Does the sibling rivalry ever end?????

As we are getting into the car tonite (the VERY cold car I might add) to pick up a teammate of John's and drop them off at hockey practice the war begins:

John:  Move Ryan, you have to sit in the back back (after he's all comfortably settled in)

Ryan: No, I don't want to sit in the way back.

John: Too bad, now move

This goes back and forth for a few rounds before I calmly tell Ryan that we can't really have Justin climbing all over the place when we get him.  Ryan finally concedes and I proceed to tell John that he didn't have to be so bossy and mean.  His response was "well he annoys me"  I proceed further and try to explain to John just because he's the first born does not give him the right to boss the younger (especially the youngest) ones around all the time.  At which point Ryan pipes up with "Yeah John it's not all about you" followed by "how would you like to be the youngest for once and get bossed around all the time?"  His response was some sort of gutteral noise, don't think it qualifies for english.  Of course, this whole time Patrick is just focused on his IPOD and had know idea there was even a battle going on...ah, blissfully unaware....he's really good at that. 

Ry's First Time Playing Goalie...

Our Visit to the Bruins Game..

Between Halloween and Thanksgiving...

Ok, so I admit I have been a tad delinquent in updating my life (after all, they say admitting your problem is the first step) and I could use a million excuses...but what it comes down to is basically there aren't enough hours in the day, enough days in the week, etc., blah, blah, blah.  So here is a summary in as few words as possible.  We survived Halloween after the Lacey tragedy (NOT my favorite holiday to begin with!), after that it was report card time.  Both John and Pat were convinced they were going to bomb at least one subject, they even had me believing it.  But, to my pleasant surprise they all did really well with all A's and B's.  Parent teacher conferences held no big surprises, ie:  all of them are rather chatty at times (wonder where they got that trait???...hmmm), and some ants in the pants at times (now, THAT they did not get from me!), but overall no major behavior issues, and all seemed to be liked by their teachers.  The next big event was Thanksgiving, which was for the most part rather quiet ( a welcome deviation from the norm).  The weather was nice for the holiday weekend and they got to practice their new second favorite activity next to hockey---skateboarding.  Yes, they have discovered the only skate park in Quincy and have managed to sway us to bring them there on numerous occasions--- for HOURS at a time.  Now Patrick has even managed to find an indoor skate park (of course not even remotely close to us) on the web for us to visit over Christmas break...lucky me, which of course will have to be sandwhiched in between tournament games the WHOLE week.  

Our Great Loss..

On Saturday night we experienced a traumatic event that was dealt with differently by each of the boys.  Our much loved and quite spoiled dog Lacey (the smaller, but older of the two dogs) passed away very suddenly and very unexpectedly.  She was only 7 years old, far too early to leave us.  Now that the initial shock is settling down, it is interesting to see how they each deal with the loss, as well as the other dog Timmy.  Timmy is just so lost and sad without his other (aka "better" half).  Not sure what to do for him.... John is for the most part the pragmatic one, repeating over and over that everything will be ok and that even the other dog will eventually adjust.  I think he's trying to convince himself as well.  Patrick, the most sensitive one is still quite sad, and rather quiet.  Ryan, well.....he's 6.  He has two views, one of which is "we can just get another one" and "It must have just been her time to go to heaven.  But I don't remember her getting a letter from God saying that she had to go to heaven this Saturday"......Yeah, pal, I don't remember seeing that letter either.

We love you and miss you Lacey  xoxo

Travel hockey season has officially started...

Today was the official start of John and Pat's travel teams.  We lucked out in that both teams had their games at the Quincy rink, and fairly close times to each other.  We're off to a great start with Pat's team beating Natick 3-0, and Pat even scored the first goal of the game...that was after he spent a minute and a half in the penalty box for tripping in the first two minutes of the game, but of course Pat swears the kid faked the trip.....yeah, okay.   John's team also did well beating Dedham with a score of 5-2.  John didn't score any goals this time, but he did get some good shots on the goalie.  Unfortunately the goalie was in the right place at the right time....John played very well and didn't even end up in the naughty box like his brother...Congrats to both teams!

