Lent and Easter 2013

Lent 2013 was really, really great for our family. We gave up TV, and although I wasn't sure we'd be able to last a second past Ash Wednesday, we made it the entire season. I don't know if Blaise understood the "why" behind it, but he definitely understood that we gave it up. One morning during our monthly Uncle John visit, Blaise showed John that the TV was in the closet and then lifted both of his hands up and said, "Lent!", meaning "We gave UP the TV for Lent." Pretty cute. 

We went to the Friday night soup suppers at our parish followed by Stations of the Cross almost every Friday. This has become a tradition that Aaron and I look forward to, and I think Blaise did, too, although he looked forward to it because he got to play basketball in the gym after supper. :)

On Holy Thursday, the idea to wash Blaise's feet came to me "randomly" during the day. I know it was a Holy Spirit moment. I got out a bowl, towel, and pitcher of warm water. I explained to him that Father Jack was going wash some people's feet that night at Mass just like Jesus did for his disciples. I think I washed his feet at least 6 times throughout the day. I asked him if he wanted to wash Dad's feet when he got home from work. Of course Blaise was game, so we set a chair right by the door, so we could wash Aaron's feet the instant he got home. Then, Blaise wanted his feet washed again, so Aaron took his turn. It's quite humbling to wash your child's feet.

If Blaise was to recap the Good Friday service, he would tell you that he got to kiss Jesus TWO times (and he would hold up his index fingers to show you TWO...a signature Blaise move). He went up to venerate the cross with me, and then I took him in the back to where Aaron held a sleeping Zélie. Aaron and I did a kid switch-a-roo, and Blaise went right back up to kiss the crucifix a second time.

We really tried to live out the "waiting" of Holy Saturday this year by not rushing our preparations for Easter Sunday. We spent a good amount of time dyeing Easter eggs. This was Blaise's first time dyeing them himself. He was fascinated by the whole process and took it very seriously.

I wrapped rubber bands around one egg, and Blaise decided to dye that egg orange. After I took the rubber bands off, he took one look at the egg and declared, "A ba-ball!" Here is the picture with his basketball egg:

Easter Sunday we woke up bright and early, so early that we had time to open our Easter packages from both grandparents BEFORE Mass. I think Blaise ate all his jellybeans in that single sitting.

Fasting is over! It's time to feast!

We celebrated Easter Mass at Sts. Peter at Paul. The music was heavenly; the toddler hyped-up on jellybeans...not so much. :)

In the package from Grandparents Beauclair was a kite, so after pancakes we went outside and tried it out. Please note the picture below: definition of pure joy.

That evening we had our friends, the Horn Family, over for Easter supper. They, too, are miles away from family, so we decided to celebrate together. After supper, the boys went on a little Easter egg hunt outside.

It was so fun to watch their strategies. Liam found all of his eggs first, and then investigated the contents. Blaise, on the other hand, opened each egg as he found them.