Valentine's Day #28

Today Doug and I celebrated our twenty-eighth Valentine's Day together.  Doug surprised me with a dozen roses and chocolates from Olympia.  Both of which I appreciated greatly.  We had decided earlier in the week that we would stay in this year and have dinner at home with Meg and Cam.  They both enjoyed the macaroni and cheese that Doug made and the gifts that I gave them (a faith necklace and The Help for Meg and a Google Home Mini for Cam.)  Doug was happy to find out that he would now have his own Google Home Mini as well.

Although I loved Doug's thoughtfulness this year and every year on Valentine's Day, we have been married long enough for me to realize that love isn't about one day.  Years ago Doug was scheduled to be gone on a business trip on February 14th.  I remember being extremely disappointed that he would not be at home to celebrate with me.  Fortunately, his trip was cancelled that year, but after that I realized that it wasn't about a holiday.  Love was so much more than that.  It was about trust, patience, building a life together, and all that it takes to raise a wonderful family.  So whether it's Valentine's Day or not I appreciate Doug everyday and the life that we share.

Happy 23rd Birthday Brett!

Today was Brett's 23rd birthday.  We had celebrated with him several weeks ago since he was busy this week and we wouldn't be able to be there on his big day.  That probably worked out better for him as he went out to dinner with friends yesterday and today celebrated at Long Horn Steak House with dinner with a friend from church before going to RUF.  I was able to get ahold of him before he headed out.  He appreciated the cards and gifts he had already received and enjoyed reading all of the posts on Facebook.

Doug and I spent some time reflecting on life since Brett's birth.  Since he was our first he changed our lives immediately as we went from couple to family.  Our world is so different than it was twenty-three years ago.  We have moved, we have added to our family of three, and we have added lifelong memories along the way that we will cherish forever.  I never knew how much we would enjoy having adult children or how much the Heinisch children would appreciate each other more and more as they have grown.  That has been an added bonus that no one had ever told us about when we started our family.  Brett has already done so much in his twenty three years.  He's graduated from college, traveled on a mission trip, lived in New Hampshire and D.C. to name a few.   Can't wait to see where life takes him from here.  He has worked hard this year and has such a bright future ahead of him.  Glad that we get to be a part of his journey.

Knights of Columbus

Tonight Doug was able to make it to a Knights of Columbus meeting.  It had been years since he was able to attend one.  In the past either soccer or the Heinisch children's activities had interfered with the monthly meetings.  As Cam and Meg were on hiatus from team sports this month and Doug retired from coaching soccer, he had a little bit of free time this month.  

Before the meeting started the Knights hosted a presentation on the Saints of the Catholic church which Doug said was extremely interesting.  He came home with several facts to share.  The meeting portion was much as it had been in the past as the Knights recognized organizations that they had donated to recently and listened to presentations from groups that needed assistance.  Doug was glad that he had time to attend tonight's meeting.  The Knights have been supportive of the Heinisch family with Cal becoming one of the newest members.  Hopefully, March will remain free as well, so he can make it two in a row.

A Weekend of Winter

This weekend was a good one for those who enjoy staying at home.  The nine or so inches of snow that we received on Friday cancelled most plans for that day.  Our road did not become fully plowed until late yesterday afternoon.  Because of that I spent forty-eight straight hours in the house.  I had plenty to do since elearning took up most of my day Friday.  Yesterday I caught up on everything that needed done at home.  Therefore, I wasn't sure that I really wanted to spend another day in the house today and was thankful that the two to five inches of snow that had been predicted for this morning ended up only being a light coating.

We all started our day at 11 a.m. mass.  Jackie had spent the night last night and went with us as well. She texted her Dad afterward to let him know that she had been baptized in the Catholic faith.  We all got a laugh out of his response, "Swirlies don't count."  Jackie and Meg went to lunch at Dairy Queen while the rest of us ate pancakes at home.  Doug had to run her to Bethany at 3 p.m. and was pleased to report that the roads were completely cleared.  We decided that we would go to Buffalo Wild Wings for an early dinner once he and Meg got home since I had cabin fever.  We took Cam to my parents' afterward.  He and my Dad had made plans to see "The Greatest Showman" uptown tonight.  They really enjoyed it and were surprised by how many moviegoers there were.  While they were out Meg worked on homework and Doug and I rented "The Revenant" on Vudu.  It was intense, but worth the rental.  Although our day was still pretty quiet, it was nice to leave the house for awhile.

