Week 17

Monday, Apr. 20th

Someone really likes his baseball cap.

Someone really likes her doggy.

Rinky sat for a solid 80-90 minutes while I did school with Rocco- a record for her!

Tuesday, Apr. 21st

I had lunch with Laurie and then met Lisa for her follow-up appointment.  She was in and out with Dr. K before I even got there, but I managed to commandeer Aiden for a sleepover.

I sent this to Lisa.  It reminds me of her and all that's she's handled even when she thought she couldn't take anymore.

After dance, we met Jon, Annie, girls, and Michael and Charise for Moe's.  

Wednesday, Apr. 22nd
It's been my breakfast for a month or so now.  I get on kicks.  I'm a newbie to kale in my smoothie, though.  Berries, banana, protein powder, flax seed, kale, and coconut water.

Thursday, Apr. 23rd
Renna was learning how to skip in dance class.

These two are playing rec soccer for the spring.  They looked very professional for their first practice.

I struggled emotionally this day.  There's about 3 days a year I feel like just crawling back into bed and crying into my pillow for the day.  This was one of them.  I was just weary of all of the pain and heartache surrounding us and feeling so helpless in the midst of it.  Specifically, I was overwhelmed with hurt for two new reports of people we know with a cancer diagnosis.  One was a young mom in her mid-thirties, the other- a dear friend's mom.  It was startling and scary and just seems so wrong.  

Then my mind began to swell with worry.  What kind of world are my kids growing up in?  ISIS, riots, men becoming woman, earthquakes, and now...worry about their health and people becoming sicker and sicker younger and younger.  Allergies, Autism..it's got to be environmental, right?  It's rampant and seems like no one is exempt.  My heart just broke for what my kids are going to have to live in and with in another 10, 20, 30 years.  My mind went to a place of hopelessness.  I didn't crawl back into bed, but I did cry.  And I cried out to God, asking that He would have mercy on our friends now walking this scary, scary road.  After a very heavy few hours, I was able to prayerfully get my mind back on the Good Shepherd.  The One who cares for me.  And Lisa and Erika and Muriel.

Friday, Apr. 24th
Rinky-Dink improvised and played a little Tball--broken table, pink golf ball, dog's deer antler, pink nightgown!

I went up to Worcester to the CT / MA annual homeschool conference.  I went with a friend who will begin their homeschool journey this fall.  That made the day extra fun.  The speakers were phenomenal; so inspirational, energizing, encouraging, and challenging.  I love that we do this!

Saturday, Apr. 25th

This day, at least for a little while, we had 11 kids.  It actually seemed like fewer than 6.  Everyone had a friend and everyone wanted to be outside on a beautiful day.  That made everyone happy and content and entertained.  Eleven's really only hectic at feeding time.

I'd had Trey and Wyatt over Friday and took three of my friend's kids for Saturday night.  It was great and I didn't mind a bit committing to both couples since they were both able to get away and get some couple reconnecting time.  Then I had a funeral come up.  In addition to a soccer jamboree, Tball practice, hockey game, and church!  Good thing I have a very competent and willing husband!  And some helpful older kids!  So I sat through the beautiful funeral service while Daddy fed lunch to the 11.  I pulled into the driveway to see short people littering my yard; running, laughing, jumping, skating, biking, climbing.  How fun!

I also came home to see Daddy sitting in a chair supervising and passing out everyone's *2nd* brownie.  That's what you get when Daddy's in charge!

After church, the Cours came over for pizza and more running, biking, climbing, and jumping!  Around 9:00, I put the single digit people to bed and the double digits stayed up for an epic game of Airsoft in the dark.

Then I left to go meet Dad.  My two nephews had left their special blankets at my house so they were not falling asleep at his house and I needed to swap Wyatt's and David's shoes.  I'd sent Wyatt home with David's sneakers on!  The hazards of having 11 kids, but nothing a one hour round-trip mission couldn't solve!

Sunday, Apr. 26th
We enjoyed another low key day around the house with just three extras.  Just one big party for the kids!  They all got along great and had a blast!  After our guests left, I took a much-needed breather just sitting in the living room with my laptop.  Renna kept me company and we shared some popcorn.

C4, Maddy, and Kelly came home from raking at someone's house with a few of the youth.  Kelly is some great entertainment.  We always enjoy our time with her.

Whew!  What a week!  Felt like it was over as soon as it began.  A highlight for me, believe it or not, was the funeral.  The whole thing was lovely, but in particular, I was ministered to by "Good News shared" portion of the service when a missionary from Africa (interesting, right?  A missionary FROM Africa TO the U.S.) was asked to specifically share the Good News.  He was a big black man with a thick accent.  You could tell he was a 'preacher' and could really get going, but he worked to contain his passion given his venue and audience.  He so clearly and smoothly made the connection of the Old Testament story of Moses lifting up the bronze snake and those who looked up at it lived to John 3 and how Jesus was hung on the cross and those who would look up to Him would be saved.  It was pertinent, timely, compelling and poignant.  I thought it was such an important part of the service because after all, as he said, the funeral is not for the one who has died; it is for those who remain.

Week 16

Looking back, Week 16 was a BIG one.  Lots of reason to celebrate, friends, warm weather, adventures, family, a big First, and great rejoicing!  We spent a lot of time outside; kind of a novelty since the Great Thaw of 2015.

