Today, I’m sharing life lately here at the Grossman house.
Ryan and I kicked off the month of May with a short getaway to the west coast of Florida. He had a conference to go to and I came along to sit by the pool and read and enjoy the warm sunshine. It was so good for my soul! And our marriage! We had daily patio breakfasts, we worked out, I had alone time, we read, we lounged by the pool, we napped, and we dined out on the town. It was all so glorious and a perfect sunny vacation rhythm!
May is always a busy month due to all the school spring programs and end-of-year celebrations. History Faire is predictably entertaining, and this year we soaked it all in as it is Naiya’s last at this school (only goes through 8th grade). It makes me sad to think the boys won’t have either of their sisters at school with them next year!
We had a cousin carpool to get to the event and I was cracking up at their gym uniforms with their history faire footwear!
Each class creatively presented what they studied in class all year, through either song, theatrics or recitation. Here is Josiah in his Roman attire.
Noah studied US History. This is the second performance Noah has donned a beard this year and I just could not stop giggling.
The kids also enjoyed class party history faire luncheons throughout the week, celebrating the different foods and attire for the time periods they were studying. Noah was more than excited to sport his 1920’s outfit. He was able to borrow a cane from his piano teacher!
Alexia was talked into (by her high school swim teammates) to join the high school sailing team. We had no idea there was even such a thing! They sail at the local yacht club three days a week and sporadically have regattas on Saturdays. For the first few weeks of practice she came home frustrated and wanting to quit. I think her and her friend were expecting suntanning and pina coladas, but the learning curve was steep and the faux pax of capsizing your boat was stressful! These girls stuck it out and Alexia is already talking about doing it again next year.
Alexia’s second regatta she was able to partner with an experienced senior (one of the captains on the team) and came in fourth place!
Our extended family had back-to-back celebrations with a cousin surprise birthday party and celebrating Ryan’s mom for Mother’s Day. Sleepovers ensued and we have officially reached the season where these kids put Ryan and I to bed! Many naps were taken the following day.
Each Mother’s Day my crew wakes up early and bakes my favorite homemade cranberry and orange scones with icing. Ryan also made amazing omelettes and brewed a cup of pourover coffee for me. While everyone was dressed and ready to go to church by breakfast, I milked staying in my pajamas for as long as possible. Love my crew!
Since Alexia has been at our local public high school, field trips are a thing of the past. She misses that aspect of her private classical education, where her younger siblings still go. So when the opportunity arose for her to be a part of a biology field trip, she was on board in lightning speed! She signed up through her honors biology class to help take care of a baby terrapin turtle, which guaranteed her a spot to go on an end-of-year field trip to release the turtle. She was able to miss a whole day of school and hop on a bus with her friends (who had also signed up) and release the turtle!
We had our first family photo shoot in a long time, since before Josiah was born. We met this talented photographer, Ashley, at our close friend’s Christmas party last year, and found out she is an experienced equestrian rider as well! I’ve been giddy since booking her six months ago! She’s based in Annapolis, where her and her husband, Tommy of Annapolis Performance Coatings, are rock star entrepreneurs! I can’t wait to see how the photos turn out! We invited their whole family to the farm to hang and it made my heart so happy to see Tommy drive his kids around the property, while Ashley worked her magic with the camera. We ended our evening talking and shooting hoops in the barn basketball court. So fun to cross paths with genuine people!
Another school program was squeezed into this month, another favorite of ours!
Naiya had a piano solo, which would be her last performance at this school! It’s all coming to a halting stop so quickly and I’m not sure if I’m ready for it!
The kids’ art from the school year was displayed throughout the lobby for parents to look at before the program began.
I am always so impressed, we love our kids’ art teacher!
It’s always a family affair at school performances for the Grossman extended family! Although Naiya will be graduating, we will have have two more cousins entering pre-K next fall!
Hazel turned a year old in April, but the kids are still loving treating her like she is a baby!
We had such a sweet season being a part of what definitely felt like family at Centerpoint Church in Annapolis from 2017 – 2019. The church closed its doors right before the pandemic in 2020, but before that we had moved across the bridge and were commissioned to start a home church of sorts. We still have friendships that are near and dear to us from Centerpoint, and with a recent loss of a friend’s beautiful daughter, we decided to organize a weekend retreat in her honor and reconnect with ladies from that season of life and have a reunion! Four of the five of us on the retreat planning team have moved away from Annapolis since 2019, so it was with great joy that we could spend a weekend together! Ryan and I moved all of our kids into our master sitting room, to free up their rooms for a weekend ladies sleepover! The actual retreat was all day Saturday and was such a meaningful time!
I love being with powerhouse women such as these!
Fun fact: our first event we ever hosted on our farm was Jill’s wedding (second to the right in picture above). It was no small gathering, as it was a guest list of 250 guests. This celebration was the catalyst of many more events that would occur on our property! Jill generously donated her wedding decor, which we still use at every single event we host!
We also hosted the rehearsal dinner in our barn, it was such a warm, beautiful occasion.
This is birthday season for my girls! They are one year and two weeks apart, plopped right amidst the craziness of school ending and summer sports starting. You can check out more details of Alexia’s 15th Birthday HERE.
Summer swim has started! This summer the boys begged to forego swim team, I’m still on the fence whether I sign them up later and force them! Not growing up being a strong swimmer myself, makes me realize how much of a life skill it is that will serve them the rest of their life. We’ll see…
Our orchard that Ryan planted last spring is coming along!
So exciting!
The deer have thankfully stayed away from our fruit trees so far. I’m excited to see what pops up on them this year! Here’s a look at the orchard from last year…
You can read all about it in my Life Lately | April 2022 post from last year!
This was a fun packed month! I can’t believe spring is now turning into summer! By next month’s Life Lately post, my kids will on summer break! Woohoo!
And that’s a bit of life lately. xoxo
