Days with the Dorans

So far our Goose hasn't had the best year at the plate... Sure, he is always at the ready in the field and does OK in practices, but we certainly need to practice with him more at home (there goes that time thing again).  I think he'd rather kick around a soccer ball but he still loves playing baseball~ probably because his 'best buddy' (aka my dad) is such a fan. Jeff worked with Z on his hitting and we were crossing our fingers he'd have a good game.  He is still learning the game~ even getting upset with the umpire (not to the umpire but to us) when he was called out on strikes.  He thought he should have had an extra pitch because he had foul balls.  He didn't understand that fouls were strikes and the only time you get an extra ball is when that foul happens on the third pitch.  He was pretty upset. His foul mood didn't last long though... His next at bat he had a great hit down the third base line and ran like the wind!  You would have...

OK.  I am first to admit it!  I take life pretty much day by day- sometimes moment by moment.  We do a lot of running and currently have things every single day (usually multiple things a day).  It is May and I FINALLY took down the Snowbabies in my curio cabinet.   Don't judge too much... I don't go in my dining room very much... and totally forgot about them! I also had a bin in there of some of my Nan's old china from when she moved.  While I'm not really into that sort of thing, since it was my Nan's, I told my mom I would love to have it and showcase it.  As I start to unwrap the pieces, I realized what treasure she had.  One of the plates was from 1892 and most of the pieces (if not all) were hand painted and just beautiful.  I really enjoyed looking at them and wished my Nan could tell me the story of where she got them from.  I doubt she would remember, but you never know... baseball season will be over next month and ...

 I'll admit it... I think I have a problem with Mother's Day.  It's not one of those things that I can put my finger on.  I should enjoy the day... I love being a mom more than anything in this world and my mom is one of my best friends!  Still, I wake up most Mother's Days feeling melancholy and this year was no different.  I wrote another post about it on my Pause blog that you can see by clicking HERE. Sean is one of the reasons I think my Mother's Day was tough.  Sure I was thinking about Andrew and E and all my friends who have a difficult time with this day but Sean snaps me out of that and just makes me exhausted sometimes.  He can be the absolute sweetest kiddo and then in two seconds turn just horrible. With Jeff leading worship (I feel like he always leads or plays on Mother's Day and my birthday), I was solo and I was exhausted.  I think I woke up exhausted that day.  I shouldn't complain though... clearly I have much...

 Saturday was finally the day... Zach's FIRST birthday party with FRIENDS!  He had it at a local pool (where unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures) with a water slide and other fun water things.  When we got there, the boys went right for the pool and started playing while my mom and I set up.  We were hardly finished getting table cloths on the tables when we noticed all the boys out of the pool.  Then we found out... someone (we weren't the only people there) pooped in the pool!!  Everyone had to get out and they had to clean it up so suddenly I had all these kiddos coming in to the room off the pool, Jeff out getting pizzas and no idea what to do! So... we opened presents!  To be honest, I had thought this was something we would do at home so they could max their time in the water.  Zach got all sorts of good things, but it happened so fast that I didn't really see who gave him what or really know who each boy was.  Jef...

 What a crazy day we had!  Ali had dance pictures (thanks Julia for helping) and Zach had his birthday party in the evening.  We skipped two baseball games because today was a big day... Joey had his FIRST piano recital!  Joey decided today that he wanted to wear a tie.  So, after dropping Al off at pictures, I called Jeff (who had his own practice this morning) and he met me at the store.  We swapped cars (so he could take the boys home) and I ran into JC Penney and picked up some clothes for Joe.  Of course I forgot he needed a belt, so we used his baseball belt.  His pants stayed up and he looked so handsome.  Did I mention that I went into the store at noon and Joe needed to be at his recital at 1?  I'm still tired thinking about it.  I take my days minute by minute. Joey's only been playing for 9 months, but he's doing so well.  He looked very confident and comfortable.  He did a wonderful job introducing the ...

Life is busy. Busier than I remember! Thankfully I have had (and will have) the help from parent friends this week as we try to get all the kids to different places.  I don't feel that our kids are in a lot of activities... it's just that we have a lot of kids! I think I first felt this last week when Jeff had conferences and I was solo (with a little help from my dad).  This is what my day looked like: Leave school immediately (a bit after 4). Drive home and throw Al's hair in a bun so my dad can take her to dance. Get boys in car and leave. Drop Joe off at Piano. Hit McDonald's Drive-thru for Littles. Back to Piano- give Littles food to eat in car. Joe gets in car. Drive to fields to drop Z off at game. Watch him run to dugout to be sure he makes it (my dad is en-route to see him). Leave to get Ali (complete other side of town... over half hour drive). Pick Ali up at dance. Hit Taco Bell Drive-thru for the Bigs (yes... 2 fast foo...

 Zach had had a loose tooth for quite a while and I thought perhaps we'd have a Doran who lost a tooth while in first grade and today we did!  And he was IN first grade (as in school).  I got a call while on my way home that Z lost his tooth and sure enough when I pulled in, there was my Goose waiting at the door with a wonderful smile (minus one tooth).  He told me, "I was just waiting in line for PE (that stands for gym, mom) and wiggling my tooth and then it just popped out."  He got a little container for his tooth and after he showed it to me, I told him to run upstairs and put it next to his bed (we had a busy night with piano and a game for Al... all days are busy for us lately). Well, after we got home and did some writing and reading (I was surprised that Z didn't write about his tooth but some made up story with gross things in it... I won't elaborate) and showers and baths it was time to go to bed, only Z couldn't find his tooth!!  Thi...