First off, if you think something terrible happened, you’ll be sadly disappointed by this blog post. 🙂
The following is a list of actual thoughts I had during this evening. (Totally Martha thoughts–be forewarned.:) We started with Fr. V blessing each room of our house, and then we had dinner.
“Do I fuss at the kids or laugh at them for fighting over who gets to hold Fr. V’s holy water?”
“Gabriel knows each of these prayers we are praying and he’s acting like he doesn’t know any of them! I mean, I need to be humble about this and he’s not even three and it shouldn’t really bother me but I was hoping deep down Fr. V would realize this evening that we’re really trying to educate our children in the faith from an early age and maybe he would say that we’re doing an OK job because a little affirmation right now would be so awesome.“
“Oh gosh, oh gosh! Michael’s leading him into the master bathroom for the bathroom blessing! Did I pick up my bra from earlier? Is my retainer still hanging out on the counter?!”
“Thank goodness I chose my always-delicious pot roast and homemade mashed potatoes combo for tonight. Pretty completely delicious if I do say so myself. Gosh I love feeding hungry boys.”
“Apparently neither of my kids feels like eating dinner or being pleasant at the dinner table. How do I handle this? Has it been ten minutes yet?”
“Does Fr. V even like cobbler? I hope he likes it and doesn’t just say he likes it because he feels obligated to eat it and he then has to choke it down!”
“And there’s Gabe’s second meltdown of the evening.”
“And there’s Faith’s second meltdown of the evening.”
“Did I already tell him she’s usually all smiles? Would I be lying if I said that, if I’m being honest here?”
“Should I just tell him Gabe hasn’t been feeling well?”
“Finally! Gabe and Faith are smiling and being cute together! Now Fr. V is seeing the real us. Darn it. OK God. I know he’s seen the “real” us all evening. Beautiful and humbling at the same time. As usual.”
“We just invited Fr. V to stay for family prayer before bedtime! Was this a good idea!? Please, Lord, let the kids make it through prayer without a meltdown…oh…and there Michael is coming to the rescue with brilliance. He gave Faith her Dora blanket and a paci and he found Gabe “his Princess” (the purple unicorn pillow pal). This should go well.”
“Now they decide to be cute and waive goodbye and say cute kid stuff and blow kisses. When he’s leaving. Better late than never I guess! Praise God for how quickly their cuteness makes me forget the not-cuteness. Hopefully priests forget quickly too.”
Later…
“Gabriel just woke up hysterical and is throwing up saucy pot roast chunks and phlegm all over me. I thought we just had the house blessed and Father Vincent prayed over each of us for perpetual good health and well being. Is this a bad sign!?”
Erin I have to tell you that Blake actually read your post before I did, and he was killing himself laughing next to me. When I asked what was funny, he read it to me. SO hilarious, especially because I've definitely had moments like these with my kids! Thanks for the laughs!
I just stumbled across your blog and I found this post so wonderful because I think you recorded every. single. detail. that would have been going on in my head! Hilarious. 😉
I forgot to mention that Fr. V is from the Philippines, and have mentioned in his homilies that he eats rice almost every day. Several times during dinner I felt like kicking myself for making rice to go with the roast (when I already had potatoes), especially since my rice was done (gasp!) in the microwave last minute and was kind of gummy…lol.
i love how this blog is from your thoughts point of view. so cute! and I would totally be having those exact thoughts through an evening like that. btw, you rock for inviting Fr V over for dinner. Way to be super Catholic!
very cute- and it is a great thing when priests (usually celibate, of course) are reminded of normal family life- the good and the bad!
Love you and hope he feels better!