Bike ride with Jackie

About two weeks ago Jackie asked me if we could ride our bikes like we did last year. He was more excited because now he has learned to ride without training wheels. I told him that that I didnt have to work on a Friday which was two weeks away and I would take him then. He certainly did not forget, and truth be told, neither did I. He kept reminding me, counting down the days and even added a game of baseball in the cages after bike path so he could practice his t-ball. Well, he's on the go with that bike of his. It's amazing that he had training wheels on just last week and now he's flying around..and I mean flying around the streets.

We started the day by dropping him off at pre school. he was so wound up about our bike trip. I wasn't surprised that when I picked him up from school, all the teachers asked me about where we were going. So off we went and he knew exactly where we were going and where we were going to park. I was kind of worried because last year he tired out after about two miles. Getting back was a bit tiring because he would complain. But that was before he took the training wheels off. He took off and we just kept going...going even farther then i had intended. Once we got into town square we stopped and ate up the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches he demanded we make up. Not a problem. It was fun just sitting there with him for the half hour or so and listening to his replay of the bike ride up to that point. He handled the rest of the ride like a pro and was ready to go to the batting cage.

We got into the batting cage when we got home and he would have stayed there for hours had I not pooped out on him.

Swim Meet for Laura

I saw a T-shirt in the lobby of the pool center yesterday that read "If I am given one day to live, please send me to a swim meet, THEY LAST FOREVER". Well, it goes by a lot quicker when you know several of the swimmers, but the day does seem to go a little slow. Laura, Emily and Erin were up in Vermont for Saturday and Sunday's swim meet. Laura only swam on Saturday but she slept over with Kara so she could cheer on the rest of her team on Sunday. Lyn and I drove her up on Saturday and drove home after the long days meet. Vermont is not next door!!

Once we got there Laura was all smiles. She really loves swimming, but mostly the social aspect of being with her swimming friends. She is so goofy and fun, she bounces all around joking around and showing that smile. Also, she is getting to be a very good swimmer. This was her first year in swimming competitively and she has just climbed right up the standings consistently. Its fun to watch her. We will keep keep her in this sport as long as she wants.

Last sets of training wheels put away

I got home from work tonight and Jackie told me for the umpteenth time that he was ready to take the training wheels off. He went from being afraid to get on the bike to scaring the hell out of us flying down the street...eeeek

Annual St. Patty's Day dinner

This is the umpeenth annual St. Paticks dinner over Kara's house. We look forward to this one for quite some time. Grammy Franny used to love this corned beef and cabbage dinner. I dont know what Kara does to it but she always hits a home run with it. The ump and Paula came over to share the day with us. The ump looks forward to this day too. He doesnt eat as much as he used to but he still puts it down good.

Welcome Clover, our new edition

Welcome to Clover, our new Cavalier King Charles Cocker Spaniel. Laura suckered me into it near her last birthday. Her and her mother had a grand scheme and suckered me in. Laura said that she wanted something for her birthday last year. I thought about it and I told her that I would get her whatever she wanted because she was such a good girl. The two of them laughed and wouldnt tell me what it was I was agreeing to. It took a while but I finally figured out what it was. Lyn found a really good deal on Clover. He had been a sort of rescue dog so the price was right. He's been here for half a day and even Fenway likes him.

