We're going to see about a dog...

Since putting Mora down several months ago, the boys have begged and pleaded for another dog.  Chris and I agreed that once he returned from this deployment, we'd get them one.  As luck would have it, Chris's Battalion Commander's wife happens to be a veterinarian.  Dana volunteers to foster and then find homes for "Army bomb dogs" when they don't pass certain requirements to go overseas.

We don't know too much about her yet except that her name is Allie, she's super cute, and we want her.  She was recently spade so we had to wait until she healed completely for the boys to meet her.  We finally get to meet her this Thursday at 4pm!

And if I wasn't already sold on getting the boys another dog, this definitely did it.  I went to check on Henry a few nights ago and he'd fallen completely asleep holding a picture of Mora when she was a puppy.  I don't think I've ever seen anything as sweet or innocent...

"Every boy should have two things: a dog and 

a mother willing to let him have one."

--Robert Benchley

Cops and Robbers...

The neighborhood kids have taken to playing "Cops and Robbers" lately.  Fingers crossed there's no foreshadowing occurring...

Christian "cuffing" James

Christian "cuffing" Nicolas

The robbers on the run!

I'm not sure how tough this robber was to catch!? 

And this is how Gabby feels about playing...

They're a really good bunch of kids... even if they are a bunch of thieves!  ;)

Nicolas, Gabby, Henry, Jonathan
James, Christian, and Peter

Pinehurst...

Today the boys and I went to Pinehurst, NC to visit our friends, the Prokopowiczes.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to get many pictures.  Probably because it is so much damn WORK going to the pool, any pool, crap!, any body of water, even the bathtub, especially the bathtub, with all three of them at once.

Pete thinks he's a fish.  Without exaggeration, he jumps in to the pool whether or not you're ready and whether or not you're near him.  Then, once you wrangle his little body and save him from drowning, he thinks it's hysterical to throw his face in the water.  Yes.  He just wants to float PURPOSEFULLY face down.  Seriously?  I assumed we were higher on the Darwin food chain than this.

And this pretty much summarizes Henry.... "Watch me.  Watch me.  Are you watching me??!!  Did you see that?  Did you see me jump?  Put Pete down and catch me.  Watch me.  Did you watch me?  Pull me up.  I wanna get up.  There aren't any steps over here.  Pull me up so I can jump again.  Did you see me just now?  Did you see me put my face in the water?  I wanna go over there now and jump.  Let's go over there now.  Where's James?"

And James is just off.  (I can't imagine why... ha ha.)  Doing his thing, playing Marco Polo and water tag with all the big kids in the deep end.  He's become a really strong swimmer and several of the moms complimented him on his back stroke so that was fun to hear.

Here are the few pictures I was able to quickly snap...

Now do you think he wears his own sun hat?

Okay, I'll give you the answer... No.

Happy swimmer

Henry shaking all the water out!

James (soon-to-be a 2nd grader) and Nick (soon-to-be a 4th grader)!
We've known them since we lived in Savannah
(Fort Stewart) and both boys were babies!

It was a fun day, especially when we went back to dry land and played at their house for awhile!  I feel relatively confident in my ability to keep everyone safe when we remove all that water!

A Day at Smith Lake...

Our friends, the Hudsons, invited us to join them at Smith Lake today.  Fortunately it was a bit overcast, so while it was still in the mid-90's, it was enjoyable to be outside playing in the lake and building sand castles.

Pete and Brittany going in!
(And that's Carrigan, James, Henry, Clayton and Brittany's mom in the distance.)

Pete and Clayton throwing the ball to each other.

James practicing floating

Pete running away

He wasn't sure at first, but after a little while, Pete loved it!

James, Kenton, and Henry swimming out to the dock

Sweet Clayton

Getting ready to go canoeing

Kenton

The big boys

And they're off!  They even got to see a waterfall!

It was so nice to be outside... without a TV, an iPhone or iPad, or the wii.  Just friends, a picnic lunch, sand castles, a canoe ride, a playground to play on... what more could a kid ask for?  It was great.

Let's Blame the Heat...

