Goodnight Moonlight Lady, Rock-a-bye Sweet Baby James

I dont know what was wrong with Jimmy last night but he just completely refused to go to sleep. He kept coming out and saying that he couldnt sleep. He wasn't being fresh, he just couldnt sleep. Soooooooooooo, I had this wonderful idea. C'mon Jimmy, lets go back to the rocking chair and we'll sing songs like we did up until he was four. hardy har har, the kid is getting as big as we are. I remembered all the words to Sweet Baby James but he's not 2 anymore. Is this a constant theme?? We barely fit into the chair. We settled by letting him fall asleep on our bed. Then of course, how does he get to the top bunk??? Slowly of course. It worked........barely. I had to lift him over my shoulder and climb up the ladder with him.
Connor was over the house today when I got home from work with his sister Catherine. Jimmy has started making plans with classmates for what they will do after school. We get phone calls from other kids saying that their mother says its okay with them to come over. He has good friends though.
Jack came out about an hour after bedtime. Lyn and I were on the couch. There he stood in the hallway and yelled out to us.....Hello, Hellooooo, quiermo.....Bup bup bup ba beee....right from the Numa Numa song. ahhhhhh

Another Crazy weekend

At least they took a baseball break on Saturday to let the river pass through the field. Jimmy is supposed to have hockey on Saturday and Sunday but due to the fall baseball league he has limited the hockey to only Sundays...unless rain comes. He has gotten alot better this year with his skating. I was watching him around the net today (two goals of course) and some kid did a two handed swipe at him smashing him around the waist with his stick. It was on purpose. I kept my mouth shut. I asked him later on what was up with that and he told me that same kid gave him a hard time last year. It looked intentional. I suppose you just have to let the kids fight their own battles.....I got some of Pop Pop in me. I instructed him how to respond next time of course. Hope Lyn doesnt read this..........
I'm so excited that Jack has started watching Thomas the Tank Engine movies. It was so much fun when Jimmy was addicted to Thomas and all the train friends. He knew all the trains and used to watch it all the time. Jack points to the TV and yells "Tommy". Its a selfish thing because I had so much fun with those trains and bringing the kids to see the trains in the city. I remember the first time we went to see Thomas at Edaville, Jimmy was so mad because he thought he was going to ride in the conductors seat. He got over it. I catch him once in a while putting the train tracks together though.
Laura came with me to Jimmy's hockey today. She made a new friend name Emily. I was told that Emily thinks she's the boss of her. If I had a dime for every time I heard that line. We were driving back to the house from somewhere Friday and Aunt Jo was behind us in her car. I told the kids to wave to her and Laura was very thankful that the house was clean. Lyn always tells the kids whenever Aunt Jo or Nana comes over that they have to clean the house for them. Laura finds it so difficult to clean if no one is helping her. She gets so tired she says.
Catherine doesnt like to go to sleep lately. She slept over Nana's house last night with Laura and cousin Emily. She cracks me up. She doesnt take part in any of the two oldest drama...for the most part. If they are fighting about something stupid she wants no part of it.
It was Lyn's birthday today so we all went out to HeeHop for breakfast. Catherine insists on having ketchup with her pancakes. She eats the whole Mickey Mouse pancake. She's got a great appetite. After we got home there was a tennis match on the street until it got too hot for the girls. Their heads were bleeding (sweating) again so they had to go inside.
Jimmy's friend Steven came over today and they hung out for a while. Jimmy has pretty good friends. I'm surprised we didnt throw the ball today. He wanted to play volleyball with the beach ball instead.
We are instituting the kindness jar this week. I cant believe how well it works and we havent even started it yet. If the kids are nice about something we put a piece of paper with their name on it into a jar and at the end of the week one name gets pulled out for a special prize. Lyn and I were thinking the same thing....how long will it be before Jimmy starts writing his name on a slip and putting his own name in......Its what I would have done!!!!

