It's been forever since I've written a blogpost...well, at least one I've officially typed up. I've "written" a dozen in my head over the past few months but just never gotten around to/took the time to actually sit down and type them out officially. There's a lot of reasons for that...the cop out would be to say I've been busy just riding the wave of life. And that's partially true....and for now it's the easiest reason. I'm praying on getting back into deeper posts, though I'm not quite there yet.
I thought a little catch up might help me ease back into the blogging waters.
I can't believe it's been three whole months since I posted! Lots of life has been lived and a new little person has been added to our family! I think I'll try to stick to (mostly) chronological order and go from there!
1. Graduation(#1)
Ellie finished high school! As for many families, Covid wreaked some havoc in our lives and Ellie, Jay and I made the prayerful decision for Ellie not to return to Bishop Stang last fall. Instead, she was officially "homeschooled" but took classes through our local community college that fulfilled the rest of her high school credit needs and gave her credits for college. It wasn't a traditional way to do senior year, but it was the way that worked best for her. If we have learned anything over the 28 years that we have been parents, it's that what works for one child won't necessarily work for another. We have to be ready to zig and zag and let go of plans and expectations. Not an easy thing to do sometimes.
Even though finishing up her classes didn't have the fanfare and ceremony that accompanies a traditional senior year, Ellie did great and will be commuting to Bridgewater State University next week to study Business. Between some AP credits and her BCC classes from last year, she's starting as a Sophomore, which is exciting!
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| Ellie and Leo |
2. A Much Needed Small Family Getaway
With all the chaos of 2020 and 2021, I was feeling a little desperate to just get away. By January/February last year, the usual winter isolation was so much harder to deal with as we were still dealing with masks and things shut down or just still so far from "normal". Being stuck inside because of the cold was even harder to deal with than other winters. I started looking daily at how inexpensive it would be to fly to Florida and sending Jay text messages about trips. But with the twins due in March, we didn't feel like it was the best decision to go away at that point. I really needed something tangible to look forward to, so we decided to plan a trip for mid June. But then, Liz's doctor told her that there was a possibility that her baby could arrive early depending on how well they were able to control her blood pressure issues, which fell at that mid June mark. Since I really needed to plan a trip away for my mental health, Jay and I decided to plan a trip for the third week of May. We took Peter, Luke and Kate out of school and flew to Disney for a week. We didn't tell them about it until 2 days before we left, because so many things have had to be postponed or canceled over the last year that I didn't want them to be disappointed.
Like most people travelling, we didn't share a lot about our trip. There has been a lot of "shaming" going on in social media for doing things that some consider "too risky" because of covid, so we had an old fashioned, non social media documented trip. Well, at least until now! ;)
It was a lot of fun! We stayed in hotels that most of us have never stayed in before. We did a split stay: 4 nights at the Polynesian and 3 nights at the Boardwalk. (I stayed at the Polynesian a couple of times as a little girl, and I also stayed there last October during another undocumented short trip that I took with just Jon and Peter that was a rescheduled graduation trip....originally planned for the day the world shut down in March, 2020!)
Luke and Kate loved the volcano pool at the the Polynesian! Since it was May, and hot(!), we spent a lot of time in the pool around our visits to the parks. Jay loved his stay at the Polynesian because of the close proximity of dole whip! lol We tried some new restaurants, ate at some of our favorites, tried new snacks, and I finally got a boba ball drink in Animal Kingdom. Our goal for the trip was for it to be life giving and child led. The last year has been a lot for everyone, Kate and Luke included, and with all the changes in our family Jay and I felt like the youngest have been short changed at times in the attention department. We've never taken them on a trip by themselves, and it was really nice to only divide our attention among 3 kids! Planning a trip for 5 people vs 12-14 is SO much easier!!!
