Days with the Dorans

We have again put the bigs in swim lessons. They're doing much better than last summer and although they aren't jumping into a pool like they do the lake, they are getting more brave. Living on a lake all summer, I know how important it is that they learn how to swim. We've chosen at this time however, NOT to put Zach in swim lessons. Of course they do offer classes for children Zach's age, even Sean's age actually, but we've chosen to wait until they're a little older. I did ask Zach if he wanted to come with us this morning to watch his sibs swim. He was in a great mood and although I could have let him stay home with his dad and Sean, I chose to bring him anyway... and my camera. I don't know when Zach will get potty trained, but I don't see it happening any time soon. He has NO interest and I've accepted the fact that come this spring, I'll probably still have two sizes of diapers in our house. Although I know this to be t...

My Grandpa Jonasen was a sensitive soul- almost too sensitive. An amazing musician, I remember him telling me that he was invited to play at a local bar and after much thought he decided that he couldn't. He would feel so badly if someone came to listen to his music, left after having too much to drink and got hurt... (Who thinks like that?) He was also a man who loved deeply. He and my Nan had such an amazing marriage I remember he could look at her and just well up. I could go on and on and on. He would often say, "Well, I'm not going to bawl about it!" with a wink because we all knew that man carried his heart on his sleeve and would let the water fall even for things as simple as hearing a beautiful chord in a familiar hymn ... He and I were very close, (and pen-pals for decades) which of course is why we named our first living son after him. Unfortunately, his namesake seems to have inherited the same tender heart as his Great-Grandpa... Yesterday Jonasen sa...

We try our best to make a trip to visit Jeff's mom in Saginaw as much as we can. With kids getting sick left and right lately, this has been tough. I was thrilled that we made a trip last weekend and that our Doran kids got to see the other Doran kids! (Jeff's brother's) I had my 'blog book' with me to show Grandma Doran and my niece, Mary, saw it and of course I told her that she should start blogging! This last week (probably thanks to the blog book I've showed friends) I have had four friends start their own blogs and I hope to see more! I joke and say that I need it to remember these moments (that I write about) in case my memory goes like my Nan's... but the truth is some of the funny stories I've looked back on I have forgotten- but the writings and the pictures jog my memory wonderfully- and to have videos of Zach's first steps and such- well, that makes it all so worth it and then some! So I have blogs, blogs and more blogs- blogs f...

Last fourth of July, my Nan (Great-Nan now because my kids made her 'great') fell and broke her hip. She was super active and so the fall really slowed her down. She spent a long time in the hospital and then to a rehabilitation place to learn to walk again. Well... her original surgery did not go well and she has been in almost constant pain. A second opinion concluded that she needed surgery AGAIN! So we find ourselves back where we were last summer- only this time my brother and I are not off for summer (we're both teachers) and so my mom has been quite literally it seems- living at the rehab place with my Nan. Thankfully, this last week we had off for mid-winter break so were able to make some visits. At 91 years young, my Nan has always been in great physical health, but has started to get forgetful. Being in an unfamiliar place has been really hard on her (and in turn on my mom) which is one of the reasons I've been blogging so much. (Something for them t...

At four months, Sean Asher is a fabulous baby! He is a constant smiler, rarely fusses and loves to talk! At his appointment today he was in the 50 th percentiles for both weight and height which is shocking because our boys have always been so small on the charts- (and Ali Jane never even being on them!) He loves to pull hair and put things in his mouth- including his thumb! Uh oh! Ali Jane was a thumb sucker... so much easier to take away a nuk than a thumb... oh well- for now we're working on getting some sleep at night!!

