Margaret Turns Eight!

Happy eighth birthday, Margaret Anne!

Margaret is our tender and sensitive girl: an idealistic soul with big highs and big lows. She's a melancholic temperament, if you subscribe to that sort of thing, just like her Mama, so the melancholic-melancholic pairing of us makes for interesting days! She prefers quiet, solitude, or a one-on-one friendship, and she feels her faith deeply and thinks of others.

Wednesday is the day we've been going to Confession, so I offered to Margaret that we could skip this week in order to have a more proper Birthday Breakfast, but--true to form--she (and the chorus of two siblings) immediately insisted that she desired to go to the Sacrament as usual. So, we had a quick, regular breakfast, went to Confession, and patronized Dunkin Doughnuts for a sweet treat.

Back at home, she got to open her gifts before starting school.

In my continued theme of trying to encourage memories over stuff when we can, our parent's gift to Margaret was a new dress of her very own (for the girl who normally has to live in all her sister's hand-me-downs) and a dinner date out with Mama and Daddy. We even hired babysitters!

First we went to the pottery store where Margaret worked on a horse figurine.

Loving Daddy enjoyed being very involved in the painting!

We all enjoyed a dinner that was exceptionally quiet compared to what we're accustomed to!

Margaret's First Holy Communion

[The professional photos were added to this post a couple of weeks after posting.]

Our third child, daughter Margaret, had her First Holy Communion on Sunday! What a blessed day and joyous sacrament!

Margaret had done such academic and spiritual preparation for the prior year, and very much praying in the final weeks. She asked permission to do holy hours in her bedroom on her knees, and would cry on Sundays because she could not yet receive.

Her great aunt Erica had arrived from the West Coast earlier in the week, and on Saturday we were joined by her godparents and grandparents for a houseful of festivities. I was already a couple of days into a stretch of laryngitis and incessant coughing such that I could barely croak, but I'm sure I was of more use quietly working than gabbing about!

We hosted a big celebratory dinner on Saturday evening, and I greatly thank my mother-in-law for bringing along numerous dishes she had cooked.

Menu:

• HoneyBaked Ham
• Corn Casserole
• Broccoli Casserole
• Scalloped potatoes
• Applesauce
• Bread rolls
• Ice cream bar for dessert

One of two full tables of guests!

After dinner, Margaret opened her thoughtful and treasured religious gifts.

In the morning, I set out a continental breakfast of leftover ham, store-bought muffins and croissants, Chris' hash browns, and berries.

We then arrived at the church two hours before Mass for a session with the professional photographer hired by the six communicants' families.

Finally there was nothing left to do but wait for Mass to begin, and what do we do when we wait? We read the books we (almost) always carry with us!

My dear Margaret reading "Where the Red Fern Goes"

Our pastor giving final instructions to the first holy communicants

The procession about to enter the church

Margaret was beaming after her First Holy Communion and cried tears of joy.

After Mass, some of the mothers hosted a lovely hors d'oeuvres and cake reception on the quad, after which we retired home for board games and leftovers from the night before. An early night was had by all (except Mary--her story yet to come!) because we were having the final burial of my mother and stepfather's cremated remains the very next morning.

Sweet Baby David playing in the grass after Mass

John playing the Game of Life with his godparents

Margaret's 7th Birthday

Our dear third born, Margaret Anne, turned seven on Tuesday!

She is a sweet girl who falls in the painful gap of being on the cusp of being one of the Big Kids, who get to go on so many trips and outings with Dad, but no longer "one of the babies!" She reads precociously, novel after novel, and is independent with about half her school subjects now. Margaret is my peace-maker, who I recognize does not like conflict between others, so she tries to smooth out hot situations. When she wants to be helpful, she is excellent at cleaning a huge mess or preparing lunch for her siblings. She can make sandwiches, fry eggs, and other such simple foods. Margaret is a tree-climber and rope-swinging monkey like her siblings, but is still more cautious in nature, and probably does more adventurous activities under their influence than she would naturally. Margaret seems to do best with one special friend at a time than being that girl who is going to lead in a social group.

Margaret's birthday was quite a bustling day, in which we started with a birthday breakfast (pancakes and bacon) and gifts, but then Chris and I left for the morning for a business meeting, so the children had the grand fun of staying with a babysitter. Then that late afternoon, they had their tennis lesson, and we came home for pizza and cake.

The most heartwarming gift Margaret received was an entire wardrobe for her beloved doll Sally (whom she has owned since she was two years old), as sewn by hand in secret over the prior week by sister Mary (9).

Swim dress, sparkly fancy dress,
corduroy dress with coordinating fur muff and pink cape, plus pillow and quilt

Margaret is an avid, daily knitter, having taught herself the craft in prior months, so her siblings chipped in to buy her a knitting bowl.

Margaret has taken up bird-watching, so Grandpa bought her binocular and bird book, in a darling bird tote.

Tears of joy

Lastly, those are tears of joy in this girl's eyes upon receiving from us a violin. She has been begging and campaigning for a year straight.

Not so easy to play violin with a fractured wrist

After tennis, we enjoyed ice cream cake! (Mama pretty much doesn't bake--not something I'm proud of.)

Happy birthday, Margaret!