SharonAndAdam.com

Summer Family Update

It’s just not easy to update the world on our lives when there are so many little lives to look after.

The kids are loving the pool. Fulton will finally put his face in the water thanks to the motivating water slide. Muffin is learning to swim with a nifty little swim aid that I originally got for Cecilia. Therese is still going strong and realized she can swim the whole length of the pool. Cecilia is usually a handful so I often leave her with Adam when she’s napping and he’s working from home, but she’s getting a lot better and doesn’t scream anymore.

Adam and I took a month of dance lessons with a gift certificate he gave me for my birthday. It was so great and I highly recommend it! We learned the Argentinian tango, Vienesse waltz, East Coast swing and jitterbug, and the West Coast swing. We were able to make the lessons four night of the week thanks to our generous friends who watched the kids. We’re still amatuers but we can get around on the dance floor.

Cecilia is still a little girl of few spoken words but many many signs and many smiles. We’ve had visits from a developmental therapist since mid-July. In that time she has gained only a few more sounds and words, but she can sign so many words that it is easy for her to communicate and any frustration is minimal. Next week we have a speech therapist coming out to observe and perhaps we’ll have a better sence what is going on.

We started school last week. It is a full time job for me but so far so good. Therese is now a 3rd grader and Fulton is starting first grade. It is so interesting to see how different they are and how opposite their gifts and talents. Fulton is definitely the math whiz while Therese is the English and reading star. Both are very talented and capable but certainly have their preferences. We school four days a week and leave one day for make up projects, playdates or field trip. Our extra curriculars at home are botany for science, Latin for our language and art appreciation. At least for Latin and art, Gianna can also participate. When we get more into the hands-on of our botany, she’ll be able to do more with us. Between 8am and 4pm I really only have a two hour break from noon to 2…so if you don’t hear much from us, that’s why! The kids are also participating in the Christian Choral Society of Austin. Muffin gets to go to class this year and she is loving it. She so wants to be doing everything her siblings are doing, but I’m not ready for her to be in kindergarten yet!

Family Vacation Days 5-9: Indiana

We are blessed that we know so many married and single people that have joyfully given their lives to God in their vocations and we get to spend so much time with them in our daily lives. But it’s rare for many of us to be given the gift of spending a lot of time with priests and religious who have given their life over to God. And the time we were in Indiana with Adam’s family and Sr. Maria Kolbe was truly a gift. What I admire most of Adam’s parents are that they raised 5 children who all love and practice their faith. And there is a different love and joy that comes with being around some one who has joyfully become a bride of Christ. I always get that same feeling when we visit with the Sisters of Mary here in Austin, but to spend 5 days with one them was continual bliss for all the family! Fulton especially was loving all over Sr. Maria Kolbe. It was very cute!

So Friday was the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All the family went to noon Mass at St. Boniface and then to the rectory for lunch with Fr. Tim, Fr. Gustavo, and Fr. Jeff. Turns out Fr. Jeff went to seminary with some of the priests we know in Austin. Small world. Then the Sister, Grandma, Grandpa and the older kids went to watch Cars 2. Adam and I took the younger kids to candy store for ice cream and then we picked up some stuff to make our traditional Sacred eart Cookies!

Saturday, Adam, Sister and I went to spend an hour with Jesus. Then all the family met up at one of Adam’s aunt’s homes for the Gretencord reunion. Lots of kids and lots of fun. Adam’s only surviving grandparent, his Grandma Lucile Gretencord was there. She’s 96 years old and a gem!

Sunday, after Mass and brunch, the Datzmans (Adam’s Mom’s side of the family) went to the farm for dinner. Then we went to his grandfather’s farm to watch and set off some fireworks. Muffin fell asleep and completely missed them. Cecilia was afraid of them. For me the most memorable part was watching the fireflies light up all the corn fields. God’s fireworks are most beautiful.

Monday, I needed to take a rest, but Adam, the kids and his parents went to the Fair Oaks dairy farm. Definitely not organic or grass fed free grazing cows, but the kids enjoyed it and I got some honey butter and cheese curds out of it! It was also the 4th of July and the feast of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati…a favorite not only of Sr. Maria Kolble, but of ours. Sister and Adam’s other sister Mary, made an Italian feast in his honor–Lasagna and a cake decorated with the Dominican shield since Bl. Pier Giorgio was a 3rd order Dominican (the lay order).

Tuesday was our last day there and Adam and I got away for a few hours on a date. We went to watch Transformers 3. Then we met up with his mom and the kids at the local pool and took the kids swimming for a couple of hours. Fr. Tim join us all for supper at the farm.

Family Vacation Days 1-4: Missouri

This year’s family vacation centered around visiting Adam’s family in Indiana. His sister, Sister Maria Kolbe, had a home visit from June 30-July 5.  Over all it was a great trip even though I was sick from day 1 and am still trying to get over my illness.

We left Monday morning, June 27, and despite small bladders we made it to our first stop in Springfield, Missouri. We were hoping to get there in time to get a tour of Honey Heaven, a little bistro with a live bee hive.  We didn’t, but instead went to the original Bass Pro Shop! I have never been in one. The kids quite enjoyed it and it was a fun little excursion as we wound down from a day of driving. I even picked up some camo pjs while I was there.

