Monday, April 28, 2014

Answer Me This

I know I am a little behind the times joining in for Kendra's Answer Me This, but I am going for it anyway!  :)

1. What did you and your family wear to Mass on Easter Sunday?


It is always my goal to get a picture of the whole family in their Easter finery, but that desire is counteracted by the goal of getting the children OUT of their Easter finery before they ruin their new clothes!  Here are the little ones before they got into the Easter candy:



(Well, at least one of them was looking for this one!  Also please ignore our dead/overgrown lawn!)

I am particularly pleased with the girls' matching outfits.  Daniel's current favorite color is pink, so the shirt and tie were his choice.  I had intended to cut his bushy hair before Easter, but I didn't get around to it until Easter Monday.  He now looks like a little shorn sheep!  :)


I wore a bridesmaid's dress from a friend's wedding -- bright green J. Crew with a white lace cami underneath and a white sweater (no picture, naturally) -- and Amos wore a white shirt and bright green tie.  We looked unusually sharp, if I do say so!  ;)




2. Easter Bunny: thumbs up or thumbs down?


After the idea of Saint Nicholas coming into our house and leaving things in his shoes so profoundly upset Daniel, we decided to pass on the Easter Bunny and such things!  Our family tradition is to have the children choose little gifts for each other for the Easter baskets (and stockings at Christmas).  This year Anastasia chose a little Lego set for Daniel and he chose crayons and a new pad of drawing paper for her.  I made a little date out of taking each child alone to shop, and they enjoyed seeing how much their sibling liked the gifts they chose!



(A boy and his Legos!)

3. Do you prefer to celebrate holidays at your own house or at someone else's house?


Humm... Bless you, it all depends!  If we are very close to the people we are visiting and they have small children it is nice to go to someone else's house for holidays.  Less frantic house cleaning that way!  But I also like to host because then I get to be in charge of the menu and the details! (I am a perfectionist and an oldest child -- I like to be in charge!) 



(Beatrix Potter coloring book courtesy of Auntie Duckie)


This year I really wanted to have Easter here because it is our first holiday in the new house.  We had one family that we are very close with (they are Anastasia's godparents and we are their son's godparents) and one of my grad school friends who is far from her family.  It was very low-key and relaxing, despite the fact that I was still rolling out pie crust as the guests arrived!  I made ham and roasted potatoes and salad and cheese cake and strawberry rhubarb pie, and E. brought fresh baked bread and green beans, and T. brought wine and a fancy appetizer, and we feasted and watched the children play (ok, watched them bounce off the walls because of the excess of sugar!) and talked poetry and had a grand time!


4. What is your favorite kind of candy?


Do you mean favorite Easter candy or favorite over-all candy?  Because for Easter (and only for Easter) I adore Spring Peeps.  Yes, the deformed, sugar coated marshmallow chicks.  I know they are gross.  I just can't help it!  


The rest of the year, it is a toss up between really dark chocolate (preferably with a glass of red wine) and Butterfingers.

5. Do you like video games?


Until quite recently I would have said no, but in the past year I started playing Sims Medieval and now Amos and I are playing Monkey Island together.  


Monkey Island is the best because in order to sword fight (you are a pirate, so sword fighting is very important) you need to know the fine art of insults.  For example, if someone were to tell you that you fight like a dairy farmer, your obvious response would be "How appropriate!  You fight like a cow!" Yes, I know, I know.  A 32 year old woman should not be as amused by this as I am.  I have no regrets!!!


6. Do you speak another language?


I can't speak another language, but I can read French and Latin, both of which I had to learn for my graduate program.  The French was not too difficult, since I had a fair bit in highschool, but I am pretty proud of my Latin skills.  I took Advanced Latin at the end of my pregnancy with Eleanor and took an exam on Augustine's Confessions a week before giving birth!  


Apart from my academic pursuits, it is useful to me to know Latin because our family goes to a Latin Mass parish and I love being able to translate the readings and Propers directly.  I have to be careful in choir though -- if I pay attention to the text as I sing, I slip into Classical pronunciation and my v's turn into w's!