A Busy Week

There is snow on the ground and temperatures are getting colder, so we are finding ways to stay happy inside day after day. 

We made some new pieces for our alter...a purple set and a green set to match the vestments we have. 

Logan was at conference the first week in January, so we didn’t make it to Sunday Mass on time at our own parish. We went to “Max & Martyrs” as Elias refers to it, which cracks us all up because our good friend Max is indeed a parishioner there! Since I was solo (and Augustine was with G&G) we took The Brick Bible to keep the boys quiet during Mass. It’s a giant book and I feel slightly embarrassed to have it in Mass, but survival was necessary that day. 

The boys found the incensor sitting outside the sacristy after Mass and we’re enthralled. Thank goodness they didn’t touch it because I quickly realized they were blowing on the coals to watch them turn red. It was still quite hot. 

Father had a gold vestment on and Elias was very impressed. He thought it was very fancy. 

Elias: How you did get your vestment gold?

Father: That’s a sophisticated question for a boy your age!

Elias: How you did do it?

Father: God made it that way.

(Me: 🤔) 

We had a good schedule over Christmas break, and kept it up while Logan was gone. The boys earned screen time each morning and afternoon by doing three chores each. We got in such a good rhythm that by the second week they would say “what are my three things?” and get right to them. 

Logan loaded us up with library books and playaways. Elias loves the idea of playaways. He especially likes to plug in the “hearphones”. 

Elias is still dairy free, and he was thrilled that his “pretend cheese” company is making all sorts of new products. Cheesy noodles and cheese slices for grilled cheese are new favorites. 

Lewis made a cool bookstore during quiet time one day. He got a cash register with pretend money in it for Christmas so he’s been making all kinds of shops and restaurants. 

He also made a real smoothie for himself because I just didn’t have the energy to do it for him. He did a good job and the mess was surprisingly minimal. 

A few of the snowy days were really nice, so the big boys went out to play quite a bit. Elias went out a few times when Daddy could go too. Elias didn’t mind watching them build snow creations from his warm rocking chair. 

Another family cooked a meal with us and we took the Sisters’ dinner. The boys helped me deliver our half of the meal, and got some chapel time with Sr. Teresa Marie (Augustine’s teacher).

Guitar Lessons

Augustine came home excitedly from school one day with a piece of paper in his hand. On it was the hand written notes of Mary Had A Little Lamb.

“I want to play this!”

Excited that he had an interest in music I asked, “On what?”

He thought for a while and decided he wanted to play it on the guitar, so we borrowed cousin Thomas’ kid-size guitar and started lessons today!

We know lots of people who play, and Mrs. Butler was happy to give him a few lessons to see if he really enjoys it. She showed us how to tune the guitar. 

She taught him two chords and how to strum. Then she played those two chords to a song the kids sing all the time at school Mass. It was a brilliant teaching technique and a perfect amount to start with. 

She also had him do some written work to help him memorize the two chords he learned, as well as read guitar chords when written down. 

Augustine is doing really well and enjoys each lesson!

Playing

Elias read a book from the library about a boy’s first haircut. He got his first hair cut quite a while back, but Bibbity Bop Barbershop is quite the new favorite. Elias found Lewis’ shaving kit and now we all get our first haircut repeatedly. 

He doesn’t often get to play with small legos, but it’s serious thinking when he does. 

Play Mass with Elias is easy. He fiddles around with the stuff on his altar while I sing my favorite hymns out of the hymnal and receive communion (soup crackers) quite a few times.