ashes

I went off to the office, Scott went off to Fed Ex, the bigs went off to school and the littles went off to Miss Tammie's.  We spent about eight hours tolling through the day separately then all reunited at church tonight.  It was Ash Wednesday today and we were meeting at five o'clock mass.

I was a little early with the boys so we attempted to kill time in the church parking lot.  I say attempted because as you can imagine four little boys in a parking lot filled with over achieving eighty year old super Catholic blue hairs can be a bit of a challenge.

Finn had a potty training accident at some point during the day so I picked him up from Miss Tammie's in nothing but undies.  He also had a bite mark on the side of his face courtesy of his smaller very short tempered little brother.  He's quite a sight with his lingering fat lip and newly bruised cheek.  I'm still waiting for the DCF investigation to start. 

Tommy's jeans decided to fall apart today and the hem on each leg now had a three or four inch tail dragging on the ground.  He also decided to leave his socks on the school bus today (I didn't even bother to ask how this was possible). 

Gavin had eaten a piece of chocolate pie and had pie remnants smeared on his chin and the front seat and consequently into the seat of his pants. 

Peter needed a new diaper and managed to dump my water bottle on his shirt while I was tending to the others. 

So there I am trying to corral the boys and make each one of the, church ready with a senior church member on either side of my van watching and most likely taking notes.  Lacking any input from mothers of young boys our church has decided to decorate using lots and lots of little white rocks instead of the more practical mulch.  Little rocks that can be picked up by the handfuls are not a good match for little boys. 

I'm laughing now as I recall when a certain rambunctious nephew of mine threw a handful of these very same rocks into the air conditioning fan outside the church while mass was being held.  Gun shots rang out, or so it sounded, as the rocks bounced off the whizzing fan blades.  Quite noticeable to the parishioners inside and even more noticable to his extremely embarrassed mother.  Whoops. 

Anyway, back to trying to keep my own boys under control in the church parking lot under the watchful eye of fifty of my closest critics who all raised perfect little boys that never threw rocks or peed in public. 

Stones were thrown, van doors were slammed, a certain small boy relieved himself on some of the landscaping, a statue was molested and mocked, and I was once again reminded how painful it is to be the center of attention when your children are super unpredictable. 

I stalled as long as possible prior to going into the church.  The boys were anxious to go in and I was seeing seats fill up fast but was still waiting for Scott's to meet me.  There was no way I was going in alone.  To occupy the boys I allowed them to be the official door holders.  Tommy held the left door and Gavin held the right.  How cute, what was less attractive though were the littles.  Finn questioned every one's sex as they entered.  "You a girl?"  "You a boy?" and so on.  This failed to amuse a few church goers.  Peter was the icing on the cake when he pulled on every purse that swung by at eye level.  I assure you few things make old ladies more nervous that people tugging on their purses.  After I pried Petey's hand off his sixth purse I finnally saw it, my beacon of hope, Scott was walking across the parking lot.  Thank GOD, literally. 

I was excited to see him but more excited to have another person on my team.  The boys leapt into his arms cutting in front of numerous people to get to their favorite person while screaming Daddy Daddy Daddy.  I was finally able to breath.  Hopefully we could gain control but worst case scenario at least I would have someone to go down in flames with if things continued spiraling out of control.

After some hugs and kisses, we lined up to enter the church and find a pew.  Our family now takes up half of a pew.  Is it wrong to fantasize about having a family so large we would take up an entire pew?  Yeah, it's probably pretty dangerous to flirt with these ideas.  But speaking of pews, I'm particular about mine.  We need to find a seat with a good exit plan, minimal crabby ladies and located near the back.  We were lucky enough to find one available. 

We got comfortable and made it through the first five minutes before Scott had to take out a group of evacuees.  I stayed in the pew with the moderately behaved ones.  I was excited to have the boys take part in the ash ceremony.  They weren't as enthusiastic as I hoped, but they marched up one by one to have their turn. 

"Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return," Father reminded us as he smudged out foreheads. 

Finn was the only one who had issues with the ashes on his forehead.  He was quite vocal about it and let the entire congregation know this.  Scott retreated again to the back of the church with a howling Finn in tow. 

Between prayers and kneeling and standing and kneeling again, I whispered to Gavin and Tommy that we would need to decide what we were giving up for Lent.  Gavin confined in me that he would be giving up water.   I quietly explained through hushed whispers why we shouldn't give up something good for us and how we should pick a bad habit to eliminate or add a GODLY task to each day. 

I was relieved but satisfied when mass ended.  I like that we are able to show the boys how important church is to us and hopefully pass that down to them.  It's not always the most convenient thing to do or the most fun or the most popular activity, but church is important and I want them to know this. 

Gavin said some extra prayers after communion tonight.  When I asked him what he was praying so long for he explained that he was asking forgiveness for having a chicken patty for lunch at school when we were supposed to abstain from meat today and he was also asking for forgiveness for telling his class about the beads for boobs Mardi Gras tradition.  Hmmmmmm... I wonder who fed him that tidbit of information, Thanks Scott. 

After mass tonight I reflected on the message behind the ashes.  We are GOD's creatures and are on a journey of conversion, conversion to becoming better children of GOD and better Christians.  Lent is the season of renewal for this time.  It's a time to get back on track, assess your past year and make improvements for the following season.  Maybe the new year for Catholics.  New resolutions and plans to become stronger in our relationship with GOD.  This Lenten season our house will have a little less beer, a little less swearing, a little less chocolate and a little less soda.  These are just some of the habits anonymous members of our family have committed to giving up for the next forty days and nights.  I will say my prayers tonight as they all sleep faithfully with their ashen smudges. 

Happy Ash Wednesday to all and to all a Good Night.