Days with the Dorans

Well, anyone who has read this for a while knows that for me, writing, blogging, music and making movies/videos is a way I relax and unwind (and perhaps the occasional drink).  I made a video a couple months ago that already has 2.2 million views (that is crazy to me) and has led people (3,170 as of right now) to subscribe to me (I didn't really even know what "subscribing" is except that I get emails every time someone subscribes to me).  I added two videos last week~ one about writing help and another on how to make a bun (for Jeff) and have made $1.20!  HA!  The other videos I have done all have copyrighted songs so I can't earn money for them and I keep all my family videos private (with a link).  Still, this has been fun and kind of exciting.  I see more video making in my future and PERHAPS the futures of my kids! Last year, Joey had a math project in which he had to measure something and show all the ways he could measure it.  Well, ...

 Today is MLK day and we are off school for records day.  Because I feel like every day is records day, I took advantage of the day off from teaching by setting up appointments for Ali (both her 9 year well-visit~ which went great except for a shot~ and an eye appointment).  Ali failed her most recent eye exam at school so I knew that it was probably time to take her in (and I thought I knew what the diagnosis would be). When Ali was in preschool (and kindergarten) we patched her left eye (her strong eye) because there was such a discrepancy in the two eyes.  It wasn't horrible and her eyes actually did get better~ but even then, they told us that it was probably just a matter of time before she got glasses.  She does have her mama's eyes (literally I have one really weak eye and one 'regularly' weak eye just like her). So it was decided that she IS getting glasses! Once she started trying them on, they didn't seem so bad... Here are the different frames...

Ali is still dancing with a group called "The Dazzling Stars" and last Saturday she danced in her studio's "Showcase" of Dazzling Stars and all the older competitive girls as well.  I have to admit that getting her hair and makeup done is no longer as stressful as it once was.  Maybe I am getting better at this "Dance Mom" thing...  This year's show didn't start until 7pm, so we dropped the boys off with my folks and Jeff, Ali and I drove together.  The show was at Jeff's school.  Ali didn't seem too nervous about the show and she's been doing really well.  She is beginning to learn her jazz dance and a friend sent me a video of her and she looked really good.  It's fun to see her grow as a dancer.  We had to drop Ali off a little over an hour before the show so they could stretch and get ready.  Since Jeff knew the area, we went to a nearby bar to grab a drink.  We probably could have grabbed two (and will next y...

 So at Joey's last teeth cleaning (or perhaps it was two cleanings ago), Dr. S. told us that perhaps we should talk to an orthodontist about Joe's teeth.  Long story VERY short.  We did.  The plan is for him to have an expander, braces and then a retainer.  On December 30, Jeff took Joe to get his expander. When they got home, Jeff handed me a bag with some instructions and some weird looking thing that was a "key" (but it didn't look like a key).  He told me that I would have to be the one to turn the key because he could NEVER turn it for Joey.  He said, "I had an expander and it was the WORST PAIN EVER!  I could NEVER do that to my son." And yes... he said this in front of Joe.  Joe talked a little funny at first, but got used to it rather quickly and thankfully didn't prove to be as big a baby as his dad! So Yes, I was the one to turn the key.  I googled it though and watched YouTube videos a few times just t...

We have this sign outside of our house that says, "Let it Snow~ on a school day..." and SNOW IT DID!  We already had a lot of snow and then got over a foot of new snow the day before we were to go back to school after winter break.  Some news stations were calling it "Snowpocalypse."  This also happened a few years ago and it was so nice to have an extended vacation!  It was not so nice that our snowblower wasn't working.  Sure, we got a good workout and I got a lot of additional steps for my fitbit (I LOVE that thing), but after a while, there was nowhere to even throw the snow! Even the dogs had a hard time in it (they do love snow but) when it touches your belly, it can be a bit hard!  We shoveled our back deck and paths for the dogs so they could get around a bit easier. It was fun to play in, too!  Sure, it wasn't packing snow, but the banks were so high, they were perfect for tunnel making and just plain having fun!  Trever even s...

Christmas with Saginaw was different this year.  We usually go up for Grandma's birthday but it happened to be on a Sunday this year and all the Dorans (including Grandma) were busy all day with church productions and services. When deciding when to do our "Christmas," it was suggested that we do it at our house.  I was SO excited (because I don't think they've ever come down to see our house at Christmas).  I decided to put up my North Pole Village and Christmas in the City Village.  I haven't put them up in years but with expecting company, I was eager to get them out.  I made a movie of my North Pole Village (that you can see HERE ) and my Christmas in the City Village (that you can see HERE ).  Well, unfortunately the roads were bad up in Saginaw so no one came... which meant that we also missed out on seeing the Gillespie cousins.  We were really bummed.  We also didn't find this out until a bit late so had already started to p...

It's that time of year again!  Another year has gone and it's time to look back at those moments that really stood out for us!  And once I get this done, it'll be time to order another book!  Speaking of books, if you want to learn how to blog and document your days (and then create a book), check out my blog HERE about how to blog.  And if you do blog, let me know as I LOVE reading them!!  It's really not as hard as you may think! And now... Here are our top 10 of 2013 (in no particular order). We have a new deck!  There were only 3 injuries and two trips to the ER, but I am absolutely in LOVE with our new deck!  My dad did a wonderful job managing this project and I can't wait to make more memories on it in 2014! I found that difficult things can bring new blessings.  Sean started a new school after some (2 incidences of) bad scratches near his eyes from a student at his old school. I do miss the staff at his old school as ...