They’re learning praise from our new vice principal. The Engineer is also directing a movie involving all the kids. Hopefully I’ll post something before the end of the summer.
Boys Camp 1
Saturday, June 28, 2025
The Engineer “looks like he had the best week of his life,” according to DH. These boys are too cool to smile; but this is their favorite camp!
It came with this note:
Not bad for 7000’! The Engineer placed in his half-mile run in his age group.
The Firstborn won the “Gladiator” sport in their “Olympics” in his age category on Thursday night. Gladiator looks like this:
Thankfully, the counselors reinforced hygiene standards:
Forty-Three!
Friday, June 27, 2025
It’s always such an encouragement to receive calls, texts, work messages, and birthday wishes from my family, friends, dentists, optometrists, mechanics, mortgage company, financial planner, etc. Kidding about the last five. I’m so grateful for another year!
One of my summer interns made cupcakes and a card. DH and the four littles bought me wine, flowers, and scented candles. They also picked up Häagen-Dazs mint ice cream, which is the only ice cream with no additives at our local grocery store. Breyers cannot even deliver on that anymore! :( “Natural” vanilla is no longer 5 ingredients. Not that ice cream is in any way healthy, but Häagen-Dazs does contain food as opposed to non-food. And this body is more and more sensitive to what goes down the hatch. 😅
Stats:
Height—5’3”, 25th %
BMI—21.6, 5th %
First Day of TK!
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Sol was absolutely thrilled to join his brothers!
Pop Hurley
Monday, June 23, 2025
My best friend’s Dad went to be with Jesus on June 14. A church-full of friends and family showed up for this singular man and his family. Sr. E. received special permission to leave the cloister for a week. The eulogy was inspirational; and his wife said he taught her a lot about virtue. He was a gentle giant.
DH, who is far too good to me, found me a day trip flight on my remote work day. He booked it and drove me to LAX and back with the four littles. If you’re reading this, tell him to take his turn/some time for himself. He won’t listen to me!
Just to make sure everyone was sobbing, the organist executed this beautiful piece, which I’ve always found melancholic. It captured the sentiment well.
Blast from the Past
Sunday, June 22, 2025
There are very few people here from my alma mater and fewer still who were there at the same time as me. This one bumped into us at our recent wedding; and now we are determined to keep in touch!
Sol’s Last Day of Preschool!
Saturday, June 21, 2025
He is so excited to be joining his siblings at their school. He has been dropping them off and receiving TLC from everyone at his siblings’ school for four years; and now it’s his turn to actually attend.
He is going to miss his friends at preschool. We made cookies and cards for his preschool team; and his classmates surprised us with this sweet note:
He needs things to do besides learn from the Fifth how to sneak out of his bedroom and otherwise endanger his life.
Words of wisdom from the Firstborn: “Sol, I’d rather have the Fifth get killed than both you and the Fifth get killed.” So we are #winning at life over here! #KillingIt #PunIntended
It’s Just a Little Crush…
Friday, June 20, 2025
“…and then you’re going to get divorced.” -Anonymous child talking to the Fourth in the context of a tale he is weaving.
“Let’s not speak frivolously about divorce. It’s devastating for kids but also for parents. Besides, the Fourth is a good judge of character. For example, he picked a best friend who is a really good friend. He’s going to marry an amazing woman because he likes to pick the best.” -Mom
“He’s going to marry Lilly*! He has a crush on Lilly!” -the Fifth
“I do NOT have a crush on Lilly!” -Fourth
“Sweet Pea has had 3,000 crushes! Sweet Pea, how do you have so many crushes?!” -Story-Weaver
“I have…” -Sweet Pea preparing to challenge the number
“Yes you have! You had a crush on Diego and then Kai and then Nolan and …” -Story-W, not permitting any denial
[Pregnant Pause. Sweet Pea realizes that she’s shared every single crush with her brothers.]
“Mom, do you know how most of my crushes start?” -Sweet Pea
“How do they start?”
“Okay. So, normally I have a dream about them and then I start to have a crush on them. Like I have a new crush right now.”
“And did you have a dream about him?”
“Yes! Last night!”
“What was this dream?”
“Well, I was in Minecraft with my friends and we all had these weird skins, like Mariana had a rainbow skin with black eyes. I don’t know why. And…”
“Sweet Pea. Focus. Was your crush in this dream?”
“Yes.”
“WHEN did your crush appear in this dream?”
“Well, I am about to fall into this void in Minecraft; and he drops a block in front of me.”
“…and he saves you?”
“Yes,” she responds with uncharacteristic coyness.
“So, why don’t you just have a crush on him in your dream instead of real life considering this all happened in your dream?”
“Well, in my dream he appeared in real life. Not just in Minecraft. And do you want to know who it is? It’s the one with gelled, slicked back hair,” she answers her own question without waiting for a response.
