Happy Halloween

The kids really look forward to all holidays. They like the traditions. For Halloween they especially like the candy.

Halloween on a Sunday is not ideal, but they enjoyed it very much.

Clair is a superhero. She titled herself collision Clair. This is inspired by the book Mia Mayham. She really enjoyed the persona as well as the costume.

Max decided to be something scary this year instead of a superhero. He was a Grim Reaper. He didn’t wear the mask with the eyes much. I guess they get in the way of running around and grabbing candy.

Ellie was a fictitious character that has something to do with Minecraft. I’m not really sure. She is good with make up and she’s very creative with putting costumes together. She’s cute and she had a good time. She walked around with some friends.

Although it was a busy day and a busy weekend, they still managed to carve the pumpkins. I need to get pictures of Ellie‘s and Max’s Still from David. 

David and I walked around with Max and Clair. Henry and Jon joined us. Max was happy for that tradition to continue. Clair was determined to go to the whole neighborhood. But because her candy basket was so full I managed to persuade her against it. They came home with way too much candy. Now to figure out how to sneak it out of the house…

After counting the candy Clair proclaimed that she had over 250 pieces. Wow

Ellie and Max were also very happy with their takes.

Tomorrow they have school. They got to bed at a decent time and I’m happy for that.

Fall sports come to an end

Another sport season is coming to an end. Ellie was in 15 u rec softball, Clair was in eight you rec softball. Max played 12 U rec soccer.

David coached soccer and I helped him a little bit. I was the head coach for Ellie‘s team. I was an assistant for Clair‘s team. It’s been a busy fall.

What’s important is that I think each of the kids had fun. 

I think Ellie was enjoying her teammates more as she gets older. She continues to be our primary picture. I miss seeing her at first base. Her hitting is coming along nicely. It’s a shame her body is a mess with hurt knees, hurt ankles, and now her wrists. I’m not quite sure what to do with her. She is quite athletic, and she seems to hurt herself a lot. 

Max had a whole new team of boys, except for two. His team did quite well this year. He played goalie some at the beginning. But that feed it off. I think he did all right school. He also scored a few calls throughout the season. He’s been working on his passing and he’s been working on just being aware of his teammates and working hard.Max had a whole new team of boys, except for two. His team did quite well this year. He played goalie some at the beginning. But that feed it off. I think he did all right as Gooley. He also scored a few goals throughout the season. He’s been working on his passing and he’s been working on just being aware of his teammates and working hard. He does work hard at soccer. It’s fun watching him play.

Clair went back to softball after two years away. She started her head above the other girls in terms of her preparedness for catching throwing and hitting. (at least that is my biased assessment as her mother.) she had much better focus this year now that she is eight instead of six. She really has a knack for the game. She keeps track of the outs in the score in her head. It seems she’s always right. I can’t keep track of these games in my head. I’m Impressed by that. She still enjoys soccer also. We will keep switching back-and-forth between soccer and softball for a while. She’s quite athletic and I don’t want to focus her on just one sport yet. Who knows what her sport will be and I think it’s great for kids to want to pay more than one sport.

Max has one practice and a tournament this weekend. Clair has one final game. Ellie was done today.

Rest In Peace Lady Grey

Today was a hard day. The last 48 hours have been hard. I noticed Lady Grey was struggling to walk and I feared it might be the end. My fear was right.

I took her to the vet on Monday afternoon. The vet said she thought her kidneys might be shutting down. But we decided to give her fluids and antibiotics like we did last time. Those had gotten her a good 2 to 2 1/2 months. We hope that might happen again. When I took her home, she couldn’t settle. Monday night she walked around the house meowing and off a lot. She was struggling to walk and could barely get herself up and down the stairs. I’m not sure if she slept monday night or not. I was unable to settle her.

