Week 12--Fine Arts

Monday, Mar. 21st

I woke up to a text from Trevor's school with a surprise *no school today* notice.  The boys' basketball team had won the state championship the night before so the principal arbitrarily called a day off.  I won't jump to conclusions, but the game was held at Mohegan Sun, and I have a feeling the 1/3 of the school student body and parents and faculty that were in attendance may have started celebrating the win after the game??  Regardless, Trevor was fine with that decision.  

In addition, Nathanael woke up to a surprise *no school today* notice - the entire UConn campus was experiencing power outages.

All of that combined meant that I had most of my birds in the nest for the day and I had zero complaints about it!

DQ had free cones to celebrate spring, so Nathanael took the younger 3 and stopped at the park.

I wasn't the only one with zero complaints...  He said he'd much rather build Legos than go to class.

And NO ONE is complaining about the weather!

Possibly this person's second ice cream treat of the day!

In Cali, Colombo spoke on a panel in front of his industry peers.

Tuesday, Mar. 22nd

Colombo was still in California and Juliet had a work meeting, so I told the kids they could invite extras to Taco Tuesday if they wanted.  Mason's brother, Austin, and Pastor Kevin joined in and I was thrust into some intense rounds of Two Rooms and a Boom!  It's humbling when my ten year old understands strategy better than me!

One of the OG's from our trips to California.  Christina has planned and facilitated all of the events over the years.

Wednesday, Mar. 23rd

Midweek at East Windsor.

Thursday, Mar. 24th

East Catholic holds a special Class Ring Ceremony every year for the sophomores.  A short homily by the priest (who was so relatable to the students and really compelling and charismatic), two seniors sharing their words of wisdom, the school song, etc... a nice evening just for that grade.  Trevor: this is so dumb, why do we have to go?, can I skip?, we practiced walking in for THREE hours and we still did it wrong!, etc...

In the end, it was lovely, Trevor enjoyed it, and it was short and sweet (less than an hour).

It's our 9th year as part of the East community and we continue to be impressed and SO THANKFUL for the school.  It's not perfect, but our kids have thrived there and our beliefs, morals, and faith are all backed up instead of torn down.

Friday, Mar. 25th

We were up and out bright and early for regional Fine Arts.  Two years ago, this was the "last" public event we did before the world shut down, so it felt full circle to be back!  Maddy was an evaluator, Rocco submitted a 'Photography, Mobile' piece (a picture he took on my phone), and Trevor submitted a 'Visual Art, Two-Dimensional' (a watercolor he painted).  Renna and I stuck with the church crew there to support the other kids in other categories presenting their solos, dances, etc.  

Trevor remembered his football for the down-time.

Lunch at CFA!

Maddy, Renna, I were home mid afternoon, leaving the boys to do the rest of the weekend- the Youth Convention portion.  We got word later that both boys advanced to Nationals.

Colombo and I went to dinner with Bob and Jules.  This is the only picture I took.

Saturday, Mar. 26th

Day 2 of Youth Con for Trevor and Rocco, and C4 who went as a leader.

Colombo and Renna and I went over to Pastor Sean and Amy's new house (Kelly's parents).  They're renovating a sweet ranch with wallpaper from the 50's to strip!

From there we went to Renna's game and then eventually to Ninny and Papa's to join up with the gang to celebrate Ninny's birthday.

Maddy had left by the time we took a picture, but Ollie had all the energy!

A rousing, competitive game of Simon Says, as well as a variety show by the cousins topped the night.

Sunday, Mar. 27th

On Sunday, Mason was officially introduced as the Director of Youth and Outreach at Bethany Assembly of God in Agawam, Massachusetts.  We went to the service to support.  It's a large, thriving church with an amazing pastor and we are so excited to see what God will do in and through him.  Mason moved up that way already (about 40 min) and Maddy plans to commute to assist as a youth leader and any other ways to support him in his ministry.

He has a beautiful office.

The youth room where they meet Wednesday nights.

Rocco and Renna had spent the night at Ninny's for bonus time with cousins.

Spoiled with Papa's *famous* french toast.

That evening, Colombo, Lisa, and I drove out to meet Tim and Elizabeth halfway so we could do a siblings dinner.  I blame Lisa for no picture...she's always the one on top of that!  Ha!  It was delightful to have some adult time and conversation.  I'm blessed to call my siblings and in-laws friends.

Week 11--The Sweet Mundane

It was a weak week of pictures, nothing flashy or terribly noteworthy.  Just a very normal, mundane week sprinkled with blessings throughout including lovely spring weather!  We even saw 74 degrees!  I'm content in the mundane; even there, God's faithfulness is evident!

Monday, Mar. 14th

The only picture from the day.  Sometimes during read aloud, Renna likes to play with my hair.  She's perfecting her craft.  She also gets a bit miffed if I choose to take it out before leaving the house.

Tuesday, Mar. 15th

Taco Tuesday!  Ian joined us for the first time and survived!  Nathanael made him a name tag for the pyramid. (smack in the middle)

Nathanael also added on to his own name tag.

Wednesday, Mar. 16th

It's warm enough and the path is clear, so Lisa and I did our first 2022 walk.  Two out of three dogs cooperated for a photo op.

Thursday, Mar. 17th

We learned early on that Ian and C4 are the same age, and we also knew Ian played hockey for a rival high school, but imagine our surprise when Juliet was looking through Ian's scrapbooks and came across these!!!

We also kicked off our family bracket for March Madness.  C4 convinced us all to join.  I loved that Ian embraced and then used Nathanael's pyramid version of his name as his user name.  Side note:  Mom, the champion is currently dead last! :(

Friday, Mar. 18th

Working out with the garage bay open and the morning light streaming in is sooooo motivating!

Colombo and I met up with our friend Michael for lunch.  I graduated high school with Michael.  We weren't friends then because he ran with a tough crowd, involved with drugs, alcohol, and street fights.  However, soon after high school, he got saved and God radically changed his life and he went into full time ministry.  About 10 years ago, he moved to Romania as a missionary, started a church, got married, and had two kids.  We have supported his ministry for years now and try to hook up with him and his wife every time they're in the States.  They live 2.5 hours from the Ukraine border and our currently housing 8 refugee families.  It was so great to see him, to catch up, and to learn what we can do to continue to help. 

I was part of a small parent committee who assisted the youth pastor, Pastor Kevin, in hosting a special night for parents of teens, Parentpalooza (not my name choice).  We were pleased with the turnout, and everyone seemed encouraged by the amazing speakers and time of prayer.  

Saturday, Mar. 19th

We had nothing on the calendar for sports this day!  The first Saturday in awhile that I can say that.  Hockey is over and soccer is lulled as we transition from indoor to outdoor.  

I cannot believe I don't have a picture, but after church, Colombo and I took Maddy and Mason out for dinner to celebrate Mason's new full-time position as the Director of Youth and Outreach at Bethany Assembly of God in Agawam, Mass, about 35 minutes from us.

Sunday, Mar. 20th

A bright and early 7a flag football game for Rocco.  THEY WON with seconds to spare!

Several kids went to church to serve and Nathanael and I were able to sneak out for brunch together.  Then I also stole a couple hours with Jules in the afternoon, a long-overdue visit to catch up.

We missed out on first-day-of-Spring free Rita's Italian Ice.  For years it was a tradition.  Maybe we'll make it happen next year.

Colombo left at 4:30a for Napa, California.  I was supposed to go with him, but changed plans last minute to stay because it turned into a lot of travel for a short trip that was really going to be 2 full days of conferences for Colombo.  So I stayed back with the kids.