My Dad - Growing Up Sheehan

While this blog is generally about my girls and is called Growing up Luce, today I'm going to add a little about Growing up Sheehan.

George J. Sheehan III also known as Gj, G, Uncle, Grandpa, and Dad. He was an amazing son, brother, husband, uncle, Dad, Grandpa and friend. As many know he has struggled with Parkinson's for years. The last four years were particularly hard and how he pushed through for the last two years is amazing to me. He was a fighter and he loved us so much that he didn't want to leave. On Thurday night, June 11, he took his final breath. I hate thinking of him as he died and want to remember him as he was. So, here is the man I remember and what it was like Growing up Sheehan.

He was my Dad. He played with us. We played basketball, golf, pool, and poker to name a few. He was competitive and frankly the most athletic person I have ever known. He was gifted with a natural ability and he loved to play and had the patience to play with us when we were little. I didn't know any kids who had a basketball hoop in the back yard thereby ruining the grass. I didn't know anyone who had a cup in a hole in one corner of the yard so we could chip and putt. I didn't know anyone who had a basketball hoop attached to a beam in their living room. I also don't ever remember getting in trouble for destroying the grass, running through a fence to catch a football, or breaking the couch going for a rebound. Now I say he had the patience to play with us but let's not forget he was competitive...he had patience but also an expectation that we would work hard. We would want to win. That less than our best wasn't good enough. He pushed us to be the best we could be. I do not think I ever won any game we ever played in our family. He taught us if you wanted to win you had to be better. There was no going easy because I was the youngest or I was a girl. If I had to work harder to win that was just how it was. If I wanted to "play with the big boys" then suck it up and fight back. He did it in such a way though that it didn't defeat me. He made me want to keep fighting to win. If you don't know my Dad maybe that seems harsh but I wouldn't change it for the world. He treated me as an equal and taught me invaluable lessons.... I am capable of anything and if I want something I need to work hard. (As a funny side note: After 38 years I finally beat my brother in something athletic! Hard work pays off. Sometimes it just takes a long time! :) )

He was my Dad. He loved and protected us. No matter what we did we always knew my Dad had our back. He taught us that family was so important. As siblings, my brothers and I would fight like most kids do. Dad always taught us to have each other's backs when we turned to the world outside. Little did he know (or maybe he did) that it bonded us as siblings too. We never told on each other. I often threatened to tell but it got me nowhere as my brothers knew I never would go through with it. We had so much fun playing together why would we jeopardize that? As kids we were united and as a family we were a tight unit. Dad would help us out of any situation. Now I didn't have much need for this as I was pretty goody goody but it made me feel safe.  Watching a sibling come home in the middle of the night because he got the car stuck and not get in trouble let me know that it was safe to ask for help in any situation. I remember calling my Dad in a snowstorm driving back from the mall. I was petrified. I pulled over at a restaurant to call my Dad. He grabbed a friend and drove out in the storm and drove me home. No questions asked. No berating me for going out in the storm in the first place. All he cared about was that I was safe. He also loved us all equally. I once accused him of loving my brother more. Man, was he mad! I never made that accusation again. His guttural reaction to my words was enough to get his message across.

As we grew older and moved out of the house we would come back to visit. Once we were all home my dad would lay on the couch and go to sleep. Mom would worry that we didn't think Dad cared that we were home but we all knew the truth. Dad could sleep because we were home. His kids were all safe in his house so he could finally relax. He worried. He would come up to my college on Friday nights (gone by 7pm) with the pretense of taking me to dinner and making sure I had everything but I know it was really to lay eyes on me to make sure I was safe. (Also to deliver me homemade pasta sauce because, let's be honest, jar sauce is terrible.)

As I grew older and Dad grew weaker I was again so grateful that he gave us the gift of athletics, hard work, and family unity. I wanted to make him feel safe. Return that precious gift he gave me. When he could no longer move himself I'm sure it was scary to trust someone else to do it for him. Would he be dropped by accident? I loved being able to look him in the eye and tell him "I have you Dad. I promise I will not drop you. You made me strong and now I can move you. This is what you raised so trust me now." I believe he was very comforted by that. He did trust me to move him.

