Quieter...

 With Sam out Adventuring in the Keys, it should be a little quieter, right?  

Kind of yes.  Kind of no.  

There certainly is less noise.  Five gallons of milk last 8 days instead of 6.  We're going through a LOT less pasta.  Benjamin is getting in less trouble because Nate doesn't respond to needling the same way Sam does.  However...we miss Sam.  He's flying NORDO for the next few days on the boat.  I can't wait to hear how it goes for him.  We convinced him to take the phone with him so he could keep in touch...so far the majority of pictures have been selfies from eye-level up, 

and protected chickens

...and when I asked for a picture of his view at breakfast-time, I got this...
 

The boy is literal...what can I say? St Monica and I are spending lots of time together praying for him.  And all the kids, actually.  

Caroline and Nate had their performances of "Newsies" after 2 weeks and 70 hours or rehearsals.  They nailed it and were obviously having the time of their lives while on stage. 

Because the Phillies were playing the Cubs this weekend, we ventured up to Hell's Armpit Philadelphia today for the game.  Citizen's Bank Park is a great place to watch a ballgame - even with all the Phillies fans.  Thank goodness we brought 4 liters of seltzer water with us.  

Sign of a good afternoon...passed out in the backseat. 

Quiet

It's quiet here. Sam left for Sea Base down in the Florida Keys for a 10 day High Adventure this morning. Thank God everyone tested negative for COVID and they could all go. We've been masking indoors all week to try to shield him from potential germs the rest of us are picking up at church or baseball or theatre. I'm so glad he's clean. I'm also so glad to take off the mask in the house. Sam was looking rather contemptlative the other day. I asked him how he was feeling about his Adventure. Ten days is a long time to be away - for anyone. He told me he was, "Nervous. Very nervous." Mama instincts kicked in, thinking he was afraid to be away or anxious about being on a boat, so I asked him what he was nervous about. His reply made my jaw drop. "Invasive species, Mom. I'm nervous about the nubmer of invasive species we're going to find. We're going to have to shoot them, you know." NOPE. I didn't know. Trying to did in a little deeper, I asked how he felt about being away from home for so long. "Being away? Aww...that'll be great. I'm juiced." Other than crushing my Mama Ego...the boy was ready to Adventure. 

It IS asking too much to get a decent picture at 7am staring into the sun...but I had to try.

He was READY to go. 

"It's hugging, not Heimlich"  But the boys were fighting over who was going to get to sleep in Sam's bed almost as soon as the van pulled out. 

So, it's quiet here today.  Benjamin is back from baseball camp.  Nate and Caroline are at dress rehearsal day for "Newsies" this weekend.  They have been coming home utterly joyful from their daily 7 hour sessions.  It's so glad to be at a place with good instruction and good communication again.  I know there will never be a Dance Phase here...but it had to be better than where we were.  Caroline was asked to assist next week with theatre camp with the younger kids - not only did  they ask us BEFORE they talked to Caroline about it, but they sent an email with hours, location, expectations, dress code and duties they would be expected to do.  It.  Was.  Wonderful.  She is so dang excited to be back in the theater.  It's nice to see.

  

 

 

 

We're Back.

 I'm sorry it has been more than a year since I've posted.  

I'll admit...I'm tired.  Really tired.  Fall asleep when I sit down on the couch tired.  And that's just the way it has been and is going to be for the next few years, thank God.  It means there is lots going on, lots to keep up with, lots to think of, lots to manage and lots to look forward to.  I truly am grateful for that.  

I don't know if it's the pandemic or getting older or just entry into a new stage of being...but since the pandemic started, I have gone from raging extroversion to being someone who finds being with people simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting.  I'm learning how to balance the two.  And that's okay.  

Caroline got her Learner's Permit today.  We got to the DMV only to be taken to task because her name is spelled incorrectly on her social security card.  Seriously.  I'm sure not if I"m more upset that her name is wrong or that it took me sixteen and a half years to figure it out.  Eventually...they let her in and she passed her exam.  I'm happy to announce that I let her drive on our street and got a whole 40' before I cursed and yelled, "Pull the F*@(ing car over!!"  We both might need a little more time to practice.  I though the whole homeschool think might be helpful when it came to teaching my children to learn to drive.   NO.  IT'S NOT.  NOT.  AT.  ALL.  I'm not writing these things down to embarrass...only to remember...the first time with her driving the Rav involved almost taking out 4 mailboxes, going over a curb and coming to rest in a storm drain  Driving isn't as intuitive as I hoped it would be.  That being said, I distinctly remember my father teaching me to drive a stick shift and getting SO mad that (other than a cloud of explicatives that still hangs somewhere over the Saint Pius X parking lot), he got out and walked home.  Then...after about 15 more attempts at changing gears...so did I.  We're both works in progress...what can I say?  

