Days with the Dorans

 We made it to Halloween and in typical 'mitten' fashion the weather was just awful! Ali got dressed up for the occasion but then she got into some snuggly clothes and did homework (yes... sigh... homework). She did pass out some candy with Nana but I'm hoping she'll get out next year. This year's costumes were fun and the only things I bought were mine, Joey's Wonka outfit and Marty's "Grandpa Joe" sweater and cute tie. The rest of them got creative with stuff that we had. Not bad and super fun for this Dahl fan! I was so happy that Joe went out to Trick or Treat again. He had a few friends join him and I'm hoping next year's group will be bigger (and include Ali). Z had a friend join him, too, which was cool. We were glad to have Ryan with him though he didn't look like himself.  Sean was fine tagging along and Z didn't mind one bit. Sean changed though and made his own costume that made no sense really. He found...

 Halloween snuck up on me~ well actually it didn't... I knew it was coming but still had no idea how we were going to fit things in with our nutty schedules! October 30th and we had no pumpkins, no painted window, nothing! I was out and can't tell you how excited I was to see my kiddos starting on the window painting. This was super late into October but I hadn't had any time to get things done. I got the paint but wasn't there to supervise. Love that they got started on their own. They worked on the outline first and then carved pumpkins and went back to fill it in with the orange paint. My heart was full that they wanted to do this. I know they feel tired like I do. And so our window is painted (though I didn't take any final pictures- mom fail), our pumpkins are gutted and carved, and the pumpkin seeds are roasting. This mom may have failed, but the one thing in life she has done right is making four amazing kids! Love you guys!!!

It was the last cross country meet of the season and it was Joey's last opportunity to try to break 18 minutes! He had a great season despite not training as much as he should. There were over a hundred kids in his race and he started out I'd say near the middle but just like last year, he kept picking and picking and ended up in 4th place and... HE BROKE 18!! The weather was crummy and he didn't look great but clearly he was running well. I can't imagine running one mile in under six minutes, let alone 3 of them. The top 50 or so got medals but the top five got shirts which was really cool. Joe's friends came up to congratulate him and I think that made him feel really good! He finished with a time of 17:53 and everyone was so happy for him. I think that this may finally be the moment where he decides to train (at least I hope it is).  Joey still won't really run on his own but he has said he wants to do indoor track and regular track this year (...

 Sean started out this season not super excited. He aged out of the academy league and didn't want to go travel. He didn't know any of the boys on his team and was (I think) the only 4th grader with all the other boys in 5th grade. Thankfully, that changed and he ended up having a fun and exciting season and these boys went undefeated and were so much fun to watch! Sean had a couple goals but for the most part loved playing defense. It's still so fun to watch him play and see him kind of chill and then get into the zone. He's really good at staying in position and reading plays. It still blows our mind since he can be a bit scattered in other areas of life. His last game was a rainy mess but we were excited that they won and it was fun listening to the parents of the other team talk about how good our team was (they were talking about their stats and things). I should also mention that I got to play soccer with this team- they did a parents vs. kids scrimmag...

 So much fun watching this kid play this season and this team was A BLAST to watch!! They really were good and they remained undefeated all season with no one coming close to them. Zach played well and got a couple goals. I think everyone on the team did which was fun. At the end of the season they really worked on feeding one of their players the ball so they could say that everyone got a goal. It was a great team! The last game was REALLY weird- cops were called and everything. In the middle of the game the Dearborn coach decided that we had illegal players since a couple of our boys are really tall. Talk about poor sportsmanship!!! This is a travel recreation league and the tall boys weren't even our dominant players and the score was not even close. They were taking pictures of our boys and wanted birth certificates (again in the middle of the game). It got ugly and thankfully the refs called it and we got the heck out of Dodge as the cops were pulling up. Still a g...

I love watching Ali Jane play! She had a great season and I feel like the team is getting better despite not really practicing much with all their nutty schedules! She scored a lot of goals and had a lot of fun. She's still unsure about trying out for WLN's team. They have a reputation for not being the nicest group. One of her friends made the team last year and doesn't want to try out this year and my friend, whose kiddo goes to Lakeland, also said that they have a bad rep- still... who knows, maybe that will change. Regardless though I know she'll always play for Beav and Matt and we have a blast cheering on that group! Great season, Al!!

 It was time for Jonasen's first band concert of the school year. We aren't allowed to tape them due to copyright stuff, which seems silly to me since we're not going to make any money off it and I like to hear my kid play, but anyway... Jeff was on soccer duty with Ali and Zach and they did make the show but he had to get home for class too so they didn't stay for a picture. Nana, Papa, Sean, and I sat together and enjoyed the show. After the show, Joe wanted to go to DQ with his friends. It was cold, but Seany and I are always up for ice cream so we ate in the car while these kids ate cold ice cream in cold temps... ah- to be young again. Great job, Joey! You all sounded great!

 May 22nd. That's the day we originally ordered a new door after our old one was damaged in a wind storm. It wasn't like we had NO door, but still... it was ripped from the wood and annoying. We ordered it thinking it would be delivered over the summer while we were home. I can't begin to tell you the nightmare it was. Everything was pushed back and it was FINALLY to be delivered on August 9th (Jeff's birthday) IT. WAS. THE.WRONG. DOOR. So.... They had to reorder it again. They said they'd put a rush on it but we waited over another month to finally get it installed and now that we're back in school, my parents had to help out and be there for installation (thanks nana and papa). So it's in. It looks great. But almost 6 months for a regular- no fancy- we'll take that one- door... ridiculous. Back to Home Depot for us!

 Just another day at the office... Kidding! It's not every day that the Governor comes to your school. I actually have a signed award from her in my classroom from the choking incident and have seen her at the "Red for Ed" Rally, but I've never really met her (not that I REALLY met her, but still). Funding is such a big problem in education and I was thankful that though what she wanted to give schools was shot down, she still managed to get us a bit more. Had to drop these pictures here! Gotta love Tricia for making sure the photo below happened! ;-)

 I can't believe our baby is ten!! It's crazy how time has flown and I remember being pregnant with Sean and wondering who he would become. There's never a dull day with him and I don't know if there is someone out there with a bigger heart.  Grandma was able to come down for a soccer game and an early celebration for our ten year old. I just love this picture of them! Sean was super excited because this year he actually got his first friend birthday party. Poor kid~ we're always in the height of soccer season and weekends are tough! This year his birthday fell on Rosh Hashanah which was on a Wednesday meaning no school OR soccer! Sean wanted to have a party at Zap Zone so I made it happen. He only wanted 3 friends to come (one couldn't because he was celebrating the holiday). The 3 Bigs got to each bring a friend since there was a minimum limit for a party and Sean really didn't want to invite others. Nana and Papa came too since Jeff had ...