Snow and Holy Week

We had a crazy, spring snowstorm on Monday.  Tommy had fun playing in all the white stuff.  Hopefully this is the LAST sign of winter! 

Hard to believe that Miss Molly is now 7 months old! 

I've been trying to do a few special things with Tommy this week to celebrate Holy Week.  He was so surprised to see the statues covered in church on Sunday and hasn't stopped talking about it since.  He told me that he thinks the Easter bunny will be the one to uncover the statues on Easter and apparently he will leave eggs behind.  I think I have more explaining to do!  :)

I found this simple project on Pinterest.  Since Tommy loves anything involving the glue stick I know he would be into it. 

We also made a Holy Week book today.  I found coloring pages for all the events of this week (Palm Sunday, washing of the feet, agony in the garden, carrying the cross, etc.)  After Tommy colored them we glued them into a book and together wrote captions.  I think it has helped him understand a little of what we are celebrating this week.

My hubby's parents arrived today from Nebraska and we are looking forward to spending the week with them and celebrating Easter.  I'm hoping I can get to Confession tomorrow since I never made it all of Lent!  Where does the time go??

Praying that you all have a blessed Holy Week and Easter.

Pope Stuff

Wow.  It's hard to believe we have a new pope! 

Pope Francis

I'm so happy that I was home yesterday afternoon when the white smoke started billowing out of the Sistine Chapel chimney.  It was a long hour of waiting until the red curtain opened and we learned the identity of the new pontiff.


 Molly is saying, "Oooh! He's from Argentina!"

Thankfully both Tommy and Molly were awake and happy to be watching the coverage with me. Molly was content to chew on a toy, but I tried my best to explain to Tommy the significance of what was happening. He was truly fascinated by it all - he LOVES all things related to church - so I had a feeling he would enjoy it.

He loved the bells, smoke, curtains, crowds, flags, etc. It reminded me that these tangible signs and symbols exist for a reason - and not just for children. Our faith is a very physical faith that stimulates our senses: water, wine, bread, oil, incense, standing, sitting, kneeling, crossing ourselves, etc.  They are meant to help us grapple with the intangible realities of God and our faith.

I just love witnessing these major moments in history, especially Church history.  I was filled with so much excitement and emotion.  It overwhelms me to see the faces of the faithful people gathered in St. Peter's Square.  These moments remind me just how universal our faith is.  I love that you can travel almost anywhere on the globe and attend Mass.  And even if you don't speak the language, you know exactly what is going on. 

I feel privileged to have traveled and prayed in some of the most beautiful holy sites around the world.  Words can't describe the feeling of praying the Rosary in French at the grotto of Lourdes or chanting the Mass in Latin at St. Peter's with the Holy Father on Easter Sunday. 

These moments grow and strengthen my faith and I am grateful for those gifts.  Especially now that I'm in a place in my life where my faith feels a bit dry and dusty.  I cling to those experiences as I figure out new ways to pray while raising two little ones. 

I love our faith and feel so blessed to live in a time when we have had great leaders.  For people my age and generation, the only Pope we knew for most of our lives was John Paul II - and obviously he is on his way to sainthood!  For me, he is what a Pope should be and he has set the standard very high. 

My high school choir traveled to Europe and sang for a Papal audience in 1997.  At the end he came close give us a blessing and pose for a few pictures.  He probably only stood with us for about one or two minutes, but I reached out my hand from the second row to touch him.  I'm not sure what came over me - but forever I will claim that I have touched a saint. 

(I highlighted my face in case you couldn't tell which one is me...  this was many years ago.)

Looks like Blessed John Paul II is giving me a high five. 

I couldn't resist grabbing his hand.  Apparently I didn't get in trouble with security.

Of course I had no idea at the time that I would later get my Masters Degree from the Pope John Paul II Institute or that he would be such a huge inspiration to me.

I was blessed to have two encounters with Pope Benedict XVI - although nothing so close as touching him. In 2008 Pope Benedict said Mass here in Washington,  DC and I was lucky enough to sing in the Papal Choir.  As you can see it was a very large choir, and the Mass was held at the new baseball stadium.

Can you find me??  :)

Processing into Mass - he literally entered from the dugout. 

Touring the stadium in the Popemobile before Mass began.

