The Summer That Flew By

 Last time I checked, it was June.  How are we here in September??  

The last thing I posted was about the graduation party.  It was nice!!  It was a ton of work.  Next time I have a graduation party, it will not be at my house.  Oh, the work involved.  But to have it at a hall or restaurant was very expensive. And I would have had it at a local park, but apparently you have to book those one to two years in advance.  I know that now.  I will not make that mistake again. But the party really did turn out nice and it was worth all the stress and sleepless nights.

Then we moved on to vacation.  I LOVE the beach.  But again, it's a lot of work to get ready for it.  We've been going so many years that I have a system.  But it doesn't happen all on its own.  I love it though.  I'd be there right now if I could.

After vacation, I had two and a half weeks to get two boys ready for college and another boy ready for 4th grade.  Even though one has been to college the last two years, he moved into an unfurnished apartment this year and it was like starting over.  And this is the other boy's freshman year.  I'm broke and I'm tired.  But they are settled and happy.

My car was loaded, and this was just one boy.  And this is a new car.  We bought a new car during those 2.5 weeks.  Because why not add more chaos in the mix? 

Got the other one off to 4th grade. So far so good there.

AND last week, we got a puppy.  Of course, right?  But the son with the allergies finished his allergy shots (and is on maintenance) and is at college so the allergist thought it would be ok.  The little guy has been begging for a dog, the doctor said it would help with his anxiety, and with both brothers leaving, we felt it was a good time.  

Yes, it's like having a baby.  Yes, it is.  We are trying to get into a routine.  As of right now, we've had her a week, and she is slowly getting settled. And I'm slowly getting settled too.  Slowly.  She sure is cute though.  Meet Daisy.

And the young one is playing tackle football this year.  So far so good there too.  He sure does love his sports.

This is the quick, abridged update for a very busy time.  I told everyone that I was hibernating during September and not to bother me.  That's not going to happen.  So maybe I'll hibernate during October.  But I doubt it.

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.

It's the Last Day of Distance Learning

It's the last day of distance learning and I have mixed emotions about this.  I'm sad that my son missed out on the end of the year with this class and teacher.  But I'm kind of glad that this distance learning is over.  Although the school did their best with a bad situation, I'm just not sure how effective this has been.  It's hard to learn via iPad.  Most of the worksheets should have been printed out, but I could not do that because of the app the school used.  Doing the worksheets on the iPad was cumbersome.  And he got frustrated very easily.

Due to some of the CDC's guidelines for schools, I'm not really sure how this is going to go in the fall.  Going through an entire school year with partial in school/partial distance learning is going to be disruptive/ineffective in my opinion.  I have to seriously think about how we are going to handle this.  But I don't know if homeschooling is the answer either.  These are troubling times for sure.

I do plan on keeping up with his studies over the summer.  I already told him that we will be doing extra studying and reading.  And he already told me that he's not going to do it.  This should be fun.  The strong willed child vs. the no patience mother.  Good times.

Quarantine, Coronavirus, And Life As It Is Now

I think we are on day 17 of distance learning.  Maybe day 27 of being home and quarantined.  The days do run together.

I really haven't been out yet except to go to my son's Xolair appointment at Rainbow's again.  My sister in law put two N95 masks in my mailbox so we felt fairly safe.  But it's still unnerving and I noticed that we were both exhausted when we got home at 11:00 am.

We are still doing "YouTube" mass.  I'm not sure we will change that even if churches open up May 1st.  I so miss my church and receiving the Eucharist.  But I think it's too soon.

You know how you can tell how serious I am about it being too soon?  I bought a gel nail kit from Amazon.  I am NOT planning on going to the salon anytime soon.  And my grays are coming through quite nicely at this point.  And I don't even care.

The Governor did decide that the kids will continue distance learning and not go back to school is school year.  Apparently the fall is up in the air too.  I'm glad they are not going back right now.  But possibly not going back in the fall is making me uneasy and definitely sad for my son that should be a college freshman in the fall.  I'm sad all around for him.  He's missing his friends and missing going to the gym which is how he reduces his anxiety.  What about graduation? Prom?  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Getting food is a bit easier.  There's been more delivery and pick up options (I am not going into a store unless I absolutely have to).  Getting gluten free items has been hit or miss but so has chicken breast, chicken sausage, and lettuce.  I'm guessing that supply chains are having issues getting things out.  We are doing fine and have had no issues so far.  I'm even getting T.P. from Amazon, so that's an extra bonus.

The weather here is not the best.  Cold, rainy, snowy, are just a few words to describe Ohio right now.  I have been getting out and doing my  3 mile walk as often as I can.  When it's too rainy, I try to do something inside.

We are here.  We are good.  It's not the same, but we are trying to adjust the best we can.  I hope and pray you are also.

And Just Like That, Summer is over

I can't believe it's the end of August and the kids are back in school.  The summer flew right by.  It was crammed full of baseball, baseball, more baseball, a Disney trip, and the husbands shoulder surgery (He's fine.  But still mending).

Baseball really takes up the majority of our summer.  Both older boys play travel ball and the oldest one played on a "tournament team".  That means he played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Yes, that means every weekend.  And one weekend we traveled to Indiana (it was kind of a mini vacation which was nice, but it also cost as much as a mini vacation).  I know the boys love baseball, but I'd really love to get my summer back.

And lest we forget football.  Football starts the day after school lets out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.  Then there are a few weeks of OTA's, and mandatory camp (2 A days) starts at the end of the July.

And with that, summer is done.

It's hard to manage family time with all these sport activities.  But we did manage to go to Disney.  It was fun (and HOT).  I just hate that we basically live for one week a year. 

School is back in session.  We have a junior, a freshman, and a Kindergartner.  So far so good.  But it's only been a couple of weeks of high school and this is the second week of grade school.  Football games started too.  We have games Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  I forgot how exhausting football season is. 

I'm looking forward to Labor Day weekend with it's extra day off.  I'm hoping for good weather and some relaxation.  Maybe a pool day in there too.

I haven't gotten into the back to school routine yet.  I have a thousand things that I want to accomplish this fall, but I haven't gotten into a groove yet.  Maybe next week.  Right now, my plan is to enjoy the last few weeks of this gorgeous weather.  I plan on walking outside every day.  I hate working out, but I love to walk.  Even though the summer is truly done for the kids, mom is going to try to extend hers for as long as she can.

Moving On Up

This weekend has been crazy busy.  And by crazy busy I mean that I’ve pretty much just showered and slept at home, and that's it.  It’s certainly not the peaceful weekend I was hoping for.  We had wrestling meets, 3 baseball practices, a baseball fundraiser, and an open house at school for Catholic schools week.  Normally I would have just skipped the open house (we already go there, so we already know the drill).  BUT the kindergarten rooms were open and one very excited preschooler wanted to go and check them out.  He’s very excited and possibly a little nervous about the whole kindergarten thing.  Technically he could have gone this year, but he just wasn’t ready, so we waited.  The preschool is his safe place.  He's been going there for four years now (mom and toddler class, 3 year old class, and two years of pre-k, one half day and one full day).  He’s looking forward to going to the big school.  But he’s a little nervous about the big school too.  Unfortunately both older brothers will be in high school next year (freshman and junior years), so he’ll be there alone.  The good news is that he’s been there numerous times and he knows some of the teachers and is familiar with some of the rooms.  He's ready.  I think I'm ready.  But it's my baby.  Even though we are both ready, it's still hard to let him go.