Days with the Dorans

After church, we piled into the car to head up to Saginaw where Grandma lives. The kids were excited to visit her and see their Aunties, Uncles and six cousins. What they were most excited about was Grandma's Easter Egg Hunt. While this was technically their 4th hunt, it remains the most exciting with all of the little trinkets inside and of course because they are at Grandma's. I remember long before our chldren were even thought of, going with Jeff and watching his (then) little nieces and nephew wander around the backyard searching for eggs. Now Mary and JD are older so have a scavenger egg hunt. JD spent much of his time on his beloved basketball court (aka Grandma's driveway) where, for perhaps the last time, his Uncle Jeff beat him. I've added a few (maybe too many) of the many pics I took to scrap. My favorite is of the kids getting the directions from Grandma. Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from all of us to all of you!

Last year's Easter Egg coloring experience left with Joe in tears and lasted MAYBE ten minutes. This year's Easter Egg coloring experience lasted FOREVER and I thought that we might never get the kids to get their eggs out of the dye. I hard-boiled a dozen eggs this year- (since last year I think I only did a half-dozen and it went way too fast). Zach loved sucking on his egg and then banging in. He wasn't too thrilled when I showed him how to put his egg into the dye. He kept pulling the cup back to himself trying to get that poor egg back into his little hands. Much to my surprise, Ali Jane did not opt for the pink or red dye, but for the green coloring- and that is all that she did- color green eggs. She would have sat there all night with one egg and one cup- occasionally lifted it out to have a little conversation with it which was exactly what she and Joe did (which probably is why the egg-dying lasted so long). The eggs would come out of the dye and talk to ...

We had two Easter Dinner's this year. We celebrated at my folks on Saturday with Great-Nan, Uncle Dan & Auntie Steph. Here are some videos of what my boys did to keep themselves entertained... I don't know where Al was during all of this- usually she likes to be in the center of things...

This is actually the second Easter Egg Hunt that the Doran kids had- The first was at Hearts & Hands where the kids go to school. Zach is actually standing now and in this first picture, he was very close to an egg. It took him a while to get it and put it in his basket since he would really rather just shake it around and listen to the Jelly Beans. What my mom didn't get a picture of is how Zachy got his second egg. After they had found all of the eggs, Zach noticed that Ali Jane's basket was sitting rather close to him. Since his sibs are always sharing anyway, he didn't bother to ask if he could help himself to one of Ali Jane's eggs. Ali Jane didn't notice either (which is a mystery since she seems to have eyes in the back of her head when it comes to other people taking her stuff.) That is all Zachy needed though- one egg in each hand to shake. Joe made sure (as he did at the first Easter Egg Hunt) that his sister got plenty of eggs herself since h...

My favorite church service all year has got to be the Good Friday service. I would consider myself always to be a "religious" person- in that I believed in God and went to church- read the bible. After Jeff and I got married, we became more involved and with devotions and such, I found myself drawing closer and closer to God. The experience where I felt God the most, was the day that I gave birth to my boys. It was also the day that I think, my faith was cemented. As those of you reading this know, Andrew left me before I had a chance to even say hello, or look into his eyes. When I arrived at the hospital that day, I had no idea that God already had my son. I knew the moment he was pulled from my body though- and I remember having a strange sense of peace- though my heart was permanately severed that day. It has been a long road of healing for me, but in thinking of Andrew and knowing he is ok with all of my soul, I can't help to think of the amazing sacrafice t...

My folks (AKA Nana & Papa) made the mistake of telling Jonasen and Ali Jane that they were going to take them to a movie to see "Horton" a few weeks before it came out. Nearly every day the kids would say that they wanted to go to Nana & Papa's to see the movie. They have never been to a movie theater before so they assumed that they would be watching the movie on Nana & Papa's big TV. Prior to the opening I had strict instructions to read them the "Horton" book each night. (Do you know how long that book is?) The Monday after "Horton Hears a Who" opened, the four of them had their date at the theater! The kids had a great time though I wouldn't know because I was teaching. My mom of course snapped pictures which is why I get to share them here. Jonasen was excited because there was actually a character in the movie name "Joe-Joe" (One of Joey's many names.) They were great and stayed glued to the movie the entire tim...

It's hard for me to make the fundraisers that they have at Loon Lake (where I teach). On this particular Monday, I had to cancel a student council meeting, so it turned out that I could go the fundraiser at El Nibble Nook. Nana came with us because Daddy had class, and with two "big kids" and a squirmy Zach- it would have been almost impossible to make the trip alone- though I think that there were a lot of people there who would have loved to watch Zachy while I took the big kids to the bathroom. Many of my students (past & present) were there and I think that they were excited to see the subjects of so many of my writing lessons in the flesh. It seems that most days they are asking me to share an "Ali Jane story" with them- (since hers have been the funniest lately). As my school kids gathered around my biological kids- Joey and Ali Jane were confused for a moment why all these kids knew their mom and knew their names and things about them. It didn'...

I never thought that Zach would sleep through the night... but then at 6 months, he finally did. (Joe & Al did it at 8 weeks) I never thought that Zach would crawl... but then at 10 months, he finally did. (I wasn't complaining though) I never thought that Zach would walk... but now it seems he might since his favorite thing to do is stand and now he's actually wanting to walk when he stands. (Ali was only walking by now...) But then, Zachy's first word was Mama- and it doesn't get better than that!! At least he was first at something!

Ali Jane is so into her name! She will sometimes correct us saying, "I'm Alicia Jane Doran" or spell her name for us, "It's A-L-I Jane". Alicia is the name of a student I had my first year teaching who was so sweet, though our Alicia goes by Ali with the "I" for her Great-Great Auntie Irene. I learned about Ali coming to this earth on the day we said goodbye to my precious Auntie. The "Jane" in her name is important because she was named after an amazing Jane who left this world too soon. I'm glad the "Jane" has stuck in her name and I'm excited for the time I can tell her about her name and what it means to me. In the meantime her Papa has given her his own names as you will hear. We are certain that her Grandpa Doran calls her "A.J." from heaven.