Saying good-bye

How do you say good-bye to your best friend? To someone who's been by your side for seven years? Always happy to see you. Always there when you need him. The sweetest soul you've ever known.

Yesterday we had to say good-bye to Rudy. During the last month I've had so many emotions and thoughts over losing him but I'm not sure I can eloquently convey them now.  It's so hard to imagine our home, our family, without him. Yesterday morning I looked at his medicine bottle and tears sprang to my eyes. Later looking at his food dish brought on heaving sobs.

Telling the kids was torture. I don't think Brennan completely understands. He went from sobbing (I think mostly because he saw Kaelyn crying) to joking around and talking about getting the brown and white dog we saw at the park. Kaelyn cried a lot and was confused why he was going to have to go to Heaven when he's only seven. She wants another dog, too. She was finally comforted knowing that he would be happier in Heaven and would be able to run around and play again. She also wants to bring his picture to school to share with her class.

Baby Rudy

Chasing golf balls

Exhausted at his first ND game

Sleepy boy

You will be greatly missed little buddy. I'm so sorry for all the times you wanted to play and I thought I was too busy. You deserved better. You deserve the best. You will always be in our hearts.

Have fun chasing bubbles up there in Heaven, Buddy!

Flashback Friday: One week in

Welp, it's been just over a week since we've been in our "buy house." And boy has it been a crazy week. We had to move all of our stuff and paint the kids rooms in three days. Well, I suppose we didn't have to paint the kids' rooms, but I think it made them more excited about  moving and helped ease the transition. So I'm really glad we were able to. None of this would have been possible without the help of our family and friends, but especially Nana and Pop who very generously offered to drive up to help us with painting and moving. Nana and Pop, I promise the next time you visit it will be much more relaxing!

The kids seem to be adjusting well. Of course, we are pretty much in the same neighborhood, close to some of their friends and the park and they didn't have to switch schools. But there was a period where they (at least Kaelyn) questioned why we were moving again. It was in anticipation of this that our last house was affectionately referred to as "rent house." Before we moved out here I didn't want her getting confused when we bought a house and moved again a year later. So I tried very hard to explain to her that we would be moving to a house we would rent for a short time until we could find a house we wanted to buy. The terms "rent house" and "buy house" stuck, but I guess after a year the concept was still a little hard for a six-year old to grasp.

Nevertheless, she seems very happy in her new pink and green and brown room. And Bren loves his blue room. It really does make a huge difference to be able to paint and make it our own. Although the whole house really does feel cozy and homey, even if there are still boxes in every room.  We're getting there. Pretty soon will be back to our daily routine and mess and we won't even remember what it was like to have boxes stacked to the ceiling.  Well, I'll remember. And that's why I don't intend to move again for a very long time. Or for a very good reason. I'm not sure my back and my knees will make it through another move.

It really feels like we're home.

Wordless Wednesday: Annual Apple Picking

Can you believe this was his first time apple picking?!

It's beginning to look a lot like fall

A Month of Firsts

No, I have not completely given up on this blogging thing. The end of summer and beginning of the school year has felt absolutely crazy. And a few important milestones have passed in that time.

Kaelyn started First grade if you can believe it. The thing she was most excited for - eating in the lunch room.  She has been super helpful in packing her lunches most evenings and she's even taken hot lunch a few days. Of course mom is super grateful for the help and the fact that her school has a pretty good lunch program. It's nice to have an occasional break from thinking about and packing lunch but still knowing she's getting a pretty nutritious meal. They even served quinoa salad one day!

Lining up. That's her teacher, Mrs. Noyes, behind her.

She seems to be having a lot of fun so far and she's not nearly as tired and cranky at the end of the day as I feared she'd be. She's made a few new friends in her class and gets to go to her "specials" with two of her best friends from last year.

Another exciting first this month - Brennan made his first visit to the ER. We knew it was coming. It was just a matter of when. He picked a great time too. We were FaceTiming with Auntie Jenny for her birthday a couple weeks ago when he decided to get all crazy and jump around on the couch. Sure enough, about 15 minutes before the start of the Notre Dame game, crack! He fell off the couch and the back of his head smashed into the coffee table. When we saw the blood and Matt saw the cut we made a pretty quick decision to take him the Emergency Room, which conveniently is only about 3 minutes away.

I'll spare you the gory pictures of the wound and just show you cute pictures of him happy and playing

He stopped crying as soon as he saw the kids waiting area when we got there. They were so quick though he didn't have time to play with anything. He was actually in a pretty good mood while we waited to see the doctor and then the nurse again and then waited for the numbing medicine to kick in before getting stitches. I was pretty happy that they had a t.v. in the room so I could watch the game while we waited. Or so I thought. Brennan insisted that he wanted to watch golf. So I flipped through all the channels to show him that golf was not in fact on at 8 o'clock at night. No worries, he settled on NASCAR instead. The boy loves fast cars. Luckily at the first commercial break I was able to talk him into turning the ND game on.

He refused to take the ER bracelet off his ankle until 2 days after we got the stitches removed

He was very brave and didn't cry at all during the first three stitches (or shoe laces as the doctor called them). I held him and he snuggled his head against my chest. Then, at the end of the fourth and final stitch she caught a piece of his hair and he broke down crying. He was pretty much inconsolable until we got out to the car. Probably mostly because he was exhausted by the time we got out of there.

