Exhale

We survived May. It was a little iffy there for awhile, but yes indeed Monday, June 1 arrived with great celebration in my heart.
As you may have already guessed, I'm a analyzer. After coming off a month like that, I do sit back and try to analyze what I can do to be sure THAT doesn't happen again. When life gets that crazy, I no longer enjoy the journey, I'm in pure survival mode and who wants to live like that??? However, there was precious little I could do differently, unless I had the knowledge I have now, this side of things.
To recap:
End of year stuff went well. Hindsight, the field trip to the Science Museum was not what I had envisioned in my mind. And my mind was foolish on this. To go on the bus, does mean I will be asked to HELP - it's not just a free little trip for me to enjoy the day with my son. As far as my son, it's a day to spend with his friends, not a neat little excursion out with momma. So, my bad. I didn't think that one through. I was much too busy that day to really help with a class field trip. I WASN'T too busy to spend the day enjoying a museum with my son, that is why I went. Anyway, it was still fun. The museum was fascinating, I can't wait to return and make it a family adventure - not a 1st grader field trip. One of my gripes of the day. We arrived and we all scattered, except for the kids we were assigned. So, while I understand the logic, it wasn't THAT much fun for Steffen to only occasionally see his friends here and there. Of course the boy that was assigned to me, was not one of Steffen's closer friends so you get the idea. When we all met for lunch, they were all together, and it was hard to get them rallied to go back into the museum since they just wanted to continue to play with their friends. They are 7 - very understandable. NOTE TO SELF - if the field trip falls at the END OF THE YEAR, do not feel you need to volunteer unless your schedule is indeed clear. It WON'T be the "bonding time" alone with your kiddo you envision. and that's ok.
I had volunteered to coordinate/organize all the pictures throughout the year that Steffen's teacher mainly took and put them on a DVD, and make copies for all the parents. Since fun stuff was happening all the way till the end of the year, and I wanted to include pictures of all the fun stuff, guess what, the DVD's did not get DONE before school got out, I am still trying to get those mailed out to parents. Sigh. It wouldn't have been a stressor, however I think my computer is dying, and it's getting cranky with all the DVD burning I'm doing - so the process has been very hit or miss. I don't even want to think about the reality IF MY COMPUTER DIES - noooooooo, not now. How about the end of the summer.... I can't think about a new computer right now.
Ryan's end of school, well, I had to miss his last day. It was Steffen's field trip day. FORTUNATELY, I've got a fabulous friend that I love like a sister, whom I trust my children with as I would family. She took Ryan to school AND picked him up his last day of school. It was one of those hard decisions I made, choosing to go on Steffen's field trip with him. (see above, in hind site, I wish I hadn't done that - but Steffen appreciated it, so it was worth that.) Ryan's class was such an unusually close class. I really enjoyed getting to know the mom's of some of his closer friends. They will all (most, anyhow) go to a different school as Ryan next year, so we will have to be very intentional about keeping in touch. They are so young, and Ryan will, no doubt make more fabulous friends. But really, I enjoyed the families/mom's so much, I want to make that happen. They are good folk, worth the effort. The play dates for the summer have begun, so I look forward to seeing everyone again. Of course, Ryan's BD party helped, many close friends came and they had a blast together again.
Adam and Lindsay had a wonderful time during the AFA graduation. Adam will be a senior next year, so this was when they got their rings, and a huge formal "ring dance". I'm not military, so I am pretty green at what it all means, but the ring dance is a big deal and they seemed to have a very good time. I was glad to see them get out and enjoy Colorado a bit - whitewater rafting and a hike here in town. With the AFA graduation, it brought up thoughts of next year and Adam's graduation. (See, next May will NOT be any less chaotic, probably even more chaos with him graduating and family in town etc) The thought of him graduating, and "moving on" just breaks my heart. I cannot even imagine if it were my own kiddo. If he were "mine", I'd know he'd be back. As it is, the US government will have him for at least 10 more years and who knows where he'll lay his head? So no, it's unlikely he'll be back to Colorado any time soon. We'll have to chase him around wherever he goes. :D
Tanner has moved in. He seems to have immersed himself into our family life well. I don't know. It's been so crazy over here, I hope we haven't scared him off. There are 20 (??) interns at Compassion International this summer, and they seem to be getting together often, so that is good. The boys, of course, love to have another big brother to wrestle with etc.
