All Saints Day

After hustling in at the last minute to the All Saint's Day celebration, the children processed around the yard while everyone recited the Litany of the Saints. Then, after Mass, all the children hurried to get in line for the guessing game, What Saint am I?

Olivia dressed as St. Brendan the Navigator and put together a complete skit for everyone participate in. Collette was the whale, Quinton was the fire belching volcano, and Grace was the Indian in paradise. It was quite fun to watch and garnered quite a few laughs.

Quinton was thrilled to learn from one of the Norbertine priests that his namesake was a Roman saint martyred on October 31st. So, of course, he was Saint Quintin for the feast day celebration.

Archangel Gabriel

Collette wasn't sure she wanted to dress up this year as she does not like speaking in front of others. I convinced her, with the help of some new angel wings, to dress as an Archangel. She chose Gabriel. The outfit had a little horn to help with the authenticity but it was mislaid almost immediately. Oh well,  even without the horn she progressed to the front of line and actually asked everyone to guess. This was a significant milestone for her. Hurray!

Blessed Kateri Tekawitha

Now for Gracie: I wish I had had a video camera trained upon her! She has never spoken before either so I was surprised to see her in front of the microphone as well. Apparently, the whole experience was a little overwhelming for her because she immediately burst into bouncy nervous laughter. She bounded up and down, squealed, and smiled so big that everyone just had to join in with her. Finally, she managed to throw out a nervous, "Do you know who I am?" Giggle, giggle.  My pictures do not do her justice as she had calmed down by the time I shot the first photo. I think we were all caught off guard!

Dominic was the Archangel Michael. An angel with a sword- perfect. I had to take pictures a soon as we arrived because he had completely stripped out of his outfit by the time Mass was finished. In fact, I had to admonish him to keep his own clothes on. I guess once he gets started, he wants to finish the job. 

I spent most of the celebration asking, "Have you seen Xavier?" 

Xavier cruised through the garden paths, played in the generous playroom, and ambled about without a care in the world.

I believe he could be dressed as Saint Mischievous. Thank goodness for all the moms (and dads) who willing held Marie Claire while I tracked him down for the 100th time.