Hidey Ho, Neighbor!

Our new neighbors moved in this month.

Saying that they "moved in" sounds so easy.  The reality was a tad more difficult, but having them here, next door was worth all the stress and work!

The entire fiasco started with trying to finish and clean up from the renovations that were being done to their new house.  The moving truck was due to arrive in Rhode Island to start loading Friday night, June 27th.  The house in Delmar looked like this Friday night:

Basically, it was a disaster.  Not a single room ready to receive their stuff.  So we emptied it out Friday night and cleaned all day Saturday and part of the day Sunday to get looking like this:

Meanwhile, back in Rhode Island they were having their own nightmare….finishing the packing and waiting for the moving truck to arrive….  Not Friday.  Not Saturday.  But finally Sunday night.  Lillian left Rhode Island on Sunday and drove down with her car so that she could be here to receive the truck, if it ever arrived.  After weeks of stressful, intense packing, she arrived exhausted!

Finally, finally after a huge struggle with the moving company (thank you Tom for fighting for us!) the huge 53 foot tractor trailer arrived at 8 pm Tuesday, July 1st with all of their stuff….. oh wait! not all their stuff.  

Also, as a fun little side story, last summer we planned to have a family reunion July 4th weekend this year in order to celebrate Ed and Lillian's 50th wedding anniversary.  Of course, they were suppose to move down starting in May so that wouldn't be a problem….but as it stood John's family arrived Tuesday evening to 'visit' with Ed and Lillian for 2 weeks and to be here for the party!

So Tuesday night, John's family arrive, Ed and Tom arrive, and the truck arrives!  The movers unloaded the truck until 1:30am.

Wednesday morning Steve drafts his nephews and his brother John into driving to Rhode Island and loading a rented 24' truck with the rest of Lillian's things.  Their trip is a disaster of epic proportions which involved lots of traffic, no sleep, stitches! and the need for ANOTHER truck!  Yup.  That's right the 24' truck still wasn't enough.  So Thursday afternoon the Rhode Island crew pull out with Steve driving a 24' truck, John in a 17' truck and poor Jonathan driving his first long-trip-through-multiple-cities-with-lots-of-traffic in the van they went up in.  BUT the house was finally empty!  

Friday morning the rest of family came to Delmar to unload the two trucks!!  And...they were 'moved' in!!  

The slightly hysterical-in-a-maddening-sort-of-way is that the 50th anniversary weekend festivities started Friday night….

Caring for Gramps

Tomorrow is the memorial service for Steve's 94-year-old step-grandfather, Harold Morton.  He died on Tuesday, May 20th after living with us off and on since last August.  I wrote these thoughts the day he died but haven't done anything with it until now and this weekend seemed appropriate to me.

These past 10 months we have had the privilege and burden of sharing the care of Steve's 94 year-old grandfather.  Today he passed away.  Of course with the finality of death I am unable to not look back at our memories with him; to feel remorse for my shortcomings as a caregiver, to feel sadness at our loss and to feel a guilty relief for myself, as well as for him, at it being finished.

He was not an easy man to care for, yet I am glad that we had the opportunity to know him and for our boys to know him.  The Lord used him in our lives to bring us to a lesser view of our selves and a greater need for Him.  I trust that the Lord, in His infinite wisdom and unending patience, was able to use us in Gramps' life as well.

I will remember with fondness his dry wit and keen humor.  I will remember his eating dinner with us at the table, joining hands with my boys and bowing his head in prayer.  Tender memories, mingle with the funny and maddening ones from his many, many confused 'moments'.  Already the weighty feelings of responsibility and bitterness are mellowing into a warm tenderness towards a passed life, a life that was both extremely generous but most often, grumpy.

Water babies

We were so thankful to have another week at the beach with my family this year!  Not only was it a relaxing time but the boys made so much 'progress' with their swimming and bravery in the ocean.  Marcus started the week very afraid of the ocean and pool (which may not have been helped by an accidental dunking in the pool on the first day) , with a little forcing and encouragement he overcame both fears and ended the week a water enthusiast!  Zach and Eli both ventured further and further out into the waves and Zach finally, finally! overcame his hesitancy of jumping and floating in the pool!  We might have a swimmer yet!! 

 My favorite part of the week may have been the sight of Marcus in his 'glasses' (which are actually goggles, of course).  As he walked around showing them to everyone, with his expressions mirroring that of his namesake, I felt like I was looking at an image that will become a snapshot of his childhood and personality.  Unfortunately, the picture doesn't quite grasp the real life experience but you get the idea.

Not to be forgotten from the week were TWO trips to Duck Donuts for delicious, hot, fresh donuts, which has become another Outer Banks tradition.  Plus we did the mandatory-beach-vacation-mini-golf -trip on a day that was just too hot with a westerly wind to sit and bake at the beach.  And, of course there were many, many games of baseball played out in the sand!  Overall a perfect week which has left my boys very tan and ready to welcome their grandparents as neighbors next weekend!!

My mom's dog, Dodger, loved the water!

Mine!

This week we had a sleepover with little Gavin, who is the same age as Marcus and it also marked the milestone for Marcus' very first sentence!!

"That's my 'ruck!"

New Years in June

Last weekend was the big Stephanides family reunion.  As we get older it is harder and harder to find time that everyone can get together and even with lots of planning Steve was absent for Saturday's festivities since he had to be in Mississippi.  In anticipation of Steve's absence and the desire to have a family picture, my brother in law made a cardboard cut out of Steve hoping that we could use it instead.  While cardboard Steve didn't quite work out for the group shot, I can only imagine how many places I am going to "find" him in the coming months….

Big Marcus brought his slack line for us to try--I never could let go

End of the Year!

Another year of homeschool is completed, Hurray!!  Zach did so well this year and has learned so much, we are very proud of him.  Next year, Eli will join him for homeschool- starting Kindergarten!  (Now I have to wade through countless options for homeschool curriculum and make decisions…..but wait! let me just enjoy being done for now!)

As a end-of-the-school-year treat, the boys and I went with another homeschool family to the DC zoo.  It was a full day's experience (7:30am-10:30pm-yikes!) beginning and ending with the metro (which may have been the highlight for the kids actually).

3 for 3

After a very tough little league season for Zach (which involved zero hits off of the pitching machine) all of his hard work and diligence paid off last night!  It was as if someone threw a switch and Zach went 3 for 3 during the game!  I confess that I may have cried a bit when he got the first hit, especially when I caught his beaming smile looking at me from first base.

So, uh... obviously this wasn't the ball he hit….

Strawberries

We spent the perfect spring morning picking strawberries last week.  Marcus was even (mostly) a help, picking red strawberries which he collected in his bucket.  We went home to make strawberry shortcake and to eat our weight in the fresh berries!  What a great day of homeschooling.

I love these boys!

Time out

"Apparently, throwing cleats at your older brother is frowned upon in this establishment!"

Eli's First Opening Day

After the last few years of being ready but not being old enough to be on a team, Eli is finally able to participate in Little League!  He is very excited to be playing in games and having his own practice.  (Both boys awakened us the morning of the opening day parade completely naked and asking where their uniforms were!)  Here are some pictures (not of our early morning view) of our little lefty.

This character is coaching Zach's team and assisting Eli's