This week felt more like summer. The only week where all 4 kids did swim team. It was so nice having Ellie drive to the 7am practice. I could sip coffee on the porch by myself. Monday she came with me to orientation at high school. I'm the membership person so I was recruiting people to join the PTSA. We stayed for the parent panel and passed out breakfast items and answered questions. Marly came with me on the WD run. I was crabby without a workout that day. Abby and Voss babysat the Koch children each afternoon. Marly and Poppy mixed in a few times, the younger two were wiped out. Tuesday I went to a calendar meeting for the middle school. Wednesday I got to play in a USTA match with Kerri and we won! We had beat the San Jose girls before. Mom came over for dinner that night. I made reuben sandwiches for the first time. Thursday I had a Nutcracker marketing lunch. Friday I had a middle school PTSA board meeting for breakfast. Still doing PTSA over the summer! But other than those meetings there was a lot of scrolling, reading the 3rd Harry Potter with Voss, listening to Hester and just relaxing around the house. It was a quiet week. I cashed in my mothers day massage with Sherry on Friday afternoon. Phil and I went to dinner at the Napoleon's with the Van Wies. Marly made a Mexican street corn and a fruit pizza for us. Delish! Saturday morning we had a swim meet, the only one this summer with all 4 kids. There were ribbons won of all different colors. Abby was bummed to not get a heat ribbon. I told her she needed to be drinking more water. My mom joined us and came to Larry's after for lunch. We had a lazy day. Abby went to Landis' Birthday party to see the Lilo & Stitch movie. Phil tried to take Voss to an Armada game but the lightening ruined it. Marly and I had mother daughter time at the pool until the rain came. Later we met the Sassers, Fredlands and Freemans at Lillians for a nightcap. This morning we saw our Godson, Huck altar serve for the first time at mass. We did a family blast at TCC then took the boat ahead of the rain to TCC. It started pouring as soon as we arrived. We watched the rain from the balcony and then headed back when it cleared. We noticed our power steering wasn't working so Elmer's coming to help with that. Ellie left for a week of Urban Plunge. We took Phil out for burgers at Five Guys for Father's Day. Kina odd not having a dad on Father's Day. Oodles of screen time, mindless scrolling, ice cream and just lazy summer days. Trying to soak in and just enjoy it. Here are the pics of the week.

Our first official week of summer and we hit the ground running! Abby had five nights in a row of sleepovers! We started with morning practices of swim team. Ellie and I went to HIIT while they were at the pool. Working with the neighbors on carpool so we can go to two different practices in the morning. Ellie got a cavity filled. I started new rules for summer (posted by our priest) so they have a list of things they have to check off before they can have screen time. Items include: reading, writing, outside time, exercise, cleaning, chores, etc. Voss went to my favorite VBS, at his old preschool for dinner and bible fun in the evening. Monday night I went to Anne's for a final MomCo leadership dinner. It was nice to see the gang. I'm so proud of our group. Tuesday Ellie and I went to barre class while the others were at swim team. Marly went to work with Phil then to her pal, Langley's house. Abby concocted another sleepover with Langley's sister, Henley. After VBS drop off we met the Strayers on a double date to OrSay, Cowford rooftop then the bierhall. Date night VBS continues! The rain canceled my match for Wednesday. Instead I dropped Ellie off at the airport to head out to a dance trip to NYC. She had a great week packed with dance classes during the day then Broadway shows in the evening! Such a lucky girl! From there I drove out to pick up the girls from the sleepover and brought them all home for another night of sleepovers. I listened to Paris Apartment. Matt and I took mom to lunch at the Brick then to our lawyer pal, Brian's office to update her paperwork. Abby and Voss babysat a rabbit. Mom came over for dinner that night with all the girls for BLTs. Thursday I played a fun tennis match while the kids were at swim. The middles had an ortho appointment. I brought an extra crew of friends. Marly got her gums lasered and is one appointment away from having her braces off! Another round of sleepovers with fun bike rides (Abby has a new yellow ride thanks to Mimi!), river paddle boarding and summer fun with friends. Phil and I picked up the Freemans and headed out to a dinner supporting MS. I won the centerpiece and then stayed up too late watching And Just Like That while eating the cookies the girls made. Friday was fun Friday practice while I sweat it out at HIIT. Marly went to babysit. I brought the sleepover friends home. We had a quiet afternoon. We went to dinner at TCC and spied the debutants. Later we hosted a welcome sash for my baby brother, Erik coming in town. We stayed up way too late on the porch catching up. Good thing Marly got herself a ride to the meet. Abby and Voss hopped along and then Phil and I overslept and made it in time for Voss' first event but missed the first timing shift we signed up for. Don't worry, we did the second shift. The kids did great, swimming strong and winning heat ribbons. We had CFA lunch and chilled before the big party. Matt's girlfriend threw him an awesome navy retirement party. It was SO HOT but we chilled in the pool and inside until it cooled off a bit talking to friends new and old, near and far. It was very special. Voss and I made it to mass this morning then met everyone for a farewell brunch at TCC. Erik drove back to Orlando to fly back to LA. We helped Matt and Tara put the house back together. We spent the afternoon relaxing then played family soccer. Marly went to Target and a movie with Sophie. Abby crashed out. Phil is at the airport picking up our dancing queen. Here are the pics of the week.  

