Days with the Dorans

Dear Tooth Fairy, I have a question.  Well, Joey's tooth hasn't growed.  Joey didn't lose a tooth.  I lost a tooth.  After dance, I pulled and pulled and out it came.  I can't wait!  And hear's some water and a snack. Why can't we keep out teeth?  Eat Up! Love, Ali and Joey A lego table with a small red cup of water and a gold fish snack. Another hole in her head. Bigs pretending to be asleep... waiting...

Last week was VBS for the kids and they had another great week!  This year, Ali's friend (and look-alike), Sarah came and Ali LOVED it!  They learned to always TRUST GOD and had a lot of fun.  They had yummy snacks, fun crafts and one day they even watched a real hot-air balloon blow up!  They came home and talked about everything they learned and enjoyed singing the songs too. The Bigs were in "Crews" (groups) and the Goose (since he was still considered to be in 'preschool') was in the "Squirrel" group.  The first day I picked him up the teacher mentioned that he and his buddy, Felix were really wild.  When I asked Z about that later he said, "But mom... We're in the squirrel group and squirrels are CRAZY!"  I told him that his teachers needed them to be a little less crazy the rest of the week and thankfully my little squirrel listened to me. Sunday was our church picnic.  It was H-O-T (at least to me).  Jeff was playing guitar so I ...

We've taken Morty out a few times now that the weather is nice and it is fun to watch him go.  He really can motor when he wants to.  I think the fresh air and natural sunshine is probably good for him.  He loves to climb so after some sun he usually heads for the hills! After he climbs though, Z usually picks him up and gives him a squeeze.  I have told Z that he can't give Morty any kisses but assured him that Morty can feel Z's love when he pets his shell. Z is funny and always telling us about Morty and what he's thinking and how he's feeling.  Sean was sure that Morty was going to climb a tree (which was quite funny).  I'm pretty sure that Morty wanted to climb a tree after a while and relax in the sun or the shade.  He likes when Z rubs his neck but after all this excitement I think he was ready for a break! He stayed out for quite a while and then the boys were back to riding bikes so they put him back in his home.  I'm sure ...

The Money Booth (before the night started) Our church has been doing something called the Nehemiah Project. They gave everyone $5 and challenged people to make the money grow.  Well they did!!!  Everyone was so creative in how they used their money. One project was called "Fam Nite Live!"  It was a night for families to come to church and have a lot of fun (hence the name)!  A friend of mine asked me if I'd be a 'judge' for the program and I was happy to help. I didn't really know what "Fam Nite Live" was but when I showed up for rehearsal/set-up I started getting really excited! They had one of those booths where money blows around and you have to catch it (this money had prizes written on it). They also auctioned off cool baskets and had free family pictures, popcorn and water and more! Some of the accessories needed for the night! To me, the best part of the night was the show. When families entered they were given a 'color' ...

When Grandma came down for Ali's recital she came bearing gifts. The kids love being spoiled by Grandma and after eating up all her delicious cookies, it was time to put the newest 'toy' into use! JOE! AL! GOOSE! SEANY! ummm... maybe not... After checking out the Slip and Slide, Sean decided he wanted nothing to do with it and so he spent some time just jumping in the puddles that the water from the "Slip and Slide" had created in our yard.  When he noticed I was taking pictures of him, he ran to my lap and started saying, "CHEEEEESE!"  Like his other sibs, he loves to see himself on camera! He's a bit of a ham... I also got him talking a little on video.  Sometimes it's fun to catch them in their 'quieter moments though~ when they don't know I'm watching... I feel so blessed to have children that get along (most of the time) so well. Now that it is summer, they sleep most nights in Z...

At Dress Rehearsal Ali had a great year in dance.  After last year's success with ballet, she decided to add tap and tumbling to her busy schedule and when I look at where she started and then to where she is now, I am blown away.  Her tumbling especially is so much better.  Her cartwheels are so much better and she also does them one handed.  She goes into back-bends from standing and is getting much better at hand stands too!  I was able to take video at her rehearsal but for the actual performance, no cameras/videoing were allowed which was actually nice.  I am such a documenter of events that I almost forgot how nice it was to just sit back and take it all in! I got Ali to her recitial and unlike last year we were right on time and had remembered everything (last year I forgot her ballet shoes! ugh!). She was so excited she took off ahead of me. Nana, Grandma and Auntie Steph came and so did Jeff and Joey. I was excited Joe wanted to go and he...

I admit that I have some pretty creative kids and I often wonder where they come up with some of the things they do.  I was surprised one night to come home to a "Tattoo Parlor" in our home.  Joe had turned over a plastic bin to use as a work area and made sure he had adequate light for his customers. It didn't take me long to realize that this parlor had been in business for some time.  Zach had a number of 'tats' on his arms and so did Ali.  Joe cleaned the area prior to tattooing his sibs and then got to work.  He had a paper that displayed a variety of patterns and pictures that his customers could choose from and he had even made up fake money for the Middles to pay him. I did shut down the operation (which brought back memories of when Zach was our tattoo artist- click on the label "tattoos below for more). I have lectured my kids on things~ like not reading/ writing late at night, when secretly I am thrilled that they love to do things so c...

And then there was Joe... Joe went from being on a GREAT team last year to a... well... not so great team this year.  It was a bit painful to watch the games and while the coaches were really nice, they weren't too good at pitching which had Joe swinging (often) at junk. Boys can't get 'walked' in his league so the coaches come in to pitch if they get walked by a kid. We had one stand-out player and did manage to win 5 games!  Joe did improve his throwing and catching but it is just now (post-season) that he is getting serious... as in asking Jeff to have a catch and wanting to 'pitch' more balls to him. Joe had two doubles this year but he swung at a lot of junk.  We (Joe, Jeff and I) also looked at his swing (in the video I made) and noticed that he doesn't really have a follow-through so he wants to work on that too. Though it came a little too late (for this season), it is good to see Joe wanting to put some effort into ball practice.

 Zach's season was FUN! He was the smallest (and youngest) kid on the team. I thought that he would be the comic relief for the team from his early practices where I would spy him standing alone shaking his head with his helmet on (just because he could).  While he did provide many laughs, he did listen to his coaches and did what they told him (literally). If they told him that at first base you went to the bag when the ball was hit, he did that faithfully (even if the ball was hit to him and he had a play).  One game that I remember fondly, Z had a ball hit to him in the field.  He did a great job and threw it to third base.  The only problem was HE was playing third base so there was no one to throw it to.  Another game he was playing pitcher (remember this is T-ball so there really isn't any 'pitching'), and between every batter he would go to the mound and brush away all the dirt on it (though I doubt any new dirt got on the mound between ba...

The USSSA Pride All-Stars Ali had a great softball season!  She was on a young team and while they didn't win a lot of games, it was fun to watch them improve.  They were coached by one of my old teammate's husband and sponsored by the USSSA Pride (which was really cool!). Being a lefty, Ali seemed to get walked a lot but she did have some nice hits this season.  I did miss a lot because I spent a lot of time walking between her games and the boys' games. Z was proud of his sis! Ali was chosen to be one of her team's "All Stars" and I was so excited because the All Star game fell on a night when we had no other ball games (this meant we got to spend the entire time cheering on our girl!).  She played well in the field, walked her first time up and then hit a shot to the pitcher (perhaps the best hit of the game), but the pitcher caught it so Al was out.  She was devastated and cried a bit (not used to getting out I guess). She shook it off...