A chest x-ray revealed pneumonia in his lower left lung. Not terrible pneumonia, but still pneumonia. And once on their monitors, his stats again looked less than ideal. He was put on oxygen. Fulton quickly earned an admission and ambulance transfer to CHOP. These things take FOREVER and so, Tuesday night around 11 p.m., about 12 hours since we arrived at the ER, he was given a room at CHOP.

The first few days on antibiotics did not work as expected, and so he needed an ultrasound of his lung which showed fluid around the pneumonia. They switched up the antibiotic. Through it all Fulton remained in good spirits. Each day we hoped he’d stabilize enough to go home. I went home Saturday morning 5/16, Tony went in with Fulton and in passing he brought Fulton’s wheelchair to CHOP (it had been left at the local hospital because power wheelchairs don’t go in ambulances.) In frantic texts and phone calls we had to figure out what we were going to do Monday; the day Tony needed to go into the office for his new job. I went back to the hospital Sunday night, and thankfully I was able to line up one of our respite caregivers to be with Teddy during the day. Edie would be home, but she works third shift right now, and sleeps during the day. Plus, there are some aspects of Teddy’s care she cannot do. Once we learned Fulton would not be discharged Monday, Tony’s parents drove up from Virginia to help. Tuesday morning 5/19, Fulton was finally doing well enough to come home. Tony’s dad drove our wheelchair van to CHOP to pick us up. Tony’s parents stayed until Thursday; they’ll be back in a couple weeks for Fulton’s graduation.

Honestly t’s been a lot. Fulton has been sick since May 4. It’s been three solid weeks of breathing treatments every four hours during the day as well as help with the cough assist machine on demand. Since coming home from the hospital, I’ve had six alarms set on my phone to make sure I don’t forget anything. Being in the hospital was a bit of a break since the nurses do so much. It occurred to me today that this is the first time in probably ten years we’ve had a major illness/ hospitalization and not had nursing care at home and the boys in school. Tony is back in the office two days a week and not nearly as flexible as he once was even when he is at home. By this weekend, I felt an overwhelm that has not overtaken me for many, many years. I took it out on Byron’s heavy bag in the basement and allowed myself a good ugly cry. I felt better afterwards, but its hard to not be frustrated with myself for not being able to “offer it all up” and be a ray of sunshine while helping Fulton through his illness. I am definitely not walking the walk right now.

I’ve started questioning whether or not I can really pursue a Masters Degree later this year, or hope to work even part-time as a history professor in the future, because at the end of the day, if either Fulton or Teddy is sick and needs to be hospitalized someone has to be there with them and while I hope that someday that person can be their spouse, for the forceable future it needs to be me, and Tony needs to work. Even though I’m hopeful we’ll be able to get more home health aides in later this year, HHAs aren’t going to manage round the clock sick care and sitting bedside. If I was in a Masters Program, I would have gotten zero work done the last few weeks. I can usually do one German lesson every one to two days. I’ve done two since Fulton got sick. These times of illness just drain me of everything.

Tomorrow, Fulton ends his antibiotic. His numbers are better, but he’s still coughing and bringing up junk. I’m reaching out to pulmonary to figure out next steps. It’s not outside the realm of possibility for him to need to go back to the hospital. I just can’t even imagine. There’s also insurance “issues” as Tony changes jobs and that’s stressful when Fulton is sick. We’re having a very cool and rainy Memorial Day weekend here and I think that captures my mood perfectly. Rather than getting excited about warm weather and summer fun and sitting outside, I feel stuck inside peering out into the gloom, yet somehow also internalizing it. I know we’ll get through this, but I’m not walking through this mess all that gracefully, even though I know it’s not even the worst illness we’ve ever dealt with. It gets easier, but sometimes it’s still hard. I want to be stronger than the hardest times and its difficult to accept when I’m not.

Prayers welcomed for Fulton’s continued improvement.

The post It gets easier, but sometimes it’s still hard. appeared first on This Ain't the Lyceum.

shopping

My mom came to visit and we did fun mother daughter things like visit another winery and go dress shopping, and I successfully found my mother of the bride dress! It looks nothing like I was saving on Pinterest for inspiration, but I’m really happy with it. I kept trying to text Addie pictures and get her approval but of course she wasn’t responding, so I just made sure to get a receipt in case she hated it. Thankfully, she gave it a thumbs up. I’m glad to have that task completed. With the bridal shower now in my rear view (details further down), I can finally focus on the task of purchasing and adapting suits for Fulton and Teddy. We’re all super excited about that. <so much sarcasm>

escaping

While my mom was here, Tony and I also hired caregivers for the first time since our major insurance change and spent the night in Atlantic City at the Golden Nugget. We had a comfy room, and we soaked in the rooftop hot tub. All the restaurants and entertainment were in the casino a short walk from our room. We got sushi for dinner and watched a really good Tom Petty cover band later that night. It was so great to get away again; it’d been eight months! All the money I make through speaking and book sales goes to our respite care fund so if you’re looking for a speaker or an inspiring read know that your support allows us to drink over priced cocktails and sleep soundly.

selling

Speaking of books, a little while back, Our Sunday Visitor decided to retire/ discontinue my book, so I purchased the remaining stock from them, and the rights, and sent copies to Amazon to be fulfilled. But somehow I only recently learned that I totally didn’t set up the seller account correctly and Amazon was like, “we’re going to trash your books!” and I spent a couple frantic days figuring all that out. The good news is now when you purchase a new copy of my book Better Than OK from Amazon (affiliate link obviously) you’re buying directly from my stockpile. I also get notified of sales which is cool because I never really knew how many copies OSV was selling through Amazon or their website but now I know for sure that people are still buying my book five years later!

planning

As if the boys weren’t frustrated enough with all the cursing I was doing over my Amazon seller account, they’ve certainly been getting an earful as I set up our co-op’s website for the 2026-27 school year class registration. I also agreed to teach an art class next year —> which means I needed to have a supply list to show students registering for classes —-> which means I needed to know what art projects we’re doing for the year —> which means I needed to have a syllabus for the class —> which meant creating a 26 week high school art curriculum from scratch because I’M INSANE and somehow am never satisfied with just following an established program. But it’s done now, and I’m pleased with it even though I know the high schoolers will not care how much love and care and f-bombs went into it. (Maybe it’s better if they don’t know about that last one…)

exploring

An H-Mart recently opened about 40 minutes from us so Edie and I drove over to check it out. H-Mart is a super trendy Korean-based Asian supermarket that has not only a grocery section, but a food court, a skin care department, and a large section of super cute housewares. They also have more rice cookers than I’d ever seen in one place. The place was packed; it took us forever just to park. But we got so many cool items and I was texting Addie the whole time (she was so jealous!). Part of me wishes it was closer, but honestly, it’s probably better that it’s not.

watching

We’ve been watching The Critic with the kids and I love that now they can finally understand an inside joke Tony and I have shared for the last 30 years.

interceding

If you or someone you love is in the midst of a job search, you’re probably aware how tough the market is for many positions. Tony is a software engineer, and it’s been brutal. But thankfully on the feast of St. Joseph the Worker (May 1) he was offered a new job! He starts next week. The company is actually right down the street from where he worked when we first moved to NJ 20 (!!!) years ago. The biggest shift is he will go from fully remote to working in an office two days a week. Thankfully, it’s only a short train ride away. Tony loves working from home and I love having him here. We start our mornings with coffee and take walks every day at lunch time. It will be an adjustment, but we’re both so excited for this new opportunity for him, and grateful once again for St. Jospeh’s intercession.

celebrating

This last weekend was packed with excitement as Addie graduated with her Masters in Social Work on Saturday and celebrated her bridal shower on Sunday (which was also Mother’s Day). I travelled to Cleveland with my mom and Edie on Friday. The men folk stayed home, and honestly, it’s good we planned it that way since Fulton had (and as of this post still has) a bad cold. (Update: As of Wednesday afternoon, he’d been admitted to CHOP with pneumonia.) We’d lined up a few caregivers so Tony wouldn’t need to do everything all weekend. Thankfully, Fulton was stable and there was lots of Xbox and table top games to keep everyone at home occupied.

Addie’s graduation was Saturday morning and afterwards we ate at a nice restaurant in ‘The Flats’ section of Cleveland that her finance Adam had picked out. He and his parents joined us for the graduation and dinner and it was great seeing them and catching up. That evening Addie, Edie, my mom and I relaxed at the hotel and attended a local Mass. On Sunday, we went to a riverfront restaurant to shower Addie with love and gifts! There were about 20 of us which was a good size; I had plenty of time to get to know more of Adam’s family. After lunch, we walked across the parking lot to a brewery where desserts and gifts had been set up. (Adam’s mom and aunt did SO MUCH planning which is why it was possible for Addie to even have a successful shower in Cleveland – seven hours from NJ- without me dying from stress.) It was a fun laid back vibe. Nobody missed the ridiculous shower games. We wrapped up our visit with Addie by taking a swim back at the hotel pool. It was hard saying goodbye. I haven’t been this sad to leave Addie in Cleveland since her first semester at Cleveland State. But we’ll see her soon enough!

concluding…

Fulton’s illness has set back schooling a bit, but I’m still optimistic we’ll wrap up everything before his graduation Mass on June 6th. I also still need to get some senior photos taken; I’ve definitely procrastinated there!

On a somber note, we got word just before Addie’s graduation that my uncle had passed away suddenly. He was well known around Harrisburg, PA and he’ll be sorely missed. (You can learn about him here.) In your kindness please say a prayer for him and his family.

I hope your May is full of celebrations and family fun!

The post A Dress, the Elephant Man, and a Shower appeared first on This Ain't the Lyceum.

