Picture of the Week - 6/27/2013

Wow!

 

I nearly forgot about the POTW this week!  Yikes!!!

 

I had one of those super busy, but in a good, productive way kind of days today.  Normally I have a fair amount of downtime at work, but today was a busy one.  Lots of meetings and research and writing emails and organizing people and - yeah...  that's really boring for all of you isn't it...

 

Anyway... 

 

Life here this week was pretty normal.  (I won't say boring, cause things around here are NEVER boring...)  But it was the normal stuff.  Work.  School.  Hanging out with the boys.  Baths.  Books.  Bedtime.  Exhale.  Then rinse and repeat.

 

There were 2 things out of the usual this week.  One was the fact that Spencer was gone all week.  He's on his way home now.  I seriously can't wait to give him a big hug!  We all missed Spence, but Quinn missed him the most.  For the first 2 days we never saw Q.  He was in his glory in the basement in full control of both the Xbox and the TV remote.  After a few days, however, I think he got lonely and bored and started spending more time with us.  It was kind of nice for me to have Q around to cuddle with, but I know he would have preferred to be hanging with his "bro".

 

The other thing is the crazy puppy.  Man...  I sure did forget how crazy puppies are!  I guess it didn't help that the last puppy we had was Willow.  And that whole process was made easier by 2 things.  1. She was 14 weeks old when we got her.  Which meant she had already gotten through MUCH of the chewing/biting phase.  And 2. Willow is lazy.

 

Ozzie, on the other hand, is NOT lazy.  He's crazy.  My oh my what a difference changing that L for a CR makes!  He's full of energy and he's super fast.  He's recently realized that he can jump onto the couches.  He is no longer contained in the gated areas we were using as "puppy play pens".  He likes to steal shoes and pacis and toys and socks and books and food.  He likes to bite EVERYTHING.  He especially likes to bite Beckett on the butt.  (thank goodness for Huggies!)  I know it's a phase and he'll calm down.  And he's SUPER cute.  And he's pretty funny too.  But, wow...  he easily takes the high maintenance award around here lately.  And that's really a feat with Zane around!

 

Oh - I almost forgot...  we also broke Beckett of his obsession with bottles this weekend.  Win!!!  He was pretty sad for a few days, but we stuck with it and today he never even asked for a "bobbledy".  I admit I will kind of miss him saying "bobbledy", but I am not sad to see the end of the bottle-days around here!!  (We got those bottles used 11 years or so ago and they made it through 4 kids.  Pretty good investment!)

 

Here's a kinda crappy quality picture (Bob really needs a new phone with a better camera...) of Ozzie and Willow playing in the backyard.  Ozzie is the only one who has ever been able to get Willow to play.  Does that give you an idea of the level of energy he emits???

 

Have a great week! 

 

 

Picture of the Week - 6/20/2013

If I were ranking days on some kind of "weirdness" scale, this one would definitely rank toward the top.  Days like this kind of make me miss the normal routine of school.  And it's only the middle of June and only 9:45 in the morning! 

 

Let's see... 

 

1. Spencer is gone.  Boo!  He is currently (as of this very moment) in an airplane over Oklahoma somewhere.  He left with my parents for his "10 year old" trip.  My parents, because they are kind of awesome, have decided to take each of their grandkids on a trip when they turn 10.  (Yes, Spence turned 10 last Sept, but this is a summer-only kinda trip!)  They took him on a tour which goes through Jackson Hole, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Cody WY ranch, Mt. Rushmore, etc.  He will get to raft and horseback ride and see a bunch of cool stuff that I'm not sure he'd get to experience without this awesome trip.  He was ridiculously excited - as he should be!  I will miss him a bunch - the house just doesn't feel right without all of my chickadees, but I can't wait to hear all about the trip!  He won't get back until next Thursday.  (Quinn may DIE of boredom without his favorite partner in crime!)

 

2. Speaking of Quinn...  he's at a lacrosse camp this week.  While an AWESOME camp and worth the hassle, it IS a hassle.  Drop off is at 9:30 and pick up is at 2:30.  This schedule is not AT ALL conducive to full time employment.  Bob has been handling the bulk of the off-schedule child-carting around town, which I'm forever thankful for, but all the extra trips and time away from work is causing some additional stress and work-related BLAHS!  No one wants to hear about work during the summer...  but since we didn't win the last big lotto (for lack of buying a ticket...) work is still important.  Dumb jobs... 

 

BTW - This particular week at camp they have counselors from Syracuse University's lacrosse team.  They have the leading Syracuse scorer AND their starting goalie.  The coolness factor of this is utterly lost on a 9 year old, but these guys are GOOD.  Syracuse made it to the lacrosse championship game this year.  The fact that we have access to camps of this quality makes the hassle a bit easier to deal with.