And lastly, in 2010 my husband and I made a wonderful pilgrimage to Lourdes and Rome.  We were blessed to celebrate Holy Week with Pope Benedict at St. Peter's and it was specatular, to say the least. 

Inside St Peter's for the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday

This was our view during Mass. Can you see the Pope on the altar?

During the Good Friday service.

Giving the Urbi et Orbi blessing on Easter Sunday.


Love this place.

Hmmm...  I guess it's time for me to start planning my encounter with our new Holy Father.  Thank you Lord for the gift of our faith and our beautiful Church.  

Sleep

I don't think that sleep ever stops being a hot topic when you have little ones!  We have been blessed with two good sleepers, for the most part.  But Tommy has been going through some changes as he becomes more of a "big boy" and he was up a lot last night.

First, a quick update on Molly - we decided to stop swaddling her and it's as if she barely even noticed.  Thank goodness!  I think she enjoys having a little time to "wind down" in her crib before falling asleep.  She talks to herself and rolls around a bit more.  Thanks to those who commented and emailed me - I always appreciate the tips/advice.  (Even though I'm awful about writing back.)

Ok, so about Tommy.  He has been a great sleeper and we've had a good routine for awhile now. But until yesterday, he had still been in his crib sleeping with binkys.  He has never tried to climb out of his crib and I was VERY happy to keep him in there as long as possible. Regarding the binkys, I've just been too lazy to try and break him of the habit.  They only stay in the crib, but I know that we are long past due getting rid of them. 

Lately he's been doing a lot of "big boy" things.  He has been obsessed with pooping on the potty.  He is so proud of himself and asks to poop on the potty all day long.  :)  It's so adorable - he does a dance and claps for himself and tells us repeatedly what he just did.  So my hubby and I spontaneously decided that we should go with this momentum and make the switch to a toddler bed. 

He loves getting out his tools and helping my hubby with projects. So we made a big deal about switching the bed and he was a big help. 

We talked a lot about the big boy bed and he had fun playing on it, rolling around, etc.  We told him that binkys are only for babies in cribs, so he would no longer have binkys.  I knew that it would be risky to have two transitions at once - new bed and no binkys - but I figured we may as well do it all at once since it needs to be done.  And I was hoping the explanation of new bed = no binkys might help. 

My friend had given me this idea a long time ago, so we told him we were taking the binkys to Build-a-Bear Workshop and that he would put the binkys inside a new bear he could sleep with.  I realized this would not be an easy fix, but I was hoping it would help him to actually see the binkys go away.

He had lots of fun picking out a new animal - he chose a puppy and named him Snoopy. 

The woman at the store said families come in all the time to get rid of binkys!  Tommy was the one to put them inside the puppy, filled him with stuffing and watched him get closed up.  We got an ice cream treat at the mall and tried to play up what a big day this was for him. 

Bedtime went ok.  He asked my hubby to open up the puppy to get his binkys out.  :)  But at least he only did that once.  He was up a few times, but after an hour or so he was asleep until about midnight.  Then everything gets fuzzy, because he was basically awake from then until 4am.  :( 

My hubby and I took turns going in there - calming him down, explaining that he needed to go to sleep, etc.  I finally decided that I would lay on the rug until he fell asleep and then go back to my bed.  It sorta worked the first time - but he woke up again and wanted me to stay on the rug.  Then, not surprisingly, he wanted to play. And talk.  He talked on and on about his day, his new bed, his new puppy, etc.  Crazy kid!

Finally I just left and went back to my bed - assuming he would cry - but not caring because I was so tired.  And he ended up sleeping until about 7am. 

We were all zombies this morning.  But I took him to a class at Little Gym and tried to keep him active.  When we came back it took awhile to get him to go down for his nap, but thankfully he is sleeping now.  He must be so exhausted! 

I'm praying that it will just take a few days to get used to all the changes.  My hubby and I are committed to being consistent about the rules with his new bed.  I did not want to set a precedent with me sleeping on his rug, and of course this morning he asked me to do it again during his nap.  But I told him that it was just for his first night.  I do think he was a bit scared last night.  He was talking about bad guys and pointing to the shadows on the wall/ceiling.  It must look pretty different to him.  It doesn't help that just a few days ago I rearranged the furniture to make room for his train table. 

Tonight I will be going to bed as soon as he and Molly are down for the night.  Any advice about what worked for your family is greatly appreciated!