Playing catch up - Busytown Edition

You know how there are some times of the year or specific months that just seem crazy every single year? May, for instance. My calendar can look reasonable as it approaches, then one day... BOOM! I look at May and realize I won't actually breath for those 31 days.

I've recently come to terms with the fact that my whole life is now like that. I feel like I have some down time approaching, but... it never happens. Things fill in. I updated my calendar a while back for the handful of little clubs and organizations that the kids and Nathaniel are involved in and realized that I am only allowed any semblance of routine on Tuesdays. The other days are booked. Need me? Call me Tuesday.

There's some heavy melodrama in that last paragraph, I'll admit. My family is not heavily scheduled compared to the majority of families I read about in those articles on how children are losing their childhoods and whatnot. There does seem to be a lot going on, though, and it all started happening in late September and early October. There are one off things and weekly things and monthly things. Some days they overlap, some days are quiet. Oh! and there's homework. There's a LOT of homework for my older two girls this year. To be fair, one of them is really not good at focusing and getting it done, so it feels like some days homework goes from 3:30 till 7:30, but I know if I really investigated, only 60-90 minutes of that would have been real work. Still, there's been a big jump this year.

Here's a quick run down of some of the things we have going on:

- Music! Ruth is continuing piano this year, as well beginning trumpet at school. Marianne is carrying on (sometimes against her will, yet with relatively good skill) with the trombone. Nathaniel directs a men's choir once a month for Sunday 8am mass. Nathaniel and two or three of the older girls join a "family choir" once a month at Sunday 8am mass. The instruments require "daily" practice, but the girls are not reliable with it and I get distracted during dinner prep so sometimes they give me the slip to head out to play and we forget till the littles are in bed at which point no way am I asking them to whip out their brass instruments and spend 15 minutes honking away, thank you very much. {sigh} I really do want them to practice regularly, though. I'm working on remedying this.

- Chess! A gentleman has volunteered to start a weekly chess club at school and Ruth jumped on it. She's enjoying learning new moves and strategies even though she has yet to win a game. She once managed not to lose by the time they had to end for the afternoon, while playing against the kid considered the strongest player in the club, so she scored half a point against him in a draw. She's pretty proud of that.

- Math! (Are you feeling the nerdy trend here, yet?) Math Counts has begun for the year, and Nathaniel is once again a volunteer coach. The new twist this year - Marianne is finally old enough to join. This is borderline against her will, but she is so strong in math, and I think if Nathaniel weren't a coach she'd do it voluntarily (so embarrassing, being seen anywhere near your dad in 6th grade!) so we've insisted she give it a go. She oscillates between saying how boring it is, and asking whether I think she has any chance of making the competing team (not likely, as it's generally all 8th graders; these earlier years are for learning/practice, but it shows her secret enthusiasm).

- Little Flowers and Endow Girl Genius! These are monthly girls' clubs that Marianne, Ruth and Meg participate in. Little Flowers I've mentioned before, I'm sure, years ago. It centers on learning about virtues and saints, doing crafts, and there's a tea party at the end of the year. Meg is in heaven. Ruth is doing a slightly older version of Little Flowers specifically for girls preparing for Confirmation. Her group is learning about the Gifts of the Spirit and they skip the cheesy crafts and spend time journaling and in group discussion. The Endow Girl Genius group is a version of Endow written for middle school aged girls (Endow is a program developed based on the teachings of St. Pope JPII regarding the "feminine genius") to help them develop a strong sense of self and better understand the beautiful teachings of the Church regarding women. Should I mention that Marianne is in this group mostly against her will? 6th graders are the most fun. I can't wait for junior high! No, but seriously, she's enjoying it. She wanted to do it when I asked. But every meeting it's "ugh... do I have to?" and then afterward I hear about the fun. Oy.

We've had a couple other fun one-off things in the past month, as well.

- Ruth was cast as Mary in her class's "living rosary". Meg (and all the other 1st graders) stood in as "beads" of the rosary behind the tableaux formed by 5th graders.

The Assumption of Mary (her teacher, Sister Mary Helen, encouraged her to practice her flying for a really dramatic
take on it, but Ruth never could quite levitate.) Note Meg, to the left of Ruth, with a red carnation/"bead".

The Coronation of Mary

- The Glee Club came to town. Yes, the same Glee Club I just wrote about visiting at ND. They passed through Lincoln as part of their fall break tour. There's a Lincoln guy currently in Club, so his parents took on the brunt of the work to line up a concert, arrange for host families for the students and a million other details I had no idea a Glee Club visit could involve. God bless them for their efforts! We agreed to host three boys for the night, and I volunteered to arrange for side dishes to round out the chicken they were providing for the Clubbers' dinner. My amazing friends came through with shining colors and we provided a lovely meal for the guys. They thanked us over and over, as apparently every other stop on tour had ordered pizza, and we laid out a really nice meal.

The concert itself was a bit of a blur. Remember last time I attempted to attend a Glee Club tour concert? I'll refresh your memory - it was in Omaha, Rachel was about six months old, and it was just a couple weeks before our trip to Hawaii. It drove me to test the effects of Benadryl on our child in advance of the flight because I was terrified she'd repeat her concert performance while in the air. Bottom line, it was horrible.

I had high hopes that this concert would be much more manageable. And it was. I only had to leave the building once, briefly. But I was still frazzled nearly to tears by the end. Apparently the Glee Club brings out the crazy in Rachel, and in Peter as well. They both did alright through intermission, then after a trip to the bathroom, they just could. not. sit. still. Rachel shouted once, in between songs, so loudly (and with so much flinging of her body onto the floor) that the whole Glee Club actually started laughing and the director turned and waved at me. Mortifying. Thankfully, tons of my friends were there and I could grab a sympathetic smile as needed. I've officially decided I will not take my children to a Glee Club concert ever again, until they're old enough to be on college visits at least.

Nathaniel had a great time, though, and that's what matters when it comes to Glee Club events. He took the guys we were hosting out for a while after dropping off their luggage. They were incredibly gracious house guests. We saw very little of them since they arrived late and left early, but they were very polite and their moms would be proud, I'm sure. One weird thing, though. At least two of the three guys showered while they were here (the other may have after I had gone to bed), but of the basket of towels I left out in their room, I was only able to find one hand towel that had been used. College boys are weird.