We made it through Maycember! Who Whoo! This week we had so many things to celebrate! I sipped coffee on the porch each morning since I didn't have to drive carpool. The rain brought gorgeous mornings. I won't say "cool", just pleasant. I did a pilates class Tuesday morning then hit WD and got the house in order. That night Marly had her promotion ceremony. Suzanne and mom came to cheer her on. Abby and Ellie had studio rehearsal but came to the after party. The ceremony was nice, not too long. Phil and I are still coughing like crazy but we had a stash of cough drops and got there early enough to get the top spot on the bleachers with a cool, cement back. Friends helped organize an after party at Mellow with a balloon arch, flowers and pre- ordered pizza. Matt and Tara and Penelope came for the after party, too. It was very nice. Wednesday, I went to HIIT class with Ellie. The power was out so it was a HOT HIIT! Still so sore from the Murph challenge! I brought Marly leftover Mellow pizza for her algebra class party then went to volunteer for Voss' class party- rotating stations of cookie decorating, bird feeder craft, summer theme bingo and popsicles on the playground. That night I went to my old friend, Sandy's house to catch up with another high school friend, Adam who is going through a tough divorce. It was fun to reminisce. Thursday morning I went to HIIT then Walmart and spent the afternoon monogramming and listening to The Paris Apartment. We celebrated Nick's Birthday at Lillians that night. Phil caught a table on fire. Friday morning I went to visit my doctor and get on a z-pack along with prescription cold meds. My mom and I picked Voss up from school then headed to Suzanne's for a graduation brunch for Owen. Ellie picked up the middles from their last day and met us there. Phil took an early lunch break. It was nice to all be there together! The littles, mom and I sat with Alex, Hannah (Owen's gf) and SQ at the baccalaureate mass for all the BK students. It's getting real! Ellie and Marly headed to the theater. Abby and I came soon after. I had a delightful time sitting with friends, sipping wine, eating cheese its and watching all the dances. Marly and Ellie did have a knock down drag out and I got one Kina crummy photo of them all on pointe. It was still a delightful evening. Saturday morning, I had a freak out moment when I realized the swim meet was at 7:30am, not 9am like I thought. Phil rushed them there in time for Voss' event #6. They both won heat ribbons so they were happy. The older girls and I picked up mom and headed to UNF for Owen's graduation. It was a nice ceremony with the Bishop and great speakers. I'm so proud of my sister for tiger momming Owen through the last few years! We met the other half of the family at Firehouse for lunch then headed home for a quick break before heading downtown to the recital. We met the Hogans for a cocktail at the hotel across the street then headed over for all the fun. It was such a great show! I loved having my sister next to me to share in all the joy (and have a fun thing while her son was out celebrating graduation!) I'm so proud of all three girls; what a show! We went to Mellow (again) after but everyone was just over tired. We need to figure out a better way for this next year. We slept in and went to 10:30 mass this morning. Ellie finally got her car blessed. We played family soccer. Ellie went to a party. Abby is spending the night at the Cutlips. Leftovers for dinner and Phil is already asleep. Here are the pics from the last week of May!  

