Two Weeks In.

Well...two weeks in to September and we're still standing.
I'm reclining, actually...but it's Sunday night...and even God got a day of rest.

School is going well.  Better than we had hoped for, actually.
Nate is working on some homework with Jim and the Olders have the day off tomorrow for Rosh Hashanah (L'Shana Tovah!), so we're just releaxing.
Other than having Children's Liturgy and Caroline having to altar serve yesterday, it has been a weekend of blessed White Space.  We've been resting and playing and cleaning out the basement (it's going to be finished off - yay!) and not doing much of anything else.

Mass last night was a hoot.
I think that's the word I'm looking for.
Here we were thinking that all the work of taking the kids to daily Mass this summer had improved their behavior.

Not so much.
 In the course of an hour last night (names have been withheld to protect the involved)....
- Someone catapulted himself off the altar into the front row after leaving the Chapel to prepare for CLOW.
-Someone attempted to pick their mother's nose with a rat tail comb.
-Someone dug up their nose to the second knuckle, extracting a gem of at least 2 carat size and then pronounced, "Hey!  I got a bugger!"
- Someone tried to climb up their mother, lifting up her shirt in the back.  Way up.  We'll leave it at that.
-Someone decided they didn't want to sit with their own family anymore and, in the midst of the Consecration, walked across the front of the altar to sit with another family.  Then that certain someone behaved like a little angel.  Ugh.
-Someone had to be reminded to get their hands out of their pockets and it wasn't appropriate to play "Jingle Balls" in church.  To which that certain someone replied, "But I like to...

And then...after all that...those someones all pulled a nutty this morning because they wanted to GO BACK TO MASS AGAIN TODAY.
Which, I guess, means we're doing something right...but good heavens...after getting these kids through Mass, I feel like I'm coming off a three day bender.  At least a day of recovery is required.

That being said, we were able to purchase a CD about St Elizabeth Ann Seton from HolyHeroes.com.  I thought the CD was a bit cheesy at first, but the kids love it.
Like really, really love it and ask to listen to it every chance they get.
Turns out we live very close to the Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton and today is the 40th anniversary of her canonization.
Since Jim and I had already established that we couldn't handle another Mass this weekend, let alone one that was going to be nationally televised, we  took the kids up to the grounds to do some exploring.  The Sisters of Charity were very welcoming and directed us.  We were amazed at how much the kids knew by listening to the CD and the questions that they asked.  It was wonderful to see them get excited learning about their faith and putting pieces together about things they had learned.  We found the graves of Annina, Rebecca, Henrietta and Cecilia.  We were able to learn some of the history of the area from the nuns that led us around the grounds.
We're going to have to go back.

That being said...
Herkimer is adjusting quite nicely.
It seems like she has been her forever already.
She has had her kitty hysterectomy and has already gained a pound.
She sleeps with a different child every night.
She is very trusting and snuggly and starting to act like a kitten.
She even caught a fly and ate it last week.
That gave her ROCK STAR status with the boys.
Sam said that he was spoken to in school for not paying attention last week.  I asked him what he was thinking about, he told me, "Mom, I was just remembering that I had a kitty like Herkimer at home and that made me so happy that I couldn't do my work."
How can I respond to that other than with a huge hug???  

She likes to rest on the tub.  Problem being she blends in and when I go to put on my running shoes in the morning, I almost sit on her!

Sammy just loves Herkimer. 

The Youngers and I went to explore Harpers Ferry last week.
We had a rollicking snail hunt and are looking forward to when the water recedes so we can go again.  Hooray for afternoon Pre-K!  Leaves time for morning adventures.  :)

"I promise I won't get my school shoes wet, Mama."  Yeah.  Right. 

Looking down the Shenandoah towards the Potomac.  It was a gorgeous day. 

Benjamin got hold of my camera.  Not too bad of a picture for a 3 year old. 

Nate was having a grand time scaring the minnows with his shadow.

Showing off his treasures. 

 AND Nate did well with the first day of school.
He is enjoying it.
So far.

Ready to go.  He was very afraid of being the biggest kid in his class. 

See?  Sometimes they DO get along!!!