Weekends Are For Celebrating Fathers, Old And New

How was your weekend? Did you get to celebrate your father, your children's father or other fatherly role models in your life? I hope so.

Since time and brainpower seem to elude me so far this summer, I'm throwing out a little peek at our FATHER weekend. Essentially, we were surrounded by Fathers and that made for a very fulfilling and blessed weekend.

You see, Saturday was Ordination Day for a couple of really great guys in our diocese. One was ordained to the priesthood and two others ordained as transitional deacons. Thankfully, we've been blessed to get to know two of those guys over the past years as they've studied and discerned priesthood.

Besides being swarmed by many priestly Fathers that day, my own Father (and mom too) was with us in the crowd and we spent a good part of the day together. Fathers, Fathers, everywhere Fathers!

Saturday morning we loaded up the van and headed to the cathedral just over an hour away. We've done the ordination gig before and we're survivors. We just had to do it again and the kids were so into it that it makes it totally worth it.

Wanna know what else helps? One small snack bag per toddler, sitting in a pew with grandpa and grandma, sitting in just the right spot so the kids can see but also making escaping to the bathroom possible, and lastly, an inexpensive camera.

For real, the three year old was smitten with it most of Mass. Sure, I had a bazillion blurry photos and about as many of the backsides of the people in front of us, but she also did some selfies too.

Again, I'll point out this endeavor was also roughly two weeks into potty training mode. We're actually getting out without accidents and staying dry, so the ordination was kind of another monumental thing. Go US! 

After the Mass, our hearts were full, our bellies were nourished with lunch at the reception that followed and we received our family blessing from the newly ordained. 

Our newest father, Fr. Gabriel:

And yes, he is just as sweet, witty, fun-loving and amazing as he looks (psst...he was also home schooled for at least half of his school years). He's a keeper and we're blessed to have latched on gotten to know this young priest.

The second half of the weekend was spent still celebrating Father on Father's Day. 

Before we headed out to Fr. Gabriel's first Mass in the morning, there was just enough time for the toddlers to have a tea party picnic with dad.

Everyone indulged mommy with photos and some smiles.

Thankfully, this father didn't mind what our plans were just as long as our family was together. There wasn't any home cooked breakfast or elaborate dessert or putting up his feet, but he was still content. 

I know, he's also a keeper.

Once again, there were more blurry photos taken of church ceilings, stained glass windows and rear ends of unknowing strangers at Father's first Mass.

Among them all were a treasured few of the Father we came to rejoice with and celebrate his Yes to his vocation. This Marian vestment was a gift for him from his home parish, Mary of the Immaculate Conception church. It was beautiful and he'll offer many a Mass in it. I so wish he was assigned closer to us so that we had the chance to join him for those Masses....

Jonah got this one snapped with the Father all on his own. He was pretty excited and of course, kind hearted Fr. Gabriel was so generous to oblige. 

He asked for one more photo with our family along with his new vestment and he was the first to crouch down with the toddlers. We all followed the Father's lead and got down there with them. 

These are the weekends that bless the soul, we see the fruit of our prayers and witness a vibrant Church, a hopeful diocese. Being surrounded by good and holy men, Fathers of all sorts, who lead us both inside and out of the walls of a church structure. These Fathers are all of the ones that I want as support in my own vocation, but who foster a love and greater understanding for the Church for my family and children. I am grateful that we as parents get to share these faces of faith with our children. 

With the joy, so comes the sorrow. This week will be the last with our own current parish Father. 

Our journey this week will contain many 'lasts' with Father for our family, for our parish. Some Fathers have a lasting imprint they leave on your heart. Some are there only for a short while because in that time this Father is exactly who your family needed to minister to them. 

So many earthly Fathers we honor and are grateful for. So many we continue to pray for because they will always remain attached to a piece of our heart, our story.

The Most Randomly Put Together Post You'll Ever Read + Favorite Posts This Week

If you can follow this post at all, you will win an award. I have sat at the computer nearly a dozen times today (Thursday) to write this thing. Being that no full thought has ever come together yet, I'm going to be human and just throw it out there.

These are the days, my friends. THESE are the days.

Right now in this house we're doing normal things, summer things, survival things and chasing our tails things. I incorporated a new list of daily chores and another of 'you-live-in-this-house-don't-forget-you-need-to-contribute' things for the kids this week. They all seem easy to me, but then these are all daily tasks that I naturally pick up and just DO.

I'm not sitting around (see photo above...not me) soaking in the sun and enjoying the summer day. I am also not blissfully happy being pregnant and loving my chicks gathered around wandering around with nary a thing to do. Well, not the little girls. They rarely gather, but their path of destruction behind their every move is of epic proportions. They are like twins I'd guess or to which I liken them "more of a handful than five small boys."

Throw in the fact that we're in full blown potty training with the three year old and the last thing I've been up to is resting.

And, I've been complaining and miserably not myself at times.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised then when this prompt for the day popped up on Blessed Is She today:

I had plans for today. You know, the stuff that needs my attention and time. The things I need to do while I have the energy to do them.

But then I saw that prompt this morning.

It really should've been glued to my forehead or maybe tattooed to my arm.

When I find myself inspired by the words or insights of others, I better be prepared to be given plenty opportunity to heed them.

Like when I put this printable in the frame and set it on the kitchen windowsill as my summer reminder:

You get the point. A lot of times though others say it better than I, which leads me to the other point of this post. These were a couple of the goodies that popped up in my feed this week and kept me thinking:


Mothering Spirit: There Is Another Way


Surviving Our Blessings: The Mess Is The Thing


Martin Family Moments: Maggie With An e



Finally, a couple photos to close this out and wrap the scattered.


Somehow in the excitement of the early summer I neglected to share this ultrasound photo from two weeks ago. I've never had the 3D ultrasound availability with any of the other kids and I was so hoping they'd turn it on so I could see the baby in 3D. They did!

Mr. or Miss Smooshy Face at nearly 25 weeks:

Baby was being super uncooperative again (super low rider baby here) this time around, but at least they got the measurements and views they needed. I've got orders in for another ultrasound at 32 weeks since they want to check out the kidney to bladder measurements that weren't quite in the normal range. Usually these things resolve themselves.

I'll admit that every look at this little person reminds me of the outcome and blessing of all this. Pregnancy is not my thing and with so many extra changes (painful varicose veins in one leg and recently diagnosed hernia + let's not even discuss the chest measurements that are so not me), there's that part of me that forgets the generosity of God and that at one time five children would have been hard to imagine possible.

In case you want visible proof that we are surviving, occasionally we smile and we're doing our best, here you go. This was taken last Sunday at the 20th ordination anniversary party for our dear priest friend. A mom of many walked up as the kids were hanging around and I was just debating taking their photo. She came in like Super Mom and asked if we'd like her to take a family photo. Why, yes please. While these moments are rare, they do exist. Even if my weekdays feel overwhelming and scattered, I know that grace abounds and we make it through.

God's got this. He does.

Thankfully, even in spite of my cranky, complaining, human self.

Friday Photos

We're winding down our first official week of summer time here at our house. 

It was kind of a rough start for a number of reasons and too many random things going on. 

I'm looking toward next week to iron out some summer guidelines 

and perhaps more restful/peaceful days.

Some of us were quite ready for the official school calendar to close (see above). Teacher included.

In ways it does seem that the new year had begun not that long ago, but that was WAY back here. 

Here are the students and little helpers on the last day of school:

How do they grow up so much during the school year??

Next year we'll have a seventh grader, fifth grader, preschoolers x2, and a newborn. 

I'm gonna need more grace and patience. 

And coffee.

Happy Summer Days!