We had a busy week! Monday started off with Max’s honor’s ceremony. He got High honors and highest average grade in advanced math. He told me later this week that he wishes he could do a harder class. I think they place them according to their ability, but maybe they don’t have a math class available for his age that is challenging enough. He got all A’s all four semesters. I couldn’t be more proud of Max. Not just academically. At home he is eager to step into his Dad’s shoes when his dad gets deployed. He has learned how to add windshield washer fluid to the car, check to see what’s wrong with any of our computers and usually he can fix it or tell us what needs to be fixed, keeps up on the watering of our garden, takes vigilant care of all of our pets, and babysits without a second thought. I don’t even worry while we’re gone because I know how good he is to his siblings and how responsible he is. He is a bit of an introvert so he has a couple of really good friends and is ok with that. I wish I had had a bit more of his attitude when I was his age– a couple of good friends is so much more valuable than a lot of mediocre ones.
After his ceremony, we took him to lunch. Then I dropped him, Harvey, and Andy off (Andy had just gotten off of night shift, so he went to bed) and drove back to the elementary school where I got to go to Maverick, and then Beverly’s end of the year parties. I don’t think they even noticed I was there, but they for sure would’ve noticed if I hadn’t been.
After all the partying, I fed everyone and took Beverly to her dress rehearsal. She was in Tap/Jazz, hip-hop, and Ballet this year. That meant three costumes and four songs. She really enjoys dance and it is conveniently around the corner from our house, but man alive, the recital was 3 hours long. They had all of their graduating seniors give a monologue about their time in dance and then a solo. I told Andy they should’ve let them do the solo, but put the monologue in the program or something. But the thing that took the most time, was the transitions. There was at least a good 2 minutes between each song where we kind of just sat. They did the performance at the Evans Performing Arts center, so maybe next year they’ll get the transitions down better. By the end of the recital (Tuesday evening) Harvey was falling asleep and we were all tired and anxious to get home that I forgot to take any pictures! At least we have the professional photos and the ones I took at the rehearsal.
Andy and I did a lot of house projects this week. I painted the mudroom (finally). He painted the hallway upstairs. I helped a little bit with the edging but most of it was done by him. He also finished building the extra crawlspace in the loft area, giving us more storage for our food storage which will free up space in Max’s closet.
Andy also built a lemonade stand for Harvey’s best friend’s birthday. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said, “A lemonade stand.” I thought her mom would be getting that for her, but she hadn’t planned on it. And honestly, the options to buy one are pricey for very cheap quality stuff. I talked to Andy about it and he ran with it. He loves making our friend’s daughters happy. They’re absolutely darling and a big part of our lives. I’ll post a picture on the blog when it’s all done.
Wednesday was the kids’ last day of school. I was able to vacuum and mop before they got home and then we took them to Izumi’s to celebrate all of their accomplishments and the last day of school. Harvey loves to eat the baby octopus… they’re a little chewy for me.
Wednesday evening, Andy and I disappeared to go to our friend’s birthday party. It was laser tag followed by cheesecake and four men on a couch. We had a blast and it was nice to be included in that group that we don’t get to do much with.
Every day since school has been out we have hit up the pool. My kids have been getting sunscreen religiously, especially Bev, but I think they’ll still be pretty brown by the end of the summer. Speaking of Bev. I thought this week was her last burn appointment, but it looks like she’ll have one more in September. She’s still supposed to wear compression leggings and lotion up multiple times a day, but the doctor said it may not be as big of a deal for her to wear the compression leggings because the last spot to heal is about the size of my thumb and it is in the crease of her bum, meaning there isn’t going to be much compression coming for that spot with leggings.
We finished the week off with a celebratory kickball party for Mav’s baseball team on Friday and on Saturday Andy and I went to the new Mission Impossible movie. It was entertaining and impressive. Tom Cruise is 61 and doing all of that. Not sure what deal he signed with the devil, but he sure has stayed young.
Well that’s a wrap! not just to this blog, but to a quick, but crazy year. In Max’s award ceremony, the principal said, “These kids excelled in what was the kids’ hardest year of their lives.” I was like, why is that? Because it’s the first year of middle school? But then I realized that for a lot of people the hurricane was catastrophic. It was extremely hard for me, but nothing compared to those who lost their homes. It was hard for me because I cared so much. I wanted to take care of those who were struggling, those who weren’t prepared, and keep the kids’ happiness up. I was for sure successful with that last one. My kids look back at that week with fondness. Daily play dates with their friends. Adventures in the backyard, chalk art, blow up pool, camping in the living room, and more. For them it was nice to get back to normal by the end of it, but truly they had such a good time. Max, Andy, and I went out and helped with the debris at various times which made us more aware of how well we fared. Yes we were without power for over a week. Yes we were worried about a lot of things. Yes I had a scare that we’d lose all our food, but looking back, all I see is how blessed we were and how grateful I am that we were able to help others. After the hurricane we had some fun snow days, a roller coaster ride with military deployment orders and then pcs orders and more, along with Beverly’s burned back; it really was a challenging year. I’m not sure what next year brings, but I know we’ll be strong enough to face it.
