Hailey's Lasts at Prospect

Our last child has finally ended their career at Prospect Elementary school. We started at that school in the fall of 2013 with Austen (Hailey was not even born yet) and finally reached the end in the spring of 2025 with Hailey. That's almost 12 years of consecutive time at Prospect. 

Elementary school seems so long while middle school and high school just seem to fly by perhaps because our kids get busier as they get older. Since it seems like we've been there for years (and we have), I can't say that I wasn't looking forward to being done with Prospect although we've had really great years and some great teachers there. 

Hailey was better about the end than I thought she'd be. It started in early May with a visit to the middle school for step up day. The incoming 6th grade girls then got together for a meet and greet at the local park complete with some getting to know you games and fun. Then it was time for her last Daddy Daughter Dance with Tom. A few awesome moms from our grade set up a special dinner for all the 5th grade girls at one of our restaurants in town before the dance. Then all the 5th graders walked on down to their red carpet debuts for their Hollywood themed dance. So much fun and Hailey looked very grown up! Of course I had to do her hair several hours beforehand due to the fact that I had to leave at noon to take Austen to a soccer game in Wisconsin and I wouldn't be back in time before she left for her pre-dinner. This was actually quite hilarious as I tried some bendable rollers in her hair the night before. However, I put a shower cap on her head for her to sleep in with the rollers (came with the rollers) and that effectively made her hair and all the products in it sweat so she woke up with wet hair and condensation in the shower  cap! I could not stop laughing although I had to redo her hair in the morning. Despite this memorable moment, she looked great and had a good time with her Dad and her friends. 

The lasts came to an end last week with her "promotion" ceremony for our 5th graders at Prospect on Thursday afternoon. Austen and Peyton were both present with Tom and I to see Hailey receive her diploma. 

And while she's not exactly excited about middle school, she did not cry leaving Prospect. I'll take that as a win for my child that doesn't love change. Congrats to Hailey on finishing out 5th grade strong and qualifying for both advanced math and advanced language arts in middle school (the only one of my kids who qualified for both entering middle school - the other two only qualified for advanced math entering middle school). 

5th graders!

Dad and Daughter - Last Dance!

Girls and Dads!

A Few Friends

Hailey and Her BFF Bree with Diplomas

Hailey and Katerina Getting Clapped Out of Prospect

We Love our Hailey!

Congrats to Our Girl!

Peace Out Prospect - It's Been Fun!

Austen's High School Graduation

It was touch and go all week as the week started off with some pretty terrible weather. Lots of rain and with the rain came the cold. Austen's high school holds their graduation ceremony in the stadium and if they decide to call it and go indoors instead, then each student only receives four tickets to the graduation ceremony. We received many emails stating that they will wait until the last possible minute to make this call as they were going to make sure that they really could not hold it outside. And they did.

The weather cleared up on Thursday (May 22nd) albeit it was a bit cool (which made me change what I was planning on wearing for the ceremony). The Seniors had their run through and then celebrated their last days with a Senior class picnic. After that, it was back to their elementary school to take a picture in front of the sign and for them to chat with their 5th grade teachers for a bit before returning home to get ready. 

We had a 4pm dinner reservation at our club which is just down the street from the high school. Parking was sure to be a problem so we decided to walk from there and just leave our car in their parking lot. We got in some early pictures with us and the grandparents in his graduation garb too and we all got to eat. We arrived at the ceremony a bit after 6pm. There were still seats available (I did not run like many others to reserve them earlier that day which was against the rules. I thought that rather ridiculous since they asked us not to anyway). There were plenty of seats still available too. We settled in and it was shortly thereafter that the graduates started to process into their seats. Austen ended up on the other side of where we were sitting but friends were sending videos of all the kids they saw walking in so we got one of him walking in too. The ceremony was just under two hours - it went fast (except the announcing of the 600 plus names in his graduating class and being an "S" certainly proved a long wait to get to Austen going up to receive his diploma). But, almost as soon as he got back to his seat, the ceremony was done aside from the throwing of the caps. Then the celebrating began and the cigars came out! 

It was a long but special night that I'm sure we'll all remember. Now it's on to all the graduation parties! 

Back to Elementary School - Good Turn Out for Graduating Seniors!

Austen and His 5th Grade Teacher - Mrs. Legner

Grandparents 

Siblings w/ Their Red/White

All Done! 

Lots of Lasts

This week is Austen's high school graduation so I am feeling all the firsts of a first born and all those lasts as he ends his high school years and prepares to go off to college in a few short months. I haven't been particularly weepy about most of it so I was surprised when this simple act that I've done for the last 12 years made me a bit sad.

The Last Lunch

I will never again pack him a lunch. And, I will never again pack three lunches. I can't say that I loved making lunches for 12 years (and they all bring a lunch because they said the food in middle school and high school is really bad or the lines are too long) so I'm not sure why this made me a bit sad but it did. 

It also made me a bit sad the morning that Austen and Peyton drove out of the driveway on their way to school together for the last time. They will likely never go to school together again. And, I will never have kids in the same school at the same time again. There's something sad about that if you've ever gone to school with your siblings. You may not like them (at the time) but it's comforting to know you have a sibling there with you. I know Austen and Peyton have had many conversations in that car to and from school. Maybe not deep conversations but ones I know that have helped form bonds that will exist long after they both leave our house. 

Last Day of 3 Lunches

There's a lot more lasts to go before Austen leaves but tomorrow is a first - a first high school graduation for our family. We can't wait to celebrate him and his four years at Central!

Last Day of School Senior Year

Last Drive to High School for Austen and Peyton

Mother's Day 2025

For the first time in as long as I can remember, we had no games on Mother's Day. And, while I kind of like going to games to watch my kids play on Mother's Day, I was okay with having a day where we weren't running around with sports. 

