the rain and listening to the booms of the thunder - he clapped and did his happy feet. While the girls huddled up on the couch terrified of the storm - it was quite loud and the lightning was electrifying. 

---5---

My PSAs for the week: 

This is why I use Honest diapers at night... I don't change diapers in the middle of the night - which is debatable I know. But the Honest ones are much more absorbent and don't stink the next morning. What does stink is having to strip your bed and mattress pad and do wash on a random week day!

I confess, I have a La Croix water addiction. 

HT had them on eVic last week and between my four and my mom's four I think I'm good for a week or so. 

If you find yourself at Target looking for toddler underwear don't look in the kid section. Toddler underwear is in the BABY section. I legit thought that there was not 2T-3T boys underwear for several hours and then I thought I was crazy for thinking that boys could be potty trained before the age of 4 and the underwear makers were trying to tell me something. Turns out I just didn't know where to look. Friends help friends navigate Target!

---6---

So A is really cute... but that is nothing new

He has a thing for our neighbors chickens and he loves to go see them and point at them and check them out. LOVES IT. 

He also loves visiting that neighbors house and going in and eating all sorts of foods he'd toss on the floor at home. I'll fight you for my neighbors :  )

---7---

In exciting news of the week...

Papa, me and C went to the Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral consecration (they called in dedication but I think consecration sounds better). There was a moment that really struck me in the THREE hours long Mass - maybe I'll write about it later

C and I camped out at the end of one of the pews. Lee got to sit with all the other deacons - and everyone noticed him in the procession in and out because he sticks out like a sore thumb with his super cool Eastern vestments. 

Evidence... He processed in and out with all the other deacons but he's kinda hard to miss

Once it was done. I was done done done holding C. I had basically held her for 4 hours straight because we got there early (which was good because the clergy had special parking and we took one of the last not-really-a-parking-spot spots AND we were there an hour before!) Plus I left the stroller and carseat in the van because hello 2000 people. So I gladly passed her off to the guy in the cassock for a bit of father-daughter time

Anyhow, I hope I have the time to write about the Mass in depth. I would now but I'm afraid I'd run out of time and not post and I have a post to catch up on from the week before soooooooo.... later.

Thoughts on Five Years In...

Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. - Acts 6:3-6

Five years ago today this man was ordained to the diaconate. The bishop laid hands on him because he was found worthy to be a deacon. He had completed the several years of required coursework despite entering the program in 2008 with a little push from the Holy Spirit and maybe a little kick in the rear from me. 

Deacon Joseph and Bishop John 

I can begin to tell you how much I have witnessed the Holy Spirit work through him over the past five years? From bouncing off homily ideas to me and having to read his homilies in the van on the way to church and having to tweak them because I didn't follow him, to just having to do an outline of a homily to being able to get up and preach with no notes?!?!?!? No more nervously fumbling through homilies, he exudes so much confidence and passion now when he preaches - and his best homily to date probably is from M's baptism a few years back. 

He is so passionate about his continued studies and teachings. He pours hours and hours of his free time into preparing for his weekly adult Bible Study. This past school year he gave a class to the middle school students at our school - and I think he may have just figured them out at the last class; so next year should be even better. He gave a three-night Lenten retreat on Psalm 50. 

No question the Holy Spirit is at work - deacon work, pool work, family work. 

Gracious. 

Now five years to the date later and by the end of today this picture will include THREE more children. I cannot say its been an easy road for our family. There has been lots of hours of sacrifice on the part of our family. Getting to church early so Papa can set up. Missing him one night a week so he can lead Bible Study. Giving him (necessary!) time to go on retreats. Wielding the kids during church by myself is no small feat and I have heard the devil whisper in my ear more than once... Do you really think it's worth it? There are ebbs and flows of ease and difficulties with single parenting during church. Ask me in another five years if you think I'm any good at it. But all the trials and sacrifices are more than worth it. 

But you know what.... At the end of the day, there is so much validation that I have witnessed. Confirmations of - yes, yes this is exactly where he needs to be and where we need to be as a family. Whispers of the Holy Spirit saying that's why you were in that situation years ago. That's why, that's why, that's why. Pieces of the puzzle fitting together that at the time he and I didn't realize were even part of our puzzle, that in retrospect is pretty amazing and awesome. 

