Gettysburg

What more could Quinten ask for than to see cannons!


Mark's favorite stop!


Despite rain and chill, we had to park in the third parking lot. The inspiring museum could be a full day visit.


Lauren was trying to help Carsen with his ball.


Quinten climbed up Chamberlin's rock to call for the charge!

Mark and I traveled to Pennsylvania for the primary purpose of visiting his brothers and their families. Chris and Jeannie bought a spectacular home in Mechanicsburg. It is very large, bright and beautifully decorated. Mark and I had to share a room with Quinten which worked best for the guys. Mark would fall asleep easily and start snoring. Quinten sang himself to sleep. It was actually adorable listening to his concert. It had all the right notes and always ended strong.

We spent an afternoon at Gettysburg. While the weather initially seemed to not cooperate, it cleared up allowing a battlefield tour second to none! Chris arranged for a tour lead by a Gettysburg College US history professor. Pete obviously loves what he does and truly brought the battle to life. Our worst encounter-cow poop! Some field are loaned out to farmers and the cows had been where we were standing! Mark and I loved all of the history.

The last day we went to Steve and Sarah's house where we watched the OSU vs. Illinois game. As you can imagine that is quite the match up in our house! Ethan Zappe celebrated his third birthday surrounded by Zappe cousins, uncles and aunts. He loves garbage trucks and needed to go no farther than the first gift! The cousins play well together and this always impresses me.

Memory of Mom

A few weeks back Quinten was quite excited to show me his artwork from school. We went out of his room and he gave me this picture. It is my mom and me before she died. He said that he thought that I might want a picture of us together. We are wearing our Eastern Star clothes. The black square is mom's oxygen tank complete with the water to help it run. The line is the tubing from the oxygen compressor to her. When she was alive, she could have the long tubing every where for freedom around the house. What a memory! Quinten is so sweet to me and so very thoughtful. He drew this picture knowing that I miss her and wanted to bring me some comfort.

I still miss my mom a lot. I miss having her unconditional love; her unwavering support; her interest in my life and my family. I have many OK days and some good days remembering her. Yet, I still have days of sadness and pain missing our relationship. No one loves you like your mother and that was certainly true in my case. I am working hard to live in this life and be happy that she is free and living a life without boundaries or poor health. Still, at times like today, I miss her so much I hurt.

Lauren's HS choir concert today made me think of mom. She loved music and would have loved to see the show. The chorale sang "What A Wonderful World" which mom loved. I always think of her when I hear that song. Today the tears ran down my cheek missing her.

Soccer!

Eyeing the goal!


Quinten likes to get in the mix and is not afraid!

Look at him dribble and the concentration on his face.

He also likes to hang back and play defense!

Quinten is playing soccer this year for the Gahanna Football Club. He is on the U-5 team but is actually one of the older kids on his team. They are known as the Backyardigans and play Saturdays with a few Mondays thrown in for fun. The season has had quite a bit of rain so we will play a little later than played. Soccer fields are cold in the early am where no wind is blocked. Janet is not so sure about cheering him on in that weather! Quinten loves to play and loves to study the ball. According to his dad, he is a natural. In his first game he scored 6 goals. All the other parents kept saying they could not believe that he had never played before. Quinten is enjoying the soccer and I am trying to keep that perspective. He wanted to play goalie like his dad but scoring goals was pretty fun also. We are working on being a good sport and sharing the ball with team mates. He is so quick and aggressive and I had not anticipated this at all! Of course, this is U-5 soccer I must remember!