Easter Tridduum 2018

Yesterday was Easter.  It was a beautiful Easter day. For our family, it was a "real" day with "real" moments and where I put a "real" post on my family photo sharing.  Sometimes on blogs you see all kinds of posts with neat ideas, great tips, knowledge worth sharing and other cool stuff.  Just like on social media, we sometimes forget that online posts do not always share the real stuff that happens outside of the positive stuff we see online, but everyone has those "real" moments where things do not go perfectly.  I am sure it is not typically intended that way, but just a result of sharing the positive and fun moments of our lives with others. 

But yesterday, the Miller family had a "real" Easter morning which I shared with our family.

"Well, this morning we were still trying to get food in the crockpot 2 minutes before leaving the house for church (including the browning meat, spices, sauces and veggies. Veggies did not make the cut before church), we forgot Lincoln's shoes (because he was refusing to get dressed and only made it to the car seat with a shirt and diaper on), Lincoln made it through the greeting at Mass before Scott had to take him out (and they never returned), after Mass Lincoln grabbed Adelyn's Squeeze-It drink she had brought from her Easter basket and it spilled all over his white church shirt, and on the way home people in the car had a hard time remembering to not say things that are not kind, necessary, and helpful...but the joy today helped us to laugh and I know we are so blessed.  Happy Easter to everyone.  Jesus is risen and we have life."  

It was a morning yesterday when one thing after another was frustrating and/or going wrong, but for some reason yesterday I was able to feel the joy of Easter and just laugh at all of this with Scott as we were driving home.  In fact one child accused me of laughing at them in this moment. 

I am not always able to see the positive.  Some moments I know that I should be excited or happy because of whatever the event, you know such as Christmas Eve, but sometimes that stress just takes me over and I am grumpy central.  Yesterday I was blessed and fortunate to be able to enjoy the day anyone and find all of these irritations funny in the end.  I had been thinking a lot about the preparation for Easter and in the story of Easter, Jesus, the gifts he gave us on Holy Thursday, all he went through and suffered following the Last Supper until death, his compassion, and his immense love for us.  I was also thinking of how joy filled the disciples must have felt on Easter discovering the truth. I think the little things we do in the house together as a family help me get into the spirit and mood just as the Christmas decorations, advent candles and calendar do in the season of advent (if only the holidays were not crazy days in December). I guess these things altogether reminded me that in the end, I have an amazing gift of family in my husband, children, and each of our families on each side, we have a great place to live, we have food on the table, Jesus rose from the dead and saved us all, and we have life.  I hope that all of these things continue to impact us in this way during future Easters, but also throughout other moments of the year.  

Here's to real life, imperfect humans, forgiveness, and life! God's joy and peace fill us all this Easter season! 

Holy Thursday celebration of the Last Supper (a day early because we had events out of our control in the afternoon on Thursday). 

Sampling the bread before the Holy Thursday meal. 

Waiting, waiting, waiting for everyone to get to the table so we can start!!

Finally! Eating!

Family service and doing what Jesus has done for us. Lincoln not knowing exactly what was going on, saw his sister getting her feet washed by Dad so he hurried over to join in the fun!

Adelyn enjoying the water and Lincoln patiently waiting. As patient as a 2 yr old gets.

Egg dyeing on Friday. Lincoln's first time to try this!

This is way too much fun! Look at my colorful hands!

Palm Sunday and Good Friday decor up. Baskets are ready! Forgot to photograph our stations of the cross in the backyard with the baskets collecting from each station. Decor ideas from our church parish and Pinterest of course!

Our scripture snack.  

Got this great idea from http://www.catholicicing.com/lenten-activities-for-children/

Happy Easter!  

Auditory Input Sensitivity Pros and Cons

Pairing auditory and visual input to calm Lincoln in the car

When our third child was born, I believed what people say about the third kid being a piece of cake and told myself that understanding the sleep milestones would set me up for even better success at teaching my child to sleep and that knowing so much more about sensory systems would help me set up an even better environment for his learning, play and comfort.

