May highlights, part 2 {May Crowning, Mother's Day, Spring House Farm, end of school}
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1) May Crowning. May has been known as a special month to honor Mary, the Mother of God, ever since the 1700s (I had to look this up!). both our church and our school had special May Crowning ceremonies where the children process into the church and lay flowers at the feet of Mary, and a specially selected child places a crown on Mary's head. before I joined the Catholic church, I thought such Marian devotions were idolatrous. the only figure we should be crowning is Jesus, I thought (and should we even have figures at all?). of course, any tradition has the potential to be misunderstood and divert focus away from the true intention of the practice, which is to honor Mary just as Jesus honored her. the act of worship is reserved for God, but the act of celebrating our universal spiritual mother is a welcome foil to the cultural denigration of women over the centuries.
all of the children in the church were invited to participate in the May crowning procession directly after catechism classes one Sunday, while the boys and girls who had just made their First Holy Communions led the way, dressed in their finery. Cece was so nervous attending class in her dress, thinking that she would be the only one and that she would "look weird". she was so relieved to see every single other one of her second-grade classmates equally decked out for class so they could quickly line up outside of the church before the procession!
the school May crowning was initially postponed due to a series of bad thunderstorms that knocked out power to multiple towns for several days, including part of the school building (thankfully our house was unaffected). the rescheduled date had special significance as the anniversary of the date the school was officially founded! all of the students and families were invited to attend. it was extra special for our family, as Cece was selected as the May Queen! she has such a sweet piety and felt so honored.
we love this school so much!
she really had to stretch to place the crown. she was so nervous it was going to topple right over the other side of Mary's head, but she did great!
and finally, a compilation of videos from the performance. I get teary-eyed every single time I hear the whole church full of children singing, and there is something especially poignant when they are singing Marian hymns. I also loved seeing the upper school boys reverently bearing the figure of Mary around the church. usually whenever I see these boys, they are flying down the basketball court or rough-housing on the school field. I love that our school encourages excellence in all realms: academic, athletic, and liturgical.
2) Mother's Day. we had beautiful weather for Mother's Day this year. after our usual Sunday morning flurry of activity (older girls to catechism class, then driving across town to mass), we went to lunch at our favourite Chinese buffet. Nick apologized for not taking us someplace fancier, but truthfully, with young children in tow, the Chinese buffet is the perfect restaurant. that afternoon, I betook myself to the backyard to sit in my zero gravity chair, with my library book and a Hefeweizen from a local North Carolina brewery that Kira brought up for me when she visited in April. after dinner, we went down to our beloved Antney's only to find it closed (appropriate, so the staff could all be home with their own mothers!) and so went across town to the Dairy Delite for the largest "single scoop" I have ever seen in my life! I am so blessed with my four girlies, and so grateful for my own mom and mother-in-law, as well as various women who I consider spiritual mothers.
and then, in true tween fashion, Greta created a little video montage of us together. now this is what I call a good use of screen time ;)
absolutely loved this book! the final twist at the end was so shocking and yet satisfying.
in my happy place
how this counts as "one" scoop I will never know. suffice it to say, she didn't finish it all
3) Spring House Farm. we've toured this farm with a friend's homeschool group several times. it's so much fun to see the cows through the kids' eyes. last year, Elizabeth was a bit shy and didn't want to bottle-feed the calf (which is the highlight of the whole trip for me). this year, both Elizabeth and Victoria were all in!
glamour shots with the patient cow who gets to be milked by lots of kids!
this girl loves drinking milk and was very intrigued by the milking process
waving to the newborn calves
the kids were allowed to feed hay to the cows. Victoria would pick up a handful and throw it at them
more glamour shots
the tour wraps up with a trip to the farm restaurant for a scoop of ice cream, made with farm-fresh milk!
Victoria always tips her spoon up over top of her nose with each bite. silly girl
4) end of school festivities. the athletic banquet was expanded to include JV athletes this year, with special recognition for the varsity students and especially the graduating 8th graders. I am so grateful for parents who come up with creative ideas and execute these special events for our students! in a different season hopefully I will be able to spearhead some of these endeavors; right now, I am happiest checking off things to donate on a Signup Genius. anyway, this year they provided all of the athletes with an embroidered patch with our school logo, and then they received special pins to commemorate their participation in each individual sport. the real trick will be not to lose track of the patch before next year's athletic banquet rolls around.
