Doughnuts & sunshine, on the 5th Sunday of Easter...

Morning all! It's a beautiful Monday here, and although I had a fantastic weekend, I'm feeling a bit blue this morning. This would be on account of my daughter, who woke up with The Crab Face, and escalated things from there:

"Anne, you need a bath this morning, Sweetheart."

"NO! I do NOT WANT a bath!"

"Why don't we..."

"NO!!!"

*yanks face away from attempted kiss*

Later, she was contrite and snuggled with me over an episode of "Peter Rabbit." Then, she and Mike drove me to work, since he's taking my car for new tires today. When I got out of the car and kissed them goodbye, Anne broke out The I'm About To Cry Face, complete with quivery lip and rapidly filling eyes:

"Mommy, I WANT TO COME WITH YOU!"

*bursts into tears*

It was heartbreaking. I did my best to soothe, but she was having none of it. I had to close the door and walk away while she cried and it was awful. Awful, I tell you.

:(

So I'm super emotional and vulnerable right now. Don't you wish you were hangin' out with me? ;-) Oh wait, YOU ARE!

So let's talk about Sunday, and tomorrow I'll circle back to the hafla on Saturday, which was incredibly fun, can't wait for that one. But for now, the 5th Sunday of Easter.

It was a beautiful day. People, WE CAN GO OUTSIDE NOW! There's grass and stuff growing out there. :0 Flowers, like you see above. Those may actually be weeds, who knows, they came with the house and grow along the fence line, but they're pretty, so I don't kill them. And we have a tulip!  Life is grand.

The kids and I headed to Mass at 10 am, and afterwards was scheduled the first monthly coffee hour with our new pastor. We were suitably excited.

Mass had barely started before we had a request for a restroom run, complete with crotch grab and dance out in the aisle, so it's not like I had a choice in the matter. We made it back to the pew before the Gloria was finished so that she could make it to Children's Liturgy of the Word, which was good. Everything proceeded fine from that point on, our altar Easter flowers looking a bit peaked but still holding up.

Afterward, the kids watched with excitement as a table with doughnuts and other treats, plus coffee and juice, was revealed in the back. We milled about and chatted with some friendly faces, including Fr. Joe. I'm very glad that they're going to be having this each month now. Sadly, I will miss the June installment, as I'll be out of town (CNMC though :0 *squeals*) but lots of other opportunities for fellowship.

We ended up chatting with a very nice lady who coordinates the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, and she invited me to consider getting involved in that if I wanted to, such as by bringing the Eucharist to a homebound parishoner. That's a lovely idea for the future. I met this same lady before at the Worship Committee meeting ("It's so nice to have young people involved!") and I pretty much love her now. ;-) She told me yesterday, in a discussion about age, that being in her 40's was her favorite decade, so her fate is sealed now as My Very Favorite Person At The Parish. 

And how was your Sunday, dear reader? Come back tomorrow for a fun dance post!

Mother and son bowling, and electric candles?! on the 4th Sunday of Easter...

Happy Monday everyone! I'm feeling a bit sleepy, but otherwise quite well. It's rather overcast here today in Western New York, but there's a definitely spring feeling in the air. We'll take it!

As we continue to celebrate Easter, yesterday was no exception to my feelings of happy joy. :) The kids and I made our usual pilgrimage to the 10 am Mass at our parish, and though the Easter flowers dwindle, the spirit pervades! I was amused to note a short message from our pastor in the bulletin. He's doing his best to not step on any toes given how new he is, that dear Fr. Joe, but decisions need to be made, and money is in short supply, so sometimes tough calls have to be issued. Exhibit A: candles.

:0

Change does not come easily in our parish, and people are attached to their devotional candles. You know, the ones you light on a stand near the front or back of the sanctuary, for a special intention, and then you drop a couple of bucks in the donation slot? They are very popular in our parish, and a year ago or so, the price noted for each size of candle increased a bit. Our former pastor put a note in the bulletin saying that the cost associated with the candles is purely their supply cost, the parish does not make any money from them, but the cost had gone up, so obviously those choosing to purchase a candle needed to know this and start making up the difference. That went fine and without much fanfare, it's simple inflation.

