It's Friday!

The end of the week has arrived and we've made it through another week! I'm cautiously optimistic that this is the end of the major homework push for the kids. JR's game last night was rained out, so we had a more relaxing evening. We read some new books I'd bought for the kids about summer, and that made us even more ready for the school year to end! Tonight JC has group ballet pictures to be taken, and then the only other plan we have for the weekend is an evening out with friends tomorrow evening (kid free!). We are hoping to make it to church tomorrow evening before that so we can sleep in and just hang out on Sunday. It's supposed to be a beautiful day, and in addition to getting my flowers planted, I would love to be able to have a picnic or some other fun activity with the kids.

We've also learned that my in-laws are coming next week! I was really hoping they would come after we asked them to earlier in the week. They will get to see each child play ball, as well as attend a special lunch at school with JR. I'm really looking forward to seeing them. I'm grateful for so much fun in life!

A/C

I finally broke down yesterday and turned on the a/c. I always set my target date as June 1, but we were close enough. It wasn't so much the heat that I couldn't handle, it was the humidity. Can't stand humidity. This evening, however, I will be turning it back off and enjoying a beautiful spring like day tomorrow!

Fries with that?

When we were up at my dad's cottage this weekend, he took us over to a new restaurant. It had only been opened a few months, and Dad had been there already so we all decided to try it out. I wasn't terribly hungry and was looking for a lighter meal so I checked out the salads. I knew they were not from around here when I saw that they put french fries on the salads. I did however, know that they must be from steel country because that is the way they make salads there, and since my husband is from there he thinks that is the way that salads should be made. It turns out that they are from Youngstown, OH, very close to the PA region where these salads began. My husband was so excited and couldn't wait. I, on the other hand, continued to ask for my fries on the side!

Unwinding

Yesterday was a day to just relax and unwind in our house. My husband and oldest son participated in the Memorial Day ceremony at the park and cemetery here in town. Then they came home and we really just hung out around the house. I have been doing some clerical work for the office where I used to work (and my dad still does) so I spent several hours doing that yesterday and watching the Reds game. The kids played in the slip-n-slide and had a friend over. My husband dozed most of the afternoon. It was nice that we had hosted everyone Saturday so the house was still clean and we didn't have anything we really felt we had to get done. It was nice that way. JC is on a field trip today and she's excited about that. The sun is out right now, but they are calling for storms later today, and in fact it will be that way all week. We'll just have to see about games this week!

A day with family

We've had a wonderful weekend. Our gathering Saturday evening was nice and we enjoyed seeing friends. Yesterday was such a nice day, full of family! We began the day having brunch with my mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, a cousin, her husband and three kids, and another cousin. It's a family tradition every Sunday the weekend of Memorial Day, after placing flowers at relatives' tombstones. We did the cemetery portion of the trip last year, and decided to just meet for brunch this year. My cousin with the kids does the same thing and everyone understands. Following the meal, we headed up to my Dad's cottage at the lake and spent the day with my Dad. It is a day full of memories that I know we'll never forget. My father has a chronic lung condition, and is on oxygen 24/7. We know that he doesn't have much time left here with us, but Dad still works every day and does everything that he can to enjoy his life while he can. I think he's often worried that an extended time with the kids will just wear him out, but yesterday seemed to be the exact opposite. He absolutely loved getting to spend the entire day with the kids, and they loved getting to spend it with him. There were lots of golf cart rides, ice cream cones, dinner out, and badminton games. Dad just loved watching everyone have fun. I'm sure he's worn out today, but it was a great day full of many memories for us to take with us forever.

Weekend plans

We are having a fun weekend here. Last evening my husband and JR went to the Reds game. It was fireworks night and the Reds won...sounds like a perfect evening. I've spent all day yesterday and today cleaning the house for a cook-out we are having this evening. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with some friends we haven't seen in a while, as well as visiting with some I see regularly. Tomorrow morning is brunch with extended family, and then we are headed to my dad's cottage near the lake to spend the rest of the day. Usually my dad prefers to let us have our "own space" when we are there, but he'll be there with us tomorrow. I'm very excited about that! We'll come home late (as late as I can make it) tomorrow evening, then JR will be in the Memorial Day parade Monday morning. Following the ceremony at the cemetery, we will spend Monday just relaxing. Possibly head to the pool here in town, but nothing stressful or work related. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