Pascha 2017 and other thoughts on Holy Week

Well we made it to Easter/Pascha... as did everyone else. So... Christ is Risen! We made it through Holy Week and all the services that go along with it without too much ado.

Palm Sunday involved lots of distractions at church with palm and pussywillow branches. We took Monday and Tuesday off from PSL. Wednesday we did go to Presanctified Liturgy and everyone received the Anointing of the Sick (in eastern Catholic churches it is completely normal to receive this sacramental anointing once a year whereas in the western (Latin) Catholic church a person has to be in substantially bad physical health - I digress).

Holy Thursday we stuck around Rocky Mount for evening Mass and procession (Lee likes to keep his feet in both east and west church doors as much as humanly possible - which is totally fine and it saves us from driving 2 hours that day). E has her hopes set on hanging out in the choir loft but she settled for the third row pew. R, M and A and me hung out in the Narthex for the greater part of church. I told R she needed to step up her church game and she said she's 'really good at Stations' so I told her she needed to be really good at Mass too - that worked wonders. Highlight of the evening was M talking to one of the older Knights of Columbus (who was very understanding) and announcing to him that he was fat. Need I say more? NOPE.

On to Good Friday.

The girls and I went to Stations at noon (very grateful for the day off from work). We still managed to be a hair late but at least Papa and the boy stayed home so it was the most prayerful, prayer-filled Stations of the year. I'm halfway convinced R and M could learn to behave better if I didn't have tend to A's antics. We finished up our last decade of the rosary on the way back (we do a decade a day during the week) despite E freaking out that she 'couldn't' because she had broken her rosary the day before - everyone got a new rosary in their Easter basket so solved that problem.

In other Easter basket random news, E informed me she hoped she would get a veil in her basket this year - which would have been helpful to know about 6 weeks before. The girls had been (trying) to wear veils during PSL this year for whatever reason and I got a new veil from here that I knew was A-proof and future baby proof.

Anyhow, Lee went to Good Friday service in here and then we all miraculously made it to our Entombment Vespers in Raleigh on time. There was surprisingly very little grumbling about making the hour long drive for the second time in 3 nights and everyone did surprisingly well.

Saturday was filled with lots of cooking on Lee's part - Pascha bread, Pascha cheese, Russian salad, City Chicken and pork. E insisted that she wanted to go to the Easter vi-du-al- that's vigil kid, with Papa. The Easter Vigil is when all the people who are coming into the Church get baptized and receive confirmation and Holy Communion - and its really, really really long. Like to the tune of 3 hours long and it's really, really, really late. As in it starts at sundown so the Paschal fire can be lit and seen. So despite the 5 am departure the next morning, Lee nor I could come up with a reasonable reason to bar her from going to church with him so off they went.

Because when your 6 yr old says she wants to go to a 3 hr church service, you cannot refuse?

Upon their 7 pm departure the others were tossed in bed and I had some things to knock off my list. 

$5 for 12 muffins at Harris Teeter or nearly free pumpkin muffins from home? Breakfast was served. 

Pascha outfits cleaned and pressed

I was fading so very fast that night. The laundry was done and extra clothes had been ironed and I barely had the energy to dig the Easter baskets out of the upstairs closet. I had their rosaries, bathing suits, books and cereal for the baskets because we are super lame and don't put candy in their baskets. I knew everything we needed was on the table just not organized (included those flowers which were supposed to come to Raleigh with us but didn't make it : (

That's what everything on the table amounted to when it was packed up in the 4 o'clock hour on Sunday morning. Lee and E had rolled in the door at 11:50 so the 4 am wake up call was more trying for him. 

We loaded up the Transitasaurs and were on our way. I noticed A was warm when I tossed him in the carseat and from the time we got out of the van at 6:29 dressed and ready to go to 9:20 he did not leave my arms. Which in hindsight was way better than wrangling him for 2.5 hours but he was kind of pitiful and exhausted and wouldn't let me sit down until about 2 hours into church. He did cut me a break when all the food was served and peacefully ate some bread in his stroller

Pascha 2017

Pascha 2016 - best pics with 4 little kids

Pascha 2015 - pregnant and announcing

Pascha 2014 - no hair M

Pascha 2013 - pregnant but not telling

Pascha 2012 - tiny R

Pascha 2011- not possible

Lots of meat and sweets were consumed

LOTS

The sneaky one 

A perked up for a few minutes after some Tylenol 

The girls were entertained trying to find their Easter baskets at Grammys 

Uncle Kev hid one up in a tree and will probably remember that next year he needs to hid E's in a tough spot. 

