Finally went to church

Image by Wonderlane via Flickr

The boys and I finally went to church yesterday. We found a nice little parish not far from here, and it was really good.

As soon as I opened the doors (we were 15 minutes late), and smelled the incense and heard the music, this feeling swept over me and I thought to myself, "Why did I stay away so long? This is where I belong."

The boys did fairly well, all things considered. They were a little bit better behaved than they use to be, but after awhile, we got right back to where we were at our old parish. Thankfully, they had a nice little playroom for kids and parents with a window to see liturgy. I liked that a lot, and one Matushka was in there as well with her 4 year old son. Seeing all those rowdy children, and even seeing Matushka running after her kids made me feel a whole lot better. At our old parish, mine were the only kids running around and behaving disruptively. They were also the youngest of all the kids, but at this church, there are kids of all ages and most of them are disruptive. That makes me feel a lot better.

We got there late, just before the epistle reading, and left early, right after communion. Slowly but surely we'll get to the point where the boys will stay for church school afterward and I can begin making friends during fellowship hour.

Christ is Risen!

A week late, I wanted to wish everyone a glorious Pascha!

Christ is Risen!

P.S. - if you're on facebook, you can send your friends icon greetings.  There's a resurrection icon that you can send around to wish everyone a wonderful Pascha.

*****************

In other news...

Still haven't gotten to church.  I know, it's terrible.  We actually missed all of Lent and Pascha. We're still living amongst boxes, my husband's work schedule is crazy coupled with the fact that we share a single vehicle at the moment, the kids have been sick, etc etc etc...

Plenty of wonderful excuses, right?

I guess I'll be going to confession as my first act back in church.

The sad thing is, the longer I'm away, the less motivation I have to go.  But I know I have to make myself do it tomorrow, if not for me, then for the boys.

Family Updates

Things have been truly crazy around here.

As you know, we recently moved to Las Vegas.  We're still in temporary housing, waiting for our house to become available.  However, despite the tight living quarters, we're doing very well.  We've gotten out to see some of the city; we went to Red Rock Canyon and hiked along the Children's Discovery Trail, which was great fun despite an injured knee.  All is grand!  Las Vegas may be the City of Sin, but we're definitely making the most of it.  I love the sunshine, warm weather, and occasional cool breezes, especially at night.  I love that I can take the boys to the playground almost everyday, even during the winter!  I missed sunshine while we were in Massachusetts, and I'm beginning to think I have Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder, because my mood is so much better here!

Shame on me, though.  We haven't attended church since we got here.  I'm terrible.  Sometimes it's because of my husband's strange work schedule, so I don't have a vehicle, and other times I let us sleep in and we just "didn't make it".  I know I must go soon, especially because it's Lent and I haven't participated at all.  Shame shame shame on me...

The other reason I haven't gone is because I miss my old parish, and I worry about my kids' behavior.  I purchased a leash for my youngest, because he likes to run off and I have to chase him all through church.  One of our last Sundays at our church in MA, I caught up to him right before he reached the stairs.  At his rate of speed, he would've fallen all the way down, and probably would've broken something.  Yikes!  I guess I'm worried about feeling embarrassed about my boys' behavior.  They look older than they are, and people often expect more from them because of that.  My 3-year-old looks like he's 6, and my 2-year-old looks like he's 3.  So everywhere we go, I look like an incompetent mother with unruly children.  Others probably think they're both developmentally delayed, but I'm sure most people jump to the conclusion that I'm a bad mother when they see my 3-year-old in diapers, because they think he's 6.

I don't know what else to say...