Catching Up

It’s been a little too busy for me the past two months, so I am just catching up and finally really, really enjoying slower days.  I also have a renewed commitment to make no commitments to anything but my family and home life after making a few this spring that I realized would make life busier than usual.  I guess every 5 years or so I need that reminder of why I say no-because I have enough to do right here.

I love this quote so much:

“It is ok to be happy with a simple life.”

But it takes dedication to lead a simple life today-really perseverance and focus, and tons of discretion especially as mothers.  It also takes the generous use of the word ‘no’.  And it takes seeking out of like-minded friends, who also enjoy the simple life-walks, strolls to the park with littles ones, good books, shared enthusiasm for family dinners, new recipes, and most of contentment in our role as home makers, mothers, and wives.  

Enough said about that.  Here are some of our highlights of the past weeks (months?).

Lent was over and this boy was so happy-and I was so proud of both Andrew and Patrick who gave us ice cream and pop respectively.  I bought some rootbeer for Patrick to enjoy a nice big glass on Easter day and Andrew had a huge bowl of his favorite ice cream. 

Easter eggs!  That book in the back called Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cakeis hilarious and one of Janey’s favorites.

Easter morning!  So exciting!  We woke the older kids up bright and early and had a big breakfast and went to Mass, where Andrew served…

…and then out to Grandma’s for the Easter Egg hunt.  We had beautiful summer-like weather which is quite unusual.

Janey wants to play restaurant for lunch every day-she knocks at the “door” (in the family room) and I seat her and tell her the options and then give her a bill.  

Andrew was Rooster in our little school’s annual play.  He did such a great job-so funny and really enjoyed every minute of it.

Annie’s voice was incredible.  Really, it was as good as any professional Annie I’ve ever heard.  She was absolutely the star of the show.  I heard through the grapevine that she never took voice lessons and her parents didn’t even know she could sing like that.  What a nice surprise they must have had opening night.  Listening to her gave us all chills.

Matt turned 18!  Janey was just a little excited for him. 🙂  One more year left of high school-we did a quick college visit to Isaac’s alma mater and it went well-can’t believe we are doing this all over again. He’s had such a great junior year with the best teachers and really loves school.  High school flies by for sure.

It is a tradition in our school for 7th and 8th graders to go through a week called Teens High On Life where they listen to inspirational speakers and learn how to be healthy and make smart choices. It ends with a 5K that they all trained for all spring.  I love this idea and this race and watching all the kids work hard and support each other.  We had terrible weather this year but they still ran in the rain and wind.

All race I was fielding texts from Matt and Isaac who were at school and work, asking how he was doing, if he was ok (did he puke? did he cry, why does he look like he’s crying in the picture-no he didn’t!).  They’ve all ran this race and tried their hardest.  I can’t help reminiscing about Andrew running cross country as a little guy and how difficult it was for him to make his legs go fast…really he just didn’t get that coordination.  Nor did he understand the concept of the race, since it took about till the season was over before he started asking why everyone was always in front of him.  It is true though-the guys and girls who have to try harder sometimes develop an awesome grit and determination and don’t fear the hard things in life or taking a chance on new things.  This is Andrew for sure.  

We are so proud of him!

Next big event:

Patrick made his First Holy Communion which is just one of my favorite events to celebrate (and I only have one more boo hoo!). He was so so nervous, he cried a couple times that day, which is extremely unusual of him.  Once the ceremony started I could tell he finally relaxed and within minutes of joining us in the pew was whispering to me how uncomfortable ties are and how hot he was in all these layers.  This is a kid who lives in t-shirts and shorts so I had to laugh and say, “Well now you know how Dad feels every day.”

We all love him so much.  

We came home and had a great family celebration.

And for the most part that was the last big to-do in our house this spring and I breathed a sigh of relief and looked at my calendar that had white space the rest of the month and cleaned my house and caught up on laundry and went to the park.  

Happy Spring!

and

Happy Mother’s Day to you all!