Apple Picking around the pumpkin patch

Its hard to imagine its that time of the year again. Apple picking has always been pretty special because of the first few years bringing the kids was so much fun. This year, Lyn wanted us all to go Apple picking for her birthday present. And I was going to get her a new toilet.
It was still fun but now there are so many more of them.......They were so cute running around the apple tree lanes. Jack was picking up the apples from the ground and taking a bite out of each one. Lyn looked in one of the bags and told me that she didnt want a certain apple because it was bruised, it actually wasn't, it had teeth marks in it. We had a couple in the bag with a single bite taken out of it.
There is an awesome maze for the kids. Jimmy wanted to go right into the maze but we made him behave and hold that over his head. After all of the fun stuff the kids get to feed the animals. There is goat food in a cannister that you can buy. I gave Jack a handful and I saw him putting some of it in his mouth. That kids will eat anything.

A couple of things have changed over the last couple of years. First of all, they have to recharge my heart when they tell me that it will cost twenty dollars a bag to pick the apples. I'm thinking they are gouging us suckers. Second, I love my digital camera. Before, this would have been a five to six roll day. Now, you can waste a couple of shots. We took 240 pictures in about an hour and a half. I absolutely love this camera. We have taken thousands of pictures since I bought it a couple of months ago, about six months now.
Once we got home we bribed the kids once more to behave and they got some ice cream. Laura was wondering when they started putting chocolate chips in her dinasaur crunch. Jack is still in the stage where everything ends up all over his face and hair.

Ramblings

Tonight I had to work until 7 at night and Lyn came by to give me a coffee with the kids in tow. When I got home it was time for the kiddies to go to bed. Laura had a book all ready for me to read. Not to be undone Cathering came over and Jack, of course, found one too to read.
Jimmy had also brought a shark book from the library with about a million words to it which we had to read too.
I got to sit on Jacks bed with Jimmy tonight and catch up on his life. He told me about how he is doing pretty good with the classes in school but is confused with some of the math problems. He has found a few new friends, one named Luke among the old stand-bys Clayton and Zach. With our heads cramped he asked me about getting eaten by sharks when we go swimming at the ocean.
Today was a volunteer day at Lauras kindergarten class. She is so damn cute and well behaved in class. My job was to watch 7 kids and help them with their project, which was one page of alphabet, one of numbers and five other pages of words they know and self portraits and such. Laura wasnt in my group so I had to peek over at the other table to see how she was doing....which was awesome.
Catherine is so excited about school which makes it so strange that she started screaming today when Lyn dropped her off at her class. i think the kids arent feeling so great because they seem to be sitting around a bit lately. She tells me every night that she has to do her homework too. We have some sight words on the basement door and she counts from 1 to 10 and then she's happy. Jack follows suit and has to say some numbers and then he's happy.
The kids all love to sit around the computer with me and sing mi la hee, otherwise known as numa numa. Jack will come up to my laptop and yell my la hee until i play the song for him. they all surround and sing that silly song including swinging their arms, saying hello, salude, quiermo un hiduke....Jack knows all those words...imagine the things that daddy teaches them. Its a romanian song with quite a history.

Here it is-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o

Autumn classic

Its a great time of the year for some after-work baseball and football. The gloves were left in the rain so when Jimmy was throwing the fastball it hurt like heck to catch him. Tomorrow I get to volunteer in Laura's class. I dont think either of the girls are feeling that well, they are kind of whiney.
Jimmy lost another tooth yesterday. I heard him freaking out this morning because he couldnt find his loot.

How the tooth left us...and more

For weeks we've been hearing about the awful pain the bottom tooth had been. She was beyond excited the other night when I looked into her mouth and saw the bottom tooth was bent backwards. She absolutely thrives on the drama. Even tonight after the tooth is history she explained to all of us how difficult it is to eat corn on the cob with limited teeth. Oh the pain she says. We are getting quite the collection of teeth. Both Catherine and Jack showed me how they think their tooth is about to fall out too.
Bedtime is getting to be drawn out with Jimmy still pausing and making up reasons to come out and talk to us before settling in. He is so passionate with whatever subject he comes up with. Its the most important thing...and oh yeah, what a coincidence the Red Sox are batting and he just has to stay up and see the rest of the inning. Jack just wont go to sleep...and when we finally get him in, its only a temporary thing, he'll be up at 4 in the morning. Both Lyn and I have slammed our heads on the bunk bed putting him into the bottom bunk.
Tonight Jimmy was jumping up to give me a hug before bedtime and headbutted my chin. I saw stars. He felt bad so I had to pretend it didnt hurt.