Where's Waldo (Jackie) sleeping

Another night, another version of Where's Jackie. It was very humorous, well, most of the time, to look around the house at my bedtime to find out where in the world Jackie might be. Some nights I'd come home and do my regular look around the bedrooms and tuck everyone in just to make sure everyone is nestled all snug in their beds. Most every night, it would be a chore to find out where Jackie might be. I'd go into the girls bedroom and either find him tucked in with Catherine or with Laura in his contorted way. I have to quietly pluck him up and put him in his bed. Sometimes, he'd be in our bedroom. Most of the time i'd find him sleeping on top of Fenway on the living room couch. That dog is really his dog. Tonight I came back from getting gas and he was sideways on the back yard room couch fast asleep. He is never in his bed at all. More than once i've woken Lyn up in a lessened frantic state asking her where he was. He is always found but there is always a bit of anxiety. It is sort of a game, not to him, to locate him.
I must say, it really is a special time at night when I get to tuck all the little monsters into bed. When I finally get to put him into bed he seems so calm and quiet (for once). For Jimmy, I just pat him on the head. He usually does wake up no matter what time it is and says good night daddy. With Catherine, she is so sweet in her bed. Whats crazy about her is that she usually has a smile on her face. I just push her over and build a wall around the side that faces the floor. She has enough pillow pets that Uncle Patrick has bought for her to protect her from a plunge. From there i give her a kiss on her cheek and tell her I love her. Moving over to Laura I have to get my muscles ready to forcefully push her away from the edge and build a wall of pillows and blankets for the same reason. She has been known to take a toss herself. She had a little bruise on her side from her most recent fall about a month and a half ago. We had to have the doctor to take a look at it because it didnt go away for a bit but no worries at all. Every once in a while I'll give her a kiss, tell her I love her and she'll rumble around a bit and say "I love you too Daddy". I swear that sometimes I give her an extra tug just to hear that.
After this little ritual, I can go sleep a little more comfortable until i hear Catherine slam into the wall or hear Laura or Jimmy talking in their sleep. Lyn says that occasionally I talk in my sleep too.
Just this morning, I was sleeping and Lyn was around up tinkering around before going to work. Jack had found his way into our bed during the night and was kicking me with those fast moving legs. He was half awake so I just stared at him, giving him that fake angry look and asked him who he was. He told me "I'm Jackie". Of course he was. So I pretended to yell at him and he laughed. After a little bit of nonsense I told him I had to go take a shower to get ready for work, he replied that yes I do, because I needed to wash that hair out of my armpits. I wish I could spend all day with them every day. Maybe i'll hire me as a nanny.
I know this might seem like a boring blog post today, but I do think of remembering the bedtime tuck ins in a blog for a long time now. It has to be one of my favorite moments of the day, especially since its such a joy (not) to get them to bed.

Solar system day

The much anticipated day has come for Laura's Uranus project. So exciting to see all the little buggahs who have worked so hard on their projects come forward and show it off. All around the cafeteria were little third graders who had thier planet projects and would read off ten facts to you when you approached and asked about them. It was very cute to hear them, you really couldnt hear them, but they obviously worked hard at it.

Lauras BFF Ava

You know, that Laura reminds me so much of Grammy Franny. There was a girl that was next to her and no one was going over to her and asking her about her planet. She asked me to go over to her because she felt bad for her. Such a nice thing for Laura to say to care about the other girl. Shortly after she read her facts to me her mom showed up so it was nice.

Vermont Ski weekend

Haven't even had time to narrate this lovely trip. The two oldest were like pros out there on the slopes. There was just a very short warm up on Friday for all the kids to get a lesson and then they were right back at it.

Jack was awesome!! On Saturday he went up the bunny hill and never looked back. he took a lesson each day and after the lesson was done, he went up that hill time after time after time. They had the carrot handle riding up the hill and after some patience, he went up and down about fifty times in a row. Hummer would meet him about halfway and give him some advice and Jack would listen. Jack would call hummer "god" because of his beard. So cute to see him coming down and just absolutely crashing over and over in order to stop. It did not deter him in the least.

Catherine was great too. When she first hit the slopes she went along so slow that I was worried that she would be stuck on the bunny hill all weekend. Not too worry. She wanted to get on the lift and away she went many times. At one point I went up with her. she had fallen and Kara was standing next to her. With me not being that great of a ski bunny I got too close to Kara and ran over her skies. I wasnt going that fast so imagine my surprise when I looked back and saw her flat on her bottom. She said some things that I didnt hear because I wasnt going to stick around long enough to find out.

The picture of Jim and Jacob helping Jack up was from before he learned how to groove down the hill.












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