Our Week - The One with Quarantine, Week 62 (Last Week of School, Baseball Party, and Family Tennis)

Well, this post was supposed to go live last week, but then Olivia broke her elbow and I never had time to finish it.  So here's the recap from the last week of school and tomorrow I'll recap last week with the elbow accident...

Monday, May 17 (Day 430 of Quarantine)

Monday morning, I dropped the kids at school for their last Monday of the school year and then I headed straight home because I had to plan Jacob’s baseball party and get caught up on a million things that had been neglected over the weekend since we were gone for Olivia’s recital.  I also met my old coworker, Donnie, for lunch.  I hadn't seen him in forever, and it was great to get back out there!

Jacob had a 5:30 baseball game Monday evening, and it was nice to have the early slot for once!  Our pitchers couldn’t find their groove, and we ended up walking player after player while the other team’s runs piled up. 

In the second-to-last inning, our coach decided to put Jacob in to pitch for the first time ever and, y’all, he did SO well!!  It took him several pitches to find his groove – he had a couple of rogue ones that went behind the batter, and one that hit one of the batters (thankfully, he was totally fine) – but once he found the strike zone, he threw strike after strike after strike.  After an entire game of watching the other team get walked around the bases, Jacob finally threw some balls that they could swing at.  We still ended up losing the game since the other team was so far ahead, but we were so dang proud of Jacob!!!!

His coach gave him the game ball, and everyone congratulated him on a job well done.  His stance was beautiful, and he looked like a natural on the mound.  I guess we’ll see if he wants to pursue it in the fall... I have a feeling he might want to since he enjoyed it so much!

After the game, we grabbed Chick-Fil-A on the way home, and then we watched some of American Idol when we got home.  Anybody else amazed with the contestants this year?!  I feel like they have more talented people than ever this year… Willy is our FAVORITE. 

Tuesday, May 18 (Day 431 of Quarantine)

Tuesday morning, I made a Publix run to load up on groceries and the rest of the day was spent working.  Jacob had no practice and no game scheduled, so we all just spent the evening at home relaxing and catching up completely on American Idol.

Wednesday, May 19 (Day 432 of Quarantine)

Wednesday, I had to run a couple of errands after I dropped the kids.  It’s customary to give a little gift to the coaches at the end of baseball season, so I had a team picture developed and framed for each of them, and we also gave them a gift card to one of the big sports stores. 

I spent the rest of the day working at home… it was my last chance to really dig in and get ahead blogging, and then Brian and I headed to the kids’ school at 2:15 for Jacob’s fourth grade awards ceremony. 

This quarter he received the Principal’s Honor Roll award (straight A’s), the Accelerated Reader award, and the Religion award, and his class voted him most likely in the class to become an author.  He does like to write and draw and create, so I could totally see why they thought that.

Jacob's teachers were so sweet and they gave me and the other room mom margarita kits for helping out throughout the school year.  It was the cutest thing ever - a personalized pitcher, margaritas, fresh limes, and a gift card to our favorite local liquor store.

Wednesday evening, Jacob had his last baseball practice and Olivia and I stayed home playing countless rounds of Go Fish and getting dinner ready.  B and I ended the evening with a new episode of Handmaid’s Tale, and I am just as obsessed with this show as ever, y’all.

Thursday, May 20 (Day 433 of Quarantine)

Thursday was B-U-S-Y.  Whew.  Jacob had his baseball party Thursday evening, and I was the party planner as I was the team mom this season, so I spent the whole day running errands to prepare for that – picking up trophies, picking up cupcakes, picking up gift cards and wrapping gifts, ordering pizzas, packing the car with all of the necessities, etc. 

We had Olivia's awards ceremony at 1:45, and she received the "Floaties" award for always supporting her classmates and being a good friend.  Awwww so sweet!  She also exceeded her AR goal and had excellent grades all year, but they don't start handing out the academic awards until second grade I think?

Jacob's party was at 5:30 at the ballpark before their last game to keep things safe and simple.  We ate pizza and cupcakes, the coaches gave out the trophies, and I handed out gifts to the coaches, and then it was on to the game!  Jacob was walked twice and he scored one run, and he did a great job of keeping his eye on the ball and knowing when to swing and when not to… he’s gotten really good about telling the difference between balls and strikes this season!  And all of his grandparents were there to watch his last game.

