Days with the Dorans

  Ali was SOOO excited to find out that she was invited to run in a Varsity Meet. Of course Joey was there too and then left at the end of school so I had to join them later! Joey has been running so well! He now has a sub 5 mile but... I MISSED HIS RACE! I was so bummed! I literally got there to watch him cross the finish line. Thankfully Nana and Papa taped it (which you can see below... kind of). I am so proud of him! I love watching my kids run!! I did get to see Ali run (like HOURS later). It was so cold that we would go to the bathroom just to warm up our hands with the dryer. We also went and sat in the car for a while until it was closer to the time she ran. Since Joe drove separate. He left so he could go play music with dad! Ali and I tried to get to Pontiac in time to watch them play but we missed it! Thankfully, Joe set up a video HERE so we could watch it later! I did have one drink since we were already there. It was nice catching up with Dave and others.

  I love that Jeff does open mic nights and it's almost like they have formed a little band. I thought it was so cool that they had Joe join them and I know he was excited to! I have no idea why I didn't get video! I definitely will have to get video next time! I did get some pictures though! Dad showing him how to set up. Nana & Papa came too- She didn't want a picture, but oh well! The Pink Tickler is my favorite and I love their glasses! Such a cool place! Cold drink of water to calm the nerves. They were behind glass but the pictures still turned out cool. Listening to other bands and debriefing with Papa. I love this boy!

  Joey is getting ready to go play with dad and it's the coolest thing! I love listening to them!

Sean has been SO excited to have his music concert at the High School! I knew when he was practicing that he didn't quite remember ALL the words so I told him to move his mouth a little even when he didn't know the words so it would look like he did (You know... the old "watermelon" trick...?). Well... he did some BIG watermelons, and yawns and other dramatic moves that had me dying! I took a video of the whole show HERE and the longer it went, the more animated the boy became! There were so many awesome pics, I put them all together in a collage. Al was at dance and Joe was at piano but Dad, Zach, Nana and Papa and I were all there to cheer on Sean. To be fair, Z didn't read his book during the show (it was too dark) but I do love his latest obsession with the Harry Potter books! Jeff left to get Joe before I remembered to snap a few fan photos so this was all I got. After the show, I hit McDonald's for ice cream for everyone and Sean wa...

 So Jeff and the Daves have been having fun hitting open mic nights and I was glad that I finally got to see them once. Our schedule is a bit nutty during the school year as you can imagine.  As soon as I dropped Al home from dance, I drove to the bar. Kyle, Kurt & Jojo were also there. The guys played a few songs and someone jumped in on a cajon to add a bit of percussion which was awesome. I didn't take any pictures of the fellas playing and Kurt left before I got a pic of him but I DID get video which you can see by clicking HERE . Looking forward to more jams!

It's so great to see Jeff happy again! His work is incredibly stressful (I think it is for most teachers) but he's been fighting that (and kind of winning) with disc golfing and playing music! He's been getting together with the Daves (as in our neighbor Dave Coz who we love and spend lots of time with and the awesome Dave D. bass player from our church) to play music together. They went and took in some open mic nights and finally went out and did it! They had a blast!!! They played four songs~ two originals (one by Jeff and one by Dave Coz) and two covers. During the Jackson 5 cover Jeff said a lady got up and started moon-walking which was pretty cool! You can hear the end of that song and the other cover they did (Old Apartment by BNL) by clicking HERE . Jojo (Dave Coz's wife) and I couldn't make it but Dave D's wife did and got a little video for us! We're hoping to make one of these nights (though with kid schedules it'll be tough... I h...

 I had the MOST amazing birthday ever!! My kids woke me up so sweetly and gave me little presents they had bought me from the dollar store and Jeff gave me a card with THIS in it! I can't wait!!  After, we spent the morning making cookies for Santa. Ali and Goosie were the only kiddos that wanted to help with this part this year. I assure you they WEREN'T the only kiddos who wanted to EAT those cookies!  What made this birthday my best was what happened next. For my birthday, I wanted us all to go to my Nana's to sing carols to her. Her dementia is really bad now. It breaks my heart and I literally pray each morning and night that she's sleeping and having wonderful dreams and memories. My hope was that hearing the carols would stir some memory or at least some happiness.  The three big kids played instruments (as did my mom) and we all sang along. Nana smiled and sang a bit with us. I held her hand. When she looked at me, I was sure she h...