Day by Day

If you read the last entry....Connor is moving forward; however, Brendan appears to be moving backward....please tell me it is a phase.  He is so taken with doing his own thing-which he would be if he was away at college, I keep reminding myself.  Bob is working so hard on finishing off above the garage so Bren can live up there and all Brendan wants to do is skate.  He could be helping Bob more or working full time.  As much as I think he needs a degree, I think he may be on the ten year plan.  He started college part time which I thought was great for him, but then he dropped  a class...because an advisor told him he didn't need it.  He is working, but they don't give him many hours, even though he is paid 12.00 an hour. I know he will come out of this, but going through it is like going through the terrible two's and the trying tweens and the abominable adolescence.  Hopefully my Brendie will peek out again, but I guess this is all a par...

I also knew this day would come.  All of a sudden, I started noticing that I wasn't naggy as much with Connor; that he was doing things after I only asked him once; that he was not watching tv or on computer in the morning in order to help me get him and Katie out the door; that he was really caring about school work in high school and doing phenomenally......Connor is maturing....love it!!!!

Keera had over a new friend today.  She is 6 or 7 like Keera.  Keera says this is her best friend this year and they did play very well together. Now remember...I had Bren, Connor when people my age were not even married yet, so I am used to being the youngest parent in the group.  With Katie, people my age were having children....with Keera, some people my age were having kids, but it was dwindling..... So far...all of Keera's playmates, friends have had parents older than Bob and I or at least who looked older than Bob and I. Today...that all changed.  Keera's friend's parents came to pick her up and they were definitely younger.  They have a baby and a ten year old, but they looked like they were ten years younger than us. I told Bob I definitely feel old today.  But, at least I am still young to Bob, who has 5.5 years on me.  I guess I may be getting older, but I am also getting better (I think).

This is the title of the book I started reading yesterday and am halfway through already, even with much to do around the house, etc.  This is such a down to earth book that is written with such humor.  I rated books on Goodreads and one of the books I had read this summer was Saving CeeCee Honeycutt ...apparently that led Goodreads to recommend Looking for Salvation at Dairy Queen to me.  I love it....great read.  (I knew anything with Dairy Queen in the title would be for me.)

My boys - Brendan getting some air, as they say, I guess. Connor as a little one at Thanksgiving time in Long Island....cute picture.

Games...the kids love to play games...1.  relay reace doing the wheelbarrel.  2. 3 legged race and 3.  At Cape Cod, football game-Katie, Bren, Jeff, Kelly. They have had soooo much fun together over the years.

This is Jeffrey, Jetry, Jefferson (as Keera likes to call him), hamming it up in their second house.  Kelly is on the couch.  I came across the picture and thought it was so cute, I had to put it up.

I am so glad I am a parent, trying though it may be at times.  That ultimately giving of yourself, until there really is no more to give is an amazing thing.  Even when your children do things that you don't approve of or would not have thought of yourself, once you get through the surprise of it, there it is all over again...a love feeling that you could never disguise.  You love them for who they are and what they do, regardless of who you are and what you do.  You realize that you lived your life and it is time for them to live their life...as they wish.  You hope you have given them as many tools, between the chromosomes and the role modeling, in order to make good decisions and be happy.  And in the end there comes a point when you realize as exhausted as you are emotionally, physically and financially, that you would do it all over again or even one more time, had you everything you needed because giving of yourself has to be the most fulfilling thing...

The next door Village Greene has once again started their once a month roast beef on Saturday deal.  It is a huge roast beef sandwhich (which I don't eat since becoming a vegetarian) and a huge serving of macaroni salad that is to die for.  The start in September and end in May.  We even put it on our calendar...silly us.

I was looking through pictures and found one of Kelly and Brendan after their first Holy Communion and then one after their Confirmation. 

Katie and Nicki - cousins and friends - maybe 6 years old in the picture?? Kelly and Brendan - maybe 1 in the picture???

