Summah Time So Fah

We are packing up to leave on a family "vacation" but I wanted to make sure to post some photos of our summer so far.  I say vacation in quotes because we are visiting family and then staying at Catholic Familyland for a week.  We will be staying in a tiny cabin with no bathroom or sink, but there is air conditioning and a fridge.  Since I am allergic to camping, I hope I don't die, but the kids are excited!  We are all ready to finally leave home after months and months, and I am looking forward to meeting some great families and being fed spiritually as a family.  Mostly I'm excited to hang out with my brother and sister-in-law every day and have my kids around those 8 cousins that they rarely see.

Anyway, here's what Phil and I have been up to - sweating together - every day whether we want to or not.  You'd think we would be in tip-top shape, but our other favorite past time is eating together, so we balance it out! 

The little boys were overjoyed when Phil pulled out an old kiddie pool from the basement.  I love that they don't need much to be so happy.  Of course, they needed goggles for one foot of water ;)

7QT: End of the Weirdest School Year

I've been meaning to write a little snippet about each of my kids, and now that the school year is over, it's a good time to reflect on how far they have each come this year.  Let me just say...kids are resilient.  This pandemic and all of the changes it brought with it didn't seem to affect my kids too much at all.  I think it helped that Phil and I were working from home, as I assume kids who had parents working out in the real world during this time would have been much more stressed.  We were very lucky to have us all at home working, schooling, and truly bonding as a family.

JOHN-PAUL, age 17 

Firstborns just have a way with their mother's hearts, don't they?  JP finished his Junior year with ease and is looking forward to Senior year.  How do I have a high school senior when I just graduated high school a few years back ;)  JP is suuuuuch a good kid, easy going, academically strong, hard working, with a nice group of friends.  His biggest flaw is that he would sleep in until noon everyday if we let him.  He has been working at the grocery store as a cashier and was recently approached by a manager, asking him if he would be interested in becoming an Assistant Manager.  He asked what it entailed, and then politely declined because he thought the hours would interfere with his school work and sports next year.  I was proud of him for being respected at work, and smart enough to not let it come before his academics (he's taking 4 AP classes next year).  At the end of the year, his awesome geeky friends were receiving emails telling them that they were in the Top Ten of the class, and JP didn't get an email.  He asked his guidance counselor what his ranking was, and found out he is 13th in the class, with a 3.96 GPA.  He has made it his goal to break into the top ten next year, but we shall see, as his class is crazy smart.  He has picked up a second job for the summer at an ice cream shop, and is loving eating the mistakes each night.  He just started morning workouts at the high school which will hopefully combat the ice cream pounds gained!  Due to the pandemic, he hasn't yet taken the SATs, so he has to take one in August and then again in October.  He still has his heart set on medicine and attending Franciscan University.  

A Social Distancing Kindergarten Graduation for Declan

A pandemic can't stop a Kindergarten Graduation...but it can make it look a lot different!  We decorated the new van (her official name is Vanna White) and drove to the school for some photos and a drive-by.

The theme was Red, White and Blue, so Declan wanted to wear his Captain Abearica shirt :)

A Day Trip to Newport, RI

Last week, we realized that Saturday was going to be a rare day where nobody was scheduled to work, and decided to pack up Vanna White (our new Ford Transit) and drive to Newport, Rhode Island with the kids.  

We hit Easton's Beach because it has bathrooms (so many beaches around here are open, but the bathrooms are locked up...not great with lots of little bladders) and waves, unlike our local beach.  Unfortunately, there was also a lot of seaweed.  Phil researches the best waves in the area like it's his day job, and knew the swell was about 2 feet, but there's no way to tell about seaweed until you get there.  The kids love boogie boarding, but came home with TONS of seaweed under their suits.  Blech.  I love the ocean, but from my perch on the shore, for this seaweedy reason in particular.  

And sharks.  

And salt water.  

And sand.  

Geez Colleen, you have a strange love/hate relationship with the ocean.

Yes, I SEA your point.

Hehehe.

Anyway, some photos of the day...

Maximillian Kolbe: The Saint of Auschwitz (and the Man Who Changed My Life Forever)

When I was sixteen, growing up on Cape Cod, my mom was the coordinator of the Apostolate Alliance of the Two Hearts (a Catholic organization that promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart).  We just called it the "Alliance" and knew it meant that my mom (and dad) were always having prayer groups, saying the family rosary, and going to daily Mass.  Priests were in and out of our home on a regular basis, and the "headquarters" of the Alliance was in a room above the ice cream shop my family owned and ran.  We would be working a busy shift, run upstairs for another box of sugar cones, and bump into a group of friars praying for the conversion of sinners.  No biggie ;)  My parents had become Third Order Franciscans of the Immaculate when I was about twelve, and truly, I didn't realize how weirdly Catholic we were until a friend came to my house when I was in high school, and pointed out how many images of Jesus, Mary, and the saints we had.  She (lovingly) started referring to my home as the Jesus House.  Ha! 

So it might come to no surprise to anyone who knew us back then, that my mother was somehow involved (perhaps initiated??) a speaker to come from Poland to give a couple of talks about St. Maximillian Kolbe.  St Max was the founder of the Militia of the Immaculata, which promoted evangelization of the faith through consecration to Our Lady.  She was a Third Order of the same Franciscans that he founded, after all.  What WAS surprising was that the speaker was 93 year old Franciszek Gajowniczek...the man whom St. Maximillian Kolbe had saved by taking his place in the concentration camp! 

7QT: Friends, Mass, House Projects and a Break Up

Happy Friday!  Linking up with Kelly and the rest of the faithful bloggers.

1)

I am in great spirits because we have events on our social calendar this weekend!  After almost 3 months of not having social interactions, even this introvert is dying for some friend time.  Tonight, a friend is coming over to our house for dinner, and then on Sunday, Phil and I are going out to eat with another friend at an outdoor restaurant in Rhode Island.  I can't even remember what going to a restaurant is like!!  I hope I behave :)

2)

WE WENT TO MASS!!!!

We were all there, JP was taking this picture, and Phil was inside talking, and talking, and talking to Father.  (I told you we were starved for attention).  My four oldest boys served Mass, Maggie was the sacristan, and the little two boys seemed to whisper much louder behind their masks in the pew.  I thought I would cry upon receiving Our Lord for the first time in months, but I was too busy thinking about the logistics of being told when to go by an usher, bowing, pulling down my mask, and receiving by hand (I never receive by hand), that I didn't have time to be too emotional.