1. Eucharistic Congress
On Saturday, the feast of Our Lady's birthday, our family attended the Eucharistic Congress, which typically draws about 20,000 Catholics downtown. I don't know if this year we experienced fewer numbers of attendees, due to the horrific month of scandalous revelations, but I do know that there was a higher police presence there, which comforted me.
As this had been Margaret's First Holy Communion year, she had the privilege of marching in the Eucharistic Procession.
This year, I felt more than ever that taking six children to this massive, chaotic event is becoming less and less appealing. Chris and I took separate cars so he could get Margaret there on time, but I was still coming close behind to participate in the procession. I couldn't find parking and got caught in an entire hour of gridlock auto traffic within a block or two of the procession, so I missed seeing it all and then had to park our big van that fits in very few parking garages six-tenths of a mile away (far) and huff it in pushing my double stroller and with heavy baby on my back.
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| Praying a Hail Mary for every single petal she dropped |
Source of photos below lifted from various people on Facebook.
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| Only photo of my kids that day |
After the procession, we viewed the various stalls of items for sale for about an hour and a half, and then took the kids to lunch. Chris held his place in line in a standing-room-only pizzeria lacking air conditioning for an hour while I guarded the pack of kids in said crowded environment until a table became available. But then my two daughters needed to visit the restroom, yet I couldn't leave the table and the little ones, and Chris couldn't leave the line, so I let them go to the restroom (IN DOWNTOWN CHARLOTTE) as a pair . . . moments later (as I watched a homeless man walked down the same hallway as the bathrooms) gripped with anxiety about how stupid I had been. Then another child had an urgent bathroom need and a final child fell backwards in the chair, smacking his head on the cement floor (because my saying 12 times "don't tip your chair" was insufficient), so I (in my rising panic at the situation spiraling out of control) took all the littles to the potty and left just John to guard the table.
Notes for my future self next year:
1. Take one car to the Congress. Husband drives and parks! When I depart toward home early with the young ones, Chris can take an Uber car home.
2. Pack more snacks.
3. Go to lunch farther away from the Convention Center. (I could pack a lunch, but I think it's too much to carry given that I'm already pushing a 30-pound stroller with 80 pounds of children in it with a 25-pound toddler on my back, plus our backpack and various purchases we accumulate.)
(I know plenty of mom-friends who go during the afternoon, leaving their wee ones sleeping at home with Dad, but that doesn't work for us because Chris helps run the table with Latin Mass information. And we don't put our kids in the Kid Track, so that's out too.)
2. Surprise
Our 11-year-old surprised us by baking a coffee cake on Sunday morning, much welcome to us weary adults after the effort required for the Eucharistic Congress the day prior.
Speaking of Sunday, modeling is so powerful, for good or for ill. On Sunday mornings at breakfast, we are trying to read aloud the Mass readings of that day so as to better pay attention during Mass later. We pass the missal around and take turns reading aloud, with Daddy always reading the Gospel. Well, after Thomas (3) saw his siblings reading aloud . . .
. . . he leapt out of his seat, ran away to the den, and came back carrying another black missal from the shelf which he proceeded to "read" (note: the book is upside down). This is a reminder to me to try so hard to model positivity and holiness!
3. A Day in the Life of David: And a Milestone!
On Monday night, I attended a mandatory homeschool planning meeting at church, so David and I experienced the milestone of my leaving him home with Daddy for the first time at 13 months old: click here to read about a whole day in the life of David.
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| Margaret reading bedtime stories to the boys since I was gone |
4. Sports
Tennis on Tuesday . . . Soccer on Wednesday . . . first day back at Scottish Dance on Thursday . . . |
| Warming up for class at the wall |
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| Playing in the cemetery while siblings were in dance class |
5. Scholastic Scenes
This week, Margaret (7) learned how to look up words in a dictionary during Grammar class. She fell in love with it and spent the rest of the week looking up words and telling her siblings their definitions.
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| Using the dictionary |
In our new homeschool year, one of my favorite features is doing holy time with the little boys (3 and 5), and noticing that the 7-year-old often wants to join us: she has feet in both younger and older worlds (and is actually closer in age to Joseph than to big sister Mary) and I see that she likes her independent holy time and older catechetical materials, but she also very much likes joining the littles for coloring and stories.
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| Coloring Catholic pictures while I read aloud from the Bible and catechism |
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| Thomas (3) coloring inside the lines |
I've made it a goal to introduce more vocal music this year into our home. John has joined a boys' choir, and Mary will be auditioning for a girls' choir. Meanwhile, I'm playing songs and teaching lyrics to my younger children during our 8:00 gathering each morning.
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| Lining up cars |
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| Teaching geography to the group |
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| Geography at all age levels |
John is trying out a new private work station, in our laundry room, of all places. I imagine I will have more to write later about his new middle school hybrid program, but for now I will say that both he and I are drowning in schoolwork (before we might be drowning in floods from Hurricane Florence!). Yet John has retained a cheerful attitude while doing school till ten at night!
After two and a half weeks of daily phonics lessons, Joseph (5-1/2) clicked with reading this week! Each day, I would teach him to blend, and he would not seem to be "getting" it. He's my fourth child I've taught to read, so I was accustomed to this phase and was patient with his seeming inability to blend anything on his own day after day. Then, halfway through this week, we sat down for phonics as usual and he simply GOT IT. He immediately blended each word on his first try "mmm-aaa-ddd . . . mad!" Ten words in a row, he blended and read on his first try!
Then he read his very first sentence, which I have found scares children at first. Three whole words in a row! It's too much! In fact, Joseph hid under the table when faced with a sentence to read, but then he did it and was so delighted.
The next morning at breakfast, Joseph realized that if he can read during his phonics lesson, he might be able to read elsewhere and at other times, so he read a word in a book: "unity"! That's three syllables, not one!
Then he read two more full sentences during our phonics lesson, and then during Quiet Time, he copied out the sentences on his own.
I'm just pleased as punch! We have a burgeoning reader!
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| Joseph drew a picture of "Dad had a ham." |
6. Musical Moments
It is difficult to find peace or stillness in a bustling house with six children, so in good weather Mary often prefers to practice her violin on the front porch. I've had neighbors thank me for the free concerts.
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| Mary accompanying Margaret during practice |
7. Miscellaneous
One night, Joseph woke up from a nightmare very scared and weeping. Margaret was so concerned that maybe he was sick that she ran to get the (ear) thermometer and checked him for a fever . . . those two are the best of friends or the worst of enemies, depending on the moment of the day.
David, 13 months this week, is climbing everything! He climbs atop the coffee table and stands on it. He climbs up onto a chair and then onto the kitchen table and stands on that. Below, he pushed a stool to where he wanted to reach a paper on my white board, then climbed atop the stool and stood on it. He reminds me of Mary when she began climbing daringly at 10 months old and never looked back.
Bonus Reading: "The Dangers of Fortnite and Other Video Games"--a 15-minute talk by Dr. Ray Guarendi. Coming across this was excellent timing given that I'm hearing much about kids playing Fortnite, even within our religious, homeschooling bubble. Our family listened to this talk and looked up still images of the video game to show and discuss with the children, and we parents privately watched some of the video game being played as well. Sidelined is the popular Minecraft, which we didn't allow either but at least which was basically about building things, replaced by Fortnite, which is all about hunting and killing zombie-like creatures. This game drew 125 million players within the first year of its release (source): that is more than one-third of the population of the entire United States.
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things arehonest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8)
For more 7 Quick Takes Friday, check out This Ain't the Lyceum.
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