Tribute to Two Exceptional Women

Hello--

Frank has two aunts who have had declining health.  One of them has struggled for years (his mother's sister Celene), and one of them for months (his father's sister Mary Lou).  In a little bit of a strange coincidence, they passed away on the same day last week.

Both of these women have been such a positive influence in his life.

Mary Lou (former college professor) loved to camp and study birds.  She came to our house in Colorado years ago, with her customized van, all set up for her to camp across the country and look for birds.  Frank and I explored the inside of the van and thought, "now, THIS is camping!"  Mary Lou belonged to the "700 Club" of birdwatchers, meaning that she had seen and identified and logged 700 different species of birds in her travels.  Here is a picture of Mary Lou (with her brothers, including David, Frank's dad) maybe 12 or so years ago.

Bill, David, Sam, Mary Lou

holding Frank at 2 mos old

Celene, also known as "Aunt Mommy" to Frank and his sisters, was always a big part of their lives growing up.  She was there for all the big events, and small ones too.

Here she is with baby Frank in the 60's:

Aunt Mommy sent birthday cards to everybody WAY into their adult lives.  She liked to receive photos of our kids each year, and see how they were growing.

Here is Aunt Mommy and Frank, at the house in Fairfax Station around his high school graduation time:

And here she is with her sister Diane (Frank's mom) and brother Bob, maybe 10 years ago.

I just found another one.  This one is a picture of her at our wedding reception with Pam and Mandy (2yrs), and the twins Carter and Weston, her grandkids. (Mandy just graduated college.  Carter and Weston are both married now, I'm pretty sure.)

A fun little trip down memory lane.  I'm sorry that I don't have more photos of Mary Lou.

We leave Saturday to get together with Frank's parents, and Dana and her family in Virginia for a week.  Celene's funeral is Sunday, so we'll go there first.

It's sunny and in the high 90's today!  The kids just took their last final at the high school, and it was Kara's last day (yearbook-signing) at the middle school.  Kind of exciting to have end-of-school-year events going on.

Have a good weekend.  Kari

Happy Father's Day!

Hola!

Another glorious weekend--the sun shines, the flowers bloom.  We got to wish the Father in our house a Happy Father's Day today!

Kara provides the signage for all festive events.  This time David made one too, on the whiteboard.

The requested favorite meal...southern style!  Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fruit salad and biscuits.  And of course we can't forget chocolate pie for dessert.

Kara made Frank a funny little placque: a painted rock with eyeballs for each of us, glued to a painted plaque.  The gold label at the bottom says: "The Whitesell Family Rocks" -- ha-ha!  I'll take a picture of that one.  It's very cool.

We have cool dads to thank and be grateful for.  My hubby would not be who he is without his dad, so that makes me eternally thankful to him!  Here they are back in the 1970's.

Frank & his dad David

And, of course, I'm thinking of my own Dad this day!  If I could call him, I would tell him all about the end-of-year school activities the kids are doing.  Music concerts, piano recitals, graduation parties of the outgoing seniors.

David and Teresa study for their finals at the high school, which will be this week, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday.  Then they are out for the summer.  Pretty weird.

very handsome at 20

We had a high school awards assembly this week, too, and both David & Teresa received awards.  They both received the Principal's award for perfect attendance and good citizenship.  David also got an award for Physics, Spanish, and a Service award for his hours of participation in S.A.D.D.  That is the school & community group that focuses on teen substance abuse and awareness.

(I love this picture of my parents! 22 years ago.)

So here are two photos of my dad, who I cannot call on the telephone but I think about him all the time anyway.

And here's a (cranberry juice) toast to my husband Frank, who is a really cool dad to our really cool kids.  May I follow your example and say "yes" more often than I say "no."  And may I join in the playing instead of usually trying to stifle it because it's too loud or the wrong time.  Thanks for reminding me to smile and relish life a little more.

Frank loves to play :)

Happy Father's Day.  You're the best.

Kari

Glorious weather, finally

Hola!

It seems like we are back to springtime in New England!  Yes, temperatures in the 70's, sunshine and a great Saturday over the weekend to get the lawn mowed.

Ok, that last piece may not sound like that glorious of an activity.  But it has rained so much this past week off and on, that we had LOOOOOOOOOOng grass in the yard, and the bushes have been growing like crazy.  You can't mow the grass when it's actually raining...

So we had to find the magical time when it was NOT raining, AND someone was physically present, to mow.  This has proven to be more difficult than it seemed.

The accomplishments of the day (Saturday) were these:

MOWED GRASS.  Doesn't the lawn look nice?  Thank you to David, Teresa and Kara, who all contribute this summer and mow a third of our lawns each.

