The Abraham Family’s Journey to Russia to Bring Home Their Daughter

May 26, 2009

School is out for the summer!

Is May over yet? This is always our busiest month with all the year-end school activities, field days, graduations, soccer, baseball, recitals, etc., etc., etc. A better title for this post is probably "My crazy May".

Let's see...

DENTIST: Lexi had her first visit to the dentist and her teeth and gums are great so far. She did so well and since all the boys were cavity free, we celebrated with a trip to Chuckie-Cheese which just happens to be two blocks away from the dentist.

Funny story: You may not believe this, but whenever I take all five kids somewhere, I am notoriously late. I don't mean to be, but it is hard getting five kids out the door on time. Well, this time I was determined NOT to be late. We left an hour early because the dentist is 45 minutes away. As luck would have it, we got stuck behind a traffic accident right in front of the dentist office and the police were not letting cars through. I called the office to let them know that we were trying to get there, but might be late after all. The receptionist kept asking me my kids names and seemed confused, but finally said, "Okay, I'll let the dentist know." When we finally got there, another receptionist looked us up on the computer. Then she told me that our appointment was actually on Monday. We showed up on Friday. So we were not late at all, we were actually three days early. Can I tell you how much I LOVE our dentist? He worked all FIVE kids in and did not make us go home and come back on Monday. Now, that's customer service!

BLAIR SPRING CONCERT: The final performance of the year. Preston and Garrett looked handsome in their tuxedos. They all sang so beautifully. Garrett has grown so much this school year that his tuxedo pants looked like he was expecting a flood. I'm sure only his mom and Nana noticed.

CHET DRAMA: ("Center for Home school Enrichment Tutorial") Nolan and Liam were in a k-3 production of Peter Pan. Liam was actually too young for the class but since I volunteered to be the drama teacher's helper they let me enroll him this year. Liam was the cutest little pirate there ever was and Nolan was a Lost Boy (hmmm, do you think he was typecast for that part?) They all did a fantastic job. I am putting together a video of the play, but am waiting for a few more photos from one of the mermaid's mom.

CHET FIELD DAY: Very fun - need I say more? This was my third year to organise Field Day for CHET (fifth year organizing field days for our home school groups) and each time it gets better and easier. This year there were races, inflatable obstacle courses, a bounce house, snow cones, and popcorn. The weather was absolutely perfect! A great time was had by all.

SPORTS: The past two Saturdays Preston and Garrett played four soccer games. There were so many rain out games, they had to make them up sometime. To complicate matters further, Nolan and Liam were also playing baseball across town. Soccer is over, but baseball continues a few more weeks.

Here is a glimpse at how crazy this is - last Saturday, Preston's 1st game started at 8:00 am. Martin took him and they were home by 9:45. Then, Preston and Garrett had to be back at the soccer field by 10:30 for an 11:00 am game. Martin took them while I got Nolan and Liam ready for their baseball game at 12:00. Plus, it was Nolan's game to bring snacks for the whole team. And my car was on empty. We got to the game just as Preston and Garrett start playing (on different fields, of course.) I got Lexi and the stroller out and meet up with my mom. Martin was watching Garrett's game while I watched Preston's game. Garrett had another game at 4:00 that I would get to watch.

At half-time, Martin loaded up Nolan and Liam to go to the baseball field, about a 15 minute drive. As he was carrying all their gear to his truck, I looked down at Nolan and Liam's feet and they were wearing Crocks. Ugh!!! There was no time for Martin to go home and still make the baseball game in time. So, I left Lexi with my mom at the soccer game while Preston and Garrett were playing, sent Martin to the baseball field with Nolan and Liam (praying the previous games went into overtime), and then headed to our house to pick up cleats. I arrived at the baseball field with cleats in hand just as the game started. Whew! Nolan was the 2nd batter. I barely had time to lace up his cleats before they threw a batting helmet on him and sent him out. Nolan walks up to home plate and low and behold, he hits a home run!

I ran back to the dug out to give him a high five before heading back to the soccer field to pick up Preston, Garrett, Lexi and my mom. We go back to the baseball game and watched the last half before heading home to meet my brother, sister-in-law, and nieces. At the house, the kids swim for an hour and then we went to watch Garrett play in the championship soccer game. The game ended at 5:15, followed by a pizza party and award ceremony (Garrett was awarded "Best All-Around" player) and then we had to run home again to get ready for piano and voice recital at 6:30. I am tired just typing all that.

PIANO: Preston and Garrett's piano recital went well. It was the back-up for recitals because the original date was the same day as Nolan and Liam's Peter Pan play. The nice thing about that was there were only six students. Preston played the theme from "Star Wars" and sang a solo from the musical "Oliver!". Garrett played an Indian song on the piano and "Mission Impossible" on the organ. Garrett takes voice from a different teacher and that recital is next Saturday.

GRADUATION: My niece, Margaret, graduated from high school on Sunday. We all went to her party at my sister's house in Green Hills. The kids had a blast playing in her beautiful home. They were running up and down the marble stair case and racing each other up and down the elevator. Lexi got to play with her cousins and Aunts and Uncles, several of whom she hasn't seen since Christmas. She warmed up to them all pretty quickly this time. Lexi especially loved the dogs and cats at my sister's house. She gave them all hugs and kisses.

My nephew graduates from high school next Monday, but they live in Lakeland, Fl which is about a 10 hour drive. I told Martin and the boys that Lexi and I might just hop in the car and drive down for the day and come back the next. The boys declared that there would be no driving anywhere near Orlando, FL without them. I told them they wouldn't want to be in the car for that long of a drive and they promptly reminded me that they flew all the way to Moscow without complaining. So, those travel plans are still very much up in the air and will depend on how busy my work schedule is next week. Mason if you are reading this, please tell your mom and Jordan that we really want to be there for graduation. If there is any way to make it work....

4-H CAMP: Preston and Garrett boarded a bus for 4-H camp on Monday morning. They have both been looking soooo forward to this week. It was hard watching that bus pull away, but just knowing they had each other made it much easier than last year. Nolan and Liam miss them as much as I do and have already been asking how much longer until their brothers come home. The weather has been mostly okay with pop-up rain showers everyday and night. I'm sure it won't spoil the fun!

MISCELLANEOUS: The Tennessee Titans bus came to our local Kroger a few weeks ago. T-Rac was a big hit and he signed the boys' hats, shirts and arms. Michael Griffin signed autographs too, but thankfully he only wrote his name on the team photo. I must say that Lexi was total cuteness in her Titans cheerleader uniform.

We have one more recital to go. Main Stage Idol is coming up on Saturday night. Garrett is clogging, square dancing, and singing two solos, one Blue Grass and one Gospel. I hope he doesn't forget everything he knows at 4-H camp this week. Liam will be playing the fiddle. He took over where Nolan left off last year. Nolan decided the fiddle was not his thing right after recital last year, but that's okay because Liam is loving it! Lexi loves watching the big kids clog. Now when she dances, she throws her foot up and down like she's doing a double step. Too cute.

Okay, now I am ready for a vacation. I think I hear Jamaica calling my name!

1 comment:

Jeanette said...

My mind is swirling just reading all this. How the heck do you manage 5 children with such busy lives??? Very impressive!! You have very culturally rich boys! They sound like the Van Trappe family :) As I type this, my boys(one is who home sick) are playing DS!!! They could use some performing arts education!