I still do think that the third time around, many many things are so much easier.  I was much less overwhelmed knowing about baby sleep and sensory systems as well as developmental milestones, diaper brands and sizes, pumping, when to start them on solids, how to identify acid reflux and food allergies, packing a diaper bag of some sort and so forth.  I was still in for a surprise when I realized in the hospital that our newborn son did not sleep the way I remembered my other two newborns who slept through anything.  In fact Adelyn, our second, was so incredibly hard to wake for feedings that we had every light in the room at full brightness, voices, music, and her down to the diaper.

Problem
Lincoln startled at the drop of a feather. Surely the next day he would sleep better.  Maybe it is just day one.  Was that how it was 5 1/2 years ago when Adelyn was born? As we continued throughout that day and the next I realized that it was not just day 1 and he did not stay asleep well either. Zachary didn't stay asleep well in the hospital either, but it was not due to sounds and startling like Lincoln.  When the nurse came in to do the hearing screening I said, "Oh he DEFINITELY hears." So the newborn sleep phase as I remember it, did not happen.  Lincoln went through the phase of staying asleep for long periods of time, but we were tiptoeing around him like we had a pack of sleeping wolves.

Sounds
He has grown used to many sounds in the environment we provide, especially our immediate family voices in a variety of emotions, but many sounds still startle or make him uncomfortable.  I know that most babies find the hair dryer and vaccuum distasteful so some of this is typical, but I find his sensitivity to be more extreme.  New discoveries of issues began to be uncovered about the time that he became 4 months old. He is not happy in a room of chattering mothers, especially when he is tired or hungry which makes moms meetings difficult to handle. One of the most recent discoveries is that Lincoln is not cool with other people expressing their emotion of laughter when something is funny if you are going to exceed his decibel level comfort.  In his opinion, if you are going to find something funny and laugh, you should probably retrain yourself or better yet stuff a sock in your cheek for the time being. It does not seem to be an issue for those of us he is used to being around.

I have determined to myself that Lincoln's auditory system is sensitive, but I believe it is due to having his defenses up against anyone or anything unfamiliar that could compromise his comfort or safety.  In other words, anxiety to the unknown. I think this because he has become used to the loud sounds that any of us in the immediate family make.  He watches our facial expressions when he hears the sounds and determines whether or not it is good or bad.  Zachary was not quite to the extreme that Lincoln is, but he also was a little sensitive and a little anxious as a baby.  It may just be something that Lincoln will grow out of.  Zac did and has overcome some anxiety with some assistance from us (he does still use headphones to mow the lawn like I do).

Pros
A pro to Lincoln being so aware of auditory input is that he is mesmerized when I sing to him.  During car rides of all lengths, especially the first 6 months, I spent a good deal of time singing to him. Sometimes it calmed him enough to get him to sleep.  But not always!!!! He finally, at 6 1/2 months learned to fall asleep in the car without assistance, praise the Lord!! Of course, there has been almost nothing consistent about his sleep except that for the first 5 months, he only stayed awake an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes between naps.  In the early months a Disney Lullaby Cd with arrangements by Fred Molin, worked at calming him in the car. For the most part, live, vocal singing by voices he recognizes has worked the best in calming him.

Car Ride Torture
The kids have joined in helping, especially on car rides.  On our Christmas trip, we spent about 45 minutes singing familiar tunes over and over to Lincoln during the first part of our journey.   Unfortunately, it seems that being strapped down to a seat in a moving object makes children angry and frustrated.  I thought we would never make it to my parents house in Houston and then my grandparents in Louisiana.  We had split the trip up in two days. I was absolutely DREADING the 7 hour trip getting home.  Scott took the train to meet us in Louisiana and as soon as I saw him, before "hello" and "how was your trip" I said, "I want to fly home when we leave next week.  Just me and Lincoln."  As it turned out, the 1 way ticket would be $600.  We were driving. Actually, we were riding. I sat next to Lincoln on the drive home. I patted the back of his car seat to lull him to sleep when it was time to sleep.

Paring Sound and Visuals
By the last couple of hours of the journey toys were not enough to keep him happy, nor were books and my beloved singing trick. Finally, I picked up a book which contained a song as lyrics and sang it to him while I showed the pictures.  He was enthralled.  Thank the Lord. I was spared. Why in the world had I not pieced this together? I mean after all that time studying sensory integration for music therapy?? Hello!! So this is how we made it home the last two hours.

