Three days away

When Mick and I redesigned our house back in 2006, we put a lot of thought into the changes that would accommodate large group gatherings. Spaces were widened, traffic patterns considered, etc. We joked that the contractor probably thought we hosted massive soirees every other weekend. The fact is, we have had very few large-scale get-togethers since we added on. With busy schedules and a larger-than-normal family, it would be easy to say we just can’t find the time, but I have to admit to having some anxiety and self-doubt about my hosting skills. (I’d like to blame genetics, but then there’s Exhibit A: Mom and Exhibit B: Kelly proving that there is some exceptional hostess blood that runs in my family.) I fret about the weather, about having enough food, making sure no one feels left out, having enough seating, hoping no one notices whatever doesn’t get dusted, whether the kids are entertained, etc.

In spite of that, when we started planning Rachel’s Graduation Open House, there was never any doubt that we would host the party here. Parks are nice with their playgrounds and wide open spaces; churches and other rental places offer the convenience of preparations without having the stress of needing to get (and keep!) your house cleaned. But this is exactly the type of thing we had in mind when we added on – a big celebration in the comfort of our home.

So now here we are, three days away, and we’ve been working like crazy to get things cleaned up and ready. And then there are the extras that always seem to be thrown in at the last minute of a big event. Rachel and Trent had doctor appointments scheduled this week (on two different days), Claire has been going to Princess Camp every morning from 10-12. Courtney, Erica and Sarah have been helpers and Miss Hume asked me to take pictures and, well, how can you say no to Princess Camp? The girls are just darling and it’s been challenging but fun to get some decent pictures. One of the little princesses referred to me as “The Picture Girl” today.

We also celebrated Claire’s 9th birthday this week, with our usual special birthday meal with Grandma and Grandpa. Thankfully, the birthday girl ordered fish sticks. Can do!  In all the other craziness of this week, did our girl feel rushed or slighted during her birthday celebrations? I’ll let this picture answer that:

Mick took 3 days off to help get things ready. He put the last stone in on the stone path this afternoon. He’s been working on it almost non-stop for days, taking several forced breaks for rain, sleep and to run up to Menards to get more bags of concrete. Of course, he got down to the last stone and, you guessed it, one bag short! So, one more trip to Menards.

Hopefully it’ll all pull together somehow and we’ll give our 2015 graduate a special day to cap off her years of study in our little homeschool.

Yes, Rachel volunteered at Princess Camp, too.

 

P.S. For those of you who follow me on Pinterest, pay no attention to my “Graduation Open House” board that I’ve been pinning fabulously creative ideas to for the past few months. It’s just not gonna happen.  :-D

Our Boy Wonder and his Sidekick, Brave Bear

By day, he’s a mild-mannered, well-dressed, inconspicuous kid racing across rocky terrain, spiffy tie blowing in the wind, brim of his newsies hat turned up …

Incredibly, without the aid of a telephone booth, he can also turn into a red-caped marvel of a hero, scanning the horizons of the surrounding cornfields and lonely gravel road, searching … searching … for something – anything – to put his burgeoning superpowers to the test, while he provides entertainment to yawning cats and curious dogs. And several family members, watching with delight through the windows. :-)

Here we see Brave Bear taking on a treacherous, weed-riddled, rocky path to beat Boy Wonder to the front porch. Looks like Brave Bear has some pretty big shoes to fill.

Confident that the good residents of Worleyopolis are safe, our heroes take a much-needed rest, but only so they can be ready for the next threat. A message to all the menacing mice and bugs in the surrounding 2.5 acres: Take cover from Boy Wonder and Brave Bear! You’ve been warned! Their collective cuteness is completely disarming.

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Yesterday, Erica looked out the window and spotted the boys dressed up like this. Brooke told us they wanted to be superheroes, but they wanted to have some “Clark Kent” outfits, too. This is the latest craze in our house. In the past month, we’ve watched “Captain America”, “Captain America 2” and “The Avengers” and those characters have really been feeding their imaginations. Obviously. :-)

Coda

In musical terms, alla coda means to go to the next coda sign, which is a passage that brings a musical piece or movement to an end. As we move through the final weeks of Rachel’s high school years, it feels like a crescendo toward the finish. She is finishing up her classes, finals are looming, three piano competitions are on the calendar, a final solo recital is being planned, and Butler University, which was just a blip on our radar last year, has become an almost daily part of our conversations. They have called, sent letters and handwritten postcards, and overall been very warm and helpful in the past few months. The Dean of Music even stopped by last week for an hour to answer questions. Yes, I understand that these days, a university is like a business in many ways, but I am impressed by how personal the whole process has been so far. I have a good feeling about Rachel’s future at Butler and she is very eager to start this next chapter.

It’s so hard to believe, really. Is this the same shy girl who wanted absolutely no part of children’s church as a 5-year-old? We tried once – Mick even stayed with her the whole time – but she didn’t like it at all. She sat very quietly with us in church, so we didn’t force it. And now, she is not only preparing to go to college, but she is looking forward to it!  Even four years ago, I would’ve said “no way.”

So, I make calls, write down dates, put pins on our “Graduation Open House” Pinterest board, look through old pictures and try to convince myself that somehow, I’m going to have this all wrapped up neatly in the next six weeks.

And now I see snapshots of her through the years, flying through my memory like a series of Polaroids and it’s hard to fathom we’re at this point in our lives with her. This process of breaking away … this launching of our first child … it is coming in degrees. So hard to believe, but it is coming. Exciting? Absolutely. And I promise I’ll be genuinely smiling through it all, in spite of the lump in my throat.