Well, apparently the candle costs have gone up *again* and Fr. Joe has decided to make an alternative suggestion. He doesn't want to charge more for the candles, but yet the parish doesn't have the money to make up the difference. He is proposing that we move to, wait for it...electric candles. "They flicker and look very similar to traditional candles!" Precious Fr. Joe. I have no problem with this, but I can just see the Ladies Sodality mobilizing en masse to protect the integrity of traditional candles. We'll have to see how this turns out. ;-)

After Mass, Henry and I were slated to attend a mother/son bowling event sponsored by the parent association at his school. Henry was very excited about this, and I was very excited to spend some solo time with Henry, but if I'm being honest, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the actual bowling in public thing. I haven't bowled since, let's see...the 80's.

*audible gasp from the gallery*

Being a decent bowler at age 13, but then not bowling since then, doesn't really lend itself to a retained skill set, I am here to tell you. But I didn't want to dampen Henry's enthusiasm, so I did my best. As long as I don't humiliate myself in public I'm good.

That sounds like an ominous way to end off that paragraph, but everything went fine. :) Before we got started, I pulled out my camera and attempted to take a selfie of the two of us:

Yeah, that didn't go so well. :0 Henry was a bit scandalized by the thought of taking a real, live photograph IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE.

"I am humoring my mother, that is all that I am doing."

Henry, the dear, dear, child, has been saddled with my personality. This means that he is shy, introverted and somewhat socially awkward. Don't you wish you had these genes, dear reader?! He is such a sweet boy, but he would never say a word if he didn't have to. While we were waiting for our lane-mates to arrive, we sat side-by-side, totally silent, and happy as clams. Introverts don't need to physically communicate with each other to be soothed by the others' presence, you see. It's part of our behavioral ritual. Our complex and rich non-social infrastructure could be studied for publication in a peer reviewed journal.

;-)

When the others arrived, we did our best to greet them and got started. Henry beat me in both games. :0 Yikes, those bowling skills really don't carry over across decades, do they? I needed to use the special lighter ball because I apparently lack any sort of lower arm throwing strength needed for bowling. But I didn't fall or accidentally throw myself halfway down the lane, or anything like that, so life is grand. I'm not going to reveal my score here, for the sake of protecting at least an ounce of my dignity, but I did manage to pick up two spares, and let it be known that I did NOT have the lowest score on our lane. The fact that the lowest scorer appeared to be about 5 years old did nothing to diminish my joy of victory over this fact.

We had pizza and soda and tons of cookies and a great time was had by all. How was your weekend, dear reader?

Things are really blooming, on the 3rd Sunday of Easter...

A daffodil! It's a miracle!

Happy Monday to you all! How are you this fine spring day of Easter season? I'm at work, so you know, I could be better. ;-) But it was a lovely weekend, and I hope that you had one as well.

Yet more flowers blooming in our yard this week, including this lovely daffodil. I had a perfect photo framed in my smartphone of Anne sniffing the daffodil, but some sort of automatic focusing feature very boldly took over my camera and by the time it had finished its bossiness, Anne had long since moved on. Bummer.

We arrived at Mass yesterday to find a bulletin chock full of upcoming parish activities, and I have to say that I absolutely love our new pastor. He's very social and friendly, and I can tell that he is really trying to get to know everyone and inject some life into the community. Starting in May, there will be a monthly coffee and doughnuts gathering after the 10 am Mass where Father will be present for lively conversation. I am very much looking forward to this and am thinking of even calling the number listed for volunteers to help with these.

Indeed, Fr. Joe came over to chat with us following Mass, but let me circle back for a moment since I'm jumping ahead, as I'm wont to do. :) I am loving the readings from Acts that we focus on during Easter, and Mass was as joyful as ever. When I brought Anne back to the sacristy for the inevitably demanded trip to the restroom, I noticed some wilting Easter flowers back there, the true sign of our progress through this liturgical season - lily weeding. :0 But the church just has a different feel to it during Easter, just such a sense of satisfied joy.