Nana had her birthday cake over the house last night and Jack enjoyed singing to her.

Laura lost her first tooth ever!!! She was very excited. She's a big girl now.

Catherine made this picture of our family for school. Teacher was trying to explain to her that she wanted just the immediate family and what that was. She yelled at the teacher to include an extra person.

Jimmy gave me a hug and kiss before the bus got to the stop today. I told him to do it so the other kids wouldnt see and he replied "I know".

Red Sox make up game/ Fall Baseball

Jimmy started his fall baseball league this morning. He is the youngest on the team but he keeps up with them. I am helping coach the team and the kids were pretty good all around.

The boys were well behaved all day. someone put Jimmy's tattoo on upside down. He still doesnt know. Some idiot on Lansdowne street told him his letter was upside down. I made some wise ass comment about the emperor having no clothes. The sox lost big time.

Catherine starts dance

All the waiting for Catherine ended today. She loves dancing around the house and when Laura was always in dance Catherine was constantly talking about her going to dance. Dont you think their daddy could have taught her how to dance just as well???

Jack picks up everyones stuff and loves these glasses By the way, jack fell down and cut his face. Lyn told me there was alot of blood....ewww...poor little buggah. As soon as I saw him I remember one day before number 2, 3 or 4 when we were at the zoo(horse track) and Jimmy took quite a spill. He was quite cut up also. We have pictures from that fall because we went up north to the mountains the day after and rode the train at North Conway. His face was all cut up too.

Laura's bus broke down on the way to school today too. Lyn heard the phone ringing and looked at the number....after a frightful pause she answered and it was the school secretary calling to inform us of the broken down bus. Drama drama drama....

Laura also made a new friend at school. Her name is either joanne or Julia. This was a relief because she told us that she kept talking to people in her class and none of the classmates talked at all. Thats not her style. Jim Jim wont let her sit with him on the bus home because he's sitting with Charlie. Charlie's sister sat with Laura on the bus so she was happy.

Boston Preacher

Went to Boston today and this guy started reading to me, first the Bible then he stretched down and picked up Shakespeare. Somewhere in between he brought up Sarah Pailin and her daughter. He is really multitasking. I left him and he began talking to no one in particular.

While he was talking there was a crosswalk behind him. When it was time for people to cross there was a cuckoo clock noice alerting people to start moving. It was such a three stooges moment listening to the cuckoo man and the cuckoo chimes. Was just looking for Curly.

Where did the time go

"He's not the little boy anymore" Lyn informs me. The bus pulls up twice now and I tell Jimmy to give me a hug and kiss before he gets on. I should know better but gawd............So Jimmy is all set to get on the bus, I say to him to give me a hug and kiss before he gets on.....he twice now has made excuses...first it was "I cant dad, the backpack is in the way"...today it was "I cant dad"....said in a long, dont embarass me voice.........woe woe woe is me. This just cant be!! I guess I'll just have to settle for a hug and kiss before the bus shows up. Imagine me embarassing anyone.

And one more Opening Day

Catherine started her pre-school today. What a big girl she is. All excited and beaming as she slapped on her backpack with non stop talk all morning. She was all business as she walked into the doors of the school heading for the blue room. Lyn walked into the room and from what I understand there wasnt a silent mouth in the place as all the kids were wailing. Catherine just stood there, as if to say-what the hell are you guys yelling about. The teachers told Lyn that she was awesome all class and walked around like she had been there for years. Its incredible that she has now become so sociable, after a rough start......It is really amazing how far she has come. It wasnt so long ago that she would scream all the time. Not so much now.

