Happy Anniversary

A little late but Happy Anniversary to us!  Jason and I celebrataed 14 years of marriage on September 20th.  It is hard to believe that it was 14 years ago.  We would be in Jamaica now if we were reliving that time.  In some ways it seems like yesterday.  It just doesn't seem possible that we could have done all the things we've done in only 14 years.  They have been a good 14 years of change and growing but always doing the changing and growing together.  I am looking forward to our years ahead and wonder what they will bring us.  Whatever the years bring I know that we will be together as strong as ever. Happy Anniversary!

Running

Running has been my outlet for all my feelings.  Moving back to the States has been difficult at times and my feelings have been all over the place...happy, sad, frustrated, excited etc.  I have maintained my running to maintain my sanity.  I can be near to tears and go for a run and come back refreshed and ready to tackle any issue in front of me.  It has been my rock to cling to in this big transition in my life.  It is solid and gives me something that I can have complete control over.  I joked with my friends before leaving Prague that I would probably do a marathon when I moved back to the States because I would have no friends and would just be running all the time.  Well, that statement is only partly true.  I have made friends and I have a lot to do but I need my running to keep me grounded.  I needed a goal to reach and give me focus with my running so I have been training for a marathon.  I NEVER thought I would run a marathon but here I am training for one.  I have been very good at sticking to my training schedule with an easy run, a speed run and a long run.  My easy runs have been a bit longer than planned becuase Jason and I have been running together with the kids on their bikes but it is a very pleasurable run.  My speed work has been more of a challenge but is getting easier.  I have started to run with my friend Margaret who keeps a faster pace.  I will basically run whatever pace the person I'm with is running so if she runs at an 8:12 pace then I do to.  We have actually been playing off each other though so we are both running to keep up with each other which just makes me laugh.  The long runs I've been doing by myself which I think is good since I will be by myself for the marathon.  My long runs increase every week so for the last few weeks I have had a new personal distance every week which feels good to accomplish.  Yesterday I ran my first 20 mile run and while it was not the best run, which I blame on the high humidity, I still completed it without any walking and with an average pace of 9:51 per mile.  I have a few weeks to go before the marathon on October 16th but I'm excited to run it and in addition to running it I'm excited to see my family (parents, aunts, uncles) along the race route since all the long races I've done have been in Prague without my family.  I'll keep you posted on how I do in the marathon.

Changing clothes

Jason came home from work the other day and after coming in to greet everyone he said that he was going to go change.  Once he was upstairs Sofia asked, "why does Daddy always change when he gets home from work?".  I explained that just like she would change out of her school uniform before to comfy clothes that Daddy also likes to change out of his work clothes to comfy clothes.  I said that now that she doesn't have a uniform and can where her comfy clothes to school she doesn't have to change anymore.  This made sense to here and just to confirm we were on the same page she said, "like you don't do anything so you can wear whatever you want.".  I just had to laugh which she realized meant that those words weren't right so she tried again..."I mean you don't work." which also brought on a laugh.  I knew what she was getting at but she couldn't find the correct words to use to express what she was feeling.  Coming from someone else it might bother me but coming from her I'm ok with it.  She knows I do a lot and often says that she finds what I do a lot of boring work and doesn't want to be a mom who has to do everything so I'm not offended by her words but it is funny to hear my daughter say "I don't work" and "I don't do anything".

Soccer!



Ali is number 8.  It was nice to see her getting right in there
 with the opposing team.

Town soccer has arrived.  I have talked about town soccer to the girls for a while since they were so hesitant to play.  I played soccer all growing up and want my girls to enjoy it as I did so I told them all the fun they would have to get them excited to play.  Since we had loads of rain last week both of the girls practices were cancelled but the coaches had the teams meet at Bill's Pizza in town so the kids could meet and hang out together as well as get their shirts and talk to their coach for a little bit.  We showed up to the field on Saturday at 8:30 for Ali's first soccer game.  Her team is not very agressive and they were creamed by the other team but they all  had a great time.  They did manage to score a couple goals which is good since their are no goalies.  Ali had such a good time.  I was thrilled!  After her game Jason and the girls headed home for a while before heading back to the field for Sofia's game at 1pm.  I went for my long run and managed to fit in 16 miles of running and made it back just in time for the start of Sofia's game.  Her team also was not as agressive and lost to the other team but score isn't kept and the kids didn't seem to care.  They had a blast on the field and since their games are one hour long by the end they were beat.

After leaving the game and heading home the kids wanted to play more soccer at home.  They played for quite a while on Saturday and then called it quits near the end of the day.  By then they had had enough exercise.  Sofia even pointed out that Ali, Sofia, and Daddy (since Jason played soccer with them in the backyard) had gotten a lot of exercise and mommy hadn't.  I was astonished and pointed out that I did run 16 miles to which she responded that that was just running and I did 14 last week.  Oh well...I guess I will be playing soccer next weekend to ensure I get enough exercise!