Dan's job continues to go well. His 90 days is up the end of June. We're hoping for a raise??? We are thankful for the good job. They seem to be very happy with him. With the addition of Dan and a new secretary, the "bosses" are thrilled at how they are getting organized etc. We'll see how "thrilled" at the end of the month - tee hee. They've been very accommodating to us for some long weekend plans we have planned for the summer. One, being next weekend, Dan flys home to be with his family to celebrate his oldest sister's birthday. Do I dare say the age????? Let's just say it's a milestone and she's 12 years older than Dan. Amazing. I'm sad I can't make this trip, but our "new" budget cannot afford us living like the Rockefeller's (not that it ever could, but we were more accommodating on family oriented trips). I've got a few fun things planned with the boys and I while daddy is away.
THE PARTY of all parties. Dan's dreamed of having a large party in our backyard for one of the boys for years. I've put him off until this year. We rented a jump house and invited all of Ryan's friends. Ryan has a lot of friends! Check out our picassa website (link to the right) for pictures. (NOTE: Ryan's biological family came - mom, brother, aunt - there's a cute picture of them all together) A few of the older boys found a few snakes in our back lot (where they belong) and they were a big hit. Even the little girls were enthralled. They are harmless, I know, but the closer they get to the house, the more creeped out I get. I LOVE that our yard is a place for the boys to explore and do things that boys should be doing - but keep it away from the house. sigh.
Being the practical gal that I am, I figured why waste the 6 hour rental on the jump house??? We invited our entire Sunday School class, and their families back at 4pm for a family BBQ. Of course, being the end of the school year, everyone was ready for a nice family get together. My house was packed. The rain held off, but the temperatures dropped, so it got a bit chilly for the little kids - my house was packed. I wouldn't have minded, but the snakes came out again. AND more kids got involved in finding them. I think three or maybe four families went home that night with pet snakes. We make Steffen release them at night. We just feel that is the right thing to do, plus momma WILL NOT ALLOW the snakes in the house WHATSOEVER. Dogs are pets, not snakes. Obviously, not all parents feel like I do, so it became an expensive BBQ for some - since they had to go out and buy aquariums or whatever those things need to live in. We have Steffen convinced that they need to return to their rocks, to their own families and sleep with their mommy and daddys. He can recatch them tomorrow. ewwwwwwww. Overall, this side of things, it was a very full, but fun day.
JUNE has arrived. It's been cold and rainy this week. So no pool action yet.
That's it for family life, I think.
The boys have started their T-Ball/Baseball schedules. I was pleased to see that the season ends early/mid July. I'm glad that the boys games are on different nights, however, that will make our June nights very busy M-Th. Sigh. I'll keep you posted.
We said our goodbyes to one family already. My heart still aches. Kristi will, I believe, be a friend I will travel to go see, and they love to ski, so I think chances are pretty good that we haven't said our final goodbye. They are military as well, so we'll see where they land. They are both from the San Antonio area, which is near where my sister and her husband retired to, so that's a plus as well. Still, I will miss her deeply. I prayed for so long for a friendship like ours, and God gave me her for just a blink of an eye. Good Folk.
I started to read "the Shack". Interestingly creative. I look forward to finishing it and pondering the creative ways it was written. By no means do I, nor do I feel one should, find it answering deep theological questions, but creative literature is still fun to ponder now and again. Maybe another post I'll discuss further interesting points. I'm still reading my other two good reads, and still have thoughts I want to post on those as well. I just needed to get through May.... and I have. - amen