those tiny little glasses can pack a big punch

William left a week ago, today, for his exchange program to Germany.  We dropped him off at school, he loaded a charter bus with fellow students - and they drove down to Boston.  Half the students boarded a flight to Madrid, the other half to Frankfurt.  

I pulled up his flight, and tracked it - while it crossed the Atlantic and flew across Europe.  

Only when he had safely landed and I reminded him to turn his phone to "Airplane Mode" (so we wouldn't get a $1500 roaming phone bill) until we could get him on an international calling plan the next day, did I peacefully go to sleep.  

Not surprisingly, we haven't heard much from him over the past week.  He's sent the family a few photos, and has dropped me a couple texts, but most of my knowledge comes from seeing pictures that his teachers are posting on Facebook.   

On Saturday night, our girls were all aflutter.  You see, they have Instagram - and when the German students were in the US, this past October, all the kids became fast friends - and as kids these days are prone to do - they swapped "Insta" info.  Suffice it to say, on Saturday night, our girls were checking their social media pages when they spotted the German students accounts, and I heard them say, "OH MY GOSH! WILLIAM IS AT A PARTY AND HE IS HAVING A BEER!!!" 

The drinking age in Germany is 16.  We knew this and we told William that he would likely have the opportunity to have an alcoholic beverage while he was on this trip, and we fully trust that he will make good choices.  He's had sips of beer and wine, and champagne with us, on rare occasion.  Charlie and I love a good double IPA (especially now that we're in Vermont) and a glass of wine every so often, but we aren't big drinkers and thankfully, William hasn't been in the social circles of kids who drink anything beyond copious amounts of Capri Sun.  

On Sunday morning, Charlie and I were up with the sun to take Henry - who has become a serious exercise aficionado - to the gym.  While Charlie and I were on ellipse machines, William texted me (in response to my text re: how was he doing) that he wasn't feeling so great.  He wrote, "I have a weird headache." So I suggested that perhaps, just maybe, he might be a *little* hungover.  To which he quickly replied, "I don't think I'm hungover." Followed by, "Ich habe nur zwei biers und ein shot." 

Translation: It was only two beers and one shot. 

On our way home from the gym, William called his little brother.  They chatted for a few minutes, before Henry handed the phone to me.  William explained how he had a beer with dinner, then went out with the German students and met this "really nice" Russian guy who was walking around with a bottle of vodka.  (Danger! Danger, William Charles!!) 

He told the guy he didn't want any vodka, and instead opted for another beer.  But then the Russian came back and offered him a shot, again, and all the other kids were taking one - so he took it - followed by several glasses of water, because why in the world would people drink that stuff?!  

I told him, "Yep, two beers and a shot will do it!"  To which he tried to explain, "But Mom! It was such a TINY glass!" So I reminded him when he had his wisdom teeth out over the summer, and they hooked him up to an IV and in a matter of seconds, he was in la-la-land?  Or when I give him a dose of NyQuil when he has a cold and he'll be knocked out cold for the night?   Alcohol is a drug, and it doesn't take much to alter your state of consciousness, tweak your blood chemistry, and make you feel bad. 

Alas, he now knows what a hangover feels like, he doesn't like it, and has decided that he'd rather stick to Gerolsteiner (sparkling water) and soft drinks for the rest of his trip. If my prayers are answered, for the rest of his life. 

In his words, "I've waited way too long to experience this, the last thing I want is to miss a moment of it because of something I intentionally ingested!"  Some things you just have to learn on your own, and this is one of them.  I'm just extremely grateful that he had the experience - wasn't (too) adversely effected by it, and knows that it isn't his cup of tea.  Literally! 

That small situation aside: He's been having a wonderful trip - touring Munich, Berlin, Hameln, and an American McDonalds. He's also expecting that he might be provided an opportunity to move to Germany later this summer, for a full year abroad. 

Charlie and I just had our passports renewed, yesterday, because I suspect overseas travel will be in our very near future.  If we're not in Europe, we may be in Asia since a week after William arrives home from Germany, our family is hosting a student from Japan!

Jinsei wa tanoshi! 