Swimming Update

The girls are continueing to swim.  They really enjoy swimming.  Sofia has moved up to the swim team which she is very proud of and she should be!  The person closest in age to her on her team is her friend Zoe who is two years older than Sofia.  Zoe is a really nice girl and couldn't believe Sofia was only seven.  She gave her a "good job" with a high five when she founf out.  It was very cute.  The swim team is a lot of work.  They swin lengths of the pool so they end of swimming a lot.  It is so much that I can't keep track but it is easily 400 meters (1/4 mile) of swimming and probably more.  I will have to ask her coach how far they are swimming each practice.  By the end she is exhausted.  She has been practicing her dives as well and she is finally figuring it out.  last week was the first time she entered the water in a dive and didn't bellyflop.  Ali is also doing well and has moved up into the Marlins group.  She is working on all her strokes but her biggest issue is figuring out the breathing.  It doesn't seem to matter if she is doing breaststroke or freestyle she has to tread water for a second to catch her breath in between strokes.  She is getting there though.  She has started doing flip turns at the wall and starting to attempt diving off the platforms.

Here is Sofia doing breaststroke:

Here is Ali doing freestyle:

Here is Sofia Diving off the platform:

Homework

Now that the kids are back in school they have homework every night.  I was sitting with Ali while she read her book out loud to me when I looked down and saw Watson at our feet.  I guess he wanted a little time to do his own reading....

1st Day of School

The girls started their new schools last week.  Sofia was very excited to start her new school.  She couldn't wait to ride on the bus and meet new friends.  She was excited to meet her new teacher and to see where she would be sitting in her classroom.  Ali was a little more tentative.  She was excited to start school and make new friends .  She was excited about meeting her teacher and she had already seen her classroom which she liked.  She was a little nervous about going on the bus and about not knowing anyone at her school.  The way that the school system is set up in our town the girls go to two different schools this year so Ali was a little worried about not having her big sister around. 

Since the girls go to different schools they have different bus pick up/drop off times.  Sofia's bus picks her up at the end of our driveway at 7:40 and Ali's bus picks her up at 8:30.  Ali came outside with Sofia for the first day which was great.  She got to see the bus and the bus driver as well as see Sofia climb on the bus with great enthusiasm.  The bus driver had to tell Sofia to turn around to say bye to us since she was so excited to get on the bus she wasn't looking back.  When the bus came back around to pick up Ali the bus driver was great.  She said, "good morning Ali! Your sister just told me all about you."  Ali climbed on the bus and sat down with a little uncertainty in her eyes but no tears.  By the time she came home on the bus the fear of the bus was gone.  Now she climbs on and off the bus as if she has been doing it forever.

This school year is an adjustment for me as well.  I had to put my babies on that big scary yellow bus all by themselves to go to a place we don't know to teachers I have never met.  The classroom sizes are much bigger also.  They are used to having 12 kids in their classes and now they each have 21.  I worry about them getting lost in the shuffle, especially Ali.  The work they have been bringing home seems very simplistic but I'm hoping that will change as we settle into the year.  If nothing else I will just continue to have them read the more advanced level and more complicated math at home.  I don't want Sofia to get bored and I don't want Ali to accept work below her ability.  I'm hoping that once we have the first school meetings in a couple weeks that I will feel more comfortable with their new schools and that I will be able to get more involved.  Right now it feels like their school life is completely disconnected from me.  Like I said, it is an adjustment for me too. 


All my worries and concerns don't seem to be even a consideration for Sofia and Ali.  They are both happy with their teachers and thrilled with their respective schools.  They are making friends...Ali with two girls whose names she can't remember (very Ali!) and Sofia has already proclaimed she has a best friend and fortunately for us she lives about a half mile down the road.

Polly's Pancake Parlor and Hike

Jason took a day off from work and we headed three hours north to Polly's Pancake Parlor.  We of course justified this trip for pancakes by adding a hike in the mountains.  As we headed north the weather started to cloud over.  This was our first sign of things to come.  We had a few sprinkles along the way but continued on up to Fraconia Notch.  We originally thought we would hike first but since it was lunch time by the time we arrived in Fraconia Notch we were all hungry and we didn't want to have to rush our hike to get to Polly's we went direct to Polly's.  We were surprised that the parking lot wasn't full.  We quickly learned that the reason it wasn't full was because it was closed!!!  Apparently the tree outside of the dining room was struck by lightening and it blew out the electrical systems in the restaurant.  It wasn't a total loss though because their bakery was open for takeout pancakes.  We order our pancakes and ate them on the grass outside Polly's.  This wasn't ideal since you couldn't order all the different options of pancakes and you couldn't get bacon or homemade bread with maple spread but it was better than nothing.  We all enjoyed our pancakes and the kids had fun playing on Trot Trot, the wooden horse.