Those of you who have read Fish Tales Parts I and II (see label below if you haven't) know that eventually there would be another chapter to the story. Here it is... Yesterday while the middles were at school, Papa came and got Joe so they could have a fun day- lunch and then- A NEW FISH! I am not going to write about how lunch went- that's another blog in itself- so stay tuned... When they returned from their adventure, I noticed that the all-too-familiar brown bag with fish was missing from their hands. My dad said that again the man at the fish store said that Joe's tank's water was bad. (Papa had brought in a sample.) This time the man said to treat the water and bring a sample back pronto- which is what my dad did- and this time he returned with a new blue fish! A Beta, just like Ali Jane's- and the best part is Joe's new fish is BLUE! (Just like he wanted!) He of course went through names for his fish and he settled on Rocky. Papa and I thought that app...

(Look closely- Joe is smiling in the chair under the light) I am off work all week. In my district we have a mid-winter break, which is (in my opinion) a God-send! By February the kids are already getting antsy - and whether it is because of the weather or... whatever the reason- it's a nice break to have. It's also a great time to catch up on doctor and dentist appointments and so that is what we've been doing all week. And yes, Joe and Al have been documenting it all in their writer's notebooks. We go to the same dentist that I went to when I was young. One of the things I like about going to the dentist is seeing the old pictures of both my brother and me and some of our neighborhood friends on our first trip to the dentist. Now the bigs have their pictures up too and because when I got married my last name still began with a 'D' the pictures of the Doran kids, and the Drapal kids are all side-by-side! The bigs were actually quite excited to go to the ...

I've said before that we don't watch a lot of TV around here and so instead we do a lot of reading, writing (the Bigs are LOVING their writer's notebooks!) and of course PLAYING! We all know that kids do what they see- and lately they've seen a lot of their dad playing guitar and singing. He is one of the worship leaders at our church now and I think it's great for them to see their dad up there! First and foremost because he is in a position where he is sharing his faith- and second he is also doing something that he LOVES! Jeff has also been writing songs- lots of them- though all we usually hear is a lot of guitar... he recently started his own blog (yes- I will do my best to make all those close to me bloggers !) where he posted the lyrics to his songs along with video of him playing the music along. I have to say it was nice to hear what he's been singing all these days... months... years... And I may be biased- but I think he's pretty good! So n...

The kids are always so excited when a box arrives at our door- and this was the second delivery to our house today... but the kids knew before looking at any of the words who the box was from... GRANDMA! Jeff's mom is an amazing cook and so the contents contained lots of toys and home-made goodies! I won't be surprised if there are a few stomach aches tonight from all the eating! Oh- and did I mention that that is a flute in Joe's hand... and they each got one- so I think that there will be some headaches tonight too! Happy Valentine's Day!

The kids were so excited today when the doorbell rang and they saw a package addressed to them! When I saw that it was from our friends, Dr. Jason, Mrs. Courtney and Baby Zoe- I had a feeling I could guess its contents... Dr. Jason and I were roommates for two years at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo- a great town where he and his beautiful girls still live! We were excited to make a trip there last summer for their wedding and hope to make another trip this next summer. To thank them, we piled the kids together for a picture. Zach was not in a good mood because he wanted to hold his brother. "Give THAT BACK!" (We're working on using pronouns with him...) And surprisingly- though he was tired and hungry- we managed to get a couple good shots of Sean Asher . I have to say of all babies I have known (and I have known some really good babies!) He is perhaps the happiest and most easy-going of all of them! It just seems whenever I want to snap a pic it's w...

Once again it is February and time to make the Valentine's Day cards. Joe opted for the store-bought variety this year and was not at all excited about having to write 26 of his friends' names on cards (along with his own). Ali Jane decided to make her own cards again and so we got puffy paints, glitter, stickers and more and thanks to the handy-dandy cricut , the card making went quite quickly this year! Zach wanted nothing to do with making valentines and so it was just the Bigs and I who were hard at work. Joe did want to make a special one for his teacher which he was very proud of. It amazes me at how much better his printing has gotten and how well he is doing in school! (above grade level... I can boast!) Ali Jane also draws the cutest pictures of me and her. Every day when I pick her up at school, I know I will get a picture that says 'Ali Jane' (she is writing the 'Jane' in her name now and not just Ali) and 'Mom'. I treasure the pictures an...

