November 2010

The year flies by and the real cold, cold weather creeps in and we are still kicking it up. I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone by. Our annual trips happen in a flash. We got to do most of the things that we enjoy doing like heading to Storyland, Boston and all those trips to Black Gordon. The biggest difference is that, in between all those things, the kids have so much going on. Jimmy still loves baseball more than anything else. Its November so he's out playing football and Basketball more these days. He's doing very good in school. Last year he had a problem with his reading comprehension and with some work he's been improving like crazy. He comes home after school and still would rather do ten different things than his homework. I really cant blame him but he still has to do it...and he does. He's in size 7 shoes now. It's really unbelievable how tall he's getting. I looked at him this week and he's creeping up there on Lyn as far as height goes. He played football this year, flag football that is, and he was the youngest kid on the team. You wouldnt know it because he was flying all over the field scoring touchdowns against the bigger kids. Also, he tried out last week for the 4th grade basketball league. He skipped my basketball genes because he did so well that they asked him to tryout for the 5th and 6th grade team. First though, during the 4th grade tryout, he started hitting outside shots and was just all over the court. It's really his hustle that stood out. During the older kids tryout he did really well too. In the sprints he came in 6th out of 70 kids. He came up to me after and told me he didn't like it with the older kids because he didn't know anyone. Its a good thing that he made the decision because there's a big difference between the two leagues and he got to make the decision. I think he was flattered when they asked him to play in the bigger kids league but i'm glad he's back with his buddies now.
Laura has also been growing real fast. She is so fun to hang around with. I volunteered for her school trip to a colonial era house and they made me the candle maker. All her classmates came into the room. I told them my name was Mr. Candell (candle). She just loved that so now all her friends call me Mister Candell when they see me. She is still buddies with William and a gal named Ava. She does very well in school and her spelling is lights out. She loves to read and she even plays football out on the front lawn with Jimmy. I threw her a long pass one time and gasped when i threw it because all i could see is the ball hitting her hard. But no need to worry as she caught it like a pro. I love to hear her laugh and she does it often. Last week she got her flu shots and was home sick the next day. A really high temp and to make matters worse we found a tick on her neck. It was a deer tick so it was cause for concern. We got most of it out but still we went to the doctors office. Thank goodness I have her with me because she keeps reminding Lyn and I to give her the medicine twice a day. The very last post, the one with the song, was a little while in the making. One day I was watching All in the Family online and the opening song came on with Archie and Edith singing Those were the days came on. She loved the song and asked me if she and I could sing it. That lead to us recording it and posting it. It was great.
Now my baby Catherine is a hoot. She is enjoying her year in kindergarten and riding on the bus with the big kids. It didnt start so easily as she didnt recognize the bus driver the first day but she got over that quick and now she's a star. I get to volunteer in her class the most often because they need more help in that class for math centers and such. Every time i get her in my group I ask her what her name is. She giggles and laughs and says "you know who i am, youre my daddy". Its cute. One of my favorite things to do is to tuck her in at night when she is fast asleep. She smiles in her sleep. So cute. She is all bunched up in her bed and always with a smile on her face. She is still my cuddly little flower too. I love it when she comes over and sits down. I'm going to bottle up the times she tells me she loves me without provocation. She's so funny too...I guess it could be goofy but we laugh alot. Sometimes within the first couple of months of school we have snuck over to Black Gordon as well as the train that doesnt move. Love those trains.
Speaking of laughs, this little Jackie is a hoot a minute. He is at that age where he just goes on and on about things. I love it when he does some little naughty things and i stare him down. He puckers his lips and pretends he doesnt see me while he keeps looking back and forth to me, then the wall, then back to me. Its all i can do not to break out in laughter, though most of the time I do end up laughing. Aunt Jo went to Paris last week and Jack for some reason was convinced she went to Texas. He kept telling anyone and everyone that she was in Texas. He's an absolute nut jumping from the couch to the recliner and back. He thinks he is playing the game WIPEOUT. He knows how to record the shows on the tv and he watches one specific episode over and over. He knows all the contestants names and is the play by play announcer as it is going on. Yesterday he was on our bed and he did a backwards flip right off the bed. I saw it happening in slow motion. Thankfully, he was okay. He still comes into our bed early early early in the morning. Lying sideways on the bed, he kicks his way around. He still has a way with mommy so he gets away with murder half the time....sort of like the gals having me whipped around them. Its his first year in pre-school and he is making the most of it. It was a real tough time to begin with. He has just started sitting with the rest of the kids in the carpet squares when the class first starts. It took a while but now he acts like he owns the place. He goes on and on about everything that happens in class. I think he really likes being a big boy.
All in all, everything is going real well with them. A trip anywhere usually is a trip with the ipod hooked into the car stereo and all of them singing all of the music of the day. Its funny to hear them memorize all these songs i've never heard of. Some of the songs i've heard had to be cut out of the mix because when you listen to the words, they are a tad bit inappropriate. They have no idea but it doesnt matter, we dont want to start a bad habit. I prefer to hear them singing my songs anyway. Oh to hear Jack singing about the seven old ladies stuck in the lavatory is hilarious.
Right now we are heading into the busy season where hopefully the pictures will be coming back. I really have let up on them and I must say I miss it. For my sanity I think i'm going to be increasing the shuttering of the camera.