School work

This morning, I was reading a blog that I read often and this writer, a stay-at-home mom to 10 (yes, you read correctly, ten), was thrilled and whoo-hooing that school was out for the summer. In the comments section someone else was cheering right along with her, while another mom wrote that she couldn't cheer yet because they still had three days next week, but she was pretty sure that she was done with homework. This made me really stop and think. She was done with homework? Isn't that the job for the kids? I know exactly what she means though. Right now my youngest, a preschooler, is sitting here doing his homework for the weekend. I have yet to meet a preschooler who could be responsible for his/her own homework, so that makes the responsibility mine. My daughter has nightly math homework, weekly spelling words, and a weekly reading log. My son has weekly spelling words, a weekly book report, a weekly geography worksheet, and nightly math homework. While the older two are generally responsible kids, they are still awfully young to be taking on the responsibility of that much homework by themselves. My oldest hasn't yet mastered time management (go figure, some adults haven't either!) so unless I urge him on Monday to begin the weekly assignments, everything gets pushed to Thursday. That wouldn't be a problem, but there isn't nearly enough time on Thursdays to accomplish everything. We've made great progress through the year though, and he pretty much knows that school work comes before everything else he would rather be doing at home. Why are all of these stay-at-home moms, myself included, so excited about the end of the school year? I am fairly certain that my mother and women of her generation felt more dread than joy at the end of the school year. It meant the kids were home ALL DAY, EVERY DAY! Is my generation more loving and patient? Ha, ha, ha, ha, uhm, no that's not it. I think it is simply that school is so much more stressful than when I was a student. And if I'm feeling the stress, my goodness, what are the kids feeling? I know that much of what happens in schools today, and thusly the homework, is necessary because of the state standards. I just worry that kids don't really get to enjoy being kids. I worry, because this is supposed to be the carefree, stressLESS part of their lives. If they don't get to enjoy it now, when?

Reacting

For the first twelve years of my life, I wasn't allergic to anything. I vividly remember the first August when I started reacting to something (hay fever, probably). From that point on, I was pretty much in a Benedryl induced trance from the middle of August through the end of September. It was miserable. But on the upside, I knew it was only about six weeks out of the year. Five years ago I developed a horrible case of poison ivy. It was so awful that my eyes swelled shut and I was in bed for three days. Everyone asked what I had been thinking by ignoring the poison ivy I saw, and it was easy...I'd never been allergic to poison ivy before. About 18 months ago I was prescribed Erythromycin for an upper respiratory infection. Not a problem. I'd taken it before. This time however I developed a violent reaction to the medication and was in the e/r. Now here I am, in the middle of May, no where near the end of summer, and I'm miserable. Absolutely miserable. Apparently my body has now decided that it is also allergic to pollen. Yippee! I can't take antihistamines, except at bedtime, because they cause an extreme case of drowsiness...even the ones that are "non-drowsy" formula. Since I can't control the sneezing, etc. my asthma is also starting to kick in. I've already warned my husband that I'm not sure I'll be at the ball game this evening. Sitting in the middle of a field sounds almost overwhelming!

Fifteen more...

...school days after today. We are all so ready to be finished with the school year. It really feels like it's taking forever this year since everyone is going nearly an entire extra week due to the days off for weather this year. We are hoping to get up to my dad's place at the lake this weekend, but we haven't set anything definite yet. There are also some scout activities we could do if we stay home. The sad thing is, there seems to be no time for sleeping this weekend. I love the fact that my kids are involved in things, and they are things that are good for them. However, I'm also a big fan of kids having unstructured time. I think they need it to use and develop their imaginations. I also think they need to unwind and just be kids. They just don't seem to get that opportunity like I did when I was a kid.

Baseball season is still going well for everyone. We had two games last night, will have one tonight and one on Thursday. JC got to go to a really fun birthday party Sunday where she rode horses and played with water balloons. I wasn't crazy about that since the high was in the low 60's, but no damage done!

Cute story

My daughter said something that made me laugh last night. I immediately looked at the clock to see if it would be too late to call my mom to tell her after I put the kids to bed, and I couldn't wait to tell my husband. The sad thing is, I have no idea what it was that she said! In just 30 minutes, I had managed to completely forget what she had said to make me laugh, and I couldn't share it with anyone. I'm losing my mind!

Nineteen more

That's how many days of school are left for the kids, at least the older two. Little guy only has thirteen, which just seems impossible to believe. I think on some level, I'm looking more forward to the summer than they are. I've noticed, though, that the kids do seem to be wearing down as well. Right now our lives are pretty crazy with the ball schedules. I'm not complaining, it's just reality. JR still has at least an hour of homework every night, and at least two nights a week it's closer to two hours. Part of it is that his teacher does assign a little more than the other teachers, and part of it is the fact that he simply takes much longer to do his work. The kids all enjoy being at the ball park, but I've noticed that they really don't mind on the evenings when we have rainouts, even if it is their game being rained out. I think they enjoy the fact that we have a more relaxed dinner, and we might even get to play a game together as a family. I think we are looking forward to the more relaxed lifestyle that summer is going to bring!

First place!

No, this isn't a post bragging about one of the kids...my Cincinnati Reds are tied for first place! I know the season is still young, but it's been a long time since the team has given us something to be excited about. Right now I love watching them play. There are lots of good things happening for them and it's fun!

West coast trip

No, we aren't traveling, but the Reds are out west this week. It really throws my evening routine off...I'm used to turning on the TV at 7 and catching the game. I obviously can't actually sit and watch it, but at least I can keep track of the score. And after the kids go to bed, I can give the game my full attention. This week, the games aren't starting until about 9:30. I haven't seen the end of either game yet, but I'm still staying up later than I'd like. I'm dragging a little today!

