Maine

We really lucked out with our vacation week this year. New England has had a horrible summer so far. Thunder showers almost every afternoon or cool rainy days. Not a lot of stretches of sun and warmth in a row. But, our week was spectacular! Every day but one morning was a beach day. And the water didn't make your legs numb when you ventured in. That's saying something for Maine.

So this year, Aidan got the hang of boogie boarding and riding the waves. He was a fish all week. Loved it!

Gavin had a small rafting accident within his first 15 minutes in the water with Sean. An unexpected wave knocked him off and he went under for .2 seconds. That was it for him. He just plunked down on the beach and waited for the water to come in and take him for little rides.


And Ciara danced.

A little confused

It goes without saying that Ciara loves to be just like her brothers. This picture is from a few months ago when Gavin insisted he get Ciara dressed in the morning. She happily complied with all the clothes he picked out for her.

Yesterday I was getting Aidan dressed in his room and Ciara insisted she also get dressed in the boys' room. I went and got her clothes and brought them in and she says "No, I want clothes from there" and points to the boys' dresser. I explain that those clothes are too big for her and anyway, they are boy clothes. Ciara kept insisting and I kept telling her she was a girl and needed to wear her own clothes. "No", said Ciara "I a boy-girl. A boy-girl!"

I guess my plan of getting her a doll isn't working. LMBO

Could they be.....The next American Idol?

My brother brought over American Idol for the Wii the other day. Aidan made a beeline for the microphone when he saw it and even though he knew not a single word of any song, he put on a pretty good show.

My baby is 3!

Where has the time gone? Is my baby really 3? She is now officially a preschooler. A toddler no more.

Why so glum, chum?

An attempt at "girlifying" Ciara. She will play with dolls, dammit. Just kidding. I don't care what she plays with but I thought a doll would be a nice change of pace from swords, shields, her brothers' action figures, and wrestling.

And now for the obligatory trip down memory lane...

Newborn...

One year...

Two years...(it amazes me how much they change from 1 to 2)Three!...

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Yellow belt!!

Aidan had his belt test on Saturday and is now, I am proud to say, a yellow belt.

He is just so excited and proud of himself that it makes my heart happy. He loves karate. Initially I was scared I would plunk down the rather large tuition fee and he would decide after a month he didn't want to do it anymore. But, it has kept his interest and he truly loves anything to do with martial arts. Plus, he loves his instructor, Renshi. I really like him too. He is so good with the kids--very firm when he needs to be but also very funny and kind to the kids.

So here is Aidan getting his belt!

Bowing to his teacher.Meditating before he begins.

During his test, doing Pinyan 1.

Getting a high 5 from Renshi.Yellow Belt!

R.I.P.

My favorite coffee mug. Gone. I never break anything yet when I do it is something really special.

This isn't just any coffee mug. I got this when my husband and I lived in Ireland for a short time back in 2000. He had thought there might be an opportunity for him to go because his company was keen to take advantage of Ireland suddenly booming economy--the Celtic Tiger as it was called.

My husband comes from an Irish heritage--his grandmother was born there--so he got his dual citizenship to make things easier. We had already been to Ireland and the UK a few times so I knew I would love it. It was such an exciting time in our lives. No kids and his company was picking up the tab for renting a place and utilities so I wouldn't have to work. I could just explore and enjoy. We went on an apartment hunting trip in November of '99 and settled on Malahide. We lived right on the Marina and it was beautiful! Malahide also had it's own castle which is where this mug came from. I loved this mug. Every time I sipped my morning coffee I couldn't help but remember our apartment overlooking the marina with the huge floor to ceiling window so I could gaze out the window at the boats. Sigh....

So, R.I.P. my poor little mug. I hope to replace you someday soon when we can get back to Malahide.

Watchin' the ships roll in...

Meltdown at Target

I believe I have sworn, oh about 4 or 5 times now, that I would never again step foot in Target with all three kids in tow. I have learned through many a meltdown that no good can come of it.

So why, you ask, did I take all three kids into Target yesterday? Well, for one, my mother was with me and I figured she could help with crowd control. Second, we were bored. IT was 95 degrees and humid out and we were stuck in the house. We had to get out. So when my mom stopped by to drop something off and mentioned she was on her way to Target, I begged her to let us go with her. Lucky her.

I tell the kids in the car they can pick something out of the dollar bin (love those). I confirm this with Gavin as he is my button pusher and boundary overstepper. So they pick out their things and connive to get a 2nd dollar item. Fine, I say. Then my mom buys them each a bouncy ball. We are on our way to the checkout when Gavin says he wants something else. He tells me what he wants and I say "Well, if you put back your three things you can get them." He proceeds to open up the waterworks. This can not end good.