PORCH LIGHT AND NUMBER ON OUR HOUSE.  We've lived here for almost four years.  All that time, we have had no number on our house, and we had a really lame light that was from the 50's and painted over sloppily.  NOW, we have a nicer, crisp porch light that lights up our nicer, crisp house number at night.

PUT NUMBER ON MAILBOX.  Seems small.  But it's always been hard to see the house number when it's dark.  Not anymore!
CLOSET LIGHT.  I found this light in its box, tucked away in the garage.  I think we bought it 2 years ago, and never got around to putting it in our bedroom closet!  Now it is installed.
(Sorry, no photo!...it's better than it was, take my word for it.)
NEWS OF THE WEEKEND.  Kara got her ears pierced this weekend!  Yep.  Clean them 3 times a day and wear the studs for 6 weeks.  She talked it up at school and had her friends saying "I want to come!"  So Friday evening we loaded up 7 girls plus our family, and took them to The Mall.

GET EARS PIERCED.

EAT DINNER IN FOOD COURT.  It is great to be in a food court where every child can order dinner from a different place if they want, and we can still sit together to eat.

Frank ordered sushi for us and it was so yummy.

All in all, it was a productive weekend.  Kari

Confusing June

Hola!

I hear that this summer is predicted to be "hot."  Maybe somehow tied to the "mild" winter we just had.  And yet I'm sitting at the computer in long pants and a jacket in June.  Sigh.

Rain and clouds, high humidity and etc. make a combination for some weird weather!  Whenever I get belligerent and put on capris or shorts, I'm back in 30 minutes to change because I'm freezing.  My Arizona relatives moan about 100 degree temps already this season!  Oh well, what do you do.

Concerts, class parties, field trips and other culminating events mark the season/end of school year for the kids.  Seems like every other night we're back at one of the schools for a performance.  This is May and June. :)

Kara's Select Chorus went to be judged last Friday, with 30 other choruses from around the state.  They earned an "Excellent" rating.  We saw that same show 2 nights ago.  The kids did a really good job.

Teresa has studied every day for the past month, it seems (an eternity--just ask her), to brush up on topics for the Biology SAT subject test.  She's only a Freshman, but they encourage the kids to take the test as they finish Honors Biology.  That was last Saturday, in the pouring rain.  Whew, that one's over!



This is what he'd probably LIKE to drive...

And I think I told you that David passed his Driver's License Road Test a few weeks ago--he is enjoying the freedom of driving by himself, and I do enjoy "sending" him places.  He doesn't mind running errands for me, or picking up his siblings from their activities.

Nothing earth-shattering this week.  Happy Wednesday!  Kari

Happy Memorial Day

Hola--

Here we are, at the tail end of May!  Blink, and it will be June.

HOLIDAY WEEKEND.  We have a 3-day weekend for Memorial Day, and it has been just gorgeous weather.

NEW HAMPSHIRE CAMP.  Frank took the kids on the traditional overnighter in New Hampshire.  The church has a camp up there, about an hour and a half away.  It's the same one the girls go for Young Women's camp each year, and the scouts use it, and any group who has a need.  It's a beautiful area, with cabins, a lake for canoeing and swimming, a huge kitchen, a library, etc.

SITTING SOLO.  So anyway, all three kids wanted to go with him camping, so I was (are you sitting down?) in the house BY MYSELF for 21 hours.  No, I'm not kidding.  I really was.  :)

LONG LIST: CHECK.  I vacuumed out the Highlander, cleared some clutter in the garage, finished a book, worked & browsed on the computer, AND watched a movie.  It was awesome.  (ok, the vacuuming the car out was not a highlight, I suppose.)

MINIMAL RAIN.  The weather cooperated for the rest of the fam, and it only sprinkled a little bit while they set up camp.  Mild temperatures, plus the mosquito count was even a little lower than usual.

FANCY DINNER.  Frank got ambitious and opted NOT for the traditional hot dogs/hamburgers for dinner.  He found a Salmon Pasta recipe for campers, and they ate fine cuisine instead of Plain Jane stuff.  It was one of those where you mix all the spices up at home, and only cook the pasta at camp.  Everything else you mix together and voila!  Salmon Pasta.


(Just checking to see if you are paying attention.
There will be no elephants in tomorrow's parade.)

PARADE.  Tomorrow, Kara will march in the Memorial Day parade with the Middle School band.  They march around town, and end at a cemetery where they have a Veteran speaker and present some awards.  Hopefully the weather will hold.

Have a great week!  Kari

Junior Prom

Hola!