Still struggling through this Maycember bug. Phil and I sound like we have tuberculosis. He's on a Z-pack. I am trying to go to bed early and drink a lot of water. I went to tennis clinic on Monday, WD then passed out more teacher appreciation gift cards then swim drop off/pick up. Voss had his last Cub Scout meeting of the season, rocket launching, pizza and cupcakes at the park. I went to book club, sitting around the fire having s'mores in 90+ degrees actually felt great discussing Wild Girls. The girls had studio rehearsals all week so the schedule was different and I still never got it figured out. I went to barre class on Tuesday then took Voss to get a filling filled. We had overpriced Tropical Smoothies. My neighbor put up a subtle sign in the yard saying "Spot, go home". Too bad he can't read. Wednesday Voss had an awards ceremony. He got the citizenship award but that was it. he currently has a C in science and that knocked him off the honor roll award, even though the quarter hasn't ended. I wonder if the science teacher is feeling the voodoo doll. My mom and I went to the WJCT lunch & learn discussing mental health in the elderly community. It was a good day with my mom. Then she came over later for dinner enjoying Greek bowls. I would just be content with soup each night with my throat on fire. Thursday was a veg day for me- HIIT then doing chores around the house. I ended up dragging Emma out, getting out of PJs to hit up Lillians with the middle school ELA teachers, pre-party to readers beach! Friday morning I was out there setting up tents, picking up snow cone accessories and bouncing the water slides...and once again I had NO children present at Readers Beach! Ridiculous! I drove across town to the county PTA awards ceremony luncheon. We cleaned up and got the best middle (and high) school award along with a bunch of others! The day began stressful because Ellie got in her first car accident on the way to school. It wasn't bad, someone sideswiped her on the interstate and scratched the side of her car. She's fine and aside from cosmetic damage, her car is fine, too. We all learned a few lessons and chalked it up as a good first time experience. I was ready for a cocktail in the pool Friday night! We had dinner at the Grove with the Cummings and went to bed early. Saturday we took it easy in the morning, Suzanne picked up Marly for Confirmation practice. I pulled some weeds and drowned some grasshoppers (my new hobby). I had soup at Firehouse. That evening was Marly's Confirmation. The bishop gave a really nice mass. The AC was broken and we all felt the fire of the Holy Spirit. We went to TCC for dinner, a nice celebration for Marly. Ellie picked up leftover flowers and goodies from a TCC wedding. Love it! Sunday we all took it easy. Ellie's been dog sitting a neighbor's dog and spending lots of quality time with them. The Freemans hosted us all for their annual Memorial Day throw down. I wish I had been at 100% to enjoy it more fully. It was fun and we were there all afternoon into the evening. Ellie brought Abby home sick. Marly took a group of kids home to babysit. Voss and Will went crazy on the water slide at the end. Rainbows and all! This morning we started Memorial Day with the murph challenge...well abridged since pull ups are hard! I was spent! We went to Owen's graduation party, a great kick off to the week. The girls and I went to TCC to cool off in the pool. Now I'm going room to room getting everyone in gear for the last week of school. Here we go! Here are the pics of the week.