What does he want to get? Underwear. Yes, you heard me. Underwear. What kid has a meltdown because he wants underwear??

I will spare the gory details of the tears and negotiations that followed. The end result was that he put back two of the three items he had and got one package of Kung Fu Panda underwear which he immediately put on as soon as we walked in the door.

I have always said that Gavin is my odd duck. But I mean that in the most endearing way.

I wonder what he's thinking about?

The first beach day of the season

These pictures are from a couple of weeks back. We went to a different beach than usual. It had huge boulders and rocks which formed cool tide pools when the tide went out. The kids loved it! Although it was about 10 degrees cooler at the water than about 30 feet further up at the softer sand. Aidan was complaining the whole time about it being chilly. For him to have the optimal beach experience the temperature has to be juuuust right. Not so chilly that he has to wear his sweatshirt but not too hot that he sweats too much either. I think he took after me.

We all just love the beach and can't wait for our weeklong vacation in August!

A scholar and an athlete

As much as I hate labelling children in a family, I have to joke about the fact that between Aidan and Gavin, we will end up with a Scholar and an Athlete.

Aidan is fearless, active, physical and has no time to think about letters and sounds and putting them together to make words. Gavin is much more careful with his body and rarely will put himself in a situation where he might actually--gasp--get hurt. He is very interested in what makes things work, sounding out small words and asking countless "Why?" questions. I guess this explains why Aidan has a multitude of bruises and scrapes and Gavin does not.

The boys just finished up their soccer season. They both were excited to play though I suspect it had a little more to do with the fact that their dad was also going to be their coach. So I was taking pictures at the last game and I got some pictures that I think captures their personalities quite well.

Here is Aidan's kick. You can just see by the way his body is positioned all the power his little body put into that kick.

And Gavin's kick. It is almost as if the ball was in his way and he's just kicking it aside.

Who knows? Once they hit Kindergarten in the fall they might surprise me. But for now I am sticking to my labels.

5 years ago today...

Happy Birthday to my baby boys!!

Wiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The sadness of moving on

Today was the boys' last day at their preschool. Wednesday they had a graduation ceremony with songs and diplomas and merriment after. Today they were celebrating all the summer birthdays and just ahving a fun last day with their friends.

I picked them up with Ciara in tow and their teacher said to the boys that in September it would be Ciara's school since they would be in kindergarten. Then we said our goodbyes and the boys hugged her and we wished her to have a nice summer. We walked to the car and they all got in while I climbed in back to buckle them. I think that all of a sudden it hit Gavin that he would not be at this school again. He wouldn't see his teacher and all his friends. He asked me "Am I never coming back here?" I told him that no, he'd be going to a new school in the fall. The same one his cousins attended. I thought I saw a quiver in his lips but then he climbed in the car so I didn't push it further. He got in his car seat and turned around and said "I think my teeth hurt." I asked why he thinks that and he said "I think my teeth hurt and that is why I feel this way". His lip quivered again and I gave him a big hug and he just broke down. He cried and cried and cried that he wants his friends to be in his new school too. I racked my brain and could only think of one boy for certain that would be at his school and of course, this is a boy he was not particularly close to so that did nothing. I started to well up myself at the intense emotions Gavin was feeling at the moment. He is not always one to put his feeling out there and tries to put on a brave face when he is feeling uncertain. I guess this wave of emotion was just too much for him.

I had promised them McDonald's for lunch but decided to drop Aidan and Ciara at my parents so Gavin and I could go alone to get the food and bring it back. On the way we talked about feeling sad about leaving one place but the excitement about starting in a new one. I explained how each year you get older and need to learn new things and that is why we have to move on. Once you learn all you can in preschool, your brain needs more challenges and so you go to a whole new grade to get those challenges. I think he understood and right now seems to be digesting everything.

This had to have been the hardest moment for me as a parent so far. I have been trying not to dwell on the fact that my baby boys are going to be 5 and will be off to the "big school" in a few short months. I have been trying to act like it is no big deal and remind myself that I am not the only parent that has to go through it. I suppose I have also been trying to act brave for the boys because I don't want to project my emotions on them and ruin the excitement they feel about starting kindergarten.

I guess I learned today that it's ok to show them that I feel sad, too. But I hope that I can also show them that I am excited for them to begin this new adventure and I'll be with them every step of the way.

My little paradox

Here she is. My daughter. Girly tiara on her head while making a considerably un-girly face. And in her sweats to boot.

