Spring Break fun!

We are enjoying a stay cation for for spring break, and so far it has been wonderful.

Our team has won two games this weekend and landed themselves in the final four. Oh Yeah!

We have enjoyed great reunions with awesome friends. My friend Kim was in town Saturday night, so we enjoyed a great visit with her and her sweet kids.

Our travel mate, Lorenna, came through town with her family today, and we enjoyed a super visit with them.  Our kids had never met, and they really hit it off.  We must do this again.  We met Lorenna on our journey to Wyatt.  She traveled with her oldest daughter who is now married, but we had not met the rest of the family.  They are such sweet and generous people.  Love them!

I did not take my  good camera, so these are not the best pictures.  Hopefully, we will see them again before the end of the week, so I can get better pictures.

I am loving my spring break after such a long, cold winter.  We even had a taste of spring weather today.

Sister Art

Savannah has wanted to do this for a long time.  It's spring break, and she has time on her hands, so she and Julia completed this project today.  One thing stood in her way.  That was finding workable pictures of Savannah and Julia.  I need to pull out the camera for a photo shoot.

I like it.

The Natural Tree

Adults gather and talk about his progress in school and in speech.  We swap stories about his humor, work ethic, history and future.

While this continues around him, he draws, creates using a simple piece of copy paper and a good ole #2 yellow, wooden pencil.

Fair worthy?  I think so.  He wants to create an improved version.

Are school decisions this hard for everyone?

We are rapidly approaching April with no college decision in place for Zach. During spring break he will visit a school to which he just applied this month.  Zach revisited the state school that was initially at the top of his list on Friday.  It was a good visit, but Zach is learning that very few colleges throw out the welcome mat.  He talked with the head football coach who just told him to do what he has already done to try and make the team.  I think we can pull that one off the table.  They haven't even run his financial package yet, and I need to get on them about that this week.  We need that package as the school he really wants to attend may be able to match it. He would have already signed there if the financial piece were doable for us.  I did have a chance meeting with someone who will make sure Zach meets the football coach during his visit over spring break, so maybe we do have another contender.

We are closer to a decision for Wyatt.  He interviewed last week with the school our other children attend and has been accepted.  Wyatt will shadow there this week to finalize that decision.  This one was made easier in the past few weeks when the two public schools to which he applied notified us that they are out of space.  That leaves us with the district school which has had a bad reputation for years. In fact one of my students has a younger brother who is taking Tae Kwon Do in order to be able to defend himself at this school when he gets there next year.  We never really expected Wyatt to go the public school route as the two that had no room are really big, and Wyatt needs a small environment.

Even Savannah has been stressed about school decisions this week.  She had to register for classes for her junior year over the course of the last couple of weeks.  Junior year is an intense one.  So AP classes or not became the question.  Honors or Conceptual Physics, what to do?   She chose an intense schedule and justified it by saying that she does not have to make straight "A"s when I suggested that she allow herself to have a life for her 16th year on the planet.  Andy and I don't force the "A"s,  so Savannah and I had a conversation about that.  I can't see Savannah being okay with  letting a little go here and there.  It is just not in her nature.

Julia is the only one for whom we can happily march into next year without tough decisions or transitions.  However, she has had her own stress this week.  She was very unhappy with the S+ on her report card as she too wants straight "A"s.

Spring break will be a welcome relief around here -just five more days. Speaking of spring break, I am getting ready to walk outside to a 20 degree start with snow in the forecast for tomorrow.  Can I get a side of spring for spring break? Amen? :)

Cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man

today- dressed for a field trip to see the orchestra

His pants are too short, so he is definitely growing.  We will be getting new pants for him soon :)

July 12, 2009 - my brother's wedding

Isn't it Ironic?

While I posted yesterday that I was really enjoying my one day as a stay at home mom, Zach and Andy were visiting a college.  During the course of that visit, they felt it apparent that Zach would fit in well there.  The football team was ready to sign him before he walked off campus. In fact they told Zach that if they could offer athletic scholarships, then they would offer him a full ride.  That frustrates Zach. He feels like you have to be good and wealthy to play NCAA Division III.  If you are really good and can go D-1, then you get money to help you out with school.  Andy feels frustrated as well.  Athletics draw future students to a school and get the school name out there, and athletes are expected to do school and essentially work a full time job with the practices and games, but they can only receive academic scholarships to D-3 schools.  We are learning so much about all of this.  We are also learning that, at least in our state, D-1 schools recruit from other states first.  They expect in-state athletes to try and walk on unless they are national recruits.  The walk on process is frustrating as well.  You have to be invited to the tryouts by the coaches.  They are not advertised.

The school ran the numbers on Zach's FAFSA, and that was a game changer.  Even with his scholarship and a deferred loan, our monthly out of pocket expense would be $1000.  While it sometimes feels like we spend that now on Zach, the reality is that it is out of reach for us. I can't even think of a second job I could take where I could make even half of that.  So, another door closes, and we are back to the drawing board.

We have not yet broken the news to Zach, and the reality is that even though we don't yet have the numbers from the state school, they will likely be similar.  It turns out that Zach's dream of playing college football may be just that - a dream, which seems like a waste of talent.  I only recently realized how bad he wants to continue to play football.

Of course this leaves me reviewing the years behind us trying to figure out what we could have done differently which is a total waste of time because it does not change anything for Zach.  Private schooling was probably the biggest factor that put us in this position, but every time we considered pulling the kids out, we felt that God showed us why they needed to stay, something that was often reaffirmed in hindsight, but maybe we misunderstood God in those circumstances.   $1000 a month might be doable if we did not still have three other kids to support.  It is becoming apparent that we really missed His leading somewhere in this college search.  Even if this door is closed, there is a reason that we may or may not discover.