It was National Teacher Appreciation Week this week. I drove middle school carpool and spent a lot of time there. I was waitlisted for clinic so I went to HIIT and then WD and got the week set up, a Monday fave when Sunday was crazy. Last week of middle school swim. War Eagle swim has started for the little two (just because they have more time to go to practice than the older two). I bit the bullet and booked flights to Denmark and also the hotel for our lobster trip with friends this summer. You can imagine Phil flipped when he checked the credit card. It was a hot week in our house! It took a few days for him to cool off. No regrets on my part. YOLO! After barre on Tuesday I met Jamie at school to have students write thank you notes for teachers. Sitting through three middle school lunches back to back is not for the meek. Especially those 6th graders are awful! We had a zoom meeting for high school nominating committee...looks like I'm rolling into a VP there. Wednesday I went to HIIT, Facetimed some Danish cousins and then proctored an AP computer exam. I had a quick walk with Tracy and Laurie after trombone, during dance. Mom came over for dinner- shish kabobs! With an after party/ marriage mediation sesh with the locals at Lillians (it actually helped). Thursday we had our final PTSA meeting for middle school and got a new board, me as treasurer. We set out sweet treats for the teachers. We had a patrol parent meeting at elementary school. Later, I went to Aubree's to go over the treasurer books and get a heavy reimbursement check. Friday we did the caffeine cart at middle school then I went to help pass out teacher gifts at elementary school. Spot had a spa day and I was able to get in some Hacks in the middle. It was Phil's Birthday. To celebrate we met a bunch of friends for drinks and dinner at TCC. Such a fun group and we ended up with fried pickles at Lillians. Marly got to go to Gradventure with the 8th graders. My amazing friend, Rachel drove her home at 3am! At 8am we drove out to the pool for warm up for the city championship meet. Aunt Suzanne picked up Phil and met us out there just in time. I timed the first shift, which made it fly by. The rain finally came! Voss' soccer game was canceled so we had a relaxing afternoon. Running on fumes, Marly went to a jump park with her swim friends. She finished 4th in the 100 IM, 4th in 25 fly, 2nd and 3rd in a relay and her team finished 4th overall. Phil and I went on a date for sushi. Sunday was Mother's Day. Phil took Marly early, she was asked to crown Mary at mass. The rest of us rolled in just in time. I taught CCD (and they were not good) and then we went to my mom's for lunch. Suzanne made chicken salad. Matt (really mom) took us on a boat ride. It was a relaxing afternoon.Ellie was so sweet and got me a massage with Sherry! I always love the 'no fighting' coupons. Pizza and hot cookies for dinner, yes please. I stayed up finishing off Hacks. It was a nice day. Here are the pics of the week. 

I think those last few weeks of April might be more Maycember than May. Or did I just jinx myself? Easter week was like a calm before the storm. Voss started his patrol training. I get to be patrol parent president. Meredith and I scooted to book club on Monday to discuss Table for Two, possibly my favorite short story book. The first of 3 GNO fun times this week. Next, was the MJ musical downtown, which was very good. A little harder to follow than Tina Turner but the dancing and of course music was amazing. I spent the morning at DCCPTA on Tuesday and met a new DA friend to get the scoop on Marly's new school. She had two swim meets that week, killing it at both. I went to high school to get students to write thank you notes in prep for the following week. Thursday I hosted a women on the water day- boating around town on a perfect spring afternoon. Friday morning I played tennis with my new friend, Zee to practice for our upcoming member guest. We had a Nutcracker board meeting (first time taking notes!) and then Julie hosted us for dinner al fresco on a perfect night in her backyard. Voss racked up some goals in his game on Saturday then we dipped in for the last bit of the neighborhood party honoring my dad. We welcomed my mom back to town and helped her move back in and get settled. It's nice to have her close to keep an eye on her. That night we met the Cummings and Strassers for dinner and stayed so late that we went home with leftover wedding flowers. Gorgeous! My house is full and my neighbors all got arrangements, too! Sunday we had mass, CCD then later soccer Sunday. The next week was teacher appreciation week at high school...which had me so stressed I wasn't sleeping well. They were a week early due to testing, works out for me bc then I only have to juggle two schools next week. I took the morning off then went to high school for the kick off teacher lunch, hosted by Masala. Tuesday after barre class, Emma met me at Costco and we picked up 91 dinners to pass out to teachers on their way home. My week theme was the 5 love languages. So Monday was quality time over lunch, acts of service with dinner done on Tuesday. Wednesday we put the thank you notes from the previous week in the teacher boxes for words of affirmation. The principal threw a carnival to relieve stress before testing. I helped serve BBQ to teachers while I was there. Abby got to go on a 6th grade field trip to the Kennedy Space Center! Thursday was physical touch so we had 3 massage therapists come and give teachers chair massages. I dipped out for a bit to attend the last MomCo meeting of the season and hold babies. I ubered to the other side of town to meet Phil at the kickoff for the Deerwood Member Guest. He was called in to play last minute. I had at least a week to plan, both blind dates. They did a fun Derby party with lots of fun friends playing. Friday was gift cards at high school but we moved that to next week, just too much and trying to support local! Zee and I kicked off the morning with a win for our 9am match. We played my ole pal, Renee and her friend in the second match that afternoon and ended up losing the tie breaker 3-10. We were still trying to figure it out. The girls and I with my mom and sister had dinner and then went to the DA spring recital. We were blown away by the choreography and dance, just wow! Voss had a soccer dinner date with his coach and son. Phil lost his evening match. We were all so tired and came home to crash. Saturday morning, Ellie went to the Best Buddies walk then helped me drive Voss to his camp out after his soccer match. Marly went to Target. Phil and I headed back to Deerwood. We got spanked by an 82 year old in our match. Phil got spanked by a tennis pro in his match. Still, live music, my brother and sister coming to watch, watching the derby with great food and drinks. It was a great night. And we couldn't just turn in- we had to keep going with belly dancers at the Casbah and Holy Shittake at Mellow. Goodness. Instead of getting our act in gear on Sunday, we slept in while the girls went to mass (such good kids!), Phil went to play another match, Marly and I went on the Freeman's yacht to shark tooth island. We met my brother for live music at High Tide for quatro de mayo. Abby is home sick. Voss made it back from the camp out and is now biking to a play date. Happy Sunday Funday! Here are the pics from the last two weeks.