As a Catholic, I’m taking the opportunity this year to introduce some ideas from the Church on the importance of caring for God’s creation. Scroll to the bottom for some Catholic resources you can tie into your Earth Day activities.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated to Be Meaningful

I’m not expecting anyone to set up a chicken tractor or go completely zero waste this Earth Day. I’m sharing easy and simple ideas that get everyone involved and outside, even your teenagers. Because if it requires a million supplies and complex instructions, it’s guaranteed to not happen. But one successful Earth Day opens the door to a yearly family tradition that everyone can look forward to!

If you want to tie these activities into the liturgical year, you can consider making them a part of your family’s celebration of the Easter season, Ember or Rogation days, or the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

Earth Day Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers (Ages 2–5)

• Spring Water Table
• Sorting Recycling Game
• Nature Scavenger Hunt
• Garden Sensory Bin

Earth Day Activities for Elementary Kids (Ages 6–10)

• Recycled Art Projects
• Nature Collage
• DIY Bird Feeders
  • Or set up a bird watching station with a camera feeder and guide book.

Earth Day Activities for Tweens and Teens (Ages 11–16)

• Create Seed Bombs – Use instructions or a kit
• Start a Small Garden Project – Let your child do the work of planning and executing a garden.
• Learn About Local Wildlife – Get resources from your library or a local nature center.
• Set Up a Compost Bin

Earth Day Activities for Kids of All Ages To Do Together

• Go on a Nature Walk – Look for specific items (bugs, plants, birds). Have a checklist to keep everyone engaged. Bring along binoculars and be sure to take pictures of what you find.
• Backyard or Neighborhood Clean-Up – If you have older kids, let them take the lead and do the planning. Many communities also plan clean-up events that your family can join. Check with your local Parks Department.
• Plant Something: A Tree, pollinators, wild flowers – anything! You can plant in your yard, in pots, planters or raised beds. You can also look for local tree planting events.
• Visit a Local Park or Nature Area – Many sites may have special Earth Day activities. Use Earth Day as the opportunity to finally visit that out of the way nature site.
• Reduce Waste Challenge – Try to give up all single use plastics for the day, or see who can create the least amount of trash.
• Encourage Discussion! – If you’re a homeschooler (and even if you’re not) you can find some great lessons on Earth Day and related environmental science topics on Teachers Pay Teachers. Make it a fun Unit Study for the whole week.

Catholic Resources Regarding Proper Care of God’s Creation

Care of the Earth is not a secular concern; the Church has said plenty through the years on how we can be good stewards of all God has entrusted to us.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:15

[God] brought things into being in order that His goodness might be communicated to creatures, and be represented by them; and because His goodness could not be adequately represented by one creature alone, He produced many and diverse creatures, that what was wanting to one in the representation of the divine goodness might be supplied by another. For goodness, which in God is simple and uniform, in creatures is manifold and divided and hence the whole universe together participates the divine goodness more perfectly, and represents it better than any single creature whatever.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Prima Pars, Question 47

Man alone among the animal creation is endowed with reason – it must be within his right to possess things not merely for temporary and momentary use, as other living things do, but to have and hold them in stable and permanent possession; he must have not only things that perish in the use, but those also which, though they have been reduced into use, continue for further use in after time.

 Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Rerum Novarum

At its core, global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God’s creation and the one human family. It is about protecting both “the human environment” and the natural environment. It is about our human stewardship of God’s creation and our responsibility to those who come after us.

Global Climate Change A Plea for Dialogue Prudence and the Common Good, USCCB

 Sad to say, it is all too evident that large numbers of people in different countries and areas of our planet are experiencing increased hardship because of the negligence or refusal of many others to exercise responsible stewardship over the environment. The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council reminded us that “God has destined the earth and everything it contains for all peoples and nations”. The goods of creation belong to humanity as a whole. Yet the current pace of environmental exploitation is seriously endangering the supply of certain natural resources not only for the present generation, but above all for generations yet to come.It is not hard to see that environmental degradation is often due to the lack of far-sighted official policies or to the pursuit of myopic economic interests, which then, tragically, become a serious threat to creation. To combat this phenomenon, economic activity needs to consider the fact that “every economic decision has a moral consequence” and thus show increased respect for the environment. 

Pope Benedict VX, Message on World Day of Peace, 2010

If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled.

Pope Francis, Laudato si’

You can also visit the Catholic Climate Covenant for more information.

Frankly, by this time in the school year, I’m eager for an excuse to go outside, and if I can do something educational and still call it a school day-bonus! But thankfully, you don’t need to be a homeschooler to enjoy this activities. Let me know if your family does anything for Earth Day in the comments below!

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celebrating

We were at home for the Triduum and Easter Sunday. Fulton got an infusion Tuesday of Holy Week, and had some side effects which meant he and I stayed home from the Holy Thursday Mass while Tony, Teddy and Edie attended. Thankfully, Edie and I got to attend the Good Friday service, and we all got to attend stations that night. Byron joined us late on Good Friday. Since we knew we’d be traveling early Easter Monday, we all attended the Easter vigil service on Saturday, which in the Extraordinary Form is like, 10x longer than even the longest Novus Ordo Easter vigil. Thankfully, our church starts the vigil at 6 p.m. There was a reception afterwards so it was still late by the time we got home, filled the Easter baskets and crawled in bed. I also forgot to take a family picture. Usually we snap a photo outside right after Mass, but since it was dark, and everyone was focused on the treats in the hall, we totally missed the photo opportunity. affiliate links below

It was nice to not rush around preparing Easter food before heading to Mass the next morning, but I honestly prefer the Easter Sunday Mass over the vigil Mass. So, I did miss going, despite the relaxed feel of the day. I consoled myself by putting my Easter playlist on repeat. For breakfast we had Italian Columba cake and bacon and sausage from the local butcher. We ate dinner at 1 p.m. and my friend joined us as she’s done for several years now. Edie’s boyfriend couldn’t make it for dinner, but he did snag some leftovers when he came over that night.

our menu:

• Lamb with brandy gravy – the best lamb and gravy in recent memory!
• Mashed potatoes
• Roasted artichokes
• Homemade ravioli
• Crescent rolls
• Fruit salad
• Cannoli
• Molded cheesecake – Russian Paskha inspired

We knew we’d be traveling, so we tried to not make too much since everything would need to get immediately tossed in the freezer.

It was the first rainy Easter in awhile, but that didn’t deter anyone from participating in the egg hunt. We also decorated eggs. It was a laid back day that still left plenty of time for packing. Addie and her fiancé were not with us this year. They were taking charge of Easter dinner for his family in Cleveland, but I did get to talk to her on Easter Monday.

We did an early Easter celebration with my parents the Saturday before Palm Sunday. And then Easter Monday, we drove to Virginia to spend the week with Tony’s parents. The weather, while sunny, was pretty cold, so not ideal for some of our favorite outdoor activities. But there were lots of card games, movies, and another unsuccessful fishing trip.

All the travels should tip you off that since my last post, we did get our van fixed. Thankfully, it only needed one sensor replaced, and it happened to be one the shop had in stock, which is rare.

reviewing

As we ended Q1, I reviewed my New Year’s resolutions and updated my personal curriculum for Q2. Overall, I was pretty pleased with what I accomplished. The big thing I noticed pretty quickly into the new year, was that I didn’t really need to work on building my focus. I actually don’t have trouble focusing when I have blocks of undisturbed time, but as I tend to forget, I simply don’t get blocks of undisturbed time while I am home all day with Fulton and Teddy (when we’re homeschooling and on break). Last year, when I didn’t have any big projects or plans and just focused on homeschooling and housework, I forgot this, and felt pretty relaxed during the day. But this year, with ambitious goals in place for myself, I was quickly reminded how I simply do not get to sit and do anything for more than a few minutes at a time for most of the day and that makes it very hard for me to focus on reading or writing or studying anything in depth. It’s why I decided to get up extra early before anyone is awake to study German. Tony and I allow a lot more screen time in the evening than we used to because it’s the one thing Fulton and Teddy can do for themselves, whether it’s use a tablet, or play a game on the Xbox or watch a movie. So, I do try to be intentional and spend my evenings working on things when they’re occupied, though I’m usually tired. Early mornings are my peak time which is why it’s when I focus on learning a foreign language. I’m not complaining; it’s just how it is and while the boys are much more independent than they used to be, and we have systems in place that make some aspects of caregiving much easier, they just often need help and its impossible for me to maintain focus on anything while needing to break my train of thought every 10 to 15 minutes to do something for them. This is a phase all mother’s pass through when their children are little and demand lots of time and attention, however it is not a phase for me. It simply is how things are. I do not have the option of “waiting until my kids are older” to pursue my own interests. Admittedly, I do get frustrated more quickly. Sometimes I think it’d be easier to not have big goals (outside homeschooling and housekeeping). But I have accepted that I am a big idea person and need something else as a creative outlet aside from the domestic sphere. So by reviewing my goals I was reminded that I am making steady progress (yay!) and any delays are not due to my problems focusing or time management or whatever; it’s because there’s genuinely a lot on my plate. And I have found Google Classroom a great way to track and make notes on what I’m doing.

reading

• The Hunger Code: Resetting Your Body’s Fat Thermostat in the Age of Ultra-Processed Food
• Hidden Valley Road; Inside the Mind of an American Family

That’s all for now. I know the rest of the school year is going to fly by and Addie’s wedding will be here before I know it! I think i’ve got every weekend between now and then planned. I hope the weather is warming up where you are!

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Easter dinner, and traditional Easter foods, are a HUGE part of celebrating Easter.

