For a month all four of our children were in braces! I made sure to take a picture of them showing off the metal before Kate got her braces off. Her smile is absolutely gorgeous but I only got a pretty unnatural pic at the ortho's office where you can practically see the swear words written on her forehead. Well, she may not be expressing gratitude for the thousands of dollars spent and countless trips to the office taken but I still think it was totally worth it.
Natalie was thrilled to go to work with Hubby for Take Your Child To Work Day. She spent the morning doing special activities like building a mock satellite and testing it. They seemed to have a great morning with just the two of them and I am grateful his company is willing to put on an event that keeps getting better and better for the next generation.
Behold: the 3 day weekend. My kids just wanted to be at home or hang out with friends so it was time for me to check something big off the to do list. Once again I forgot to take a before photo of a project. Our mechanical room had gotten out of control with all the things we were trying to store in there. I determined it was soon to become a hazard if we didn’t do something soon. With Hubby’s help we got rid of lots of empty boxes, luggage that has recently been replaced, rearranged the holiday decorations, and Natalie and Michelle excelled when given their task: cut the pile of hand me downs we were saving in half. They reduced 14 boxes down to 5.5 boxes, which was perfect for my goal of 6 boxes. Now there are zero boxes of anything being stored on the floor — everything is on the shelving Hubby built years ago. It took even longer than I thought it would and the clean up and taking donating/recycling/trashing things afterwards was a job in and of itself. But don’t mind me if you find me staring at my mechanical room in awe of what a difference we made and those matching labels. And, in all honesty, I bet we could have gotten rid of a lot more. For instance, we have boxes and boxes of my grandmother’s dolls. I know none of my children like most of them and only a box full of Asian ones comes out yearly at Lunar New Year, but I just can’t seem to let them go. They were important to my grandmother and she is a major reason why I get to enjoy the blessings I do today. Maybe someday I can let them go, but not today. I also have several boxes of keepsakes from when my kids were younger. I tried to keep only one box for each child but I’ve gone beyond that too. And Christmas cards. I have a goal to make a scrapbook of Christmas cards we have been sent over the years but I’m kept pretty busy just keeping up with my children’s annual scrapbooks. For now there is room so they will stay.
Michelle was thrilled to be back at her former school for the May Faire. She and Z watched their friend, A, perform in the 7th grade portion of the celebration. They have a new teacher and A is the only girl in the class of ten students. So, fittingly I'm sure, they did a little comedy skit with a human pyramid at the end. Michelle enjoyed making a flower crown and was sure to tip with her own cash while I waited for our food at the Greek food truck and talked to other parents in attendance. For a moment I wondered what life would have been like if we had stayed in our smaller home and sent all of our children to a Waldorf school. It certainly would have been different! For one thing, I might never have met my neighbors that I know now. And it turns out after living here for as long as we lived in our old house, I love them just as much as our old neighbors, even if I don't know them very well. After the May Faire I went to my neighbor, Sudipto's, memorial service. Sudipto had died in his back yard last Sunday night. We had seen the first responders pulling into the neighborhood but it was the next day that we knew what happened. He was an adoring husband and father who helped his daughter take care of our rabbit one Christmas when we were visiting family in Utah. When the weather got nasty our doorbell camera let us know that Dad had taken over the daughter's responsibility and did a better job caring for Marshmallow than we do. And they wouldn't let us pay them when we got home. Such a lovely family. The last celebration of life I went to was powered by the love of elementary school moms. This celebration of life was powered by software engineering coworkers. Sudipto's boss conducted the service held in a cabin like area of the company called The Summit Room. Eight of his coworkers spoke of what a wonderful employee, manager, and friend he had been for the last 24 years. He was described as kind, gentle, and dependable, with a wonderful smile, ability to help others work together to make something great, and a love and pride of family. One coworker said that he was "annoyingly good" and that there must have been a supply chain issue the day he was created because there was no bad or ugly in him, only good. Although I did not spend much time with him or talking to him, I have always adored his wife, Kakali. She is gorgeous and bright and friendly. After her uncle and many others spoke at the service, Kakali's uncle requested that she sing for us. Although a widow of less than one week, now a single mother to two children, she responded that she was afraid this would be asked of her and apologized if she wasn't able to sing well under the circumstances. As she sang I couldn't understand a single word but it struck me to the core and broke me. There are very few times in my life that have been so heartbreaking and meaningful. I felt honored to be in attendance. Although I cry at the memory, I hope I never forget that song. And yes, a part of me wanted to move away to a place that I didn't know anyone because I feel so hurt lately. I'm not even best friends with these families but I think everyone can agree it is heartbreaking to see a 9 year old or a 49 year old pass away. I was grateful for a beautiful sunset to remind me of how much good I have witnessed in my community over the last month. Two completely different social groups coming together in two families' greatest time of need is something to behold.
Before the sunset I was able to check in with Hubby as to how Natalie's first softball game of the day went, change clothes, and be there for Natalie's second game while Hubby took care of the other children. The girls are definitely getting better every week and I must say, I love their Velociraptor socks. Best mascot so far. And it gives me a chance to tell the other team parents about Natalie riding the Velocicoaster at Universal Studios over spring break. That always gets a good reaction. lol. The next day was the last day of April, team picture day, and another softball game. The weather was perfect and the girls played well and the Raptors won by four. There was much to be celebrated. This photo is when Natalie had a really good hit off the tee but I told my boys they should be proud of how well she handled getting hit by the ball another time she was up to bat. She can be tough (in a good way)! After her game we came home and baked pizza, practiced some softball skills, and did yard work. I must say Maisie was soooo well behaved while we were in the backyard. Like, I’ve never seen her act that well for that long before. And she was well behaved after our guys got home and we went out back to play tennis too.
Hubby had taken Danny out of town to another baseball tournament. Danny had come home sick from school on Thursday, and stayed in bed most of Friday and Saturday. But he was determined to feel good enough to catch the last day of the tournament. He was able to raise his batting average with those two games today. During the first game I got texts from Hubby like these: “Danny just hit a double to the fence and drove two runs in. Such a great hit!” And “It hit the Scheels sign and the other team is now pulling their pitcher” and “Next hit was deep center to the fence for him. It was caught but most of us thought it was going over. Another great hit!” It is great to hear Danny is starting to get some hitting skills back post injury. Now we just need to work on my guys’ sunscreen skills. Lol. Oh, and it was great to see my Game Changer notifications tell me that they defeated the Dirtbags and the Beasts in their two games. Excellent.
I may or may not have shed a tear watching Danny walk into our local high school for a basketball open gym. My 13 year old was walking in there to shoot hoops with boys old enough to be drafted. He had an absolute blast with 8th grade friends and others in attendance. The high school team also visited the middle school to recruit and are doing a great job getting the boys excited for high school ball.
The next day was my turn to watch Danny play baseball and Michelle came along with me. We were grateful for the much better weather (and bleacher chairs and another blanket with us) and enjoyed watching the Vibes mercy rule the other team 18-0 so we could eat dinner faster. Danny and Michelle convinced me I had promised them Cafe Rio and somehow we all ended up walking across the parking lot to buy them Nike socks too. Lol. I do enjoy my time with my 13 year olds.
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