Our boys played so well, and it was yet another close one for the first few innings, but the other team ended up taking away the win at the end.  All-in-all it was a tough season since we only had two wins and two ties (and the rest losses), but our boys learned a lot, they had tons of fun, and they made lots of memories together.  My dad said Thursday night that losing builds character, so let’s just say they also did lots of character-building this season.  Haha.  I was just grateful that we didn’t have those terrible umps for the rest of the season.  ;o)

We loved every second of Jacob’s first whole spring season (last year he was robbed because of Covid) and we added many more kiddos and parents to our baseball family, and we’re looking forward to watching him play again, hopefully in the fall!  I never thought I’d love being a baseball mom this much, but here we are.  Baseball is a time-intensive sport here in the south, but it’s worth every second to watch our kiddos do what they love.  <3

Another noteworthy item from Thursday was that B got an email from corporate saying that all employees will be returning to the office June 7.  B is supposed to be getting an email from his boss with details, so now we’re just waiting to see what’s going to happen.  It’s been so nice having him home for over a year, and I hate that they’re sending him back to the office just as the kids are getting out for the summer, but we are LOVING the fact that things are getting back to normal.  Praying things continue to head in the right direction.

Friday, May 21 (Day 434 of Quarantine)

Friday morning, I dropped the kids at school for their last day of the school year, and then I headed back home to crank out as much blog work as I possibly could before their noon dismissal time.  We picked up Panera on the way home for lunch, and then after lunch, B took a couple of hours off from work so we could all go downtown and celebrate the kids’ last day. 

They both worked SO HARD this year getting straight A’s, making their AR goals, and excelling at their extracurricular activities, so we thought they both deserved something extra special.  We started out the afternoon at the playground, but we only stayed for a short time as the place was PACKED. 

When we left the playground, we headed to a new-ish café that opened downtown.  They sell those massive milkshakes with all of the candy and ice cream sandwiches and cupcakes on them.  The kids had never seen any thing like them before, and they were both shocked when we told them that they could each pick one to eat.  Both of them went the candy route rather than the chocolate route, and Olivia chose one with cotton candy flavored milkshake, a rainbow lollipop, cotton candy, and a fancy little cake.  Jacob chose one with vanilla milkshake, rock candy, cotton candy, and a fancy little cake. 

We bought the smallest size they had, and they were HUUUUGE.  Haha.  I can’t even imagine what the extra large would look like!  The kids were so enamored with the candy and cakes that they ate most of that while only eating a little bit of the actual milkshake, so B and I took care of the rest that they didn’t want.  ;o)  We ate outside and it was a beautiful day, and it was just so lovely to be hanging out downtown since we haven’t been able to very much this past year.

After we wrapped up milkshake-eating, we headed back home so B could wrap up work for the week.  The kids were exhausted from the late night and early morning (and the crazy busy past two weeks), so I let them play video games while I got my new bag organized… B told me to design a Barrington bag for Mother’s Day and it had finally arrived!!!!  There’s just nothing better than organizing a new bag, y’all!  I went through and cleaned out every single bit of my old bag – wallet, bags, makeup, etc., replenished all of my supplies – Band-Aids, hand wipes, Ibuprofen, etc. – and then put everything back in my new bag all nice and neat.  It is a DREAM and I cannot wait to share more with you eventually!  That bag lives up to the hype and then some!

After I was done organizing, I went out to check on the kids and this is what I found:

Y’all.  I can’t even remember the last time she took a nap.  It has been literal years.  She just got so tired she couldn’t even hang during video games, so she wrapped herself up in one of her dozens of blankets (LOL), and fell asleep on her Sheepie.  I just love her so much.

B headed out to pick up Five Guys for dinner, and Olivia rallied for dinner and a movie… The Haunted Mansion.  Movie time was my turn for a nap.  Haha.  Gosh, I just can’t hang on a Friday night during the school year.  It was an exhausting but oh-so-good spring!

After the kids went to bed, B and I caught up on some shows and then it was bedtime for us as well.

We also found out Friday afternoon that my friend from high school who has taught second grade at the kids’ school for years is leaving to become a college professor.  She just completed her doctorate and is moving on to bigger and better things and we’re SO proud of her, but I’m selfishly crushed because she won’t be there in the fall to be Olivia’s teacher.  We don’t know who the replacement is just yet, but we’ve never had a bad teacher at our school so I’m confident it’ll all work out.  I’m just a little bummed.

Saturday, May 22 (Day 435 of Quarantine)

Saturday morning after breakfast, we headed to the tennis courts as a family of four for the first time ever.  B has played tennis for most of his life, and he still plays in the city league to this day.  He’s taken off the last year because of the pandemic + his back surgery, and he had his first tennis match on Sunday, so he wanted to hit some balls to get back into it. 