“Outstanding.” 😏
“Let’s just make sure we don’t TELL your crush-boy that you have a crush on him this time, okay? We don’t want him to fall in love with you and start following you around just as you stop crushing on him like your last crush. Okay?”
“Okaaaay.”
*Name changed to protect the innocent.
[If you’re reading this, pray for Sweet Pea’s parents! Thank you. Goodbye.]
Father’s Day
Sunday, June 15, 2025
It’s impossible to articulate the importance of fathers and how devastating it is when a father is missing. I think about it this way: For millennia there have been men and women who practice celibacy for the greater glory of God. It is far easier to be without conjugal intimacy than without paternal intimacy. The latter people cannot live without. It’s written into our nature. It’s what we all desire. I am blessed to have a physical representation of the Father’s love and am so grateful to be providing that to my children through their own father as well. God is good! 🙏🏻❤️
We tried to make this a special day for DH. Unfortunately, he woke up at 2am, which totally blind-sided me. I was able to talk him into going back to sleep at 5am, made breakfast, did 5 loads of laundry, and cleaned the home. It was less than I wanted to do because I was sick with an upper respiratory infection. But DH felt loved. On Monday, I made gnocchi alla vodka with gourmet gnocchi. He’s a gem and deserves the best.
DH had a visit from his FCOR. It was nice for him to be in touch with his family of origin on Father’s Day, in all of his FCOR’s self-described “Shel Silverstein” glory. It’s always a good day when Shel Silverstein is referenced.
He received some lovely cards from the three littles. This age is the best for that:
I have no idea what festival he’s referencing.
Our First California Wedding!
Saturday, June 14, 2025
We’ve attended one wedding out of state in the last 6 years and too many funerals. (Though I was in my former housemate’s wedding in NorCal in 2010, DH was unable to make it.) These friends have a similar background to us. So we connected over that. They are good people; and their wedding brought many good people together! It was the most enjoyable social event I’ve attended since my sister’s wedding. I’d forgotten how much I love weddings. They are so encouraging.
While the 90-minute, sung, nuptial Mass was going on, I leaned over to DH and whispered, “I am so happy for them. At the same time I wouldn’t want to repeat the last fifteen years. They were nice going through them once. But I don’t need to do this again.” He responded, “I’d like to do Hawai’i again.” Fair. (And we’d just met a priest who had a royal Hawaiian heritage and spoke with us about all the places we’d just visited.)
It never ceases to amaze me that outdoor receptions are the norm here. You can count on no rain between June and December. And there are no noticeable bugs. And the temps are perfect. There really aren’t any other places in the United States where that is true. And the people who grew up here have no idea what a blessing that is!
The Holy Spirit brought us together. This friend interviewed with me for a job. She ended up not taking it. And I ended up being let go and completely switching fields. I then hired her to nanny while she prepared for another job. We’ve kept in touch; and I’ve known since I met her that we would be friends. She introduced me to the bride. DH and I both knew the groom.
Last Day of School!
Friday, June 13, 2025
We’ve made it through our sixth year at our California school. This boy was born about three weeks after we arrived. He has completed two years of transitional kindergarten and will begin regular kindergarten just before his sixth birthday. It’s amazing how much has changed in six years! Six years ago, living in California wasn’t even on our radar; yet this boy’s entire (postpartum) life has been here.
Ice, Ice, Baby
Thursday, June 12, 2025
The Engineer had a dry ice, ice cream making project at school. It may have been his best day of school ever.
You can hear his teacher trying to be chill in the background here:
School PTSD
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
It’s hard to convey the anxiety experienced by parents of neurodivergent children. This article attempts to. There are others. DH and I are contacted at least every other day about something someone has done wrong (sometime us—sometimes we packed the wrong shoes). DH and I joke that it is a red letter day when we don’t get a call or email from either school! So, when this notification popped up on our phones, the fight or flight response was triggered. Again.
I learned of this via text message from DH:
Obviously, he’s being facetious. (I keep my notifications off much like I avoid the news because it’s emotionally manipulative and panic-inducing. Except for notifications from DH.) Rest assured, most of Sol’s days are spent like this. I love the tongue-out level of concentration going on here:
Engineer's Twelfth!
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Our Engineer is beginning his growth spurt. He grew 4” in the last year. He has competent soccer skills and loves Minecraft. He is incredibly thoughtful and never has “nothing” on his mind. Of all our bright kiddos, this one’s brain never stops. His thoughts are always deep and detailed.
He remembers details about people forever, which is a blessing and a curse, haha.
We took him out for dinner—just DH and me—at his request. He wanted Italian (authentic Italian, kiddo has a fine palate). He loved it. DH notes that the Engineer is a good test case for the effectiveness of intermittent fasting. If he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t eat it. So he can binge on ice cream cake and the finest carbs and still be skinny because he rarely gets them.
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