(Translation: Life is fun!) 

parting wisdoms from the soapbox

It wasn't very long ago, I could not imagine our children ever leaving the nest and going out in to the world on their own.  And I couldn't imagine that I would ever want them to leave.  The mere thought of it was traumatizing to my mama's heart. 

But nature has an amazingly beautiful way of surprising us.  Our little babies are growing up, becoming a lot more independent as they capably (and confidently) figure their way out in the world. In parallel, Charlie and I are becoming more accepting of their eventual nest departure.  In some cases, we're actually nudging them. 

Fly little birdie, fly!! 

Their maturity and independence has accelerated since we moved to Vermont where they are nonstop busy with school, sports, work, and friends.  As they have become more mature (on the run and driving everywhere), Charlie and I have found ourselves consciously stepping back - holding on a little less tightly - and giving them more freedom and space to figure things out.  It has been a whole bag of emotions with lots of deep breaths - tongue biting - and resignation / acceptance that comes from letting THEM figure things out. 

Sometimes, there is a fuzzy line between what they should figure out on their own, and what we must insist upon, in the spirit of setting healthy boundaries and expectations for people on the brink of adulthood. 

For example, their bedrooms are all on a different floor from our primary living space - and for the past few months, I've consciously turned a blind eye to the environment that has evolved.  My mindset has been that perhaps after a certain period of time living in a mess - they will come to the conclusion that life is better when there isn't mold actively growing out of your communal trashcan.   This decision to avoid the kids' living space has also been a physical and mental one: it thoroughly exhausts me to a cellular and existential level cleaning up after four abled body humans. 

But I seem to forget that every so often. 

Last Friday, was their Winter Ball dance, and I suspected a large number of kids, who would come by our house after the dance for cards and snacks, would likely spend the night. Especially since a snowstorm would be rolling in to town around the same time and I don't like them driving in those conditions.  So Friday morning, I thought I'd take my day off of work to go upstairs and tidy up.   Ten hours later, as I was hauling down the last bag of trash / donations - I loudly swore to myself - Charlie - the kids - and all of their friends/witnesses who by this time, had gathered at our home to get ready for the dance - it would never get this bad again. 

There might have been just a tad bit of soapboxing to everyone who had gathered, regarding how hard parents work for their kids, and how as those kids grow - they really need to pull their own weight.  I never "correct / discipline" our kids when other kids are around, but I felt like this was an excellent teaching moment. 

LOOK AROUND YOU! 

Take an inventory of what needs to be done and recognize that even though it isn't all going to benefit you, it is a good thing to do, anyway.  Maybe it isn't *all* your trash in the trash can, but what a nice gesture to just bring the trash out.  Ditto to recycling the empty bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the shower, wiping down the nasty bathroom countertop and replenishing the toilet paper roll.   Towels have a ton of amazing qualities, but unfortunately, none of them possess the ability to hang themselves up.  The kitchen is where food belongs. Not in a closet with half of our cutlery.   

Let's not live like swine, okay? 

The snow was falling at a steady pace by the time the kids, dressed in their finest, departed for the dance in multiple cars.   I literally held my hands up and prayed over each one of them as they walked out the front door.  "Be safe you guys, no speeding, take your time.  Have fun! BE SAFE!" 

On their way home from the dance, Carolyn snapped off a picture of Henry with his friends in the backseat of our old truck, and texted it to me with the caption, "A car full of freshman!" My happy smile was quickly replaced with a frown when my eagle eyes picked up that there were four kids ... with only three seatbelts ...  which none of them were wearing. 

My fury was so great, because I'd *just* read the story to our kids about the UGA football player that was ejected from the car and died, a few hours following the championship party.  

It often happens that I'll read a story from the news to the kids, and they'll collectively gasp and say, "Here we go again ... they did something stupid and they allll died." (insert eye roll)  My mother used to tell me stories all the time when I was a kid - to reinforce how the simplest things, can lead to the deadliest consequences if you don't think through what's the worst that could happen. The fact that I've been fortunate enough to avoid tragedy at 51-years of age suggests that I have navigated some precarious situations because I've used my head. And, also, because I must have a guardian angel and have been very lucky.  (I started to digress and write stories about guardian angels, who intercede on our behalf, but I'll save that for some other time.) 

