I Know It's Been A While

 Oh my poor neglected blog.  Things have been a little more than just busy around here.  A few family members have some health issues, and my time for extra things has been cut.  I am not complaining.  I'm very grateful that I can spend my time with my family.  Please pray for complete healing for all.  

I was online making our family Christmas card and I thought I would pop on this blog to give an update.

Oldest is back in college.  Well, he was home last weekend and this weekend for Thanksgiving, but he's been back in college for the most part.

Middle son is plodding along with senior year.  All colleges of his choice have been applied to.  Now we just wait to see where he's accepted and which one he chooses.  All are good choices so he can't go wrong.

The little is moving through 3rd grade.  He finished up flag football and now has moved on to wrestling.

Halloween was fun.  We did the fire pit at the bottom of the driveway again.  And thanks to having several houses of new neighbors, we got more Trick or Treaters this year.  I'm glad we have so many young families in the neighborhood.

Thanksgiving was a blessing.  Our family along with Grandma and Papa had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with all the usual fare.  This year we did two turkeys again.  One my husband fried one, and I baked the other one inside.  Both were good, but the fried turkey was the bigger hit.  

All the indoor Christmas decorations are up.  I worked so hard on Friday, that I thought I might just pass out Friday night.  I finished the inside on Saturday, and did a few things outdoors.  I need to finish the outside, but I will work on that this week.  

Most of my shopping is done, but I still have a couple of things to buy for our family.  And then there's the nieces and nephews.  I will get that all done within the next 2 weeks.

I'm trying to get as much done as possible before the week of December 13.  A family member may be having surgery that week and that is where all of my energy will go after that.  Being organized and time efficient is taking on a whole new meaning this year.  

I'm not stressing about the holidays.  Everything will work out.  

Since I use this blog as my online diary, I do hope to come back on here more on a more consistent basis.  Plus it satisfies some of my need for a creative outlet.

The roasted turkey

Moving Forward

Even though we are stuck here in quarantine land, life still has a way of moving forward.

We signed the oldest up for college the other day.  He's registered and his meal plan and room and board have been chosen. He'll be attending Miami University in the fall (at least that's the plan.  We'll have to wait and see what the Governor does about schools opening).

This was NOT an easy decision.  He actually had another college in first place on his list.  He originally wanted a small, Catholic college environment, but his first choice did not come back with enough scholarship money and it was almost $10,000 more per year than his other choices.  We, as his parents, just could not justify paying that much more when we still have two other children who are planning to attend college also.  It broke our hearts to say no, but we have to put the whole family first.  So he moved on to his second choice.  And he is extremely excited!  He is also relieved that he has a plan and is excited to move forward with his life.  I am excited for him!!  I think he will do well here despite the fact that it's bigger and not Catholic.  There is a Catholic church right by campus and he can attend mass, adoration, and confession and they also have ministries that he can join (if his schedules allows).

So while we are house bound for the moment, the future waits for no one.  Even the pandemic can not stop completely the forward trajectory of our lives.  Right now, it just seems that way.

The mixed emotions I have right now are incredible.  I can not imagine my baby leaving our home.  I've dreaded this for 18 years.  But I know it's why God gave me this child in the first place.  It was my job to teach him to fly and it's also my job to let him do that.  Oh it is so hard though.

Ever since this pandemic started, I have been on the verge of tears.  Silly things make me cry.  But now that college is looming in front of us, it's even harder not to wear my emotions on my sleeve and tear up at every little thing.  And while I'm dreading his leaving us, I'm also so very excited for him and can't wait to see where his future leads.  I know God has a plan for him and I'm looking forward to watching his journey.

And I suppose this is all a part of my journey too.  It's one that I'm hoping to embrace with grace.  I guess this is just another thing that I have to put in God's hands.