So...the first blog of today (9/5/2011 - Labor Day) kind of explains all the blogs that follow it for today (all after this one).  As I thought about it...it was more than a project Keera has to do for school this week.  Keera has to do a project for school, involving pictures....so that led me to start going through pictures...which led me to finding pictures that reminded me of great moments in our lives....which made me think I want to remember these moments in my blog so when I print my next blog book, they are included. The real underlying reason of putting the moments I want to remember online is that right now, it is kind of tough times and hard to remember all of the great things we are blessed with.  Bob is as positive as they come and always thinks things will just turn around.  I am the opposite and somehow we try to meet in the middle.  The last couple of years seemed to have been filled with disappointments and hardships (not as hard as others-b...

This is Patrick and Bethany - married in 2009.  Chris was the best man. Chris, I have to apologize, I had surgery right before your wedding, so I wasn't in charge of the camera (just my crutches).  At any rate...we have no pictures of Angela and Chris; however the picture above is infamous-the interesting statue at the reception and Bill and Patrick talking underneath it.  The picture below are the six cousins waiting for Chris and Angela.  I really wish I had more pictures of Chris and Angela because this was an amazing situation with Chris getting to his wedding after everything he went through about 3-4 weeks before hand.  There is a blog earlier in my posts (2010) of all of the Uncles and great-nephews posing-quite a picture!

I saw the bottom picture of Keera at Christmas, two years ago and it reminded me of a picture I had of me at Christmas-many years ago. Our reactions are similar-I thought it was worth putting up.

I always think that we have so little pictures of Reed clan because we don't see them that often, but we do have a few and if I go through photo albums, even more, but here are some I found in the first box: Cousins Upper Left-Corbin putting Brendan in a headlock...Brendan laughing. Upper Right - Connor and Kyndell Lower Right - Travis and Keera Lower Left - Keera and Kacey I just loved this picture of Austin and Jenna.  They are both smiling perfectly! Two group shots-one in Myrtle Beach a few Christmas's ago and one in CT a few summers back. A wedding - Heather and an Ohio goodbye - They all stand there and wave as you back out (Of course it was an Ohio goodbye in S.C. after Heather's wedding). The "Jim Reeds"-minus Jamie, who is on another couch."

Patrick and Liz-godfather and godmother to Keera (baby).  Jan. 2005, they accepted the invitation to be godparents and everyone traveled to CT for the baptism.  I love that top picture of my cousins!

This is Amy and Gustavo married on the beach in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.  They invited all of us and we got to witness one of the most beautiful weddings we have ever seen.  The picture tells it all.  The church wedding was as beautiful too. Lauren and Jessica - Brett's daughters - enjoying the reception after the wedding in Mexico.  Look at those cute faces! Two couples (Aunt J. and Uncle V.) (Aunt K and Uncle K.) in Mexico.  On the bottom it is the Reed/Petit/McAvoy kid clan on top of our rented villa-looking out on the Ocean (in background). Lastly, the whole crew waiting for the wedding to begin and the tired Petit travelers resting on the side of the road.  It was by far the hottest vacation we ever took and yet the most beautiful vacation we ever took! Thanks AMY and GUSTAVO

This was Thanksgiving in CT in 1999.  All Spencers, All Vince McAvoys and All Hogans in place.  It was a time of Bailey's magical drink made by Grandpa and a cousin outing to talk about the older generation the night before Thanksgiving (Trace, me, Liz, Amy, Pat and Chris-good times). This is another Thanksgiving in CT (2004).  Liz is playing football with the kids (they grew to really enjoy the McAvoy/Spencer cousins throughout the years).  The bottom is a picture of everyone at T's house.  I think Patrick is joking on something, or avoiding the picture taking-not sure which.  (Maybe Uncle Neil's cologne is too much for him.)