I think my brain is starting to melt from all of this heat... let's blame that for my lack of posts again.  :(

Mom and James arrived home on Sunday night.  We were super excited to see them!  The kids waited in the rain for James to arrive...

Gabby, Hank, Nico, Pete

Best buddies!

The next morning.... the gang is together again!
(Henry is exhausted from all the excitement.)

Pete has decided he no longer needs a high 

chair and insists on sitting like a big kid...

Look at his hands... like, "Whaddya expect, Ma?  I'm the 3rd."

The kids all started swim lessons again...

Stevie Wonder

Gabby, Nico, and a blurry James

Henry continues to surprise us with his morning outfit choices...

It was 105 degrees this day...

At least it's weather-appropriate!

One of us finally got a hair cut!

He no longer looks like he's auditioning for
"Little People, Big World" with all that head and hair.

Can you believe all of these kids belong to just 4 moms?!  My friend, Beth, was in town from Ft. Lewis, Washington, and another friend (Anna, from West Point) organized a terrific day together. We had so much fun playing and talking and catching up.  We're looking forward to doing it again soon!

SO many boys!
(And one more, Jake, was napping when we took this picture.)  

We've had a fun, busy week and hope you have too!

Friday Night Fun...

After running around all morning and camp for Henry, 

we enjoyed a simple, relaxing Friday night.  

We watched a massive thunderstorm from our back patio...

Pete eating dessert on the bar stools--
just like a big kid.  Is he excited, or what?!

Lovey boys and a lonely high chair...

Taking a shower together for the first time...
when in doubt (or looking for something to do), I
always throw my kids in water.  Like... always.

Look at those sweet cheeks!  You know I pinched them.  

Pete opening and closing the door saying, "Hi!" a bunch of times.

It's funny how rain makes everything and everyone calmer.  The house was a little darker, and cooler, and somehow quieter.  Which made for a perfectly chill night with 2 of my favorite boys.  Now I just need the other 2 back!

Summertime Fun!

What's better than a water slide and popsicles on a 100+ degree day?  Great friends to share it with!  I bamboozled Cortney into setting up her water slide today and we all had a great time.  Cortney's two kids (Nico and Gabby), two of Brittany's three kids (Kerrigan and Kenton), Christian and Jonathan, and Henry and Pete all had fun on their water slide this afternoon.  Fingers crossed for an early bedtime because they wore themselves out playing, sliding, and jumping!

Here they are enjoying a popsicle break.  What a crew!

Honestly, who doesn't want to SQUISH Pete???

There is nothing better than being a kid in summertime...

Gabby and Kerrigan getting a respite from the crazy boys!

'Til next time....thanks, girl!  :)

Goodbye...

One of the greatest friends of my life, Allison, lost her dear mother to cancer yesterday (exactly four months after Dad passed away).   I pray to God Sylvia and my father are finally at peace... and it makes me smile to think of them bumping into one another in heaven.

I know how much Allison loved her mother.  I hope she knows how much she is loved as well.

Dadisms...

Today marks 4 months.  Seriously, how is that possible?  And yet, how has it only been that long?

Dadism:  "Real runners don't match."

He had a point.  Ever look around the gym at who's really working hard?  Or who has a good, toned body?  Or notice a runner whizz past you while you're outside jogging?  I betcha they're not wearing those ridiculous 5-finger shoes.  Or a matching neon-green-Reebok-shorts-tee-jacket-shoe outfit, gabbing at the water fountain.  He was right.  Real runners don't match.  They have a beloved pair of shorts and a ratty t-shirt and are actually doing something.  (In the interest of telling the truth, however, I must admit I do prefer to pick "coordinating" running outfits.  ;)  Sometimes I wear striped shorts with a bold print top, but that goes against my better judgement!)  My father was the one who introduced me to running.  He used to love running.  He'd go every day on his lunch break and run around the DC monuments.  When he got a little older, and he became more of a "brittle" Diabetic, he stopped.  That's when he got me into running by riding his bike next to me while I ran.  I hated it at first but now I really enjoy it.  I love everything about it.... that I'm alone, that I can get lost in my thoughts, that I end up sweaty and tired, that I feel strong and healthy when I'm done, that I'm setting a good example for my sons, that my dad was the one who got me started.  I think a lot about my dad when I run... mostly that I wish he would've been healthy enough to go on a few with me.

