Monday, August 31, 2009

1st Day


He had a great first day of Pre-K 2. His new room is called Busy Bees. His teachers are Miss Karen and Miss Jillian. They seem nice, they're both new to the school which I'm hoping translates into enough enthusiasm to last a year.

On our way home tonight, he informed me that he's now a big kid. When I asked what makes him a big kid, he said because he gets to go in the Big Kid Playground now.

That's big stuff you know.

Nathaniel is psyched to be 4 this week. He talks about it non stop & is counting down the days till Thursday.

We moved him up into a twin bed which he claims is now bigger than mine. He also got a new guitar that he plays all the time. He's constantly writing new songs about things in his life and loves to perform for us.




He loves playing with his train sets, instruments and crafts. He knows every type of tractor and truck there is. He's fallen in love with the movie "Wizzah a Boz". His favorite part is the spinny thing in the beginning. His not so favorite part is when the scary witch is killed in the end.

He doesn't like riding his bike but he does like his scooter. He loves playing on the rocks in the backyard. He tells everyone he has 3 cats (neighborhood cats) and also that his dog General is dead because he was old.

We've started reading chapter books to him at night recently about Jack & Annie from the Magic Tree House series. They're excellent stories and I'm totally hooked on them. I can't wait to read them with him at night.

Audrey is a full blown walker now. Her personality is really coming out even more with her new freedoms. We've noticed a lot more recognition of words and how she tries to communicate back with us. She's slooooowly getting better at not being such a messy eater. I don't ever remember Nathaniel being this messy with food. Maybe we're just lazy with her.

She's about 22 pounds, loves fruits and veggies. She demolished corn on the cob the other night. Her favorite activity seems to be pulling every single book out of Nathaniel's book shelves. She'll sit for endless minutes stacking & unstacking blocks and playing cars with Nathaniel.

She still makes cute baby squeaky sounds when she's really tired.

She doesn't have any words yet really other than mama, dada and "mih", which I think is the start of milk. She can, however, sing the melody for A-B-C and the Barney song all the way through. I've attempted video but she quickly freezes when she sees the camera.

We've had a great summer. I'm not that sad to see it end because the fall brings on lots of things to look forward to. Nathaniel is doing gymnastics on Thursday nights and soccer on Saturday mornings. I look forward to pumpkin patches, halloween costumes, turkey carvings and Santa pictures. I can't wait for a rainy Saturday to head back down to the aquarium. I also am happy for any excuse to just stay home and hibernate together.

Both kids have tubes in their ears now so hopefully we'll avoid repeating the endless ear infection cycle of Winter 2008.

The kids are great, they're happy.

We're happy.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Beautiful day at the beach

I went to the beach today.

Without the kids.

With a friend.

And a book, that I didn't read.

And plenty of food, that I did eat.

Plenty of sun to go around.

It was nice watching everyone else with their kids work their butts off to be sure it was a good day. It was even nicer watching them while I sat on my butt doing absolutely nothing. All Day.

Freak downpour came on at 2pm so we left. I'm now home, filling up our kiddie pool to offer the kids some refreshment when they get home.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Yes.

The response:

Hi again-
So I just spoke w/ Laura Brown via email. She said that you are not the only person who has expressed confusion about the LK flier you received in the mail, and she agreed that the wording was not very clear. So what they've agreed to do for those of you who registered early is that, if you come to the Open House w/ your LK card you can still get your free jersey. Sound good? Let me know if this is going to be a problem. Hopefully you still have the card!

~Kristi


Truth be told, I wasn't confused about the flier at all. I just thought it was a silly policy that those of us that pre-registered should get penalized an additional $20 for a jersey that the latecomers will get for free!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Dolly the sheep isn't the only clone

While we were in Portsmouth last weekend, we ran into a family with their dog.

Not just any dog.

A GENERAL DOG.

Check this out:







That dog sure took our breath away. We stopped in our tracks when we saw her.

As we watched that dog, we couldn't help but wonder how similar they really were.

They have the same white tip tail:




But is that dog as loving as this dog:



Does that dog love to run as much as this dog





Has that dog traveled as much as this dog did








And on her final day, in her final hours, will she be as loved as our dog was



------------------------------

My most favorite ever picture.



(Imagine, this was taken before digital cameras and photoshop were ever invented.)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

We like to wear them out.

Last Saturday, we packed up & headed East.

First stop: Tractor show in Kingston, NH











Second Stop: Tall Ships, Portsmouth NH





We toured three ships:
Kalmar Nyckel from Delaware aka the Pirate Ship
The Spirit of South Carolina
The Spirit of Massachusetts














There was also a Connecticut Coast Guard ship there but the line was massive and our bellys were grumbling.


Besides, Our mission was accomplished.

Our Proof being the 2 children that couldn't pick their heads off the table long enough to make a mess, drop their silverware 17 times or spill their drinks.



