Hailey Makes Her Confirmation

And that's a wrap! We have successfully ushered three kids through religious education classes receiving many of their sacraments including confirmation. 

Hailey and Papa

It's been a journey through 2 parishes with us changing churches so Austen could make his in 8th grade instead of 10th grade. We returned to the first parish once they hired a new priest (who is fabulous and made you actually want to go to church to listen to his homilies) and after a year there he changed the confirmation age from 10th grade to 6th grade. So Peyton made hers in the 7th grade since that was the year she was in when this change was made. A few years later, Hailey entered 6th grade and her final confirmation class. 

She's the one that is probably my most "religious" but she has complained relentlessly about 6th grade confirmation classes and how utterly boring they are - of course most of her friends are in the Sunday class but they tell her it's the same on Sundays and her teachers are actually nicer. She used to love going to religious education classes but this year it has been hard to convince her to go and they must still go even after confirmation. She says no one goes and especially now since she made her confirmation (even though they are supposed to). In fact, after dropping her off last week, she sent me a text with a picture saying "Thanks a lot Mom, I'm the only girl here!" I did feel bad and promised her that since she has not missed a class since the start of the year, that she can have two free misses - her choice. 

But, she did make her confirmation on a Friday night at the end of February with Papa as her sponsor. (Papa has served as the sponsor for all three of my kids. They all said he's the most religious person they know!) We bought her a white dress (even though they wear red robes over them now), had a nice dinner and ushered off our Madeleine (her confirmation name) to confirm her Catholic faith.  Bishop Spies led the ceremony, which we were initially disappointed about because Father Mark is so good and we wanted to hear from him, but Bishop Spies was absolutely wonderful too. It's such a breath of fresh air to have priests that relate to the kids and the parents. He gave an amazing homily about having a favorite quote from the Bible and being able to recite it and it mean something to you. He shared one that he adopted as his favorite in the 6th grade and it was about friendship (which so many 6th graders could relate to) and yes, that verse could've been talking about your peers who were your friends but he was really taking about allowing Jesus to be your friend. It was a great way to relate to these confirmandi. 

Anyway, Hailey (Madeleine - the patron saint of girls rights and education) was confirmed. We had cake (bundtinis) afterward to celebrate the latest sacrament for Hailey. Now she just has 7 more classes to go until she's totally done with religious education (we'll see if she uses one of her free passes to miss tonight - it's actually confession/reconciliation today but I'm not going to tell her that. After all, she had one year less than Peyton and two years less than Austen where she had to go to religious education classes so I think she's made out just fine). 

Celebrating with Hailey

Papa gave her gifts

Hailey processing in (w/ her friend Bree behind her)

Hailey Confirmed with Sponsor Papa

Peyton Gets Her Braces Off - Finally!

Last Day with Braces!

Last week, the day came after 2 years and 7 months where Peyton finally got her braces off! Every time we'd go for an appointment over the last 7 months, she would get so angry when they would tell her almost there but not quite yet. "Will I ever get these braces off?," she whined. "Do you think it will be before Spring Break?" she asked. Well, it happened. Finally. 

And, while she still has about four more appointments with the dentist to work on her fake tooth and put a veneer on her peg lateral, she is almost there and they are going to look great. In fact, they are already looking great and they aren't even totally done yet. We have about 6-8 weeks to go but she is in the final stretch. 

I'm just looking forward to her actually smiling with some teeth in her pictures now. She refused to really smile with her braces on for shots so she would have these closed lip smiles for the last 2 years and 7 months. 

Your teeth can make all the difference in how you look but also in your confidence too. It certainly has for Peyton.

The Finale!

Beautiful Smile

Be Mine 2026

Valentine's Day 2026 - I'm sure Tom and I will get back around to doing something for ourselves for Valentine's Day when our children are all grown and gone but for now our Valentine's revolves around them. (Although we did make them go to Michigan that weekend.)

Pink Mocktail

Hailey had a birthday party on Friday night but after she got home we took a late ride to Michigan. Of course, our house had not been cleaned in about four months so once we arrived, we needed to all pitch in and dust, vacuum and kill some spiders as well as clean some bathrooms before heading to bed. We did about an hours worth of work (well, Tom and I did) before the girls went to bed. Austen wasn't there so his  tasks got divided up amongst the girls or rather we shuffled some tasks down the pipeline. Peyton did more and Hailey did something (we'd always let her out of cleaning before but not anymore). 