Suffice to say, when all the kids (and their friends) returned to our house that evening we had a "talk".  Despite their efforts of trying to convey how slowly they were traveling, and there were no other cars on the road, and how the kids were packed so tightly they couldn't have moved in the car, I explained that THE LAW OF PHYSICS doesn't make exceptions.  If they hit a patch of ice and slid ... if another car hit them ... if something unexpected happened - like a deer running out on the road -  those who were not buckled could potentially be catapulted from the vehicle.  Not only are they putting their younger brother at risk - they are putting his friends at risk.  AND, their behavior is being observed by the younger kids. If these "older teens" are so cool and willing to take risks / not follow the law, maybe they can do that, too?  THEY ARE ALWAYS BEING OBSERVED, let their behavior be a positive example for others! 

How would they like to have a conversation with someone's parents that, "I'm so sorry your child died because I didn't make them do something as simple as buckle up?"  Furthermore, aside from the intense tragedy of an accident - their lives would forever be altered - possible jail time, and significant financial repercussions that could extend beyond them - to us. 

I told all the kids gathered that they should never - never ever - drive a vehicle without making sure everyone is buckled. If they don't want to buckle up, don't drive.  My parting words, before I beat them all in Uno, was that if they take anything away from my rants tonight, let it be to: 1) clean up after yourself and always take out the trash and 2) never drive without making sure every one is buckled up, including them.   My kids visibly squirmed as I told them - and their friends - I love them all so much and don't ever want to see something bad that is totally preventable, happen to them.  

Teenagers know a lot, but they definitely don't know everything - I often remind them, their brains are not fully formed until 25. So as they do more nest swooping, they better do it with seatbelts securely fastened. Or, well, mama might eat them alive.

our holiday greeting mashup

Every year, we send out ~120 Christmas cards.  The format consists of a family photo, usually a couple shots of the kids - and then some action shots of experiences we've enjoyed over the past year.  It also contains a poem that the family will pitch in to write, usually encompassing the entire year in 12 sentences or less.  The annual poem is one of our most notable traditions, dating back to 1994: our first year of marriage.  

Because we didn't take any grand family vacations over the summer - in mid November, we donned our plaid shirts and went to the field across the street from our house, with sweeping views of the mountains and Lake Champlain, and started snapping off some photos we could use 1) for senior photos for the triplets and 2) our annual Christmas card.  

Unlike previous years, where I'm scrambling to write and order our cards the second week of December, this year, I was totally ahead of the game and wrote the poem the day after Thanksgiving. Hoping to capitalize on the Black Friday savings, I ordered our 120 cards and applied every discount that I could find including 50% off, free shipping, no tax, and expedited delivery.  One discount, a new one to me, because I'd never been on the ball to order Christmas cards so early as Black Friday, was "Buy 100 Cards, Get 20 Free!" Yippee!!! 

In my logic, if I purchased 100 cards - we'd receive another 20 for free, so I'd have the 120 we needed.  Alas, when I received the bright orange Shutterfly package less than a week later, and started to write all of our cards week after that, we only noticed that we were 20 cards short after we'd written out 99 of them.  

Charlie was assigned a pile, I was assigned a pile, and we didn't fully comprehend how many were in the respective piles until we were down to the last card.  It turns out, when I bought 100 cards, they only charged me for 80 - and sent the 20 for free.  AND SO IT IS, WE WERE 20 CARDS SHORT.  

Was it me not reading the promo properly, or a very poorly worded promo? 

The consensus at our house, is that Shutterfly was at fault. 

Regardless, there is no feeling quite like the feeling of realizing you don't have enough Christmas cards for some really important people on your list. Perhaps a few of our old friends - who we haven't heard from in a couple years - could have been skipped this year to make room for a beloved aunt who never writes a card, but you know looks forward to receiving ours.  

Unfortunately, all those cards to people that we might have skipped this year, had already been written out and we found ourselves in a serious pinch.  

So that same evening, I logged on to Shutterfly and ordered 20 additional cards.  Taking stock of the date, I realized that although the cards would just be here in time for Christmas, by the time we wrote them and mailed them ... and they are delivered far and wide across the nation ... it'll likely be after Christmas.  So I tweaked the card from "MERRIEST CHRISTMAS!" to "HAPPIEST NEW YEAR!"