This weekend was the Wayland High School Junior Prom: time to dress up, don tuxedos and have a thousand activities and pose for a thousand pictures.  The kids were so ready to get into the limo and LEAVE by the time all the parents had posed them and positioned them, etc., etc.: more photos!  More photos!

Still waiting for one: 9 of 10 boys

JUNIORS.  I personally had a "Senior" prom.  Here, it's a Junior Prom, and you can only go if you have a "junior connection" -- one of the couple must be a junior.

Zoe & David



ZOE (That's two syllables: ZO-EY).  So, our David went to prom with Zoe, who lives down the street from us.  She is very cute, and smart, and funny, and a talker, so David would never be at a loss for conversation.  They (10 couples total) all gathered in the afternoon, some at our house, some at Zoe's, then the limos came.

LIMOS.  It must be an East Coast thing.  Where I went to prom (Colorado), not many people rode in limos, but some did.  I did not.  Frank went to prom in Virginia, and he did go in a limo.  Anyway, here "everybody" does a limo.  So the kids got 2 limos, 10 kids (5 couples) in each.

PRE-PROM.  They went from here to the Middle School, for "Pre-Prom."  More photos, all the limos and plenty of parents come for more photos, etc.

DINNER & DANCE.  The actual Prom included dinner, at the Hyatt-Regency in Boston.  Zoe probably told her mom at least 15 minutes worth of intricate details on the dinner alone.  I asked David what was for dinner, and he said "steak."

All 10 couples

LATE-NIGHT.  The goal around here is to plan every second of the night for the kids, so they'll stay alcohol-free and out of the Emergency Room.  The school administration and PTO beg the parents not to host after-prom parties that encourage the kids to have alcohol.  So for months, they have been planning a traditional after-prom party at the High School called "Late-Night."  Musicians, entertainment, magicians, games, and lots of food.  That party went from 11:30 to 2:30a.m, the time when parents walked in to sign them out.  (No, really--once you get in to Late-Night, you stay until a parent comes and shows ID, and walks out with you.  The students aren't allowed to check themselves out or drive themselves home.)

There's your quick synopsis!  It was gorgeous weather for them, sunshine all day and clear skies.  This exciting evening was one they looked forward to for months.  The kids looked so beautiful and handsome, all decked out.  It was a lot of fun.

Kari

Friday again?

Hola!

Well my week has snuck by me again!  This tells me spring is here: concerts, sports practices, end-of-year activities and culminating performances.

Yesterday afternoon went from pick-up from chorus practice after school, to pick-up for Ultimate Frisbee practice, to David & Kara's piano recital at a local church building, to Kara's Concert Band performance at the middle school.  It rained most of the day, so we were dodging raindrops and downpours, alternately!

It's amazing how much water can pool in your driveway overnight...(it has been over two years since "Our House Flood," and I still hyperventillate every time it rains for a few hours straight...)

So.  My summaries of our current activities...

SELECT CHORUS.  Kara has been loving her chorus experience, since the music and drama department at the Middle School is phenomenal.  I can't give them enough praise, and I will keep doing it for 2 more years that we still participate in it!  Immensely talented and charismatic people, who love the kids and the work they do.

ULTIMATE FRISBEE.  David & Teresa practice with the frisbee team every day after school: it's great exercise and keeps them connected.  It's a "Club Sport" (definition: not an official "Team" of the school, with a game schedule--oh yeah, the "Club" classification also makes it free, whereas team sports at the high school cost $225 or so per season...).  They have very few games with other schools, but sometimes they do go to another school to compete and/or scrimmage.

PIANO RECITAL.  Kara & David have taken piano lessons from Robin for a couple of years now, and last early evening they performed with all of her students at a church just about a mile from us.  David has great memorization skills so he memorizes his pieces.  Kara played "Candle on the Water" as one of her songs, from Pete's Dragon.  I love listening to both of them play.

KARA's BAND CONCERT.  Kara has played the saxophone for the past 2 years in school.  And actually, she is playing MY saxophone, from when I played in Middle School!  Isn't that funny.  We had it tuned up and pads replaced, etc., and she's using it.  It's a pretty big Concert Band of 6th graders, and the director is finishing her career this year after 32 years at the Middle School!  She's pretty amazing, and it's been a good experience for Kara.

AP TESTS.  'Tis the season, too, for those dreaded tests for the Juniors.  I think I mentioned that David took the SAT a month or so ago, and this week he took the AP Computer Science test on Tuesday.  Today, actually as I type this, he is taking the AP test for US History.  Ugh!

My time is about up!  The day calls.  Frank has been in California all week, and he comes back tonight.  Sometimes he misses things...at least David & Teresa did a piano recital Dress Rehearsal for him before he left.

Have a great weekend.  Kari :)