After Mass, the kids and I stopped to chat with our friend Kendra, and that's when Fr. Joe wandered over from his spin around to any lingerers. He's newly back from a short vacation, so we got the scoop on that. Priests have real lives too, who knew? ;-) We talked to Kendra extensively about her senior project art show, which had been the following evening at a local gallery. She's about to graduate with a bachelor's degree in Art, her specialty is drawing and painting, and so Henry, Anne and I went to support her. It was hard to see everything because it was VERY crowded, but it was a lovely event, and she is very talented. I saw several other people there from our parish, including her parents and a couple people from the music ministry, and I'm really feeling like I'm getting to know people now outside of Mass, which is so, so lovely.

The only one not enjoying all of this post-Mass sense of community is poor, long suffering Henry, who sits politely by with a "can we go now?!" face. It's not easy being 9. :)

Mike and I also had a really nice date night this weekend, aided by the fact that the kids spent the night over at their grandparent's house. This was hard on Mommy who has never had Anne spend the night somewhere besides home, aside from our anniversary getaway back in January. It's always hard with that first sleepover, I remember it from when Henry was littler too. So I struggled a bit with the two empty bedrooms for that night, but Mike and I went out for a nice dinner and a movie, and that time together is always so valuable.

How was your weekend, dear reader?

Thriving in fellowship and welcoming back insects, on Divine Mercy Sunday...

Morning all, and happy continuation of the Easter season. ;-) The Octave is over, but nevertheless, we are still celebrating Easter, and I love it. And I absolutely adore Divine Mercy Sunday. I always pray the novena leading up to it (at least, in recent years I have), and it harkens me back to 2005, when I was newly pregnant with Henry and Pope John Paul II passed away on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday. He always emphasized this feast, and that is one of the reasons that I am so drawn to it, because I love HIM so much.

And so Divine Mercy Sunday dawned bright and beautiful in Western New York. I think about 95% of our leftover snow has finally melted. People, this is *epic*. Never in my lifetime of living in the Northeast have I ever been more happy to see spring. As the kids and I headed out for Mass, I noticed something in our small backyard. Something fragile and beautiful that I feared I'd never see again: flowers. Real ones. Growing out of THE GROUND:

See them there amongst all the dead and shriveled things? I don't know exactly what they are, they may actually be weeds, but I CARE NOT. They are pretty and colorful, and we worship them. As I was over there snapping this photo, I even saw a bee hovering nearby. A REAL LIVE BUMBLE BEE!! Normally, I steer clear of such creatures, but I practically threw this one a party:

"Welcome to our yard, dear bee! I'm so glad to see you! Go tell your friends to come pollinate as well!"

And things were looking even livelier in the front yard:

Tulips baby! They're on their way. We'll have a party for them as well.

Then we left for Mass, and I am just in love with my parish community. Mass was as beautiful as ever, I loved the first reading from the book of Acts (4:32-35). It harkens back to my parish theme: a sense of community:

"The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power, the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, but those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need."

I just love that. Not a complete analogy, of course, but it is so soothing to me to think of all of us, our communities of faith both local and around the world, in this thing together. We're here for each other, supporting each other and doing our best to give witness to the Lord Jesus Christ.

After Mass, we sat and chatted with our friend Kendra for a bit. She has an art show coming up featuring her work, and we're planning to attend. While we discussed the details, Fr. Joe came over and sat with us. What chatted about his upcoming vacation and how he was going to a party later in the day to watch the Masters. I mean...I love this guy! He's the sort of congenial priest I could imagine inviting over for dinner with the family. He's very social and approachable, and I'm so grateful that we have him.

When we got back home, Henry went to a friend's house, so Mike and I took Anne out for a walk with her tricycle. Before she got on, Anne laid flat on the bare driveway:

"Mommy, look. The sun!"

We have been so, so deprived, my poor children. :0

How was your Divine Mercy Sunday, dear reader?

How is your Easter season going?

Morning all! I have a busy work day today filled with meetings (let's all groan together in harmony, shall we?) so this will be somewhat brief, but I still wanted to touch base with everyone. I was listening to Monday Morning Catholic's Triduum episode on my commute in, and thus dwelling on our current place in the Easter octave, that is the eight days we celebrate a monumental feast such as this one...