The winter blahs

I am so ready for Spring and the nice weather! I have been so down the past few weeks and have so much less patience with the kids than usual. With daylight savings time last weekend, this week seemed a little better. Even though it is still as cold as last week, there is a "spring is in the air" feeling. It is horrible being cooped up in the house. There is really nothing to do and nowhere to go that doesn't cost money. We can only make so many trips to the library. Each day I feel guilty that the kids are watching too much tv, using the computer too much, or playing the video games but I know as soon as the air gets even a little warmer we will be hitting the park. They need the fresh air!

Every day Gavin asks me if it is Spring yet. Soon, I tell him. And when it's spring, he asks, does that mean we can swim in a pool? Not quite. But the boys are taking swimming lessons, which they love. So maybe that will quell the swimming bug for a while.

My apologies

I cannot believe I have neglected my blog this long. Here is what happens:

I never seem to have a chunk of uniterrupted time to post a blog entry.
I lie in bed at night before falling asleep and mentally compose the blog entries I would write if I did have a chunk of uniterrupted time.
When I do get a chunk of uninterrupted time, I cannot remember what it was I wanted to post about.

Sound familiar?

Now, I must go get the boys from preschool and before that I need to change Ciara as I am hoping she is done with her 45 minute pooping session.

It gets worse before it gets better

That's how the saying goes, right? Let's put it to the test.
Aidan on Friday after his fall (Day 1):


Day 2:

Yup, definitely worse. Although it doesn't seem to be bothering him from the looks of the photo.

Day 3:

Worse or better? Maybe about the same.

Day 6:

Here he is opening Valentine's with his brother. The dark purple bruising seems to be turning to yellow.

I suppose we have proved the theory. It is getting better each day but it still looks awful.

The cry

My poor boy.

Yesterday we were visiting my mother-in-law for lunch. She just had knee surgery so she is not up and around yet. So I took it upon myself to go into the kitchen and start lunch for the kids. I hadn't been in there more than two minutes when I hear an awful thud, a moment of silence, and then the cry. The cry where you just know something is wrong. Not the cry that you here 25 times a day and shout into the other room "You'll be okay." without even going in to check on the crier. The cry that makes you drop whatever it is your doing and fly into the room as fast as you can.

So from what I can gather, Aidan was spinning around, tripped on the area rug and smashed his face right onto the coffee table. Thank goodness it missed his actual eye and thank goodness my in-laws have a coffee table with rounded edges. It swelled immediately and turned bluish. I put in a call to our doctor's office and they seemed to feel that as long as he was not disoriented and not complaining of a headache or nausea to just leave him be.

Today he is his old self but his eye looks so much worse. Sean has dubbed him "Rocky" since he looks just like him after he won the fight agaisnt the Russian guy (Drago?).

So it seems that Aidan is always the one getting hurt in this family. Here he is the day before he turned three when he was again twirling, lost his balance and smashed his nose into our fireplace. Thankfully nothing was broken.

Gavin (knocking wood here) has never been seriously injured. I think it is partly because he is way too careful to allow himself to sustain injury. He is not a twirler, spinner,or jumper. Aidan has such an exhuberant spirit that he just bubbles over all the time. Gavin is much more reserved.

I suppose it is good in a way. Two bubbly spirits are sure to add up to some trips to the Emergency Room.

Kara-TAY

Aidan started Karate on Tuesday and is loving it. Back in October we went for a trial week but then decided not to join until after the holidays. Every week or so, Aidan would ask when he could go back to karate so I knew he really liked it--it wasn't just something he tried and forgot about.

He was so excited when he got his gi on the first day and the instructor--excuse me Renshi--put his belt on him. Then he went off into the dojo with the other kids. He paired up with an older boy who was a brown belt and that boy showed him what to do and how to do it when Renshi gave instructions. I was amazed how quickly he picked up on things just by watching what the other kids were doing.

Yesterday, I was so proud of him when Renshi did a block and asked what the name of that particular one was. Aidan raised his hand and said "Circle block!" which was really a circular block but close enough. This was day two of karate. I am amazed how much he remembered!

There is a lot of excercise and stretching in the beginning of class and I was afraid that Aidan would get bored with it. And with the karate instruction--yesterday they spent 20 minutes working on the circular block and I was thinking he was going to be bored but he wasn't. It is good for him to realize that karate is not all rock 'em sock 'em like on tv with Spongebob and Sandy.

I also think this is going to be good for him because it is something that is just his. All his life it has been "Aidan and Gavin" when doing activities, etc. So far, Gavin has absolutely no interest in doing karate. Which is kind of OK by me since I honestly don't know if we could afford to have both boys do it! (Sad but true.) Sean is signing both boys up for soccer this spring so maybe Gavin will find an interest there. I know Sean is hoping that at least one of the boys will follow in his footsteps.

So, I hope that Aidan will stick with Karate. I think it will be great for building his focusing skills and self-confidence.