The weather was perfect for a gorgeous Holy Week. We didn't make it to mass or all the special services. SQ and I did a 36 hour fast to kick off the week, though. Good for holy week and Dementia prevention. We had tennis clinic. quick WD run and then a swim team sign up party. I put all the practice and meet dates in my calendar to prepare for Maycember. I went to a barre class on Tuesday and then a day at the new FYC pool to catch up with my ole pal. Stacy. I popped in the watch the end of Phi's tennis match. Still getting used to having a driver for the late dance pick up. After the HIIT class on Wednesday, my brother, Matt taught me how to change the oil in the boat. It's pretty simple once you have all the materials. I took him to Firehouse for lunch. It was nice to spend time with him. I went to high school for a SAC meeting that afternoon and then back for a PTSA meeting the next morning. Doom and gloom conversations about public schools sinking into the Florida swamp...figuratively, of course. It was school spirit night at Lillians on Thursday so we went there instead of Holy Thursday mass. Friday morning we packed up and instead of doing the Stations of the Cross on our street we listened to a Matthew Kelly devotional and drove to Miami. We had a pleasant surprise visit with one of our favorite cousins, Jamie Jr. and went to Matheson Hammock beach. We all went out to a fun Colombian restaurant to break our Good Friday fast. Saturday morning Abu made a pancake breakfast and then we headed out to explore Biscayne Bay National Park. I must have googled "things to do in Miami with kids" 50 times and this NP never showed up! Thirty minutes from Phil's parent's house and it's amazing! The kids did the junior ranger packets, we got stamps, had lunch at a beach nearby, went fishing and enjoyed learning about the protected area. We had a Holy Saturday supper and then early bedtime (for some). Phil had us all up for sunrise mass (which was anticlimactic from the INSIDE of the church) serenaded by peacocks on the way in. Egg hunt and pack up and then we drove back to Jax. I finished reading The Red Tent (which was even better the second time!)  and almost The Age of Vice. Once home we were invited to a Hawaiian dinner at the Fredlands which was a wonderful way to spend Easter evening.
Click here for the photos of the week.

Spring time is gorgeous in NE Florida. Being outside is enough to dispel any bad mood. My mornings were pretty calm, I tried to lean into the quiet. Tennis clinic and a match with Kerri on Tuesday, bringing my win average to 79%! HIIT classes for the rest of the week with the Easter egg bonus work outs. Marly had two swim meets and swimming strong in both, short and sweet. It was pictures week at dance so we got to see the fun costumes and figure out what all they were missing for recital time. We had crummy political news with a legislative vote to cut AP, IB and career class funding because I guess our representatives want us all to go to private or charter despite what we the people want. We had a Nutcracker board meeting on Friday. Phil had a work party that night to see the Icemen. The kids and I watched a storm come in over the river at the Grove (lightning and hail, oh my!). We had a nightcap with the Strassers, kambucha and bar hopping. Saturday morning Voss killed it at a soccer game then we did a boat day with my siblings. It was a bit chilly for boat day but enjoying the spring before summer overtakes us. Fun day bar hopping on the river! This morning we went to Palm Sunday mass, CCD then breakfast. Getting ready for a foam day party and then family soccer. Here are the pics of the week.