First Communion

Riley

First Communion class. Celebrating with cousins.

Ed and Joanne with Grandchildren. Riley with Godparents.

All done!

Riley made his First Communion today! He was a little nervous, but after a three hour warm-up yesterday I think he was glad for the real thing. The Church did a drawing to determine which family sat in each pew, and we lucked out and were seated three rows behind the children. I managed to hold back my tears numerous times as the Mass went on.

Riley was the second child to enter the church, and he held his candle as far in front of him as he possibly could while slowly making his way down the aisle. Once he got near the front of the Church he started zig-zagging a little as he began scanning the pews for his family. Once he saw us he smiled and made his way up to take his seat. As he later told us, "I had the best seat of all!" (Was this because he was in the very front middle, closest to the Priest? No.) "I was right next to all of the candles!"

He did a great job of sitting still and only had to receive a couple of prompts from the diligent girl that sat beside him. She had to remind him to kneel once, and then had to viciously shake his arm to get him to let go of her hand after the "Our Father." He often turned around to wave or wink at us or his extended family, and only appeared nervous when it was time for him to actually receive the Eucharist.

He was about the eighth (out of 32) to go up and take his communion. They paused in front of their pew as the child before them went, and Riley held his pause a little longer than most. Finally, he approached Father, but stopped about two feet away from him. Father finally encouraged him to come a little closer, and Riley took the communion wafer. Then he paused again, thought about it, and made a dramatic exaggerated sign of the cross before he went back to his seat.

More confident after having survived the Eucharist, Riley bravely went up again as they offered the wine. I was so proud that Riley simply swallowed it and made his way back to his seat without the "Yuck!" grimace that so many of the other children had made. He told us later that the drink didn't taste as good as it did in practice (it was wine this time, not juice,) and mentioned that he would be passing on receiving it in the future. "Besides, that's a good way to get germs," he explained. Good thing it's optional, I guess!

Toward the end of the Mass, after being preoccupied by his cousins, his aunt and his Papa, Corey made his way down the pew to me. Suddenly he realized Riley was missing, and a little whining ensued. I pointed out where Riley was and Corey said a little too loudly, "Riley, you're supposed to be with US in Church." A little explaining and a few distractive measures later, Corey calmed down and found something else to concern himself with.

After Mass we took some family pictures and had some cake and fruit in the Church Hall. Shannon made sure to ruin his fresh white shirt by smooshing raspberries all over the front of it, but now we know he doesn't really like raspberries! Corey, however, ate an entire piece of cake, so I think he is finally on the mend.

While snacking, one of Riley's CCD teachers pointed to an extremely large paper chain that extended all the way across the hall and asked if Riley had told me about it. I replied that I knew all about the chain, completed throughout the school year, in which each link was an item the children in his class were thankful for. The teacher then said, "Yes, but do you realize that Riley completed half of them by himself? He really is such a sweet, good natured kid!" I must say, I am very proud of my boy!

Mass Happenings

Today after church Riley had a meeting with the Priest for his upcoming First Communion (six more days!) so we had to go to St. Ann's. This is the parish where the boys attend CCD, but it is a large, somewhat impersonal parish and not my first choice for Sunday Mass. (It's amazing, when you don't live in the Lincoln diocese, you're allowed to attend any Catholic Church!)

So there we were at St. Ann's, the boys being angels for a change (Riley had his CCD workbook with him and he and Shannon studied it for quite a bit,) when all of the sudden Corey's ears perked up. "Mommy, why did they say my name?" What? "They just said, 'Corey to you, Lord!'" This continued throughout the mass, every time he heard the word glory he commented on it, (and it is often, try listening for it the next time you Catholics get the chance.)

It was soon time for us to take up the offertory (whenever we sit toward the back of the church we are asked to do this,) and we all got up to perform our task. As the usher was handing us the supplies, he came up one short. Shannon had returned to the pew to complete a Jesus word search and had no intention of helping us walk the offering up the aisle. I gave Ken the nod that said, "Just forget it," and Corey was handed the large basket of monetary offerings and we gingerly made our way down the aisle without Shannon and with Corey setting the pace. We added a good two extra minutes to the Mass, this following the big Annual Appeal that the Priest had made after the homily, and I don't think we won any friends at St. Ann's.