JV and varsity girls basketball
the last day of school was Friday, May 30. finishing fifth grade and second grade, and ready for summer!
first day and last day
5) bonus round. we had a fun playground meetup with friends. these kids are growing up like cousins and I love it!
this was their own idea and I was melting!!
some hilarious mementoes from the pen of Cece.
fortunately the ink really was just on her hands and not all over her bedroom carpet as I immediately feared
and we had a lovely date night out attending the wedding of a friend's brother! we had to scramble to find childcare for the day, and while we were able to get a sitter for the reception, I did leave Greta in charge of the kids for the wedding ceremony (the two littles were down for a nap/rest time so it was pretty easy). we just recently installed a landline phone for this very purpose, so I checked in with her before and after the ceremony and all went well. we are entering a new era here!!
with nicer weather, I got back into some stroller running with the babies. their reward for coming along on the run is a trip to a nearby playground!
this is also my happy place
Your turn: Do you have a favourite Mother's Day tradition? Have you ever milked a cow? How have you navigated the milestone of leaving kids home without a parent?
Never milked a cow but I want too! We wait until the kids are 13 to be left home alone, but we have mostly boys and I think girls could do it at younger ages, especially firstborn girls! Our 11 year old is a nervous kid so he may never feel comfortable being in charge, who knows? Your Mother's Day sounds perfect - eating out anywhere is always a nice gift!
I’ve milked a cow a few times and am always surprised at how leathery the teat feels - I guess it makes sense though!
Yes, I think it completely depends on the kid in terms of staying home alone — and also the context. I do want to sign Greta up for a Red Cross babysitting class this year for more official training!
Wow, both your big girls grew over the school year! We first left my oldest at home alone around 11 or 12? But not for long. The first long time was a full day- my 11and 12 yr old stayed home while I drove the rest of the kids to pick up their dad at a conference. We came home to only one singed dishcloth in the driveway. I was proud that they thought to put it outside after getting the fire out ( gas stove, dish towel too close). And now, they stay home alone on days off. Even the youngest ( who's 11 now- where did the time go?) can be by themselves. ( Exception is my 12 yr old with DS, but her big brothers are on the same school schedule, so it's ok. She always has family with her.) No mothers day tradition here. My husband usually buys me a plant for the yard or some kitchen utensils. Totally pragmatic! but it's a busy time for both of us with the end of the semester.
Oh my goodness, the dishcloth story is scary, but again, good thinking on the kids’ part and I think that is a huge component of being able to stay home alone — being able to react and use good judgment. We have some ground rules including not opening the front door, not playing on the trampoline, and not using the stove, that make me feel better about leaving them.
We don’t have any specific Mother’s Day traditions either, but I really like your plant idea. I may have to steal that for Father’s Day because Nick is actually the gardener in our house; I have a pitch black thumb!
I cannot get over the cursive writing and the INCREDIBLE spelling. I lose my mind over how poor one of my kids spelling is but it's not prioritized in schools here anymore. Moving on. Those flowers are GORGEOUS. And I loved, loved, loved The Secret Book of Flora Lea. One of my favourite books so far in 2025. I have milked a cow. Dairy farmers came to my childhood church growing up. I actually got to name a cow on their farm as well! We don't really do anything special for Mother's Day. I'm not a big flower/gift person for those sorts of events and, unfortunately, most years my husband seems to be away for work anyway!
Our school teaches cursive in second grade and I love it!! They do drill spelling too but Cece is just a natural speller and always has been (I am too — words just LOOK wrong to me unless they are spelled right, but on the flip side, I have some auditory processing difficulties where if someone spells out a name aloud, I often miss a letter and can’t “hold onto it” in my brain unless I see it written out).
Oh my goodness — you can’t leave me hanging about the cow! What did you name it?!
