Right now…847 am. I am sitting at the table with the kids eating their special breakfast. In our house, special breakfast is cereal, as I seldom buy it. It is cool out side, about 35 degrees, if my weather widget it to be believed, sunny though, which makes all the difference.
This weekend…was crazy busy! We started out our weekend on Thursday by driving down the Titusville, Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center. My friend in Ohio had given us two tickets, leftover from a visit to Florida, so we headed down and just needed to purchase the ones for the two older kids. We spent a good part of the day there, looking around exploring things. We even got to walk through a small part of a Shuttle.
After our day on the Atlantic side of the state to visit Joshua’s aunt and uncle. Oh the fun we had! We arrived mid evening on Thursday and visited with them. We woke up the next morning and after breakfast, we headed off to the beach. We put the kids in their swim suits, knowing that they would probably get themselves wet, even though the water was cold! And wet they did! C tripped as a wave was coming up and was covered with water. Karol and Margaret did a better job, just getting their feet wet. They enjoyed playing in the sand and running around chasing birds. The sun was wonderful and the Gulf was calm, a wonderful day.
We headed back for naps, and after had dinner at the house of one of Joshua’s cousins. It was a good time! It was nice to meet more members of the family. Our kids played so well with the other kids, no fights!
On Saturday, we headed out for Mass at Christ the King Parish in Sarasota. They are staffed by FSSP priests and Mass was in the Extraordinary Form. My usually well behaved children were awful at Mass that day. I suspect it is because Mass is so quiet, they don’t realize it has started and because it is not a Form we go to often, they have a hard time following. Add in the fact that they are under five, not a recipe for success. We sat next to a saint of a man. Benedict spit his pacifier out and it landed near this man’s feet. He nicely used his booklet to scoot it close to pick it up, then picked it up by the side, so as not to touch much of it. I figured the daggers would start after that, and guess, what none! After Mass, he complimented the children. Oh, and Caecilia had to be taken out three times and Joshua left with Benedict after Communion.
We headed back to Aunt Donna’s and Uncle Dave’s house for a nice breakfast and they had gifts for us! What kind thoughtful people. After breakfast, Aunt Donna took us to another cousin’s house. We visited there for quite a while also, with two of Joshua’s cousins, Jessica and Mary along with Jessica’s husband and their children. Let me just say, that for as much as Margaret looks like my mom’s side of the family, we saw her future self on Sunday. We had seen pictures of Mary as a child around her parent’s house and Margaret looks very much like her and we could totally see Margaret in the future looking like Mary.
As we were leaving, Micheal, Jessica’s husband, was telling Joshua about a Flea Market that also had a produce area and it was on our way out of town, so we headed that way. We found some cute lizard cutouts to hang on the wall in the kids’ room then picked up some fresh strawberries and some other produce.
Our ride home was uneventful. We stopped for dinner at a Cracker Barrel in Tampa and the waitress complimented our family about a dozen times, about how well the kids behaved. It makes me wonder if other kids are total hellions or what! I mean, we have to constantly tell Karol to get back on his chair, we have to keep Caecilia throwing things and well, Margaret, if you give her crayons and paper, she is just fine!
I was again thwarted in my quest for Starbucks on the road. Seriously, Starbucks, why no love for the drivers along I75 from North Tampa to Valdosta, Georgia?
Some plans for the week…Though the Catholic Church in the United States celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany yesterday, we will also Celebrate it when the Pope celebrates it, on Thursday with our gift exchange. Also, today is Karol’s Fifth Birthday!!!! We are going to have a chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting. I will incorporate crushed candy canes in to the frosting too, yum! Karol wants a face or a snow man or his name on the cake. This coming weekend, we are going to meet the Borja family from Thomasville. They are friends of a friend and we have been “friends” with them on Facebook for a while, so I am looking forward to meeting them in real life! :
If I can find time for myself, I want to…read a book!
Some prayer intentions for the week: My sister and her family, that her husband find a job in SC so they can all be together again!
Something that makes me smile: My five year old boy, trying to play games like his Papa!
I love your monday Musings. =)