Once we rejoined Shannon, who was no longer blissfully unaware of our absence, he burst into tears and the meltdowns began. The remainder of the Mass was spent reminding the boys to stand, kneel or sit, and giving Corey multiple rundowns of how many minutes and songs were left before we could leave. And, of course, explaining to Corey that once again they were saying glory, not Corey.

---------------

By the way, the meeting with the Priest, which ensured Riley was properly prepared to receive his First Communion next week, went really well after a rough start. Once Riley got over his nervousness, he was able to answer most of the Priest's questions. I was a little worried, initially, when Father asked who created the heavens and earth and Riley simply could not come up with the answer. I admit it, I was blushing at this one. However, soon it all kicked in and Riley even gave 'one perfect answer' of which he was very proud (I know it's the body and blood of Christ because He told us so.) Riley knew of original sin, the trinity, the body and blood of Christ, the first sin, and all of the hard stuff, but for the life of him, he just couldn't remember who started it all. That's my boy.

Uneventful Day

Today was pretty uneventful. We went to Mass this morning and we were the family that took the offeratory up to the Priest. Although Riley was mad that he had to pay attention to the service and Shannon was mad that I made him sit away from Corey, everybody did a nice job pretending that we were one happy family as we paraded down the aisle. Riley carried a container of hosts, Shannon carried the collection basket, and Corey held my hand nicely. After we passed everything over, Corey just pointed at the exit sign nearby before following us back to our pew, as opposed to making a run for it during Mass.

A major enlightenment occured this morning that was so amazing! Who knew that Shannon would be so well behaved at church if you just completely infuriate him during the entrance song, (which just happened to be Amazing Grace?) He glared with his arms crossed for half the Mass and didn't say a peep! It was a little embarrasing the way he was pouting, but it was so much better than the giggling and semi-quiet taunting that usually occurs.

Ken worked really hard on the basement today, just a little left before he begins to tape and mud. The boys are loving it, they never want to leave the basement now that Dad's always down there! Last night Riley and Shannon slept in the new bedroom for the first time. They did really well although Corey was a little confused this morning when he woke up first and couldn't find his brothers!

Sunday, Sunday...

Just another Sunday. Ken took Riley to church this morning while I got myself and the other boys ready. When they got home we went on another stressful outing to Home Depot. Nothing like three boys in a race-car shopping cart and a narrow aisle full of people looking for a good deal on Behr paint! Only one kid was bleeding by the time we left (Shannon) so I guess I should view it as a successful trip.

NASCAR officially started today, so we're back to napping away the afternoon as we pretend to watch the race. Ken has an uncanny knack of waking up whenever there is a wreck or when there's 30 laps to go. Doesn't hear the phone or the kids, but he knows when the race needs attention. As we enjoyed our little slumber the kids had the run of the house and did only minor damage. Boogity, boogity, boogity... (and if you don't understand that, you don't watch NASCAR.)

Finally it was my turn to head to church for 7:00 pm service. Always my preferred service because it's too late to drag any kids along and because I get to enjoy a 'classic country' show on the local radio station on the ride home. I had to laugh, tonight they played "War is Hell on the Homefront Too," a song I remember singing along with as a child. When I was 7. I had no idea what that song was referring to. (Just so you know, it's about a teenager who is seduced by a lonely woman whose hubby is away at war.) My favorite blunder from that musical era is the song "Jose Quervo." I always thought Jose was a person who the singer liked to eat limes and salt with. It made sense to me!

Ken tried to hook Corey's birthday present up tonight, I'm hoping he figures it out by tomorrow night. We got him a functional soon-to-be hardwired two-way LED EXIT sign and he will hopefully just love it. Maybe it will break his addiction to signs? I'm hoping if he sees it everyday, when he points them out in public I can say "just like at home," and be done with it. I also saw a stand-up wet-floor sign at Home Depot today and almost got it. Ken said he thought the exit sign was enough, and we should get Corey an actual 'toy' for his birthday. Anybody who knows Corey knows the wet-floor sign is better than a toy. I'll have to go pick that up tomorrow regardless, because I really can't think of anything else to get the kid!

High winds and snow coming tonight. Should be a fun morning!