7QT: Football, Vaccines, Taxes, and Summer Plans

 Happy Friday in March!  

1)

For my high school sophomore, it's been football, football, football 24/7.  He's only played flag football in the past because soccer is his fall sport, but we are in a Fall Two season due to Covid and so he gets to play high school football...and it makes me so nervous!  Yikes!  How do you football moms do it?  Drink heavily?  Just kidding, but it does make me very happy to report that he has been practicing as a kicker which was my hope.  It makes sense that a soccer kid would be a good kicker, and for that I am grateful!  Kickers can't get tackled!  I calculated the hours of practice (6 days a week) vs. the hours of school and he spends more time playing football than in academics.  It's a real time commitment, but he totally loves it and I don't see him returning to soccer next fall, even though he's been playing for 12 years. {Insert sad Soccer Mom face}

2)

Three of the kids had annual physicals this week, and the pediatrician thinks Eamon should get a Bone Age test because of his height at age fourteen.  The test is just an X-ray of his wrist and then a pediatric radiologist can determine the age of his skeletal system and compare that to his actual age, and then do further testing to see why there's a discrepancy if any.  I think it's a good idea because his short stature has been bothering me (more than him!) and I would like to identify any causes and solutions.  Phil and I were both late bloomers, and that's probably all it is for Eamon, but why not make sure?

3)

The Covid Vaccine opened up for school employees in Massachusetts this week, so I scheduled Phil and my vaccines in a few days.  We will not get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine for moral reasons, so I hope that they only have the two-dose ones available.  I've been all over the place with my feelings about getting the vaccine, but in the end, it comes down to hopefully living more freely in the future.  Massachusetts plans to have all kids back in school at full capacity soon, so that is why they are allowing school employees to receive the vaccines now.  I hope I'm doing the right thing.

4)

I filed our taxes with TaxAct, already got our refund, and you can get 20% off by using this link.

5)

Are you all making any summer vacation plans?  Last summer we took the family to Catholic Familyland in Ohio and had a blast (see my review here for more info).  

The kids begged us (all of them - seriously) to go back again this summer, and so we are planning on it!  There are some awesome speakers this year too, including Matt Fradd and his wife Cameron, Bishop Strickland, and Franciscan President Fr. Dave Pivonka.  This year we will rent a camper to sleep in instead of a cabin, and let me know if you're interested in going and maybe we can coordinate the same week, wouldn't that be fun?!?!

6)

How's your Lent going?

So far, mine is pretty average.  I'm sticking to my voluntary sacrifices, reading is going more slowly than I would like, and we've only gone to Stations once so far.  I have been able to make morning Mass at work which is always nice but especially during Lent, and we are still going strong on our Bible in a Year podcast, which is easy to do while we walk the dog.  I just feel like I need to pray more and commit to giving God my full attention for a small part of the day, so that's my focus for now.

7)

Katie wrote a wonderful post this week.  And Jenny had posted this photo a couple of weeks ago, and it is still making me laugh:

So on that note, have a great Lenten weekend everybody!  Go see Kelly for more :)