Lo's and Hi's at the End of July

Lo:  JP is in the middle of a Cyber Security program at the local college and is supposed to be completing an internship this summer.  The problem is that he and a couple of other students have yet to be placed for the internship.  The program is brand new this year, so I can understand a few bumps in the road, but it is very annoying that he did not get a real summer job thinking he would have an internship and now he is just doing neither.  He is completing the college work, and doing his summer work for his AP courses next year, so he is keeping busy, but that's not making him any money.

Hi: JP gets to take his driving test at the end of August and since we only own a minivan and a huge van, we decided to get a small car that he can use to practice on and then drive around once he has his license.  To be clear, this is not HIS car, but a family car that he can use.  It's a 2006 Honda Accord with only 41,000 miles!  I love driving it around and we've nicknamed it the Holy Roller due to the rosary, holy water, statue of Mary and visor clip proclaiming that we are Catholic and to call a priest in case of an accident (all gifts from my mom).  A car doesn't get much holier than that - oh wait, we still need to get it blessed!

Lo: Andrew has been pining away for an iphone, and we agreed that he can buy a new iphone7 when he makes the "extra money" needed to buy it.  Extra money does not include the weekend shifts he works at Market Basket, it's any sort of extra money he can earn.  He immediately sent an email to our pastor, who had mentioned some summer work to him a while ago, and started doing a little landscaping.  He is still really mad that he can't just buy it with the money he has already made, but we are trying to teach him that when you have a WANT vs. a NEED you should spend your excess on it, not your necessary.  He has a perfectly good phone we bought him last year, so it's not like the kid is phoneless.  Personally, we just wish he didn't care about these material things so much!

Hi: Andrew is really acting like a high schooler lately, in a good way!  He is taking a Geometry course over the summer at the high school so that he can take Algebra 2 freshman year, PreCal sophomore year, and then two years of calculus in junior and senior year.  He does really well at math and we are proud of him for doing this work.  He is also part of the high school's summer soccer team and is playing with the big guys and working out with them in the weight room a couple times a week.  He has such a strong work ethic in certain areas.  This weekend he is heading to a Pro-Life Bootcamp with JP and other high schoolers from the area to learn more about being prolife, pray at the abortion clinic, visit a nursing home, and be on retreat for a few days.

Lo: Eamon is sort of lost this summer.  He and Andrew have always been really close, and I think now that Andrew is moving up to high school and involved in different activities, Eamon feels a little left behind.  The struggle is real for him this summer.  He has been going to camp with Phil these last three weeks, just to hang out with some kids his age.  I've been buying him his favorite foods - bagels and cheezeit grooves - nonstop so he can eat through the pain ;)

Hi: Eamon has been playing basketball all summer, and fall soccer practices start tomorrow, so those things make him happy.  He got to go tubing with cousins last weekend and had a blast, and also with a friend to a water park.  I'm so thankful for friends and cousins who think to include my kids on fun activities!

Lo: Maggie is borderline OCD I think.  She can not stand the house being messy, and though we keep an orderly and clean house, she freaks out when everybody comes home at the end of the day and puts their shoes and bags where they don't belong.  She loses her mind and we have to tell her to stop, breathe, and remove herself from the room.  We can clean as a loving sacrifice to God, or we can do it filled with hatred and anger and actually be sinning.  She's trying to control her Irish temper, she tells me.

Hi: Maggie completed a volleyball camp, helps out at Phil's summer camp, and is heading to a Catholic girl's camp in New Hampshire next month.  It's her first overnight with her closest friends but boy is she Nervous with a capital N (maybe this should be a lo, but I think in the end she is gonna love it).  She has been having lots of fun with her cousins (even going to Great Wolf Lodge!) and friends, everybody wants to give the only girl Martin some girl time :)

Lo: Alexander is not really having any lo's this summer!  Maybe when his mom drags him to the beach for some Vitamin D and Sea (he's more of an indoor cat).  But then when we get there he has a ball.  Oh wait, I just remembered, he still hasn't gotten over the fact that Maggie went to GWL and he didn't.  Scarred for life.

Hi: Xander is counting down to his birthday on Friday, has had a cousin sleepover, saw the Spider Man movie in the theater, loves camp with his buddies, and is still going strong on the piano.  The kid is happy!

Lo: Declan's biggest complaints this summer come at the end of the day when he has been so busy having fun that he is just too tired to be charming anymore.  Kid gets cranky!  He's five and too old for naps, but he happily goes to bed at 6:30 pm on camp nights and sleeps a full 12 hours.  

Hi: Declan has been making huge strides this summer.  He learned how to pump on a swing by himself, he is reading a lot more words, and he just recently let me take his floaties off in the pool and is actually a great swimmer as long as he knows he can touch the ground.  He has had such a fear of the water after going under at the beach last year (so scary) so this is a huge step!  Now we just need to teach him to ride a bike and our job as parents is done ;)

Lo: Oh my cuddly Brendan is getting so big which is both a lo and a hi (for me anyway!)  He is also EXHAUSTED on these fun summer days and also happily goes to bed at 6:30 pm after whining from about 4:30 until bedtime.  He also hates not being to do whatever Declan is doing, he is basically his shadow.  Oh and he and the dog still fight over food.

Hi: Brendan is about 90% potty trained, and I think once camp ends this week, Phil will be able to spend more time focusing on this.  For now, he is naked at home and wears pullups to camp, but usually keeps them dry.  He still wears a diaper at night and will until he's four...mama ain't no fool with nighttime bedwetting.  He is such a love bug and gives the best hugs.  He's strong and solid and only weighs 3 pounds less than his 2 years older brother.  He will be turning 3 next month and I already have his present...he's gonna love it!

And with that HiLo update, I'll say Goodbye for now!