Tuesday I got everybody after school. I tried to start work. When I checked on Lady Grey I found her just sitting in the hallway between the office in the bedroom. She couldn’t walk with me to the bathroom like she normally does. I knew that was a bad sign. I tried to take her to drink. She wasn’t interested. Given Lady Grey loves water, that was another bad sign. I had a sense this was going downhill fast. I called the vet to get it Bass because by 3 o’clock she was barely moving. I didn’t think it was worth torturing her by giving her the anabiotic‘s because I figured she was probably dying. They asked me to make an appointment to bring her in Wednesday morning, and it was a good thing they did. By the time we got her there Wednesday morning she was barely alive. Tuesday night was really rough. Getting the kids to bed and then after school Wednesday morning was also very hard. They love Lady Grey very much. 

I warn the kids that things weren’t looking good. And they came in to see her Wednesday morning they could tell she felt really bad. They could see that she was struggling. The degree wasn’t moving, her tongue was sticking out, her eyes were glassy, she was laboring in breath. They are somehow managed to say their goodbyes and go off to school. I’m so proud of them for that I know that was really hard.

I laid on the bed with Lady Grey for about 45 minutes before getting her ready to go to the vet. I couldn’t go by myself, I needed David to come with me. I’m thankful that he took the day off work to take care of his family and what we needed. He was a wonderful man. By the time we got very grateful that we weren’t sure if she was even alive. Ashley listen to her and said her heart still beating. She said she was really weak and confirmed what we wanted to do with her. We agreed to put her to sleep and put her out of her misery. Ashley says that sometimes animals, especially cats, can go on like this for days or even weeks. I did not wish that for her, none of us wish that for Lady Grey. 

I held her and hugged her and kissed her and told her that we all loved her and that I loved her very much. She passed peacefully around 10:30 AM. Before we could even get home with her body, Ellie was texting me from school telling me that she couldn’t stop crying and she really needed to come home. Although I do not want to set a kind of precedent that you can skip school and work when things get tough, we decided to give her this one day. I went ahead and picked her up from school. She spent the afternoon laying beside Lady Grey. She made a lovely tribute video. She just couldn’t leave lady graveside until we finally had her funeral.

David made her a casket, but very nice casket. The kids and I decorated it with lovely messages and images for lady gray. We placed her in it with a super soft blanket, one of our softest, it reminded us of her super soft fur. Lady Grey had the softest for of any cat I have ever known. I think it’s because she was so clean. For most of her life she kept her self so very clean. It made her first so very soft.

We buried her at the top of the garden. David made her a lovely cross as a headstone. He said a prayer at the gravesite. There were a lot of tears shed today by all of us a different points in time. We love that cat. We still love her. She was with David and I for 16 1/2 years. She was one of our first babies and one of our first investments together. She has kept me company through so many sicknesses and sadness is in so many work from home days. I am going to miss her so much every time I am in my office. The house will be so lonely without her following me to the Bathroom between every conference calls all day long. I love the way she kept me company in the office for the past few years while I worked. She seems so content to just be with me. And she gave me so much peace when I looked at her under my desk, especially during tough meetings. She provided so much happiness and joy to this family. Lady Grey you will be so missed.

I really love this picture of her. This was taken one year ago today. She would come up to me at my desk and she wanted to get on my lap and put her paws up on me and asked me to pick her up just like a little baby. She is the sweetest thing. 

Some pictures of everybody working hard to get ready for Lady Greys funeral today.













David diligently dug her 3 foot deep grave in pouring down rain. He never complained once.

A few pictures of the kids give them final cuddles last 24 hours.

Relaxing family evening

Today Max had a soccer game and I did the grocery shopping. During the afternoon I played a game with Clair and then we watched the VT football game on TV. Finally I mowed the lawn and made dinner. We had a nice family dinner pork chops, potatoes, and beans. We had some good talks looking forward to our vacation next week.

After dinner we all went out and enjoyed the pool. I had heated it up significantly and it was wonderful. Everybody floated around for over an hour. We played a little basketball. We did a little swimming. We did some talking. Ellie even told me she liked talking to me in the pool. That melted my heart. It was a wonderful fall evening at home. 