Today, at 7 months, he likes exploring toys a lot. He likes exploring books a lot.  He loves family members singing to him!  But his favorite is someone singing lyrics to pictures in books.

Sometimes it does seem like the road never ends.  Each day though, we grow wiser as parents.  We learn a little each day.  And sometimes we figure out solutions! Temporary and permanent! And our babies grow.  They develop.  Old phases pass and new ones come up.  My hope for others is to know that comfort can be found.  Comfort and peace to all as we live, love, laugh, struggle and resolve.

There is a cross, but there is also resurrection.  Happy Easter 2016.

Children's Stations of the Cross

As we continued our Tridduum celebration this year I considered going to our church's live stations of the cross put on by our Lifeteen youth program.    I had gone last year and enjoyed it but I knew that it may still be over Zachary's head and definitely Adelyn's.  I wanted to have them participate somehow but still keep it developmentally appropriate.  


I tried to think Montessori and how kids learn the best. They would be most interested through hands on and play of course. Growing up a lot of us remember not be interested in church because taking in all of that auditory information was over our heads as little pre-schoolers.  So the following is what I came up with.


Catholic Icing.com has a link to printable stations of the cross which the kids could color. I knew I wanted to do something with that but I also knew they would not want to color 14 pages of detailed pictures.  My in laws were in town thankfully and they helped watch the kids while I set up. 


I hung each of the pictures on the wall low to the ground in different areas of the house and put a number next to them. I planned to have them collect items to put in their baskets at each station which represented that particular station.  

1st Station Jesus was Condemned- I started outside in my memorial garden with the first station and put their Easter baskets there.  

2nd Station Jesus Carries the Cross- Two pieces of wood were here.  They had to carry this around the whole time. 

3rd Station Jesus Falls the 1st Time- 2 band aids were here.

4th Station Jesus Meets His Mother- A picture of Mary and a small statue were here.  We talked about Jesus and Mary comforting each other.

5th Station Simon Helps Jesus- A pair of gloves were here to symbolize hands helping.

6th Station Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus- Two towels were here.

7th Station Jesus Falls the 2nd Time- Band aids were here again.

8th Station Jesus Meets the Women- Items that women carry were here including a handkerchief, a necklace and a purse.

9th Station Jesus Falls the 3rd Time- A Large Bandage was here.

10th Station The Soldiers Take His Garments- I had two sweaters here.

11th Station Jesus is Put on the Cross- I put two large screws here because they are more blunt than nails. I did not put the stations picture from the series here. Instead I just printed the outline of a cross. I felt for Zachary he was not yet ready for what I guess I will call, "trauma" of Jesus being nailed to the cross. It was enough for him. He guessed right away what the station was by just seeing that.

12th Station Jesus dies on the cross. Two small crosses here. We discussed Mary and John standing beneath Him.

13th Station Jesus is taken down from the cross. I could not think of anything for this station except a clock for "His hour had come". 

14th Station Jesus is Placed in the Tomb- Two small rocks were here.

Zachary really liked finding the numbers.  It was like a game to him.  He commented that the wood was getting heavy which my in laws helped me to make a teachable moment.  He also did ask for more stations after we finished because he was enjoying himself so much. It worked out perfectly because my father n law said, "The 15th station is on Easter!". 

This worked out very well for my children being able to participate in the stations. I am hoping to continue this and also learn of more ideas from others out there. 

2012 Last Supper Reenactment

Since I enjoy participating in the Easter Tridduum I wanted to do something for my children so that they could also participate.  In the past I have bought a special loaf of bread and grape juice for a pretend reenactment of the Last Supper.  I would pull out the nice campaign glasses and nice plates.  We also washed each others feet in a nice bowl which I monitored very closely!! This year we invited our friends to join us.  Our great friends the Siebenalers hosted the event at their house.  We brought the bread and Becca provided the grape juice.  She had lovely dishes to use for the event and set up a foot washing station (not that nice dishes are required...that may not be at all what was used back then). We also found pictures and a developmentally appropriate story telling in one of the children's bibles.


