Lacrosse Season

 Lacrosse season has begun!  I have to say, I absolutely love watching my kids play lacrosse.  It is such a fast paced and fun sport to watch.

I have to brag here for a moment.  Claire made the JV lacrosse team, AS AN 8TH GRADER!  She has worked so hard and I am so proud of her. She really loves lacrosse and it shows when she is out there! 

This was the best shot I could get since Claire wouldn't let me take a picture before she left for her game!  I love her so much.  She is turning into such an awesome young lady.  She was always an amazing little girl but now she is just a great young lady.  I really thought her middle school years would be rough and she would get that attitude that most girls get (like I had) but she really hasn't at all!  Claire is honestly really fun to be around and super helpful all the time.  She is definitely my favorite daughter!

This guy started his lacrosse season too. Here he is playing box lacrosse, which is a little rougher than regular lacrosse but I have to be honest, I love it!  

He may be a bit smaller than the other kids but man does he hold his own!  I love watching him play!  I am so proud of him.  He goes out there and gives it his all at every game.  Oliver takes care of his team mates and holds his own.  Oliver is also growing up to be a really cool kid.  I love his sense of humor and his positive attitude.  He is so easy and fun to around. I can't believe that he is going to be in middle school next year! He is definitely my favorite son.

Mother’s Day Weekend

This year it was more of a Mother’s Weekend than an actual Mother’s Day. Since we were going to busy all weekend Mark surprised me with a PF Chang’s dinner for my Mother’s Day celebration!

Our traditional “waiting for our table” selfie.

I loved our dinner! That is the thing I missed the most over quarantine, going out to dinner. And not just because I love not having to cook. I love that we all love to try new foods and we have some the best conversations when we all go out together!

Oliver couldn’t wait to give me his gift that he made at school. He told me, “Other kids were writing stuff like my Mom is pretty or I love my Mom. But not me, I told everyone my Mom is super funny!” ❤️❤️❤️

Then on Saturday we had Liam’s birthday party. And Mark really wanted a picture with me for some reason! 🤷‍♀️

Afterwards my side of the family came over to celebrate my mother. We had such a great time but I forgot to take pictures!!!

Then today for Mother’s Day, we all met for brunch to celebrate my Mother in law!

Then we all walked down to Olivers lacrosse game! 

Then me and the kids went and bought my Mother’s Day gift, a new juicer! We had so much fun making all kinds of new juices! 

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend filled with family! I do have to say that my favorite part of the whole weekend was when my kids bickered over who got to sit next to me at dinner. I LOVE that my kids like to spend time with me and don’t find me annoying! THAT made my whole weekend! Happy Mother's Day!

Spring Break

We had a wonderful and relaxing spring break.  We didn't get to go on our trip as planned and that really stinks but we made the most of our week together!

The bunny was tricky this year and it took the kids a LONG time to find their baskets.

Even though we couldn't go away we did get to spend Easter at Aunt Diane's like the old days. 

The kids loved doing the annual easter egg hunt!

After a lovely Easter we had a whole week to work on the cottage!  The weather was gorgeous and my helpers were amazing!  Since I am apparently painting everything white, I needed some help. And the kids were excellent helpers.

So we primed and primed and primed.

The kids had a blast exploring!

The weather was unbelievable and we made sure to take some breaks from painting and enjoy the beach.

Oliver couldn't wait to get back to fishing!

We called in some extra helpers and got a ton of stuff done!

Then we primed some more stuff.

Then I bought 97 paint samples to try to find the perfect wall color.  I am color blind so picking out paint colors is really tough for me.  I struggle to explain what I want because I see color so differently than everyone else.  There are a rare few that can help me and understand me.  But I am getting closer to a decision lol!

The weather was so gorgeous that I even busted out the homemade cold brew and it tasted like summer!  To say that we are excited for summer is an understatement!  We cannot wait to finish up the cottage and spend our days at the beach!

 

Grey Gardens

 So we finally named the cottage.  We will call it "Grey Gardens".  It is named after the famous Grey Gardens and if you have never seen the movie or documentary you need to see it immediately.  It is basically about a mother and daughter and the mother tries to keep the daughter with her at her house (Grey Gardens) forever.  And since my kids are never going to leave me, I felt the name was perfect lol.

Yesterday we went up to the cottage for the day to start making it our own.  I couldn't do too much but the kids were super helpful!

When starting to take down the wallpaper we discovered 9 layers of paper and the walls were getting damaged.  Soooo I may have talked Mark into letting me wallpaper the place!  I LOVE wallpaper but Mark hates taking it down BUT he may go for it now!

We did find this magical surprise in the kids' bedrooms when took up the carpet!  

Then we had our first dinner at Grey Gardens.  We enjoyed delicious subs from a local deli.  It was the perfect first meal. 

We are so excited to make this place our own.  The kids are at such a great age and they are so involved and helpful.  We are already making some great memories!

On Saturday I was lucky enough to steal a friend's reservation for a fun lunch at Juicy Burger inside and igloo!

