Friday letters

dear mumford & sons...i listened to your new album today, just plain lovely.  please plan a tour in the states soon.  i want to see you in concert, like real bad.

dear friday...the past few fridays have been rough.  i have been an emotional mess, grumpy and not necessarily a very nice person to be around.  i thought it was due to early morning long runs.  i can not blame it on that today.  i need to work on this, how can you be grumpy on a Friday of all days.

dear fall...you are lovely.  mums, coffee, pumpkin...does it get any better?

dear husband...thank you for liking the new dresser i picked out, after of course we figured out you did not have to put it together.

dear charlie...love learning your favorite book is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, i had no idea. so proud of you for trying to read it to me.

dear time...please slow down.  i will officially be the mother of a teenager a week from today.  how is that possible?

Hello School

Hello first full week of school

hello middle school

hello early start time

hello 1st grade

hello bus

hello school year

hello…that’s truly enough and time for you to leave mom…

Are you ready?

Last Saturday, KU had their fan appreciation day. Have I adequately expressed my love for Lawrence? I LOVE LAWERENCE! We woke up bright and early and headed over to the KU campus. It was a beautiful day.

We got to watch the team run through some drills and afterward they allowed the fans to go onto the field and get autographs. I can’t say enough for how well organized it was and my kids had a blast. I appreciate how accessible the team and coach’s made themselves to fans. We got autographs from Dayne Crist (he’ll be our starting quarterback), Charlie Weis Jr, Tim Grunhard, and a couple other guys I don’t remember. Then the boys played some catch on the field.

    

Of course no trip to Lawrence would be complete without an outing to Papa Kenos. Oh yum…

We only have 13 more day to the first KU football game. Hopefully this years team gives us a little more to cheer for.

Summer wind down

i’m not really sure what to post now and it seems awkward in a way but i will try.  i think we are all handling the loss of my dad in our own ways.  Which means we all have our own ways of handling grief and i don’t believe that there is a wrong way.  I spoke to a grief counselor today who reassured me that “i’m ok.”  :) 

To say this summer has been a blur, well that doesn’t even describe it.  So much, well most of it was consumed with taking care of my dad.  Being there for Dr appts, there when home health and later hospice game.  The stress of making sure he had what he needed, when he needed  it.  There is a bigger story there, but I don’t think appropriate to share on the interwebs.  Needless to say when it came to my family, they got the short end of the stick from me.  Luckily i have a great husband who 120% supported me…i just told him what i needed and when and he was there. 

Long story short, this will not go down as one of the best summers…for many reasons.  The last couple of weekends though we have tried to ‘make up for it.’

we headed to Omaha, NE a couple of weekends ago.  Chris qualified for the nationwide tour event in Omaha, so we opted to head out Saturday afternoon.  this little jaunt was a blast.  it was so so so nice to GET OUT OF TOWN, it was super fun to walk down memory lane; show the boys where we had lived, worked, gone to church and finally to watch a golf tournament. 

to break up the trip we stopped at St. Joseph to check out the Chiefs training camp.

  brothers…there was a lot of discussion between these two about what was going on on the field.  kc wolf…ok at a distance but there was a certain someone who did not want to get close to this guy.

we love 810…especially the morning show!

after spending a little time at the training camp, we finished our venture to omaha.  my boys love love love staying at hotels. 

of course you have to try out the bed…make sure it’s bouncy enough

for dinner we headed to the dundee dell…one of our old stomping grounds.  the location has changed from when we were living in omaha, but the food is the same or better.  it even smells like the old dundee dell.

we walked up the street from the dundee dell and showed the boys where we lived.  this old house has an apartment on the top floor that we rented for about 6 months.  oh what sweet memories…we were newlyweds, had moved to omaha and didn’t really know a soul…truly good times.

we drove by the church we went to.  St. Margaret Mary’s.  Picture won’t do it justice but this is a beautiful, beautiful church

.

luckily for us, chris didn’t tee off till late morning, so we enjoyed a leisurly breakfast before heading to the golf course.  they were adamant about no cameras so i didn’t sneak any pics, not even with my phone. 

it was a great time, even if we were only gone for a little over 24 hours.