 

3. Moving down the line of kiddos... Zane is sick.  He got sent home yesterday (always a fun call to take from daycare) with a high temperature and a headache.  He was pretty pathetic yesterday afternoon/evening.  He threw up, moped around, was BURNING up, etc.  Good times...  This morning he seems fine.  So thankfully, this seems like it was a very short-lived virus-type thing.  Unfortunately, he had to stay home today because of the fever.  So I decided to stay home and "work from home" today too so I could give Bob a hand in managing all the stuff going on around the house in an attempt to allow him to get some work done.  (See #2)  I have a 7 meetings on my calendar today - not a good day to not be in the office.  But we do what we have to do - right?  Here's hoping Z will take a 3 hour nap this afternoon!

 

4.  And Beckett?  Well he's mostly fine.  Actually he's pretty darn awesome!  His vocabulary has literally exploded in the last couple of weeks - as have his canine teeth, which just reminded me how glad I am that teething is almost entirely behind us now!  Beckett is a riot and also VERY VERY challenging because he's into EVERYTHING.  That child is non-stop!  He walks around looking for stuff to get into.  To illustrate, when we drop him off at school every morning, he runs into his room and begins the "Wreck-it Beckett" routine.  He pulls a toy off the shelf and gets to work.  He never looks back.  He doesn't give hugs and kisses.  He transitions from youngest son to leader-of-the-pack in 2 seconds flat.  He never EVER gets sad during drop off. 

 

Except for today, of course, because of the weirdness of 6/20/13.  He lost his mind when I dropped him off this morning.  Didn't want me to leave.  Didn't want to do anything.  It's been a VERY long time since I've had to leave him crying.  And man-o-man, if that isn't just about the crappiest way to start a morning...

 

5. Finally an update on the dogs.  For the most part the dogs are fine.  Ozzie has continue to remind us that (similar to how you block out the pain of childbirth) we had forgotten how much work having a puppy in the house really is.  He's a nutball.  We started training with him and I really think he's going to be an excellent dog some day if we can just get through the puppy phase!  Willow is like a new dog.  It's very weird!  She seems to have more energy.  She wants to go outside on walks!  She plays with Ozzie!  She played with QUINN the other day!!  Very weird indeed!

 

I guess that's about it.  Things are definitely not "normal" around here this week, but (with the exception of poor Zane's cold) they aren't really bad.  Just a bit weird.  I guess it's a good time to sit back and just go with the flow.

 

Have a fantastically WEIRD week everyone!  (PS - catch a look at the full moon this weekend.  It's the closest the moon will get to the earth all year!  Maybe that's what's causing all the weird...)

 

 

Picture of the Week - 6/13/2013

Gosh - seems like vacation was a million years ago.  I guess that's the downside of taking 6 days off in a row...  you come back to 6 days worth of work to do! 

 

We really did have a great trip though!  The house we stayed in was awesome.  The beach/island was a new place to explore and we loved it.  There was NONE of the traffic and hoopla that we are used to on beach trips.  There was the beach, the pool, and the family.  And that's it!  How much more perfect can you get?  Oh yeah - and some of the best oysters we've had.  Yum!

 

I had a tough time deciding which picture to send along this week, so I took the easy route and made a collage.  Looking through all the pictures made me realize all over again what a great trip it was.  Only 51 more weeks until we get to go back!  I can make it!!!

 

So now that Quinn's camp (which he LOVED, btw) and vacation are over, it feels like we're really getting into the summer groove.  Spencer had a lacrosse goalie camp this week and Quinn went to Goddard.  They both actually really enjoyed their weeks!  Normally Spencer down-plays all of those sports camps, but this one he seemed to really love.  Which makes me smile!

 

We are also taking advantage of the warm (HOT) weather and spending our evenings taking walks and hanging around outside.  If Ozzie has done nothing else, he's increased the activity level of everyone in the house!  And that's a pretty big accomplishment at our place!!  Last night we walked up to the playground and were BLOWN AWAY when the puppy hopped up the steps and went down the slide.  He did it about 7 or 8 times.  Too funny!  I guess he figured that if the boys could do it, then so could he!

 

This weekend we are planning to blow up the giant water slide again in another attempt to kill the grass in our backyard while wearing out the boys.  I'm pretty sure my niece and nephew will be there too.  The more the merrier!  And while the kids are all busy with summer backyard fun, Berber and I are heading to a quilt show.  I love summer!

 

I hope you are all taking advantage of the summer too!  I can't believe it's already mid-June.  It's going to be back-to-school time before we know it!  So here's to oranges in beers and fireflies and bare feet in the grass and sunshine at 9PM and summer camp fun and PUPPY BREATHE!

 

 

Picture of the Week - 6/6/2013

We've been busy having fun this week on vacation!  No time to write!

 

Catch ya next week!

 

PS - We're kinda in the middle of Tropical Storm Andrea today.  Good day to hang out in the house and play with the boys while watching the rain clouds pour in over the ocean.  Really kind of cool to witness, but glad the storm isn't any stronger!