At this point there is another state school that Zach can consider, and if that does not work out, then he really will need to attend the community college to get his basic requirements out of the way before pursuing his degree program his junior and senior year. None of the local schools offer Zach's degree program, so at some point, he will have to leave home to pursue it.  Hopefully, community college won't discourage him to the point of quitting as I know he really wants the college experience. Yet I know that in the end, this is still a 1st world problem.

The door is only open the tiniest crack, and while I believe in miracles, I can't see how we can get one here. Bummed! After a mostly sleepless night, I will return to work today and prepare for a group of active 10 year old boys to stay the night tomorrow.  Oh boy!

What snow days and sick days taught me

I have long suspected that once the kids were all in school, I might like being a stay at home mom.  Now I believe I have proof.

As I type this, it is shortly before 1:00pm. on a Wednesday…hump day, and I have yet to go to work this week.

We started the week with two snow days.  I had to take a sick day today for a combination of reasons.  Andy and Zach skipped town for a college visit as we are at a deadline on a college decision here, but we have no decision.  Savannah had a midday orthodontist appointment to make up for the missed appointment on Monday when the office was closed due to weather - in over four years of children wearing braces, I have never had this experience.  The office works really well with us to get after school appointments, but I knew that would be impossible given the circumstances, and as Savannah closes in on three years of imprisoned teeth, she is very anxious to stay on schedule and get her freedom back.  So, as much as I hate to give up a sick day, and especially one during a three day work week, I am glad we got that appointment because she is getting close, and now her appointments are much closer together as they try to speed up this process.

Snow days do little to convince me that I would like being a stay at home mom.  They usually fall at a time during the week when I am really tired.  Therefore, I waste them on sleeping late and accomplishing little, and the kids are all here or at least one of them is.  However, this week, we used Monday to register Savannah for the ACT - no small feat.  If you have yet to do this with your high schooler, it is a lengthy process.  We worked through that and then started gathering the paperwork Savannah needs to get an official ID so that she can prove that she is who she says she is on test day.  Savannah will turn 16 the day after the test, so she will not yet have a learner's permit.  She did not want to wait for the summer date, and I really wanted her to test while chemistry and algebra 2 are still fresh.

On Tuesday, we had a cable man in our house for hours as we switched providers.  Andy took the plunge for a cheaper rate, and he is most excited about being able to use his phone as a TV remote when Julia loses the TV remote (happens daily).  I am not yet sure how I feel about this phone remote thing as Andy is a practical jokester, so he switches channels from other rooms.  I guess it will be fine when the newness wears off.

Today, however, all of my kids went to school.  I managed encouraging them to pack snacks and lunches (a foreign job for me as morning duty belongs to Andy).  I signed an agenda and got everyone to the bus or school on time.  I also loaded and set the dishwasher, ran the dryer and set the washer to run a cycle later in the day when I would be home.  I managed Jazzercise and a quick shower before picking Savannah up for her appointment.  While I have yet to put on make-up, I feel really accomplished, inspired and motivated. I have Wyatt's recently outgrown jeans (a cause for celebration in our house as he grows slowly) stacked and ready to give away. I think when the kids come home today, I will hang out with them a bit instead of seeking the refuge and solitude of my room for an hour before all the evening chaos hits.  Maybe this will then help them forgo the habit of late which is hanging out as a family on my bed at bedtime.  I enjoy the time with them, but 10:00 is late when facing a 5:20 alarm.  I think I could really enjoy this at home thing on a daily basis.

  Don't get me wrong.  I love my job.  Other than the brutal reality of that early morning alarm, I rarely have days where I am bothered by going to work.  Usually, those days where work bothers me, I am bothered by one of two things -1. figuring out what to wear - yes, you read that right.  I really need to update my wardrobe.  2. I am having to miss something for one of my kids, usually a program that would only take me away from work for an hour or two, but that is not an option.  I can't leave early or come in late.  I have had to take the whole day off for a 5 minute blood draw 10 minutes from my work location.  That inflexibility bothers me sometimes.  I do, however, love the people with whom I work the closest, and I love the kids and the job itself.

While I know that I can't become a stay at home home for a variety of reasons, I love the little glimpse I got today.  I know it would be so much work, but I think our house would run so much smoother if I had the opportunity, and I might even learn to cook!  Now that's a kind of scary thought :)

The Little Couple and Adoption

Did you watch the season premiere of The Little Couple on TLC?

Jen and Bill traveled to India to adopt their beautiful daughter.  I have not really followed this couple though I've caught enough episodes to know they struggled with infertility and that Jen is a neat freak. I watched the adoption journey to Will because that vicarious journey to China brings back such fond memories for me.

I did tune in last night to watch the journey to India and was struck by two things in that episode.  Zoey reminded me of Julia.  Her pain of separation from all that she knew was immediate and intense.  My heart broke for her.  Adoption has been tugging at my heart lately, and I watched Zoey suffer and thought I could not do that again.  It is so hard.

However, Bill said something at the end of the episode that struck me.  He said, "These are our children.  We pursued them."  That reminded me of this post from over three years ago:

Pursued

It all comes back full circle, and it is amazing that one little word is a reminder that there is beauty in the story of adoption.  Yes, it starts off painfully, but what God does with that is amazing.  I still smile over simple things like greeting Wyatt in the carpool line at the end of a school day or laughing at Julia's silly confidence.  It is an amazing journey, and God-willing, this family will take it again.