1) wedding! on the first weekend in June, Nick's cousin was married in an absolutely beautiful ceremony (he played the organ for the wedding, and then chauffeured some of the family to the reception in the station wagon). it's always so much fun to spend time with his family, and the reception venue was stunning -- held in the grand hall of the train station, which has since been converted into apartments and an event space.
this is a strong contender for the 2025 Christmas card the last day of school was Friday, May 30, and the very next day, we dropped off Greta and Cece with Nick's parents to drive down to Ocean City, MD, first thing Sunday morning, while Nick and I followed with the babies after Nick played for two morning masses. I've been to Ocean City once before, during the summer of 2020 when social distancing rules were still in effect -- most restaurants were open for takeout only, and those that were open for dine-in required patrons to wear masks while walking to their tables. it was fun to go back and have a more normal beach experience! many thanks to Nick's parents for generously inviting us to come along.
Easter was "late" this year, April 20, which has the added benefit of slightly warmer temperatures. it always seems incongruous to me when Easter falls at the end of March and all the pretty Easter dresses are covered up by coats and we might have to choose snow boots rather than sandals! this was the first year Elizabeth was allowed to be more involved with hands-on egg dyeing and she was so excited. I bought the "deluxe" PAAS kit with extra supplies to make glittery and foil-bedecked eggs and somehow, by the grace of God, did not end up with glitter all over the house. I don't know how this one was so blurry but you get the idea! Greta's pastel eggs Cece's jewel-toned eggs I debated once again about which Easter mass to attend. we have attended the evening vigil once before , but that involves a lot of faith and perhaps a dash of insanity to attempt solo with young kids. so we typically go Easter morning, but I asked the older girls about it and they...
Never milked a cow but I want too! We wait until the kids are 13 to be left home alone, but we have mostly boys and I think girls could do it at younger ages, especially firstborn girls! Our 11 year old is a nervous kid so he may never feel comfortable being in charge, who knows? Your Mother's Day sounds perfect - eating out anywhere is always a nice gift!
ReplyDeleteI’ve milked a cow a few times and am always surprised at how leathery the teat feels - I guess it makes sense though!
DeleteYes, I think it completely depends on the kid in terms of staying home alone — and also the context. I do want to sign Greta up for a Red Cross babysitting class this year for more official training!
Wow, both your big girls grew over the school year!
ReplyDeleteWe first left my oldest at home alone around 11 or 12? But not for long. The first long time was a full day- my 11and 12 yr old stayed home while I drove the rest of the kids to pick up their dad at a conference. We came home to only one singed dishcloth in the driveway. I was proud that they thought to put it outside after getting the fire out ( gas stove, dish towel too close). And now, they stay home alone on days off. Even the youngest ( who's 11 now- where did the time go?) can be by themselves. ( Exception is my 12 yr old with DS, but her big brothers are on the same school schedule, so it's ok. She always has family with her.)
No mothers day tradition here. My husband usually buys me a plant for the yard or some kitchen utensils. Totally pragmatic! but it's a busy time for both of us with the end of the semester.
Oh my goodness, the dishcloth story is scary, but again, good thinking on the kids’ part and I think that is a huge component of being able to stay home alone — being able to react and use good judgment. We have some ground rules including not opening the front door, not playing on the trampoline, and not using the stove, that make me feel better about leaving them.
DeleteWe don’t have any specific Mother’s Day traditions either, but I really like your plant idea. I may have to steal that for Father’s Day because Nick is actually the gardener in our house; I have a pitch black thumb!
I cannot get over the cursive writing and the INCREDIBLE spelling. I lose my mind over how poor one of my kids spelling is but it's not prioritized in schools here anymore.
ReplyDeleteMoving on. Those flowers are GORGEOUS.
And I loved, loved, loved The Secret Book of Flora Lea. One of my favourite books so far in 2025.
I have milked a cow. Dairy farmers came to my childhood church growing up. I actually got to name a cow on their farm as well!
We don't really do anything special for Mother's Day. I'm not a big flower/gift person for those sorts of events and, unfortunately, most years my husband seems to be away for work anyway!
Our school teaches cursive in second grade and I love it!! They do drill spelling too but Cece is just a natural speller and always has been (I am too — words just LOOK wrong to me unless they are spelled right, but on the flip side, I have some auditory processing difficulties where if someone spells out a name aloud, I often miss a letter and can’t “hold onto it” in my brain unless I see it written out).
DeleteOh my goodness — you can’t leave me hanging about the cow! What did you name it?!