Easter is the celebration of the resurection of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that after his crucifixtion on Good Friday, He rose from the dead on Sunday. It is the most important feast of the entire liturgical year. (Yes, even above Christmas!) Catholics fast for the 40 days leading up to Easter so it’s no surprise that a huge dinner featuring meat, eggs, dairy, and sweets, all things traditionally given up during Lent, feature prominently on the menu! Many foods have religious symbolism, like lamb represents Jesus as the lamb of God whose sacrifice takes away all of mankind’s sins. So while Easter baskets and the Easter bunny get a lot of press these days, celebrating Easter with a large dinner is definitely the traditional way to go!

Many people today who do not practice Christianity still celebrate Easter, and attribute many of the same symbols to spring and renewal only. You can say what you want, but many of these traditional foods came about as ways to celebrate the breaking of the Lenten fast. Can they be tied to spring and earlier pagan celebrations? Certainly, but Christians definitely took the same foods and made them their own to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. And some foods, like lamb, were already prominent in Jewish traditions like Passover.

Traditional Easter Dinner Ideas from Europe

When looking at Easter menus across Europe, you see a lot of similarities: roasted lamb, spring vegetables like artichokes, asparagus, and new potatoes, eggs, and specialty breads and cakes.

Italy

• Roast Lamb
• Roasted Artichokes
• Colomba di Pasqua – A dove shaped Easter cake. Use this recipe or buy online!

Poland

• Bia?a Kielbasa or White Sausage
• Sour Rye Soup
• Babka – A fluffy bread like cake you can make or buy.

Traditionally, many of these foods are placed in a basket and blessed before Easter.

Germany

• Baked Ham
• Warm Potato Salad
• White Asparagus – More mild than green asparagus and served a variety of ways.

Spain

• Bacalao al pil-pil – Salted cod in sauce.
• La Mona de Pascua – Specially decorated cake.
• Torrijas – A Spanish version of French toast.

France

• Pâté Berrichon – Ground pork, veal and whole eggs wrapped in puff pastry and baked.
• Tarte à la Baeckeoffe – A type of meat pie. (Recipe in French.)
• Alsatian Lamb Cake

Orthodox Easter Dinner Ideas

There are many different Orthodox branches of Christianity spanning many parts of Europe and Asia. All use the Julian calendar (not the Gregorian calendar the Catholic Church uses) when figuring out the date of Easter. That means many years, Orthodox Easter falls after Easter on the regular calendar. We’ll all celebrate the same Easter date together again in 2028!

Greece

• Roasted Goat (or Lamb)
• Pastitsio – Baked Pasta with Meat and Béchamel Sauce
• Red-Dyed Eggs

Russia

• Paskha – A no-bake cheesecake-like dessert.
• Kulich – A tall, sweet bread you can make or buy!
• Salmon Coulibiac (a.k.a. Kulebyaka) – Salmon and rice wrapped in dough.

Serbia

• Prebranac – Baked white beans and caramelized onions
• Vaskršnja Poga?a – Easter Bread
• Gibanica – Cheese pie

Traditional Easter Dinner Ideas from Latin America

You can see how Europeans influenced some foods in Latin America, especially Spain and Portugal, while other dishes have ties to Africa.

Mexico

• Capirotada – A type of bread pudding.
• Revoltijo – Patties formed from a jumble of ingredients served in a mole sauce.
• Coctel de Pulpo – An octopus cocktail (!!!)

Brazil

• Bacalhau – Salted Cod
• Caruru – Okra cooked with dried shrimp and spices.
• Ovos de Páscoa – Oversized chocolate eggs.

Peru

• Chupe de Camarones – Shrimp chowder
• Chiriuchu – I don’t even know how to describe this, but you eat it cold and it contains guinea pig.
• Ocopa – A sauce featuring chili and mint that is traditionally served over potatoes with hard boiled eggs.

Traditional American Easter Dinner Dishes

America is a big country, so it makes sense that the foods I ate for Easter in Lancaster County, PA would be different from those eaten in the South or New England states. Obviously, each region’s cuisine will be influenced by the immigrants who settled in each area, in additional to dishes that feature local and seasonal food. Coastal areas will feature seafood, and warmer southern states will have access to more early spring vegetable than those states bordering Canada. It’s hard to say all American’s eat *these* Easter foods. So here are just some broad categories.

• Ham – There’s several ways to roast and glaze.
• Deviled Eggs – Probably the most popular way to use up all those dyed eggs.
• Vegetable casseroles – While these will vary by region, America seems to have a passion for coating our vegetables with cheese and/ or creamed soups.
• Potatoes – Usually scalloped or in some casserole. Mashed potatoes are usually served alongside meats featuring a rich gravy, like turkey.
• Bread – Either sweet or savory, most Easter tables feature bread often influenced by one of the many cultures mentioned above, or that explodes out of a can.

I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of traditional Easter dinner ideas from around the world. Let me know in the comments where you’re from, what you’re eating for dinner and any local or cultural dishes you’re planning to feature as part of your Easter dinner!

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Even now with a house full of young adults and teenagers, I still do an egg hunt, though I haven’t upgraded to my grandmother’s habit of adding cash to the eggs. Candy still seems to do the trick. But I have been looking for other ways to up the ante, especially since after seven years in this house with our much smaller yard, all the best egg hiding spots are well known. If your family is like mine and the yearly egg hunts aren’t just for children, consider some of these fun Easter egg hunt ideas for adults, and teens! (Plus, at the bottom I’ve got ideas for prizes, supplies, and tips for how to hold a successful egg hunt for adults if you’ve never done it before. Affiliate links included.)

Five Fun Adult Egg Hunt Ideas

1. The Riddle Egg Hunt

Everyone starts with a riddle to find their first egg and then each successive egg contains another riddle that leads to the next hiding place. Rather than randomly hunting for eggs, participants follow clues to find the next egg. You can put small prizes in each riddle egg, or one big prize at the end of the hunt.

2. The Scavenger Hunt Egg Challenge

Each egg contains a task or item to find. Here, the participants get a larger prize once they complete a set number of challenges. For example, everyone is allowed to find five eggs, and then they complete the scavenger hunt tasks. Have a prize basket everyone gets to choose from once they complete their challenges. If you feel like your egg hunts go too fast, this is a way to draw out the excitement!

Example tasks:

• take a selfie with the host
• find something yellow
• locate the oldest book in the house

3. The Trivia Egg Hunt

Each egg contains a trivia question. Participants could answer questions as they go to get extra prizes or hold a trivia game at the end once everyone has their trivia questions.

Categories could include:

• Easter traditions
• family trivia
• pop culture
• church history

4. The “Couples” Egg Hunt

Participants hunt in pairs, but they’re attached to each other in some way. Rather than a prize in each egg, the couple with the most eggs at the end wins. I feel like this option presents the best photo opportunities!

Try bringing people together by:

• tying one leg of each to the other, three legged race style
• tying one hand of each together
• they have to hunt for eggs with their backs together the whole time

5. The Puzzle Egg Hunt

Each egg contains a piece of a puzzle. Once all eggs are found, participants assemble the puzzle to reveal the final prize location. Maybe a large golden egg for each hunter!

What to Put Inside Easter Eggs for Adults

If you really want everyone to get into the hunt, make the prizes worth it! (But if you’re doing an egg hunt with one big prize at the end, or a basket everyone chooses a large prize out of, the skies the limit!)

• chocolate – high quality stuff, not the cheap milk chocolate your kids will eat
• mini liquor bottles
• CASH
• gift cards
• lottery tickets
• religious objects: rosaries, medals, holy cards

Don’t forget these supplies:

• Plastic Eggs
• Golden Eggs
• Baskets
• Egg Hunt Bags

Finally, a Few Guidelines for Holding an Easter Egg Hunt for Adults

• Stick to a clearly designated area
• Make sure everyone’s had time to eat and digest dinner
• If you know people will be dressed up, avoid hiding eggs where it’s dirty or hard to reach
• Have enough prizes and Easter goodies for everyone
• Don’t let the competitive spirit make you lose sight of what the day is really about. Make sure the hunt ends on good terms.

I’m leaning towards the trivia egg hunt, since trying to do a “couples” style egg hunt could be dangerous for whomever is paired to Fulton or Teddy. What would you be willing to host, or try? I honestly wish I had the opportunity to find eggs with mini liquor bottles in them. Let me know if your family does an adult Easter egg hunt in the comments below!

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enjoying

Byron came home for the weekend, and with warm sunny weather forecasted, we went to Ocean City. The boardwalk had quite a few people about (for March), and many shops were open. We bought candy for Sunday, hit up the arcade and enjoyed some locally roasted coffee. On the way home we stopped for dinner to celebrate Mothering Sunday (Laetare Sunday) and St. Joseph Day (our Father’s Day).

celebrating

I made corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day, then immediately turned them into Rueben sandwiches, which everyone enjoys…except Teddy, which he reminded me of at dinner. For the record, I make a variation of the Reuben; white bread instead of rye and coleslaw instead of sauerkraut. It’s pretty close to a Rachel sandwich. I’m embarrassed to admit I forgot to do much else- I even forgot to play our Dubliners’ records!!

On St. Joseph’s Day we went to Mass at our local parish and went across the street to the convent afterwards to enjoy the St. Joseph Table. (There was an entrance with a ramp behind a fence I didn’t know about!) I was so grateful for the opportunity to have some wine and sweets. We didn’t actually finish up our novena until the next day though, which isn’t terrible given our track record with novenas!

fixing

The day before, I was all set to take Fulton to an appointment at CHOP. I drove over to the train station and while unloading, our wheelchair lift stopped working. Then, while trying to fix things, two other guys at the station told me the train to Philly had been cancelled, and they had no idea when the shuttle bus would arrive. I took it as a sign and rescheduled the appointment. We made it home and I was able to unload Fulton using the manual mode, but the problem was not something Tony and I could fix. We’re still waiting to get it seen at the local repair shop.

