Suzy Q Homemaker

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” ~ Epicurus

I downloaded a free app for my phone called Retro Camera and have been enjoying what it does. Tonight, while I was waiting for my pianist friend to show up for our rehearsal, I snapped a few shots of the organ. This was my favorite. Even though I don’t have a fancy-ass camera anymore, at least I have something that can capture that moment of sitting in a dark, quiet sanctuary. A sanctuary that is surrounded by stained glass windows over 100 years old. I feel peaceful here.

During Sunday morning warm-up, the adults in the choir were asked if there was anyone willing to serve as acolyte in the next few weeks.  There’s a shortage of acolyte-aged youth in our church, so the same kids (and grown-ups) rotate their services Sunday after Sunday.  I asked how old one’s child needs to be to serve and it turns out Corey is just the right age.  Corey nearly came out of his skin when I approached him about learning to be an acolyte.

“Hey Corey, how would you like to learn how to be an acolyte?”

“What’s an acolyte?”

“It’s when you carry the thing  down the aisle at the beginning of church and light all the candles.”

“YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!”

At this point, Corey was literally jumping up and down.  I had to calm him and tell him it wouldn’t be right then, cause he was about ready to run and get his cassock from the robe room.  Training would be Wednesday, I said, but I wanted to ask so I could let the person in charge know he wanted to do it.

For the record, I was not raised Methodist, so I honestly have no idea what goes into being an acolyte.  I am pretty sure Corey will be the one to teach me how to do it when I “practice” with him over the weekend.  I know you have to bow before the cross and light the candles in the correct order, but what those candles mean, I don’t know.

It’s a big responsibility, though, carrying a lit candle on a brass pole down the middle of a church.  I can hardly trust Corey not to knock over his drink at dinner every night, so I can’t even imagine how nervous I’m going to be for him.  Let’s just hope he doesn’t set anything other than the candles on fire.  I’d hate to have to spend Valentine’s Day with a bunch of firefighters.

Or would I?

I watched my sister’s twins yesterday! Woo! What fun!

No really, it was pretty cool. The older boys were good, except Aiden was a little over-excited and I had to keep telling him to stop climbing the couch. The babies were a little clingy, which was to be expected since it was their first time alone with me. Simon was a good napper, which really helped since I had to hold the other babies quite a bit.

But you know what I learned? Formula STINKS. Not the spit-up, but the actual formula in the bottle. Yea. I had to hold my breath the entire time I was feeding the babies. Blech. How the heck do babies drink that stuff?

Church last night was…exciting, to say the least. It was the “Fall Kick-off,” so we got there early so I could register Corey for the Wesely choir (he’d been asking about it ALL summer). For some reason, he’s afraid of robes, and refused to actually try on the cotta. We had to just hold it up to his back to make sure it’s the right length. I am not looking forward to getting him to wear it for an actual performance.

Shortly after that, it was dinner time, so I tied Simon to me and proceeded to chase the boys around. I seriously lost them after dinner. They were fine until Aiden was done, then he disappeared, then Corey disappeared. I thought they’d gone down to the nursery ahead of me, but they’d gone into another wing of the church where the kids were having their little class. One of the teachers brought them back to me. Then I very gently told Corey never to do that again and we went into the nursery so I could nurse Simon to sleep.

In the middle of rehearsal, the nursery called because Simon was crying, so I had to go console him. Once I got him back to sleep, I went back upstairs to finish rehearsing.

At the end of the night, we were all heading toward the door when the boys, like they usually do, stopped at the drinking fountain. Corey got his drink, then it was Aiden’s turn. Suddenly, he realized he had to go potty, but it was too late and he peed on the floor. The nursery worker hadn’t left yet, so she got some towels & wipes to help me clean up.

I knew that, if I didn’t bring a change of clothes, it would mean trouble. I must remember to keep a change of clothes at the church.