Gloria in Excelsis Deo: {SQT} My Birthday Week (and Surviving a Tornado for real)

1. Federation Festival

Click here to read about John winning first place in his Division! He is headed to States!

2. Candlemas--in which We Started a Fire in Mass

Candlemas marks the true end of the Christmas season for Catholics. I have friends who put up their Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve and keep them up till February 2. We usually do not last quite that long, but it is admirable!

On this particular Candlemas, there were about 400 people in attendance at Mass, which is huge for our little parish. The liturgy was a long one, starting with about a 20-minute blessing of all the parishioners' candles, which people had brought and stacked on tables at the front of the Mass. Then everyone lit the small candles they held in their hands and followed the priest and many altar boys in a procession around the church property. Ultimately, that would be followed by the regular 90-minute Mass plus a blessing of throats in advance of the Feast of St. Blaise the subsequent day, so the whole liturgy was probably well in excess of two hours. Then followed a big potluck reception and the girls' Latin choir (including Mary) singing a Wassailing song. It was so festive.

But back to that procession . . . That particular day, John was serving, Mary was singing in choir, Chris took Margaret and David to another part of the church, and I had charge of Joseph and Thomas. I allowed Joseph to hold a candle of his own because he is now seven and that seems pretty big, but I told eager Thomas that four was not old enough. Thomas was very upset at this injustice and loudly complained at length, but I was limited in what I could do because an elderly lady had huffed and glanced askance at us when I had asked if we could step past her into the pew to take a seat. I wasn't about to ask her if we could leave so I could go discipline Thomas for noise and return, so I just kept trying to hush his complaints about his lack of candle while in the Mass.

At least he would get to go on a procession! But we were in the final pew and when we were about to get to exit out the door, the whole procession was already streaming back in! It took so long for nearly 400 people to process out that we just never got to go. Thomas began crying and demanding that I just go out the door on the procession, the doorway that was completely filled with parishioners holding flaming candles coming inside.

I assuaged him by promising him--and forcing Joseph to agree--that Thomas would get to blow out Joseph's candle when the time came. I promised.

Well, some promises cannot be kept.

We were in Mass when I smelled smoke and somehow Joseph alerted me that his paper drip-protector had caught on fire and was flaming upward! I grabbed it all from him, threw it to the ground, and stomped it out with my black flats.

Thomas lost all remaining composure. He began weeping that he was supposed to blow out the candle and I needed to light Joseph's candle again so he could do it!

It was then that I discerned that Thomas' four-year-old heart had simply had enough and couldn't take anymore disappointment, so we were going to exit. I ended up taking the boys into the silent chapel and quietly giving them catechesis on all the stained glass windows for a long time before we moved back to the Narthex to watch from there.

3. Candlemass continued . . . Mama's Birthday

I had the most spectacular birthday brimming full of love from my family and friends--quite unexpected for just a regular old birthday, not a 'special' number.

The evening before, Mary (11) baked my cake while Margaret (8) read aloud to her. ("We read aloud to each other every night. It's my turn.")

In the morning, I opened my gifts with the gang, among them some special treasures from a tiny child, a beautiful hand-sewn pillow, and a special carved box purchased with one child's very own money.

There were handmade cards galore, including the one from Joseph (7) which showed a harrowing battle scene with one group of stick figures shooting guns at another group of stick figures while shouting triumphantly, "For Mama!" They were defending me against Bad Guys. Who says chivalry is dead? Just don't kill the virtue in these little growing boys!

In our family, we have taken an idea from the "Bringing Up Bates" TV show in which family members share "praises" with the birthday person on his or her birthday. My kids made a paper chain for me, each paper loop having written on it something praiseworthy about me. I wish I could share them, as they made me cry at the undeserving love I received, but kids swore me to privacy, even from each other. I've filed them all away in an envelope to keep and open when I want a good, tender cry.

I received both a statue and a bench for an area of our yard which I'm considering my "mother's garden" and for which I have grand plans for new plantings and beautifying.

A mess I don't mind leaving

I received many cards, texts, and emails, and various girlfriends gave me little gifts of chocolates, candles, flowers, and nail polish! I expected nothing!

After Candlemas--when we did not burn down the church--we went to linner (lunch-dinner) with a family we just love. Back at home, Mary frosted the cake and, while we were eating, a neighbor dropped by with another gift for me!

I didn't stand a chance against the little boys to blow out my own candles . . .

3. Quiz Bowl: Final Practices

Our children participated in two more practice sessions, both on Sunday at church and on Wednesday at our home, for the upcoming Catholic Quiz Bowl. We are as ready as we will ever be!

4. Tornado!

On Thursday, our home was hit by an EF-1 tornado and we are all, praise God!, safe. Click here to read all about it.

5. Scholastic Scenes

The moments are not always rosy: homeschooling brings me to my knees and to tears and to sinful anger, but I would not trade it for the world. I love experiencing all of this with the children. I will never get back these years, these three decades or so of homeschooling my children. I'm very grateful.

The kids may kvetch weekly about having to look up vocabulary words in the dictionary and write them down . . . but they also weekly get lost in other interesting words and sometimes even write down extra words!

This week, we've added to our morning holy reading the opportunity to light a candle and practice lighting matches out of a matchbook. You may not always have those nice wooden stick matches and it's a life skill to be able to light a floppy match, so I've had my kids age 7+ practicing all week!

6. Miscellaneous Moments

Numerous 6:00 a.m. board games this week

John built himself a wooden goalie for his many hours of street hockey he plays in the driveway. Cool!

7. Funny Moments

When we found one of the four-year-old's Mass shoes out by the swing set, we knew there had to be one more missing one. However, I didn't expect to find it five feet up, propelled and lodged into a shrub!

John (13) made a coffee cake for one of our music teachers for her birthday, but when it was cooling and I turned my back, the toddler dug into it with his fork! Thus, our teacher received two-thirds of a cake!