EXHIBIT 1. 

That was the ONLY change.  Everything else, all photos, the poem, etc. etc. etc. were identical.  I quickly hit "ORDER" and lamented that without all the discounts I'd received on Black Friday (including free shipping) - this batch of 20 cards cost me nearly half as much as the 100 (er, 80) cards I'd purchased earlier in the month.  Dagnabbit!

Because we didn't have expedited shipping with the second batch, we didn't receive them until nearly three weeks later.  So when I arrived them just this past week, I felt tremendous satisfaction that we had made that change from "Merry Christmas" to "Happy New Years" since there was no way they'd be there in time for Christmas.  At first glance, the cards looked great and I was excited to get them to the remaining people on our list. 

Imagine my surprise - and then shock and horror - when the kids started laughing hysterically and pointed out that the boys heads were missing.  

EXHIBIT 2. 

At this point, I was finished with cards, and just needed these to go in the mail. I was not in the slightest way interested in reordering any more - nor filing a complaint and asking for a refund. 

However, I was convinced that Shutterfly was now 0/2, I logged on to the website and reviewed my order.  Although I'd only changed the words "MERRIEST" to "HAPPIEST", it would seem that this tiniest edit shifted the images on the card and lopped off the top of my boys heads.  Had I taken a hot minute to proofread the entire card, I would have noticed this and made the necessary correction.  Oops.  

The consensus at our house, is that this one's on me.  BUT, had Shutterfly not flubbed up the marketing campaign with 20 free cards, we wouldn't be in this predicament at all, now would we?  Hahahaha!!!!  

Ah well. I'm over it. And it certainly seems like the boys have grown out of the frame since these photos were taken.  Henry has cleared 6'0, and William is 6'3".  At his brother's age, William was *only* 5'9" so I wouldn't be surprised if my littlest firecracker winds up being the tallest of the group. I've never seen a child eat as much as he does.  He received an Air Fryer for Christmas (his #1 request!) and has cooked and consumed at least 15 pounds of chicken in the past three days.  I'm not even kidding. 

All I know is that every single day it looks like they're taller than they were the day before. 

Either they're getting taller, or I'm shrinking.  

Probably a little of both.  But it's so incredibly wonderful having all these people around that can reach things on the top shelf for me!  

do you sprechen sie deutsch?

We recently sent out our annual Christmas cards, and for the first time in a few years, I added our blog address as a means of communication.  I haven't been great about updating the blog, but as I was writing our annual card, I thought that maybe by sharing the address, I'd feel inspired to log on and provide more frequent updates (at least for the next couple of weeks, ha!).  With more updates, we'll generate more archives of memories - and Charlie is better able to turn those memories in to volumes of books that he likes to give me each year at Christmas as a present. (Although, he has warned me that the past few years of blog posts only equate to a few pages - so he can't publish another one until I write more!!) 

It worked! With that bout of inspiration, here I am - updating the blog! 

There are so many exciting things happening in our lives at the moment, but one of the biggest is that William, who is in his fourth year of German, is involved in The International Experience (TIE) through his high school.   

This past October, we hosted a German student from Hameln, at our home for two weeks.  In February 2023, William will be exchanging to Hameln to stay with that same student's family for two weeks.  When William applied to the TIE program last year, he was thoughtfully filling out his application, when his head popped up and he asked, "Mom? Can I ask you a question?  Should I request a girl or a boy exchange student?" Without hesitation I replied, "A BOY, without question or discussion." 

Because...  William is a teenage boy. The absolute last thing that we (or I, his mother) want at this stage in life is for an adorable German girl to come to our home and sweep our American boy off his fuß and the next thing you know, he wants to move to Germany or something crazy.   

I just have a way of seeing in to the future, you know?  

A few months after William had submitted his application, he came home one day and walked in to my office where I was busy working.  "Mom, we received our TIE student placement today," he declared with a solemn face.  He shook his head and with a deep sigh added, "I have bad news, and I have good news." 

My response was something like, "Uh-huh." Glasses dropped to the brim of my nose and I peered over my spectacles, waiting.  I knew what was coming. 

