Progress of Sorts

Prom.

 
E with the boys

 

 

E with the aunts (a force to be reckoned with)

Last Friday was senior prom round these parts.  E looked lovely and had a great night.  The pre- and after-get togethers were at our house.  Hosting 14 couples (and their parents before) was a bit of a pain and she played me like a fiddle into hosting as the week progressed.  Not everybody stayed for the after party, but it was still a big group. In the long run, I don't really care. What is important is that she wanted to have her friends come to our house....her house.  For somebody who complains about our messy, cluttered house, this was a big deal. She wanted for us to host her friends!! I had food and drinks (water and gatorade) out and they ended up playing Apples to Apples and watching a movie.  They were kinda loud and stayed up till 3am with her 3 besties spending the night.  We chalked it all up to a family memory of the time we hosted E's prom after party and sucked up being tired the next day.

D.
D had a good week of soccer practice last week and played a great game on Sunday (with lots of well deserved playing time).  His coach seemed to be a lot more positive with him.  He was certainly in a much better frame of mind.  As soccer seems to be settling down into his normal rhythm, he's had a couple rough baseball games at the plate, including striking out for the last out last night in the 6th, with two runs on down 3-1. He was in tears which doesn't ever happen with him.  Being 12, the world is coming to an end and no amount of pointing out that major leaguers hit only about 3 out of 10 times, and telling him that what he pulls off each week as an athlete is amazing helped. 

As we talked him through it last night just the three of us, what really came out is that he's sad his little league career is coming to an end.  He has loved playing little league baseball and it has been a really positive experience.  He wanted a huge last season.  He's playing well, but not having the breakout season he wanted.  His coach this year isn't getting him enough reps in batting practice as in previous years and he feels like he's not hitting with as much power as he wants. His chances for the 11-12 all star team (the one qualifying with Willliamsport) are pretty slim given the numbers of available kids (other kids  play travel and basically play baseball 7 days a week).  He works so hard at all he does, I'm crossing my fingers he gets in.  And for the record, we do NOT push him into any of his sports.  This is all him.  While A loves his reptiles and skateboard, D is obsessed with sports of all kinds.

Coming up...
E turns 18 on the 19th.  We are hosting a birthday party for her on Sunday at our house.  I've got mixed feelings about all of this.  Technically, she will be an adult and we no longer will be her guardians.  I'm hoping the last four years of work will allow us to continue to be her parents.  To be honest, I'm a little nervous how it's going to play out.

E graduates from high school on June 1st.  The relatives from Indiana (Mike's family) are coming.  She's valedictorian...Yay!!  Again mixed feelings about all of this.  We're hosting a big ta-doo at our house afterwards.  Hoping I'll be able to pull it all off.

A and M graduate from 8th grade 3 days later.  This is a big deal for A.  He's been at this school for 9 years.  My heart is happy and sad all at once.  Trying to be there for both A and M is going to be hard.  My big boy is growing up.  Thinking about him in high school squeezes my heart in a way that E graduating from high school doesn't.  It's all a bit complicated.

Just taking things one day at a time.  Being in the present moment.  Finding the moments of joy and love.  Being all I can be to these 5 great kids.  I'm trying.  I'm trying. I'm trying.

I'm making progress....of sorts.