Our Little Negotiator

Theresa: "I will give you some jelly beans if you let me get you dressed."
Kieran: "If you tell me where your jelly bean container is, I will let you get me dressed."

The Prayers of a Child

Easter Vigil 2015

A couple of years ago, Elizabeth started praying for a family after our family Rosary each night. She prays for each member of this family by name. Recently, we learned that this family has started going to Mass again. Yesterday, we had confirmation of this, and I mentioned it to Elizabeth and some of her brothers and sisters. Upon hearing that this family is going to Mass, Elizabeth said, "Oh, Fr. S. told us that we might want to pray for someone on our First Communion day who isn't going to Mass! I will pray." God answers prayers, especially the prayers of a child!

From the Mouth of a Child and more

When my daughters returned from camp, they showed us the Immaculate Heart of Mary wall hangings that they made. Kieran was amazed by them and sat looking at the wall hangings and trying to touch them. All of a sudden, he surprised me by saying, "Mommy, the girls make Mary's heart. Jesus is happy."

As I sang, "Go to sleep my baby..." to Kieran the other night, he stopped me, saying, "Mommy, I am not your baby. My brother is your baby. I am your little boy."

When we go to the grocery store, my little boy insists on pushing the cart because he can do things by himself because he is "like Timmy". After a long shopping trip, during which Kieran pushed the cart, walking on tippy toes, I asked him, "Are you Mommy's big helper?" My little boy responded, "Mmmmm... I think so."

On Wednesday, Theresa, Kieran, Kilian, and I picked my husband up from work. Kieran insisted on pushing the elevator buttons and carrying his daddy's lunchbox for him. I wish that I had had my camera with me.

Clothing Advice from my Daughter

Catherine: "Mommy, I really like the skirt that you and Theresa made tonight. I like the style and everything. I would buy a skirt like that, but..."

Me: "What don't you like about it?"

Catherine: "I like everything about it, but I don't think that she can wear it to Mass because I think that it would be too much of a distraction. I know that if I were sitting behind her, I would be looking at it."

I don't know whether or not Theresa will be wearing her skirt to Mass, but I do know that I got a good laugh.

If nothing else, Theresa will wear her skirt, red shirt, and liberty bow flexi clip on the 4th of July. Oh wait, Independence Day falls on First Friday and we will be going to Mass!

At least, she can wear the skirt when she goes camping this summer.

Ultrasound Observations

Last week, Patrick and Theresa joined me at my ultrasound. They were very cute whispering about the baby. Theresa asked for a photo of the baby's face. Patrick requested a photo of the baby's "chipmunk cheeks" and heart. After the ultrasound, they asked the doctor if they could confirm the baby's gender and swore themselves to secrecy. They are the only two in our family who know whether this baby is a boy or girl and they are being very good about keeping their secret.

When we got to the car, Patrick stated, "I think that Theresa and I would make good doctors." As I drove home, he exclaimed, "Oh look, there is a cross in the baby's heart." Theresa replied, "That's because this is a Catholic baby."

The following morning, Patrick came into the kitchen and said, "Mommy, I think that Dr. M. is the best doctor that we have." The "we" made me smile. This is our baby, so obviously Dr. M. is our doctor. I have to say that I do like our doctor and could easily consider her a friend.

Honesty is the Best Policy

On Saturday morning, Elizabeth came to me and shared, "Mommy, Bernadette says that I can't just throw my clothes on the floor."

I replied, "Bernadette is right. If your clothes are dirty, you need to put them in the hamper. If they are clean, you need to put them away."

"I can't do that." Elizabeth responded.

"Why not?" I asked.

Elizabeth answered, "Because I am too lazy."

Thanks to her honesty, I now know what I need to work on with my little girl.

Sweetness

Me: "Sweet Elizabeth, will you please..."

Elizabeth: "Don't call me sweet. I'm not sweet."

Me: "Oh, why aren't you sweet."

Elizabeth: "If I was sweet, that would mean that I was like sugar or something. I'm just Elizabeth."

She's sweeter than sugar, but I won't call her sweet again. 

As we sat around the dinner table last night, I was surprised to hear the following:

Elizabeth: "Her mother gave her mashed potato and she was furious."

Me: "Are you furious?"

Elizabeth: "No, I just don't like mashed potato and it sounded good."

Heat Rises

Finnian: "I am hot."

Patrick: "Well, Finnian, you are wearing pants. When it is hot outside, you should wear shorts because heat rises."

Wise Pondering

The other night during dinner, I mentioned something about wisdom. One of my children responded, "I would rather be a fool and alive, than wise and dead." Before I could say anything, Theresa said, "I would rather be wise and dead. If I were a fool and alive, then I would commit sins like fools do." Without missing a beat, my husband chimed in, "He who truly fears the Lord, has no fear of death."

I love my family.

Turning the Other Cheek

Sibling: "Patrick, your 'r's don't look right. They're supposed to be in the lines, not up there."

Patrick: "If you don't like my 'r's, then you should see my capital 'D's."

Me: "What's wrong with your capital 'D's?"

Patrick (showing me one of his 'D's): "Look."

