Cathedral of the Overlease Children

I am really enjoying this special time alone with Vivian.  At mass we snuggle for an hour.  Today we went to the library and returned home to cuddle up to read on a misty day.  We just baked some cookies for an after school snack for her siblings.  However, the flax and chia seed peanut butter in them may not be a hit with the kids.

Yesterday they spent a great deal of time turning our loft into a church, complete with pews, an altar, and an area for the setup of wine and bread.  They were altar servers, and Olivia taught them the details of what happens since she sees it up close regularly.  Evelyn memorized an impressive reading, and Olivia gave a homily.  They sang.  They passed a collections basket.  We received the Eucharist, which was broken bits of ice cream cone that ended up all over the kitchen floor.  Their mass was darling.  However, they were in a total uproar because I would NOT allow them to take red liquid up to the loft, which is carpeted, for wine.  I explained that some churches use white wine at mass, but they wouldn't have it.  I insisted on water.  Henry then informed me that Evelyn added red food coloring to the water!!!  That was bad news.  She thinks I only care about carpet.

Henry is almost as tall as Ev.  He had a stretch this summer where for weekends on end he almost received his First Holy Communion as a preschooler!  Visiting priests and lay Eucharistic ministers alike offered him the bread, then paused as one of us waved them off.  He loved it!  I loved that he has been praying to God and Jesus to help him earn a green behavior color at school.  It is working!!!  I told him the prayers of little children are precious to God.

The big girls had their first cross country meet of the season on a gorgeous Saturday.  They both ran really well, and we had a ball racing to various points on the course to cheer them onward.  Ev's race is 1/2 mile, and Olivia runs a mile.  Henry's soccer game conflicted with cross country, so we got a taste of the complexity of multiple children in various weekend activities.  Thank goodness for kind friends.  Next weekend will be even worse.