Clair’s first First Aid Kit

Today Clair had her first Girl Scout troop meeting of the year. She was happy to have it but wasn’t overly excited about it either. I took Ellie to softball and David took her to her meeting. When I got home, I was met by a super excited girl and she told me that they made first aid kits at Girl Scouts today.

There was a storm coming so I told everybody to quickly get their showers and that she could show me her first aid kit after the showers were done. Later, I asked her to get her first aid kit and she proudly collected it and came into my bedroom to show me all the goodies. I have never seen someone so excited about a first aid kit. She went on about it until she went to bed. She showed me everything in her kit. She asked me about what was missing that we could add to her kit. She went through scenario after scenario on Ways that she could use her kid to help patch people up when they got hurt.

She kept telling me how lucky she was. She even recalled that this would go nice with her doctors kit that she has.

As we were coming upstairs to go to bed she was still excited about her kit. She asked me, “mommy when did you get your first first aid kit?“ I honestly have no idea when I got my first first aid kit but I assume there was one of my first car so I told her that. She proceeded to say aren’t I lucky I got 1/2 a lifetime earlier than you did. Then she giggled with joy and excitement!

I love the joy that this exercise brought her.

Kids using the pool

It’s a good afternoon. Each kiddo has a friend over to enjoy a sunny Labor Day weekend afternoon in the pool. I love that the pool brings them joy as siblings and also gives them something fun to invite friends to do with them. 

I also love my lounge chairs and watching them from it. 

The night before school

This summer has flown by. Tomorrow Eli starts eighth grade, Max starts sixth grade, and Claire starts third grade. They all actually went to bed quite excited for where they are and where they’re going. Clair has been anxiously awaiting the start of school now for weeks. She loves school and she wishes she would’ve had more time in it over her academic career. Max likes being with other people and that makes school actually a very enjoyable place for him, despite the academic aspect. Ellie doesn’t like getting up early, but she really doesn’t mind The academic aspect of school, and I think she may actually be looking forward to seeing a few of her friends more regularly. I think she’s also excited that her and her brother will be in the same school together.

The pandemic has really made school different for the kids over the past couple years. Although they are wearing masks, which I actually think is good at this stage, they are starting back full-time with regular schedules tomorrow. This will allow me to have full day at home to focus on work. It will be weird to be alone for six or seven hours each day. I will miss them, and I know it is great for them to be heading off to school tomorrow.

Over the past week we’ve been to the middle school and the elementary school to check out classrooms and walk the schools. Max walked his schedule three times at the middle school. Max is really excited about school, and he’s a little nervous too. He had some good questions tonight and spent a good amount of time making sure he was ready for the day tomorrow. I have a lot of confidence in the way he is willing to talk to adults and ask for the help that he needs. I have encouraged him to remember that if he feels lost or confused tomorrow just use his good manners and ask the nearest adult. I am proud of the way Max takes on the world and is willing to communicate with others quite openly.

Clair knew exactly how to find her classroom at the elementary school. Clair was excited to look around the room and see who was in her class. She is very happy to have the friends she knows in her class with her this year. She didn’t get the teacher she was hoping for, but we’ve decided it’s going to be a great year anyway.

As for my eldest, I cannot believe she is already in eighth grade. I wish for her a wonderful year. I wish for her academic success and friendship success. She has very much developed a sense of her own style. She is a wonderful girl with a big heart. She is taking responsibility for herself. She helped out around the house the summer a lot for David and I. I am proud of her. I can’t believe she only has five years left before heading off to college. That just doesn’t seem possible.

As they say, sometimes the days are long but the years flyby. I have always wanted to be a mom and I love being a mom. They do challenge my patience, and I wish I had more patience to show them. That will forever be a work in progress. I hope they always know that I love them with all my heart. Fly my kiddos and enjoy the school year!

This evening we stopped by a park on our way home from running a few errands. The kids really enjoyed playing there and I enjoyed snapping a few pictures.