Milestones in household life....

So I've been slowly but surely slogging through the John's application for BC High for next year.   The conclusions that I've come to are:

College applications will be a breeze and I could probably make good money becoming a professional application completer because, believe me, writing parent essays (yes, the parents actually have to answer essay questions on the application) is not on anybody's top 10 list.

Also another milestone has been reached today in this household....Patrick has officially hit the double digit years....Happy 10th birthday buddy!

Why Is It....

Why is it that when you have the least time to catch your breath with a crazy schedule, you come down with the most god-awful head cold?  Of course, it's not like you're going to get anything that resembles sympathy from the kids.  Case in point:

Me:  my head feels sooo stuffed up and congested.

Ryan:  it's called mucus mom...

Me:  that's great, where did you learn that cocktail like conversation?

Ryan:  T.V.

Maybe I should monitor the television watching.....I'm pretty sure that kinda stuff isn't on the Flintstones or the Jetsons.

Thought for the day...

The thought for the day was eloquently put by Ryan (6 years old):

"Did you know that when you're a dog the whole world is your bathroom?"

First day of school, 2008

Ok, so everyone survived the first day/week of school...somewhat. Ryan was soooo nervous he actually made himself physically sick. At 4 am he was trying to throw up, but fortunately (for our floor etc), there was nothing in his tummy. In the middle of it, he turned around to say, "Do I have to go to school now?" My reply was " we'll talk about it when its time to wake up." He did wake up and very reluctantly went to his first day of first grade. I tried to make it easier on him by pointing out all his kindergarten friends. His reply to each name was a little quivering "don't care." He marched in with the line with his head down like he was going to some execution. Meanwhile, the other two couldn't get away fast enough..."Have a nice day............." Hmm., no response. I left to go to work and dad had pick up duty. I called to see how Ryan was at pickup and this was the conversation:

Me: How was their first day of school?

Dad: Fine I guess

Me: How was Ryan?

Dad: Fine.

Me: (a little annoyed at this point) How was Ryan when he came out? Was he still upset?

Dad: No, he was fine, he was happy

Of course he was. Dad had the easy assignment, pickup. I had the crappy assignment, drop off.

Fortunately, day 2 went much smoother. After all, who wouldn't be stressed not knowing where their cubby is going to be? Once that is taken care of life is good.

Now, homework?......A whole other world........

Night before school..

Twas the night before school starts and all through the house, all you could hear was:
John: My stomach hurts....
Me: Then go to bed.............off he goes (it's only 7:30)...hmmm, maybe his stomach actually does hurt....oh well, nothing a little Tylenol can't take care of in the morning. (Come on, tell me one person who hasn't pulled that little trick)

Patrick: My stomach hurts (around 8:45)....
Me: the one eyed look.....off he goes (that was relatively easy)

Ryan: I'm not going to school tomorrow.
Me: Yes you are. Everyone is going.
Ryan: But I don't know what to do! What if its something I didn't learn in kindergarten last year (talk about the stress of academics)?
Me: Don't worry, everyone else in the class is in 1st grade for the first time tomorrow. Come sit on my lap.
Climbs up on my lap, has no shirt on, and all of a sudden I'm touching a mild Sahara desert....hmmm. Pop the ole' digital thermometer in the mouth and presto...look at that he's got a bit of a fever....whip out the Tylenol, dose him up, send him to bed with a final hug and said, you'll get to take some more of the yummy chewables tomorrow too! Like I said, who hasn't played this game before?

I'm sure they have visions of recess and lunch periods in their heads....LOL.....probably not!

Ok, so the last two weeks of August have been a blur....back to school shopping (which I don't recall as being so painful as a kid?)....last minute day trips and generally trying to squeeze out every last bit of freedom that is possible. We dropped John off in Maine this morning to spend a few days with one of his friends and their family. He will be fishing and learning how to water ski. Needless to say, this did not go over well with the middle one. Immediately after getting back into the car (after a scrumptious lunch at the Weathervane in Kittery I might add), the sulking and brooding began. This made for a very long trip home. The youngest one couldn't have cared less.....to him it is one less brother tormenting him. But of course Daddy will come to the rescue and take Pat and Ryan fishing tomorrow, because of course they bought new fishing rods at the Kittery Trading Post. Before they know it, John will be back and then school starts 2 days later.....woooo-hooooo, but who's counting?
P.S. Martha - I finally got the party slide show on....sorry it took so long..LOL

End of summer blast

How long until school starts again????

