How's the family?

This fall, A.J. moved down to Texas with his girlfriend, Autumn.  They started dating the summer after he graduated.  She is going to school to be an Ultrasound Technician.  He is now back home working with a business that installs/maintains drain tile.  He loves working outside and gets opportunities to run heavy equipment.  His amateur baseball team made it to State last summer and hopes to repeat this year.

Laney is working at Brad's Market and also gives a few piano lessons at The Note Gallery each week.  In her spare time she enjoys spending time in her room with her 14 year old cat, doing her artwork, playing her piano and video games.  She is also in the SMSU Community Band and Route 68 Big Band where she plays the tenor sax.  It's nice to still have her at home, but I know she's planning to make a move soon, so we're enjoying spending our time with her as much as we can.

Faith is in her senior year and has been active and very successful in volleyball, basketball, softball, Student Council, NHS, FCCLA, FCA, Jazz Band, Concert Band & Choir, the Musical, One-Act Play and Senior Class President.  I am probably missing something, but let's just say she's over at the school before it starts, usually for a meeting, and rarely comes home before 6pm because of other activities.  

Her boyfriend, Joe, is in just as many activities, and luckily some of them overlap.  They have been dating since November but have been classmates/friends for a long time.  We have known Joe for such a long time, but it's been fun to get to know him more and see them both so happy and having a wonderful senior year together.

Ian is in 9th grade and has been his first year at the public school.  He is enjoying it, but he often talks about how much he loved being at St. Edwards and Holy Redeemer (Montgomery) through 8th grade.  He is a busy 3-sport athlete but had an especially amazing football season as the varsity place kicker this year.  It's been a dream of his since he started playing football to do it, and worked hard to get the opportunity to prove that he could do it.  He ended up setting the school's year end kicking record as well as the MSHSL record with 84 points.  His team made it to State and he got to check off a bucket list goal by kicking in US Bank Stadium where the NFL pros play.  He actually scored more points in one game that the opposing team, thanks to his teammates who had no problem finding the endzone. 

Noah is in the 5th grade at St. Edwards and continues to amaze us with his sports knowledge as well as his fierce competitiveness and rage to master all of the 3 sports he is in.  He had great football and basketball seasons and is looking forward to a busy baseball season where he has been offered the opportunity to play on a new traveling team called the Minneota Vipers.  He is a quiet yet strong leader on the field and court as well as a hard worker in everything he does.  He has such a sweet heart but can also be fierce when challenged.  He absolutely loves our adopted cat, Mr. Dough.

Bella is now 7 years old and finishing up her last year of Montessori school at St. Edwards.  This year she was diagnosed with moderate ADHD, so I have been learning more about how to understand how she learns differently than the other kids and how to manage her behavioral "quirks" that are now apparently symptoms of it.  She is a sweet caring little girl that loves hugs, learning about sharks and bugs, riding her bike and playing video games when she gets the chance or we're not dragging her to all of her older siblings' events.

I am thankful for the wealth of resources available at my fingertips these days that help me to recognize her struggles and how to help her work through them at this early age.  I know that so many kids and their families and teachers that have battled their way through school because it's not always an environment that caters to the way neurodivergent brains work and process the world around them.  They often get labeled as rambunctious, lazy, rude, impulsive daydreamers that can't sit still or be quiet when they need to.  But their gift is that when challenged with a time clock, an impossible task, a creative mindset, they can hyperfocus to accomplish amazing things and getting them through school mentally & socially is the toughest part.  

Jason is loving his horseshoeing business and has a new side hustle selling firewood.  He spends his spare time learning more about both of them between all of our kids' activities.

I am trying to do my best to manage our family as well as work a few hours a week as Seth's (Jason's brother) administrative assistant.  It's just enough to help him out and get me out of the house to earn a little cash.  

We're still learning new things about each other as we navigate having kids at home ranging from ages 7-21 and the constant mental shifting that requires.  Our lives are super busy, but we take each day at a time knowing that every moment together is precious, and that the ups and downs are part of what make this roller coaster of a life so exciting, fun and thrilling.  

Catching up - it's gonna be a process!

 I obviously have lots of catching up to do, but I'm going to start with the past week.  It is Faith's senior year and she is due to graduate from Minneota in a little over 2 weeks and she is a busy young lady!

Here are pics of a few of her activities and her final moments of them. (*crying, not crying)

National Honor Society

Senior Awards Night w/ her bestie since preschool, Grace

 Choir

Senior Class performance of "Lollipop" - Joe messed with Stanley and this is them laughing after

Concert Band

Ian - also in band and not to be forgotten ;)

These don't get any easier - yes, I cried a little, but that was Jason's dad's fault

Elena (cousin), Faith, Joe (boyfriend), Sam (cousin), Ian

Happy Anniversary!

 26 years ago today we stood in the front of our family & friends and professed our love and commitment to each other.  I had just entered the Catholic Church at Easter and was excited to start our lives together on "the same page".  To this day, I feel that the decision to be united in faith, if even just going through the motions at the time, was something that was going to be important in our family.  And it certainly has been!

Marriage is a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, twists and turns, moments of feeling safely buckled in and then times wondering if you are going to fall when things turn upside down.  

Not every day is happy, not every day is loving each others faults, but it's the gift of grace and turning to God in your moments of human weakness to soften the emotions and realize that we are not meant to fill each others hearts...we are meant to help each other get to heaven.

