Things we can do because Brooke is not here.

1. Keep at least one room in the house clean.

2. Argue about who is going to unload the dishwasher since it was her week to do it. (Wait, we do that even when she is here!)

3. Talk about Lebron James leaving the Cavs.

4. Listen to the "Mike & Mike In The Morning" Show on the radio when we pick up Emma and Leah from swimming.

5. Go to an Indians game.

(Are you sensing a theme here?)

Glenn took the kids to a game back in May.  The only game of the season that was rained out.  And the make-up game happened to be when Brooke would be livin' it up on the West Coast.  I happily took the 5th ticket, and the Brooke-less Franklins enjoyed our sports outing.  And when the rain started AGAIN, the only complaining was that we weren't going to wait around for the rain to let up (guess who that was from??).

The pitcher is in our ward at church. We haven't gotten to meet him, but we sure cheered for him!

There may have been a little complaining about the humidty as well...not saying by whom...but let's just say I am glad the sweat had not soaked through my hat for this picture.

When the sky looked like this, we knew we wouldn't be seeing all nine innings--but the Tribe pulled out a win around midnight! (This is something I found out the next morning, thank you very much.)

Brooke, thank you for letting me take your ticket--I know it was real hard for you to give it up!

I miss Brooke.

I miss Brooke because she is always so happy.

I miss Brooke because she gets so excited about things.

I miss Brooke because she never lets you forget her.

I miss Brooke because she knows how to keep herself entertained.

I miss Brooke because she keeps

entertained.

See you on Tuesday, Brooke!

Yes, Virginia, there really was a swim meet.

I didn't take many pictures of the swim meets this year.  I had either forgotten the camera, the camera batteries were dead, or I was timing.  Plus we missed two meets because of camp.  But the girls did swim and had a fun season.

Emma in the 100 Free relay

Leah swimming the dreaded Fly

Emma's 100 Back

Leah diving over her sister in the 100 Free relay

S'more fireworks.

What better way to spend a scorching hot Sunday afternoon than around an open flame? Grandma Brooks found us these cool s'mores roasters, so we had to use them. And as far as the legality of an open fire? I'm claiming ignorance on that one. The kids had a great time and loved their toasty gooey treats.

Fireworks Pt. 2

So he left.

Life will go on. You know it, I know it, even Glenn knows it. But one little boy, who in preschool said the thing he was most grateful for was Lebron James, doesn't.

Andrew's "I'm grateful for..." turkey feather, 2005

"The Decision" was hard to hear. It was announced in the cruelest way. Lebron ripped out the hearts of Clevelanders in front of the entire nation, and didn't show one bit of emotion about it. I could go on and on (and actually have, all last night) about the situation, but as an adult, I've acquired the skills necessary to deal and move on.

The boy? Not so much.

The specific circumstances don't matter. It is very hard to watch your child learn these life lessons. For an eight-year-old, what happened last night was a trial. His emotions ran the gamut. Tears, anger, ripping up of newspapers, taking the MVP and Chosen One posters and Fat Head gift from Uncle Nate (which we hadn't even gotten up on the wall yet!) out of his room.

I let him feel it. I sat there beside him and shed some tears of my own. Not over Lebron--he doesn't deserve it--but over seeing my son so hurt. His dad came in and expressed his sympathy and regret that Andrew is feeling the "curse" at an earlier age, but reminded him that when the championship does come, it will be that much sweeter. We talked about how the ONLY person to be mad at is Lebron and that we will still support our Cleveland teams. We talked about how much fun it will be to root against the Miami Heat. We talked about how we can get more into college sports, that he can learn more about the BYU football team, that Ohio State is supposed to be good this year. And we talked about what is truly important in life, how to deal with trials, how a wise man recently counseled "Never let an earthly circumstance disable you spiritually."  Some big, important lessons learned from a small, insignificant event.

And the morning after?  Andrew's way of dealing with it says it all...

Now, please, can we stop talking about it?

Fireworks Pt.1

Before I address the shenanigans of a certain NBA superstar, let me first tell of a happier time.  A time when, despite the heat and humidity, we were able to fit in a proper 4th of July celebration.  I thought we'd miss it this year.  The traditional Cleveland Orchestra concert and fireworks on Public Square took place while the girls and I were at girls camp.  And then the actual 4th was on a Sunday, which, well, it was a Sunday.  I could have gone either way on the matter, but we ended up staying home.

Fortunately a neighboring city came through for us and in the face of insurmountable odds (the weather), we were there for the show.

It was the age of innocence in Northeast Ohio...

Tough choices.

As much as I love Lebron, Andrew has said he will not talk at all on Friday if King James leaves Cleveland.

Have fun in Miami, Lebron.  It's totally worth it.

Whew.

OK, so the month of June was THE. BUSIEST. MONTH. OF. MY. LIFE.  Busier than the month before I got married.  I think.  I was kind of in la-la land back then.  But I am pretty sure the last 30+ days can top it, and I have the planner to prove it!

First off, we all now have another year of school under our belts.  We had two "graduations" to attend, and by "graduation" I do not mean the ceremony which celebrates hundreds of students scattering themselves across the country, seeing each other only around the Christmas holidays or summer break but still able to keep up with each other via their Facebook updates.  No, our "graduations" simply meant that three of our kids will be attending different buildings in the fall, although there was so much pomp and circumstance I started wondering if I needed to write out a tuition check.  Brooke leaves elementary school behind to become a big, bad 5th grader, and Emma and Leah will enter the turmoil and tragedy that is junior high (except they call it middle school here).  Duh-duh-DUH!

Here is Brooke getting an award from her teacher.  Brooke was 4 for 4 in the awards department: Library Helper, Peace Force, Academic Achievement (GOLD medal!), and, of course, completing 4th grade.  As much fun as she has had, you know this girl is ready to move on!

Here are Emma and Leah taking a bow with their classmates in honor of finishing 6th grade. Now this was a ceremony. There were student speeches, a lovely song sung by the children (probably intended to make us cry, but I'm saving up for 6 years from now), and an off-site performing arts center venue. Well ain't we fancy?  There was much talk of accomplishments and the future, and I couldn't help but think: you're all 12.  Maybe 13.  You'll see each other at the pool next week.

I'll spare you a blow-by-blow of the rest of the end-of-school-year craziness.  My mother holds the distinction of being the sole benefactor of that generous gift as we embarked on our hour-long drive from the airport to her home.  Yes, I somehow fit an last minute trip to California in all this.  That is probably a post in itself.  I don't know if I can go into all of it here though.  It was emotional and personal and beautiful. 

And I will be forever grateful that Jill and I (and Melissa and Grandma Franklin) were able to make it work because three days after we came home, my grandmother passed away.

Then I was tossed right back into the eye of the hurricane.  There was some of this:

Andrew has become quite the first baseman!

Add in swim team, swim meets, and swim lessons, safety town, summer band (which culminated in a LibertyFest concert on Saturday),

Cub Scout Day camp,

 

and finally, Girls Camp!  Emma's and Leah's first year. I went up for the week too. Glenn came up for the day and went canoeing with the girls. We were lucky enough to share the experience with family and have fantastic weather. (Had we gone during this humid, cut-the-air-with-a-knife week, I'd be singing a different tune!)

So here we are, July already, and I am just breathing a huge sigh of relief.  All I've got now are a couple more days of swim lessons, the occasional doctor's appointment, one more baseball game, and the last two swim meets.  Cake.  It's left me with plenty of time to do those things I've been meaning to do but there just hasn't been time for, like posting on the blog or cleaning the fridge.  And unfortunately, there is just no more excuse for the condition my bathroom is in.