Reflections on so many emotions of the past week.

This has been quite a week, in absolutely all manners of life.  I would be remiss if I didn't not mention the events earlier this week in Texas.  It is sickening beyond words, and honestly, it seems as though each piece of information that comes out makes it worse.  Those babies should be home with their parents this weekend enjoying the beginning of summer.  Truly no words.

My baby graduated this week, as we all know, and I've written about it.  My baby chose to wear his pappy's watch and a fisherman belt buckle because, as he said, "I know they would both want to be here."  That really pulls at the heartstrings!  I couldn't help but think of all the family members we'd lost since Robert graduated just four years ago, and honestly, there are just too many.

This weekend has been full of graduation parties.  Last evening we attended a party in my hometown.  Heather and I were friends in high school, and our sons met and often competed against each other in swim.  Today we had three parties to attend.  One was a neighbor, one was one of the first families we met at church, and one was for Thomas's best friend in our former town.  Andrew stopped by that one on his way out of town to take his mom home, and I made it over later after attending others.  I loved seeing Thomas be able to hang out with those friends.

Today, my photo memories kind of hit me in the gut.  A year ago today, we were out to dinner with our best friends in honor of Belle's graduation.  Our two kids and their four kids were sitting in a row and I snapped a picture because having them all together is such a rarity.  There has been some serious drama this year, and I sometimes wonder if we'll ever be able to have the kids all together again.  As I was going through the slide show I've been working on for Thomas, there are so many pictures of the kids together, and broke my heart a little bit.  There was also the photos from five years ago when my mom's family gathered together for a cemetery tour and to eat together.  I miss family gatherings and traditions so much.  I yearn for big family gatherings, but I know that I need to be happy with the family I do get to be surrounded by.  The other set of photos that popped up today were ones that were taken eleven years ago today.  We were at my dad's cottage, and Thomas had caught his first fish.  It was the last time we were able to make memories there together.  Lots of hits to the emotions.

It's also hard because with Andrew's mom here, he and I have virtually no time as just the two of us.  I'm so grateful we were able to get his mom here for graduation and I know she enjoyed being here, but it's a huge adjustment at the time.  Tonight would be a fabulous evening for Andrew and I to share a glass of wine out doors as the weather is absolutely amazing.

I have so many more thoughts and emotions running through me right now, as I'm pretty sure that is the stage of life we are in!  I hope since summer has arrived, I'm able to get on here and share more things that have been happening.  It's not as funny or exciting as when the kids were little, but it's all still important to me!

Final graduation

Tonight was the final graduation in our house.  We are very proud and very pleased.  It was truly a lovely ceremony, although I was a little surprised how not emotional I felt.  In fact, I was most emotional about the young lady Mary who attends our church.  She is a cancer survivor and has been though so many medical crises in her young life.  It took her longer to walk up the ramp and get across the stage than anyone else.  It brought tears to my eyes, and I can only imagine the emotions of her parents.

After graduation Thomas brought his girlfriend back and we watched as he opened a few cards.  I know that it truly has not sunk in that my children are all grown!

A movie moment

Today is graduation day.  It's also Andrew's last day with students, it's Catherine's foot appointment day (long story), and apparently it is also a day of Holy Obligation (grrr) so Catherine will be taking my mother-in-law to church around Noon.  It's not like we are sitting around counting down the hours until Thomas graduates.  We've got things to do.  Unfortunately, we've had soaking rains all morning, so everything we do will have to be done inside.

This morning though, will have a moment I'll always remember, and it could've been right out of a movie.  Thomas has graduation rehearsal this morning, so I went to wake him up and make sure that he is moving.  As I was waking him up and wishing him "Happy Graduation Day!" I heard the song on the radio.  The song is about our life with Thomas, and I was so struck in that moment about how lucky I've been to be his mother.  We are so incredibly blessed.  It was just like it was a moment in a movie with the perfect soundtrack.  I'm so grateful for this life we've all had together.

