Whew! What a week, what a weekend...

In a word, lacrosse. Lot's of lacrosse--and lots of rain. Hence, not a lot of photos.

I'll spare the details but suffice it to say that from Friday to Sunday I've logged over 28 hours on the lacrosse field (or enroute from one to the other). So has Miss Grace. She's a trooper. Not one complaint despite the rain, despite the waiting, despite the wet feet, despite the soggy clothes. She just does it. She does it for her brother, who is her bud. Actually she calls him "Cocoa". When he's not on the field he IS her horse. She rides on his back, she puts "saddles" on him, she trains him, you get the idea.

However, this weekend was a defining moment.She won a girls lacrosse stick at a tournament.

From the moment she has held this stick in her hand, she's been so proud of her new possession. But the best part is she has an awesome trainer, Ross. Can you imagine his relief to now have a little break from being Cocoa?! Now that the rain has subsided (at least for one day) I took a few shots of training "in session". Funny how the tables have turned :)

Learning to scoop and cradle...

Shooting on the goal. What form, she sure has learned alot from those sidelines!

On Tuesday Miss Grace had her Celebration Picnic (inside because of the rain-of course) as she wrapped up her first year of Preschool. It was too cute for words. They performed three songs then received gifts from their teachers. I sure will miss these sweet teachers who have made her year SO special!

The Performance

Lovely Parting Gifts and Class Photo

Oh, how we will miss these lovely, talented, sweet, nurturing, fun, lively, did I say sweet, teachers!


**side note** See that faraway look on Miss Grace's face? She is s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g as she was so excited she did not eat breakfast. The helpers are putting lunch out and I could not get her to focus on anything but FOOD, lol!

After lunch and much livelier indeed with her best bud Olivia

What precious days these are...they go by so fast. Thank God for photos and for blogs.

Wistfully,

Kate-lyn

May in review...

Whew, where does time go?! I am SO overdue so I'll try not to ramble...all right I may ramble a bit.

Our month started with lacrosse season in full swing. Ross is becoming quite a player, if I may brag a bit. His coach has really helped him reach new heights this year. This a new coach and he's awesome! He has required that the boys give their best, and only that, nothing less. He's encouraged them to work hard on areas where they need to build skill. Then, he notices when they've improved and pushes them to work even harder. He tells them stories of successes and failures, of heroes and those who have let their dreams slip away. He's not just building a team, he's helping build character and tenacity by pushing them to never give up, no matter how hard the fight.

This month we have also made some new friends and each Friday have been getting together for some playtime. Miss Grace, of course, looks forward to Fridays!

And, to my family's joy (and relief, I'm sure) I have finished my schooling, whew!

Then, of course there is the first annual (long awaited!) trip to the lake for Memorial Day...

Quite memorable was Monday morning. We all awoke to the smell of smoke thinking it was our still smoldering campfire. But upon fully waking, we realized it was not, and that it was truly smoke hovering all over our property. After some research (thank you Paul) we realized that it was several h-u-g-e brush fires burning in Montreal, yes Canada, that was spewing smoke all the way down to the Adirondacks. To get some perspective, that would be about a 2 1/2 car ride!

Here is a photo of the visibility at the lake on Sunday...

 And then on Monday...quite memorable indeed!

 June is in full swing and we have much to look forward to. Miss Grace finishes her first year at Preschool, Ross graduates from Middle School (sheesh--how did that happen so quickly!) and he also begins some serious lacrosse training at a local university--pray for his safety pu-leeze!

Loving Summer and reading now for pleasure (no more textbooks!)...

Kate-lyn