There's a Time to be Girly

I live in a house with all men, but I'm really a girly girl.  I always have been.  I love all things girly, but I really spend much of my time doing more things that interest the boys.  I will say, that they know how much I love the Nutcracker and the past two years they were kind enough to take me for my birthday.  But last year the 3 younger men let me know what a sacrifice it is for them to sit through it, so I asked that last year be the final year that all 5 of us go.  Not that the Nutcracker is particularly girly, but to my guys it most certainly is.

I don't mind attending sporting events with them.  I'm a Cleveland Indians fan, so I really enjoy going to the games.  I AM NOT A BROWNS FAN.  I'm a Pittsburgh Steelers fan so I do not need nor want to go to a Browns game.  But I have been to a Browns a game with my husband for business and lived to tell the tale.  I really like hockey and I hope we can take our little guy to a Monsters game this year.  And of course I like attending any sporting event where my children are involved.

But being in a house full of men doesn't give me much of a chance to do all the other things that I enjoy.

This past weekend was my mother in laws birthday and she was coming here to watch my oldest play football and then spend the afternoon with us celebrating her birthday.  My husband also had some tickets to a Cleveland Indians autograph session and lo and behold my husband, 2 of my boys, and my nephew decided to attend that.  That left me coming up with a way to celebrate my mother in laws birthday with my sister in law and niece.

Let's just say that I capitalized on that opportunity and made it a girls day.  There is a Victorian tea room not far from here and I thought that having an afternoon tea might be relaxing and something different from what we normally do.  And it turned out to be a lovely afternoon.

I love all things Victorian.  I love Victorian architecture and Victorian style of clothing.  I've read enough books about that time in history to realize that it wasn't all romance and beauty but I'm fine with blocking out the bad parts and romanticizing the rest of it.  The tea house itself was just beautiful.  And the tea and food was delicious.  It turned out to be such a nice afternoon.  And it reminded me that I need to do more girly things or more things that I'M interested in.  It doesn't always have to be about the boys.

Now there were couples at the tea house enjoying an afternoon.  But my guys would not be up for that, and that's ok. We don't have to spend every waking minute together.

I'm glad that the tea house crossed my mind and that we made it happen.  We all had a nice time relaxing that celebrating my mother in law.  It took me 5 years to get there.  It definitely won't take me 5 years to go back.

9/11

I remember this day like it was yesterday.  I still end up in tears and find it hard to breathe just thinking about it.  I hope I never forget, and I hope that America never forgets all the lives lost, all the sacrifices made that day, the bravery of the first responders, the pain of the families and the survivors, the fear, and the way we all came together and became one people that day regardless of color, ethnicity, religion or politics. 

Feeling Autumn

Leave it to Ohio to have a 40 degree temperature differential in one week.  Last week it was 95 degrees and we were at the Cleveland Indians game with family.  I took a seat in the sun so that the smaller children and those more advanced in age could be in the shade.  At one point I thought I might be getting heat stroke and had to spend the majority of the game in the clubhouse sitting in the air conditioning.  Forward to this weekend and it's 57 degrees and rainy.  Late summer is a roller coaster ride here in Ohio.  It's supposed to get back up into the 80's at the end of this week.  I don't mind this at all.  It gives me the best of both worlds.  I love summer but I love Autumn even a little more.  There's nothing like a cool, sunny day or sitting by the fire in the evening wearing a cozy sweater and sipping a hot cup of tea.

The cooler temperatures of the last few days have propelled me into the mood for a little autumn.  It's cooler, yet rainy, so doing anything outside does not sound appealing to me.  While I'm not completely ready to say good bye to summer, I am ready to start welcoming autumn. 

I've started transitioning the house from the red, white, and blue that I love in summer time to the beautiful yellow, orange, and red of fall. 

I've been lighting candles again!  I love candles and I'm really not home enough during the week to light them so on the weekends, I try to light them first thing in the morning and let them go until evening.  I had a big stash of my favorite candles, but I went through most of them last year.  I need to get some replacements, but I've been checking some new (to me) brands and trying so see what scents will take us through fall and winter.

I still have my red, white, and blue garland around my front door, but I did change out my wreath.

I also took down my patriotic door decorations and put up ones that are more for fall.

My foyer table vignette is starting to transition also.

Some of my mums came back this year, but not all.  When it's sunny and warmer later in the week, I'm hoping to have time to get to the local farm so I can start planting more.

I think the tree in the back feels a little like I do.  It's still very green but there are signs of red starting to show up.

Many of the trees in the woods behind our house have started to yellow.  They tend to lose their leaves early.

Thanks to the rain, I'm not sure that the steaks I had been planning on putting on the grill today will happen.  I'm now wishing I would have planned some chili.  But if not today, then tomorrow.  It's a good thing that I menu plan every week so that I have back up meals available.  But for now, I'm just going to enjoy my tea, the cozy day in doors, a little football, and catch up on my reading.

Happy Sunday!!

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.

Confirmation

The middle son made his Confirmation yesterday.  Our church still does Confirmation in eighth grade (many others have changed the age to high school).  We had 72 Confirmandi.  It was wonderful to see so many young people receive the Holy Spirit. 

Afterward we all went out to eat.  He has numerous life threatening food allergies so this is not something we do often.  We have a hard time finding a restaurant that can or is willing to cook safely for him.  Luckily, we found one.  We had a lovely dinner with family and the best part of that my son was able to eat safely and not have to bring his own food from home.

Catching Up

Well, February has come and gone and I haven't made it here once.  February was a busy, but good month.

My oldest turned 16.  I can't believe he's 16 now.  Wasn't he just born, like 5 minutes ago?  Oh my, it sure seems that way.  Time goes too fast (I say this A LOT lately, but it's so darn true).  He took his classroom driving instruction in January, and had his first in car class today.  Part of me is looking forward to him getting his license, but a bigger part of me is scared.  There's so many new worries to go a long with the drivers license.  But I can't hold him back.  I just have to put it in God's hands and pray a lot more.

Lent started February 14.  I gave up a few things and added in a few things and feel like I'm failing miserably at Lent this year.  I had such good intentions.  But the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  I have a month to do better and to make the most of this Lenten season.

My middle son makes his Confirmation in one week.  We'd like to take him out to dinner, but because of his multiple food allergies, eating out is very difficult.  We are going to call a few places this week to see if any of them can serve him safely. 

Wresting ended last weekend.  He didn't win a single match this season, but since this was his first time wrestling, I didn't really expect him too.  He was disappointed, but he's the type of kid that thinks he can just show up and things will happen.  Other than practices, he didn't really put in any outside work.  I hope he finds the lesson in going the extra mile.  I'm sure it would have made a difference.

There were some family health issues, but everyone is on the mend.

And that was February in a nut shell.

We just got upgraded internet on Friday, and things are moving much better now.  It will certainly make it easier for me to get on the computer and blog more.  I tried to blog from my phone, but that didn't work very well.  Before the new internet, it was very slow and very tedious.  I feel like I'm flying now.  Hopefully it stays this way!

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.