So many things I have wanted to write about

There have been so, so many things I have wanted to write about since I last wrote, but life has been incredibly crazy.  Work has been insane, but we finished today.  Yay!!!!  We made it through the year.  I am exhausted, my co-workers are exhausted, but we made it.  Andrew still has students tomorrow and has to work Friday, then he'll be done for the summer.  I've taken the next two days off since tomorrow evening will be Thomas's graduation.  In addition to exhaustion, there has been some emotion about that.

Today there was the added emotion of the horrific school shooting that happened yesterday.  There are no words for that.

My mother-in-law has been here since Sunday.  She is an absolutely lovely lady, but it adds a little bit of stress by having her around.  She was able to see Thomas's tennis awards last evening, and we've enjoyed some dinners.

I feel like I'm only hitting highlights and I'm missing information, but hopefully I'll have more time update now that school is over.  Of course, with the youngest graduating and heading off to college in the fall, maybe I won't have much to write about!

Last day: the end of a parenting era

Thomas was out the door the morning as usual, but it was no usual morning.  It was the very last day of school for Thomas, and therefore the very last day Andrew and I would be parents of a school student.  Oh my goodness, it has gone so incredibly fast.  My heart hurts a little, but I'm so incredibly grateful.  It definitely feels a little surreal.

FFA banquet

Last evening was our final FFA banquet as parents.  As an aside, we love this organization so very much, and we are hoping we will be invited in years to come and would certainly plan to to attend.  Teachers are often invited, and we also send a sponsorship to them each year, so I suspect we will be.  Anyway, as always, it is an unbelievably long event.  We had been given the "heads up" earlier in the week that Thomas needed to be there for the "extra" portion which was the scholarship presentation.  We are so proud of him for receiving a $500 scholarship!  All-in-all, it was a five hour experience, but we loved seeing Thomas be recognized for his state FFA band selection as well.

I realized this is going to be the last one where I really recognize students and be known myself.  I've come to really like my job, but I will always miss being around the amazing kids at our high school.  It was such an honor and a blessing to get to experience those years as I did!

This part never ends

This morning, Thomas had to be at school at 7AM for band trip.  Just as an FYI, you can add this to the list of things I most certainly will not miss about parenting students.  Anyway, as he was walking out the door, I realized how very much this part won't end.  As he walked out the door, I said a little prayer that he make safe and healthy choices, that he be safe on the drives and throughout the day.  That part absolutely won't end even as he graduates school.  Those prayers will always be sent up for my children.

We made it!

We made it through a whole bunch of things this week.  It was an incredibly long week.  My school put on a musical, and I worked over 40 hours in the process.  Everyone was just drained getting through today, but we finally made it to the end of the day, and we had made it through musical week!

We also had our final band concert this week, at least that we could watch.  Thomas will perform tomorrow at a music festival but we won't be there.  This week's performance was the steel band that he joined this year.  They held an outdoor performance at the Community Arts Center, and the weather could not have been more perfect.  It was truly a lovely way to begin our week.  We have officially made it through being band parents!

Tuesday was Thomas's final tennis match.  We didn't get to see a whole bunch of matches this year, but this particular match took forever.  The weather was still lovely though, and we've made it through tennis season!

Today Andrew's baseball team had a tournament game.  We were fairly certain it was not going to come out in our favor.  To be honest, I was kind of hoping that it was bad enough that it would be over in five innings.  They ended up losing by the run rule amount, but it still took seven innings to get it done.  I am not at all sad that baseball season is coming to an end and we made it through the season!

Other things are ending as well.  Tonight is Thomas's very last shift at his very first job.  He'll be off work for two weeks before the job starts at the city pool for the summer.  The university pool has been a good first job for him.  The college students are leaving town as the academic year is drawing to a close.  We've made it through another school year in that regard.