Thump, thump, thump up the cellar stairs....out comes John:

John: Ryan whipped a sandal at me!! (very indignant).

Out comes Ryan:

Ryan: that's because you whipped one at me first....I was running and screaming for my life, I was trying to save my life!!! (Lower lip quivering).

People promise me that they will all be the best of friends when they get older....not sure if I really believe these "people"

Water Country 8/4/2008

Our visit to Red Sox vs. Yankees 7/26/2008

Togetherness..

Yes, it's been a while since I've reported on my oh so interesting life. It's been crazy busy. John and Pat survived the week away at camp, and Ryan enjoyed his week of Kingdom here at the house. He definitely was not thrilled to have to go back to sharing his parents, his home life, especially the all important clicker control....as a matter of fact it only took a record 26 seconds of the three of them being in the same car before the brawling began....gee, so nice to have everybody together again. As a matter of fact the togetherness rolls right into the family vacation......Monday we did the Water Country thing.....THAT was interesting....translation: Double Geronimo anyone?....No matter how much Ryan begged to do it, I held my ground...I mean what sane mother would let their 6 year old go down a 90 degree vertical drop water slide?.....Pat (9) and John (11)....are a whole different story...they're on their own. Later that night while Ryan and I were walking the dogs, out of the blue he declared "Fine I won't go on Geronimo this year, but next year I AM!"......Fine pal, next year you're a year older and a year bigger, be my guest.

When I get my act together I will actually post some pictures from this expedition..

Twas the night before sleep away camp...

Tomorrow I will drop off the two older ones (John and Pat) up in Ossippee for a week long camp that they have been counting the days towards since I sent in the registration (in FEBRUARY). They eagerly agreed to pack their own duffel bags using the check off list given by the camp. After just a few minutes, I hear Patrick mutter "We don't really need that many clothes, I can just wear the same shorts all week"......Shall I start taking odds on whether the shampoo bottle even gets opened?.....Can't wait for the pick up return trip home...ewww

Conversations..

As we approach August my oldest, John, will turn 12 on August 23. He will be entering his last official "tween" year....from there it is the full fledged teenager....(Ooohh I can't wait). He seems to think he has gotten soooo wise as he gets older. Case in point is a recent conversation at 11:00 at night while dropping off a neighbor after the Paw Sox game (yes we did see Ortiz his first time back post injury). I'll admit I was tired after driving home, but not completely mindless...

John: Who answered the door?

Me: Huh?...I don't see the door ajar light on the dashboard. All the doors are closed.

John: Oh my God mom.....WHO ANSWERED THE DOOR WHEN YOU BROUGHT CHRIS IN?

Me: Ohhhhhhhhhh.....his dad

John: Wow, you really are gramma's daughter.....you both have the attention span of a rodent!

Can't wait to see what the teen years are going to bring....

School year round?

Long day at work.....a/c, what's that? in my esteemed work environment....mix heat and humidity with bodily functions.....you get the picture. Fast forward. Kids walk home from bus stop. Home 30 minutes.

Patrick: I'm bored...there's never anything to do.

Maybe he needs school year round?

Haircuts are not all that simple.

Ok, whoever said boys could care less how they look haven't met my kids. Today was haircut day...should have been simple, right?.....Not....The oldest, John, went first, tried to describe what he wanted, then decided to go shorter.....bad move. When he was done, he didn't look happy. Next was Pat, the middle one. He has very different hair than John, and what he described to Lee, the poor tortured stylist, was what he ended up with. Flash over to child one...the face is getting red and the tears are spilling over (I kid you not)....ok, on to number three, Ryan...he gives his description of leaving more on the top and within minutes he was done. By now John is in a full fledged howl about his being "too short" (remember he told her to keep going) and vowing NEVER to get his hair cut again.....I have my own appointment with Lee on Thursday...I wonder if I should bring her some sort of trinket as a peace offering on behalf of my slightly emotional "tween"

You know your kids are growing up when....

