Days with the Dorans

Having children has changed everyone's name. Jeff is now called "Daddy", my mom became "Nana" and my Nana Jonasen became "Great-Nan. On August 6th, my Nan became even greater as she entered a new decade of life!. To celebrate, my mom, brother and I took her to the links to shoot nine holes. Now, I haven't golfed in two years, but surely I could beat a 90 year old woman, right? Wrong (so I lost by 2 strokes)! Great Nan shot a 54! Even though she can't see well anymore, she sure can hit the ball and it goes as straight as ever! We had a really good time and hope to do it again before the summer ends - though school is quickly approaching. My kids got her some cookies (hmmmm... thinking of themselves?) and we celebrated with dinner and cake. It was nice because Nicole and Mike were in town to celebrate, too. All in all, it was a great day!

This summer has been fun because almost every night (if we don't go to the park) we are in our yard playing baseball. Things don't change much when we go to Commerce Lake. Joey (our lefty) actually hits right, but throws like a lefty (the worst combo, Papa says). Ali Jane, on the other hand, is a switch hitter. She throws right, but actually prefers to hit left! (yeah!) Jonasen has always been my easy child, sharing, forgiving, and while he sometimes gets frustrated, he can usually roll with it and can verbalized that he is "getting so frustrated". (Could be because they hit with a super skinny and long bat, but that's just me...) Ali Jane on the other hand, as sweet as she is, can get a little frustrated... The good news is that they are both actually pretty good so taking turns doesn't take too long and there isn't much wait time... But then again... that might change next summer when there is a new batter added to the lineup... for now our goose is j...

The other day we were at the lake and I was watching Joe jump into the lake and Andrew popped into my head. Without a moments noticed I found myself wondering what his laugh would sound like next to Joe's. The thought fluttered out of my thoughts almost as quickly as it had entered. I have those thoughts often, but don't pause long to think much of them. Then a few days later I found myself rocking in Zachy's room and singing lullibies to him when I noticed he was fast a sleep. I continued singing anyway and noticed soon that I had been crying. Andrew would be five next month. Has it really been that long? I have lived and breathed five years on this earth without my sweet son. Five years. I still go to HUGS meeting regularly. I remember early after the boys were born someone tried to comfort me by saying that in time my heart would heal. I remember how much that pissed me off. What do you know about losing your son? My heart will never heal. And I don't think that it ...

We had a great time going to Grandma's after her trip. The kids were thrilled to learn that we got to go back to her zoo this year. I was surprised how much (especially Joe) the kids remembered about the zoo and where things were. I was not surprised that their favorite part of the zoo (second to the train ride) was the Merry-go-round. Zach wasn't as keen on this ride as the one at Comerica Park, but he made it a few times around just the same. We had a great time and can't wait to go and see Grandma and the cousins again soon!

After adopting TWO humane society specials (special being the key word here), I didn't think that I would ever want to bring another live animal into our house. We found my old fish tank at my folks and thought the kids might like a new pet. (They actually are really good at feeding the dogs, letting out the dogs and pointing out jobs when Daddy goes on "poop patrol".) They were really excited to pick up their new fish at the store, and I was really excited because we already had all the stuff we needed to set up the tank. They each picked out a fish. Joe named his Lukey, Ali Jane named her fish Nemo and Zachy's got the name Rocko. Well... As I write this, I'm sad to say that despite feeding, love and tank cleanings we've already lost Lukey and Rocko. Nemo on the other hand is still hanging in there... Overall it was a fun time with Papa and - as all things in life- the experience was more fun then the "stuff".