The basket from the tree

Of course she sat down and read some of it before continuing the search 

She found hers in the first spot she looked! 

Then it was rest time followed by an A+ dinner at Grammy and Grandpa Joes plus a plethora of desserts that no one had room for. 

Wishing everyone a Blessed and Happy Pascha/Easter 

7QTs - Donuts, Soccer, Baby Teeth

Since these are turning into biweekly recaps... 

--- 1 ---

Turned 6 and lost two more teeth : ( 

I have told her on more than one occasion I miss her little teeth and I really do. I didn't miss the losing them part though. The first top one came out at here birthday celebration when M knocked her in the mouth and the tooth got pretty bloody. Then 36 hours later, before church I couldn't stand looking at her tooth that was a little cock-eyed and I convinced her to start wiggling it. I finished it off and didn't even get blood on her dress!

Pro-tip - have your kid hold on to a counter or table or something when pulling their teeth so they cannot grab your hand because they are SUPER nervous/skiddish. 

---2---

Grammy took E to the ballet for her birthday so that means R got to rule the roost... 

It is so funny how much the dynamics can change when one sibling is missing. Plus I got 3 kids bathed and put in bed in record time because 3 is a breeze when you are used to 4!

Also helped in the mowing department

---3---

A is cute and crazy all wrapped into one...

He's an aggressive eater but still has lots to learn in the hand-eye-coordination game before he can really stuff his face 

Still no teeth to speak of and still getting up every so often in the night but I like him so it is very tolerable : ) 

---4---

Soccer season wrapped up... 

E has a great season. Still needs the occasional attitude adjustment but really is starting to 'get it'. R has made leaps and bounds even though this pic isn't really evidence of her progress. I forget that she is a 'young' 4 with these kids so she still has tons of time to be that big kid who is out there scoring goals. She WANTS to score but hasn't quite made the connection between running around and being aggressive and netting a goal. 

Speaking of attitudes... at our second to last game E got so mad that we were getting scored on she was in tears (and had to be subbed out) and then R got hit in the head by a throw in and the ref blew the final whistle and E started up again about how she was angry the game was over - all in the span of 12 seconds. At 8:05 in the evening. We'd NEVER survive a season of tee ball and the evening games which are the norm. 

---5---

Donuts after church:

Lee is now officially 'attached' (if you will) to our local Roman Catholic Church. It has been 6 months in the making to get him recognized and approved by this bishop and diocese. Paperwork and meetings. Blah. Blah. Blah.

So he went to and preached at all the Masses for the weekend. So the girls and boy and I went to Mass at 8. It was actually kind of weird not loading up at 6:45 and eating breakfast in the hall and getting home at noon. I mean we left at 7:35 (yes I still needed my timer to beep at me to get out the door) and got back home before 10. Quite novel in this house

Breakfast of Champions

Anyhow, I told them no donuts if there wasn't good behavior. Pews are excellent ways to contain kids during church (we don't have them at our church). E sat two ahead of us because she wanted to and I trust her (her eye caught one of the boys in her class and it was the cutest thing). R did fairly well. She liked sitting on the kneelers but was generally better than her 'normal'. I tried to convince M to whisper because everything is amplified that church so chatty 2 yr olds can be... well, loud. A stayed in his carseat for a good part of Mass and wasn't a challenge once he got out. 

So Dunkin Donuts all around after a good jaunt on the playground of course!

---6---

A has got some great big sisters who love to hold him

Even though he likes to squirm and worm around and not sit still they all try and wrangle him for a good 'hold' now and then. I think he is so big for them to handle so that whenever he starts moving and crying they are done trying

---7---

Random outdoor pics:

M wanting peanuts

A showing off his new blanket

The girls playing in the 'elephant tree' - I think we need one for our yard

M harassing Stella with a Cheeee-TOE