melted smoosh

our Sunday rhythm follows a predictable pattern most weeks. Nick leaves the house first to play for 9 AM mass. I hustle the kids into the van so the older girls can get to catechism classes at a different church at 9:15, then we drive across town for 11 AM mass. at this stage in my parenting journey (with kids ages 11, 8, 3, and 21 months), I'm at a sweet spot where I can truly focus on the service for about half of it. a quarter of the time is spent completely dedicated to child-directed activities (doling out snacks, preventing toddlers from escaping the pew, reminding older children to participate, and sometimes taking a particularly fractious child out to the vestibule). and a quarter is spent mentally suspended between the two extremes, gauging when to let Victoria quietly chatter to herself as she reads one of her board books and when to intervene (for example, when the chatter escalates to screaming "NO! NO! NO!" if Elizabeth snatches her book away). Greta is happy...

as the years fly by, I find myself appreciating traditions all the more. pandemics and politics have made the world feel hostile and unpredictable; my own expectations for keeping a tidy house and staying in good shape are often torpedoed by the reality of life with four young kids; inflation and our day-to-day expenses (predominantly educating and caring for those four kids!) have shot up so that now, decades into our respective careers, our disposable income is less than it was when we first started working.  and yet, at Christmas time, all of those gripes and discontents fall by the wayside. I spend the day of Christmas Eve in the kitchen, playing vocal and instrumental CDs recorded years ago by my siblings to share with extended family in the days before Facebook, chopping vegetables and making Christmas cookies just as I did as a child. Christmas Eve dinner will always be clam chowder with rolls (as a kid, we always had Grands buttermilk biscuits; my kids now prefer crescent r...

three months later as I think back to December, my general memory is of chaos and the desperate effort to keep all the balls in the air (school, work, house upkeep, activities) ... and yet, looking back on my December camera roll, the vibe is so full of joy and sweet moments! while that doesn't negate the busy pace of the season, it just confirms for me again why I take these pictures and why I document them here. it reminds me of that classic analogy of looking at the underside of a tapestry. our first perception is the mess of tangled threads and knots without a discernible pattern; looking back, we see a beautiful picture emerge of abundance.  crumbs on the floor, potty accidents, sickness, and scheduling snafus notwithstanding, I am so grateful for this season of life where all of my ducklings are still under my roof!  1) Advent preparations. promptly on December 1, we took the Old Family Truckster out to a nearby tree sale that benefits a local high school marching band. ...