 

This ‘n That

More words later. Today, mostly pictures. :-)

Sledding back in February

Hee-hee.

On the railroad tracks on Dix Road (photo credit:  Courtney)

Trent, a/k/a “Brave Bear”

March Birthdays. Yes, we have fun! :-)

Stair-steps (Brooke – 11, Claire – 8, Grant – 6, Trent – 4)

Grant & Claire sharing hot chocolate. Chocolate makes everyone happy. :-)

Trent at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital lobby during a recent doctor visit.

Rachel on True Blue day (3/16) at Butler shadowing a Jordan College of the Arts student.

March birthday girl, Erin Joy.

Crocuses at Mom and Dad’s (photo credit:  Courtney)

Eliana at 14 months old (photo credit:  Courtney)

“Les Misérables,” by Victor Hugo

Rachel has been working her way through this 1,100+ page classic and has been making a lot of progress on it lately. It’s mostly been a labor of love; it’s probably her favorite story.

Good book + warm fireplace stones + cozy spot = reading heaven.

Finished: “The Tale of Beatrix Potter” by Margaret Lane

One of my 2015 goals is to read more biographies. I already have a pretty good "to-read" list started, and first on my list was Beatrix Potter's biography. Here is my Goodreads review:

The Tale of Beatrix Potter: A Biography by Margaret Lane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really, really liked this biography! I knew nothing about Beatrix Potter except that she was the author of several childhood favorites. Margaret Lane told her story in a very engaging, conversational way. As soon as I finished the book, I immediately wanted to see her illustrations again, pictures of she and her family, and the places she lived and visited. And now I want to see the movie based on her life. Very well done!

View all my reviews

Christmas at the Zoo

(My girls aren’t going to believe this: my fifth blog post in less than a week! Yes, this is the kind of thing that can happen on Christmas vacation, with no outside activities or school demanding my attention. It’s also the kind of thing that can happen when a certain 4-year-old has a bad dream and ends up in our bed and I can’t fall back to sleep. ;-)

A friend and colleague of Mick’s generously gave our family a $50 Visa gift card for Christmas, so we decided to put it toward a zoo membership. We haven’t been to the zoo in probably 10 years or so and Mick was wanting to do something fun and different on his vacation, so we headed down.

In spite of the chilly evening, we had a good time visiting the exhibits (especially the indoor ones ;-) and seeing how the zoo had changed and grown. Between all the exhibits and the Christmas lights there was so much to see.

The orangutan exhibit was especially impressive (wish I would’ve gotten a picture of it from the outside – too intent on getting inside the warm building!). Not long after we got inside, one of the zoo staffers came up and answered all of our questions and more about orangutans. (Mental note: next time, hit the zoo in the morning. Orangutans tend to sleep from about 5pm – 5am!) We were all fascinated by one orangutan who walked right past us with a big wad of straw in her mouth. She made her way over to a nearby corner where she put the straw down and picked up a blanket, very deliberately smoothed it out, then laid down on it for a nap. You can see the blue blanket in the background of the picture.

After he watched this, Trent said “This is how they walk.” and gave us a demonstration by bending over and putting his fists on the floor. :-)

The dolphins performed to a standing room only crowd where we’d purposely picked a seat pretty far back to get a good view of the jumps (and to stay dry!). We weren’t disappointed!

Zoomed in from the rafters!

Here’s the thing I was thinking about while trying to go back to sleep a little while ago: with all the beauty and discoveries at the zoo, why would anybody want to be staring at a screen? I mean, some of us watched a short video in the snake exhibit, showing how snakes can move through the branches of a tree and a sidewinder moves through the desert (good thing: the live snakes we saw behind the glass weren’t moving much – except for one rattlesnake, who had just been delivered to the zoo and seemed a little skittish. :-O ). I’m talking about the screens of the handheld devices people can’t seem to be without these days. There was one dad who stood back in the shadows of the shark exhibit hunched over his phone while his kids were petting sharks. (Sharks!!) To be fair, it’s possible he had some family emergency or serious issue he was texting someone about. Maybe he was only on it for a minute and the rest of the time, he was right there with his family. I didn’t watch him for very long – too busy taking pictures of our kids petting sharks. (Sharks!!)

But more sad to me was the child I saw being pushed in a stroller holding an iPad. Again, I saw this for just a moment before we passed each other and moved on. Maybe it was just for a minute or two, but does a child really need a screen right in front of him at the zoo? When there’s so much to see, touch, hear and smell (orangutan exhibit)? I’ll bet we could’ve downloaded an “iZoo” app for Mick’s phone that showed the kids all these creatures and more, complete with snippets of audio, animated gifs and even video, but it couldn’t have been the same learning experience. Would the way an orangutan walks be so firmly embedded in Trent’s mind? I’m not calling for a universal ban on these things – I can appreciate their use – but there’s a time and place for things like this. In my opinion, Christmas at the Zoo is not it!

OK, stepping down from my soapbox now. I highly recommend a trip to the zoo, even in chilly weather. It’s good exercise (as you move quickly from building to building) and you’re pretty much guaranteed to learn something new. Trent learned that reindeer are not giraffes. They had a couple of beautiful reindeer in a small pen near the entrance. For being so short, they really have huge antlers! One of the kids’ favorite movies is Frozen, which features a reindeer “Sven” as one of the characters. Trent has seen that movie many times, and yet, while looking at these live reindeer, he asked “is that a giraffe?”  HA!  When I told him what it was and reminded him of Sven, I could tell he had no idea of the connection. Sometimes, entertainment is just, well, entertainment. But seeing and doing – there’s just no substitute for it!

 

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