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!