Compline

The phone camera photographer strikes again.

Am I Blue? Well, yes and no.

March 26th - Snowpacalypse



The tower sure looks like it's leaning even MORE from the snow!




Canon Stein preparing for his sermon entitled,
"Greed is bad. Give me all your money."




Welcome to the Arctic Tundra, Msgr. Wach!



MARCH 27th - Solemn High Mass



Sunday morning and the snow was awesome!



The procession into church.
"But where are all of those blue cassocks?" you ask.



Here they are!!!



Abbe Awesome Alex, Canon Stein, Msgr. Wach and Canon Huberfeld.



Before the Gospel.



Just before the consecration



Canon Wiener at the St. Joseph altar.



Communion.



Benediction



Msgr. Wach, entering the hall to applause.



Msgr. Wach's French is so good that Canon Huberfeld had to translate for us!



Canon Stein visiting with the faithful.
Don't mind the guy hiding in the back.



Canon Stein presenting his missionary work in Gabon, Africa.
The Institute's FIRST apostolate was in Gabon.

The day was just beautiful.

Tears of Joy

This morning I went to mass and was privileged to have FIVE masses (1 public, 4 private) occuring simultaneously before my very eyes!  I wanted to take photos with my main camera but it was so beautiful I didn't want to disturb anyone with the shutter noise.  So, I did what any resourceful photographer would do and took photos with my phone.

Oh, and, yes, of course I teared up.  I always do...


Public mass with Canon Stein.  Notice the blue cassock!
On the main altar is Msgr. Wach.  You can see him over to the left.



Just to my right:
Our Lady of Perpetual Help altar with Canon Avis.
A make-shift altar with Canon Talarico.

 

To my left:
The Infant of Prague altar with a priest I don't know.



Snowpacalypse!

Bienvenue a St. Louis, Msgr. Wach!

Snow on March 26th.
Of course.

Preparations, cleaning and Mickey's. Oh my!

 Life is happenin' over at my beloved church.  Let's take a peek, shall we?



Hey, Mrs. C, do you dream of blue cassocks?
Even when you're awake????

   

What's this doing here?

 

My "to-do"  list is so big it covers my face.

What a beautiful refectory!  I love it!

Now THAT'S a nice hallway!

If you put an altar in front of this mural you won't notice a thing.



Life with Boys

You might be raising your kids wrong when you hear:

Unnamed YOUNG Boy:  OK, I want to play pirate.  You go over there and pretend you've found the treasure and booty.  Not the shake, shake, shake kind, but jewels and stuff.

Gluten Free

One of my poor daughters has developed Celiac's Disease and has had to go gluten free (no wheat, barley or rye).  Her symptoms were many, the worst being the pain.  Luckily I have a pretend MD and diagnosed it.  The real MD confirmed it with fancy tests and procedures.  And that's why she makes the big bucks.

Think about all of the things you eat that have wheat in them - crackers, bagels, breads, pizza, soy sauce (yup!), cereal, Cheez It Mix...  The list is endless.  Then, think of the things that could have morsels of gluten in or on them - the toaster, the peanut butter jar, the utensil drawer!  Arghhh!

My good friend, Lady Modesty, attempted and succeeded in making an appetizing gluten-free bread for my dear daughter.  You can find her trials and tribulations (and success!) with making bread here: Gluten Free White Bread.

The worst part of all of this has been the fact that she could not receive communion until we came up with some sort of solution!  One of my amazing priests took it upon himself to solve this dilemma and for the first time in 2 months she received our Lord today.  My priest ordered low gluten hosts and they are kept separate for her.  She has to receive communion either first or last.  The word on the street, however, is that they have the consistency of a potato chip, taste a little like corn and take a long time to dissolve.

Life is always exciting around here, that's for sure.  I need to go wipe out my fork compartment now.

A Birthday to Remember

FIVE!

Sometimes parties can get out of hand.

Mystery guest #1

This birthday party was no exception.  There was pizza.  There were princess crowns. 

This guy crashed the party.

There was a cake.  And, it wasn't just any cake.  It was a CASTLE cake, complete with turrets.

 I think it's the 8th wonder of the world, thanks to Mr. G.

The best cake any of my kids has ever received.  Ever.

Here's a quiz:

Q: What do you get when you invite 3 traditional Catholic girls and their families to a princess party?

A: 25 kids and 13 various "adults" as you can see by the photos.





Mystery Guest #2

Sometimes 5 year olds get really great gifts that can be shared, or stolen, by their parents:

I'll take that, thank you.

 

Mystery Guest #3

And, of course, this photo montage would not be complete without the obligatory group shot.

Happy Birthday!  Can I have some castle cake?

Ash Wednesday

You've got a little somethin' on your forehead...

Today is the first day of Lent.  THE FIRST DAY.  39 to go.  This will be the 3rd year in a row that I will forego looking at news, blogs that make me agitated at times (stlouiscatholic), listening to the radio, etc.  I will be living under a rock basically.  Good times.

So? What do you do during Lent to suffer/become a better person/become more spiritual?  My son just asked if this was a joke.  I'm waiting for your punchline.

Squirrels aren't just to annoy us...

They're here to entertain, too!

Someone told me that this was his favorite photo, ever.

I thought I would post it for your personal enjoyment.

Lent begins tomorrow. Enjoy this idiocy while you can!

Yikes! Life with Girls!

Overheard at my house:

Wouldn't it be funny if you went on a date with MOI?

Wonderful sermon found at Saint Louis Catholic: Wrath

Please follow the link below for a sermon which I personally heard today.  My dear priest spoke of the deadly sin of wrath and did a wonderful job of putting the sin of anger and revenge in a light we don't often see.

Saint Louis Catholic: Wrath:

Nighttime vs. Daytime

I link to a few blogs over on the right.  I should add a few more and I'll get on that.  But, for now, let's look at 2 of them because I, Mother Crab, ended up sandwiched between the two.  Let me explain.

The Timman from St. Louis Catholic invited me, my super significant other, and someone who shall remain nameless, but I'll just call him Captain Awesome, to Arch Madness with him and his lovely wife.  The excitement of the evening was palpable as it was college basketball and some guy's knee moved to the outside of his leg.  I don't think it's supposed to do that.  But I digress.  I've decided the theme of the evening was beer.  And they were big.

Captain Awesome's beer

This may have been Captain Awesome's other beer.
It took 2 men to hold it, it was that big.

The following day I was invited to a lovely tea party where Natalie from Vin de Peche made all of the food.  I will tell you that the homemade scones, homemade wine jellies (from Mrs. H - she rocks), creme fraiche, warm mushroom salad (yum!), cookies, strawberries, lime custard, and tea were OUTSTANDING.  The theme of this outing wasn't beer.  Juxtapose, if you will, the photos and see for yourself.

No beer here.



If you close one eye, that glass in the back looks like it could be filled with beer.
But it's not.

 

Look at the attention to detail with the butter! 
Mrs. Mc. really outdid herself with her table setting.
That is not a pitcher of beer on the left.



Natalie's wonderful beer cookies, paired with beer strawberries and beer lime custard.
Outstanding.

Now, before Timman gets a complex, I want him to know that I really had a great time at the game.  Once I was there I realized that I really do not get out in the general public much.  My life has become somewhat  insulated and I attribute that to my agoraphobia, stage in life.  Little kids = Tired mom.  And, Timman's wife considered the basketball game a date so I know SHE doesn't get out much either.  Kindred spirits we are.

These good guys wear black!



We are all very serious at St. Francis de Sales.  VERRRRRY serious.

Serious about saving souls, that is!

Watch out!  It could happen to you, too!!!!



Hello, we're here to save your soul.