Ash Wednesday at my house.

My husband and kids did survive my absence on Tuesday – rather well in fact! (Not quite sure how to feel about that?) But my husband got all of the homeschooling done, did some laundry, made lunch AND dinner – it was great!! I was sorry to see Pete go back to work on Ash Wednesday seeing how well things went the day before, but being the owner of your own business means duty calls and so we were back in the real world by 8:00 a.m.

I like to prepare for these liturgical shifts the night before as far as my house goes, and on Ash Wednesday I like the house to be stark when the kids get up. That didn’t entirely happen on Tuesday since I got back in the early evening, so I just concentrated on the main thing- my dining room table.

The table is in my dining room, which is between the kitchen and the living room. You can see it from the front door – it is a focal point for our home. My table is not that great. It rocks, it creaks, we got it at an antique store at least 15 or more years ago and we didn’t pay more than $200 for it. Over the years of kids running around it, under it and knocking into it, it dances a bit more than it should when it gets bumped.

Yet, it’s what I have to work with and it usually gets the full dressup treatment for all the holidays. I keep a clear vinyl cover over whatever cloth I have on it because my kids are still spillers AND since the table moves – spills happen. The vinyl protects what ever is beneath and it is easier to clean up.

I took off my pretty lacy table cloth off, my candles, and pretty Valentines and replaced it with a plain crepe purple cloth with the vinyle on top. Underneath the vinyl I placed a poster sized Lenten Calendar for us to follow the season and the readings. As a center piece, I have a plan basket, with two or three lenten booklets, a thick purple candle, and some bottles with colored sand.

The sand bottle are the result of an Mardi Gra party I had a few years ago where I bought a lot of colored sand in the colors for lent and we layered them into clear plastic bottles. My older kids have never forgotten that.

We did make it to Ash Wednesday Mass at noon. The place was PACKED!! surprisingly. My little ones, 4, 5 and 8 were able to receive ashes and I think it impressed them to be able to participate fully in that way. They have a better understanding than most I guess about returning to the earth because I have not sheltered them from the deaths that occur in our family and friends and they see it as part of life.

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