Little Things: May 2011

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

New York City: From Rose Marie's Perspective

We recently had the incredible honor of attending a dear friend's ordination to the priesthood, in New York City! I was so nervous about taking my children running around the Big Apple. But, as God would have it, the weekend was so grace-filled! In the end, I cannot imagine that trip WITHOUT my children! We had more fun as a family, then we have had in a long time! We were blessed by how good they were during the ordination itself, and then, how wonderful they were as we went exploring through the city.

Since we have been home, Rose Marie has been drawing pictures of the things she saw while we were there. So instead of boring you with details, I thought I would share with you, her pictures. I find them absolutely priceless! :)

1) The "Big Apple."

2) The Subway: notice the "smoke" rising from the top and Rose Marie and Samuel smiling out of the windows (the smilely faces are the parts that look like the train wheels)

3) St. Patrick's Cathedral: This is the big steeple and the "biggest door in the world!"

4) The Statue of Liberty: This is my favorite! Above the big smile is the "crown" that Liberty wears and then in her hand is the torch and next to her the water.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!!

I finally have my blog up and running again! Yay! For some reason I was unable to upload photos or write on the blog for a while. It is still acting up as far as formatting goes, but at least I can write a little something. :)

We had an AMAZING Easter this year! I hope you all did as well! We were so incredibly blessed to be able to enter into the Triduum this year with the kids. Those last few days were so beautiful.

Beginning on Wednesday night, our little family went into a kind of silence...no cell phones, computers, generally no outside distractions. On Thursday the kids and I read through the Passion in the Bible and then we did a craft about Holy Week. Before dinner, Daddy washed all of the little feet in the house...it was really beautiful! Rose and Sam were absolutely fascinated by Holy Thursday service. Sam was very upset by the stripping of the altar and by the statues being covered up.

Good Friday was spent remembering Our Lord's Passion. We ended up keeping it fairly low key, but we did manage to have a beautiful Stations of the Cross in our home that night. Rose Marie loves doing Stations at our house, so it was a real treat to her. We turn off all of the lights in the house, and light fourteen candles instead, for each of the Stations. After we pray each Station, one of the children extinguishes the candle so the room gets progressively darker. Rose and Sam are always very touched by this and Rose Marie really made the connection that on Easter, we will "feel the light" again. :) It was beautiful. I also thought it was interesting that Sam's favorite Station is when Jesus meets His mother...he always says that it makes Jesus feel "all better." I think he may be right.

Saturday was relatively quiet for us, but this year we made it to the Vigil! I was so excited for us and for the kids! They were so good at the long Mass. I will never forget Sam's expression when the lights were turned on in the Church when the "Gloria," was sung. He was so happy! He was especially happy to see that the statues were uncovered again and that there were flowers back on the altar. :) Rose Marie kept saying, "Alleluia," rather loudly...but I am sure Jesus didn't mind. :)

Easter Sunday was full of fun and celebration! We had a wonderful Easter Brunch at my parent's house, which ended with a fun Easter Egg hunt in the backyard. That night, my family came over to our home for Easter Dinner. There was a lot of laughter and joy through the entire day, and we couldn't have asked for more. My younger siblings played hard with our kids, so by bedtime that night, Rose and Sam were exhausted and fell into bed saying, "I love Easter!" I do too. :)

1) Jake and I after Easter Dinner.