Diego's first communion was truly special!

May was full of excitement for our family... Right after Isabel's birthday, we had to prepare for Diego's First Communion. Diego had actually been preparing for two years. He attended "first communion preparation classes" every Saturday morning. I thought it was overkill at first, but I am very glad he did it. Other than praying in bed at night, we had not spent much time at all educating him in the subject of religion. He knew about God, Mary and Jesus, but not in any detail and not much else. I got the wake up call when he was 5 years old and I guess they were talking about different religions in his class. We were in the car when he was telling me about his day and told me that he had a friend who was Budhist and I almost crashed the car when he asked me what religion we had. What???!!! Don't you know???!!!!
I realized that for me, it was so very obvious that we were Catholic, that I just expected Diego to know it instinctively. I told Patrick that night and we knew that some things had to change.
My religious beliefs are a huge part of who I am and we gave so much emphasis to teaching him his ABCs, making sure his Spanish and German were up to par, teaching him about sharing and limits, etc., that we forgot about religion. Shame on us, I know!
I totally went off subject... we were talking about his First Communion... We are now a family that speaks about God and how grateful we are on a regular basis. We go to mass on Sundays and it is precious to see how Diego gets it and all this will be part of who he is as well.
So, he was very ready for his big day and it turned out to be a wonderful day! My parents and my oldest sister came just for this occasion. The mass was very nice, and then the "reception" was held at a local restaurant where we, joined by good friends, had brunch.
We gave a "goodie bag" to each family present which consisted of a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine and a note that reads:

"Now that Diego has had his first Holy Communion, we pray to God to please remain with him now and always.
We pray that Diego will strengthen his faith through the years and that he will always know in his heart that whatever life may bring his way, God loves him and will be by his side.
We ask God to watch over our dear son and to lead him always on the right path.
We give thanks for all our many blessings and we thank you for sharing this very important and special occasion with us!"
Patrick and Paola

Children's Birthday Parties are a Rip-Off!

I haven't written in the longest time, but I've been angry about this since Isabel's birthday almost a month ago.
She insisted that she wanted to celebrate her birthday in "The Little Gym" and well, it seemed like a good idea because the house looks like a war zone and I don't think people would have enjoyed washing their hands in the kitchen since it is the only place where we currently have a sink. (That is a whole other topic).
It was a very nice party. Everyone had lots of fun, Isabel was thrilled and the photo ops were priceless. So, why am I complaining? When everything was said and done, we spent almost $500 on a party that lasted ONE HOUR AND 30 MINUTES!!! It is not that I am cheap and I don't want to spend in making my daughter's 5th birthday memorable. I just truly don't think it is a good price/value ratio. After the food and cake, the kids were playing, the adults were chatting and I was finally relaxed and having fun, when the "hostess" pretty much kicked us out. The nerve!!!
For the same money, we could have gone to Disneyland for a long weekend and really create some great memories. We could have thrown a even bigger party at home, invite more people and have it go way into the night.
Patrick and I have decided that from now on, we will make sure the kids know their birthday is very special, but we won't fall for the rush-rush commercial type cute little birthday party.
DISCLAIMER: I reserve the right to change my mind and let the status quo prevail if desperation takes over me (or if my children ask very nicely) ;).