This was on top of the fact that our second vehicle was also in the shop for the second time in a few weeks. Thankfully, the mechanic did the second repair quickly and for no cost. But the whole situation reminded me again why I’m so thankful we live in a town where we can walk to so much of what we need. (We can actually walk to the train station, but when it’s cold we tend to drive over since we have so much walking to do outside once we arrive in Philly.)

reserving

One of the wedding tasks Addie asked me to take on was reserving a block of rooms for out of town friends and family attending her wedding in July. Initial searches didn’t turn up a hotel with an accessible room that worked for us near the reception venue (most of the rooms with roll-in showers only had one bed). But then I thought to call and check on adjoining rooms and, I don’t know if I had incorrect dates entered or what, but suddenly, an accessible room with enough beds and a roll-in shower was available. I immediately booked it and called the hotel to reserve a block of rooms. I’m so excited that we’ll be able to stay close to the reception and with all our family. There is a wonderful hotel in Cleveland we usually stay at, but it would’ve put us 35 minutes from the reception. The closer location will also make it easier for us to go back and worth quickly between the hotel and reception on the day if we need to.

I’ve been working with the mother of the groom on planning the shower as well and I’m looking forward to that celebration falling on the same weekend as Addie’s graduation with her Masters degree in social work. So lots of things coming together! Next up- suits and my dress!

listening

Since the war with Iran begin, Fulton has been more interested in following international news. I found the BBC News World Service, Global News Podcast to provide good overall news coverage without lots of celebrity news thrown in. I’d recommend it if you’re looking to add current events to your homeschool day, or more interesting “conversation topics” (i.e. things to argue about) to your dinner table. Not that this podcast covers anything controversial; some of my family just like to argue. Teach your teens logic if you want dinner time to be really fun!!!!

watching

I had grand plans to watch several religious movies as a family this Lent (inspired by the Fisher family). However, the first night I tried it, we couldn’t watch my first choice so I settled on a movie Amazon recommended: ‘The Shoes of the Fisherman’- an almost three hour epic about a fictional pope elected during the Cold War. None of us really liked it. Then we selected The Ten Commandments…another extremely long epic. We still have to finish it. Maybe it’s our modern attention spans…Going forward, Fulton and Teddy will no longer let me choose Lent viewing, unless I can somehow find redeeming spiritual qualities in an action movie. Tony and I did watch ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ and I would’ve recommended that (highly!), but Fulton is very anti-murder mystery movie right now so, maybe another time.

educating

This week we missed co-op due to the wheelchair lift not working, and last week I wanted to mix things up for history class. Fulton and Teddy were tired of my “cringy” lectures, and I honestly wanted something different. So I spent some time on Teachers Pay Teachers finding some fun history activities. Last week the kids did an Assyrian Empire escape room and this week I had my substitute teacher assign a ‘Create Your Own Greek City State’ for the class to work on together. Fulton and Teddy each created their own at home. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself, and thankfully Tony reassured me that the activities I chose were “fun” and “cool” and the students were all lucky to have me. But honestly I think Fulton and Teddy won’t be as upset by next week’s cringy lecture.

We’re more than midway through Lent; you can do it! And thankfully, we have another first class feast coming up. Hopefully the weather is looking up where you are too. Have a great week!

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What Is a St. Joseph Altar (or Table)?

Picture it, Sicily- sometime in the middle ages. (Please tell me you get the reference.) The people were suffering due to a drought, and forced to live off fava beans which had previously only been used as livestock feed. They prayed for the intercession of St. Joseph and thankfully, the rain began to fall. After a successful harvest, the people set up tables of food to honor the saint. People ate in celebration, and some of the food was then distributed to the poor. The celebration became a yearly commemoration on St. Joseph’s feast day on March 19.

Through the years, the tradition has grown in size and scope and it now encompassing a litany of special foods and locations around the globe; wherever Sicilians have migrated. Breads are twisted into various shapes, sesame seeds are liberally applied to represent the tears of those early townspeople, and bread crumbs are sprinkled on many dishes to represent sawdust. Since St. Joseph’s Day falls during Lent, and meat was prohibited throughout Lent for many centuries, the food traditionally served at a St. Joseph’s Table is meatless. And many meals are dairy free as well, since fasting excluded dairy for a long time too. (If you’re like our family and a huge fan of Zeppole di San Giuseppe, you’ll quickly realized the sugar and dairy loaded confections would not have been a traditional item on a St. Joseph Table, but you can still enjoy them!)

Now, instead of a simple spread, the altar is typically three tiers and covered with food, decorations, and a large statute of St. Joseph at the top. Everyone is invited, and no one can be turned away. Guests who are able typically bring something as an offering, and it’s common to send guests home with blessed bread, salt, and/ or fava beans or other religious items. Since many Sicilians entered the United States through the Port of New Orleans, that city, though most known for it’s French influence, is still well known for its abundance of St. Joseph Tables.

How Can I Set Up a St. Joseph Table in My Home?

You only need a few key items to set up a St. Joseph Table or Altar at home for your family. Affiliate links below.

The Basic Elements

• Table or surface to display items
• Table cloth or fabric
• Candles and flowers
• A Statute or image of St. Joseph

The Food

• bread – This Italian bakery’s website has great pictures describing many traditional shaped breads.
• pasta
• baked goods covered with sesame seeds – another excuse to get cookies
• vegetables
• citrus fruits (Many varieties are grown in Sicily.)
• Italian cookies like biscotti – homemade is great, but seriously you can find Stella D’oro pretty much anywhere
• a nice bottle of Chianti (optional, but why not???)

How Can My Kids Get Involved With Setting Up a St. Joseph Table?

Like all liturgical practices, if you choose to incorporate it into your family, you don’t need to go crazy with ALL. THE. ITALIAN. THINGS! A few tasks you can outsource would be:

• Let your kids pick the spot for the table/ altar, clear it off, and clean it.
• Give them all the battery powered candles they want.
• If you don’t have a statue of St. Joseph, a coloring page works too.
• Depending where you live, a hand picked bouquet of wildflowers works as well as store bought, as do paper or pipe cleaner floral arrangements. Lilies of any sort are a great option.
• Let them pick a fun new pasta shape to have with the meal.
• Give them bread dough to shape, or let them sprinkle the sesame seeds on something you bake.
• If you have older kids (or you’re feeling brave) let them cook part of the dinner. It’s only pasta; how hard can it be right???
• Let your kids pick out canned foods from your pantry, or the store, to put on the table and then donate to a local food pantry.
• If there’s anything else they think St. Joseph would enjoy, like a plastic tool set or Lego creations, let them put it on the Table.
• In many places, St. Joseph’s Day is also Father’s Day so you can encourage your children to make a card, or say some extra prayers for their dad on the day too.

How to Celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph with A St. Joseph Table

It’s up to you if you want to invite everyone, but maybe another family or two? Bonus if you can get a priest to attend and bless your spread! Say a Litany of St. Joseph together, and eat some bread, pasta, eggplant, orange slices, and cookies. Put on some Italian music! If you’ve got a picture book, go ahead and read that too. Make enough food so you can take a meal to a family in need the next day (or freeze it for the next meal train opportunity), or drop off your canned goods at a food pantry. Since March is the month of St. Joseph, you can leave your display up for the rest of the month and not feel guilty!

Some picture book options:

• Giovanni and the Fava Beans
• Joseph, Guardian of the Holy Family
• Good St. Joseph
• Saint Joseph: Watch Over My Family
• Go To Joseph For Children: Consecration to St. Joseph for Children and Families

Sometimes just getting started is the hardest part. But once you’ve done it your kids will remind you of this new tradition year after year, and look forward to helping you. You might even be able to one day trust them with the whole thing! #bigkidperks I’m looking forward to trying a few new things this year in addition to our usual prayers and zeppole. Our local church, which happens to be St. Joseph’s, will have a St. Joseph table set up in its convent across the street. The building isn’t accessible, but I might stop by to check it out. In asking around, it doesn’t seem like families in the area have a tradition of hosting St. Joseph Tables, but perhaps that’s because the Sicilians who settled here had a special devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and the focus went to her feast. Who knows? I might continue my research at the local town historic society.

If you host a St. Joseph’s table, let me know in the comments!

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drinking

My mom came to visit for a bit and I took her to another South Jersey winery – Balic. I hadn’t been to this one before despite it being the oldest in the area. If you’ve ever driven to the shore, you’ve probably passed by one of their two story wine bottles on the side of the road. The tastings were free, and while I didn’t try the fruit wines, I did enjoy their Alexander the Great red wine and their Cream Sherry, which is like a port. We bought a bottle of the Napoleon Bonaparte white wine to open and enjoy. Bonus- I’m pretty sure the wine helped me get over a cold I was fighting.

The whole family is into these new “healthy” sodas. I bought some for myself, to help ease me off Coke, but of course once everyone saw the colorful cans they wanted to try them. Tony and I love that they have fiber in them (because we’re old), and the kids love the various fruit flavors. I hate the cost. Pretty sure it was cheaper when I was just buying a lot of Coke Zero for myself. Ultimately, I only buy a few cans and no one gets the flavor they wanted (because someone already drank it) and we’re all unhappy – but hey, FIBER!

watching

A couple years ago, one of my resolutions was to find a way to workout at home that I enjoyed and could stick with. I didn’t succeed that year, so on the days I couldn’t get to the gym, I didn’t lift weights. With our new schedule, I had to seriously commit to lifting weights at home since going to the gym was no longer an option. Thankfully after a week of searching YouTube I found the Nourish Move Love channel. While I like being able to lift heavier at the gym  and use machines (sadly we’re not investing in a home Smith Machine or Leg Press), Lindsey’s workouts use a lot of the same moves I was already doing but because she keeps it moving, I often finish more tired and sore than when I was at the gym. I had a bad habit of getting wrapped up in a podcast and taking too long of a break between sets, meaning I was barely breaking a sweat and my workouts were taking a long time. I like that following along with NML means I still get a rest period, but I’m not wasting time. And I find her less annoying than many other fitness instructors (though her frequent ‘Holy bananas!’ is probably my least favorite exclamation ever.) 