He continued, "Well, for the bad news, it seems that there were a lot more girls from Germany that applied to the program than there were boys. And well, it seems that there are a lot more boys that applied for the program in Vermont than there are girls. As a result ... I'm so, so sorry Mom, but our exchange student is a girl. Her name is Carlotta." 

Yep. Just as expected.  "Uh-huh. So what's the good news?"  (No spoiler alert for me: I already knew the answer to this.) 

He then broke in to a huge smile and said, "Here's her picture!"  

When I had imagined what the adorable German girl might possibly look like, that might be the one to sweep our American boy off his feet, wouldn't you know, she looked EXACTLY like Carlotta.  

So from my perspective, the best possible news is that when we finally met Carlotta, within the first five minutes of our introduction - I had discerned that she has a SERIOUS BOYFRIEND WHO IS HER BEST FRIEND AND THAT SHE LOVES VERY MUCH.  Can I get a Hallelujah, Amen?! 

Ah, but wait.  

Carlotta is extremely sweet and kind, and she and William had an absolute blast spending two weeks together, traveling all around the state with the other exchange students and playing cards - at every free moment. 

Our kids have since said that the two weeks Carlotta and the German students were here, were the most fun of the entire year.  Even with Charlie - Henry - and Liz all falling ill with Covid three days before she arrived.  

Thankfully, and miraculously, the virus dodged William, Carolyn and I ... and Carlotta ... and once the three had been quarantined in the basement for the requisite time, all was well. 

Because the exchange occurred over the triplet's birthday, which also coincided with homecoming, we hosted a huge party at our house the entire weekend of October 14-16.  

On Friday night, we had at least 60 kids.  They rolled in at 10 PM after the football game (where our kids were so amazed that the entire student body sang them happy birthday while they were in the stands ... just one more thing that they have told me would likely never to have happened at their mega school in Texas!) and a good portion of the SBHS student population took over our basement.  We served up tons of pizza ... 

While the kids played foosball, laser tag, darts, and had an intense "Just Dance" off between the Americans vs. Germans. 

On Saturday, we took a gaggle of kids to tour the Ben & Jerry factory down the road ... and had another 30 kids descend on our house. We served up chili and cornbread and the kids bundled up warmly and watched Maverick on our inflatable 20' outdoor screen (which, should I ever resurrect "Favorite Thing Friday" would be on the list!) 

On Sunday, we picked bags and bags of apples. So many bags, we still have at least four dozen apples left over, two months later.  More kids were back at our house that evening for dancing, and card playing. We also ate two huge Costco cakes which we'd been too full to consume on the prior two nights what with all the pizza and chili. 

On Monday, we bid the German students a teary farewell ... and within hours, William had connected with Carlotta's soon to be brother-in-law (who it turns out, was Carlotta's sister's American host family a few years ago; you read that right) and learned all about the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange.  

Within the month, he had applied. 

Suffice to say, beyond his exchange to Germany this coming February, William is now hoping to be accepted in to the CBYX program for the Fall of 2023.  Although he is applying to a handful of schools including the University of Vermont, and US Coast Guard Academy ... my instinct tells me that this program in Germany is his first choice.  He also tells me, it has nothing to do with Carlotta. She has a boyfriend after all, Mom.  I believe him - I know he is extremely interested in the language, history, culture and geography of Germany.  And yes, whatever, the girls are also *kind* of cute.  

And so it is, if he is accepted, I suspect we'll be saying "Auf wiedersehen, William!" next August. 

Can't say I didn't see this one coming. 

life is sweeter in Vermont

Today, I got a phone call from an old colleague of mine from ExxonMobil.  Bruce and I worked together for several years, and I always enjoyed bantering with him, and the business trips we took together.  He was a Project Manager, and I was his Technical Advisor - providing support by reviewing various reports and consultant recommendations, and formulating strategies to negotiate with the regulatory agencies.  Bruce is an absolute hoot.  He retired in December of 2020 and I wrote him a poem in honor of the occasion, which I delivered over a farewell Zoom party that our entire group had dialed in to. 

