BUSY

Things have been slow around here lately. My blog, I mean. The household has been extremely busy! We went to Maryland for the Cal RIpken Jr. tournament. The boys got to play in Cal Sr. Stadium. That was awsome. It is like a minor league ballpark set up for kids. Stadium seats and all! They lost in the first round of playoffs, and we got home early. Patrick has been named to the JV football team, and even on Saturdays he has practice. They had their first game yesterday, and lost to a tough team. Patrick, bieng one of the 9th graders, didn't even get put into the game. That is ok, his turn will come. Daniel is going out for the 7th and 8th grade squad, and he even has practice on the weekends. He is also committed to playing fall baseball, so there are times when he goes from one practice to another. Our lives have been extremely busy and continue to be so, but I feel so much better when it is busy. The kids are adjusting well to school, and to their sports schedule. They are active involved kids and don't have the time to find bad activities. Statistics say that involved kids make better students and are least likely to get into "trouble." I try not to over tax my kids, let them pick an activity that they are comfortable with and run with it! One activity a season. I won't get them into 20 clubs and 4 or 5 sports and overschedule their lives. That makes for an insane mother and an overanxious child. Not to mention the many many family dinners that are missed. I too am a believer in sitting down with the kids at dinner time. I will sit and talk even when dinner has passed and the kids are getting in late from athletics. There are times when we MUST eat before they get home, Scott has work two nights a week and is leaving when they step off of the bus, but I make sure that they have a warm meal and some company at the table. Conversation is the key there, even over meatloaf, Patrick's least favorite meal. I don't serve it too often, I enjoy eating it, but hate making it.
So, that has been my life, a little disorganized, but busy. I know that as the kids grow, there is little opportunity for the "quiet times," cuddles on the couch, etc. I enjoy the moments that I have with my kids, I enjoy the small accomplishments, and the large ones. I like to peek in on them when they are sleeping, just to remember the little faces that have grown into large ones. I don't miss the diaper changes, but I do miss the baby oil and baby powder after a bath, the cute fuzzy outfits that kept them warm in the winter, and the little socks that they used to pull off of their feet. I know that I would be insane to have an infant in this house now, to start all over, there is no way that I want that, I just wish they would have been little a while longer, I appreciate that time now, even the witching hours that lasted hours, at times.
Well, that is all for now, thoughts on a chilly Sunday morning....

Walking Down Memory Lane

Catherine, from All THings English,( see Catherine's Blog in daily reads) posted a beautiful tribute to her son on his birthday. Go check it out, I was crying like a big baby here this morning. It gave me an idea. I will post pictures of my children when they were little and now, so that you all can(YAWN, WAKE UP, I KNOW I AM BORING YOU TO DEATH) appreciate how much they have grown. Let's hope that blogger lets me do it!

The first photo is one that was taken on an Easter SUnday at my parent's house. Daniel was about two and Patrick was about 5. The second photo was taken about 3 years ago in Montauk. It was at Gossmann's Dock, a sort of small square with shops and a Large resturaunt, named Gossman's. The third is of Patrick, my 14 year old, with our first dog, Rascal, he looks to be about a year, maybe on the verge of 2. The next photo is Cassidy the day she came home from the hospital. My mom bought the "comming home" outfit and the hat was sooooo big. I thnk it might fit her now, at 5. Th last picture is of Daniel, he is sitting in a "snuggly" seat, on our deck at the house we lived in in Westhampton. He is aobut 7 or 8 months old, but it is one of my favorite shots of him, love the funny face! There are times that he still makes it at 11.