Holy Week and Easter!

The last two weeks were probably the two busiest weeks for me, particularly, due to it being Holy Week and then me getting sick right as Easter came around...which in turn made it a busy couple weeks for Jeff and Tay since Mom was out or down for the count...ah well.

Anyhow, here's the recap of probably my favorite Easter Vigil ever...and a busy day leading up to the whole event...and of course...Easter. 

Holy week began with Palm Sunday on March 28th, and we sang and received palms to take home.  We had Monday to rest, and then I had choir rehearsal on Tuesday for about two hours. 

Wednesday, the Easter bunny made its first visit to the Dragon Hill Lodge, so we decided to see how Tay would react this year, considering last year, she did not like him so much.  Beth brought her to post before the bunny's arrival at the Dragon, and we waited patiently in the cold rainy weather for the appearance.  Exactly like last year, the Easter Bunny arrived in a fire truck with sirens roaring, but Tay was a little less intimidated this year...although she still refused to go up and see him by herself at first...he was still the 7-foot giant white bunny...but she didn't cry or scream, thankfully.  Once the bunny made his way inside, we convinced her (with chocolates) to at least sit on his lap for a photo opportunity, at first with me by her side, and then she agreed to sit on his lap by herself (for another chocolate). 

Then, when he was up and walking around, we convinced her to go say hello to the bunny (because he would give her another chocolate)...so she did go up to him, only with me carrying her...and she received a couple chocolates from him.  After she got some chocolates, I asked her if she would now give the bunny a hug.  She turned and looked at him once more and then turned back to me and said, "No, Umma.  Too much bunny."  And that was that.  I couldn't help but chuckle because it was, indeed, too much bunny for a little girl...and no chocolates in the world could get her to hug that giant bunny...:)  Maybe next year...:)

Wednesday was also the Lenten Penitenial Service, and the choir, we thought, were just going to be singing one or two songs, but in fact, we ended up singing many songs as everyone who attended went through their individual confessions.  Phew...that was an exhausting night.  Thursday was the washing of the feet, and Jeff got his feet washed during the Mass.  As Tay watched Appa get his feet washed, she kept trying to kick her shoes off so she could get her feet washed, too!  She kept saying to me, "Me, too!  Me, too!  Me feet wash, too!" while I struggled to keep her quiet and held her back from running up to the front to dunk her feet in the water...

Friday, I attended the Stations of the Cross during lunchtime, and the Passion of the Lord was celebrated that evening, and the choir sang then as well...and then...Saturday was upon us.

Saturday was a busy busy day.  We woke up bright and early, grabbed a quick bite to eat at home, and we went to the morning Easter Egg hunt held on a huge soccer field run by CYSS.  The hunt for 0-2 year-olds started at 9am, so we got there right at 9 and she held my hand as we strolled onto that field with her Elmo Easter basket in hand to collect some eggs.  She was so excited!  This girl was on a MISSION.  She grabbed the eggs one by one and placed them in her basket without missing a step.  She was like a machine!  Every once in a while, she'd look up and run toward another cluster of eggs.  Once her basket started overflowing with eggs, she handed the basket to me to hold while she continued gathering eggs.  Never fear, she never took any eggs from any other children, nor did she keep any other children from getting any because there had to have been about a million eggs on that field...as you can see in the pictures.  It wasn't much of a "hunt" persay, but she still had a great time, so we were all happy.  She collected about three baskets full of eggs before her 20 minutes were up for the age group.  As her basket got full we went and dumped the eggs into their collection box and she got to get some candy for her efforts.  :) 

Then we stopped by Starbucks to warm up a bit before our 10am appointment at the church for a rehearsal for tonight's big event.  Tay and I shared a steamed milk with caramel flavoring (yum!) and she had a couple bites of Jeff's bran muffin. 

After that delicious warm-up, we made our way to Memorial Chapel for tonight's rehearsal.  The rehearsal was relatively quick and painless, and after that, we hurried over to the 11am egg hunt at the Elementary School.  Well, I can't say that one was very successful at all because the age groups seemed to be all combined (1-5?) so apprently the little ones didn't stand a chance against the older kids.  Since it was held on the playground, however, she still had a great time playing on the playground equipment and she also got to see her little friend Aiden, so she didn't seem to mind at all that she didn't find any eggs. 

After a bit more running around, we had a tasty lunch at the Dragon with the Cortezes, and with the hopes that the kids would go down for a good nap before tonight's loooooong evening Mass, we went home.  Well, that clearly didn't happen.  Instead, Tay put me down for a nap, and then put Appa down for a nap...but she never went down at all.  We suspected that might be a good thing since she was likely to fall asleep by 7 and just stay out for the rest of the evening...could we be so lucky? 

Well, as the time closed in on us, Tay hopped in the shower with me as I got ready, and we threw her in her monster pajamas and a diaper, in preparation for her to sleep through the Mass.  We got in the car at 7pm sharp and as soon as we hit the road, she was out like a light.  Jeff had a committment right at the beginning before Mass began, so I held my sleeping girl as the choir rehearsed one last time before the Vigil Mass.  When Jeff was ready, he came by to pick up Sleeping Beauty, and we continued to rehearse.  Around 7:45, Tay must have woken up because Jeff came back by where the choir was rehearsing and said Tay was looking for Mommy.  I held her once more as we finished up our rehearsal, and as Mass was about to begin, I tried handing her back off to Jeff, but she wanted to stay with me, so I threw her on my back with the carrier (Ergo) and moved on back through the darkness to the doors of the chapel where the congregation was gathered to begin the Mass.  As we stood there in the dark listening to the Word, Tay stayed still and silent, snuggled close to my back.  As we processed forward toward the Altar, we lit our candles from the Easter candle and sang quietly as we took our place in the choir.  At that point, I was getting a bit nervous because Tay had now been on my back for about 30 minutes already and she had not yet fallen back asleep, which was my hope...and usually, after 30 minutes in the sling, she starts getting fidgety and noisy...