Monday, Apr. 13th

O Happy Day!  Lisa's last day of radiation!  I'm so glad she's done with all of that!  So glad she doesn't have to do the drive every day and doesn't have to live with the brutal aftermath of treatment.  As she wrote, chemo and radiation are a thing of the past.  It was the first day of vacation, so the kids got to come and they each rang the bell signifying the treatment.  Forever.

On our way out, we said goodbye to Mr. Phil, who Aiden had systematically won over- both his affection and a sweet, sugary treat of some sort on a daily basis.

Just before we walked out, Phil pulled me aside and whispered, "There's a very large group outside.  You may want to have your camera ready."  Yes, thank you.  I'm aware there's a group outside.  Community.  It's beautiful and remarkable.  We just happen to have the very best one.  We have family, friends, friends of friends, acquaintances, and even strangers who have, over the last 8 months, stood by us with cards, texts, flowers, donations, meals, and prayer.  This day, it was balloons, banners, and cheering.  All I had to do was send an email to Team Lisa and they showed up!  Thanks, Very Large Group!

Just a small representation of the many, many more who have been there and been there and been there.  (The Orzolek's were there, but not in the picture.  Meg is taking the picture.)

 Mr. Cool made an awesome banner.

 Surprise!  I was overwhelmed!

  

Dad gave a lovely toast...with the same smoothies she'd drank during chemo.

 Melody caught it all via FaceTime all the way from Italy!

 Let the parking lot shenanigans begin!

 For the rest of the day, we played outside with the O'Connor boys who were also off from school.

And the guys got to work on spring cleanup after work.

Tuesday, Apr. 14th

Back to how things should be:  Tuesday nights at Moe's with Jon, Annie, and the kids.

Wednesday, Apr. 15th
April vacation treat: meet cousins at Gramma and Bobbi's campground for fishing.

Beautiful spot on a beautiful day.

It turned into a field trip when three guys from the state hatchery showed up and stocked 200 or so fish.  Coincidentally, that's also when the fish started biting!

Russ was super patient and is now several lures lighter.

Fan got the biggest on of the day.

Lisa's pix:

Thursday, Apr. 16th

"I need air in my car."

GNO!!!  Yes, please and thank you!  So good to all be together again; sharing in sorrows and in joys. And laughing our heads off!

Friday, Apr. 17th
Bright and early, we dropped Maddy at the church for her 2nd annual Fine Arts.  Our district competed in Providence this year and she entered the Worship Dance Solo category.

I loaded the gang into the car, picked up Mom at her house, and continued onto Providence to go support our youth.

There's a missing piece to the event for the dancers.  Or maybe just for Maddy.  She's never had a good floor to dance on.  This time we were in a small, narrow room with...CARPET!!!  It's a dancer's nightmare!  The space was about 1/4 of what she's used to dancing on and thick carpet.  She made the best of it and shined.

One of the judge's comments was, "Try not to trip on the carpet."  Seriously?  Has anyone ever heard the term 'danceFLOOR'???  

Also hilarious: the girl needed to hairspray her bun before dancing.  Do you think we could find someone with hairspray?  Ha!  At a regular competition, you can barely breathe once on the property due to the heavy aerosol haze.  Never did find hairspray.

ALL of the Crossroads students did a phenomenal job.  Solos, songwriting, band, guitar, dance, poetry, photography, short sermons, and children's Bible lesson.  Such a fun day watching all of them use their gifts and talents to honor God.

We ate lunch in the food court and then met Elizabeth and her kids for 45 minutes.  They were on their way to Mystic and stopped in to say hi quick.  Duck, duck, goose in front of Macy's works just fine!

Rocco used his dollar on the massage chair.

One of the many benefits to having a 14 year old sister!

Mom and I left before awards were given out, but we heard later that evening that Madsion scored a Superior, which is needed to advance to National Fine Arts.  Way to go, Maddy!  (high-fiving Stephen who played Cameron in Lost in Vegas)

Sadly, we aren't going to Nationals.  We're bummed.  It's in Orlando and the plan was to go with the fam, do Nationals, do Disney, and visit family there.  Instead we'll be at a wedding in Maine.

Youth Convention commenced immediately after awards.  Madison was obviously already there.  C4 had taken a later bus.  CCC had 58 students there!

Saturday, Apr. 18th  

Day Two of Youth Con.

This was the scene when I came down at home in the morning.

That ended quickly.  We opted for another nice day outside.

Rocco loves hitting balls in the backyard.

Rocco gave me his picture after church.  It made me giggle!

Sunday, Apr. 19th
Maybe the warmest day we've had so far this spring.  Colombo decided to pull down the rotting, floorless, unused tree house.  Lookin' good, Babe!

Maddy and Nathanael roller-bladed down to DQ.  His treat to her for her birthday.

Day 4 of dog sitting for Asher.  These two are BFF's.

After another day outside doing yard work and a whole lot of playing, biking, and jumping, we all headed over to Buckley for...wait for it...Rocco's first T-ball practice!!!  He's giving it a try this spring.  Earlier that morning, I took him on a little date to buy his glove and pants.  That afternoon we figured we should probably teach him how to throw a ball!

We're back with Coach Chris who we met when C4 was Rocco's age.  Chris coached C4 for a few years and we bump into them every now and then around town.  Now his son is Rocco's age, so we made sure to be on his team.

Chris' dad is the assistant coach.  How cute is that?!

Daddy and C4 jumped in to help.

Chris had the kids ROLL around in the dirt to assure them it's ok to get dirty!

First team cheer for R!  And so it begins.