On Tuesday we went to Honey Heaven, saw some bees and picked up some yummy raw alfalfa honey, orange blossom honey and apple butter.  Our camera’s memory card died while we were there and we had to go get a new one so we lost all the pictures from the Bass Pro Shop and Honey Heaven. After getting a new camera, we headed out for our next destination, Mansfield. “What’s in the little town of Mansfield?” you might ask. Mansfield is the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder! We enjoyed of tour of her homes and museum and the kids got to knock on “Laura’s door.” I know all of you kindred spirits out there would have enjoyed this.

Off to our next destination, St. Louis. Wednesday morning we went on a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Impressive. They also gave complementary drinks after our 9 a.m. tour. It’s the earliest I’ve ever had beer in my life! Afterward, we left to visit the Gateway Arch. We rode the tram up to the top. We visited the Museum of Westward Expansion. We zipped off to Grant’s Farm after lunch. More free beer thanks to Anheuser-Busch…all we had to pay was parking.

Thursday was our pilgrimage day. We went to the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis. It’s a must see if you’re in the area. They claim to have the largest collection of mosaics second to St. Peter’s. It’s architecture is Byzantine on the inside and Romanesque on the outside. They had a papal flag of Bl. Pope John Paul II and we visited the chapel where he prayed when he stopped there. We went to noon Mass and then off to our next pilgrimage site, The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Bellville, IL, a short 20 minute drive from the Cathedral. We had our picnic lunch and visited a few of the outdoor grottoes. It’s pretty but definitely a 180 from the traditional architecture of the Cathedral. From there we headed to Indiana. We stopped for dinner in Effingham, IL. Our friend’s family owns a restaurant there, The Neimerg Restaurant,  and we stopped in to check it out. Tasty.

We finally rolled into the windmill filled country side of Indiana and to Gretencord farm at 10 p.m.

Family update

YIKES! It’s been a while since I posted anything on our site. Every day and every week is so full of life and love that I have not had a whole lot of time to sit and write anything.

Every Friday of Easter I have been hosting a Garden of the Good Shepherd party at our house for some of the families in our home school group. I lead a short activity, game, or craft for the theme of the week and then we eat lunch with wonderful treats all the families bring reminding us of the theme. It’s been a lot of fun and everyone has been so nice to keep coming! I’m probably the only one crazy enough with the permission of my husband to invite 11 families to our house every week! Our last garden party is this Friday as we prepare to celebrate Pentecost and the end of the Easter season. We are so blessed to be Catholic and celebrate with our church the way we do.

We’re still wrapping up a few things with school. We still have a few chapters in history to finish. I will keep the kids  engaged in math and reading for the summer. We finished a great art book called Art Fraud Detective that our friends the Politos lent us. It’s an awesome spring board to doing a light study of art this summer. Hopefully we’ll get to visit a few art museums during these hot days.

We have started the weekly visits from ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) to help us get Cecilia verbalizing with her words. In the last two weeks she has picked up lots of signs and our communication is getting a lot better, but we still have a little ways to go.  She still as delightful and sweet as ever.

The big kids started swim lessons last week at the neighborhood pool. Therese is doing great and Fulton and Gianna still need to get comfortable putting their head under water. Baby steps. Next week Cecilia will begin her class. I’m looking forward to that.

We finally bought the EPIC:  A Journey Through Church History!  I can’t tell you how excited I am about it! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! As we started getting into some of our history lessons with Therese on the Protestant Revolution, I felt the text was very incomplete. I watched the episodes of EPIC on the Protestant Revolution and the Catholic Reformation and I learned a LOT! I am so thankful for the treasure that is now in our home. I am so thankful for the opportunity to learn our Catholic History and how it has shaped western civilization. AND more I am thankful that I can teach my kids the truth. We started the study three weeks ago with our friends who did the Bible Timeline study with us.  It is an awesome gift to have friends who are just as excited about this as we are, too!

The garden has been cleared out of most of our leafy greens. I still have a couple hanging on that I should eat this week. The carrot harvest was poor. Squash blossom rot killed two of my squash plants…I don’t know WHY I even bother with squash. I planted some beans and pumpkin recently. Hopefully the heat won’t kill them off. The tomatoes are doing well, and the basil and sage will bring some nice flavors to our summer dishes.

We also recently found termites–yes, termites–in a couple of the garden beds. Uggghh! We could treat the garden with nematodes but it seems that the weather needs to be cooler until we do that. And of course the garden beds are made of wood. We’re not sure yet what to do about the house. Any suggestions are welcome.

I’ve been seeing a chiropractor for the last couple of months. When I took him the x-rays that were taken in March, he and I could see that my spine is not straight. I’ve had weekly adjustments but I’m not sure that it is helping. So tomorrow I am going to see a spine specialist and HOPEFULLY they can start my on physical therapy to strengthen my upper back so that it will stay straight.

Oh, and I celebrated the 11th anniversary of my 25th birthday a couple of weeks ago. Adam is an awesome husband and made the day great. He made his famous beignets. Then we went to the pool with the kids for a while and finally had the bible study group over for dinner and fun. I made myself my favorite Lemon-Blueberry cake with White Chocolate icing. Adam got us dance lessons for my birthday! THE BEST GIFT EVER! All the hinting worked!