They start to make their own grilled cheese sandwich (a staple in any child's life of course!)

What We Did on the 4th of July..

The day started out innocent enough...slept past 7 am (major plus for the day), cleaned a few tanks (turtle, fish, bird, geckos....) then schlepped over a wall to the neighbors for a cookout...no major brawls, meltdowns or otherwise unappealing behavior. The John's (the oldest) cell phone rings and he proceeds to inform me that there are fireworks somewhere down the street according to his friend Shane. I look at him like he's speaking a foreign language and proceed to tell him that's impossible as they are illegal, and if there were any legal ones I surely would have read in the local paper. Now he has the other two going as well as the weekend child I acquire (neighbor) so I agree to drive down and "check this out". Well what do you know, a few streets down they do in fact have a little illegal show going, which surprisingly was rather impressive for non professionals. They almost made it through the whole lot of explosives before the man in blue showed up, and in the spirit of the holiday did not tell them to quit, but rather fininsh them up....everyone was happy, especially since all I heard earlier was "can we go see some fireworks" over and over....time for bed...after some oreos first of course..

It's been a few days...

Ok, it's been a few days since I've been here.....but that's because I'm having trouble even scheduling time for the bathroom. Even though camp is a longer day than school, I find that I still don't have enough time to get everything done. From the time they get on the bus I feel like that little hampster on the annoying creaky plastic wheel. I've been going into work the two days I don't normally work to make up for the coming holiday and boy that has really put a crimp in the normal running around/errands...If I ever win the lottery I'm going to get me one of those people who do all the errands for you, problem is I don't seem to be winning any lotteries...and the kids dare to ask me what I do with all my "FREE TIME"......deep breath, must realign my zen.....

First Day of Summer Camp

Well, they all survived there first long day of summer camp.....They're complete toast, marshmallows, barely able to lift their heads to put in dinner requests.....only one has the energy to leave the house on his bike (middle one)...the other two are strangley quiet.....hmmm, wonder if camp beat them tired...ha ha ha

Hours away from summer camp...

Exactly 10 hours until the bus picks them up for camp for the WHOLE day.....not that I'm counting or anything like that...

Remind me why I signed on for this parenting gig...

I need to be reminded why I signed on for this whole parenting gig...the day started with an attempt at serene family time at church......ok, whoever said church was supposed to be uplifting and a positive experience has never brought 3 boys with them.......it starts off with the very loud x3 protest that begins with "Do we HAVE to go?????...." followed by whining and flinging of selves on to various pieces of furniture for effect....once they've figured out that there is no compromise here, they drag themselves off like they are going to the execution chair. They flop themselves onto a pew where they proceed to alternate between a semi-upright position and total nap position while conversing in a total Irish whisper......I've gotten really good at not leaving any type of tell-tale marks as I whip them into position and ask them please, please, can't you just behave like those QUIET boys 3 rows behind us.....which usually results in a "yeah, ok mom" complete with the eye roll.....should've just stuck with pets.......

Ok, I've finally figured out this blog layout thing

It's Saturday, the end of the 2nd week of summer vacation for the boys. They start camp at Thayer Academy on Monday. Monday cannot come soon enough, I will try not to bodily throw them on the bus and jump up and down with glee as the bus pulls away. My poor mother has had to watch them the days that I worked for the past two weeks, and I've never seen her look so frazzled before...she'll probably offer to bring the to the bus out of sheer relief, bet she won't give the bus driver any heads up about them. Oh well, they get paid.

This is my very first blog, and I have spent all of late last night and part of today attempting to put it all together, as I am not a computer whiz. I had absolutely no desire to do any of this until I got an email from a friend telling me about her blog and a link to check out the site, so I did and this is what happened (thanks Abbey!! LOL). I am going to be so kind as to return the favor and have her check out mine....hope she approves!

What I do the most