All of Bruce's contact information was on my ExxonMobil computer and when I abruptly resigned last year - my mind just wasn't in the "space" of moving contact information to my personal computer.  Bruce lives in Tampa, Florida - so he was in my thoughts all last week as Hurricane Ian was bearing down on the west side of the state.  I reached out to another old colleague - who provided me his information - and I shot him an email over the weekend, just to let him know that I was thinking of him and his family and praying they were all safe.  Within a day he replied to let me know that YES thankfully, they were all safe, and he was so happy to hear from me. He asked how my family was doing - how my mom was doing (he had met my mom, Mary, on one of our trips!) and how life was treating me these days at ExxonMobil. I shot back a quick note that read, 

"In an absolutely crazy twist of fate, while we were on another of our awesome road trips last summer, we were visiting the idyllic town of Burlington Vermont, checking out colleges for the triplets and we decided to stay. We never went back to Texas ... I resigned after 20 years with ExxonMobil and all four kids started school from the Airstream. After nearly 8 weeks, we moved in to a rental house, and slept in sleeping bags for an additional two months until our furniture was moved north. True story. There's a little more to it, I'll fill you in on the details when you have a chance to give me a call!" 

Within 24 hours, Bruce called and said that he read my note over and over again - and finally just had to call to make sure he read what I had written correctly. When I told him the details of what had happened, how I had been put it in the lowest rank group, he was shocked. (It always makes me feel so good to hear the indignation from others at what I consider my mistreatment.)  I told him,  "You know I have triplets right? It was a shock to hear that we would be having three babies. BUT NOTHING, and I MEAN NOTHING, could have shocked me more than to hear that I was in the NSI bucket at ExxonMobil!  Within a couple days, we signed a lease on a rental house in Vermont and hired my good friend to sell our house in Texas."  Bruce was in disbelief, and awe, at our fearlessness.  I told him, it wasn't *exactly* fearless ... I had some pretty rough times where I second guessed everything. But, I held strong and had faith in me, and Charlie ... and our kids who have thrived beyond what I could have imagined.     

Two weeks ago, I actually flew down to Texas for the first time - since I left on vacation in June of 2021, to attend a conference at the ExxonMobil headquarters in Houston.  (aka: my old office.) It was the first time my feet had been on Texas soil since we rolled out of town with the Airstream and a rack full of bicycles, on that fateful day, June 17, 2021.  

I told Bruce that before my business trip, I went to a local farm, and brought nearly 20 pounds of maple syrup in little tiny 1.5-oz "nip" bottles so that I could tote them in my carry-on luggage.  During my two days there, I had my day bag stuffed each day with the maple syrup nips, and I handed them out to various old friends that I saw.   As it turned out, I had handed out all the nips - with only one remaining - and I as I was walking out the door to catch my Uber to the airport, I bumped in to the Global Manager.  The Manager I had spoken to who told me to please pivot and come back to Texas.  The one who had told me I was a valued employee and they needed me.  The one that I told that if I was so valued, why did they allow me to be put in that bottom rank group?  

That manager got my last bottle of maple syrup, and as I handed it to him, I said, "While I do miss everyone, this was the best decision I could have ever made for my family... life really is sweeter in Vermont!"  

Upon hearing this, Bruce howled with laughter and said, "Damn. You have got to write a book. I'm not even kidding, I'd buy it and read the whole thing!" 

Sounds fun.  But I wouldn't even know where to begin. 

first - last - and a year ago at this time

Today it's the first day of school in Vermont.  

This was intended to simply be a photo post, but while I'm here, I may as well give an update!

The summer here was epic and for the first time in a very, very long time - we didn't feel the desire to go ANYWHERE.  Between the lake, the mountains, the gardens, the bike path, the incredible weather - we just wanted to soak it all up, so we stayed right where we are and it was divine.

The girls, however, took a three week trip in late June through the middle of July. Their destination was Texas - where they rendezvoused with our old BSA Scout Troop, and headed to the high adventure camp at Philmont.  They took a 12-day backpacking trek and had a great time while covering nearly 70 miles of terrain in the Sangre de Cristo mountains.  Photos of that experience will be posted here at some later date... I hope. 

Henry took off for two weeks of Scout camp -  one week at NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training) in the local Vermont mountains - and another week in New Hampshire.  He had a great time and is really coming in to his own, this summer.  In addition to procuring a job at the local grocery store - he landed a spot on the high school football team; has eclipsed Gracie at 6'1" and is rapidly closing the height gap with his brother who as of yesterday, is 6'3".  