Keera's first assignment this year was to name some favorite things and bring in pictures.  We started a hunt through photo box, which was all mixed up (hmm....wonder who was in it last).  Some of the pictures really jumped out at me, so I started pulling pictures that I thought were good pictures of the people who were important to us.  I decided to blog a picture everytime I blogged.  I am not sure how this is going to go, but I separated the pictures into my family/Hogan/Petit, McAvoy and us/Reed and us and started scanning.  This is only the beginning, but as I start making more books out of my blogs, I want these pictures remembered! This is how it all started-Neil (picture 2009 (?) in Virginia vacation) and Elaine - 1980 Thanksgiving in Long Island. This is generation two starting - Bob and My wedding 1991 (October 5th).  This is not Bob and Maureen but Uncle Ken, Aunt Kate, Liz and Amy.  I thought this was a really nice picture of the four of ...

It was kind of blah this year.  I don't know if it was because we had just had a hurricane, my kids were still at home with Bob and we had no electricity or if it was because I was more excited about my kids starting school and their adventures than my own job.  I think it was a combo of both. There were no big issues with the start of school.  It all went off smoothly, but I cannot wait until I am in charge of a school. A student came to me and asked if she could interview me (school newspaper) about the new resource officer that was hired for our school.  WE have not had one in years.  I told her the principal was part of hiring him so he would probably be able to answer her questions better.  She said to me, "Yeah, but he is always busy and whenever I go in the office the secretaries say he can't be seen now.  It is really hard to get a hold of him."  I did the interview the best I could and I was very glad that my door is always op...

A funny fact....Grady refused to go outside the day that the hurricane was supposed to arrive.  There was nothing going on yet weather wise, but he would not go outside.  I just thought he was acting really weird but Connor (Mr. Fact) reminded me that animals can sense when things are happening and act accordingly.  Cool stuff.

Connor is actually already doing work, so let's hope his sophomore year is a little more smooth than freshman year.  He seems to like his classes, as much as a 15 year old boy can and he is intent on learning how to drive....turns 16 in December. (Nicki is also in picture because we had power at this point, they did not have it yet, so she slept over and went to school with Katie.) Katie liked her first few days as a freshmen.  She loves her Spanish teacher and she does not care for her English teacher :(  .   She found out Friday that she did not make the volleyball team.  I know I am her mother, but some of the kids they did keep did not ever play a day in the rec league in town.  Katie played from 3d grade until now.  She also spent a lot of time at volleyball games last year, watching Kelly play and selling stuff at the concession stand.  We all want to say our kids should make every team, but in this case, she really should have ma...

Brendan started the day after the hurricane hit.  His college was open and ready.  He wasn't too happy with his first teacher.  I can see why kids don't like school-even college.  Apparently he wore his hat in class, which our students at the high school do all the time....there is no school rule against it.  He and another student were chastised by the teacher for wearing hats.  When he went to put it back on at the end of class, she said, "Did I tell you that you could put that back on yet?"  I felt like I was hearing something straight out of the 50's.  I couldn't believe that a college professor would be so concerned with that.  Although when I told my Dad the story, he was surprised Brendan would wear his hat in class...generational thing....like I said, right out of the 50's.  Other than that, he seems to be adjusting, but he does not like school.  Bob is working very hard on his room above the garage so Brendan can move in....

Well, Irene came and went and left some damage.  I didn't really take it seriously until a few days before she arrived.  At that point, I started buying water, stocking up on peanut butter and tuna and the kids started making fun of me.  It cracks me up because it wasn't until it was hitting and the damage was done that the 18, 15 and 14 year old were saying, "Wow...she did some damage."  You all laughed at me until you saw what it could do.  Our damage was "snow days" from school - one for me (which I had to go in anyway) and two for Wallingford because the buses could not drive on roads with trees in them. We also experienced power outage from Sunday a.m. until Wed. a.m.  That was something I never even had to live through in my 42 years.  It was nuts....up to Dad's to shower and do laundry.  At the same time, the Petit's were up at Dad's doing the same thing.  It was like a revolving door and I don't know if Dad knew what was up......