It was the perfect day for it and thank God I had some extra sunglasses in my car!

We all agreed it felt like being on vacation because it was so toasty warm in there!  

Thanks Carolyn for having hockey and not being able to use your reservation!  We loved it!

Womb Removal And Big News

 We have some big stuff going on here lately!!!  Two weeks ago I had a hysterectomy.  It was a long time coming and besides some crazy restless legs, I have been feeling pretty good. 

I have been spoiled rotten by my amazing family and some of the best friends in the universe!  Every time I turn around someone is sending a card, flowers, treat, meal, gift card, or funny and loving text message.  I seriously have the most amazing people in my life.

Even some of my amazing students have spoiled me!

In other, better news.  We have some exciting news!!!  Everyone who knows me, knows how much I love the beach. It is my happy place and now....

WE HAVE OUR OWN COTTAGE!!!!!  It is just a few doors down from my in laws and for years I have walked by it and said, "This one is perfect for us!"  and in January it went up for sale!!! So early this week it was official and we closed. We are beyond excited and we can't wait to get in there and make it out own.

Other than that we have just been living our usual lives.

Claire has been knitting.

And Oliver has been living his best life playing hockey!

The weather is getting nicer and I can't believe that it is somehow March already.  This has been a wild year and I am excited to see what the future has to bring!!!

Exposed

 So last week I was exposed to someone with COVID.  So I am quarantined until Monday.  Even though being stuck home stinks I am so grateful for a job that is flexible and that I can work from home a bit.  I am also thankful for Netflix and Hulu.

Plus I love getting Oliver on the bus. I love our little driveway chats!  I was also able to drop Claire off at school, which I can never do that was a plus.

I went to get a COVID test today. Even though I have no symptoms I want to make sure we are being safe and I don't want to spread it to anyone else.

All of the volunteers were wonderful and so friendly. They even gave me a little treat bag for coming in.

It is so crazy that this is our new normal but hopefully by all of us taking the precautions we can keep the numbers down and keep everyone safe.

COVID Stuff

Not too much going on around here lately.

I am hybrid teaching now, which has been interesting.  I LOVE having the kids back in the building but for someone who is not great schedules this is a little tough for me. But I have an amazing aide and it is all working out!

I spent some time reconnecting with my "high school bin"!  I found old notes, pictures, and calendars.  I spent hours rereading all of this stuff. I am so glad that I kept all this stuff!

In order for the students to return to school we need to have random COVID testing done.  I was the first one done and it was really no big deal at all.  I will do this everyday if that is what it takes for the kids to come back to school.

But the best news is that last week I got round one of the COVID vaccine!  I am so excited to be moving forward from this whole mess.  Of course I have some concerns about the vaccine but I also have a lot of concerns about COVID so I chose to trust science!  Fingers crossed that we are moving on from this whole mess!

 

Happy New Year 2021

 

New Year's Eve has always been a special night that has wrapped up my most favorite time of the year. I am usually so excited to see some of my favorite people, use my good china one more time, have a house full of friends, see the kids have a blast, listen to Christmas music one more time, and just get excited for the year to come.  This year I still did most of these things just on a way smaller scale. 

We still had our fancy dinner.  But this year Mark didn't get to prepare this meal with his buddy Nick.  Although that was sad, this the kids helped.

I still got to use my good china one last time, just on a smaller scale.

And the food was still amazing!

And the company was even better.  I love this crew so much and I am so glad that I have such an amazing family.  And this is the only family picture we got of the whole Christmas season!

And we still had champagne and held our silver change and made our wishes at midnight.  Hopefully they all come true!

 Even though we have been having our New Year's party for 8 plus years, for the last four years we have taken a group shot in the same spot.  Usually we are all stressed out and I am making everyone sit still.  Then I have to take like 10 pictures because I want them to all be perfect.  Everyone is usually pretty patient with me and I end up getting a great shot every year.

2017

2018 (this was wild year lol)

2019

2020

I was so mad this year because the picture came out blurry.  No matter how many times I made everyone retake it, it still came out blurry.  I should have known then... But what I wouldn't give for a blurry picture this year.

2021

I tried to get the kids and Mark to sit for a picture but no one wanted anything to do with it. It just didn't seem right without everyone in it (and Uncle Nick pulling his shirt up, as Claire said).  So here is the picture spot in 2021.  All alone.  Until next year picture spot, until next year. I can't wait.

I try to stay away from resolutions and just try to live my life a little better than the year before. Last year everything slowed down and I am beyond grateful for my amazing little family.  Throughout all of the madness and as much as I hated the whole COVID thing, I will be forever grateful for the time I spent with my family.  We bonded in a way that we will change us all forever.  We learned that us Komosinskis can adapt to any situation and truly make the best of any situation. And we learned that if we feel like giving up we can lean on each other to help.  Whenever one of us started to get down or negative the rest of us just helped out, without even thinking about it. So I am glad to see 2020 go but I will forever be grateful for the memories (I even became a tent camper, who knew?!).  So let's go 2021, we are ready!