On Valentine's morning, since we had no food in the house, we went out for brunch to a new place that Tom had recommended. We got in right away (probably because it was the off season) and the food was pretty good. I'd go back. After that, we shopped and walked around a little before heading back home to finish our cleaning. (I am always grateful when do clean that we didn't put more bathrooms in that place.) I cleaned out the kids' closets (always clothes they grow out of up there while Tom and Hailey went down to the beach.) After that, we headed out, grabbed some hot chocolates and did a story book trail that was a bit lame but we got our steps in. Then we went to Meijer to buy what we were going to make for dinner - cheese and chocolate fondue. 

We all pitched in for dinner. It was definitely an experience! The cheese fondue is certainly better at a restaurant but still we dipped our steak, apples, broccoli and sourdough bread into the melted fontina, gouda and havarti cheese. We all gave it a 6 or 7 (ha ha) out of 10. The chocolate fondue turned out a bit better and we gave that more of a 7 or 8 out of 10. We dipped pretzels, marshmallows, angel food cake, bananas and strawberries into the rich chocolate. The high light might have been the pink mocktail we made. Now that one was good!

It was a unique Valentine's experience coupled with a nice Michigan sunset. The girls opened Starbucks gift cards and candy from us and we all went to bed fairly early as we needed to head back home early Sunday morning for Hailey's game. 

Happy Valentine's Day 2026!

Valentine's Brunch

Hockey Mania!

Hailey or as her friends call her "Mrs. Bedard" has an obsession with Chicago Blackhawks hockey star Connor Bedard. Ask her anything about his family, favorite food or favorite color and she knows them all. So anytime she has a chance to watch him in person she jumps at the chance. 

Recently, Tom had special tickets to a dinner before an actual Blackhawks game with a high profile retired player and then they had the chance to watch the game. It was a Sunday night and while I like her in bed at a decent hour on Sunday nights due to her late basketball practices twice a week, I couldn't say no to this opportunity. So off they went on a Sunday night  to this dinner and to see the Hawks (Bedard) play. (Peyton and I had dinner together at Peyton's restaurant of choice where she was happy to have me all to herself and get Andy's Custard for dessert.) The special guest was Jeremy Roenick. Tom won a signed jersey. Hailey got to see Bedard, and I think they won (maybe?). It was a good night.

Hailey has also been improving her skating skills to someday get on the ice with a stick. (She attends a lesson once a week but I think she'd be happier if it was every day.) I think she still has awhile before that happens and she's actually playing hockey. As a kid who becomes obsessed with things - Wings of Fire books, certain boys since she was little - I don't know how long this obsession will last. It's been over a year now but there could be worse things than liking hockey so we are going with it and encouraging her skating and her love of watching the Blackhawks (Bedard).

With Retired Blackhawk Jeremy Roenick

Last in Line

I didn't know how much Hailey was missing Austen until she had to say goodbye again after the Xmas break. He was home for almost six weeks so we really got to see him a lot and spend a good portion of time with him but still that wasn't enough for Hailey. 

Our Last in Line

The day he left was a crazy day. Peyton had a cheer competition and Hailey was at her friend's house and we weren't sure exactly what time he was leaving. Peyton had said goodbye to him the night before but the rest of us wanted to say goodbye too. During the cheer competition, he texted us that he needed a ride to his roommate's house to go back to school so Tom went and grabbed him at home while I got Hailey from her friend's house and raced to say a quick goodbye. Goodbyes are never that easy but he was ready to go back and we were going to see him again within the next month to six weeks or so. Eight weeks at the most. On the way back home, I happened to look in my rearview mirror and noticed Hailey crying. "Oh my gosh, what's wrong?" I said, completely unaware that this goodbye had affected her so much. "I hate him leaving," she said. She proceeded to tell me all the reasons why being the youngest child is hard. It's like being left behind. 

I should have known that this was coming. There were signs. A few weeks before she had penned an essay for a writing workshop at school titled, "Last in Line" and it was all about her brother and sister leaving for college and how she would be the only one left - the one left behind. She even read her intro and concluding paragraphs at the dinner table one evening for us all to hear. 

Now we did try to tell her all the benefits of being the youngest child. All your parents' attention (of course only the good). There will never have to be a divide and conquer (especially for college visits as Peyton kindly let us know this weekend that not "all of us" will be attending her college visits). Plus, you learn from your siblings' mistakes. But she wasn't moved by any of our arguments that being the last sibling is probably the best position. For the record, Austen wishes he was the last child and so does Peyton. 

She is in a unique position especially amongst her friends. While many of her friends are third born children in families of three or four (with a few first borns thrown in there), none of the older siblings have left for college yet so she's the first one experiencing this shift in her family. And, she's feeling all the emotions of that shifting dynamic. 

Don't worry, Hailey, Austen will be home soon to see you. But in the interim, I'm sure Peyton will terrorize you enough so you feel differently about her leaving for college (although it was nice of you to include her in your essay). 