The children thoroughly enjoyed washing each others feet although some of them did not want to have their own feet washed.  One of them was Zachary but he did love serving the other people their. We will have to work on allowing other to serve us :)


 Zachary and I attended our Holy Thursday Mass of the Last Supper which is one of my favorites.  The families from the reenactment also attended with us.  Being able to share both events with them really enhanced the night. We knew it would be long so we brought play and learn items with us.  We had crayons and printouts of the Last Supper, our miniature chalice and altar items for the kids to play with, books about Easter/Spring, a baby doll and washcloth to wash the babies feet, and a few more items.


We tried to present the idea as the importance of serving others and also allowing them to serve you too. And of course in our faith we stress the importance of being in communion with each other which we do by sharing meals at home and at Mass. Hopefully they will learn that over the years.


The day was very special to me and I hope it was for our friends as well. We are thankful to have great friends and family to celebrate special moments with. 

Lent Table

My mother-in-law gave us a packet of different church season activity ideas.  For advent we had a centered area for our nativity and advent wreath.  The kids both loved that and benefited from it and so I wanted to make one for lent too.  We were able to incorporate the lent color, purple with a piece of fabric from my sewing area.  We also used palm branches from previous Palm Sundays which we put in the vase in the back.  We got a lent calendar from Catholic icing to provide a visual for the kids.  Lent can feel like a very long time for the children so the calendar is very helpful in giving them a sense of time. The other paper you see is a quote I liked about improving yourself from Thoreau.  The seashell has the Out Father on it and the picture in the back has three children signing "I love you".  

When Easter come we will replace the palms with pretty flowers and replace the purple with white.  I think I like this table for myself as much as I do for the kids! 

Lent...a Time of Improvement

As a kid I usually gave up coke for lent. That was something my mother gave up so I gave it up too. I liked it a lot and it was a big offering for me.  Back then though I did not quite get the idea of "offering" and giving up something to improve myself.  


In college I started giving up dessert every year.  That was a tough lent each time.  I have a major sweet tooth.  I did not do the Sunday exception either so I went more than 40 days without it.  It was very good for my self control but as soon as lent was over I went back to eating lots and lots of dessert.  Now looking back with my 20/20 hindsight vision I think maybe setting myself to limits for my self change during lent my have led me to better habits all year long such as dessert only on weekends or only after dinner.  


There are many people who give something up or fast as a form of prayer to God which I think can be wonderful so long as you are taking care of yourself (what I consider a very important gift!) and remaining healthy.  If you are in this category hopefully you pick something that helps you improve yourself in some way to love yourself better and to become closer to God because of it.


My category this lent is choosing a behavior to change to improve myself and create a better habit for the rest of the year.  In moments of frustration we may say something or act in a way we regret.  I know I do this.  My goal is to respond with positive behavior instead of negative behavior during moments of frustration.  I'm focusing on stopping myself, taking a deep breath, and thinking about the most successful response would be for all involved.  If I am to be an example of Christ to my family then this is something I need to work towards.  


You do not have to be any type of religious to participate in lent.  To some people it can be a time to examine themselves and find an area of improvement, come up with an attainable goal (does not have to be huge.  Set yourself up for success), and execute the plan.  


What are you doing for lent? Please share your ideas.

Easter/New Life

March 29-April 2

• Stories- Palm Sunday, The Last Supper, The Resurrection, Bunny's First Easter, Spot's First Easter
• Crafts- Making a palm leaf out of fake palms, Coloring pictures, Chicks in Egg Carton
• Activities- Last Supper, Easter Egg Hunt, Easter Egg Dye, Egg Pocking, Easter Dinner, Easter Sunday Mass

Palm Sunday Leaf Gluing Craft

 

New Life Crafts

Holy Thursday, Feet Washing

Our Last Supper Table

Activities


Easter Egg Hunt



Egg Dying and pocking- rubber cement eggs

1. Paint eggs with rubber cement
2. Dye eggs regularly
3. Pull off rubber cement

Our Pretty Eggs





Zachary's Prize Egg


After Mass at home


Get more Lent and Easter ideas from http://catholicicing.com/