Helping - I love when the girls will join me in my classroom. We are nearing the end of the school year and my team and I need to do our budget and place orders. Anna and Abigail helped me to take every single supply I have out, make a list of what I have, what I need, what I have too much of to help me! Love having them in there!
I never take pictures of my classroom - always mean to to but gosh darn I am so busy teaching and prepping teaching that I just do think of it! But this one I took for an email and it makes me so happy! They are getting really really close to completing this puzzle (we study Connecticut)!
Mother's Day -- I posted back HERE about Mother's Day this year, but just wanted to get this picture on my blog because I love my Mom oh so much! We had such a lovely visit with tea and muffins Saturday before Mother's Day. It was relaxing and won~der~ful 💞
Abigail had an endoscopy in April and found this video of her doctor explaining the results from that test:
This must have been when Scott went up to Holy Cross to bring Anna back after Easter
We never like saying goodbye after a holiday
But we sure have fun when she's home!
Let's just end with a pie because it's the sweetest way to feel all caught up!
... this three day weekend was like a breath of fresh air for our family. We had been running on empty - schedules maxed out, little sleep, holding on to the thought of summer coming.
But
this weekend was everything we needed. Finally more that 5 hours of sleep. Finally sunshine that we could notice because we weren't driving from concert to concert to activity to our schools (you get the idea)
This was the kind of weekend we had stars in our eyes at the glimpse of what is coming soon -- summer!
This was the first weekend in all I can remember (I think since our spring break in April) where we didn't have any events.
Sure long lists of things we're behind on but so good to actually have the time to do a few of those things.
Snapped this right after we got home from Mass on Sunday and love it oh so much! I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it is to be a whole family again at church - all in one pew - all of us! Sundresses and no coats, sunshine, and a whole day ahead of us! Simply Devine!
Other things about this weekend to remember:
💛finally getting Anna's dorm room things organized and packed away til the fall
💛eating out with a gift card
💛planning Anna's 20th birthday coming soon
💛opening up our screened in porch for the summer - so good to have those clean plastic tarps off!
💛our first dinner out on the porch!
💛visited the local nursery and got begonias planted in the front step pot
💛planted the rose bushes Scott bought me for mothers day
💛deep cleaned the house and got a bunch of things away
💛read a book!
💛and yes, even when into school of a bit over an hour just to be ready for Tuesday
So with three weeks left will we be back to the stress - yes, a bit. There are 20 report cards to start writing, my teacher end of year evaluation write up and meeting to prepare for, my classroom budget and order form is due, Abigail has finals, Scott has to wrap up an entire middle school before the last day, and many other things. There will be long teaching days followed by some afternoons of cooking/cleaning/laundry and some afternoons of staying late in my classroom to get things done and some afternoons with doctor appointments... but it's all coming to a close no matter what! It all ends in three short weeks and I can hardly wait till summer!!
It would be oh so easy to not take pictures of concert nights. And it would be oh so easy to 'skip them' on this blog of mine. In some ways they always look the same (the blog posts with a concert): same black outfit, same picture of the orchestra....
But if I didn't, then I wouldn't have a big part of their lives - their growing up years. So I'm truly grateful that over the years I've always posted their concerts.
May is a very full month for our family. Both of us in education trying to wrap up the school year - both our daughters in education (obviously), trying to wrap up their school year... it's a L O T but it's all really good.
Anna was in a spring concert at her college (post back HERE)
Abigail was in three just this month (so far!) and here they are:
One: High School Orchestra Concert - it's a huge orchestra and sounds great because of the pieces that were chosen and wow - the sound with such a big orchestra! So grateful she'll let me take a quick picture before she walks in!
Two: Camerata Orchestra Concert - Camerata is an auditioned orchestra but still part of our schools. It's the best of her high school and the other high school in town.
This is just a teeny, tiny clip so I have 'something' to hold on to...
Abigail's private viola teacher was in attendance and took this video with a text that read, "Yesterday's Camerat/Solisti concert was just stunning. I literally was moved to tears by the Vaughan Williams. Just absolutely transcendent."
Three: Vivace Orchestra Concert - Vivace is an auditioned orchestra. It is not through our schools, private orchestra.
Vivace begins at the time: 35:18 (before 35:18 are the younger groups)
Each year it's so different, isn't it? I mean, it actually starts out when you're expecting. You dream of a baby in your arms and how lovely Mother's Day will be... it feels like forever away when you're waiting.
Baby Years: And then it feels like all of a sudden, it's yours... you're a mama and the day has new meaning. And it's pretty with the flowers and the sweetness of a toddler.
Elementary Years: Young children are by far my favorite years... those golden elementary years of homemade cards, hugs, sticky syrup breakfasts they make you... dreamy, happy, (and yes, even tiring) but golden, wonderful Mother's Days.
