Blessed Holy week to you.
Today is the day I start my prep work for the Triduum and general Easter celebrating. This means quite a bit of cleaning. I thought I’d share a bit of what we do.
Today I assess the wardrobe for the coming week. Kevin is serving Thursday night and the girls are all singing at that Mass. Then we all attend services on Good Friday and we are blessed to have Kevin serve the Easter Vigil as well as having Erin play, and Kelli and Bridgie sing. Sunday we rest and feast.
Kevin needs dress pants, collared shirts and shined shoes prepped and ready and the girls need dresses ironed and ready for those Masses. The Easter outfits are all set but today I make sure we are ready for the other Masses as well. We need a trip to the shoe store and I need to get the younger boys some pants. There has been a lot of growing going on here lately.
Today I will also deal with some bigger cleaning projects. All the slipcovers are being washed right now, and I take all the ornaments from the walls (sconces, hanging plates, that kind of thing) and wash them. Pictures all get taken down and dusted and the glass polished and book shelves get emptied, dusted and re-stocked.
There is nothing like early spring sunlight streaming in the windows to show up where you haven’t dusted in the last six months ;).
I’m also planning to clean out the fridge (which has been sadly neglected during my recent and endless bout with bronchitis) and scrub it all out. It’s gross in there and I want to get some simple meals prepped for the end of the week. I tend to keep to the three S’s this week, soup, salads and sandwiches. (Read about it here).
I also want to (after everyone is in bed) take a look at what I’ve purchased for the baskets and see what else I need. Jessica’s blog has great inspiration. Then I have to dig out the Easter baskets from the attic. It will be odd only filling six this year, Katie’s will have to wait until she gets home from Europe. Right now she’s spending spring break in Poland and Easter Mass at the Vatican is part of her plan, so there is no need to feel badly for HER. Just us because we miss her.
So that will work out to being a pretty full day and I’d best get to it, the dryer is beeping and the fridge won’t clean itself (is anyone working on a self cleaning fridge?).
I’d love to hear about your Holy Week plans in the comments or on the Facebook page!
Note: The photos, courtesy of the OLPH photographer, were taken of the solemn procession at the Palm Sunday Vigil Mass. It’s a beautiful tradition.
Hey Mary Ellen, I hope you all had a wonderful Holy Week & Easter Sunday!
I too keep all clothing prepped & ready in my bedroom so as not to loose my mind and add years to my stint in Purgatory.
My question is did you do the full Holy Week schedule when your twins were toddlers? I couldn’t make any of the Holy Week masses or Stations this year because the times had changed and didn’t match up with the nap schedule. I am ever so grateful for my mother in law who took all of my kids with her for the Triduim.
When did things get easier with the twins? I think my babies start doing better somewhere around 2 years, maybe…
Blessings,
Alison
Hi Alison! I did not do the whole Triduum when I had toddlers, my husband and I would split it up. He usually went to Holy Thursday and I would do Good Friday. We would then attend Easter Sunday Mass. I think they were about three before I tried doing it as a family.