Easter is a time of new beginnings, it seems that way to me every year. Everything feels fresh and new. The weather (hopefully; we still have some snow here, but the piles are getting smaller every day), new baby birds and animals, the return of flowers and green things, and the liturgy. We're singing the Gloria again, and saying "Alleluia" for the first time in what feels like forever. And fresh from a Lenten visit to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we all feel revived in our spiritual lives. Hopefully. :)

The spiritual life is never predictable, no? I know this very well, as I'm sure you all do too. I did get to Confession this year, but there have been years where I planned to but didn't make it. Or maybe right after visiting the Sacrament, a spiritual struggle ensued over something you thought was long behind you. Or maybe you feel inexplicable spiritual dryness where just days before you felt vibrancy and renewal. It's never an easy thing, to be sure.

This Easter I'm reflecting back on my experiences during the Triduum with much gratitude. I'm so grateful that I was able to, for the first time, attend all of the liturgies. I'm certain there will be years where that does not happen for any number of reasons, but we do what we can. I enjoyed my experiences very much, and I love that I got to share each of them with someone else - Henry, Anne, Mike and my mother-in-law. It was truly beautiful.

Now, though, we're in Easter and I'm thinking: what's next? It's never boring, that's for sure. I'm excited to see what is to come. Anne's birthday is next month, and with her turning 4, and Henry turning 10 later this year, I feel like life has shifted a bit. Oh right, and I'm older too, yes? :0 It's a gentle shift, but there it is. Am I finally a grown up now? ;-) I feel responsible, but I don't always feel like a *grown up*. When I was Henry's age, and saw adults who are mine and Mike's age now, they seemed SO much older than we are, ha! In many ways, besides acquiring (please God!) a bit more wisdom and experience, I don't feel a whole lot different than when I was 20. But I know that I am different. I just don't feel older, if that makes any sense. But I'm happier, and just as excited for whatever lies ahead.

Those are my reflections early this Easter. How about you? As we embark on Easter season, what do you suspect or hope God has in store for you?

He is risen! Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Monday to all of you! Indeed this day dawns so much brighter than Good Friday. Although her situation is still quite serious, and she has a long and difficult road of treatment ahead, Julia's family got some good news over the weekend that an MRI of her brain revealed no cancer cells, and that is cause for rejoicing. Keep those prayers coming!

And in other good news, Easter was simply beautiful. Granted, Easter season is far from over. We're only on day 2 of the Octave, and Easter season lasts until Pentecost, so much Easter celebrating to continue! :) But as for Easter weekend, I am left feeling so very grateful for my family and my faith. Henry and I attended the Easter Vigil with my mother-in-law, and oh! That is officially my very favorite liturgy of the entire year. I can't imagine ever missing it again.

We entered our parish just before 8 pm Holy Saturday to find the altar beautifully decorated with flowers:

...and we were all clamoring with excitement. :) There were 3 people entering the Church this Easter, one Catechumen and two Candidates. We started with the blessing of the fire, and then the beautiful procession in the darkened church, where we all lit our small tapers from the large Easter candle, and then cantor sang the Exsultet. Henry elbowed me:

"Mom. This is a very long song."

"I know, Honey. It will be done soon."

It wasn't. :0 But hey. It's *magnificent*. As I looked around in the darkness at all of those lit candles, I was reminded of our larger worldwide family of faith/communion of saints, and how no matter what happens, I always have that. And God.

We made our way through the Old Testament readings, and for the first time I realized (probably because our pastor mentioned it before we got started) that all of the Easter Vigil readings are about important events in salvation history. The creation story, the sacrifice of Abraham, the Exodus of the Israelites to the Promised Land, etc. And the Psalms! It was a joy to sing them. I'm not really a singer (that is to say, I'm not very good at it :0) so I sometimes shy away from singing in church. Not Saturday. I joined right in. And the Gloria!