William was accepted in to the US Coast Guard Academy AIM Program and spent a week at "boot camp" which is intended to give rising seniors a flavor of what life would be like at the Academy. It is heralded as the "most accurate" of all the service academies boot camps and was extremely challenging.  When he came home, he was still squaring his meals - despite spiking a 103.5 degree temperature thanks to Influenza A that he picked up while he was there. 

In addition to the Coast Guard flu, that ticked each off us off, and leveled the entire family for three weeks, the triplets had their wisdom teeth out.  In between bouts of sickness and surgeries, we toured several schools in the area: Dartmouth, Middlebury, University of Vermont (again) ... and took a drive an hour north to checkout McGill.  We also entertained my mom, Aunt Grace, little cousin Mary Elizabeth, who flew from South Carolina to Vermont, for the triplets Eagle Scout Court of Honor, which we celebrated a few weeks ago.  So many milestones and big life happenings...

It's hard to contemplate that in less than a year the triplets will be graduating from high school and starting the next chapter of their lives. 

Which brings us back to this post.   Today was the last first day of school for the triplets as they begin their senior year. The first day of high school for Henry as he starts as a freshman. The first time that the four of them have all been together at school in eight years, since we were in Virginia; and the last time the four of them will be together before the triplets graduate. 

There are SO MANY REASONS I'm grateful that we left Texas; having them all together in school is just one of those reasons.  In the area of Texas where we lived, students are in one school for K-4; another school for 5-6 grade; another school for 7-8 grade; a separate school for 9th grade; and another school for 10-12 grade.  Had we still been in Texas, Henry would be at the 9th grade campus this year - and would miss the opportunity to drive, eat lunch, and hang out with his senior siblings.  

Another great thing is that school here doesn't start until 9:00!  Gone are the days we'd have to get sleep-deprived teenagers up before the sun; loading the bus at 6:20.  Now they can wake up well rested by 8:00, have breakfast - and drive themselves to school by 8:50!

OK! Photos! 

First day of school - kindergarten - for the triplets in 2010!

First day of school - kindergarten (Henry); third grade (triplets) in 2013!

First day of school - 8th grade (Henry); 11th grade (triplets) in 2021 from the camp ground in the midst of our "life transition" (aka: mom's nervous breakdown and family relocation to Vermont; best decision EVER!!!)

 

 

First day of school - 9th grade (Henry); 12th grade (triplets) today ... from the front yard of our wonderful new home. Carolyn will laugh seeing that she is wearing the same shirt; and I'm sure she would like the record to reflect that Elizabeth is on a hill AND her tippy toes. Alas, at 5'7.5" the only person in the family Liz is taller than is me.  (But, she is faster than all of us!!)  

 

 

Loading in to the Big Green Machine ... Charlie's 2002 Toyota Tundra truck.  So glad that we decided to keep this truck - it has been the perfect 'learn to drive' vehicle for the kids and with 4-wheel drive, is a great asset for winters in northern Vermont.  

 

 

We had to scoop crab apples from the back so the kids could put in their backpacks and not get them mushy. Ahhhh, this is the stuff of the sweetest memories! 

pruning expectations and appreciating the blooms

Everyday, so many amazing things happen in life and I'm always taking a mental inventory, "I must blog about that!" But life just continues to go at such a warp speed, I feel like all I can do is just hang on and enjoy the ride ... while trying not to fall off the ride altogether.   (Have I written that before? Probably. Not much has changed!!) 

Just a few minutes ago, I found myself outside, as I do at nearly every waking moment, working in the massive, hugely overgrown (albeit gorgeous) gardens at our new house and it struck me.  

"It's just a mirage, this idea that we can ever tame nature to do as we want ... it's not permanent. Work as we might, toil as we do to pull the weeds, edge the grass, hedge the shrubs, and prune the trees - the result is only temporary.  It's fighting against the tide and NATURE WILL ULTIMATELY WIN."  

Then I had this thought, immediately on the heels of that brilliance. 