Before moving up onto the choir area, I asked her once more if she would go to Appa now so I could go sing, but she insisted that she stays with me, so I told her she must be quiet as a mouse up there and she nodded understandingly.  I'm fairly certain the ladies around me in the choir were quite nervous themselves to see her strapped to my back, but they didn't say anything...::phew::  As the rest of the congregation moved into the pews, Tay thought it might be funny to lean over my shoulder and blow out my candle!  Well, it was kind of funny, so I just got it re-lit by a fellow choir member's candle, and then she blew it out again!  It's a little difficult handling a choir book, a candle, and a toddler on your back...what could I do?  Anyhow, the song ended, everyone was in the pews, and we blew out our candles and sat down in the dark to listen to the first reading.  Now, this is when I really felt nervous because I knew the reading would be long, and sitting down was not the most comfortable position for Tay to be on my back...so the likelihood of her saying something or fidgeting was high.  Well, about half way through the reading, I feel Tay starting to fidget a bit, and she whispers ever-so-quietly to me: 

"Umma, poo-poo, please." 

My heart started racing...usually, the first time she asked to go poo-poo was always polite and quiet, and the next times were never so nice...or quiet, so my mind was racing.  I couldn't just get up to take her to the potty right now because I was the first cantor to sing right after the end of the first reading.  I knew she had a diaper on so it would be okay for her to go ahead and go if she really needed to go, but would she just go in her diaper without putting up a fight first???  I turned my head and whispered to her calmly that we couldn't go to the potty right now because Mommy had to sing in a minute, but that I would take her as soon as she was finished singing.  Much to my relief, she responded with an equally quiet, "Neh, Umma.  I wait." and she remained still and quiet through the rest of the reading.  As soon as the reading was over, I stood up to go to the podium to cantor the first responsorial Psalm...with Tay on my back and the little one growing in my tummy...

As I stood up there and cantored through the entire five verses, Tay remained completely still and silent on my back, as if she knew that's what she had to do.  What a wonderful and blessed experience it was for me,  having my beautiful daughter on my back being an angel and also being pregnant at the same time with my second child, growing my my belly...cantoring those beautiful verses and the response of, "Lord, sent out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth."  All in the silent darkness of the Easter Vigil Mass...it couldn't have been more perfect...until...after I finished, I stepped off the podium, bowed, and headed straight for the bathroom, exhilerated.  As soon as I walked into the bathroom, I headed straight for the mirror and looked at Tay straight in the eyes and told her how PROUD of her I was and how much I wanted to thank her for being such a GOOD GIRL up there while Umma sang...and she got a HUGE smile on her face and she said, "Thank you, Umma."  :)  I let her down off my back, expecting to have to change her diaper, but instead, she had a completely dry diaper!  She had held it this entire time and she went like the big girl that she was in the potty!!!  AMAZING.  That girl...my sweet sweet Tay...she was my little Easter star...:) 

Of course, we also can't forget that this Easter was particularly special as well because Jeff was confirmed into the Catholic church and he received his First Communion as a Catholic that evening.  The Mass concluded around 10:30 that evening, and Tay stayed awake through the entire Mass.  Of course, after the bathroom break and the Rites of Initiation, she did go sit with Appa as I went back into the choir to sing.  We made a brief appearance at the reception after the Mass, where a few people came up to us and told us what a wonderful representation of an Easter Family we were by cantoring with Tay on my back and Jeff joining the church...what they didn't know was that it was not exactly how it was planned.  Either way, it was a beautiful gesture on their part to share such words with us.  :) 

Tay fell asleep on the drive home and slept the rest of the night til morning.  Easter Sunday, just my brother Han and I went to Mass and Jeff and Tay relaxed at home until breakfast brunch when they joined us at the Dragon.  We had scheduled brunch with the Cortezes and the Kims, so it was going to be a busy morning full of fun(ny) conversation and kids. 

I really wish we had our cameras there because the three little one were just so cute, but I'll just briefly describe here the scene.  As the adults finished their brunch meals, the three children - Tay (2), Aiden (almost 2), Audrey (17 mos) - ran around the dining area (only one other family was in the room) and played with a couple balloons and mostly just chased each other around.  Tay was happily fulfilling the "big sister" role around the other two kids, trying to help them up when they fell, and also trying to right any wrongs, like when Audrey dropped her balloon and Aiden picked it up, she went to Aiden and said, "No, Aiden.  Not yours," and then proceeded to take the balloon from him and gave it back to Audrey.  She has such a strong sense of "responsibility" or maybe it's "ownership" whether or not it's hers or anyone elses...and she always seems to feel she has to "protect" the littler ones...very cute.  And admirable at such a young age...

Well, after that wonderfully filling brunch, we had planned on hitting another Easter egg hunt that afternoon, but ended up napping through the event; our whole family ended up napping for about three hours that day...catch-up sleep.  :)  We just spent the rest of that beautiful Easter Sunday resting and thinking what a sweet life we share...and how blessed we are as a family...and how thankful we must be, especially at Easter when Christ died for us and rose again to give us eternal life...

Alleluia!  Happy Easter!