One Hour a Week, why is it so difficult?

Church is my subject this fine afternoon. We go, almost every weekend. We did miss a few this summer, but not many. It is quite the task to get three kids ready, plus myself, and out the door for an hour + service. I love going. I makes my week so much better. We have gotten to know more people in the parish. It is starting to feel like we are really a part of this community. My good friend Zinnea usually comes with us. She has a Six and Twin Fours. She is a "Mother On The Same Level and Same Situation" or MOTSLASS for short.
Spending that time together makes for a great Sunday afternoon. We usually follow up from church with lunch together. It is just what I was looking for after moving here. Sundays are hard without family around. Things seemed so lonely on Sundays. My challenge is that N works on Sundays. Every Sunday. Church is all on me. We have no opportunity to go together. He works Saturday nights too. I really struggled with this last year. I would work hard to get everyone out the door, but some days it seemed impossible. It would end with us not going and I would find myself in tears being so angry at how the morning had turned out. A year later, things are better. The kids are older now and listen better. My challenge now is getting them to act their age during mass. Six does very well, but sometimes complains. Five is getting there, but today almost put me over the top. He was irritated at whatever comment I gave him, put his head down when I did and wound up smashing his head into my nose. It hurt so bad. I thought maybe it would give me a bloody nose. Then Three starts saying with a loud voice, "I am thirsty!" Over and over all while Fr. is consecrating the host. I took them all out. I was so disappointed. It is one hour a week. Why can't we make it through? Five is too old to cause trouble. I remember being in church at his age and it was just what we did. I am not sure how to get that established with this group. Part of what helped when I was a kid was that we were in parochial school. That is not an option for us. It was getting better each time we went, but now we have had a series of rough patches. Guess it needs reflection and prayer by all parties. As a result of the behavior, the legos and ponies were taken away for the week. In the past, that has proven to be just the right motivation to behave. Time will tell. The hard part is that Six behaved and why should he miss out on legos, but they can't be out or Five will want to play too. I gave Six a new lego magazine issue to read when the other two were sitting in their room as punishment. He seemed pleased with that reward.
This afternoon, Zinnea came with her kids for lunch. It was a nice way to spend our afternoon. The kids play so well together. We haven't seen them for awhile. She helps keep me on track. We had a movie night together this summer with some other moms in town. Spending time with moms helps so much, can't believe what it does to my mentalitly. I am able to deal with the children much better after having a conversation with an adult who completely gets what I am talking about.
We will continue to work on our One Hour a Week and see how it goes. Next week will be different though, Five and Three will be in Sunday school during mass. I have high expectations for Sunday school this year. There are new teachers. I hope they learn a lot and enjoy it.
Now to decide whether to mow the lawn or not. It would free up time for N this week. He got some wood to build me a new sewing table. I am very eager for that project to be finished. I have a list of ideas for sewing projects. I want to wait to get started once the table is done. There hasn't been space for me to sew since we lived in Texas. We will see what kind of results come from a newly organized craft space!