Easter, Spring Break, and so much more!

 Last week's Easter Sunday was really nice.  I will never take being able to go to church for granted again.  Last Easter was our first holiday back in church since Covid and I will never forget the feeling of churches being closed.  Our church wasn't as crowded as it usually is, but it was still quite crowded and decorated beautifully.  Easter dinner was the usual treats.  We had ham (Honeybaked), Delmonico potatoes, bacon wrapped green beans, 4 types of sausage (smoked Slovenian, smoked kielbasa, fresh kielbasa, and fresh Hungarian), and gluten free chocolate pudding pie for dessert.  The oldest came home from college for a few days and it was nice to have him with us.  But it's such a long drive just to be home for 48 hours.  Since the middle son will be at the same college next year, we are thinking that we may just drive down there instead of the boys driving up here.  But we'll see.

Baskets being blessed at church

We always have two baskets.  Too much food.

The two younger boys were on spring break last week, so it was a busy, yet relaxing week.  The little guy had baseball practice, he read to a horse again through our local library system, and I took him to the zoo.  They only have around a month of school left, but no one wants to go back (I'm sure the teachers are included).

I've also been planning the middle son's graduation party, ordered his senior pictures, and designed and ordered his announcements.  And I even started to purchase some of the things he will need for his dorm room.  It's a lot, but it's all good stuff.  Tomorrow is back to school, and we need to finish out this school year strong.

A Whirlwind of a Summer

 Summer is not over!  But as of today, the high schooler returned for his senior year.  The 3rd grader goes back Wednesday.  And we return the college sophomore to his university on Saturday.  Even though summer is still with us, it seems to be behind us.  

It was a really good summer.  Baseball dominated the first part of summer.  From May (actually April) until early July, our days were full of baseball.  The season went ok.  The team he was on was full of really great kids.  But they all go to another school, and some of his school friends play on another team and he really wanted to play with them.  He tried out for the new team and made it.  So next year he'll be on a totally new team and he'll miss his teammates from his old team, but he's really happy to be with his school friends.

The older boys both worked at a grocery store this summer.  At first it was really busy and they worked a lot of hours, but as summer went on, customers weren't coming in as much and the available stock became less due to supply chain issues, so things became slow and hours were cut.  They weren't happy about losing money, but it did give them more free time.

We went on vacation.  To our usual South Carolina spot.  It was a really great week.  We all love it there so much.  We fished, swam, sunned, and just spent quality time together.  I wish we could do that more than just once a year.

It's been a rainy summer here in Ohio.  My flowers and garden are water logged.  My lettuce did well, as did the hot peppers, jalapenos, and green beans.  I got NO garlic (I don't know what I did wrong), and my peas, carrots, radish, green peppers, and cabbage did "meh".  Tomatoes and zucchini are coming in now so we'll see how those go.

We spent some time at the swim club this summer (I call it the lake).  It's really nice there and I'm glad we joined.  I'd like to keep going on the weekends until they close, but weekends are filling up fast.  

I went on a few college tours with the senior.  He's narrowing things down and we'll see how things go.  He seems a little disengaged in the whole process, but we'll see.  Maybe that's just how he's appearing on the outside.  I know he'll end up in the correct place for him.  God always put us where we should be.

So that's my update.  I'm sure I forgot some things.  But these are the big ones.