First Day of Kindergarten

HUGE day today for Laura. She was so excited from the moment she got up. We were both surprised at how cool she was and her lack of nerves about the whole thing. Its tough sending them off in a school bus....out of our control. The school bus driver was Jimmy's school bus driver Pat from his first two years so that made her feel a little more comfortable. Nana took the whole gang over to watch Laura get on the bus. She is such a big girl now.
After work I had to go over to the Irish Step practice and pick up Laura, Emily and Erin for the first practice of the year. All three angels fit in the back seat of my car. When we were about halfway home I heard Emily say to Laura "Why does he always sing"?...meaning me of course. She must have been saying it as a compliment, of course.
Jimmy and Mommy were going over his homework tonight because Jimmy was told by his teacher that he could "do" his work tomorrow instead of the homework being "due" tomorrow. A little bit of play with words I guess.
Jack saw Laura having so much fun with her back pack so he grabbed a spare one and wanted to jump on the bus too. Catherine cant wait till she starts pre-school next week. It had to be delayed one week due to her illness. She gave it to me and I spent the entire Sunday lying in bed instead of watching the Patriots. Its been a long time since I have lied in bed that long.

First Day of School-2008

Jim Jim starts second grade today. It is going by so quick. He wasn't as much nervous as he was excited about going and meeting the boys. He didn't like the idea of sandwich meat for lunch so Lyn had to fill up on snacks. DSS will be calling i'm sure. Before the school bus came we lined the kids up for the 2008 photo, played some baseball and waved goodbye.
Umple Eddies mommy once told me that she would cringe when the phone rang during the school day. Jimmy is not that bad but a couple of times last year we got phone calls during the day. I think he likes the school nurse.



My Favorite shirt

Bike riding, School and the boneyard

Laura has been trying for quite some time now to ride a bike without training wheels. Somehow something clicked in her and now she is riding like lightning, with some drama, of course. Same thing as with Jimmy when we taught him how to ride his bike. Once they learn how to fall everything else falls into play....yeah right. Once she starts to have trickles of sweat she runs into the house and says her head is bleeding and needs to get a cold compress. Its cute actually. Catherine follows suit because she is outside riding her bike with the training wheels. She's flying too and I got a feeling that she will be riding without the training wheels soon. Now Jimmy is another story. He still had the same bike from the last couple of years and its kind of small for him. The neighborhood kids came by and were riding their bikes and he joined them. He looked a little silly because it was so small. I think the other kids were making fun of his bike but to his credit, he kept on riding. I like that about him. Well, today he got a nice new bike. He was being exceptionally good lately so I told him that he and I had a little secret that I would buy him a new bike. Its a Mongoose and its cool.
Its just one little bit too big for him but he'll learn about how to ride it. He fell a couple of times. When Laura falls she lets out this big shriek, actually when she starts to weave a little bit she gives this shriek. Then she falls and she quits for a second but to her credit, she comes right back.
Today, Lyn and I took Jimmy to his second grade classroom to meet with his teacher and other students. He was a bit shy but he was like that last year too with his teacher. She's young and perty and likes the Red Sox so he'll be fine I'm sure. He knows alot of students from last year and from baseball...and best of all Charlie is in his class. What a nice kid he is.
One more thing, Lyn took the kids to Comcast to pay the cable bill. On the way is the cemetery where Grammy Franny and PopPop reside. When they took a cut through road, Laura said to Lyn "so this is the boneyard isnt it"?. Yes, Sponge Bob Squarepants strikes again. On the way home Laura asks if this is the place where Grammy and PopPop are. Lyn tells her yes.....all she says is "interesting". she wanted to go in and water the plants but Jimmy wanted nothing to do with it, he's a little sensitive still. I have to go have a talk with Grammy soon though, I dont think I can vote Democrat. She always said that if you voted republican your hand would stick out from the grave. The more I think about it I just might vote for my neighbor Roger again.
Tomorrow morning Jimmy starts, skool bus is coming early so it means breaking out the baseball gloves at the bus stop. Time to warm up the camera, its been lonely.

Uncle Bucks Dog

Went over Uncle Bucks house and met the ugliest dog I've ever seen.