As we got in the car to drive to the trail head the wind picked up and it started to pour.  We decided it probably wasn't the best time to hike to a open lookout area so we headed to the Basin for a short walk.  Once we got to the Basin the kids wanted to continue to hike and since the rain wasn't bad under the trees we decided to hike up the trail a little bit to see the waterfalls.  The kids loved it and had a great time hiking.  I'm looking forward to actually hiking a mountain with them.  After a bit we headed back down the mountain and headed home.  It was not the day we had envisioned but we all still had fun.

Off to the Fair

Every year as a child we went to the Washington County Fair.  It always fell during beach week but this year it was a couple weeks after beach week but I wanted our girls to experience the Fair that I knew growing up.  I was eagerly anticipating the fair also.  My biggest memory of the fair were the angora rabbits.  They were so fluffy and cute I couldn't wait to see them again and show the kids how cute these rabbits were.  Unfortunately they did not have any angora rabbits at the Fair this year.  The kids didn't seem to mind though.  They were happy enough seeing all the other kids of rabbits along with the chickens, cows, pigs and goats.  I let them choose one ride each since first off they are expensive and secondly I am not a big fan of carnival rides in terms of safety.  Any rides that went up off the ground were out.  Fortunately the girls are happy on carousel type rides.  They played a few games and each won a stuffed animal.  That is the nice thing about the fairs now is that the kids always win something.  I never remember winning anything at fairs.  At least now they know to keep the parents coming back with their money they have to give the kids token prizes.  We had fun checking out the different agricultural stalls and seeing how yarn is made and knitted.  The girls were also interested in how they washed clothes in the olden days.  Of course I had to snap the classic fairground picture with the face in the cutout...

Packing/Unpacking Again!

No we aren't moving again but we had to rent a truck and drive to my parent's house to load up all of our stuff we stored there while we lived in Prague.  We rented a sixteen foot truck thinking we would have plenty of extra space but that was the smallest size truck available so we took it.  Thank goodness that was the smallest size truck!  We had so much stuff at my parent we filled the truck right up.  Even with things already boxed from the move to my parent's house it still took us until 3pm to finish loading everything into the truck!  Then the drive back to our house and unloading it all into our garage.  Jason had to park his car in the driveway until we could get it unpacked. 

Jason ended up having to go to Prague on the Monday after we had moved everything though so his car ended up at the airport for the week.  It was good to have his car out of the way but bad that I had no one to help me unpack.  I do most of the unpacking anyway but at least when Jason comes home from work every day that signals the end to my work day also.  With his being in Prague for the week it just meant that I worked well into the night unpacking.  The downside is that it is tiring but the upside is that I had most of the garage unpacked by the time Jason came home from Prague and he could park in the garage again.

More time with Cousins

After leaving beach week we headed up to Maine for the weekend to spend time with Jason's brother who was in town with his family from England.  It made for a busy weekend since we had to drive home from the beach on Friday night and depart for Maine on Saturday morning but it was worth it to visit with everyone.  The girls very happy to see their cousins, Alex, Justin and Keira.  They had a great time playing with them in the fields, on the zip line, on the tractors and in the trees.  It was nice to visit with Graham and Beth as well as see Jason's parents too.  With Graham and Beth there I had someone to run with at least for part on my run which was nice especially since it was raining out.  We all ran the first 2.5 miles together and then Beth headed back home and Graham took off at a much faster pace than me but I got to watch him in the distance for a couple miles and then got to say hi when he was on his way back and I was still on my outward journey.  Since we all ran different amounts of time it worked out perfect for showering as well since by the time the next person was back the first person was done showering. We did minimal shopping at the outlets but did manage to get the kids warm winter boots.  I went back into the outlets by myself for a little shopping but it was so crowded that I didn't stay long.  Overall it was a good weekend of spending time with family.  I was happy to head home on Sunday night though since we had been away for the week and it had been non stop activity.  It was nice to finally relax!

Welcome Aiden Sheehan!

My brother, Pat, and his Wife, Carrie, left beach week early to bring another addition into the family.  Aiden Jackson Sheehan was born on August 4, 2011 weighing in at 8lbs 7 ounces and 19 inches long.  He is the third boy for my brother and he makes grandchild number 7 for my parents.  Sofia and Ali were very excited to go see their new cousin so we headed down for a visit the week after he was born.  They loved holding him. They couldn't believe how little he was and that they were even smaller than Aiden when they were born.  Pat and Carrie were doing quite well for having a new born in the house as well.  Unfortunately for them though Aiden was doing most of his sleeping during the day as you can see in the pictures.  Congratulations Pat and Carrie and Welcome little Aiden!