A Belated Easter and Other Things

I have to admit that I have fallen woefully behind in my blogging. It is just harder to blog now that we are back in Portland, for some reason. Maybe it is because we are not doing as cool and new of things as we were in China. Maybe it is because I feel like I am seeing or talking to the majority of people who read my blog on a more regular basis.

Both of these excuses are cop-outs, as I know that kids growing up anywhere makes for fascinating subject matter, and surely I could think of worthwhile things to say myself. Also, there are now people in China who read this blog, and they probably want to know what we are up to here, not to mention family members that don't live in Portland or nearby. So I will endeavor to get back into it! Sorry for the recent lapse in posts!

Last weekend we celebrated Easter. However, before Easter has to come Good Friday, of course. Jesus can't rise until he has died. Alex and I took the girls to the Soup Supper at our church, St Thomas More, before Mass and though they mostly ate bread and grapes, we got a decent meal before the service started. We sat near the front, as we usually do, and the girls did pretty well despite the long service. They really didn't start to fade out until after Communion, which was already an hour and fifteen minutes into the service, so at that point I took them to the cry room for the remaining ten minutes. I have avoided this room like the plague since joining our church for several reasons.

First and foremost, I truly believe that kids should be in the worship service with everyone else so they can learn about what the Mass is all about. It does them no good to be in the back room isolated by a window from everyone else where they can run wild if they want to, and are not able to see anything (this is also why we sit in the front). I actually have found that in the few times when I have sat in this type of room versus the very front of the Church, our kids tend to do WORSE than if they are actually in the service itself and able to see what is going on.

Secondly, and yes, this is admittedly a bit petty, but there was this one older woman of European descent who sat behind us a few times at Mass when Lucia was about 18 months old. Lucia was pretty quiet (we brought cheerios, books, toys, etc), but she would definitely be crawling around the pew, getting up on the kneeler to see, getting back down to eat her cheerios, etc. No one could tell she was being a bit mobile except for us and the people immediately behind us - at least she was quiet! But this woman pulled me aside after Mass one day and told me that I should take Lucia to the cry room as she was distracting this woman's worship experience.

I was appalled and deeply offended. I think I just stared at the woman unblinking for a beat, then calmly told her that we wanted our daughter to learn about Jesus and the Mass, and we were sorry that it was distracting her, but we were not moving. Needless to say, she sat a few pews back after that. After all, Jesus DOES say "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matthew 19:14). So there, I have a scriptural prerogative to take my kids to Church and sit them in the very front row!

Anyway, one thing we were not anticipating from taking the kids to Good Friday Mass, however, were the questions that came along with it. Why did Jesus die? Where did Jesus go? Why did Jesus come back? These were pretty profound for a kid of three and a half, and I found myself struggling to answer in a way that did not scare Lucia. She has told me before that though she "likes God" she is "scared of Jesus." I asked her why, and she seemed to indicate that Jesus hanging on the cross was pretty scary to her. She does, however, still love the Baby Jesus and is fascinated in all regards there, so we're still doing okay.

Saturday we were blessed to celebrate Ada Cornett's first birthday with a small family gathering at the Cornett home. See Linden's blog post for a more detailed description, but suffice it to say that we had a great time. Photo proof to follow!

Finally, on Sunday after Easter Mass, we drove down to Eugene to spend the day with my parents and my mom's side of the family for a large meal. Three of my mom's five siblings came with at least one of their kids. My cousin and her three kids and another cousin and his one daughter came, so we had six kids between 6 months and 4 years running around and involved in the Easter Egg hunt. My other 9 year old cousin Nicole was a great help in setting up the hunt and playing with the little kids, and Lucia especially worships her. It was a great day, despite the precipitation, and at least we got a little respite to hold the Egg Hunt outside.

Now for the photo flashback:


Our kids were obsessed with the sandbox at the Cornett home:

From Blog All Five

I'm not sure it gets much cuter than this:

From Blog All Five

Magdalena didn't even want to dance with me, I was totally upstaged by Baby Dear:

From Blog All Five

The Easter Bunny came to our house, thanks to a little help from Godmother Kyle and Grandma Susan... not much chocolate in these baskets (and what little there was got confiscated almost promptly!):

From Blog All Five

They did both manage to get at least one chocolate egg in first, though:

From Blog All Five

Thanks, Mom, for buying their super duper adorable Easter dresses! Both girls loved them, and Magdalena wanted to get back in her "pretty pretty dress" a few days later!

From Blog All Five

Girls girls girls!

From Blog All Five

Couldn't resist, she is just so cute!

From Blog All Five

Here they are again - you can see the cut Magdalena got on her lip from the day before we left China:

From Blog All Five

Video of our Egg Hunt - Lucia was off and running, and Magdalena got it pretty quickly after I showed her:

You can never get them all to look at the same time!

From Blog All Five

Magdalena wiped out on the floor in my parents room around 4 pm - so tired! I tried to get her to fall asleep in the bed, but she must have roused herself, gotten off, then she laid herself at the foot of the double door. I had to open the second door slightly and pry her away from this one so no one would smush her if they tried to open it on her!

From Blog All Five

Happy Easter everyone!