Days with the Dorans

In the car getting ready to go! We were silent silly... at least for the picture!  On Wednesday, I told Z that he was going to be able to check out kindergarten and ride the bus, something that he had been looking forward to for a L-O-N-G time.  I was surprised though when he started to look a little sad and told me he'd miss our drives to school, his teacher at preschool and his days with Nana and Papa.  I shouldn't have been too surprised since he is my dramatic one and tends to go to the extremes- whether silly, happy, sad or angry.  Just one of the many reasons I love him "more". I love this picture! The first thing we did when we got to his 'future' school was find the bus.  Z was so excited and I got some GREAT video of his first bus experience that you can watch HERE.  There were some kids that were loud and a bit out of control (despite their parents being with them) and the bus driver needed to remind everyone of the rules on the...

Z insisted on wearing his uniform to his party. We had a difficult time figuring out when to have Z's birthday party.  Thankfully we don't do "friend" parties until the kids are in kindergarten and our families (and friends who are like family) are quite flexible.  I had to wait to plan his party until we got the finalized baseball information and for some reason, I thought Joe's baseball game would only be two hours so we could try to do everything (including the party) in one day... I hope to realize this next year and be more smart about it... We were waiting for Joe's game to start and we realized that there was no way we would be able to watch the game AND get back to our house in time, so... My mom took the kids back to our house, Jeff went and picked up the cake and ice cream and I stayed with Joe.  After a while, my dad said he would take Joe home after the game so I finally got to the party to see family and friends. After Joe's last ...

I had mentioned in my last post (that I wrote two minutes ago) that our life was B-U-S-Y!  Saturday was 'Opening Day' for the boys and so our day looked like this: Z game at 9:30, Ali scrimmage at 11, boys opening ceremonies at noon, Joe game at 2:30 and finally Z birthday party at 4:30. I have to admit that I was very excited to see Z play.  I believe I wrote before that when I am an old lady, I would like to wheel up my chair and sit and watch little kids play T-ball.  Everything about it makes me smile... the low intensity... the kids spinning around... picking dandelions... occasionally running the wrong way... all of it. Z did a great job (despite the cold) and listened to his coaches.  He got some pretty decent hits and was able to motor to first keeping that big huge helmet on his head.  We cheered loudly for him and the smile that crept on his face was priceless.  This meant the world to me to put a big smile on his face since he's alway...

I've been a parent for 8 and a half years now and overall things have gone quite smoothly.  The kids are usually kind to one another, they laugh hard, love big and for the most part have been pretty easy to parent... or should I say they 'had' been pretty easy to parent!  I knew that one day the kids would start to push things, get in some 'big' trouble with us~ and that day came last Friday. I was at school when I got an email form Joe's teacher.  Apparently he had missed some homework assignments during the week and when she asked him about it he said (and I quote), "My dad was in charge and he 'wasn't in the mood' to check it."   He went on to blame his after school activities and again threw Jeff under the bus saying he doesn't have "time". To say I was livid, would be an understatement! I found it hard to concentrate on my own students when all I wanted to do was drive over to Joe's school, pull him out of class...

Zach had been talking for MONTHS about wanting a turtle for his 5th birthday and no matter what other cool toys we may have seen, he always stuck with wanting that turtle.  I actually liked it because any time he would complain or not clean his room I would say, "I don't know if you're ready for a turtle..." and he would quickly do whatever it was he needed to do without argument.  As his birthday drew closer, the reality that we would be getting Z a turtle started to settle in.  Since his birthday was on a Monday, on Saturday I took my mom and we made a trip to the pet store to learn about turtles... I knew that Z wanted a sea turtle (one that swam in the water) but after I learned all that was involved (basking rock, special filters, special foods...) and that they lived a LONG time, I started to wonder what I would do... That's when I spied some tortoises and asked about them.  They needed little care, ate veggies and dandelions, and you could ta...

Easter Sunday was a busy one. We woke up early (that is the kids and I since Jeff was still sick) and they found a note from the Easter Bunny that he didn't hide the eggs they dyed because he was worried the dogs would eat them, so he hid the plastic kind instead. This kids got some cute things in their baskets, but they were all about finding the eggs. The kids ate their hard boiled eggs for breakfast and we somehow made it to church on time at 9:30. My folks were there and Dan and Steph came with the kids too. The message was great and again I found myself a bit overwhelmed thinking of the sacrifice that Christ made. It put me in a wonderful mood and reminded me what the important things are in life. After church, I went and got gas, a muffin for me and donuts for the kids and then we were on the road to Saginaw. It was the first time I had made the trip without Jeff, but I can't imagine Easter without going to Grandma's. The trip felt like nothing after being i...

The day before Easter (AKA our anniversary this year) was a busy one for me. Jeff was still super sick but I did run out to get some Easter things including of course EGGS! I also got some Easter duds for everyone. Blue shirts for the boys, matching blue dress for me. Pink dress for Al, matching pink polo for Jeff (in hopes he could make it to worship on Easter). Egg coloring was fun. I cooked 16 eggs, but since Seany only needed one (and as you can see he did a great job dying it... and his hands) the 3 bigs got 5 each! When Seany saw the Bigs got more eggs, he went bizerk ! It was late though so I took the opportunity to put him to bed. Somehow the Bigs found pipe cleaners while I was upstairs and they used them to further decorate their eggs. I was surprised at how patient the Goose was with his eggs. He waited and his eggs turned a nice deep color. Once all the eggs were colored, I tried to get the kids up to bed. That's when I noticed Joe (my little thinker) ha...

On Friday morning we were all packed up and ready to go. Shockingly, we were packed and in the car by 8am (which is great for us... or should I say, great for me...). The week flew by and again I thought about how blessed we are that my parents take us on a vacation each year. This vacation was certainly easier with the kids another year older and it makes me wonder what next year will be like... no diapers, no pack-n-play (sure, Sean could have slept in a bed, but no one else would have slept). We got on the road and all was well. We knew that we could make good time again and were anxious to get back to the dogs (as much as they can drive us crazy, we did miss them). Early on into the trip we realized that our GPS (which had come back to life in town) had completely died. This was not good! Jeff got very frustrated which resulted in the two of us driving in silence pretty much the whole way home. Thankfully I had my book to read so I didn't mind too much. We used my phone...

It's hard to believe that this was our last full day on vacation. It went by quickly and overall felt like a more relaxed vacation than previous ones we've had. We didn't have a lot of things planned and spent time relaxing and of course a lot of time on the beach. I don't know if that is a bad thing and we are already talking about where we'd like to go for next year's vacation... hmmm... As long as it is warm, we're in! My dad started joining me (on day 3) on my morning beach walks because he hurt his leg running. It was nice walking with him. On this last walk of our's, we went further than our usual four miles because we were so busy talking. My dad isn't a big reader and I was giving him the run-down of the Hunger Games books I had been reading. It was fun and just like I teach in school, discussing the book really made me think about it and remember details I would have otherwise dismissed. We came across a lot of Jelly Fish on our walk...