And of course, we are about to have a very, very big "last".  On Monday, it will be Thomas's last day of school.  The last day I ever have a child in a k-12 setting.  Oh my goodness, it's so hard to believe it's here.  Because Thomas had delays, he started school as soon as he turned three.  That means he had 12 years of school, plus Kindergarten, plus 2.5 years of preschool.  I remember when we learned that Thomas was going to qualify for the preschool at that time.  We realized he would be in school for 15.5 years, and that seemed as though it was forever.  Yet, here we are with just one day left.  It all happened so fast, in the blink of an eye!

Prom and Mother's Day weekend

It's been a busy and memorable weekend around our house, and my heart could not be more full.  I was fighting a sinus infection most of last week, and that was tough.  It's not completely gone, but I feel much better now.  Sleeping is the tough part, which is often the issue with congestion.

Friday evening was just Andrew and myself for dinner, and nothing sounded good to me...except Dairy Queen blizzards.  We ordered a sandwich so it wasn't just ice cream for dinner, but I won't lie, it was exactly what hit the spot that evening.  The rain had cancelled baseball for the entire weekend, and I'm very grateful.  Thomas was home about Midnight that night, and it allowed us ALL to sleep in yesterday.

Mid afternoon, Thomas started getting ready for Prom, and Catherine arrived late afternoon to see him.  We met up with his date and her family a little after 4:30 and took some very lovely pictures.  Catherine hung around for a couple of hours before driving back to her apartment.  Thomas and T had a lovely dinner and enjoyed the dance before heading off to After Prom where Andrew was also volunteering.  It was 4AM before everyone was home again, which never allows for much sleep!

We slept in as much as we could today without completely destroying (we hope) our sleeping patterns.  Thomas had to work this afternoon and I returned his tux.  Andrew did a lot of yard work, and the weather could not have been more gorgeous.  It was absolutely wonderful.  Thomas's girlfriend very thoughtfully brought by some flowers and gifts for my Mother's Day.  It was such a kind gesture and I was touched.

This evening has been the best part, and I have my sweet little family to thank for it.  Catherine had sent me the sweetest text earlier today, and since Thomas was leaving for After Prom just after Midnight, I had very "early" wishes from him.  Catherine made the trip back to town for the evening (and is here until at least Thursday with her work schedule), and I had told Andrew I wanted to order some food in.  After dinner, the kids and Andrew gave me some gift cards, and Catherine gave me such a sweet paperweight.  It truly means the world to me.  All of this was after listening to Catherine and Thomas bonding over college things.

As I was driving home this afternoon, I couldn't help but feel that all of my dreams had come true.  I have an amazingly blessed life and I am so incredibly grateful!

So much has been going on

It's been a very long week, and there is still so much more to go!  This weekend is Thomas's senior prom, and of course Mother's Day.  It's never been my favorite holiday, and I intend to just rest from this week and get ready for the next week of craziness.  That is the thing about May.  While it isn't as crazy as some years because we only have one kid in school and not three, the fact that so many things haven't happened for the last two years makes this year seem more active.  I'm also working full time at a school where there are plenty of activities happening as well.

Catherine was home for the last week, and work has been pretty stressful for her.  There have been some challenges at work for her, and a few other issues have come up for her.  Her semester is finished, and I think she'll be in and out over the course of the summer.  It's a bit of a new phase, but we are learning.

Thomas has had an pretty amazing week.  On Monday, we visited Wright St.  I was glad that I was able to see the campus, and I think he'll really enjoy it there.  Last evening he had his final concert band concert of his high school career.  Since it was May 4th, they played some Star Wars songs.  It was a fun finish.  He still has a steel band concert next week, and then there is an event at an amusement park next weekend.  He is spending today and tomorrow at the state FFA convention where he was selected to be a member of the State FFA band.  We are so proud of how well things have gone for him with FFA these two years, and I only wish he could've started earlier.

It's so hard to believe this is all almost over.  I'm so grateful for all of the opportunities that my children have had, and I'm so incredibly grateful to be their mother.  I knew there are many transitions coming, and I look forward to getting to know them as adults.  Hopefully we will make many family memories this summer!