*swoons*

The bells throughout! So, so joyful.We moved through the Epistle and the Gospel, a short but powerful Homily, and then on to the baptismal liturgy. MY FAVORITE PART. I cry here every year, despite the fact that the people receiving the sacraments are total strangers to me. So, so moving to see people enter the Church and our parish community. I was in heaven during the Litany of the Saints, and then the sacraments of initiation were administered. We all renewed our baptismal promises and were dutifully sprinkled with holy water. :) By the time we got to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we were about an hour and a half in, but Henry was holding up like a champ. I absolutely LOVE this liturgy. I hope to never miss it again. All told, it was just under two hours. Well worth it.

Easter morning dawned with snow on the ground here in WNY. :0 But even that did nothing to damper my Easter joy.

Easter selfie

I had a new dress, as did Anne:

New Elsa dress :)

Henry also looked very fetching in a polo shirt and nice pants, but declined to be photographed. ;-) The four of us headed to the 10 am Mass, where we kibbutz-ed with our new friends and were present for another glorious liturgy.

Our return home heralded Easter baskets, and both kids received chocolate (of course), a few small toys, two new saint dolls, and a rosary. Anne has St. Blaise and Our Lady of Lourdes:

Henry received St. Blaise and St. Stephen:

...who went on to hang out with St. Isidore the Farmer and Henry's other saints that he keeps on a shelf:

And then Mike and I got to work baking a ham, mashing sweet potatoes, and whipping up a dessert. By the time our sets of parents arrived at 4 pm, we were ready for celebratory Easter wine and cocktails. ;-) A fabulous time was had by all.

This Easter in particular I am counting my blessings, of which there are many, and feeling grateful for every moment that I get to enjoy them.

How about you dear reader? How was your Easter? I demand that you tell me all about it in the comments. ;-)

Nearly halfway though Lent? We need to discuss Easter basket ideas :)

With the more seasonal air around here (our driveway is showing PAVEMENT, this is *epic*) and the 4th Sunday of Lent approaching, my thoughts have turned to Easter baskets for the kids. I absolutely adore Easter crafts. I do this every year. I start buying all sorts of pastel-hued yarn and ribbon, and crocheting eggs, and all sorts of kooky stuff. And I truly love assembling Easter baskets. The colors and the season just speak to me.

Of course, I buy Easter chocolate. That is a non-negotiable. :) Henry sells it from a local chocolate company as a fundraiser for his school, so we always buy a bunch from there and I use it for their baskets. I also like to craft things, like I mentioned. I've crocheted animals for both kids in the past at Easter, like this chick I made for Anne two years ago:

Pattern is "Cute Chick" by Teri Crews, and is available for free!

This year, she has asked for a penguin. Not exactly a seasonal animal in this part of the world, but hey. Penguins are cute. And she asked for one, so that's what I'm making. She picked out this pattern of a baby Emperor penguin:

Cute, yes? His name is Waddles. :0 This pattern is from a really cute amigurumi collection called Crocheted Softies: 18 Adorable Animals From Around the World:

Doesn't that moose just slay you?! His name is Maple, and I simply *must* make him for myself. But at any rate, one penguin coming up. Also on Anne's list is a pair of shoes from the Payless Frozen collection, she caught a glimpse of an ad they sent yesterday. She's got her eye on the blue slip ons:

Planning an order for later today, since I need summer sandals anyway (hope springs eternal...).

For both kids, I'll get them a book or two, and for Henry a movie, since he's a huge fan of those. He loved Paddington this year, but I don't believe that will be out on DVD prior to Easter, so I'll have to come up with another idea. Henry also loves board games, so one of those is on his list. Some fun Amazon shopping coming my way.

For the crafty ones out there, I have a few other pattern ideas. I knit this lamb for a friend a few years ago:

His name is "Mittens" and this is also a free pattern by Barbara Prime. One of my very favorite knitting pattern books for this time of year is Easter Knits by Arne & Carlos:

Knit Picks has this book packaged as a kit right now with some sport weight yarn in Easter colors, so if you're tempted by such things (welcome to the club! ;-)) go check that out. 

For crocheters, Teri Crews is my very favorite designer of toys, and she has an adorable "Huggable Bunny" pattern for sale. Although I have purchased the pattern, I haven't had a chance to make the bunny yet, but this is the sample:

She also has this available in lovey/blankie form for an infant, so adorable!

So what are your ideas?