Bats, Birthdays, Big Things, and (Possibly) Bad Ideas

A quick rundown of what's been going on around here:

One:  Finally, after 15 and a half years, we have discovered the one and only thing that Phoenix has inherited from me.

My mad bat-catching skills.

On Saturday, if you remember, I was at "Prom" while Bryan was out of town.  The six children were at home by themselves.  At approximately 8:00, as they watched a basketball game, a bat flew through the room.  Once they agreed that, "Yes, I saw it, too," they went after it.  Unfortunately, after searching the entire house, they couldn't locate it.

At approximately 9:30, as two of them were heading to bed, the bat made another swoop through the TV room.  The kids were ready.  And by ready, I mean Buttercup was under a blanket, Giant ignored it, and Star and Phoenix grabbed the butterfly nets.

From what I'm told, Star was quite stealth in his attempts to find the bat, all crouched down and ready to pounce, until the bat actually came near him.  Then he ducked.

Phoenix, on the other hand, stood tall.  When that bat came through, he swung with all his might and knocked that bat right out of the air.  The bat went skidding under the couch.  He used the net to pull it back out into the middle of the room, where they discovered that the bat was most really, certainly, dead.  He scooped it up with a book and tossed it out into the yard.

Where it remains to this day.

While I feel bad for the bat, I couldn't be more proud of the kids.  No one ran screaming from the house, and Phoenix, my nervous, awkward, procrastinator, took charge and dealt with the situation.

Now, I just need to teach him how to catch it so it can continue to live its little bat life, eradicating the bugs from our yard.

Two:  Yesterday was Turken's 6th birthday!  He wanted to take snickerdoodles in for his class, then have lasagna for dinner and a marble cake with brownie moose tracks ice cream for dessert.  He got it all.  After opening his gifts (some Legos and a new version of Ticket to Ride) he ran them upstairs and put them under his bed.  Didn't want anyone to be confused as to which Legos and game were his, apparently.  It seems everyone we know has a birthday around this time, so between their parties and spring break, Turken won't get to have his birthday party with his friends until sometime around the middle of May.

Three:  The kids have special things coming up.
   Buttercup and Star are in the middle school musical, and the practices are getting long and frequent, gearing up for next month's production.
   Buttercup will be graduating from 8th grade soon (It's a big deal for our school, since the kids have all been together since kindergarten.), and there are tons of 8th grade activities between now and then.
  Turken will be doing the introduction to the school Mass (reading a paragraph in front of 600 people!) as soon as spring break is over.
 Giant has been working so hard on his country project and will finally participate in the parade of countries at school tomorrow (which means rolling and toothpicking lots and lots of Canadian bacon tonight).  Plus, he just found out he has the part of the March Hare the 6th grade's musical.  (The trial of Alice from Alice in Wonderland.)
   Phoenix has been really improving in volleyball and has moved up to a starting position on the team.  Plus, he has been asked to participate in a state-wide Math competition.  Only a couple of other freshman were asked, so he's pretty excited.  Most importantly, though, he will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation in a few weeks.

Four:  We have had it with this crappy weather (It snowed yesterday!), so we are blowing this popsicle stand.  The kids and I are heading out for spring break.  Don't ask me where we're going.  I have no idea.  We're just going to drive south, stopping whenever something catches our eyes. The only stop I know we will be making is in Kentucky to pick up my mom. It will either be a raging success, full of fun and adventure, or an epic disaster, full of car trouble and grouchiness.  We will spend a week on the road, or three days, depending on which way it goes.  I won't be blogging each day, but I'll be taking notes.  And I'll be posting photos of it all on Instagram, in case you want to follow along.  (Search for "inthecoop")

Look for the post titled, "What Do You Get When You Load Six Kids and Your Mother in a Van, Then Take Off On a Vacation With No Reservations or Even an Idea of Where to Go?"  It could be up anytime between Tuesday and Sunday.

Place your bets.

Have a lovely day!