You guys. I did something silly. I got the dates mixed up for this feast day. Mixing up dates is one of my specialties. This time it was a happy accident, though, because it means I can share our celebration a little early. And Fr. Troy may get his cards sooner than four days late. Sending late cards is another one of my specialties.

Today we celebrated around lunch time. Coming soon is a series of posts on celebrations at different moments in a day. But not now. Now I’ll share what it looked like here at home.

Side note: I wish to share these posts for three purposes. 1. To give an example of what it might look like to put these plans into action. 2. As encouragement, because it rarely flows as plans (keep reading, you’ll see!). 3. As an opportunity for you to link up, comment, or post what it looks like in your home. It is not intended to be a pinterest-perfect day in the life. (Keep reading, you’ll see!)

After a stop at the shop to pick up groceries, Little Miss whipped up a batch of crepe batter from her cookbook Cooking Class. She asked me to record a video of her demonstrating a la cooking show, and if I can manage to be tech savvy enough today I’ll add it to the post. You’ll get more than you bargained for with that. The Bird was completely pants-less due to a diaper rash needing some ‘fresh air’, and he was yelling the whole time wanting to ‘help’. Little Miss had little patience for that. And I lost my balance a couple of times. It’s exciting footage. Truly.It was whipped up and refrigerated. And we were off to pick up JStar from soccer camp.

Once home we got to work. Seven is a great age. At seven, if careful, one can begin to use knives. And really help in the kitchen. Unlike the 2 year old “helps” by “washing dishes”. And the cabinets. And the floor. And his clothes. I set up Little Miss with a knife and some strawberries while I preheated the pan.

I don’t have a nonstick pan. But from watching enough Food Network in high school I caught on that as long as you heat your pan long enough and let the fat get good and hot (for butter it means when it stops bubbling) the food shouldn’t stick. And it worked with the crepes! The first 8 were fairly uneven, but still tasted great. And the last one I cooked came out even. I finally figured out the pour and swirl. Better late than never!As one came off onto a plate, the butter went in followed by the batter. As it cooked on one side for a minute the first crepe met it’s filling. By the time that was done it was time to flip the crepe in the pan and pour the next crepes batter in to the 1/4 measuring cup. After the second minute of cooking that crepe was ready to come off, and the process repeated 9 times.

Now. While I cooked the crepes I had Jstar, grouchy and tired from three hours in the Texas heat playing soccer, overly concerned about who was going to get which crepe and who was going to sit where for lunch. “Mom! Little Miss said she’s going to get the crepe I wanted not me….” You can hear it can’t you? And again with the chair. “Little Miss won’t let me sit in the chair next to The Bird…”

Team huddle. “Guys. We’re going to have a nice treat of a lunch in honor of St. John Vianney today. He gave up everything he had in order to get his parishioners to heaven. Do you think we can give up everything we have and want to be good to each other?”

They didn’t like the idea of nobody sitting in that seat, so they worked together to figure out a solution. One on either side of The Bird. Ingenious.

Lunch was enjoyed! We asked for the intercession of St. John Vianney at out meal blessing. (ie we prayed!) The crepes were devoured. While we ate I read aloud from the Loyola Kids page for St. John Vianney. They got a kick out of hearing how France built a whole railroad line to the tiny village (which I pointed out was smaller than our neighborhood population-wise).

Little Miss also began a booklet to send to our pastor. JStar said he’d work on his after quiet time. And I’ll sit down to write my own note next.

As for the coloring sheets, well, my printer is out of ink. So we skipped those for today.

It was hard to hear the angels singing through the din of the whining and complaining for this day. But, as always, there were rays of hope, sparks of joy and glimmers of understanding. Today’s celebration was simple. In all, it was joyful. And in spirit, it was faithful.
How did it go for you? Share your experience in the comments here, on Facebook or Instagram. #hdahsjv