After finishing Only Murders in the Building, Tony and I went back to Breaking Bad and man, it seems even more dark and depressing after watching five seasons of a comedic murder mystery series. I’m not sure we can handle more than one episode at a time right now. So we started watching Cobra Kai. We’ve heard that a lot of people (of a certain generation) have liked it, and it’s fine- definitely a palate cleanser after BB- but it seems so cliche and predictable. I’ve seen two episodes and I feel like I can predict the story arc of the whole series, but maybe I’m wrong and they’ll be some fun twists. We’ll see. Don’t give me spoilers!

reading

I’m in the middle of a few things, but nothing I love which means its taking forever to make progress. I’m also mostly reading at bedtime, so inevitably my eyes start feeling heavy after only a couple pages. I mean, I really am enjoying German Holiness and Western Sanctity in Medieval and Modern History, an 89 page research paper, but I’m trying to take notes and struggling to find a time to read when I can focus on it. Also struggling through Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni and Life of Christ, by Ven. Arbp. Futon Sheen- which of course is amazing and moving but not really a fun, light-hearted read. I’m trying really hard to not pick up one of the other books in my ‘to read ‘ pile because I know I won’t make progress on my Lenten read. 

As I try to work on focus, I found this blog post (and related podcast episode) very interesting. I see this in my own home as those of us with phones will pull them out during family movie night. I’ve started enforcing a strict one screen rule when we’re watching movies together which I’ve only been able to enforce because “It’s Lent! Offer it up!”

messaging

I don’t keep Instagram or Facebook on my phone because they are a huge distraction for me. But, until recently, I kept the Facebook Messenger app because it was my main form of communication with a few groups of people. But then they released an update that featured a notification button at the top of the screen, and when you tapped it, Facebook opened up on your phone’s browser. As much as I tried, I kept tapping on the notification button. I didn’t want to delete the app, so I searched around for another option and thankfully I found Beeper. You can link a bunch of accounts to Beeper and all it shows you are the chats, so now I can keep up with my Instagram and Facebook chats without the apps being on my phone. I don’t get a lot of messages on Instagram, except for all the Reels my kids send me. I can’t watch the Reels in the Beeper app. but once they’ve flooded our group chat with a bunch of Gen Z humor, I’ll log onto Instagram on my laptop and view everything. Give it a try if you want to streamline all your chats.

As we head into March, I keep expecting our schedule to start filling back up. Plus, I know we’ll be getting out of the house more now that temperatures are constantly above freezing and the driveway isn’t a sheet of ice. I’m just trying to enjoy the relative calm. I hope your month is off to a good start!

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what’s working

The English materials I chose for both boys seem be working out well. Teddy didn’t like reading the Iliad, but I made a point of choosing ancient and modern literature, and he appriciated the chance to read Enders Game before starting Sophocles. I’ve had some good discussions with Fulton on his literature books, especially The Golden Compass, and he’s done really well writing his own essays using the digital resources I purchased and his iPad’s speech to text feature. He’s definitely doing more work independently this year.

Teaching Textbooks is still technically working, but math seems more challenging for both boys this year. I was grateful for the option to go into the grade book from the parents dashboard, clear out a bunch of less than stellar lessons and have Fulton and Teddy each do a couple weeks of review. It really made a big difference in helping them master the concepts. One of the best things about Teaching Textbooks is I get an email every morning with their grades from the previous day and their class average, so I always know how they’re doing.

Both are doing well with their co-op classes (though they say I’m a “cringy” history teacher) and have made good process in their respective foreign languages (Teddy – Latin, Fulton – French) though Fulton is strictly using DuoLingo as he really didn’t like the Mango Languages program. From my end, co-op is still going well and I know I’m cringy but who doesn’t get excited talking about Sargon, Hatshepsut, the Assyrian Renaissance, and the Dorian invasion???

I wound up needing to add some better music theory resources to Teddy’s music composition class, but this website really helped fill in the gaps. He’s focusing more on learning Garage Band now which he seems to enjoy.

Fulton’s had a lot of fun designing t-shirts. We’ve heat pressed a few of his designs for him to wear, and he’s currently taking his time designing a website (using Canva) to sell them.

Morning meeting is back and I’m loving it! However, after reading two lesser known Shakespeare plays, Fulton and Teddy were like, “Can we read one of his better plays? How about King Lear?” I also love King Lear, so it wasn’t really a hard sell.

We’re also back to a consistent physical therapy routine at home. So lots of good things happening!

what’s not working

While morning meetings is a huge improvement over afternoon tea this year, we’re still not listening to our composers and at this point, I don’t really know what to do about it. Maybe I’ll pick up some new classical records and hopefully put them on at dinner time.

Overall, our whole schedule underwent a major change after winter break and I’m still making tweaks. So, for several years now, Tony and I have split the boys morning and bedtime routines. Rather than both of us sharing the duites of mornings and bedtimes, we each pick one. Because I am a morning person, and for many years Tony was leaving the house in the morning for work, I got the boys ready in the morning and he did the night time routine. With my older kids taking care of themselves, I had a few years where, I saw the boys onto the bus then, went to daily Mass, and/ or the gym and in general took a little time for myself. When we started homeschooling again last year, I didn’t want to give that up. Tony is also a night owl, and he liked the idea of getting to use his evenings to do his own thing and take his time in the morning since he now worked from home. So he started getting the boys ready in the morning, while I got up, did writing or scripture study, went to the gym, maybe Mass, showered and then made them breakfast and started school. At night Tony got to do his activities while I put the boys in bed. It worked well for awhile, even if I was a bit grumpy putting them to bed and Tony was a bit grumpy getting them ready for the day. But Fulton and Teddy are now 15 and 17 and they wanted to stay up later, especially Teddy, and that was hard on me. I wasn’t going to force them to go to bed early, but that meant I was staying up late and then struggling to wake up in enough time to do my thing before we needed to start our day. I was also back to passing out on the couch during family prayers or movie night. Since the boys were up later, Tony wasn’t getting the uninterrupted time he was used to and so he stayed up even later for quiet time to work which made it harder for him to wake up on time to start their morning routing. We were both feeling pretty run down by the end of the year and over Christmas break we decided to switch back and see how it went. Thankfully, it’s gone pretty well. I wake up between 5-530 most days and drink my coffee in peace, study German and work out at home. The boys can sleep in and I get plenty of time to myself. Tony wakes up when he’s ready, and I get the boys up and ready usually quicker and more cheerfully than Tony ever did. We say prayers after dinner and I can pass out for the night whenever I’m tired. Fulton and Teddy like to stay up, watch Tony play video games, or watch sports or do whatever. He gets the boys in bed when they’re tired, with less frustration than me. He can still do what he wants and stay up later knowing he can sleep in.

Our school day is starting a bit later as a result and with math taking more time, things were getting crunched up right before lunch but I think I’ve worked out the biggest kinks, even if I’m still in my workout clothes at lunch.

The only other change is to Teddy’s science. I bumped him up to Biology this year, which my other kids did in tenth grade, because most ninth grade science programs I was considering covered a lot of the same stuff we did last year. However, bio is no easier for him than the other kids so I decided we’ll do half of it this year and the other half next year. That does mean he’ll need to do a lab science his junior and senior years, but taking bio at a slower rate has helped. I uploaded the chapter questions and study guide into Google Classroom and he types in the answers then checks them before taking the test. I did purchase the video lessons which also aides his comprehension and they’ve been great for the labs. Many of the bio labs require viewing slides with a microscope. It’s really hard for both Teddy and Fulton to use a microscope and the video labs show the magnified image which is awesome. Also, since Teddy can’t do the labs independently anyway and was just watching me doing them, it’s really not that big a deal if he watches the teacher on the video do the experiments instead. (Plus, she doesn’t curse at all because she has all the correct supplies and everything works the way its supposed to.)

All in all, it’s another good year! I haven’t thought about enrolling the boys back in school once- not even in February! Our co-op is already planning for next year, which is crazy, and I know Fulton’s graduation will be here before I know it. These days seemed so far away only a few years ago and now I’m racing towards homeschooling my last child.

I hope your school year is going well! Let me know what’s working, or not working, in the comments below!

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• Me to my stomach: “Here, have this handful of raisins.”
• My stomach: “WTF is this? I specifically requested Haribo gummies and a Coke Zero.”
• Me: “I know, but it’s Lent so this is the best I can do for dessert.”
• Stomach: “Brain! Are you aware of this?”
• Brain: “Unfortunately, she’s circumventing all my suggestions. I’m totally stressed out because she didn’t consume the afternoon margarita like I suggested.”
• Stomach: “This is BS! I didn’t sign up for this!”
• Me: “GUYS-WE’RE GROWING IN HOLINESS.”
• Brain: “I’m going to give you a headache.”
• Stomach: “I’m going to loudly gurgle non-stop.”
• Intestines: “Preach guys! I’m sick of all these beans! I’m joining in the protest any way I can!”
• Me: “OH MY WORD, it’s literally the first Friday of Lent.”

celebrating

Tony and I did a date night last Thursday, so Saturday I had a Galentine’s Party with three of my closest friends who are all in similar stages in life (i.e. older kids). I tried to do a Golden Girls theme, but ultimately didn’t want to spend a ton of money on themed decor so I selected a suitable menu and we ate it all on a golden table cloth. It was exactly the night I needed.

