St. Francis Academy

No Worries...I'm Here

For whatever reason there was an issue with my credit card, so Typepad saw it fit to suspend my account until the issue was resolved.  Thus, I even missed my usual once-a-week post.  I suppose that's the nature of having a paid account, even if said payment is minimal and on a monthly basis.  At least I can post again.

I had my 14 week appointment with the OB last Monday and everything went well.  It was nice to meet the OB.  We talked a bit about the miscarriages we've had and after my exam he took great care to assure me to give a call if anything didn't feel right, even in the absence of bleeding or cramping.  For some reason, this was really nice to hear, as it is something I had never heard from any prior care provider. 

Baby's heartbeat was nice and strong, and the little one even did a nice big movement to prove to the doctor that our little swimmer is active and that what I feel from time to time is, in fact, movement of the baby and not gas or a muscle spasm.  I know, with as many pregnancies reaching this point, you'd think I'd be a complete and total expert in early baby movements....nope!

I will be having another ultrasound at around 20 weeks to check anatomy and make sure all is well.  We may even decide to go ahead and find out the gender this time around.  We haven't done this with any others (those pregnancies where I had ultrasounds later in pregnancy) and it would kind of be nice to go baby shopping since I've donated nearly every baby outfit for both boys and girls.  A few years ago I developed a Flylady attitude that if I'm not using something right now, I should bless someone else with that item.  Thus, the stored baby clothes were donated, the crib that my mother bought for our first was sold, and the bassinette which was coming apart was thrown out.  Knowing that God is eternally good and provides us with our needs, I trust that we'll be provided for with this newest blessing.

So, now I'm 15 weeks and am not as overwhelmed at the thought of football camp which is fast approaching.  The homeschool assessment day for the kids is set for this Saturday, and then I will set a day aside for the paperwork which needs to be sent into the district.  I'd like to get an early jump on our schooling, which means some new materials need to be ordered.  We have nearly everything, though I need to get some materials for chemistry, history, and grammar.

Anyway, it's good to be back after my enforced absence...OH, and thank you for the prayers for my mom.  She got through the procedure just fine and is feeling better as each day passes.

Random Musing

I hate resorting to blogging about once a week.  I know, as a blog reader myself, that the less frequently you post, the more likely you are to have your readers lose interest.  I read on a daily basis, and I think about posting just about as frequently, but life gets in the way, or I forget, or, or, or...you know how it is.

Anyway, my mom is in the hospital today to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).  Fortunately, she was a candidate for repairing the aneurysm with a stent, meaning that she will avoid open surgery and intensive care.  Still, any surgery has its risks, and she will need to remain in the hospital for three days.  My worry over her is compacted by the fact that my husband is away on business for the rest of the week and I can't be in NY to be with her.  Not that I'd be able to do much anyway.  ::sigh::

With hubby away and the weather being humid and overcast, it seems the perfect time to immerse myself in some enjoyable reading, departing for the time being from The Aeneid.  I have chosen to plunge into Little Women.  It has been a thoroughly enjoyable read thus far.

Of course, there are a ton of other things I could or should be doing beside sitting with my feet up,a book in my hand.  First, there are the daily household chores, which I usually force myself to complete before the reward of reading.  Decluttering, though, is a completely other matter.  Next, there is the making of homeschool plans for the upcoming year.  I think about them a lot, though I've not gotten around to jotting down much of anything, let alone make any sort of purchases.  Then, there is the making of certain items for the younger set.  I have been intrigued by the idea of creating geography boxes for each continent, which are along the lines of the Montessori geography folders.  Boxes just seem much more practical than folders.  Teresa at Lapaz Farm Home Learning introduces the idea in this post.  The Wildflowers and Marbles blog has done something similar.  I have a good start with the books and little puzzles from the Top Secret Adventures Club and should be able to round it out with my stack of National Geographic mags.  Lastly, I need to consider our calendar for the next month or so.  Baseball is nearly over (five games left), but football and soccer are just around the corner.  The schedule for football (with conditioning five days a week) is leaving me feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I try not to think about it...much.  If I don't think about it, it will go away, right?  RIGHT???

