Days with the Dorans

Joey. Well, I think it's been going well... it's hard to tell really.  It sounds like sometimes he's "right on" in school, other times he's still hanging out in his head.  He has been scoring well into the 90s on his tests/ work which is good and I am learning to let go a little perhaps and remember that he is 9. 9. When I taught third grade, third graders seemed so much older.  Now some of the things we ask them to do seem so heavy and so much work.  I imagine I did much like Joe (scores anyway) in school, probably made some similar mistakes but overall did pretty well~ and yet I turned out OK.   It's a fine line. When to push and when to let it ride. When to save and when to let them struggle. I'm still trying to figure it out most days. Since all these things with Joe that we were going through, I think I mentioned we made a lot of behavior type changes in our house.  One I think has made a HUGE difference, and now that ...

 Sunday after church, Jeff decided it was about time he had proper gear for playing outside, so he headed out to the store while I took the kids home, got them some lunch and Seany a nap.  Since we knew we were headed to the lake for some ice time, I also suggested Jeff pick up some skates for the Bigs at Play-it-Again Sports.  Thankfully, he scored each of them a pair and one of our old pair was perfect for the Goose.  We tried the double runners on him and they fit perfectly! By the time Sean woke up it was 3:30, so we got on all our gear so that by the time we got to the lake we could put on our skates and head straight down to the ice.  We took the sled down the hill and the kids got to feel that familiar feel I always have of walking down the long yard in skates!  This was Al and Z's first time on skates and I was eager to see how they did!  Z had the double runners as I mentioned and he did really well.  I skated around with him but...

 When I was younger I swear we used to get more snow... I remember digging tunnels through it and having so much fun.  Lately it seems we've had such strange weather... not a single snow day last year and this year it goes from FREEZING (so cold there's no outdoor recess) to spring.  So when Saturday showed up with fresh fallen snow and temps that we wouldn't lose digits in, I was excited!  I actually woke up Saturday and spent HOURS in bed working on report cards.  I got super organized and was able to kick them out in probably four hours (perhaps a record!!).  I was finishing up when I got a text from my friend mentioning that Z could come to her son's birthday party too... OH MY GOSH!!  I had totally forgotten about his birthday.  I dashed downstairs and there was the invitation saying that it started in about 20 minutes (and the party was probably about 30 minutes away).  I quickly got the boys and Jeff out the door (without a ...

 Last weekend, Ali's Dance Shoppe put on a showcase performance for all the soloists and competition teams.  Grandma was going to come down for it but the roads were icy up north so it was just Nana, Auntie Jodi, Jeff and me. The dancers in the show were all so talented.  I loved the group numbers especially and it was a lot of fun to see Ali up there with such talented dancers! Ali is in the center of this photo sitting on her knees. Here she is a little right of center. Here she is sitting down near the right. And Ali's favorite part of the dance, when she gets lifted into a "T" (she's on the right).  I was so excited that Jodi could watch Ali dance since for the last two recitals she's been on cruises (she leads a rough life). After the show, we dropped Jeff back home with Papa and the boys and us ladies went to Olive Garden (per Ali's choice) and had some yummy soup, salad and bread sticks!  Auntie Jodi got Al some flowers ...

Last week I somehow managed to perform at my school's "Variety Show."  I smile at writing the words "Variety Show" because I remember many years ago making the mistake of calling it a "Talent Show," and the music teacher at the time correcting me (quite sternly) and pointing out that not all acts contained "talent" so to ONLY call it a "Variety Show." This is my 15th year teaching and that first group of mine is turning 21 this year! It's hard to believe!  I remember all those kids (are they still kids?) so fondly and I often look around the room and wonder which students will be life-long students (the sort that keep in touch long after they leave the walls of my classroom). I had never done a 'class act' before but after some playful begging from those in charge... I agreed.  In my class, I use a song that I love to help us clean up or go from one activity to another.  It seemed natural that as we sang along, th...

Matching guitars!  A while before Christmas, Joe said he wanted to learn guitar.  Jeff was thrilled and started teaching him on his electric.  It was going pretty well until we noticed that whenever Joe played "air-guitar" he played it like the lefty he is...  Joe hasn't started chords or strumming (just finger picking) but we knew once he did it would be more comfortable for him to strum with his left arm (the way he prefers when he's playing that air-guitar of his). Love how Jeff's looking at Joe!  Now you can restring a guitar so I lefty can play it, but Jeff plays his guitars every day.  Also the chords and some other things would get in the way, so Jeff went ahead, did some research and found a lefty guitar for Joe.  He showed him a few to choose from (there aren't as many lefty options out there and they aren't cheap).  Joe chose the one that looked just like his dad's (only thankfully for the wallet it doesn't have 'Fender...

This is what it looked like when his hair would fall out.  A few months ago, something was wrong with Zach's scalp.  Looking more closely, it was like the top of his scalp had scales and his hair wasn't really growing from his scalp but from those loose scales on top of it.  I could feel them with my fingernail and just wanted to pick at them (which I sometimes did) so that his head would be smooth (I know... gross).  I finally took him to the doctor a little over a month ago and he was diagnosed with CRADLE CAP! I was shocked!  My bald babies all had that when they were really little but it seemed to go away on its own.  I had no idea a 5 year old could get it.  It turns out they can, they do, and mine did! The doctor said that cradle cap can come and go and some seasons are better than others.  The treatment was to put olive oil in his hair and massage it in.  Then I had to comb it forward (which would pull the loose scales and ha...

 For Christmas, my dad put U of M basketball tickets in our (my and Jeff's) stockings.  The only problem is that we had four tickets and five of us that wanted to go to the game.  We didn't think that it would be too bad.  My dad suggested we go to the box office, ask to buy another ticket (explain that these were season tickets given as a gift...) or perhaps Z sit on one of our laps.  We dropped off Sean and were on our way!  The Bigs were excited... but no one was as excited as the Goose!  He LOVES Papa's Michigan and couldn't wait.  He was the only one that had never been to a game and just the walk to the building was exciting for him... that is until we learned that the game was COMPLETELY sold out and there was no way we could get another ticket and so we had to leave.  Zach was SO sad!!!!  Since we were in Ann Arbor, we decided to go to a bar for lunch and watch the game.  It wasn't quite the same and we had a...