Mother's Day

Happy belated Mother's Day to all of the moms out there! I am very blessed to have not only my mother, but both of my grandmothers and my mother-in-law still in my life. They are all wonderful people. After church we headed north to spend the afternoon with my parents. Dad brought fried chicken for lunch and it was delicious! After the meal we headed over to my grandmother's retirement community where Dad and JR could fish. JR loves, loves, loves to fish! Neither my husband nor I really enjoy it, but I'm so grateful that it's an activity that can be shared between my father and my son. My grandmother also enjoyed visiting with the kids, and I also enjoyed getting to see my aunt who was in town as well. The day was so peaceful, and I couldn't help but think back to a Mother's Day several years ago where I had the exact opposite feeling about the day. My husband and I had been trying for two years to become parents and we knew it wasn't going to happen the "old fashioned way". My best friend had become a mother two months earlier so it was her first Mother's Day as a mom, and another very good friend was expecting her first child two months later. It just felt as though I was being taunted by Mother's Day everywhere. It was a rough day to get through, but of course I did get through it. And it is because of days like that day that I am so aware of the three little, beautiful blessings in my life, and I know that it all works out exactly as it is intended. Blessings to all moms!

Ball games

All of our kids have started their ball games. My wonderful husband is coaching our daughter's team, and he's really enjoying that. Our daughter is definitely not the most talented athlete, but for the most part she enjoys sports. I suspect her talent lies more in dancing though. Regardless, my father and grandmother came down to see her first game last week and she got a really good hit. She was even able to go around and score a run and they won that game. Saturday's game was a loss, but the team was really short handed since it was an unscheduled make up game. JR played catcher for his entire game on Saturday, which was also a victory for his team. He's moved up a level, and now the games take about 2-1/2 hours to play. It was the first time he'd played catcher for an entire game, and the first time he'd ever played in a game that took that long. He was TIRED that evening! We were very proud of him though because he did a very nice job. And little HT just loves hitting the ball and running the bases. I love seeing pure joy on a child's face!

Another week

Another week absolutely flew by! Last week was full of ball games, meetings, homework, etc. Not only did I not really have time to write, but I didn't really feel that there was anything terribly exciting to write about. My husband and I felt like we needed to reintroduce ourselves to each other by the end of the week. We work well together as a team though, and I'm grateful for that. This week will be another crazy week because we are hoping to have a garage sale on Saturday, and my wonderful husband is in charge of some fundraisers for a local community group. Only 22 days of school left though!

Chickens

For the last several weeks, HT's preschool class has been incubating chicken eggs. Yesterday, about an hour after school, his teacher (also a close personal friend) called to say that one was near hatching. I threw the kids in the van and rushed up to the school. We were there waiting, and after about 45 minutes we got to see the new chick come into the world. We rushed home then because there were two games last night. Although it meant dinner after the game instead of before, I didn't mine because how often do we get an opportunity to see that? I had told the kids that I would bring them up before school this morning to see the chick again. However, HT's teacher called again last night, saying that when she had checked on the chick a few hours later, she found it drowned in the water bowl. I explained to the kids this morning what had happened, and our little neighbor was over at the time. HT was sad for a moment, especially since he had been watching the eggs for weeks. The neighbor ,though, added his words of comfort, "It happens all the time in nature. It's the circle of life." Pretty profound for a 9 year old!

A wonderful Sunday

Yesterday was an absolutely wonderful day. It was supposed to rain, but it never did. We were especially grateful for this right after church. Yesterday was the last session of Sunday School, and after Mass there was a church picnic. We absolutely love our church. We love the fact that we know so many of the families there, and we love the fact that the children (all children, not just ours) get to be so involved in the church. There were activities and prizes for the kids during the picnic yesterday, and I was actually able to visit with other adults...as a stay at home that is always a treat! The weather was really ideal...not too hot or cold. After the picnic we went to look at some open houses. We might be putting our house back on the market this fall, but we'll just have to wait and see if I'm really willing to live like that again. Anyway, we didn't see any houses that we fell in love with, but one of the houses had property that I fell in love with! It was five acres of the most peaceful and quiet spot on Earth. The front yard had these beautifully mature trees. I told my wonderful husband last night that I could just feel myself starting to yearn for that setting. Unfortunately, the house was not ideal. Doable, but not ideal. It had potential, but at the price they were asking (a very fair price) we wouldn't have any money left to tap the potential! It does motivate me to clean my house though...just in case! My wonderful husband also got the garbage disposal replaced last evening. I was impressed with his handiness. I just felt very relaxed yesterday about life. It doesn't last long when I look at our calendar of baseball games, meetings, etc., but I'll take what I can get!

Opening Day

Today was opening day for the little league baseball group. The parade was held right on time and it's a really nice day for baseball. Alas, however, not a single game was played. The rain we received Thursday and yesterday was just too much, and the games were actually called off last night. Apparently they are going to try to play them next weekend instead.

My wonderful husband is off to buy a new garbage disposal. Ours gave out on Monday, and I've been hand washing dishes ever since. He is convinced that if he buys the exact same one he'll be able to replace it himself. We shall see. I suspect there is a future post in this!