It looked fine to me. Truth be told, Patrick's writing may be neater than the critics, but I'm not going to say anything. :)

Lenten Gardening Observations

Patrick: "Oh, look at the purple flowers! I like Lent because that is when the flowers start to come up."

Theresa: "By the time Easter comes, the garden is full of flowers and it looks beautiful."

*The children were observing miniature irises that bloomed on Ash Wednesday. I failed to take a picture of them in a timely fashion. The croci look beautiful right now. Like my children, I cannot help but marvel at the purple flowers that blossom during Lent. God is so good!

Elizabeth's Viewpoint

A few weeks ago, Elizabeth came with me to pick up her father from the transit center. After waiting for him for about 10 minutes, Elizabeth said, "Mommy, Daddy's not coming. I think we're lost."

Last night, Elizabeth looked out of the window and commented, "It is yellow and pink outside. I think that God painted the sky. I think that God did it so that we wouldn't know that it was the sky. I think that He didn't want us to know what it was."

Baby Observations

In the Hospital

Patrick: "His toes are as small as carpenter ants."

Patrick: "Kieran can open his eyes."

Finnian: "He has eyes."

First Day Home

Finnian: "Kieran has arms and legs. I thought new babies just had heads and bodies. The new babies at Mass are always in blankets. All you see are their heads. I thought they just had heads and bodies, but they really have arms and legs."

Learning from Older Siblings

I'm trying to get the house ready for the baby. On Saturday, Elizabeth watched Theresa clean the toilet. Soon afterwards, Elizabeth was found in the bathroom with a washcloth in her hand. She was scrubbing the inside of the toilet with the cloth. I guess that since the toilet bowl brush had been put away, she decided that the washcloth was the next best thing. Ugh!

Yesterday, I asked Theresa to sprinkle the staircase with baking soda and then vacuum. This morning, Patrick sprinkled strawberry jello on Theresa's and Elizabeth's bedroom carpet in an effort to make it smell sweet. Instead, he stained the carpet red. I was able to get some of the jello out, but not all. The off-white carpet now has pink stains on it. At least, it's a girls' room.

I think that I know where the saying, "Two steps forward, one step back comes from." Now, I just need to accept the fact that although Mount Neverrest might be conquered (i.e. all of the laundry and ironing should be finished) before this baby is born, the house will not be thoroughly clean.

Hope

Brendan: "Mommy, two people have won $10,000 in the Top Foods Monopoly game and one person has won $35,000. You haven't been to Top Foods in a long time. We can't win if you don't go shopping there. We still need to pick up the free tickets that we won."

Me: "It's only been about two weeks since I last went there. I have decided that we just aren't winners."

Theresa: "Oh, Mommy, it is a sin to despair!"

Lipstick for Dogs?

Brendan: "Who put lipstick on Heidi? It's all over my hands."

Finnian: "I did."

Catherine: "Finnian, you don't put lipstick on a dog."

Finnian: "Well, she's a girl and she has lips."

I just hope that my daughter is not planning on keeping the lipstick.

Too Big for Her Britches

Elizabeth: "Daddy, I want you to read St. George and the Dragon and Patapon (a.k.a. Noel for Jeanne-Marie)."

Daddy: "I can only read one book. I am tired and I need to get up early in the morning."

Elizabeth: "Okay, Grandpa."

Priestly Role Models

Sedes Sapientiae, ora pro nobis.



Our parish has been blessed with a second priest, Fr. Harkins. His presence has inspired my two youngest sons to pretend to be priests and "offer" Mass. They've been dressing up, cutting "hosts" from printer paper, ringing their little bell, and using their child-size thurible. The other day, Finnian came to me and said, "Mommy, I am Fr. Saguto and Patrick is Fr. Harkins." I smiled and thought to myself, "Imitation is truly the best form of flattery. I pray that if God calls you to be a priest, you answer His call and become a holy and faithful  priest." We are very thankful that our boys have such great role models at our parish.

O Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us; obtain for us many holy priests.

Passing on the Blame

A week ago, I went downstairs to start another load of laundry. Upon returning upstairs, I noticed that the living room was no longer clean. I asked those present, "Who destroyed the living room?" Elizabeth quickly informed me, "St. Nicholas destroyed it."

Why He Does What He Does

Yesterday, despite the fact that some of us are sick, we decided to head to the beach and finally take our Christmas photo. Prior to leaving the house, I told all of my swimmers that they were not to go in the water. Upon arriving at the beach, I reiterated my instructions.

As usual, Patrick's desire to wade through a rocky stream, outweighed his knowledge that he should listen to me. The first time that he decided to scale the rocks and water, he fell in waist deep, wetting his shoes and pants. Upon emerging from the water, he removed his socks and shoes. The second time, he fell in waist deep again. The third time, Patrick soaked himself from head to toes and I decided that it was time to head home.

As the children buckled themselves in their seats, I told my crying son, "Patrick, you know Catherine also wanted to walk through the stream, but she has learned that it is important to listen to me. I don't tell you not to do things in order to be mean. I tell you not to do them because I know what the consequences will be."

Without missing a beat, Patrick responded, "If I listened to you, our family would be boring." 

My dear boy, you've always known how to keep life interesting. I love you!