It's hard to tell in the above picture, but the Bigs have ice-cubes in their hands and their pajamas are inside-out- and in the background... snow! Glorious Snow! The reason for our first snow day of 2010! Joe didn't want to miss school the night before but we talked him into wearing his pajamas inside out and flushing an ice-cube down the toilet as we chanted, "We want a snow day! We want a snow day!" Sure enough- it worked and Joe was happy to sleep in and play with his sibs the next morning! He was also excited to play in the snow- (and throw snow in his sister's face!) We had a great time and he made a great path that we ran over and over! Ali Jane is so competitive she was a little upset when I beat her in the race! (What a great workout!) All-in-all it was a great day and it was such fun to have an unexpected day at home with the whole family!

If you're reading this, I'm thankful. I'm very blessed to get paid for a job I love doing- TEACHING! One of my favorite things to teach is writing. Recently I started a blog for my students, and sure enough some of them have become obsessed with blogging. I have shared my "Days" blog with them- sometimes showing examples of leads, precise words and the like but I felt sick to my stomach when yesterday in my email was a message that a new comment on this blog was from one of my students! While I love sharing my writing with them, I like doing it on my terms and the idea of them having free access to all of my thoughts and feelings (and of course my beloved Moments of Pause blog) made me sick to my stomach. I immediately put a lock on the blog and posted a message on facebook (where many of my friends and readers come from) describing my dilema. I felt I had to close my blog and only 'invited' readers could read about our adventures. I was thrilled to...

Prior to the game on Super Bowl Sunday, I was at a birthday party with Ali Jane. Jeff stayed home with the boys and while Zach and Sean were sleeping, he and Joey broke out the Rock Band game. Joe has always had a knack for rhythm, and used to drum anything from pretzel sticks to pencils when he was a toddler. When Jeff hooked up the rock band game, Joe did an AMAZING job on the drums. Jeff said he couldn't believe how well he did. I can't wait to see him myself, but because we enjoy our TV free nights a little too much, I may be waiting for the weekend... We did of course watch the Superbowl and because all the instruments were in the family room, the kids had a blast when The Who came on and did their half-time show. They didn't actually see or hear the half-time show, (and either did we really) because we had a half-time show of our own happening in our living room. Al switched from guitar to singer, while Joe worked his guitar solo face and some rockin' rift...

If you are reading this Fish Tale, please begin first at "Fish Tales (Part I). In between Fish Tales (Part I) and Fish Tales (Part II), there was actually a Fish Tales (Part I 1/2)... Zachy got into Queenie's food and "helped out" by feeding all the fish. The only problem was that he helped a little too much which resulted in me cleaning tanks, treating water, and praying for the best. Thankfully we only had one casualty during Fish Tales (Part I 1/2) and to be honest since it was just one of Zach's guppies (not Big Red) and Queenie survived, it didn't bother me much. But the enormous amount of fish food you see in these pictures is not Queenie's Beta food... (the weapon used in Fish Tales Part I 1/2) it is the food for the guppies- and Zach struck once again- this time only to the boys tanks! (and thankfully Joe's still was empty waiting for the water to be tested once again...) I thought that after Fish Tales (Part I 1/2) that Zach had learned hi...

I may have mentioned this before but growing up, my dad had a HUGE salt water tank (as well as a fresh water one). He decided last Christmas to try once again to get the kids excited about fish, so he got them each their own tank. They were so excited! So much so, that when they went to the fish store with Papa and the fish man told them not to shake the bag that the fish were in, Joey was complaining on the car-ride home that I was "bumping the car too much". Once home, they tip-toed up the stairs and were just the most perfect fish owners ever! (All except Zach that is... he didn't really care-) Ali Jane got a Beta (Queenie) Joey got three tetras (Me-Hardy, the Captain and Hook) and Zach got three guppies. (He didn't really care about them but we affectionately called the male fish "Big Red" because of his color.) The trip to the fish store was extremely exciting because it came after a melancholy day that Joe was having. I wrote about it on my Moments o...