Days with the Dorans

So Joe was not super keen on running. He hemmed and hawed actually and I finally told him that he needed to make a choice and stick with it. He chose to run. He missed a lot of conditioning over the summer with band and an injury and I wondered how he'd do. His first meet was a big one (as in there were many schools- I think it was 283 runners for JV- that number stands out to me for some reason...). It was only a 4K (which I hadn't heard of). Jeff and I were able to make it and so were my folks. Joe looked so strong and to be honest it looks easy for him (running probably shouldn't look easy). He finished strong. In this picture he is kneeling down to take off his chip. We were so incredibly proud of him for running such a strong race and making up some ground after his first mile. I told him often about how proud I was which became somewhat of a joke. He was tired but shockingly smiling. I think he liked all the praise he was getting from Papa (especially s...

 And then it was Sean's turn! He too got up on his own and was dressed and ready to go by the time I got home from Marty's walk! He had made himself breakfast and packed his lunch! I've raised some pretty amazing independent kiddos! He's off to 3rd grade and I'm excited to see what the year holds for him. He still seems so young to me but I guess it's all relative. Thankfully my mom and dad are coming again this year to help with the morning bus so I was on my way to start my (gulp) 21st year! My mom was able to get some pics at the bus stop. Just like that the last Doran was off to school! Marty has had a glorious summer with all his humans. He was sad to see them all leave him but is very much looking forward to long naps while they are gone! Here's to another great year!

As soon as Joe was off to HS, I hit the shower. As soon as I got downstairs, the middles were ready to go. When I got down they had already had breakfast and were getting those backpacks on! It's Ali Jane's last year of middle school and Goosie's first! I feel like him being in middle school feels strange- like he's not old enough yet to go but I'm sure I felt like this with the Bigs too! As I've mentioned before he's so cool and calm about it all that it blows my mind!  Al met up with twin Sarah at the end of the driveway and I got to snap a quick picture! I usually walk Marty as the Middles go to their bus stop (partly so I can keep an eye on them but not be THERE- I go the opposite way). My dad still walks them to the stop when he's here to get Seany on the bus. I'm sure they love it! Matthew is Z's buddy and his mom took this picture of the two of them! They have all but one class together which is crazy! Perhaps that's ...

 UGH! I blinked and my baby is old enough for HS! I didn't run the first day because I had to be up that first day for pics!! The good news is Jeff is up at the same time since he too is off to 9th grade! I am actually up but usually running on the dreadmill since I'm a bit nervous to run in the dark after a spooky experience. I admit I've been texting him when I'm done to make sure he's made that bus (dark can be spooky). I don't know how Joe felt about me following him around snapping pictures that first day. I think he was as excited as I was. He had a great first day (and week since I'm late in writing) and I can't believe next year I'll be chasing Ali around for as she starts HS! Slow down, time!

 So Ali and I have wanted to see Wicked since it was the theme for her dance recital and I read the book (well tried to- I'm kind of ashamed to say I abandoned it...). Jeff is ALWAYS in for a good show so we knew we had to get tickets. Joe cool was not as excited. This is odd since he is the one in all the musicals (so far). I am proud to say that I saw him laughing, smiling, clapping and thoroughly enjoying himself which is awesome for a "Joe Cool" teen! This pic was snapped when we told him to put his phone away (stop texting the friends already!) which thankfully he did (and he didn't die)! We had a yummy dinner and then were off to the show. I got a GREAT deal with the 3+me. We were on the main floor on the side and the seats were good. I got them for under $100 bucks each which was a steal! We saw that Aladin is coming and if I can land another good deal like that we may have to have the Littles come! The show was phenomenal. I laughed and cried an...

I took a few weeks setting up Room 119 and thankfully had my #1 worker bee (my mama) and my favorite girl also came to help out a bit. I felt like set up went pretty smoothly but was pretty disappointed in the state of my room.  We had to wait until they were "cleaned" to set up but my carpet hadn't even been vacuumed let alone cleaned and the dead bugs lead me to believe there wasn't much cleaning done at all... I was thankful for the help though and we had fun and lots of laughs as we got ready. There is always such excitement at the beginning of the year. We go back before Labor Day but I feel ready! I also got to see some of my old favorites! Sheryl is working in another district (counseling) and I miss her terribly. Jessica is back at LLE and Matt~ well we want him to teach with us and maybe one day we will. Dawn is my amazing teaching partner and I'm so glad we're still together! Went to a yummy dinner and had fun catching up before the start ...

Ali was off to Smart Start early with Sarah since they had to work it for NJHS. As soon as I got Joe from XC, Z and I were off to register! I still can't believe he's going to middle school (he's a whopping 65 pounds!). First we took his picture. I was glad that this was not my first go with registration. We got through things really quickly (at least it felt that way). Z opened his locker on his first try and was cool as a cucumber- not even wanting to try it a second time. I got a couple locks from the dollar store the day before and he taught himself how to do it, so it was a snap for him. That "one" he's holding up in the picture stood for "first try"- he didn't want to open it again but I had him do it a second time for good measure. We walked his schedule once and he was good and ready to leave. We ran into his friend, Matthew. They have every class together except for one which is wild! Neither of the Bigs were ever so lu...

It's hard to believe that Danny is 40! Steph threw him a fun party (where I took no pictures) but grabbed a few from my mom that I asked her to take~ pretty much as we were leaving! Danny and his buddies (and my mom) all went golfing during the day before the party and I was so excited to see my old college roomie "Dr. Jason" there! I loved catching up with him- thankful my mom grabbed this picture of us! It was great seeing my brother's friends. I ended up getting him some throw-back type gifts from our youth which I think he liked. Joey also drew him as a Simpson's character (my brother was a HUGE fan of the show). I got his reaction on video which I'll post below.  And of course I had to get this picture of Danny and Ali Jane! Ugh- the short-shorts style is back... We all had a good laugh and as Joey would say, "Sky's out, thighs out!"