3. Vaca Pics
Since #2 was more of a "long take" than a "quick take", pics get their own spot!:)
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| Luke driving by himself! |
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| Via Napoli...one of our favorites! Especially Kate's! |
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| Luke loving all thing Star Wars! |
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| Kate getting a ride in Peter's wheelchair. Peter wasn't hurt...it's just easier for us to keep him from wandering off and getting lost in a crowd! |
The month of June was a big countdown to Grandbaby #3. Liz wanted to be surprised about having a boy or a girl...much to Andrew's chagrin! Andrew would say, "Liz, you hate surprises! Why do you want to be surprised about one of the biggest moments of your life?!?" But Liz held firm, so we were all left to guess who this new little bundle would be. Liz did great through the end of her pregnancy, navigating a mild case of gestational diabetes and sacrificing all the fun foods and monitoring her blood sugars multiple times a day.
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| I took this the night before the scheduled induction. Liz looked great! |
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| Xavier Christopher |
5. Graduation #2
At the end of July, Sarah graduated from Bridgewater with a graduate degree in Speech Therapy. Sarah worked really hard in a very intense program and finally reached the end! The graduation ceremony was at Gilette Stadium. She is so glad to be finished. She got a job at a local private practice and really loves the kids she is working with. She's also loving getting a paycheck! Now she gets to do those fun adulting tasks like making a budget. She's getting married in September, 2022, so she has just over a year to do some saving. With the encouragement of her older brother, Jon, who has spent a lot of his free time in the last couple of years learning about investing and saving strategies based on the FIRE movement(Financial Indepedence:Retire Early), she also opened a Vanguard account.
Jon also writes a blog post about his experience as a college student to save money and now as a new husband and dad...(he's the one with the twins.) The name of his blog is Frugal Jon and you can check it out here!
6. Vacation Week...aka #momfail
Jay has to pick his summer vacation week in March every year. I had debated over two different weeks because of where Luke's birthday fell, but it turns out that the week I wrote on our calendar was not the same week that I gave to Jay to take off! We didn't find out about it until 3 days before his actual vacation started... I had written it down for the week after.
We had a weekend trip to the Vineyard planned that I thought was starting our vacation, but now turned out was going to be the end of our vacation and had to now be shortened a day because we had to be back on Sunday night. The biggest bummer was that we had planned a mini trip to Lego Land for Kate, Luke and Peter and they didn't have the same package for our actual week off. I moved the trip to Columbus Day weekend, but Kate and Luke were definitely disappointed. They handled it well, but Ugh:(. Not my best mom moment.
The week looked different than I thought it would, but it still went ok, and we were happy to have Jay home. The first weekend was spent celebrating Luke's 12th birthday...Laser Gate with some of his siblings and his favorite chicken pie for dinner...and saying goodbye to our Pastor who was being transferred. One day, we did an escape room with Ellie, Peter, Kate and Luke as well as lunch and shopping in Mashpee. That was a fun outing. Another day, Jay and I even got a few hours for a lunch date. It wasn't a complete fail, but it definitely felt a little flat...at least for me.
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| Ambrose and Leo enjoyed the carousel...the beach, not so much! |
#7. The End...Of Summer That Is
We are less than a week away from school starting. This time of year is always bittersweet! (And hectic!) School supplies, finishing summer packets, checking to see what part of their uniforms fit/need to be replaced, and trying to squeeze in just a little more summer fun can be a tad bit overwhelming! While I like Fall weather, and I like routine, I'm not feeling ready to jump back into all the early morning lunch making and afternoon homework. (Except for Peter...he needs to go back to school! Special needs kiddos thrive on their routine, and having him home full time since 8/6 has burned me out. I'm ready for a break!) But with everyone else, return to school feels bittersweet. #honesttiredmom
Lots of changes are happening for me this Fall. I will be watching the twins three days a week while Marisa is at work. One of her aunts is going to do the other two days. It will be a big adjustment! They are SO cute! Also, quite a lot of work since there are two of them! I give Jon and Marisa lots of credit...especially with the night time wake ups. (That is definitely one part of having babies that I don't miss!)
Hopefully, we can figure out a routine that works pretty quickly. The boys and I have had a few "discussions" about going easy on Grammy since she's outnumbered!
To end on a completely positive, (and adorable) note, here are a few pics of our small gaggle of grandsons!
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| Leo |
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| Ambose |
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| Xavier |
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| Our three amigos |
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| Pupa and Xavier |
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| Leo and Ambrose |
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| Ambrose |
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| Xavier |
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| Holding Xavier at home for the first time |
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| Xavier |