It's at this point that Dan and I secretly high five each other and enjoy our quiet meal at the end of a long, hot August day.

Friday, August 14, 2009

I'm one of THOSE parents....

First of all, let me start out by saying some great stuff happened this week.

- My boss is pouting and is therefore taking a 3 week vacation from the office. Life is good.

- Audrey is walking A LOT! Guess all it took was another follow up email from me to her doctor about proceeding with physical therapy and/or possible leg braces. I think we'll be able to skip that and she'll work it all out on her own. Her right foot still turns out to the side but she's doing great getting around on her feet instead of her knees. We spent time tonight chasing her around the mall, it's So nice to see her up. She has a huge smile on her face the whole time and is so very proud of herself.

- Nathaniel finished up his last summer gymnastics session Thursday night. Two of the other kids didn't show up, so it was just him & a 6 year old girl. They had a great time. Gigi put them up on real balance beam, That thing is high! Nathaniel cried the first time across, he was so intimidated but Gigi was persistent and by the 5th time across, he was practically running. Gigi is a great coach, he's a Romanian gymnast that pushes the kids hard. Sometimes it's difficult to watch because you wonder why he doesn't help the kids more, why does he just stand there watching them? Dan & I have to remember that by not helping them, he's is helping them, they figure out how to do it on their own and build their skills. Nathaniel will continue on Thursday nights, weekly sessions start back up again on the 27th.

- Dan's knee is so much better. I caught him running a few times this week playing with the kids so that shows how much better it is since the surgery. It healed so very fast and we're extremely thankful for that. There is no such thing as light duty in his world and we were both very nervous for the recovery time for him.

- Now that we knew Nathaniel would be in Thursday night gymnastics, it opened up Saturday for soccer. The same day that I was calling around for area info, we received a flier in the mail for a fairly new indoor arena in Bedford. It was meant to be. So I called, got some useless kid that just told me to check the website for info. Glad he's worth his $7/hour. So I went online and I registered him for soccer starting Sept 12th at 9am. After I registered, I waited & waited for my confirmation, nothing happened. I just gave my card information over the scary internet and didn't even get a thank you. hmmm.

I reread the flier again to find out who to call or email about this and notice that the flier made reference that if you are a first time attendee, you get a free jersey.

Great! Now I have two reasons to email the director.

So I send a lovely email. Thanks for the flier, blah blah, I registered but no confirmation of my payment or spot in class, blah blah and oh by the way, Nathaniel's a size 5T shirt and where do I get his free jersey?

She writes back promptly the next morning and tells me that yes, he's registered but no, you only get the free jersey if you register at the open house. However, they'd be happy to give me a jersey after I supply them with another $20.

HUH!?!? How is THAT ok?

Here's what I wrote back to her:

I would like to express my disappointment about the jersey. The flier states "register for any full session and receive a free jersey". The flier makes no reference to if you register online, by phone or at the facility. After receiving the flier in the mail, I called for information. The boy that answered referred me back to your website for class descriptions. He also stated that he wasn't sure if there was still room in the 9am class and he encouraged me to sign up online as he wasn't sure if there'd still be openings if I waited till the 29th.. My experience with any Saturday activity is that they have a high demand and I didn't want to end up on a waiting list so I registered there to be sure we'd get a spot. We are still planning to go to the Open House on the 29th since we're new to your facility.

I'm not trying to be a pain in the neck parent, However I still felt it necessary to express my disappointment in your policy when it wasn't clearly stated. I am paying just as much per session as the parents who register for the first time at open house.


So I just know this girl is gonna love me. I know we'll be BFFs 4-eva. She's gonna want to be blood sisters. I bet she'll even get me one of these for my birthday.

I'm officially one of those parents.

Monday, August 10, 2009

I have the best of intentions.

I get up at 5. I'm out the door at 7. (ish) Drop kids off and I'm at work no later than 8. Work work work. Fit in a 4 mile run in there somewhere. Try to leave by 4 but never actually leave till 4:40. Pick up kids, slam dinner down their crying, whining, messy throats. Draw straws with Dan for either bath or kitchen duty. By 7pm we start bedtime. After that, if it wasn't done during kitchen duty, make lunches & get out clothes for the next day.

At this point, everything in my body hurts. I just want to lay down.

And this is why I don't post often. That would take brain power and at this point in the day mine has expired. All I find myself doing is watching some retarded reality show that has no purpose in life but it means I don't have to think. At all.

So for now, I'm going stare at this picture and recharge my brain cells.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Really? 3 Years???

Three years ago Thursday, we were doing this:



Hard to believe, isn't it? Sometimes, I forget he's only (almost) 4 as it seems he's been in our life forever.
Other times, I still think of him as that chubby little baby on the beach.

Someone tell me, When did he turn into this?

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Beach Bums

Finally, we made it to the beach