Easter 2008

I am sad to say this year, I didn't attend an Easter Mass for the first time in my entire thirty-four year old life.

Darn Catholic guilt.

Yesterday, Max started getting sick. So I stayed home with the kids and Kyle sang in choir for the two and a half hour Vigil Mass. The Easter Vigil in my mind, is the most wonderful Mass celebrated in the entire church season. In addition to Max being ill, I also chose to stay home partly for selfish reasons--I find no joy in attending Mass right now. We have a sacramental minister priest who is currently assigned to our parish and he really, really enjoys preaching. So the homily is minimum twenty minutes long. I know it's a terrible reason to not find joy in attending Mass, the homily is such a small part of the entire celebration. But, in the past, there have been many a Sunday where I swear the message in the homily was being delivered to me and me alone. Sadly though, I can't remember any of the messages from any of the homilies he has delivered in the past year-plus he has been at our church. I get so distracted, irritated actually, that I can't focus then on the rest of the liturgy.

I did half-heartedly intend to go to another local parish's Sunday 6pm Youth Mass. But as I was online with a dear friend, I noticed the time was already seven past the hour. Shucks.

But, whether or not I went to Mass today, Easter is here...Jesus Christ has Risen Today--Alleluia!

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On a more secular note from Easter celebrations...

This morning, we got our Easter outfits on and headed over to my parents' house for the kids' egg hunt followed by Easter dinner. You can tell in the photo that Max was still feeling a bit punk. It was a laid back occasion. We were the last ones there and the first ones to leave this year, which is quite unusual. We are usually the ones who remain until supper. In addition to Max being sick, Kyle was dealing with a cold as well. I just wanted to get my family home.

This is a photo of all the local "Iverson" grandchildren:

From left to right: Max, Jack (13), Henry (4), Charlie (10), Millie (2-1/2), Nick (11), Cate. Missing: Miles (1-1/2) lives in Houston, TX. We look forward to seeing him this June.

Here's a cute Easter dinner table story. Max is truly coming along with word comprehension. And after each meal, we grab a wipe to clean hands and face. Today, Max got hold of a wipe and wouldn't let anyone help him. So I talked him through it:

"Can you wipe your mouth?" (Max pats his mouth)

"Can you wipe your nose?" (Max dabs his nose)

"Can you wipe your cheeks?" (Max reaches around to his bottom and wipes the butt of his pants)

Apparently, we didn't know that someone refers to his bottom as cheeks or butt-cheeks...

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I got another run in today to keep on task with my 5K training program. Today was a 44 minute run: 10 min walk, 10 min run, 1 min walk, 8 min run, 15 min walk. I started out at the parents' house and it took me 10 minutes to walk down to the lake. Sweet! Then I started my run (jog). I made it around the lake despite the slippery, uneven conditions, so I kept on running all the way home. I finished the 3.32 miles route in 41.29 minutes. I was so pleased!