For Fat Tuesday I made fastnachts again after taking last year off. They’re basically a PA Dutch version of a donut. I got creative by mixing up some vanilla pudding and piping it into a few for those of my kids we didn’t think my homemade fastnachts were inherently better than Dunkin’ Donuts.

planning

Wedding planning is moving along. Addie and Adam have a good handle on most of it despite plenty of surprises and sticker shock. Next up on my plate is the bridal shower. Can I be honest? I hate showers- all types. I hate being the focus of them, and I hate attending them. But I’m trying to be enthusiastic for my daughter. With all her bridal party and family spread out, I’m super grateful some of Adam’s family is helping with planning. I can’t believe she’ll be married in less than six months!

drinking

I had to laugh as I glanced at the kitchen table this week. Since I’m trying not to snack, I’m drinking all sorts of things to distract myself, and each beverage requires its own special receptacle. Espresso mug, regular mug for green tea, glass for iced tea, and insulated cup for seltzer water. Thankfully, we can still homeschool around the clutter.

educating

The kids in my history class (at co-op) have a discussion post they need to respond to online each week. I try to keep it open ended; there’s no right or wrong answer. Last week I asked them “Why do the Iliad and Odyssey remain popular today?” Teddy’s answer: “Simply because people find it neat to read stories from thousands of years ago, and it tells us a little bit about Greek culture at the time. Despite the fact that the writing is often mid at best.”

I think he’s still upset I made him read the Iliad this fall and he’s trying to tick me off by calling Homer “mid at best” – HOMER!!! Homeschool influencers just don’t prepare you for stuff like this.

watching

We’ve been watching the winter Olympics quite a bit. Fulton in particular has had a real interest in the games this year. We usually postpone our afternoon classes so we can catch some late night live events from Milan, and if we’re not already watching a movie, we might put on highlights at night. Some of the snowboarding and ski events were the most interesting….and confusing. Grab your board or skis in one location and spin one million times- pandemonium and high scores. Spin one million times and grab in a slightly different location, “Oh, that was a disappointment. Thankfully she has one more run.” How is spinning a million times in the air and not dying when you come back to the ground ever disappointing???? And did you know speed skaters go over 30 miles per hour??? If they crash it’d be like a car going 30mph crashing into a wall or ice, but these are people in skin tight suits and little helmets! Do all Olympias get some sort of prize?? In these instances, I feel participation ribbons are completely appropriate. Thank you Olympians for showing up to participate in a sport that could paralyze or kill you for the amusement of the world.

creating

I was trying out YouTubes new tool to see if it could generate some good ideas for Accepting the Gift’s channel.

The titles and thumbnail pictures it generated for some of these ideas cracked me up. Like teaching children about disability through Theology of the Body? And the couch people seem to be building in the middle of the sanctuary for “children with invisible disabilities”. Thanks YouTube! I’ll get right on these!

That’s all for now. Have a penitential week, except for Sunday!

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reading

In my quest to define “ultra processed food”, I read Metabolical, but felt like the author was yelling at me a lot. I also felt him silently judging me every time I opened my pantry. It was heavy on explaining specific biological processes in meticulous detail, and I don’t think they added anything to his arguments. Also, something that bothered me was that none of the sources were listed in the back because there were “SO MANY” and they wanted to “SAVE THE TREES”, so you had to visit a website to view sources and confirm claims, and several reviews on Goodreads said some of the sources didn’t back up what was written so, overall not my favorite read on this topic.

I’m trying to finish up The Big Roads before Lent so I can focus on Life of Christ by (soon to be Blessed) Arbp. Fulton Sheen. I’ve been working at this title for awhile. The topic interests me (the development of the American highway system), and this book contains a lot of good info, but it can be a bit of a snooze fest so I keep putting it down.

some posts I enjoyed

• Shop ‘n’ Save
• Over 32,000 medieval manuscripts transcribed in four months using AI
• Christmas Cookie Inflation Index, 2025 Update
• What’s Worrying Jonathan Haidt Now?

watching

For most of the last few weeks, I’ve been watching the weather closer than anything else. The picture on the left is two weeks after it snowed and our walkway was still solid ice. We got maybe seven inches of snow and then a few more of solid ice at the end of January. Frigid temps meant nothing was melting. We ran out of salt, as did every store in South Jersey. Not that it was doing much against inches of ice in these temps. People, especially seniors, were trapped in their homes for days and our town struggled to break away at the ice. We’ve had warmer temps this week, and our walkway is mostly clear, but Fulton and Teddy could still never get around town as most sidewalks and curb cuts are still buried under piles of ice. Our driveway, not in the best shape to begin with, has been destroyed by the melting and refreezing and huge chunks of the asphalt are coming up. Tony was using an axe to break up the ice on the driveway to get our van out, which probably didn’t help either.

As for things we’re watching for fun, Tony and I have been working through Only Murders in the Building on our date nights. We’re finally on the fifth season and have enjoyed the whole series so far, though some seasons are definitely better than others. It’s been a good light hearted distraction from life, and we’ll probably be ready to jump back into season 3 of Breaking Bad after this cozy side trek.

I’ve started using a new app called Unwatched to watch YouTube videos on my phone. YouTube has such a great wealth of videos, but I kept getting distracted by the Shorts. Unwatched lets me add videos to a queue, subscribe to channels, and all I can see are the videos. I can block a channels Shorts and no ads play on the app. Other videos don’t auto play and I’m not distracted by all the recommended videos on the side. It gives me access to the “good” videos I want to spend time on and eliminates the chance that I’ll get sucked into some random video and then waste 15 minutes scrolling.

cooking

We had a small Super Bowl party and I once again made too much food. All week we’ve been finishing up the leftovers…which, while not super healthy, does not create a terrible weekly menu. Even though pretty much nothing was happening for the majority of the game, I created a fresh round of BINGO cards and that kept all our guests engaged. I actually dozed off on the couch near the end of the game and woke up suddenly to everyone screaming “JESUS COMMERCIAL! ITS THE JESUS COMMERCIAL!!!” and at least two people getting BINGO.

Menu

• Cheeseburger Sliders
• Crack Chicken Sliders
• Pigs in a Blanket
• Buffalo Chicken Dip
• Loaded Tater Tots
• Fruit and Veggie Tray
• Brownies
• Homemade Stromboli – brought by friends
• Cheese and Crackers – brought by friends
• Chicken Tenders – brought by a friend

sharing

Fulton and Teddy had their yearly SMA Clinic visit at CHOP last week and we were hoping to get more information about the new gene therapy treatment that was recently approved for their age group. Unfortunately, despite the FDA approval, their doctor said there’s been some side effects he’s concerned about and it’s still too soon to say how effective or long lasting the treatment is compared with the drug Fulton and Teddy are on now. So while he said he’d support our decision if we wanted to move forward, everyone in our family agreed we’d like to wait a bit and see how well gene therapy is tolerated as it’s rolled out to a larger, older, symptomatic SMA population. (The gene therapy that’s been available since 2019 has been for kids ages 0-2 and thanks to the newborn screens for SMA that are now done in every state, these children are typically treated before any symptoms develop. Thankfully, many of these kids have remained asymptomatic.)

celebrating

Lent is quickly approaching! I’m not doing anything crazy this year; same prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, but I did print out a Lenten calendar and write the name of a person or family for each day of Lent and I’ll be offering up my prayers and sacrifices for them and their intentions. I hope it helps me stick to things on the days I really feel like sneaking a Coke or late night snack. All my Lent posts.

learning

Ich lerne Deutsch jeden morgan. Ich lerne Detusch mit Nico Weg. Ich spreche Deutsch nich sehr gut. Tony versteht gut Deutsch und hilft mir beim Lernen.

That is the extent of my written German at the moment. And I needed a bit of Google Translate assistance with that. I’m working every morning, but I need to do more vocab practice and sentence writing practice. Part of me wants to keep plowing ahead with new material, but I need to make more time to review what I’ve learned. Tony has studied German for years, so he’s been a help with my pronunciation and we can go back and forth with a few basic questions. One of my favorite things to do when I’m tired, but still want to feel like I’m accomplishing something is watch German cartoons on YouTube. I’m getting better at picking out words, but for now, everyone still seems to talk too fast!

buying

• Current favorite snack is these crispy Wasabi fava beans. They’re perfect for when you’re old and obsessed with fiber and protein like me. Also the name of the company is *chefs kiss*.
• I got these large rosary art cards on display in our living room. (One at a time on a stand; they’re not plastered over an entire wall.) Yes, my kids are all grown up and don’t need them but I like them anyway.

Hope your week has been a good one; enjoy St. Valentine’s Day tomorrow!

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End of Advent

We finished our decorating on the 19th so things would be especially festive for the joint birthday party Edie and her boyfriend were holding on the 20th. It was a lot of older teens and young adults in the house, so Tony and I tried to stay out of the way and let everyone enjoy themselves. That night as the party was winding down, Addie and her fiancé Adam arrived. The next day Tony, Addie and Adam made ravioli. I was busy with all the last minute things, but finally started making cookies on the 23rd. Byron arrived late that night on the train.

Christmas Eve

I finally wrapped up all the gifts, only realizing once I’d started that we were woefully low on wrapping supplies. But I finished and we went to our friend’s Christmas Eve open house and our big kids got to catch up with their big kids. We got home and lit the candles on our Christmas tree and sang carols. It would be the only time we’d get to do a tree lighting as this was the driest tree we’d ever gotten and it was barely safe enough to do the lighting this one time. Only Edie went to midnight Mass with her boyfriend; some of us retired at a reasonable hour. Other’s stayed up working on last minute presents.

Christmas Day

I was the first awake (as usual these days) and dealt with all our elderly pets who need tending to first thing in the morning. But it wasn’t long before everyone else started to stir. We brew a lot more coffee in the morning with everyone here, and I had an extra panettone on hand too. Everyone tore into their stockings and Addie’s fiancé even got his own stocking this year. As for presents, it was a big year for holiday sweaters, slippers, and fancy toiletries/ skincare. We all went to 10:30 a.m. mass and snagged a family photo, then went home for a large appetizer spread.