Caroline also just got home from the Archdiocesan Work Camp.  She had a nice time and I think it was so good for her to re-connect with her friends.  She was also grateful to be on painting duty, instead of pouring concrete like last year.  She's heading out to Steubenville, OH soon for a youth conference on the Eucharist.  Pretty sure she's going to fall in love with Franciscan University...and I'm pretty sure she's still going to have to get four solid semesters at CCBC under her belt before that happens, but it's a start.  

I had forgotten how much fun it is to watch teenage girls interact and how much dang energy they have. 

I think it's safe to say we look like we share genetic material. 

Some of the 21 dozen cookies made for the Work Camp staff & campers. 

Sam also got back from a week away at Boy Scout Camp.  He was somewhere north of Harrisburg, as it seems to be a requisite that all camps are either in the bowels of West Virginia or Pennsylvania.  He had a wonderful time that involved captaining a cardboard boat, passing his swimming test (!), earning five merit badges (Communication, Environmental Science, Citizenship in the Nation, Astronomy and Wilderness Survival) and learning that he can eat almost anything if he puts it in a bun.  He came home literally 3" taller than when he left.  They say these things don't happen overnight - but I promise you THIS DID!  When Sam left for camp, he was shorter than Caroline and a week later, he's at least an inch taller.  Also...we had to order him new socks, shoes and shirts because he outgrew them ALL.  I'm waiting on the pants to see how much he grows between now and autumn (and got socks that matched all his scout pants, just in case).  Sam is getting super psyched for Sea Base down in the Keys at the end of July.  It's hard to comprehend he'll be Adventuring for ten days on a boat, surrounded by coral reefs, a thousand miles away...I'll readily admit - I"m probably definitely having a harder time with it than he is.  But this is the kid that wouldn't step foot in a lake or pool until he was nine and only at food that was white until last week.  It's understandable, right? 

For the sanity of all involved, I can't say how long it took these boys to arrange themselves in a picture-taking formation.  The time elapsed photo of them trying to take a photo was...shall we say...entertaining. 

Sam says his goal is Eagle Scout.  He's Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, almost ready to advance to 1st Class rank and moving up in the merit badge department.  A steady process wins the race.

It was quiet(er) here last week with the Olders away.  When we moved back almost three years ago, I didn't take the time to set up closets in the way that would be most functional.  Two cross country moves in two years squashed my capabilities to organize.  When it comes down to it, I had too much on my plate to process unpacking (I JUST finished a couple months ago) and left the organizing to the kids.  Sam and Caroline did fine with it.  Nate and Ben - ahem- struggled a bit.  And with kids outgrowing everything in sight, clothes needing to be rotated and developing executive functional / organizational skills - their room was a freaking disaster needed help. 

Here's what we came up with together.  Everything culled, labeled and put in a place where I don't have to look at it.  Let's see how long it lasts. It's nice to have my brain not hurt when I walk in their room. 

We wanted to do something for the Youngers while the Olders were away.  After two plus years of COVID-induced sequestration, we forgot how close we are to so many amazing things to do.  Somehow, Benjamin has become a Phillies fan and loves Bryce Harper.  We surprised the boys and headed up to Philly after our Bible Timeline potluck lunch.  The twenty years of disdain I've been harboring for Phillies' fans almost evaporated when our row was sandwiched by grown men keeping score by hand AND the gorgeous ballpark AND seats were three rows in back of the Phillies ball-girl AND Kyle Schwarber's home run AND 20 oz cans of Leinenkugel.  When we got into the ballpark, both boys' eyes were as big as saucers.  I hadn't realized how significant the baseball nerd-dom ran big fans the boys were.  It was a special night and very much appreciated. 

I SO did not buy him that blush slushie.  But how many kids can boast that their tongue matches their hat? 

Pretty sure it took Benjamin all the way to Delaware for him to settle down and realize he was going to his first Phillies game. 

And so that's it.  

Actually, there's so much more.  We're taking off a few weeks from school to do theatre camp, vacation Bible school, baseball camp, SeaBase - and to just BE.  Somehow I harbor this guilt from being cooped up for two years from COVID and  that I"m denying the kids basic life experiences by homeschooling.  I know I need to get over it, because their not being denied ANYTHING - their experience is just as rich...it's just different than "normal" kids.  That being said - it is so nice to see them excited about activities again.  I'm trying to balance that with the happenings of the world that make me not want to let them go anyplace.  Ever.  It's a balance.  

I will attempt to blog more.  It's good for my being.  So much of our life is documented here.  

Let's see how it goes.