Days with the Dorans

So I do A LOT of walking and I'm really proud of that. As I type this I have not missed a day walking since we went up north with the Cosmans which is pretty good! So I will go all weather and I'll also go by myself... Marty has proven to be NOT a morning dog (sometimes refusing to walk with me so early). I'm working on him though~ if he doesn't come with me in the morning he won't get a great walk in and he's learning that. With all my walking, I want good shoes and I found a pair that was cheap ($40), comfy and lasted me a while. I actually got them from Target but have had little luck finding them again so I let my fingers do the walking and got them online. They messed up my order which meant I had to wait longer but it also meant I got some $ off and a gift card for my inconvenience (yeah!). The new shoes feel great!!

Joe's school is doing "The Lion King Jr." this year as their musical and Joe auditioned again. He really wanted to be Scar but when he didn't get a callback for the part he was happy just to know he'd get something~ He has such fun with the group and loved it last year. Joe said he was nervous in his audition and while I think he has a great voice~ that voice is changing which makes it tough. I was SHOCKED when I checked my phone (at the WLN game where Joe was playing with the marching band) and learned that he DID get the part (it is double cast). It was fun showing him. He couldn't stop smiling but of course I was a "Jerk and a Turd" for  telling him he DIDN'T get the part (since I didn't think he did and just wanted him to know at home).  Still~ the boy is all smiles and very excited. We can't wait and the Littles can't wait to be animals! Joe sent this to me while he was waiting to audition... Not bad!

 Joe was not as excited as I was that his school got the opportunity to play with the high school marching band. He was thinking he didn't want to do it and I told him, "Well... just check it out." Gabe loves it and it's a great way to meet people. Joe Cool doesn't get that excited about anything but... After the game he said he actually had a really good time and he met a lot of people. He's on for band next year (yeah!) and I think the kids did great (considering their one and only practice with WLN was an hour or so before the game). You can see a video HERE (Jeff took it). Of course we were there to cheer him on (it was a "Pink Out" game). We found Ty right away (Jr. is on the team) and sat with him and Carson and his folks. Soon The Cosmans came and the Stanley-Turnquists and we had a fun little party. Z even found a buddy! Sean loved cheering and picking up everyone's trash (I'm not kidding). Looking forward to mor...

Sadly, I'm not a good mom when it comes to parties... Though I'm trying to do better. A lot of this is due to the fact that our schedule is so nuts. I only have two days off in the next two months so~ we had Joe's friends to the lake while the guys were busy working there and I had to leave a bit for Sean's soccer game (ugh).  Joe's friends Dom, Gabe and Ryan came over (another friend, Simon, was going to come over too but it didn't work out). The boys had fun on the lake and I was glad my friend, Nan, stayed while I left so she could keep an eye on the boys with her camera. The big boys were busy and my mom was at a golf outing. I felt bad I had to leave but didn't see a way around it. It was Sean's FIRST game of the season and he didn't want to miss it. When Sean and I got back, the Drapals were there too and everyone devoured the food I got. I made TONS of sloppy Joes, had 2 bags of chips got three large pizzas and ALL of it was ...

Joe had the option of running "Beat the Hill" again. At first he didn't want to but then he changed his mind. It has a killer hill and lucky him, he gets to run it twice!! There were hundreds of kids there (over 300) and he came in 51st which wasn't bad seeing he hurt his leg and looked like he was going to cry when he finished. I was proud of him for staying so strong and running through the pain. Papa was there and so was Jeff. Jeff was nervous for Joe and so excited to watch him. He often misses him because he does the "right after school" running for the kids and CC meets usually are fairly soon after school. It didn't help that it was already getting warm that day (we've had high temps for September) and Joe didn't want to eat (last time there were lots of pukers after this race). Of course when he was done he told us how much he hated running~ how bad his leg hurt~ how it felt like scissors going into his leg~ I just let him...

 On the 14th, I picked Al back up from dance, drove to my school to finish up my sub plans and then we headed to the Bigs' school to surprise Joe in his locker! We taped his favorite candy to the inside of his locker (with a sock puppet card which he would "get") and Al decorated the outside. It was fun being sneaky! Of course while I was doing my thing during the day, Joe was at school and he reported it was a GREAT day! Everyone was wishing my shy guy a Happy Birthday and his friend Anna Lein actually gave him a present which was super sweet! After cross-country, Dom's dad, Scott, treated the boys to Slurpees! Joe sure is a lucky guy!  I couldn't wait for Joe to get home so I could give him this. I was so mad that his other phone (which was my mom's old 6s and really nice and I PAID for) died when he went in the water after one of Marty's toys with his phone in his pocket. He was mad too. He was doing something helpful but it was dumb... s...

 This year September 15th fell on a Friday. I did my usual routine with a few things different. I drove Joe to school after getting him donuts and OJ and when I came back someone had put this on my garage. It was so sweet. Again this year, I asked people to do things "Because of Andrew"~ a random act of kindness and my tears turned to happy tears that good things would be happening on this day because of my boy. When I say some of my routines changed~ they had to because it's been so long. I can no longer fit my fourteen candles between his brick. So I went for a pillar and I left it burning. I also can no longer get 14 balloons in my car so this year I let off one for E and 5 for Andrew (since they were sold in a half dozen). I did write on them like I usually do. I also spend time reading my old journals and remembering. Gosh I miss that boy. When I left the garden, I did my act of kindness. I left flowers on someone's car. I know I've left them o...

Clearly as teachers we are not in the habit of skipping school but sometimes making memories with your Papa is a good excuse to miss a day of lessons. Papa got the Littles out of school and then they headed to TZ's school to get him and then they were off to the D to have some cousin/Papa fun! They of course started at Coach's Corner for some yummy food and were off to the game. Papa sent me pictures of them in various parts of the stadium so clearly they were checking out seats from all over (that's a kind of bonus I guess when your team isn't doing too well). They had a blast! The highlight for Sean was getting the slushies.  He and Z had cherry and TZ had Coke and cherry "Not two different drinks mom, just one with both of them mixed together. That would have been too much slushies." Thanks bud! And thanks Dad for being the best Papa out there!

 Joe ran a bit this summer with WLN which was fun but we were shocked at his first meet when he was in the top 5 for his school and ran 2.2 miles in 13:53! After the race he said, "I hate running!" I guess if you "like" running immediately after a race you probably aren't pushing yourself hard enough. By the time we pulled in the driveway he said, "That was pretty cool." Proud of my boy!