While we snacked, Tony and I finished making food, along with Edie who made scalloped potatoes. We set up large tables in our living room for dinner (with food on the dining room table). Edie’s boyfriend arrived, and around 3:30 we finally ate. Afterwards Addie and Adam cleared the table and did the dishes. I AM HERE FOR THE PHASE OF LIFE WHERE THE KIDS ARE HELPING WITH EVERYTHING. We digested for awhile, eventually enjoying pecan pie and Christmas cookies for dessert. That night we played a ‘Hallmark movie game’ I’d learned about on Pinterest. We found a Hallmark movie and watched the first five minutes. Based on that, we each wrote out how we thought the movie would play out. We picked a movie called ‘Hot Frosty’ which I guess was actually a spoof on Hallmark Christmas movies, but it was hilarious and we all came up with creative storylines, and in general, laughed a lot. Highly recommended! (We’ll be adding Hot Frosty to our usual Christmas movie rotation.)

Menu

• Ham
• Pineapple Stuffing
• Scalloped Potatoes
• Two Kinds of Ravioli
• Broccoli
• Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad
• Fruit Salad

The 12 Days

The next day we relaxed and ate, and played a game where we all tried to figure out who kidnapped Santa. On the 27th we went to Lancaster to visit with my parents. Byron’s girlfriend joined us for the day as well. We ate dinner, opened gifts and watched It’s a Very, Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, which I’d never heard of, and was terrible and by far the worst Muppets movie ever. Byron headed back to his place from my parent’s house, and Adam also made the drive back to Cleveland. Addie came back with us to NJ for about another week.

We continued to watch a lot of Christmas movies, the girls and I shopped at Hobby Lobby and looked for wedding DIY inspiration. We finally got another car to replace our totaled Nissan and completed a gingerbread nativity set.

New Years Eve and Day

I made a big pot of fondue and we watched Daddy’s Home 2. Addie, Edie, and Edie’s boyfriend walked downtown to the blueberry drop; it was too cold for the rest of us. We put on the Rockin’ New Year’s Eve show from Times Square and I swear, we will never watch that live again. I’ve already found some vintage Time Square shows from the 80s and 90s on YouTube featuring Dick Clark that we will watch next year.

The next day we attended Mass and stayed afterwards for a bit to enjoy baked goods and coffee. For dinner we had the mandatory pork and sauerkraut, which means 2026 is certain to be a prosperous year! Tony and I hung out with some friends later that evening.

On Friday, we all went to the local diner for breakfast before I took Addie to the train station for her trip home. The remainder of the 12 days passed in a blur.

Epiphany

We had sliders for dinner because someone requested them, but then Tony said they were liturgically correct because the wise men, “slid” into Bethlehem…so, new tradition? Since we attend the TLM, we attended Mass on the 6th in the evening, filled up two large bottles with Epiphany water, and got some blessed chalk. We only completed our house blessing on the 11th though.

I did get all my decorations down, except for our nativity set (not the gingerbread one) and a couple of ceramic trees I like to leave up. It’s a quiet month and I’m trying to enjoy it. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas season; keep celebrating until February 2, because then we’ll start gearing up for Lent!!

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It’s time to review last year’s effort and fit this year’s goals into a TikTok trend! As I am not on TikTok, I’m not sure how popular the idea of creating a personal curriculum still is (I think it peaked in August 2025??), but I’m here for it. And to take it to the next level (or possibly over-engineer it), I’m using Google Classroom to set up my New Year’s resolutions as a personal curriculum. Notion seems to be the most popular option with the young ‘uns for setting up a personal curriculum, followed closely by a journal filled with stickers, drawings, and notes that require approximately 87 differently colored pens. I looked at some Notion templates, but quickly realized I could organize a better method for myself in Google Classroom. I’m excited to reveal how I broke down my goals for the new year into what’s sure to be a fool proof system for success, but first- how’d I do with last year’s goals?

2025 Goals

First Goal

Eat more plant-based meals – I will try to eat plant-based 70 percent of the time, which means about 15 meals a week to help with my blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and kidney disease. I’m not in terrible health, but I do have chronic kidney disease and a family history of heart disease and diabetes.

The Result

Eh. Not the best. Especially any time there was travel, family get togethers, or basically the last five months of the year when things were pretty chaotic. I will say Tony and I talk about fiber a lot more these days, but that could be a result of our age, and not my resolution.

Second and Third Goals (since they’re closely related)

Engage in more meaningful rest/ downtime. – I want to read more, do language learning, write, or work on crafts instead of mindless scrolling when I’m tired and need a break. To help with this goal, I’m going to charge my phone away from my bed. 

Be purposeful in my social media and online time. – I’m going to limit my time on my phone to one hour a day. Use social media with an eye towards growth, not just entertainment.

The Result

I did read more this year (31 books) and I managed to stay off social media more, but until October when I set up some more long terms goals, it was easy to slip into scrolling on YouTube when I was bored or tired. However, for the last few months, I have much more defined activities that I pursue during downtime in addition to reading. I am no longer interested in social media for growth as it’s not part of my bigger goals anymore.

Fourth Goal

Read four spiritual books this year and attend daily Mass at least one time a week. 

The Result

I did read four spiritual books, though admittedly none were great spiritual classics, however I still count that as a win. I did get to daily Mass pretty much every Friday we had co-op, but the way the boys morning routine is right now, I don’t get to daily Mass most other days. I’m not going to beat myself up over it. I think there’s going to be seasons when it’s easier to get to daily Mass and other times it’s not, and this is just a season of less opportunity.

Fifth Goal

And my one “fun” resolution: I’m going to select 12 fun projects off of my “Crafts: Creating for Myself” Pinterest board to complete this year. I think this will also help with resolutions #2 and #3 and my overall goal to be a creator.

The Result

I did do more crafts, though not 12. However, I did paint two bedrooms and complete some redecorating. That did scratch the creative itch. Overall though, even when I had time, I didn’t want to get out a bunch of supplies and make a mess. By the second half of the year, I decided to do some isometric drawing and get back into photography which are both easier to do even in smaller chunks of time. But once I set some new goals for myself in October, I did even fewer creative projects, but it doesn’t bother me since I’m pursuing other things.

2026 Goals and My Personal Curriculum

A personal curriclum is basically a study plan you set up for yourself based on whatever current interests you have. It can be just a reading list, or you can include videos, courses, and assignments, like writing a summary of each book you read or discussing it in a group. The idea is to get excited about learning and consume content of value that helps you learn something meaningful, rather than simply consuming content that only teaches you trending dances or headlines.

I realized my New Year’s resolutions often fall into four categories: Physical, Spiritual, Personal/ Creative, and Professional. I always set at least one goal to improve my diet or exercise, and one to improve my prayer life. I also have always set professional goals for my writing, speaking, blogging and ministry, though I don’t always share all those here. And lastly there are the goals based on personal improvement, like staying off social media, reading more, and doing more craft projects. So I created a Google Classroom titled ‘Personal Curriculum’ and created four topic headers; one for each area I will work on. (If you have a Google account you have access to Google Classroom for personal use. If you need tips for getting started you can read this post I wrote that outlines the basics of using Google Classroom.) I created the classroom with one Gmail account, and use another to access it as a student, but you could save your progress from just the teacher/ creator side of the Classroom.

I created the actual resolutions as assignments, and as I’ve found it helpful to do quarterly check-ins, I selected March 31 as the due date. But then here’s the fun part, I started thinking about what I would need to learn and do to actually achieve or make progress for each resolution and then started dropping in books to read, videos to watch, study questions to reflect on, and links to documents of relevant information. Here’s a snippet of the results.

So now I have very specific things to do to make progress on my goals. I feel less aimless and whenever I have downtime, even if I’m exhausted and only want to watch videos, I’m using the Unwatched app on my phone to only watch videos I’ve saved from YouTube related to my resolutions. I don’t get stuck endlessly scrolling on Shorts. I can make progress on meaningful things, even when I’m tired because I set up tasks in advance- which makes it easier to do things I won’t regret later. But here are my actual resolutions.

Physical Resolution: Eat less processed food.

A big part of this is just defining: what is processed food? Lots of foods are “processed”, but what makes a food unhealthy and one I want to eliminate from my family’s diet? Tony and I have talked about it, and I have some ideas, but I also have a couple books to read, and cookbooks and cooking YouTube channels I’m following. I like the idea of studying various traditional diets throughout the year to get inspired on how to avoid eating processed foods. By March 31, I want to try a few new recipes, and create a working definition of processed food (that works for our family) that I can use when selecting foods to purchase and prepare. It’s a bit loose-y goose-y right now, especially coming off the holidays when we still have a lot of junk in the house, but I’m hoping to get everyone in the house eating better this year. Honestly, this goal isn’t as defined as others because I want to put my mental energy elsewhere.

Spiritual Resolution: Read Life of Christ by Ven. Arbp. Fulton Sheen

I plan to update my spiritual resolutions quarterly. By March 31, I just want to read this book, and I found some reflection questions online I’d like to write out answers to, perhaps in my journal. I’m not sure if I’ll choose a spiritual book to read each quarter or focus on something else, but for now this is where I’ve placed my focus.

Personal/ Creative Resolution: Build Focus

I know that wasting time online, and jumping between tasks, makes it harder to focus on more complex tasks. Since there are things I want to study and devote serious effort to, for the first quarter, I want to really zero in on building focus; if I want to be virtuous, maybe I could say perseverance. I have a few videos saved, and I want to revisit some ideas from the book Deep Work, but each week I will select a specific task related to building my ability to focus for longer periods of time and see how I’m doing by March 31. At that point, I may select a more creative endeavor to pursue. I’m starting off by not keeping my phone on me when at home, and setting a timer to focus for set chunks of time (Pomodoro method).

