WIWS + weekend recap + Mass report cards

Well, after a less-than-stellar Friday, Saturday was awesome! 

The babies didn't wake up for the day until 7:30 - it was incredible to wake up with the sun already up for once!  After Elizabeth pooped on the floor (I mean, the day couldn't be TOO good) we headed out for strawberry picking and were pleasantly surprised to see that the farm had added tractor rides to the field (last time we were there was 2 years ago) and a nice playground area.  John Paul and Cecilia were less than helpful when it came to picking strawberries (maaaaybe picked 10 between the two of them, and all of John Paul's were orange...). 

(I would give you pictures, but Andrew took them on his phone and never shares them with me...)

8.5 pounds of strawberries later, we were on our way to stop by my aunt's house for a visit, where Cecilia decided she was terrified both of the cat AND a dog statue.  We headed back home and the kids spent quite a while muddying up their knees playing on the swing set while Andrew and I weeded & gardened.  They even got to eat lunch at their new picnic table under the clubhouse part of their swing set!

I got 6 pints of strawberry jam made while the kids napped, and headed back outside with them once they were up.   Goodness the weather was glorious!

So even though Andrew abandoned me to go to a birthday party at one of those Brazilian steakhouses where they let you eat ALLLL the meat but don't let you take home any leftovers for your wife who's just sitting on the couch eating Cheez-its while watching Netflix (no I actually don't mind, not even being sarcastic, because I'm on such a high from a beautiful day and it's not like he EVER gets to go out anyway!), I think Saturday can officially be declared a GOOD DAY.

So on to Sunday...  Here's what we wore!

 

John Paul did NOT wear that hat to Mass - he found it on the floor right before we took the picture.

 

He did AWESOME at Mass.  We had to sit about halfway up because we got there right as the announcements before Mass were starting and all the old people had taken all the back pews (even when we get there 10 minutes early they have them filled...  I don't really understand it...).  I think sitting farther up helped him, because he paid attention and followed along a lot better.  He also retrieved the babies' toys when they dropped them and was overall pretty awesome.

 

I'll give him a B+, since I had to physically drag him out of the pew for communion because he was busy reading the Latin Missal and didn't want to get out of the way.  He got a doughnut after Mass and was VERY pleased with himself!

 

Mary Claire did well, as far as I can tell - she spent most of Mass outside with Andrew and Cecilia, because apparently sitting farther up means "be on your worst behavior" to her... 

 

I'll give Mary Claire an B+ because she was quiet when she was actually in the church.  Points deducted for having a massive poop just before Mass started, so Andrew had to change her and I had to deal with the crazies by myself while he was gone.

 

Cecilia gets a D-, and I'm only being that generous because she didn't physically injure anyone.  She shouted "STOP IT" loudly during the consecration because she was trying to take something from John Paul.  She shouted about various other things all through Mass and had to be taken out three times.  She took her sweater off and carried it around in her mouth like a dog and freaked out when we asked her to stop.  She insisted on licking the babies' toes and talking loudly about it.  Basically she was a disaster...  Needless to say, she did NOT get a doughnut.  She sat there drinking water while we all had doughnuts and juice.  Eventually I pitied her and gave her half a bagel because I figured she was probably hungry...  No picture of her in her Easter dress because I have a trillion and she had already been sent to her room upon our return home.

 

Here I am, rumpled post-Mass.  Andrew asked me if I was going to wear a "pwetty dwess" like Cecilia and the twins, and asked me why I mostly wear skirts.  He thinks I should have accumulated a lot more dresses over the years, and I reminded him that I have, and either they don't fit or aren't nursing-friendly.  I'm going to take this conversation as permission to shop for new dresses...

 

I wore mostly repeats - you've seen the skirt (eShakti) and the shoes (Bass), the belt (H&M), and the baby (Mary Claire).  The shirt is one of my few articles of clothing from college that still fits, a J.Crew purchase.  I kind of wish I had it in every color but when I look at what colors they have available I think, "Hey, blue stripes!  Or blue checks!  I like those!  Or look, light blue!  Perfect!"

 

And then I remember that I already have a blue checked shirt, and a blue striped shirt, and a light blue chambray shirt.  Sooooo maybe time to branch out?  Nah...

 

Best shot we got of Elizabeth...  She mostly quietly sucked on my scarf or chewed on toys throughout Mass, but she also decided to gurgle and blow raspberries loudly at the people behind us, while spitting in my face.  They thought it was hilarious, but once she started shrieking with glee I think it got a liiiiitle less funny.  She got fussy near the end of Mass because it was naptime, so I'll give her a B.

We found out yesterday that our favorite priest is, of course, getting transferred to another church in a few weeks :(  Bad news for us, good news for those of you in Front Royal (Beth and soon Hannah!) because he's great!  Although I'm not sure how good of a preacher he is, since the only part of today's homily I heard was when he started talking about the fact that Wal-Mart sells coffins and you should start shopping for your funeral early so you can get good deals...  This was likely related to something scriptural, or just a PSA for a parish populated by maaaaaaaany old people.

 

Aaaaanyway, linking up with Fine Linen & Purple AND Camp Patton to make you all feel a liiiiiittle bit better about how your kids behave during Mass!