Sunday, September 8, 2013

WIWS: Semi Miraculous Edition

Happy Feast of the Nativity of Mary!  

What a fun feast day! I think I have a good excuse to make a cake when I go downstairs after I finish this post!

Today was an example of the fact that I never know how Mass is going to go.

We slept in (until 7:14!  Woohoo!) and then the kids were up and ready to get going and so I went downstairs and left Paul to steal a few more hours of sleep after an especially late night of work (home football games mean that he's in for a busy night at work... he didn't get to sleep until after 5:30 this morning...).  I got Sadie dressed and then Maggie and then Patrick, then got Maggie into her Monkey Leash (she was actually really excited to put it on) and got Patrick into the carrier and glanced at the clock.  8:40.  We had twenty minutes to walk to Mass.  Taking a deep breath I said a prayer for the grace to survive the next hour and a half and headed out the door.  

On the way to Mass I talked and talked about how important it was to be good at Mass.  And I tried a new strategy.  You see earlier in the week I asked Maggie how old she was and she looked very serious, thought for a moment, and held up two fingers (not a winning parenting moment to tell you the truth).  I said, "No Mae, remember, you're birthday was on the Fourth of July!  You're three now!" I held up three fingers and she glowed with pride.

So... on the walk there I talked up "three."  "You know," I said, "three year olds are big enough to be good at Mass.  They're big enough to be on their best behavior."  

It's not like we haven't talked about being good at Mass many, many times before (every. single. week.), but that was before she apparently realized what a big kid she was.  I hoped desperately (almost hopelessly) that today would be different.  

We made it to Mass and slipped into a pew.  Maggie started to whine the second we walked through the door into the main part of the church and I got down next to her and reminded her that three was big enough to be good at Mass.  And miracle of miracle (that's only a slight exaggeration) she actually stopped whining and sat down next to me on the pew.

And then an amazing thing happened.  We made it through an entire Mass without retreating to the narthex.  Patrick fell asleep about ten minutes in and while Mae alternated between going down to the kneeler and then back to the bench, she did it silently and since we were in the back of the two rows set apart for kids, no one could really see her.  It was amazing.  And she was obviously very, very proud when she walked up with me when I went up for communion.

After Mass I told her she'd done a great job and we played at a play ground for a while before heading home to wake Daddy and tell him about our victory (now he gets to go to the 6 pm Mass).  So I'm feeling victorious, which probably means that next week will knock me on my bum... but still.. I'm slightly more hopeful than I was after last week!  Today was a step in the right direction.

Now for what we wore.  I wore a black nursing/maternity shirt, with a cami-secret insert and the black skirt I got when we were in El Paso (at Ross if memory serves).  And because there's a little bit of a chill in the air (although not enough of one to require boots) I broke out my winter boots.

Patrick did wear pants to Mass... but he didn't keep them on once we got home, hence the onsie in this picture.  Mae wore a pink cotton dress and insisted on wearing fleece even though it was definitely warm enough not to.  And Sadie wore a "pink princess dress" with a pink knit cardigan (the cardigan didn't last until the pictures either):

Is it too much to ask for a picture where you can see everyone's face?
(the apparent answer is "Yes.  Yes it is.  Much, much to much to ask.")

Red super boots... for day and night... sleep and play... and Mass...

For the record moments before this picture was snapped Sadie said:
"Look at me!  I'm being a Madagascar Periwinkle for the picture!"
Yup... that's what our trip to the botanical garden resulted in...

And here's Daddy getting a Maggie kiss.  She was pretty thrilled to see him and hear me tell how good she'd been
when we got home from Mass. 
For more WIWS head over to FLAP!  

6 comments:

  1. I love that skirt and it looks great with the shirt and boots!

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  2. I'm going to have to remember the "3" trick for Li'l G! She's getting close, so we can start talking it up now and see how it goes. Too bad it's really the little man who has us escaping the pews now. At just 1, he hasn't quite figured out how to sit quietly for over an hour. :)

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  3. Great outfit!
    Yay for positive Mass experience!

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  4. I love the outfit. I looks really really great. I need to get me some boots like that because even though it typically doesn't get "that" cold here in the winter I hate wearing dress shoes with skirts and the cool breeze if you know what I mean. :) Congrats on Mae's conduct. I personally had to take Zia out this morning and she is 5. :(

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  5. Often I see you and your cute family taking these pictures for Mass and I read about your Mass experiences. May I ask where Paul is during these times?

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  6. Sure you can ask! He's usually the one behind the camera and he's not quite as enthusiastic about being in my fashion blog posts as the kids are!

    He's attended Mass with us every Sunday until these past two months when he began his new job. Now that work requires he be awake until 4 or 5 on Sunday morning (did I mention how incredibly thankful I am that he has a job now! I am!) and the kids are pretty much horrid at any Mass other than the 9 am (which the past few weeks bore testament too!) so I've volunteered to take them to the 9 o'clock so he can get around 5 hours of sleep before we get home. Then he goes to the 6 o'clock Mass after an early dinner before going off the study again.

    It's not ideal but it's only for another year (I hope!) when he'll hopefully have much more reasonable hours!

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