Our kids have never shown any interest in tennis, much to Brian’s dismay, but Saturday, they both seemed to enjoy it.  Olivia got tired of it pretty quickly, but Jacob LOVED it.  He didn’t want to leave when the time came to go!  He also picked it up really quickly and pretty much looked like a natural out there.  I foresee lots of time at the tennis courts on the horizon!

When we got back home, I got in a workout while B got the pool all set up for the kids.  We had a quick lunch at home, and then the rest of the afternoon was spent outside.  Olivia had been begging to play in the pool for weeks, so she was thrilled.  We all went inside late in the afternoon because it was really hot Saturday, and the kids played video games while I prepped some things for summer – I made a list of summer lunch ideas (the struggle is real!), I made a list of some fun things to do this summer, and I got some other things done that I’d been neglecting during these last few busy weeks.

We picked up Carrabba’s takeout for dinner, and then we watched Pirates of the Caribbean Saturday evening.  B and I have already seen all of them, and I’m not a huge fan, so I took the opportunity to catch up on emails and post a few things on social media that had gotten lost in the shuffle in all the busyness.  By the end of the evening, I felt so organized and caught up on many things that I hadn’t been caught up on in a very long time.  Always a great feeling!

Sunday, May 23 (Day 436 of Quarantine)

Sunday was cinnamon rolls and virtual church – the usual – and then I got in a workout before getting ready to head to my MIL and step-FIL’s house for lunch.  They were out of town on Mother’s Day, so we were finally able to celebrate her!

Sunday afternoon, B had his first tennis match and he survived (haha), and the kids and I hung out at home while he played. 

Sunday evening, we all headed to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner (indoors!) and my brother and his roommate/BFF were able to come, too, for the first time in forever because they’re both vaccinated now, too!  Woo hoooo!  Y’all, it was the first normal Sunday dinner we’ve had in over a year, and it was just so good.  I’m so grateful that things are starting to get back to normal. 

My Mama Cass joined us as well, and it was one, big, loud, chaotic evening at my parents’ house… MAN, I have missed those so much!

And now for a few current things…

Currently Reading

 

In May, I read Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah and I loved it.  It was another one that I couldn’t put down.  We were SOOOO busy this month, but I still made time to read this one and it was a long one, too.  I’m also finishing up the book DARE – The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks by Barry McDonagh.  The book talks in great depth about a new method for ending anxiety and panic attacks and it’s really interesting.  I’m definitely going to be using it as a tool going forward, and I’ll probably elaborate on the book eventually once I finish it.

 

Currently Watching

 

All of our network TV is coming to a close, so we’re finishing those up – This is Us, Shark Tank, A Million Little Things, American Idol, Saturday Night Live, and All American.  We finished New Girl on Netflix and I loved it, and we just started the new season of Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.  If you haven’t watched that show, WATCH IT.  It is one of the most well-written and unique shows I’ve ever seen, and it’s definitely in my top 10 favorite shows of all-time… probably in my top five?  Another thing that I’m THE MOST EXCITED ABOUT EVER is the Friends reunion… as I type this, it’s not out yet, but we will be watching it the day it comes out, for sure!  Friends is my all-time favorite show and nothing, I mean nothing, will ever surpass it, so I’ve been waiting for this moment for 17 years. 

 

I’m also still rotating The Wedding Planner, Father of the Bride 2, Notting Hill, and My Best Friend’s Wedding in my office while I work, VERY heavy on The Wedding Planner.  That movie is simply the best, y’all.  I always say that Love Actually is my favorite movie of all-time, but The Wedding Planner comes in a very close second… so close that it pretty much ties Love Actually for #1.  I just love every single thing about it and it always makes me so happy.

 

Currently Listening To

 

These last few weeks, I’ve been all up in my R&B mix, so I’ve been alternating between the Boyz II Men II album (seriously I’ve been wearing this one out lately) and shuffling my R&B genre in my music library.  90’s and early 2000’s R&B is where it’s at, y’all – Jagged Edge, 112, Tyrese, Brian McKnight, Ginuwine, Mya, Brandy, Monica, Dru Hill, Usher, Shai, Montell  Jordan, Silk, K-Ci & JoJo, LSG, Joe… GIVE. IT. ALL. TO. ME.  If I could only pick three genres of music to listen to for the rest of my life, I’d hands down, choose Standards/Jazz, 90’s/2000’s R&B, and then, of course, Rock/Pop… because I have to have my Dave Matthews Band, Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, and T Swift.  And these choices are only contingent upon the fact that Christmas music is included in all of those genres.  If we’re counting Christmas music as its own genre, then I’d have to trade it in for something else because I can’t live without my Christmas music.  Haha!

Happy Thursday, y’all!