July fourth was a nice family day for us - John had to work and Katy wasn't home from the lake with the Fulk family until after lunch, but when we were all together we headed over to mom and dad's for hotdogs. As usual we walked down to the fireworks at Memorial Field, but this time we were prepared and asked dad to bring his ear protectors for the boys. This made all the difference for Zach, and he was able to stay and watch the festivities with only about nine requests to leave. But they were very reasonable - he would just turn around as the fireworks exploded overhead and say "May we go home now?"
Before the fireworks began the Nevers Band played, which is a band that has been around for about one hundred and fifty years. I think last night was probably the first time a MOSH PIT was formed for them, which I am sure we can thank our oldest son for. Way to go down in history, Jake!

In Short...

As you all know by now, I am the worst blogger ever. So I will briefly make a list of what has been going on, and hopefully later can make it back here to actually blog.
Let's see. Since May...
- Jake and Katy attended an ElventySeven concert
-Gabe and Zach spent the night at Wash's house
-We went to Providence to spend the day at the zoo with our little cousins Ava and Max
-John took Mom and I to Angelina's for Mother's Day
-the boys and I started working in a co-operative garden with some girls from work
-Jake took part in Jonathan Fulk's senior recital, on the electric guitar
-Katy graduated eighth grade
-Gabe lost his first tooth
-Gabe lost his second tooth
-John took Father's Day off and we had a great ka-bob cookout from the Meat House
-we got (another) new kitten
-Jacob and Katy both made the Honor Roll (AGAIN!!!!)
-We spent two days at Storyland
-the big kids spent a week at summer camp with Youth Group
-Jake began his thirteen month program to finish earning his black belt

Last night when Zachy went to bed I had a hard time snuggling him; he has suddenly developed an affinity for stuffed animals (HURRAH!!!!) and so now instead of just Papa Bear, his official bedtime pal, he is taking his oragutan (a.k.a. Simple Monkey) with him and added his newest friend, The Butterfly. It is this really cool "puppet" that is a caterpillar but then turns into a butterfly. We ordered it from Imagination Village because I got tired of trying to tie blankets to their stuffed Very Hungry Caterpillar, trying to make wings. The new butterfly is probably fifteen inches wide, so it is a spectacular toy! All of this to say, ZuZu was buried up to his chin in animals last night.
Jake allowed Katy to accompany him to a paintball game yesterday at Brandon's, which turned out to be a lot of fun, from the sound of things. They played for hours in the rain. Ah, youth.
The ear infection I have is really kicking my bum. I've had a fever for seven days, which seems ridiculous,and I don't think there is any more room in my house for laundry to pile up, although I'm sure there will be lots more by the end of the day!
John has an interview tomorrow at Concord Family Medicine, and has also been contacted by Genesis health care to set up an interview. Good for him! He had a spiffy new outfit to wear, which is always great.

"Simple Monkey and a pat on the bottom"

Well, Gabe patted his preschool teacher on the bottom today. I guess it's time to have a talk with him about personal space and boundaries. There was another incident already this morning, before he got to school, involving Gabe, his dear friend Maddisson, and HIS bottom. Enough said.
Laurie came over with her three kiddos today - we'd been planning lunch because Gavin and Maddi had their annual physicals and it was right up the street. So after a nice restful three hours of sleep, I was up and at 'em this morning, picking up stuff for lunch and then racing back here in between Zachy's preschool pick up and drop off to try to clean up the disaster that IS when Mommy has been sick for a couple of days. We had a yummy lunch, despite the "Bottom" episode (seriously: what is wrong with my child????) and strawberries with fresh cream for dessert. A nice little pick-me-up.
While I was making some pizza dough for dinner, the boys were playing happily (NOTE TO SELF: it actually happens!) in the living room with some stuffed animals and Gabe's ever present SpiderMan costume, when I heard, "Come on, Simple Monkey." I had to poke my head in. "Zach, what is your name?" (He has this really cute stuffed orangutan John bought him, which he was tailoring his identity to, I assume.) "Simple Monkey!" he replied. Just as I thought. Wow, what a day.

Yesterday the boys sang in the choir at church - it was a rainy day, so they were up there in their froggy/bumblebee boots, and did a great job. Zachy looked so tiny up there, but he sang his heart out on the chorus (the only part either of them knew) and gave a wonderful, flourishing bow at the end.

After church Jake had a paintball game against another church, which I haven't heard about yet, but he was decked out in his camo (for church!) and looked prepared to kick some serious paintballs.

Katy babysat for me last night while I had my occassional lounge shift, which she was looking forward to because tee shirts at Hot Topic (how she manages to find ones that are from Christian bands is beyond me, but I'm glad she does!) run at twenty bucks a pop, so all her money that was saved up in gone - oh, except for ten dollars in quarters.
And working until twelve thirty put the cold I've been dealing with into overdrive so now I am actually sick. Darn it.

Gabe weighs 50 pounds - I remember weighing 50 pounds (um, two decades - yes, decades- ago, but still, I remember). Seeing my children experience life that I remember experiencing is really strange.

Of course, one could argue that me actually remembering ANYTHING is strange. The other day as I was preparing for John and I to go away for one (very precious) night, I went down to Main Street to pick up some gourmet munchies to enjoy in front of the fireplace, et cetera. "Butters" is this lovely looking wine and cheese shop, which I have never been in to, since it didn't have carts the size of our van, with as many seats for my boys. I parked across the street and skipped over to the store, feeling very posh as I set about choosing which cheese wheel and baguette I wanted, selecting some delicious chocolate almonds (dusted with cocoa, and from SPAIN), to go into the picnic basket also. My purchase made, I left the store and got into someone else's van. Not just one of those "oops, I almost grabbed the handle of someone else's vehicle" moments. Oh, no. I got all the way in , sat down,and wondered who had placed the pipe cleaner stars on my rear view mirror. My getaway was quick, but I must've looked like a complete nut as I giggled my way across the street.



Our sixth anniversary was a few weeks ago (which is what we were celebrating with our night away in Meredith) and I am very proud of us. It feels like an accomplishment, and I am glad that when we eloped, we meant what we said.



My mind is drawing a blank, which is why I need to blog on a regular basis. The last few weeks have been a rough patch for me, and most of my routines have been battles that I may or may not win, depending on the day. But progress is my goal, and I want to keep going the way I have been. So I'll be back soon.

Today was DJ's funeral; some of us from Margarita's went up to be there for Joanna. We ran into a snow storm on the way, and definitely got lost following some indirect directions from the locals, but we made it in time to give Joanna a big hug and share some tears before the service began.
On a day like today my heart is so full; I thought maybe if I tried to write it down maybe some clarity would shine through for me, but there don't seem to be words that describe the grief that is all too common - a rite, actually- in this human world. There were pictures of DJ as a baby, a boy, a teenager, and a soldier. How did his mother reconcile the photograph of her baby boy taken minutes after he was born with the casket being wheeled down the aisle of a church by soldiers, men she had probably never seen before today? How does Joanna find the strength to begin to rebuild her life,without her lover and best friend?
And why does it all selfishly make me think of my children and what our future holds?
The governor was there, as well as hundreds of other people,and I'm so thankful for Joanna's sake that DJ"s death was mourned by so many.
God bless.