Science Olympiad

Fortunately, the snow tapered off last night, so Doug was able to get Cameron to Goshen College for his first ever Science Olympiad.  I had tried to talk Cam into participating last year, but he wasn't quite ready.  This year, however, he was more interested in trying especially when he learned that Meg's Physics teacher, Calvin, was the Science coach.

Neither he nor Doug knew what to expect when they left this morning.  Fortunately, Calvin was waiting for them when they arrived with all of the information that they would need.  Cam had studied his two events last night to prepare the best that he could.  Doug said that it reminded him of Academic Super Bowl as the students competed against one another in different science topics.  Cam chose Road Scholars and Dynamic Planet.  The first one was challenging, but he knew it would be.  In between events Cam had time to watch some of the other contests including a hovercraft.  Cam felt very good about his answers in Dynamic Planet and was pleased to find out in the medal ceremony that he had earned a 4th place medallion.  Overall, both Doug and Cam were impressed with the event and have already started talking about next year.

Virtual Learning Day for All

All week the weathermen had been forecasting a massive winter storm for today.  Their predictions did not completely come to fruition, as the amount of snow in our area wasn't quite as high as originally thought.  With that said, South Bend did set a record high for snow on this date with 8.8 inches in total and over 80 schools and businesses closed for today.

We knew last night that Bethany would not have school.  The announcement came through close to 9 p.m.  None of us were surprised as several large school corporations in their area had cancelled earlier in the evening.  Wawasee called a delay around the same time.  I was concerned when I went to bed that we would actually have school.  WSBT had changed their prediction for the path of the storm and we were no longer in the heaviest snow amounts as of 10 p.m.

Thankfully, when I woke up my school district had already closed.  I had written sub plans last night just in case they didn't.  I wasn't up for driving in any amounts of snow and did not want to leave Cam and Meg home alone during a storm as I was afraid of our home losing power or getting stranded somewhere.  I talked to Doug around 8:00 a.m.  He was able to make it to basketball this morning.  The regulars decided last night that they were playing no matter what.  He said there were 8 diehards that showed up.  He was happy about that.  Several RV companies in Elkhart and Goshen had closed for the day, but Renegade and Midwest did not.  Doug said that the roads were about normal for a snowstorm with heavier amounts of snow closer to Elkhart.  His trip took about an extra fifteen minutes.

Cam, Meg and I got started on our virtual learning day at 9 a.m.  I had put my plans on our elearning website last night and their teachers had instructed students to take all they would need for their day of learning at home.  It was a quiet day as we all had plenty to work on.  The snow picked up during the morning.  Doug's company sent everyone home at noon and when he got home he could barely tell where he shoved earlier in the day.  He spent the day working alongside the rest of us.

We all finished what we needed to by dinner time.  Doug made Meg's new favorite, lasagna, while I caught up on laundry.  After dinner we sat down for a family game night.  Cam and I had played Pay Day earlier and Meg had talked him into Just Dance as well.  Tonight we were able to get in several rounds of Scattegories and Five Second Rule.  It was a fun way to end a new type of snow day.

Tennis

Tennis season does not officially start until March 15th, but in the Heinisch family it is already in full swing.  Cam has been attending group lessons since early January and Meg began this week with the high schoolers.  Both are already hitting the ball well and looking forward to getting out on the court. Cam's knee still bothers him at times, but nothing that he cannot manage.  He is hitting the ball well and won king of the court this week.  Doug took Meg to both of her sessions this week, so I did not get to see her play.  She said that she played well and since the competition is not as tough this year, she had no problem hitting with the other players.  She is planning on starting lessons with Devon next week.  Her goal is to improve her swing and to learn to hit the ball harder.  Looking forward to a fun tennis season with both Meg and Cam.  No matter how they play, it is always fun to watch them.