Around Here in November

In November,

Collin, Reagan, and Katelyn played in their last soccer games of the season.

Kate slept in her crib for the last time.

I took it apart and Tyler brought it to Papa's house where he reassembled it with Papa for Hannah to use when she visits.

Kate has been sleeping in the trundle of Reagan's bed until their bunk beds arrive next weekend.

Reagan competed in the URI Fall Classic gymnastics meet and she placed fifth out of forty girls on bars.

 On November 11th, we celebrated Kelly's seventh birthday.

Reagan started basketball.  This is her first time ever playing and she is enjoying it.  I love this free throw, gymnast style basketball.

Collin made this notebook cover in art class.

This is our skeleton.  His name is Peach and he is a Halloween decoration, but Kate has been playing with him daily, so he's still hanging around.  Poor guy isn't doing so well, but Kate is trying to save him.

Reagan had her last orthopedic visit with Dr. Micheli in Boston.  He is an awesome doctor (he's the official doctor for the Boston Ballet), but I'm happy that we don't have to go back anytime soon.  She had to wear these silly shorts for her appointment so that he could see her legs and feet without pants in the way.

These kids worked with a bunch of others to put together bags of food and personal care items for the local families living in homeless shelters.  I really want to make a point of finding more service projects for us; I think it's important and definitely an area that I have not spent enough time pursuing with the kids.

Winter is the Warmest Season

 These two beauties are loving all of the snow we have had.

 Wow am I grateful for Reagan.  She takes Kate outside and plays and plays and plays until Kate is cold.  I should back up a bit, because before they even go out, Reagan gets Kate all bundled up with snow pants, warm socks, boots, a coat, hat, and mittens.  I don't have to do any of it.  I've said this before, but Reagan is an awesome big sister.

 The girls decided to use their beach toys in the snow.

 Boo and Kelly hung out with them.

It was the perfect day for reading Winter is the Warmest Season, a great book that celebrates all of the warmth that winter brings, such as hot chocolate, grilled cheese, mittens, blankets, and a warm house.

Random Photos

Collin learned about the phases of the moon recently, and the students created the ever popular Oreo cookie moons.  We did this at home a year or so ago.

Speaking of Collin, he is doing so well with the violin now.  I have noticed a lot of progress in the last two weeks.  Here is a video of him playing Bile 'em Cabbage Down.  

Kate still enjoys giving check ups.  Look at the "bandage" on Boo's leg.  Boo must have been tired, or extra patient at that moment.

Kelly was groomed by a mobile groomer this week.  It was so nice to have the groomer come to us, and she did a beautiful job.

Kate and I had fun with chalk recently.

I drew roads for Kate to drive her matchbox cars along.

We also used the chalk to turn Kate into butterflies.

Tom ran in a 5k last weekend.  We cheered him on as he ran!  It's so nice that the town races all go by Grandma's house; we have a great spot to cheer on all of the runners.

This is what Collin did while waiting to see Dad run.

The school year is winding down.  Five weeks to go.  Right now five weeks sounds like a lot, but we have a lot of busy weekends and end of school events coming up, so I'm sure it will fly by.

Mother's Day Hike

We had gorgeous weather on Mother's Day, and so we decided to head to the Blue Hills for a family hike.  It was so nice; I really enjoy hiking, especially when the mosquitoes haven't really come out yet.  I could never hike alone though because I have the absolute worst sense of direction EVER, and I often miss the obvious markers on the trails!

Driving to the Blue Hills was interesting.  It is rare for us to all pile into the car with the two dogs; it was a very full minivan!  Kate added to the experience by asking over and over and over and over again, "Where are we going?", "What are we going to do there?", etc.

You can see that Reagan finally has two front teeth!  She lost a front primary tooth when she was only three years old due to injury, and the new tooth is finally growing in; it's weird (but very NICE) to see her with two front teeth after all these years!  Also, doesn't Reagan look so happy in that picture?  It almost looks like she had a great time!!!  Ha ha ha.  Reagan is strong and athletic, but she doesn't like hiking.  She lets everyone know that she is not enjoying it.

This was Kate's very first "hike".  She was carried most of the time, but she did walk a little and I was happy to have her there with us.

 The view from the top; that's Boston in the distance.

I saved this picture for the end so that I could write a little about Kelly.  We weren't going to bring her, even though she LOVES hiking.  Kelly has been limping lately and the vet actually thought she might have had a torn ACL and need surgery.  She was on an anti-inflammatory and the limping went away, but she still appears to have some stiffness in her leg.  As we were packing up to go, Kelly was very excited; she knows what the packs and other hiking items mean, and she was ready to go.  The rest of us piled into the car, ready to leave, but we could hear her crying in the house and we just could not leave without her.  So she came, and she was fine out there, and fortunately, she didn't seem to overdo it because she still seems fine.  She's so funny; I wish I had thought to take a video of her as we approached the exit for the Blue Hills.  She knew exactly where we were and started "screaming" with excitement.  I'm so happy we brought her; it wouldn't be the same without Kelly.

*I was there, really, just the one taking the pictures.  I should have thought to get a picture of myself with the kids since it was Mother's Day.  I never think to make sure I get in pictures.

Here are a few short videos I took during our hike:

This was a great way for us to all spend time together.  I loved it.

Kate and Kelly

Of my four children, Kate is the biggest dog lover right now.  She loves to pet them, snuggle them, and play with them.  Kate has claimed Kelly as her dog (probably because Boo can still be very mouthy while Kelly is very mellow), and these pictures show pretty typical moments between the two of them.

 Kelly is very patient.

Snow Dogs

Christmas Eve Morning Hike

Tom, Collin, Kelly, and Boo went on a Christmas Eve morning hike in the Blue Hills.  The four of them had a great time.

Collin is such a great hiker; he is truly in his element out there.  Tom calls him "the turtle" in reference to hiking, because he is always slow and steady, and he can hike for a long time.

Kelly always gets so excited when she realizes that Tom is getting ready to head out for a hike.  She knows that she will get to go, and she looks forward to it.  It's funny how dogs just know that things are going to happen based on our actions beforehand.

This was Boo's first Blue Hills hiking trip, and he did great.  He ran ahead and back over and over again, so he hiked the farthest!  Tom said Boo was very agile and had a lot of fun.

Tom took some great pictures!

 They saw this deer while they were hiking.  Tom was surprised by the fact that she did not run - Tom was able to reach into his pocket, take out his phone, and take this picture; she just kind of hung around and ate and looked at them.  Plus, the deer was closer than this picture seems to convey.  I wonder why she didn't run.  That's so unusual.