Truth be told...

I got to thinking... I share a lot about the boys, maybe I should share a few things about me.

Here are a few things you will never hear me say...

1.  "Let's go to the movies!"  I don't care who's in it... what it's about... how much it costs or doesn't cost.  I don't wanna go.  The idea of sitting in a completely dark, creepy theater which reeks of buttery popcorn, to sit on chairs where people have done God-know's-what, eh-eh.  Ain't gonna happen.  Any second now 20/20 is going to do a "black light" special on those chairs.  But really, it's not even entirely about the chairs.  I'm much too anxious of a person to sit still for 2 1/2 hours to watch a movie that, in my opinion, probably isn't worth it.  When is the last time you heard someone say, "That movie was great!"  The Titanic.  Right?  Do I lie?  And that was what... 15 years ago?  And poor Chris.  He loves watching movies and would kill to see one in a theater.

2.  "Let's order Chinese!"  Eh-eh.  Never gonna happen.

3.  "Let's stay up late!"  I am soooo lame.  I usually get up at the crack of dawn and would happily go to bed at 9pm every night.  The only reason I stay up later is when Chris is home or I'm with company.  Otherwise, nigh-night.  Growing up, Lauren would come over for sleep-overs and when I fell asleep early, she and my night-owl sister would spend the night talking!  I know... lame-oh.  On the flip side, if I'm not awake and out of bed by 7am, you should check my pulse.

Here are a few things I'm not good at...

1.  I don't check my voice mail.  I'm sorry.  If you call me, I probably love you a whole lot.  But I'm not going to listen to your voice mail.  Just call me again.  I really am sorry.  I've tried in the past to get better at this, but it never sticks.

2.  I really don't like to be away from my boys.  Even though I say I want a break sometimes, I'd prefer them to be close to me.  They drive me cah-ray-zeee, but I still like them around.  Sign ups for future mother-in-law-of-the-year??  Ha ha.

3.  I'm a recovering hypochondriac.  Okay, okay... I can hear several of you mumbling under your breath.  Why do you have to call me out?  It's true.  I still am one.  I'm a worrier.  I can't help it... it's just the way I'm hard-wired.

4.  I bite my nails.  Of course if you've ever seen me in person, you know this is true.  Again, it's something I try to stop, but before I know it... I'm biting again... and worried that I'm going to contract MRSA (you know, that crazy staph infection).

So... that's it.  Those are all of my "secrets" about myself.  (Of course if you're reading this blog, you probably knew all of these things anyway!)

Highlights from MD...

I apologize for the lack of posts lately.  The boys and I went up to MD last week to "drop" James off for his special trip to San Francisco with my mom to visit Aunt Megan and Uncle Tocco!

We had a lot of fun at home.  I noticed afterwards that most of the pictures I took are of Peter.  That's probably because he gets into so much trouble and is also a willing participant in photos.  The older boys fuss when I bring out the camera.

Here are a few highlights of our trip...

The boys love their Gigi!

Playing at my mom's neighborhood park

Pete wants to do everything the big boys do! 

We did our best to tire them out!

Success!

Pete, Gigi, and about 5 lbs of blueberries!

Grandpa Keith wrestling with the boys!

Sweet...

Uh-oh!!

And this is 2 stories high!  Yikes!

"You saved me!!"

The big boys playing in the neighbor's back yard pool.

Playing catch

Together in the raft

Pete eating spaghetti

Do we have another lefty?  I hope so.

A clean baby again!

Pool time with our cousins Keegan, Liam, and Margo!

Boys being boys...

This pool was so well designed-- lots of kiddie slides and 4
different pools for all "stages" of childhood!

I love sweet Liam!

Dad's marker was just placed a few days ago.

We miss you, Papa.

We really had a wonderful time at home.  Now James and Gigi are out in San Francisco enjoying the week with Aunt Megan and Uncle Tocco!  Can't wait to see pictures and hear all about their wonderful adventure!