Day by Day

"Katie is a vigilant person," said Keera.......they learn a lot in kindergarten these days. "Dad I have two things to tell you..  YOu are going on the field trip with me and.....Mommy!!!", as I drive into the driveway...."Dad, as I was saying, ......"

Dad has gone to ride a 120 mile bike trip with Brett this week. As the trip approached I realized what a big deal that is for a 73 year old guy. It takes a lot of courage and stamina to do that. I sent him a card saying I hope that I can be doing things like that at his age. Then I started to think about all the ways Dad has been a role model...he is generous, not just to his family, but to others who need or deserve the generosity. He did not make millions in his life time, but his humble way of putting out over eight books (no claim to fame)over a lifetime are inspirational because he wrote about what was important to him, while holding down a job that wasn't always the best place to be (even 3 jobs at one time). His interest and concern about his grandchildren, even if he doesn't make every game, event, etc. in their seven lives, is genuine and real. They will always remember times like Grandpa dancing at the weddings (that their cousins so graciously invited them to), ...

When Bob and I have tried to make a date a few weeks in a row, but every time we do, the kids are having someone over to hang out above the garage; therefore, we cannot go out.....that would be knowing that we made the right move into this house. Having them at home is so much better than not knowing where they are...and dates in the living room aren't bad either.

How do you know when everyone has been in school for a few weeks.....Katie falls asleep by 9:30 on a Friday night, Brendan naps for two hours on a Saturday and still lookes tired.....Connor falls asleep for an hour on a Saturday evening and Keera falls asleep standing up on the couch leaning over the back......it is definitely the end of September!

Bob did pursue the electrical outlet project. There is one room in our house (the one with the three hair washing sinks in it), that we tore apart and is still in the process of construction. Bob has torn down 1/2 walls and pulled apart the front wall, which faces the road, to the point of wood-no (stuffing as I call it)insulation or anything. We had planned on putting two windows in, where they were in the original house, built in 50's). Hopefully we can still do that at a low cost right now because, the wall needs to be finished..... Anyway.....Bob decided to reinstall three electrical outlets to their original positions from the 50's; there were only like two in the whole room due to the nature of the room-hair washing sinks. (This room used to be a kitchen, apparently-amazing to pull a house apart and see the changes through many years.) So....as I was getting to.....the amazing part - I love to watch Bob work on building because he was never trained to do it. He tra...

I just listed a new book in my book section, Handle with Care , by Jodi Picoult. It was a long read, and it took me awhile to get into it, but that was more me than the book. It is very well written and the story is incredible. The reason I am blogging about it - I realized yesterday, as I went through like at least 200 pages, every minute I could pick the book up, that a good book is like a friend....once you get into it, you feel like you are a part of it and you have to know the outcome of what is going to happen to those characters who have grown on you. The power of a good book is amazing-when you can't put it down for anything.....unless your four year old says, "Mommy, I want attention." (Even then, guilt ridden, Irish CAtholic that I am....I thought..."I already gave you attention today in many ways....this is my time." Wow-a good book almost succeeding at overcoming the power of my guilt-amazing.)

About a week ago I received a package in the mail....that in itself was exciting. It was a book from an aunt who had read my blueberry blog and bought the book Blueberries for Sal for me to read to Keera. Keera and I have read it a few times since then. It's a really cute story about a little girl and her mom picking blueberries at the same time as a mama bear and her little cub and how they end up intersecting paths. Keera came home from school yesterday and announced that in school that day they had read the book that we had, Blueberries for Sal . Of course to most people this would just be the facts of what happened...but I started thinking....had I not blogged about blueberry picking, my aunt would not have sent the book, Keera and I would not have read the book, Keera would not have recognized the story in school, Keera would not have shared with her teachers that she had the book at home and Keera would not have been able to share with me what happened....it's all abo...

Wow-home from work...10 minutes later Keera home...Bob talking to me about number of electrical live outlets in room he is working on....Brendan telling me about 2 teachers absent today and workload.....Keera has homework....Connor telling me about how he is not going to do his mock trial this year....discussion...(me-why say no to an opportunity"...him..."because the nerds are doing it"...me-"don't let what others think stop you from an opportunity")....Katie helping Keera with her homework...Brendan asking about vocabulary words....Katie deciding she needs help with her Language Arts homework...Keera coloring....Connor coming down to help Katie with her homework and talk...Connor wanting to email his teacher because he has decided to do the mock trial (which he kicked butt in last year - gifted program)...Brendan done and upstairs on computer....Bob coming in and telling me we have 3 dead outlets in the front of the house (oh boy an electrical project for...