Professional Resolution: The Four Year Plan

Okay, so what is this “Four Year Plan” I keep mentioning? Basically, once Teddy graduates high school, I want to become a history professor. I love the idea of teaching, researching, and writing about Medieval history. My plan is to get my masters degree in history before Teddy graduates, and then either begin teaching at a small college the fall after he graduates, or enter a PhD program. Honestly, I think the PhD is a long shot; I don’t know how much of the boys care will be outsourced by then, and I don’t know how competitive I can be as a potential PhD candidate, especially since I’m limited by geography and specialty to the number/ type schools I can apply to. There’s also still the question of how I pay for the masters degree. My preferred method involves teaching at a local community college. I have applied to two to teach public speaking, which I feel I am qualified to teach, but I’ve gotten no response so far. My BA is in General Studies, with a focus on writing and photography, so I’m moving in a completely new direction, which also complicates the masters degree application process. But- I’m optimistic.

For the first quarter under my professional resolution topic, I have a number of academic papers to read, videos to watch on how to write academic papers, and I’m studying German, so there’s assignments and resources related to that. It’s my most ambitious section by far, but I hope to start my masters later this year, once Fulton has graduated so getting in an “academic mindset”, while working on focus, will hopefully be helpful. If you have any advice, please share!

It’s a much different set of New Year’s resolutions, and while I love the planning phase, we’ll see if the personal curriculum style organization a la Google Classroom, makes a difference in success. At the very least, it’s a helpful way for me to organize the reading and study related to my four year plan.

I’m not choosing a word, or a saint for 2026, but I’ve still chosen a beast of the year and made it the header for my class.

It’s a Basilisk, which I didn’t realize, evolved from ancient times into a Cockatrice by the Middle Ages. (You could get either variation for your own Beast of the Year by using my spinner!) It has toxic breath and venom, plus it can kill with its gaze; I think my kids can agree I’m well on my way to achieving all those things! The Basilisk also likes to hide alone in dark places, which I’m more than happy to adopt as park of my personal curriculum.

Let me know if you wrote up any resolutions in the comments below. I always enjoy sharing my goals for the new year, regardless of whether any of you enjoy reading about it; but hopefully there’s at least a couple of you. I’d love to hear what you’re working on! Happy 2026 everyone!

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January

We started off the year as a family with Addie at home (literally arriving in the wee hours on the first), Byron at home (having just graduated), and lots of fun through Epiphany. There was snow, and illness, but nothing major on either front and it was quiet. I focused on trying to nail my New Year’s resolutions and leaned into homeschooling, including teaching at our co-op. My team, the Large Marges, won our familiy’s fantasy football league.

• The 12 Days of Christmas 2024-25
• How to Do a Mid-Year Homeschool Review
• How to Use Timelines in Your Homeschool
• It’s Cold and Boring and That’s Fine

February

Tony, Byron and Edie went to the Philly Orchestra to hear Gustav Holt’s The Planets; a piece I introduced to the kids years ago as part of music appreciation that remains a favorite. I spoke at a small event in Lancaster and consequently decided to take a break from speaking for awhile. Teddy’s favorite team the Kansas City Chief’s were in the Super Bowl against the local team, the Philadelphia Eagles.again. We had a fun party without a surprise appearance by Taylor Swift, and half the attendees were happy with the outcome. We began watching The X-Files; finally a family show I could get excited about!

• Digital Momentos – on Substack
• February Chilling
• 40 Famous Women for Women’s History Month

March

We were able to purchase a new handicap van for less than the cost of our first house. Nine months later, I can say it was a good buy and it’s held up well for all our roadtrips and drives around town. My 94 year old grandmother passed away peacefully, and we spent time with family in Lancaster for her funeral. We took a few day trips and enjoyed the (slightly) warmer weather. Tony and I started getting monthly respite care and it was AMAZING.

• How to Create Lenten Resolutions for Beginners
• A Life Changing Goodwill Find, a Van, and Goodbye
• A Legacy of Hospitality – on Substack
• Field Trips and Goals with Books

April

We hosted my parents, my sister’s family and all the kids were home to celebrate my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary which fell on Holy Saturday. We enjoyed a dinner out downtown, and then hosted everyone for an epic Easter feast the next day. As I continued the clean up process, we learned Pope Francis had died. Edie started working full-time on a tugboat out of the Philly Navy Yard.

• How to Use Google Classroom in Your Homeschool
• Easter 2025

May

Addie got engaged! Byron got a job and moved out! It was an exciting month for big kid milestones. We also watched as an American pope was elected. (For our last debate club at co-op I held a papal election, and despite campaigning hard for himself, Teddy was not elected.) My grandmother’s condo in Ocean City was sold, and we said goodbye to Cow Cat.

• Adeline is Engaged!
• Respite, a New Job, Field Trips and More in Seven Quick Takes

June

We wrapped up our school year and immediately drove out to Wisconsin to visit with Tony’s extended family for the first time since 2019. We stopped in Cleveland on the way home to visit with Addie and make a quick ER stop. I cleaned out Byron’s room and started painting it. Fulton turned 17 and we held our Nativity of St. John the Baptist party on a Sunday for the first time.

• Midwest Trip 2025

July

Our town celebrated the 150th Feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel procession and festival. Byron made it home for the first time since moving out and we enjoyed the food and festivities despite the heat. With our annual foster home inspection coming up, and after completing a novena asking God for a clear sign, Tony and I decided to close our home to future foster placements. I felt, and still feel at peace with our decision. At the end of the month, I went out to Cleveland for some dress shopping, and after bringing Addie home with me, we wound up finding her perfect dress here in NJ at David’s Bridal.

• A Review of June

August

The month began with the excitement of a corn combine derby in Lancaster. We learned the boys would be losing insurance coverage right before sending them off to MDA camp; Fulton’s last year. The tugboat job did not work out as expected and Edie stepped away to consider her options, but got to spend time in Cleveland with Addie while the boys were at camp. At the end of the month, we traveled to visit Tony’s parents before the new school year kicked off.

• Summer Happenings
• How to Tell if Homeschooling is Not Working

September

A new school year began right after Labor Day, and the next week co-op restarted as well. While trying to get back in a routine we lost nursing care, and the money I was earning as the boys’ caregiver (which was how we paid for our respite care). I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to straighten out a lot of insurance bullshit headaches. Like when I learned that after single-handedly fighting through appeals for months to successfully get Teddy’s wheelchair tray 100 percent covered under his old insurance, the supply company didn’t order it in time and under the new insurance we’d need to pay at least 20 percent, possibly 100 percent- but they couldn’t tell us until after it was ordered. I spoke at a homeschooling event, and decided to open my calendar to more speaking events again. We attended Oktoberfest at the Lancaster Liederkranz. Fulton and Teddy started a new drug, via IV infusion, that would hopefully help them better maintain the strength they have. Addie turned 23 and I turned 47. I felt mentally overloaded most of the month.

• St. Bruno’s 2025-25 Curriculum
• Could it be…Satan???

October

Teddy turned 15 at the beginning of the month, and Byron turned 22 at the end. With his old room and our bedroom painted, we finally had new carpet installed. After feeling a drift for months and having some sort of midlife crisis, I embarked on an ambitious four year plan. We carved pumpkins and celebrated an epic Great Pumpkin themed Halloween. It was super cold and windy though so we made a fire in the fireplace (vs outdoor fire pit) and celebrated inside.

• Fall Stuff

November

We hosted friends for Martinmas and it seemed like it would be a quiet month. Then while I was getting a massage and had my phone turned off, Edie got in a car accident. Thankfully she was fine, but the car was totaled. It was clearly the other driver’s fault and there were a couple witnesses to back it up. I came home from my massage to that exciting news, and then a email landed in my inbox announcing that gene therapy was now available for people with SMA who are Fulton and Teddy’s age. It’s been available for under age two, but now it’s FDA approved for older kids, teens and adults, and it shows great results! We had a lot to be grateful for on Thanksgiving, which we spent in Lancaster. Addie couldn’t make it this year, and neither could my sister, but Byron and his girlfriend attended.

December

Byron and his girlfriend were also home for St. Nicholas day and a Philly orchestra concert. I was excited to fill his girlfriend’s shoes for the first time. I like when we can introduce all our fun family traditions to new people. We wrapped up co-op for the semester and I made my directorial debut with my drama club’s production of St. Nicholas and the Three Daughters. Everyone did great and the rest of the co-op kids and moms were so supportive. Fulton and Teddy decided to stop the muscle drug infusions and we hope by their February SMA clinic appointment at CHOP we can get more details on when gene therapy will be available for them. My sister gave birth to her second daughter on December 15th, right between our dad’s birthday on December 14th and Edie’s birthday on the 16th. Mom and baby are doing well! We had a bunch of snow that kept us homebound for a bit, but it’s already melted and Christmas is predicted to be rainy. Edie and her boyfriend, who also has a birthday on the 14th postponed their joint Gaudette Sunday birthday bash to this Sunday. Edie is now 20, which means we’ve lived in NJ for two decades, and we’re already coming up on seven years in this house. Addie and Byron will be arriving in a few days and after a lot of initial panic and overwhelm about being ready for Christmas, I’m feeling pretty well prepared and excited for everyone to arrive.

What a year! There have been some wonderful highs, but the second half of the year definitely brought some struggles, not all of which I can mention here. Some of those struggles will carry into the new year I’m sure, but we have turned some corners and there is so much good stuff to look forward to. I hope your past year was full of blessings, and sending prayers to all my readers for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2026!

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