The day started with some spring cleaning. We have lived in our house for almost twelve years now and aside from a pretty robust cleaning out five years ago during COVID, we haven't done much since. Truly this takes months and it has. We've also been upgrading carpet, repainting/cleaning outside light fixtures, redoing our deck, repainting - all things that you probably let go in 12 years. So that morning, we spent a few hours working on our clean out. Then we went to church. I wanted to hear what our cool, young Priest had to say about the new Pope Leo. He started with, "I'm still trying to reconcile that my new boss is a White Sox fan." (He's a Cubs fan, obviously). The he adds, "But as one parishioner said to me, Pope Leo is known to be for the downtrodden and weary!" Ha! 

Anyway, after church, we went to my favorite breakfast place for brunch. They had just opened a new location close to us and despite it being new and more spacious than the one we used to go to, it was still crowded! Good thing I got on the waitlist early! 

After lunch, it was back home for a bit more work and then Austen and I hit the golf range for a little bit so I could work on my drive. Dinner at home and presents/cards rounded out the beautiful evening on our "new" deck. 

And, while I didn't get a picture from that day with my family, I of course took one while we were at the restaurant to mark the day. It was a great day!

Hailey likes her chocolate milk!

Austen's Senior Prom

Last weekend marked Austen's almost official end to his Senior Year of high school. He had his Senior Prom. Now, due to the size of his high school, it's only Seniors that can attend (unless you are asked by a Senior) which made it pretty special but also very important to experience. 

Austen and Grace

I encouraged him early - talking it up as far back as last year that he should plan on going. Sure, you can go with a group of guy friends but you should really ask a girl (they want to be asked). And, enjoy what is really an entire weekend of fun that's planned. If you don't, I told him, I guarantee that at some point in your life you will regret it. You only get one Senior Prom so make it count.  

He heeded these words of advice and started working on plans early in the new year. In fact, it wasn't long after that that he told me he had a date (but not to tell Peyton and Hailey because they would never leave him alone). He was going with a large group of about 40 kids and he needed to ask someone in this group. And, he wanted to ask early so he got to select who he was going to go with so he didn't get stuck with someone he didn't want to go with in the end. Smart. He chose a girl named Grace and the only other thing I knew about her was that she played golf and that her dress was a teal color. 

I got a good tip from a Barre 3 friend on where to rent a tux; Austen bought their Prom tickets; we ordered her nosegay of flowers; and I was told where I needed to go for pictures. We coached Austen through picking her up and bringing her to pictures and then driving from that venue to the high school where buses would meet them to bring them to the Navy Pier Ballroom for a fantastic evening they will always remember. 

The Group of 40!

Shortly after we arrived for pictures, Tom was greeted by an old friend he used to play softball with in a rec softball league. The guy actually grew up with one of Tom's other friends but in their 20s they played softball together. The guy mentioned he was there because his girlfriend's daughter, Grace, was a Senior and it was her Senior Prom too. Tom then said, "Well, my son is going to Prom with a girl named Grace." His friend said, "What's your son's name?" Tom says, "Austen." And, the friend says, "He was just at my house!" And, the rest is history! What a small world. 

Anyway, lots of pictures, lots of dancing and little sleep. The weekend was a blur as he was barely home and promptly took off for a friend's lake house until Monday morning. He came back absolutely exhausted but happy. It surely has taken him all week to recover and he's a little under the weather but he sure had fun experiencing his Senior Prom. 

Our Senior 

Posing with the Siblings!

@ the Lake House in Costume

The Group of 40 @ the Lake House

Hailey's Surprising Sleep Accessory

Tom and I still put Hailey to bed each night but unlike when she was a baby, we don't check on her every night. However, if we are gone at bedtime and one of the other kids puts her to bed, we always stop in her room after we get home or before we go to bed ourselves to make sure she's all good. 

Recently, I was out and came home to check on her and find her sound asleep. However, I was quite surprised when I found her sleeping with a sleep mask on. Now, I know she has a few of these (and even chastised me for throwing a few out or packing them away) but I never knew she wore them regularly. Apparently, she does. She has blackout shades in her room and she leaves on a little light too so not sure why she needed the sleep mask. So I asked her and she responded with "it helps me dream better."

Anyway, here's a glimpse at our masked sleeper!

Hailey with her "Popcorn" mask

Happy Easter 2025!

There is a first time for everything and this was the first year my kids were done with any type of Easter egg hunt. I did get them all Easter baskets loaded with candy (not stuff because we are heavy into spring cleaning over here). But, there was no Easter egg hunt that we needed to concoct for them. Can't say I missed putting that together. (Hailey did let me know a few days before that she no longer believes in the Easter Bunny so that was definitely a huge reason for not putting together an Easter egg hunt any longer either.)

We started the day with 7:30am mass which is hard to get up for but not as crowded so that's a bonus. After church, we did a quick Starbucks run before returning home for a bit and then heading out for brunch.

This year, we decided to invoke some changes to our Easter. First, we decided to start rotating hosting the holidays on my side of the family to lighten the load a little bit. It started with Easter. We still did a brunch which is always a favorite but this time my oldest brother and his wife hosted. The food was abundant and delicious, and it was great to change it up so we had different things to eat than the usuals from the years' before. 

I'm always an advocate for doing things differently and being okay with change. I think it comes from years of moving around as a kid. It helped me be okay with change and see the good that change can do. I hope to instill that in my own kids that change can be a very positive thing in your life and foster growth that you may not have even known you needed. Sometimes we need those little nudges to take a chance on something new and what better season than Easter/spring to be reminded that a rebirth can be good for the soul. And it was. 

Happy Easter!

Twas the Night Before Easter

Hailey Liked her Loot

Checking out the Easter Baskets