Random Spring bits 2017

 I looked over one day and this beauty was sitting in the sun reading. Oh my heart! She's my busy cartwheeling girl and doesn't ever sit still. This was a big deal.

Mr. P played for a select basketball team all spring. It was a blast! It was tournaments so long weekends and lots of travel from city to city...but so much fun. His skill set exploded. It was a great experience.

This cracks me up. Moses is trimming Kali's nails and she looooooves it. She falls asleep and snores. Spa day for doggy.

Spring time is when we can get our fire pit going again and have cozy time on the deck. We use the area April through October. With the fire pit and blankets it's a cozy space.

The biggest event of the spring was my haircut!! No really!! I dithered and waffled and discussed and pinned hairstyles and discussed some more. My kids were sick of me talking about my hair. I was SUPER nervous but I did it!!

Now, I love the shorter cut. Sheesh. Who knew!

But, I'll never look as cool as this kid. Oh my word! Style.

And more headshots. This guy is officially taller than his grandpa now. Whoa!!

Spring, and Mother's Day

I began working out in the spring. I joined (re-joined) WW and got busy working out. I use Fitnessblender.com and workout in my basement. I LOVE it!! It was VERY hard when I began. Brutal, sweaty sessions that left me sore for days. I'm still at it and it's still challenging but not as brutally painful....most days.

Tuba enjoyed lots of outings with his classmates. As the year wound down we all began feeling the weight of him leaving school for good. Well, he didn't. He just carried on and enjoyed it all. We should all be more like Tuba.

Ummm....this. Equal parts hilarious and frightening.

So many good things about our dogs. Sis especially loves them. She is our animal whisperer.

Mother's Day is the best. I adore all of the homemade cards and gifts from school.

On Mother's Day we went out on the same nature walk we did on my birthday. It was neat to see how the landscape changes in each season.

It's so refreshing to get outside and breathe fresh air. We found lots of beauty to take in, hold hands and laugh together. A perfect day. 

Holy Week 2017

 We attended our second Holy Week and Pascha at our new church. Well, not new anymore. We are still in our small building and hoping to move into the bigger space.....soon....someday.

Palm Sunday is always a beautiful sight in the nave. The kids still love to hold the palms and yes they still poke me in the face with it.

On Holy Saturday we got to visit our former parish. It was so nice to see friends and worship together. It's my favorite service of the year. The bells, the throwing of bay leaves, and the changing of colors symbolizing Christ's triumph over hades.

On Pascha Cam worked. Ugh! If you remember...we celebrate our Pascha service in the middle of the night. It begins at 11:00 PM. After all these years I truly do not understand WHY we have to have the service at this crazy hour. At least these boys look awake and so handsome! They were way more excited than I was.

Little Sister....not so happy...or perky.

Little brother was very tired but perked up for the service.

Oh! Sis perked up too after a wee nap.

It really wasn't the same without Cam. We all missed him. I REALLY missed him when it was time to drive home at 3:00 AM. I had a moment of true and deep appreciation for him. In all these decades I have never had to drive home. Wow. Sorta felt sheepish that I had never realized that before. 

Tuba surgery

Look at this sweet pic of Tuba. He is saying smell the flowers. I love that about him. His gentle innocence reminds us to slow down and take time to smell the flowers. 

Last spring he began having lots of seizures again. We instantly took him in and sure enough the darn  VNS battery had died. They scheduled surgery right away and got the unit replaced. 

Cam stayed home with the kids and I took Tuba into the city for surgery. He was NOT thrilled to be in the car before sun up heading to the hospital. He wasn't sure what was up but has experienced this enough to know it wasn't going to be fun. 

He was so nice and cooperative and charmed all of the hospital staff. And even held my hand. 

He was pretty sleepy after surgery. The amazing staff let me meet him in phase one recovery so he wouldn't be scared. He slept and bit and as soon as he woke up he spent some time playing on his iPad. 

Once home he was happy, happy, happy to eat! 

It took him a couple of days to get back to normal. So he laid around and snuggled on the sofa. 

And thankfully the seizures subsided after about a month. 

I'm back.....

I'm back....and I'm so very far behind. I have contemplated giving up and closing this blog. But, I feel like It's a place to document my kids and our family so I'm going to attempt to keep going. 

The next several....dozen....posts will be the biggest hodge lodge ever. It's been almost half a year since I've posted. I take tons of photos so at least I can look back at them to decide where to begin. 

Here goes. Hold on tight....

Last spring Tuba attended his prom. He is so handsome and he LOVES to go. His favorite thing is fancy shoes..and hair. 

And he loves to dance! 

I adore this pic!! My then 13 yr. old holding my hand on a family outing day. Oh...and my hair. I have since chopped it off. This pic makes me miss my long hair. I don't miss the extra 22 lbs. I have lost since this pic though. Yeah for that. 

I'm so proud of Mr. P and his grades. This was taken at the honor roll breakfast. And...the photo is now so old you won't believe how much older he looks now. Whoa!

Okay...a random Kairos moment right in the middle of my post. Seriously though...look at those clouds. 

The other day as I was driving, dropping off, picking up and driving more kids to sports I had a thought, "what hobbies would I have if I wasn't doing all this sports driving, watching, cheering". Hmmmmm.....honestly I don't know. I love my life. But, it's a lot of driving. I said to my friend the other day that I don't think I really thought through the five kids AND sports thing. She replied, "no, I don't think you did". HAAA!! I love a friend like that. Honesty and funny.

Mr. P played basketball for three different teams from Nov. - June. Whew!! It was super fun and his skill set exploded. We are starting back up again now. Can't wait! 

Any chance we get to spend together as a family is what we like to do. I know it won't always be easy for the seven of us to gather so I'm holding on to it now. 

Oh how I love our dogs. They bring so much joy and snuggles to our life. 

Another spring outing with the fam. I love this pic. A fun day spent in the city over spring break.