We Made It!

We're coming out the other side stronger

One foot in front of the other

Hands still raising

Hearts still praising

We Made It!

We Made It! 

We Made It!

We Made It! 

-Cain. With a little artistic license. 

This year has been good to us. 

Field trips. And trying new things. Minimal drama. 

I cannot believe that they'll both be in middle school next year. How do I not have an elementary student anymore? It's the last time I will ever have anyone lined up on the West playground. 

Nevertheless... we made it! Bring on sweet summer! 

C's Birthday

 C's Birthday was fantastic. 

He started out with his Birthday Bagel Breakfast and then we headed out to school. He had his birthday treat of Two Bite Brownies in tow. They were appreciated by his classmates. 

At 9:30ish, two full weeks after auditions and a week after an email asking for a callback video to be submitted the SpongeBob cast list finally came out and Happy Birthday to him because he got the role of SpongeBob.

So when we got home a lot of highlighting was happening. 

Don't worry at all, M also got a pretty good part and she is going to be Pearl. 

The very nice Amazon delivery driver brought his new bulletin board and Husband hung it up for him over his desk. This was one present he specifically asked for. 

His voice teacher had to move some things around this week so he ended up with voice lessons. Which was actually really nice. He has been working hard rehearsing and sounded great. 

And he got a candy bar for having a lesson on his birthday. 

We got home and Husband and M had gone to get the pizza he wanted for dinner. We enjoyed that and then called my parents for some present opening. 

Amazon screwed up and sent 2 of the same game. My brother checked, he was only charged for 1! Fun glitches in the Matrix don't happen like that often! 

He got: 

• Acrylic Markers
• A sketchbook for the Acrylic Markers
• Statue of Liberty Lego
• BB8 Lego
• Super Smash Bros for the Switch
• A Shutterfly Book from the Secret Garden
• Color Stack
• Bulletin Board
• Steamboat Willie Disney Pin
• An Almanac 

C put his birthday crown back on for the opening. It's a favorite part of middle school birthdays of course. 

Then it was time for his birthday cheesecake. 

It turned out so good! It got hot again here over the weekend so I was a little worried because it took a long while to come to room temp on the counter Monday when we baked it. But it's little sleepover in the fridge went well and it was fantastic! 

And his scratchers won! 

2 whole dollars. LOL. Yes I know they say not to gift these to children. We do anyway and I don't think it has created a gambling problem for him. I promise. 

So that was the birthday. It was a good one! 

All the Happenings

So I am behind. I blame May. 

Let's see if I can recap some of the most interesting things that have happened lately. 

M has been the champion of selfies lately. 

The best part of this is that her chore is to water the flowers and grass seed every day. I am delighted to tell you that the grass seed we have been using to patch our backyard has been doing remarkably well. I am so glad. 

C and I went to two shows together last weekend. I enjoyed the one-on-one time with him!

Last Monday was the last rosary of the school year, so we celebrated with donuts and fruit. I was in charge of some munchkins from Dunkin... only the box decided to take a journey and fall off the front seat on the way to school.

Whomp whomp. 17 of the 50 met an untimely death on my car floor. 

Ultimately, though, we gathered and prayed. Which is more important that donuts. For what it's worth we stilll had plenty of treats. 

That was also the band field trip, so after rosary, I went home to hang with C for his hooky day. M went to school. It was just her and one other little girl there in her class. I will let her play hooky next year. But she was keeping her perfect attendance streak... she didn't miss a single day this year! 

Last week was also the 100th Birthday Party of our school. We all got matching shirts. The kids got to have an hour with lawn games, bounce houses, crafts, etc. 

I was the photographer and Husband the editor for the 100th year all school photo. 

I am pretty proud. It was a fun day! 

Friday was M's day at Junior Achievement BizTown. She was the CMO of John Deere, and I was lucky enough to chaperone. BizTown is a day-long visit to a simulated town. It allows students the chance to run a simulated economy. 

Here's my girl in her business. Yes, she planned this outfit SPECIFICALLY for Deere. 

As a chaperone I got a coupon for a free radio station dedication so I picked Dua Lipa's Levitating because I often call M my "sugar boo." This is us during the song. 

This was her visiting the business I was in charge of supervising all day: the creative marketing team. My kids I was watching, created magnetic billboards for each business. 

My 6 kids were so great. They took their jobs so seriously. 

M also was hustling. She deeply wanted her business to pay back its business loan that day. They do that by selling merchandise. The kids get to earn salaries and buy things during their breaks. 

And as fate would have it, the John Deere seasonal ice cream flavor dropped that day. So we had to go. First, because of BizTown, but even more importantly, because it is legitimately her favorite ice cream flavor and she had been asking when it was time for the flavor to come back. 

It's Lemon Custard blended with Lime Sherbet. 

As you can see, on her first break she deposited her paycheck and immediately came back to buy the hat she was trying to sell. She is currently obessed with this hat. 

And our Memorial Day weekend was busy but good. I attended a dance recital. 

G danced very well. And other than the auditorium being much warmer than neccessary it was a nice evening out. 

We celebrated Pentecost and then lounged about. Husband and I went out for a drink with friends. Monday we did errands and prepared for the week as well as hit some grad parties. 