Day 7

on Day 7 of Dad’s admittance to Kansas City Hospice House, he left his earthly body and entered Heaven’s gates.

for the most part i believe it to be a blessing, a gift that i was with him as he transitioned from his earthly home to his eternal home.

i am grateful, that i was able to be with him when he needed me.  he was always there for me…ALWAYS and when he needed me i was there for him.  what a gift that i will carry with me for the rest of my days.

everything within me hurts, today it’s like a dull pain but it is there. i’m craving my family and anxiously waiting their arrival as we gather to remember, to celebrate the man he was/is, the lessons he taught us, the memories…

i fear next week when the to do list is smaller, our family has left.  today they are distractions, they prevent me on focusing on the physical loss.

for now…a picture…one of my favorites.  i love his smile here…oh how he loved my boys, oh how lucky they were/are…what a legacy.

Last Day

disclaimer:  i have had this post written for two weeks but failed to capture ‘official last day of school photos.’  i guess better late than never right… :)

monday (may 21) was the last day of school this year.  Do not get me started on the fact that the kids are out of school a week before memorial day.  honestly, i’m of the belief that there is something wrong with that. 

moving on…

i knew that this last day was going to be a rough one for me.  you see my oldest is leaving elementary school behind and that just can not be possible.  moving on from elementary to middle school feels monumental (i know dramatic), bigger than changing grades.  while i’m melancholy and super excited about the transition for mac, truth be told i’m a little fearful of being a mother to a teenager.  (please pray for me)  middle school will bring new challenges and opportunities, academically, socially and spiritually and i’m so honored that i get to be part of it as his mama.  mac’s teacher (who was AWESOME) wrote each of her students personal notes and as we pulled out of the school parking lot, heading to custard’s last stand to celebrate, mac read the letter out loud.  i had done a pretty good job of holding it together but i bawled like a baby as he read the letter, the ugly cry almost came out.  bottom line, is that it was just yesterday that i sent him off to kindergarten.  it went too fast, and if the first seven years went that fast, how fast will the next 6 go?  (hoping i got my math right :) 

first day

close to the last day

 

i went to the school assembly, the final send off before summer break officially started.  mac was honored with a presidential award.  in order to qualify for the presidential award, the student needs 2+ or better on all his grade cards starting in 4th grade.  mac finished 6th grade math with 100% ALL 4 quarters…amazing….sad part, mac didn’t realize jay and i were there to see him get his award and of course my camera battery died.

charlie had a great year.  loved loved his teacher.  i’m beyond proud of him, he is so brave and completely owns who he is.  oh, to be that confident and sure of ones self.  he is loving reading and is actually excited about it. 

first day

close to last day

one of the cutest things was how the student body sang to words to the songs in the video.  :)  imagine an elementary student body singing to party rock, call me baby…if that doesn’t make you smile, i’m not sure what will.

DARE

Mac had his DARE graduate at his school on the 15th.  I’m so thankful for programs like this that are in the school, enhancing what we are trying to teach at home. 

DARE started in late January and once a week, they would meet with Officer J from our local police department.  During the sessions, the kids learned facts about drugs and alcohol, what it does your body and mind and different methodologies to deal with peer pressure.

at the end of their class, each student from the 6th grade class was required to write an essay about why DARE was important and what they had learned from the session.  Out of the 80+ essays, 6 were chosen to be read by the writer during the DARE graduation ceremony.  I was a super proud mama when Mac came home from school several weeks ago, excited that his essay had been one of the 6 chosen.

He was not thrilled with us,when we made him practice ‘reading’ his essay, yet  when it was his turn, he did a fantastic job of reading it to the attendees (friends, family, school staff and 4th and 5th graders.)

 

super proud of you Mac!