He also refused to have his hair combed the entire week the stitches were in

Last, but not least, we have a preschooler in the house!  Brennan had his first day of preschool at Emerson last Thursday.

He did really well with the transition. I don't know if it helps that he's seen his older sister go to school, or that he already knows one of the teachers pretty well (the mom of one of Kaelyn's friends - he actually ran up to her and jumped in her lap to give her a hug when he saw her) or that he has a friend he already knows in his class. There were no tears at all when I had to leave after morning circle time. Of course, had I not had so much to get done during my 2 1/2 kid-free hours that may not have been true. I was so busy I hate to say that I barely noticed he was gone. But, on a not so busy day in the future I thinking it will be oddly quiet without him around. Luckily he's only going 2 days a week. I think I can handle that.

Even though there were no tears I thought it was awfully cute and almost heartbreaking when I was helping him get out of the car and he looked up at me and asked, "will you walk with me to the door?" Can you even imagine watching this little boy walk into school all by himself?

And I guess it's a good sign that he didn't even acknowledge me when I got there for pick up. He just kept running around and playing with his friends. I think he's going to have so much fun this year I'm actually a little jealous and sad that I won't get to experience every minute of it with him.

Six

I broke with tradition a little last year for the annual birthday post. But to be fair we were getting ready to move half way across the country. So, going back to tradition, in honor of my not-so-baby girl turning six today (what?!) here is a list of her favorite things so we can all remember what she's like at this age.

Enjoying the view at Franconia Notch State Park Flume Gorge

Kaelyn's favorites right now (all according to her):
Color: pink
Princess: Anna a lot but Elsa the most
Food: ice cream
Show: Sheriff Callie
Movie: Frozen and The Lego Movie
Game: soccer
Thing to do with Bren: cars
Thing to do with Dada: wrestle
Thing to do with Mama: cook
Thing to do with friends: play outside
Book: Mulan, Frozen, Lego Movie book, American Girls
Animal: bird
Song: Let it Go
Restaurant: The Barley House (she's gonna be a foodie)
Drink: lemonade
Person on TV: Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond)
Thing to play: read and color

 

playing with some of her best buds after her birthday tea party

Happy birthday my sweet, sophisticated, intelligent, beautiful girl!

A week at the beach

Earlier this month we were not only lucky enough to spend a week at the beach, but we also got to spend it with family who we never get to see often enough.  Here are some of the highlights (and low-lights) of the trip.

Sand sculptures and cousin time. Can you see Elsa and Olaf in the background?

A little evening dip. Just to get our toes wet. (And our nice clothes.)

We may have missed the fireworks at home but we had a pretty nice spot to watch by the beach. The first time the kids got to stay up to watch.

Crowded beach, cold water, finding creatures and building castles in the sand.

A friendly game of barefoot soccer.

Crossing state lines to a quieter beach. Lots of frisbee, windswept hair and lobster and chowder for lunch.

Kaelyn wasn't feeling so great for a couple of days. (Between her getting sick and Brennan leaking during the night or naps I think we washed sheets more times that week than we usually do in a year). So we took a break from the heat to get a closer look, and touch, at some sea creatures and make our own starfish.

And of course some ice cream to keep us cool.

I'm guestimating that between everyone we spent at least $100 at the arcade. But hey, it was worth it for the angry bird pencil topper and crazy light up "frog" thingy we "won" at the prize booth. Brennan's obsession with motorcycles continues.

Jenness Beach. Boogie boarding. And the art of throwing sand.

A beautiful dinner out (with more lobster, seafood and eating flowers) was capped off with dessert (I think Brennan ate the most) and gorgeous walk on the beach.

And it may not be perfect, but after several failed attempts this group picture is as good as it gets. And the only picture you'll find of me.

A day in Portsmouth for a walk in the park, some shopping, a view of the harbor (and Maine) and a yummy lunch.

Brennan "doing his work" at the beach.

And finally, our little surfer girl. Kaelyn fell in love with boogie boarding. This video doesn't do justice to how much fun she had, even after several face-first spills into the 55 degree, ice-cold water.

Speaking of spills...

I think everyone would agree it was a fun vacation. We can't wait to see everyone again and we can't wait to go back to the beach!

June = lupines + strawberries

As we get ready to embark on our July adventures, let me tell you about our June.

Seems like we've been pretty busy since this little girl "graduated" from Kindergarten.

Performing their good-bye song. I got a little choked up.

With her teacher Mrs. L and one of her best friends.

We've just been trying to soak up the summer at the pool and the park. But also, trying to enjoy the beauty and fruits of June in New England.  One of our first missions after school was out was to go and see the lupines which are abundant just an hour north of her in the mountain region.

An old steel furnace where we stopped for a picnic on our way home.

Bren wasn't feeling great that day so this was the only picture I got of him at our picnic.

Jelly Face

We also spent a morning picking strawberries at a nearby farm. We picked about 9 1/2 pounds. We've eaten quite a bit since they are a favorite of everyone's. But we also made jam and froze a whole bunch to use in smoothies. We're already through our first jar of jam.

We may have sampled a few while picking

She chose her outfit wisely that day.

It's a beautiful time of year! Up next, the beach!