The Lord giveth,the Lord taketh away

I am being a bit facetious here. I just had blogged about everything falling in place for easter, when a few hours later, I finally succumbed to all the germs that have been going around here. I send off my wonderful husband to attend EasterVigil, and as a family we attended the 10 o clock mass.
But first there were eggs and chocolate crosses to find. And a lot of books, toys and dvd send over by doting grandmothers. Unfortunately, the grass was too wet for outside, so we had to hunt eggs inside. Too bad, because we usually have the cutest pictures of our family. This year will be known in our photographic history as 'the easter when everybody had a cold'>

I said earlier we attended mass 'as a family' but Michael at age 14 months is at the stage where there is no way to keep him in the pew. And leaving him alone in the nursery means he will cry the whole hour. I keep reminding myself that these are just a few months and that Joseph came out of them capable of sitting more or less through the entirety of mass without causing his parents a nervous breakdown. Unfortunately Joseph is in the middle of a rebellious phase. Up until about ten days ago things were going very well, then all of a sudden, we find ourselves in weeks of tantrums, disobedience of rules that he never had any problems with and more of that kind. Growing pains, I guess. We just try and keep consisitant in being strict with the bad behaviour and at the same time throwing in extra snuggles and "I am proud of you" for good. It must not be fun to be three.
Anyhow, by the first reading, Michael had to be taken out. I managed to keep Joseph with me for a little bit longer, till righ after the consacration, but at the cost of part of my sanity. After I had brought him to the nursery for dada to play with, I cried my way through the rest of easter mass.

Luckily things went a bit better from there on. Lunch with our friends was wonderful. The rest of the day went by without major incidents, except the worsening cold.
In the midst of all these day to day mini trials though: the Lord be praised, for He is good. I don't understand Him, and luckily I don't have to. He is greater and His plans better than I can comprehend.