More Soon! 

C is 14!

My Sweet C, 

14 years. That's how long I've gotten to know you. And what a crazy ride it has been this last trip around the sun. 

The good news is that you are very much the same. You like Walruses, Bluey, Penguins, Snoopy, Mo Willems, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Theater, and Music. How lucky that we always know what to get you. 

The teen years are not without challenges. The desire for more freedom. The staying up late. The "sleeping in." (If we can call 7:00 AM sleeping in, which I know for you it is, but come on. That doesn't even make us late.) The attitude. Your hair has an entire mind of its own, and I can't seem to figure out how to get it cut so that it isn't crazy. 

But there has been so much goodness. Your first big show. Another year of choir. Voice lessons. Trying a lot of new foods. You still don't eat potatoes that haven't been French Fried, but we're working on it. I am so proud that you've embraced the gifts God has given you and you're sharing those gifts with the world. I love to listen to you sing. 

This year, I have seen you blossom, no longer content to be a witness to your own story: you're chatting up classmates and cracking jokes. You're just more engaged with the world, and I can appreciate that so much. I am so lucky to get to be in your corner to help bring you back to reality when you need it and push you when you need that too. 

It absolutely blows my mind that you could get your learner's permit today. And I am grateful that it will not be part of the plan for a while. You're still so tiny that I don't even let you ride in the front seat, much less DRIVE. 

Remember that even on the hard days that you are so impossibly loved. By Jesus first and then by me. Happy Birthday, Goose! 

Mom

This Week of Stuff

Look at me trying to beat the May crazy by blogging twice in a week. What?!

I am glad to say this week was very normal, and I have little to show for it. Which makes for dull blogging but minimal drama. 

This made me laugh this week: 

Tuesday afternoon, the kids auditioned for their summer show SpongeBob Musical Youth Edition. Let me sound old when I say back in my day (like my high school years), I enjoyed SpongeBob when it first came out. **cough, I am old** I then matured and recognized the show is dumb. 

We have never really watched it with our kids. 

And the musical is actually so cute with great music. Go figure. 

Anyway, I made them both audition for the role of SpongeBob. I do not anticipate either one of them will be cast as SpongeBob. 

Though I did make C wear a yellow Savannah Banana shirt and khaki shorts to subliminally give SpongeBob energy. He would have the better chance of the two kids. Simply for being a boy, though gender doesn't matter for this show so much, and also because he is one of the oldest kids in the show, since it's for going into grades 3-8.

I made them audition for SpongeBob, though, so that they would be seen as capable and confident. Here's hoping the cast list reflects that. 

After the auditions, I drove out to a nearby county park for a fine young man's Eagle Scout Court of Honor. 

I am so proud of all of Declan's hard work. What an honor to know him. I think Eagle Scouts are the best men. All of my high school guy friends were Eagle Scouts, so I have been to many a court of honor. This one made me cry just like all the others did. 

Wednesday night Husband and I went to a free library class to make Capybara String Art. 

M discovered the purple lemonade at Starbucks. 

And I had a gift card, so I took her to get one. It's a 10/10 would recommend from her. I had one too and thought it was awfully sweet, but the peach/mango popping pearls were good. I like that it can be ordered caffeine-free. As I don't think I have ever blogged about this, but I have been nearly caffeine-free since January 11, 2025. (Just 4 caffeinated drinks since then. I don't count any amounts that occur in chocolate.)

Yesterday we watched Survivor. We are a day behind, but we will have to watch live next week. 

This girl and I don't know at all who to root for at this point. We don't really like anyone left! So I guess Joe or Aubry! 

And that's what I know. Happy Friday, everyone! 

A Week.

So I last blogged on the other side of First Communion. And then we had a fairly typical week, with nothing happening. Except real life and real life, in all its goodness, isn't super interesting. 

M had a doctor's appointment. And as we were sitting in the lobby waiting to be called back, I figured out she was due for some vaccines. She wasn't thrilled about that. 

But the Band-Aids were CUTE! 

But she was a champ, got a McDonald's lunch out of the deal because she missed lunch and recess for the appointment (which, if you're going to miss part of the day, that's the part to miss academically... plus then your mom buys you McDonald's!)

And she rocked her lemur sticker the rest of the day. 

Tuesday... the most interesting thing was we got a new First Communion Register, and this one wants different information from our old one. 

Specifically... the town they were born in. So I spent the day tracking down where everyone was born.

Wednesday... happened. With no pictures to prove it. 

Thursday was Fine Arts Day at school. C's choir sang. 

Later, we went to voice lessons and those went well! 

Friday also happened. It was May crowning, and I live-streamed. 

But otherwise it was a pretty typical day. 

Saturday was Putnam Palooza. I did M's hair because she had a busy day!

After we left, M got dropped off at a birthday party. C and I went home. I took a nap. No shame. 

Later, the two of us went out to dinner together. 

Then we went back to listen to the bands play. 

Mother's Day was low-key to the point where I didn't even take a picture with my kids. We went to Mass. We got Raising Canes for lunch and watched Sister Act, and then I went with my friend to see Fiddler on the Roof again. 

So here we are. Back at Monday. It's going to be another week of not much.