I'm officially out of the first trimester and seem to have more energy to show for it.  I'm at 13 weeks and have an OB visit at 14 weeks.  I think I have felt the baby move, about 95% sure it wasn't gas, at least, but suppose it could've been some odd muscle twinges.  DH started a new job, which means new insurance down the road, but for the time being we are covered by COBRA.  I'm trying not to think about the cost of that in the coming month, either, and try to shove the thoughts of miscarriage to the very, very back of my mind.  I feel very Scarlett O'Hara-ish about it all.  ::sigh::

So, I distract myself a little with a good book, doing some chores here or there (I can do anything for 15 minutes), and working a bit on organizing the homeschool things (like sorting my Catholic Mosaic books and noting which ones are available through our local library).  It's a start...

Cooperstown...finally!

Talk about a delayed post...sheesh!  I've been busy...yeah, that's right...with another cold and still catching up on laundry and household tasks.  Now that I'm more or less caught up, I can write about how awesome Cooperstown was.

For those of you who are baseball illiterate, Cooperstown, NY is home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.  That was not our reason for making the trek to NY, though.  Our son's baseball team was invited to play at the Cooperstown Dreams Park (CDP) for their 10U week of top-notch competition.  CDP runs from June through August, 12 weeks of play.  The level of play is comparable to what you see each year on ESPN at the Little League World Series.  The major differences are that CDP teams are usually just from the United States (though there are occasionally Canadian teams that play) and are, for the most part, not All-Star teams.  Yes, there are some All-Star teams put together for the sole purpose of coming to CDP, but most of the teams are teams which have been playing together for at least one season.

The Boys' Experience

The teams come to CDP and spend the whole week there, boys and coaches together.  The sleep in barracks as a team, shower as a team, eat as a team, and spend the bulk of their down time as a team.  One of the biggest activities when first arriving at CDP is pin trading.  Each team has a specially designed pin so that the boys can trade with one another.  Our team actually had five pins, though I don't think anyone ordered all five for their son to trade (I could be wrong).  You can see an example of one here (top right corner).  Coaches, umpires, and families get in on the pin trading too, but for the boys this is the big activity on CDP Day 1.

Opening Ceremonies

Three paratroopers jumped out of the plane flying above us.  It was remarkable to watch them float down and see each one hit their mark in the outfield.

These men weren't young, either!  One of the boys' mom got a really great photo of our boys at the CDP gate looking up at the men floating down from the sky.  Once I get a copy of it I'll share it here.

After the paratroopers, we finally were able to watch all the teams march into the CDP stadium.  Since they were going in alphabetical order, our boys marched in fairly early.  Our John was one of the boys holding the Cincy Flames banner (the one on the right):

After all the teams were in the stadium, they were ready to start the Skills Competition.  Eight of our boys took part in Around the Horn Plus, (which is some complicated game of throwing the ball from player to player as quickly as possible).  The rest of the boys took part in the individual skills competitions: King of Swat (homerun derby), Golden Arm (outfielding), and Roadrunner (fastest base runner).  No competition was won by our boys.

The Rest of the Week

Since I don't want to bog you down with the details of each and every game we watched, I'll just share some photos.  The weather was absolutely ideal except for one day.  That day happened to be the day my mother and cousin drove up to stay for a couple of nights.  It was our hottest, most humid day there, and it ended with a thunderstorm which delayed the boys' late afternoon game.

Anyway, here are some photos:

John posing before taking his spot in right field.

On the mound for a really big win!

The flag in left field.

The double rainbow as we wait for the Closing Ceremonies to begin.

Closing Ceremonies was where the boys were inducted into the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame (imagine how long it takes to name all the boys for 96 teams!).  As a memento, they received their Cooperstown Dreams Park rings.

All in all it was a remarkable experience, one the boys will remember for a lifetime, I'm sure.  The week-long experience of doing everything as a team has really made some strong bonds between the boys.  We're looking forward to going back when the boys are 12!