Finally...summer is over and we can rest again...they are all at school. (ignore the date on the picture....trust me...this was the feeling of the animals on 9/1/09).

Who doesn't love playing in the mud? When we let the water out of the pool today for the winter, Keera and Katie found something to do with the mud it made....MUD PIES!

While I was at work today, I saw an email pop up.....from Bob Reed. Bob was home and here is what the email said: "Can we sign Keera up for morning kindergarten. She has no sense of time. She was walking around with her backpack on at 9:20, asking when she was going to school. I told her at 12:00 she goes to school....which is like watching 6 spongebob shows. At 10:00 we went outside and Keera heard a truck. She asked if that was her bus." I laughed and shared with some colleagues.....I don't know what is funnier - Keera being so excited about the bus and school or Bob trying to deal with being Mr. Mom.

Bob and I brought Keera to school, although she will be taking the bus from home after today. We said our goodbyes, filled out a form with all the other parents and watched as she immediately started laughing at the boy at her table who was knocking blocks over....she likes the wild ones. At this point it is important to share that as all the parents filed into watch their children take their seats, a little Indian girl was behind everyone, crying.....some parents (not hers) helped her in and we all became engaged with our children, figuring this girl's parents could not be there and she was sad to be at school. This will come up later on..... Before we left the kindergarten room, we noticed that Keera did not have a bus number; we were concerned and asked the teacher what to do. She suggested going to the office to straighten that out so that they would know what bus to put Keera on after school. Upon entering the office, we first encountered the crying Indian girl again. She was ...

Well, blessings in disguise is the phrase and it applies to us right now, I guess. Bob will be home with Keera during the morning; she has afternoon kindergarten. The original plan was to put her in daycare, but things changed and she is fortunate to have Bob with her. Keera was very excited her first day of school. I took half the day off to see her go to Kindergarten. I left my school around 11:30 and called home. The phone picked up, but no one answered. I said, "Hello"....Keera" Then this little voice answered me back, "Mommy!!!" "Keera, where is Daddy?" "He is in the shower and I knew I had to wait to hear the voice to make sure I knew it before I talked." I said, "Keera - Did Daddy tell you to do that?" "No, I just knew I had to know the voice before I answered." Kindergarten....here she comes...

Connor and Katie, respectively number 2 and 3, headed off to school at approximately 7:50 on Tuesday, September 1, 2009. Now I do slightly remember Connor and Katie's first day of kindergarten, but it is more of a blur because they were one year apart and it wasn't our first. When I came home at 11:30, the first thing Bob did was show me the pictures he had of Katie and Connor getting on the bus right outside our door (we live on a main road, so the bus comes to us)....the funny thing was neither of them looked back, so it was the back of their heads. I said to Bob, "They let you take this picture?" He didn't really say much. Katie and Connor arrived home at approximtely 2:50. The first thing out of both of their mouths, as Bob and I greeted them inside the front door, was, "Mom, you would not believe how embarassing it was this morning. Dad came out the door and took pictures of us getting on the bus. All the other kids saw them." Connor added, "An...

I can still picture Brendan's first day of Kindergarten - 9 years ago.....I remember he just went with the flow with his scooby doo shirt on and his huge backpack on his little back. Since he was first in the family, he did not have the innate aggresssion that only number 2,3, and 4 can have. He had a sweet, little, freckled, innocent face. He was extremely active with his number one activity being chased in a game of tag. He was always happy, playing with his younger brother, Connor, 2.5 and sister, Katie, 1. Off we went to our first day of school....Brendan, Mom, Dad, Connor and Katie. He very easily took his place in line and walked into the room without even looking back, while my stomach turned in knots. Last Thursday that same freckled, handsome, sweet, innocent faced boy headed off to his Junior year of high school. For some reason it seems to me to be a milestone year for him. He is not graduating, but this year will be filled with opportunities - a job, a driving permit, a...