Linus' First Communion

Yesterday Linus got to participate in the Catholic mass at a whole new level.  He has been looking forward to this moment all year long.  I mean, a suit, wine, not having to cross your arms, what's not to like?  I wasn't really sure how to celebrate.  It's not like a baptism where our child was the only one, or there was maybe one other kid.  Linus was one of many, and thus limited seating.  Do we invite everyone?  Do you just have a party?  What is the etiquette here?

I ended up sending an Evite, inviting all the family (assuming only a few would come) and the godparents and Catholic friends.  That seemed to work well.  The "party" got planned a few days before.   Dave and I decided on catering by Aunt Costco pizza, beer, sangria, lemonade, grapes, and veggies, and tuxedo cake.  Thank you Aunt Costco and your nephew Whole Foods (for the gluten-free vegan necessities).

Linus and I went shopping for his suit a few weeks ago.  I was stunned that he was so enthusiastic about it and more by the fact that he had a clear vision of what he was going to wear.  He felt pretty good in his suit, and needed to try it on multiple times in the days leading up to First Communion.

I almost cried when I saw him.  He saw the special First Communion pin I had bought and put on his gift and immediately wanted to wear it.

Robin is the only one of our children who likes to have his picture taken.  He regularly asks us. Robin could not handle a Linus only photo shoot and insisted upon being included.

This one is my favorite. He is so stinking cute.

The ceremony was lovely.  Fr. Brad gave a great homily.  The whole thing moved pretty quickly, even with pictures afterwards.  My principal noticed the amazing job I did tying Linus' tie and fixed it before Linus walked down the aisle.  It takes a village to get kids ready to consume Jesus.

Ready to go with the help of Mrs. Serres.

Despite the low key catering, I still managed to make things look festive and thanks to Etsy, had a personalized decoration in minutes that I displayed next to the desserts.

At one point, Robin came in sobbing and crying for the binky.  We located it and Robin disappeared.  After about 15 minutes I realized we hadn't seen Robin for a while.  I located him in his room.  I snapped a pic before turning off the lights.

 Linus was very gracious about his gifts.  I got him a Catholic children's bible and a leather bible cover with a quote from Joshua about being brave and courageous.  Linus had the same thought that I did that it looked like the book from Harry Potter that Hagrid assigns (the one that bites).  Sally's boyfriend Gino brought back a rose petal rosary from Argentina (native land of the pope) along with Argentinian money, chocolate, and a magnet of the pope.  Those might have been his favorite.  Everyone was so thoughtful.  His grandfather, Laurence, gave Linus a copy of the New Testament that he personally translated from the original Latin.

It was a beautiful day.  The company was lovely.  We are blessed to have such good friends and family to share these special moments with in our lives.  All the kids played perfectly.  I realized that we don't see some of our camp friends enough and need to fix that.

Happy First Communion Linus.