Boy it sure was hard to get a good picture with them when they were little. One would look great and then the other wouldn't. There might be tears and then smiles, all with a moment! But I sure did love those elementary/preschool Mother's Days!
Teen Years: And then all of a sudden you have a fifteen year old and a nineteen year old. Mother's Day feels different. But still just as lovely and wonderful (maybe even more because you are grateful for those precious children that are yours) - still a day to bask in the goodness of knowing you've been given the gift of being a mother.
That is the stage I am at right now. I still adore Mother's Day. A day to honor my own wonderful mother. And a day to be so filled up to the brim of being a mama to my own sweet as pie daughters.
Oh how lovely this day was!
We were pretty sure we would head up to Holy Cross to see Anna, and we knew we'd go to Mass but other than that we weren't sure what we wanted to do to mark the day as special.
Scott made reservations for a fun and funky restaurant we'd been wanting to try up near Anna's school and we picked our Mass time around that. We actually went to Mass at the Cathedral in Hartford (breathtaking) since it had an 8:30 am time. (for our parish the early Mass is 8:00 AM and that was just a wee bit too early).
We headed up to see Anna a little later and drove to the restaurant. After viewing the brunch decided not to eat there and ended up at Wooster Public Market. It wasn't fancy but the food was amazing and we were together.
How fun was it to open up cards and gifts in Anna's dorm room? So fun! I'll remember that forever!
We drove home full of joy from being together and for celebrating God's gift of motherhood for which I am so so grateful. I love my girls. I love being a mama.
On Thursday, May 18, Abigail Mei turned 16 years old!
Just like that.
Here is how her birthday went down!
Her Actual Birthday
I took this as I dropped her off at school that morning, bright and early on her birthday! She was glowing and totally sixteen!
She texted me this picture and asked if she could have this special drink her friend, Kaitlyn brought her. Kaitlyn knows of Abigail's allergies and was careful to make sure it said, "Severy Allergy" on it. Love that her friends made her day at school special.
On her 'actual birthday' Scott came home with sixteen long stemmed roses for her and a bunch of balloons.
Oh actually her day started as birthdays always do in our home, we woke her up by singing happy birthday to her. It's our little tradition. Of course I don't have pictures of that. (I used to take them, but these days I don't think she'd want pictures of her waking up! Ha!
After balloons, hugs, and kisses it was an early dinner. She had an orchestra rehearsal that night so she had to leave by 6:00!
Oh my stars, I can't believe she's sixteen!
Her favorite dinner of chicken pot pie (she picks every single year) Had to make the filling the night before because teaching and having dinner so early was a bit crazy!
While we were eating her uncle (my brother) and her cousin Ian dropped in to wish her a happy day!
And a quick little cake as she rushed out the door! (bigger and more exciting cake was coming on the weekend)
She opened presents (loved having her sister home).
She truly has the B E S T 'opening presents' expressions!
You can tell I was super excited about this big gift from her daddy and I.
I love this moment when she realized what it was (or at least part of what it was)
I should have taken a picture up close but you can kind of see... two tickets to Wicked on Broadway and a whole weekend in NYC -- just the two of us! We are staying two nights at the Warwick. Best location in the city - walking to almost everything. I can't wait!
Total birthday joy!
And then off she went to her orchestra rehearsal!
Surprise Party
I knew for a long time that I wanted to have her celebrate with her friends and I knew I wanted a surprise party! So I emailed her friends (didn't have all of their numbers) and one of them set up a group chat for me. Oh howdy! I thought it would be a piece of cake to organinze a simple restaurant surprise party. Well, the restaurant, that was easy! But finding a night that would work with all of them? That was almost impossible!
One of her friends ended up setting up a google calendar. We all put in all of our events and one tiny night, one little sliver of time worked out -- phew! I was so grateful that we found a time!
Here's a little piece of the texts that went on for daaaaaays!
Funny how they suggested Mother's Day of course!
It was actually so much fun to text back and forth with these girls! In high school we passed notes to our friends!
So on the big surprise party night Abigail had a big concert. She was tired and didn't want to go out to eat. It was POURING rain and I'm sure she just wanted to chill out at home. I left the concert a little early to head to the restaurant and get the girls all set.
After the concert I kept updating Scott and finally let him know they were there and it was okay to bring Abigail.
We had dinner in the opposite end of the restaurant and I loved peeking over at them all happy and giggling about life. Love these girls!
They had such a fun time! I sent them one last text that night!
Grandparents Party
We had another concert on Sunday after church and after dinner that night had her family birthday party! I loved making her traditional ice cream cake!
And just like that her big 16 was all wrapped up -- and in a flurry we darted off to the next even and next concert and next study session and all that is the last month of school!