"Tending a garden is a lot like raising children. You sow the seeds and water them and nurture them and pour a small fortune in to their growth and development, and work your body to exhaustion to maintain them, and you think that as they mature, you have a very good idea of what and who they will be. But then they bloom and what you THOUGHT would be an orange flower, is yellow; and the green is blue, and the pink is white. The vine that you thought would go up, goes across, and in the middle of an area you thought was full of weeds - sprouts sunflowers." 

Life is just one huge, beautiful surprise.  

It feels like we're even more aware of that phenomenon, now that we're living in a totally new environment in northern Vermont, with four kids who are on the brink of adulthood.  I've told my mom that spring in this part of the country is violently natural and unlike anything I've ever experienced (so, too, are 17-year olds!).  We moved in to this house in the latter part of fall when everything was dormant.  Winter was magical - everything coated in snow, so we had no idea what was in store.  On April 18th we had a huge snowstorm with nearly two-feet of snow.  I cannot recall having snow on my birthday - until this year.  It was wonderful.  

By early May, the yard started to wake up.  By early June, it was a literal jungle out there. For the past six weeks, we've had landscaping crews AND a gardener coming by several times a week and even the professionals were drowning in this yard. They clear out one area, and two weeks later, it's grown over again.  We have a team of arborists coming in next month to take down several huge trees and do some of the cleanup work that we lack the yellow iron to tackle. 

During this time, I've realized that you can tell a lot about a person's personality by the way they are in the garden.  Charlie skips outside every morning with his watering can, to give a drink to all the vegetables he has grown from seeds. He focuses on one thing at a time - in this moment, he's dealing with his cucumbers; when that is done, he'll shift focus to pruning the hundreds of peonies.  His energy isn't deterred by the flowering sumac that has summited a fence and is now growing across our lawn faster than tidewaters during a full moon in the Bay of Fundy.   

Likewise, he does not appear distracted by the sometimes crazy teenagers and their wild mood and attitude fluctuations.  He just smiles and keeps doing whatever it is that needs doing: Cooking dinner, washing dishes, folding laundry.  I cannot comprehend how he maintains his focus, it's like he has on blinders to the natural insanity around us.  

Meanwhile, I go outside to weed the Lily of the Valleys on the north side of the house, and go to the tool shed to grab a spade.  On my way, I am distracted by the hydrangeas on the east side of the house that needs pruning. When I get to the shed, instead of a spade, I grab the saw, but as I'm walking back - I stop to cut the lilacs blocking the path. Here I remain for a whole 15 minutes, before I realize I need heavier machinery to remove some of the dead limbs. With a sigh of resignation, I survey the yard, and spot the maple seedlings sprouting up in the violets; soon I'm knee deep in the violet beds yanking maples by the handful.   And so it goes, everyday.   Surely progress is being made, no one has really touched these grounds for several years; but it's just hard to see it - when you're in it.   

Likewise, as I was helping our girls this week pack for a three week trip, including two-weeks backpacking in New Mexico ... I was completely derailed when I opened their sock drawer and found the home to nearly all the single socks that have been accumulating in our laundry room.  Down the rabbit hole I went, and started opening all the other drawers, closets, not just in the girls rooms but in the boys rooms, too.  Over the next three hours, I generated no less than four bags of donations for Goodwill and rematched nearly every one of our socks.  How did this happen?! 

If you give a mouse a cookie?  If you give me any task it would seem. 

For someone like me who craves a degree of control in my life, and obviously has a serious case of ADD, I'm pretty tired. It's taken me 51 years, but I'm finally appreciating that I could work all day and never get everything done so there's no point in working to exhaustion.  

You've got to just enjoy what you CAN DO, and try to find the beauty in what might seem like NATURE GONE WILD.   Otherwise, you will end up drained, perpetually dehydrated, sunburned, cranky, and achy.   Our gardener, Ann, told me earlier this season that some of the weeds, including Blue Wood Aster, and even dandelions, are especially beautiful.  

Just look for and enjoy the colors; they're everywhere. 

Funny enough, it was today, when I was finally back again, weeding the Lily of the Valleys, I had these revelations and after a whole 10 minutes, decided to come inside, have a drink of water, and take a break.  Now I'm enjoying a Haagen Daz bar and updating my blog for the first time in four months. Charlie saw I was in the house eating an ice cream and has come to join me.  This is true romance. 

ADD for the win.