Happier times with Peyton

The three

Austen Turns 19

Austen finally went back to school on January 19th so he got to celebrate his birthday at home with us. I'm not sure that would've been his choice considering celebrating with your friends is way cooler at that age. But, at least he got a good dinner and lots of presents!

Golfing in Mexico

It was nice having him home for a long stretch - he was home from December 7th until January 19th and only had to go back for one final during that time. I think Hailey really enjoyed having him home but it was more difficult for her to say goodbye this time (more on that in a future post). 

Austen didn't waste his day sleeping - he was up around 11amish. Grandparents came over at noon to bring presents and say their goodbyes. He watched a lot of football. He opened our presents (Illinois basketball jersey, On Cloud sneakers, jeans and other clothes) and then went for dinner at Capri - an Italian place that we hadn't been too in ages. Austen was surprised when they came out singing Happy Birthday to him with a candle in a dessert too. He thinks that's embarrassing and while I put it down on our reservation, I didn't think they'd surprise him - which they did and was nice even though he kept telling us to not sing. Ha!

So who is Austen at 19? 

• He's a kid who still loves to golf. Any chance he gets, he's practicing. 
• He still loves soccer as was evidenced by all the games he watched while on break -he's just not playing it as much although he said he'll have more time this semester and may try out for the club team next year. 
• He likes music and going to concerts (was in Mexico for one over break and has another one lined up during spring break in Chicago). 
• He does like to party - hopefully this settles down a bit after his first year of college! 
• He did pledge a fraternity and is a member of Phi Kappa Psi where he's already talking about being an officer in the house. 
• He's still pretty organized and likes to get things done. He has his own To Do list he keeps on his phone and makes his own doctor's appointments and secured himself summer employment (at a golf club) while he was home over break. 
• He's still pretty disciplined too whether it's making sure his work is done on time or getting in his workouts during the week. 
• He's a loyal friend who still makes time for his different groups of friends - which he did during both of his breaks. (And, he's not sick of his roommate whom he saw a bunch over both breaks. In fact, his old soccer coach from when they were 7-13 saw him recently and once he found out they were roommates asked him if they still like each other! They do!)
• He likes to play games and was up for any family competition over the holidays. 
• He's social and easygoing too. 

At 18, you could definitely see him changing a bit and now at 19, he's becoming his own person independent of us thanks to college life. It certainly goes quick these growing up years. I read a statistic the other day that said by 18, a child will have lived 90% of their life already with you. But, I feel like we get an extra % because his breaks are so long that we get to see him even more than we thought, which is a nice gift. 

Looking forward to more time with him this year as he comes home for his spring break and a portion of ours then Easter, Mom's Weekend and then he's home before May. We'll be relishing his last year of being a teenager (although I'm sure he can't wait til he's 21). 

Presents!

Hoosiers!

Wow! What a run for my Indiana Hoosiers to claim their first ever National Football Championship last night and go down as one of only two undefeated college football teams ever (Yale was the other in 1894).

IU!

I've been sporting my Indiana gear along the way and my Indiana flag has been flying high outside my house. So many people got behind this team especially when Coach Cignetti came on board and with his wit and quick replies to what are you going to do with this team ("Google me. I win"), us alumni especially saw something was changing with Indiana football.

If you know me or you've been reading my blog you know how much I loved my time at Indiana. When Austen would go for soccer camp, I would head down to Bloomington - sometimes staying the weekend just walking around campus and remembering how much I love that place. 

My freshman year was the last time that Indiana went to a bowl game (so we weren't terrible when I was there). Our basketball team went to the final four too my sophomore year. So we had some good sports to cheer on. Add in the men's soccer team with several national championships and you have yourself an amazing sports school. 

The academics are strong too with one of the top business schools in the country and their journalism/media program has always been strong (that's actually why I chose IU along with the east coast feel). In fact, it rained the day I visited IU in October, and I still loved it and knew it was the school that I wanted to attend. My only regret is that I graduated early and only spent 3 1/2 years there instead of the full four years. 

Indiana University-Bloomington is my happy place! In fact, once when I was down there with Austen for soccer camp, I took a picture of me and him in front of the Sample Gates. I posted and captioned that shot, "Did you ever just love something so much?" I've always been a proud Indiana alumni but I'm even more proud of the class shown by this football team and their 2 and 3 star recruits. Teams win games and it's obvious this was a team that liked each other and played for each other. Can't wait to see the movie! Go Hoosiers! 

PS. Peyton woke up this morning worried that she won't be able to get into Indiana now that they're likely to get even more college applicants. Just keep working hard and you will get in, I told her. How sweet would it be to have another Hoosier in the house?! We would really be a house divided again!