Days with the Dorans

We're big on natural consequences around these parts. As hard as it can be we are not the types to fly in and save our children. One of the things that is expected of them is to put their things away (unfortunately this is not always the case and we did have a family meeting about that just today, but I digress...). Zach LOVES riding his bike. He spent much of the early days of summer riding up and down our driveway hours at a time(which seemed quite boring to me). It seemed like he rode every day and couldn't get enough. After one bike ride though, he didn't put his bike back where it belonged. It was laying down and the front wheel was right behind the van (do you know where this is going?). Jeff backed up, felt something and looked down to see the mangled front tire of Z's bike. There was no fixing it... it was "totaled". I was so mad when Jeff told me. We went and got Z and marched him out to see what had happened to his bike (natural consequence...

My Jonasens.

Last week I was in class everyday from 8-5 and we had things going on each night (which left me quite tired). On Tuesday, Jeff's mom came over to watch the Littles so that we could take Joe, Al (and Papa) to a Tiger game. This wasn't just any game though... Joe's Little League team was the "Team of the Day" and so though he covered up the NY on his shirt and tried to disguise his hat (we aren't Yankees fans outside of LL) it would be an understatement to say Joe wasn't a bit excited. We got there before the gates opened, but since we're season ticket holders we got to bypass the long lines and received the red carpet treatment (allowing us to walk right in). Because of that, we were the first "Yankees" in the park but it didn't take long until the rest of the team joined us (just as excited as Joe). Joe and Jeff got seats with the team which also included a hot dog, chips and a drink (which Joe and Jeff ate before the team even left ...

I'm having deja vu ... http://dorandays1.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-little-pushers.html

I really like Jeff's mom and enjoy spending time with her. I wish we lived closer but with over an hour's drive to get there, we are able to see her usually only once a month. The kids love Grandma. Fifteen minutes into the trip Z is usually asking us if we're "there yet?", the Bigs are enjoying playing their DS (es) and Sean is (fingers crossed) taking a nap. Also when we get to Grandma's there is always a great meal waiting (and I have to remind myself it takes at least two days to drop the weight I will put on each visit). We enjoyed a great meal and then went to visit the Doran cousins who live around the corner. Jeff's brother and sister-in-law have a GREAT yard (as I have mentioned before) and the kids were in heaven playing in the pool. Sean spent much of his time at Uncle Jim and Tia's finding a ball (any ball) and throwing it into the pool. Thankfully big cousins Mary and Abby were watching him like a hawk and up anytime he got too cl...

I have mentioned before how very close I was to my Grandpa Jonasen . I learned so much from him through our letter writing (over years) and many conversations. Recently while cleaning out old notes and such, I came across an interview I conducted with him while I was in high school. I have decided to post it here for my 'Days' book that I will later publish. If you are interested in American History during the Great Depression Era, you may find the following text interesting~ I do hope my children and grandchildren will one day. The following is an interview that I conducted with my Grandpa Jonasen on May 17, 1992. We had spoken earlier that day but the tape didn't come out. Much of what he told me we were able to recall in the following interview. What was the first memory that you have of when you were a kid? That's a kind of tough one, but I remember one thing when I was really small and that was that I could get a lot of things from my mother- much easier than I co...

In case you weren't sure which kid got gum in their hair... Let's face it, wordless I am not!

It is a bit crazy to me that my kids have never really gone fishing. Growing up my (Great) Uncle Joe spent HOURS down at our lake catching bluegill that my mom would later fry up for dinner. Perhaps the reason the kids haven't spent time fishing is because they are more into swimming and playing. I was excited when Z decided to go fishing (and not too surprised that he-of all of the kids- was the first to give fishing a go). He loves animals of all kinds from animals at the zoo, dogs and cats, insects and toads. I actually didn't get to see any of Z's first fishing experience (it happened on the 4 th of July when I was up in the house with our casted Sean). I did get some of the details from my brother (and pictures from my mom) for the purpose of this blog. Danny and Z decided to go fishing and the first step was to look for worms. My mom let them dig up a hole in their yard (thanks mom) and my brother found some worms. Zach found another (more interesting) critt...

I never thought I would ever say, "Go Yankees" but I did and I was so happy when they won again, and again and again! Joe had a great season with his baseball team and they only lost one game the entire regular season! Today was their team party/ awards day. Since it happened right during Sean's nap time (his schedule is so messed up in the summer), we were able to drop him at my parents' and just the 5 of us went to the party. It was at a beach on my parents' lake that I have driven by a lot (on the boat) but never actually been to before. The kids loved it, mainly for the slide (I don't think Ali Jane did anything BUT go down the slide again and again and again...) After an hour or so of playing, the boys came in for a moment to grab some grub. They ate and in no time were back out on the lake having fun. It was a beautiful day, just perfect to spend in the lake. I didn't think they'd be able to get the team OUT of the lake, but when it was t...

Almost two weeks ago Sean got his cast. The first day with it he didn't move much at all and we realized that this would probably be a very LONG two weeks. The next day he learned to scoot on his bottom around the room with his leg out in front of him. And by the following day he was crawling on all fours and eventually he learned to pull to standing and walk around the room (looking much like a pirate with a peg-leg) and even go up and down the stairs. The most difficult thing about Sean's cast was not being able to give him a bath and wash off (properly) the sunscreen and other things that manage to find their ways onto the body of an active (even with a cast) 20 month old. We did manage to keep him away from sand and water, but he was outside which meant his foot got quite dirty (up into his cast) and with all his movement his cast (the cotton part underneath) was starting to come undone making the top of his foot bleed a bit. I decided to call on Tuesday (after the h...

On the actual Fourth of July, we were a bit fire-worked out so didn't mind not seeing any more 'shows'. Ali Jane was back to herself (hopefully her sickness from the night before was just due to something she ate) and so we went over to our friend Ty's house for a barbecue get together complete with good friends, good food and good times! I had forgotten my camera (I know... SHOCKING!) But thankfully my friend Angie had her's out because there was certainly some blog-worthy events that happened... namely, MY KIDS RODE A FOUR WHEELER! I am not a fan of these types of things (motorcycles and the like) because I am not daring AT ALL! But Ty took each of the kids for a ride and Joe even rode one by himself for a while (and I didn't have that much to drink, I swear!). Z of course couldn't get enough of the "4 D" (I have no idea why he called it that later). He rode it again and again and I even took him on it (which scared me to death... oh, the thing...