Maybe it's turning 50, maybe it's hormones, maybe it's mid-life crisis, maybe it's wisdom and letting go of the past, but this year has been a time of deep self-reflection, healing and finding genuine joy.  I have had to dig into wounds that I have covered, lies I have believed and hidden for the sake of a happy, healthy marriage.  But we all know that hiding hurt or pretending it doesn't exist only allows it to fester, and when do festering wounds surface?  When we are weakened mentally and physically and neglect our bodies to the brink of not being able to fight them off anymore.

Thankfully for me, I have a soulmate who sees me beyond all that, who assures me that I'm enough and invalidates all the lies those wounds try to push me to believe.  I know it hasn't been easy for him and that my up and down emotions have him wondering where to hide, but I know that the Holy Spirit continues to prompt each of us to keep fighting to understand each other and keep the devil from driving a wedge in every little crack.

As the years pile up, I look back and recognize the joy of living in the moment but being excited about the future.  I also now find joy in the moment but freedom in letting go of any expectations I had for the future because of my faith that God has a plan for me and it's way better than what I had planned for myself.

Back to "nOrMaL"?

March, April & May were definitely months of transition and uncertainty, but we made it through pretty well but were glad when distance learning was finally over!  After school was done, we had about a month of nice leisure time where we weren't stressing over school and our activities were basically non-existent and we were able to accomplish some things to keep from being bored.

June brought more activities as the weather started to cooperate and the last couple have weeks have begun to feel like a slightly new normal...more activities with lots of new rules and guidelines that are very difficult for kids to follow.  It's just not in their nature to social distance, or touch their faces, or wash their hands every time they do and heaven help us if down the road we have to make them wear masks!

With all that, it's hard to not get worked up with all else that's going on in our nation, and even our state, and I have to turn away from the news (and even my favorite late night talk shows) and turn my focus back to what matters most...my family and my faith in a God that's bigger than it all.

Work has started to resume back at the office for Jason & his resurrected horseshoeing business has been a great side income for us.  We were able to finally purchase a vehicle that we can fit our whole family in, after the reverse in the transmission went out in our old
Suburban nearly 2 years ago when we moved.

As we begin the month of July, we are grateful for our health and work that provides for our family.  The older kids are finding work to keep busy and earn money for their constantly & rapidly emptying wallets, but they are learning the value of a dollar and how to work for what they want.  A.J. and Faith's activity schedules are starting to resume with Strength Training, Baseball/Softball and skills training for the (hopefully) upcoming football/volleyball seasons.  So next week, we will get to be back in the bleachers to watch some baseball games and continue to enjoy what we can when we can.
Stay safe & hope you are finding your way back to our "new nOrMaL".

Our first outing since lockdown

My aunt and uncle were up from their home in Texas and invited us to their cabin in the woods in Northern MN while they were up.  It was our first family outing since the lockdown and first big trip together (in one vehicle) for about 2 years.  (It's a longer story that involves a broken transmission.)

The weather was absolutely beautiful and we all had a great time to spend with family we don't get to see as often as we'd like.  We all got our fill of fishing and the kids loved being able to drive around on ATV's and scooters and just going down to the lake to enjoy the water.  I tried to get pictures, but they were all running around having fun (and I tried to keep away from my phone) so I just got a few.

           Jason & Bella in a giant floating island   

               

 Noah kayaking solo - I think that's Ian in the paddleboat fishing

 Catching lots of "snot rockets" to help the smaller fish re-populate after a freeze out

 Faith and Laney in action

 Bella helping Aunty Rita drive the pontoon

AJ rockin' the scooter ;)

Out of the mouths of babes

This little girl made sure my day started off on a wonderful note. 

Every morning, she wakes up and goes out to the dining room where hopefully, her bowl of chocolate Malt-o-meal warm cereal awaits for her to be slurped up through her straw bowl.  She will usually then, come back to bed to snooze more, depending on the time she crawls out of bed.  

Today I got out of bed before she came back and was in the bathroom when I heard her come back in.  When she realized I was not in bed, I heard her disappointment when she moaned, "Awww!"  I opened the bathroom door and asked her if she wanted to crawl into bed to snuggle and she perked up and exclaimed, "Yeah!"  We curled up under her blanket and after a couple minutes, she turned toward me & nuzzled in close and said, "I luh you Mommy".  I didn't fully hear her and said, "What?" and she said it again in the sweetest little voice..."I luh you Mommy".  My heart melted and I squeezed her with a huge grin on my face as I said to her, "I love you too baby".  I can't think of a better way to start the day!

A missed post...

(I knew I had written something in between, but I didn't post it for some reason.  This would have been a post from last month - still not frequent posting, but it's something!)

Today ends a 4-week stretch of doing distance learning school at home with the 2 younger boys.  It actually only amounts to 17 actual days of teaching, but it certainly seems longer, especially when I think that we're only half done if we end up doing this until the end of the school year.

Summer fever has already struck them, especially after a 5-day Easter break, but I think that will improve as the weather does.  It's funny how we can spend time outdoors during the winter, but when we have cold spring days, nobody wants to go outside because "it's too cold!"

What I've learned through this process...
- The more organized I am for school, the messier my house is.
- When we do clean up more than usual, it only lasts for a couple hours.  I cringe to think of what was in my carpets now that I have all hardwood floors that need to be vacuumed/swept at least every other day.  I really should invest in a robot vacuum that could work for me at night.
- Distance learning works for our family but leaves me little energy to do much else. Thankfully half of our kids are self-sufficient for their schoolwork!
- Bella's vocabulary is improving by having her siblings home all day and she loves having them around! I do as well because they have more energy to keep up with her when I don't.