On his last night we were all with him while he slept. It was his time to go and we all knew it. He will live on in us. As I raise my girls to know they are capable, that hard work is not optional, and family is always a safe place, my Dad will live on in them.

I know he is in heaven and I wonder what he is doing....racing cars with Lully, fishing, playing basketball, or golfing. I do know though that he is free of the body Parkinson's trapped him inside. I'm grateful he is no longer suffering but I miss him.

School closed

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

Yesterday it was made official...All Massachusetts schools are closed for the remaining 2019-2020 school year.  We will continue with remote learning but no actually going into school. How do I feel about this? How do the kids feel about this? I'm not really sure. We are very fortunate. I recently read a post about how we are all in the same storm but we are not in the same boat.  This is absolutely true and I feel fortunate that I am in a very stable boat.

My kids are happy and content to do their work at their desks. They have no problem with staying fit and keeping an exercise routine in place. They do miss their friends but again I'm fortunate because they really like each other and have grown even closer during this time at home. Sometimes they work out together and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they watch tv together and sometimes they don't. They are both fine with their togetherness and their separate time. I love hearing them laugh together when they sit together at night.

I am mixed...some days I feel fine with the stay at home situation. Other days I feel trapped. I think this is mostly weather related. Bright sunny days I feel good. Dreary rainy days it feels like it will never end. There are positives and negatives to staying at home. I like having my kids not feel stressed to fit everything into their day. On the other hand, I worry about them missing out on key educational building blocks. The item that stresses me out the most though is the lack of clarity on when this will end. I am a planner. I look ahead and plan a strategy to be most effective for my family, each child individually, home projects, vacations, jobs, camps, etc etc. This time now leaves me unable to really plan for anything. This is NOT a good feeling for me. Planning makes me feel in control of life. I can always change plans based on life changes or roadblocks or unforeseen circumstances but that just means more planning. This period doesn't even allow for future planning because I don't know when it will end so that life can resume. The announcement that schools are going to remain on remote learning is a welcome decision. It means I can now plan for my kids to be at home for the remainder of the school year and I can stop playing the "what if" game in my head on that subject. I like to make a decision and move on. Sometimes I may not like the decisions made but I would rather have a decision I don't like then the unknown of no decision. So, while I wish we weren't in this situation at all, I guess I am on board with the remote learning decision as it removes another unknown from the equation.

Walking

I love to be outside. It is something that brings me joy. The fresh air is rejuvenating and when it is sunny it is so uplifting. Even when it is snowy it is beautiful. The spring brings new plants and flowers daily that sometimes I have to stop and take a photo like this one (on the left). The other great thing about being outside is that I can get moving. I am generally a pretty active person. In part, this is because I am just not good at sitting around doing nothing and in part because I believe that being fit is part of a healthy (long) life. On top of that I know that it makes me feel good once my workout is complete. With that said I always want my family to be fit and to feel good. I am always trying to find ways to engage my family in fitness. I hate not being near them to actually workout with them but COVID-19 has opened my eyes to another approach! I have started tele-walking. It has been great! My mom and my brother have been walking with me and we chat over the phone while we walk. I feel good that I'm helping them to get out and walk and I can be outside myself, walking and staying connected to my family! If you haven't tried tele-walking I highly recommend it. It is easier to get out and walk if you have someone to talk to while you are doing it.


As we are home during this crazy time try to get out for daily walks. Don't even think of it as exercise. Think of it as a mental health break from your day. Time to de-stress. Remember at work you get up from your desk and walk places multiple times a day. Going for a walk is just consolidating all those walks into one! :) Are you a numbers or goals person? I love numbers and data to see what I have accomplished. I love my Garmin watch for this reason. Yesterday I had a lot of walking...with my brother, my mother, both of my kids (at different times) and with Jason along with a couple of other workout items. I can see exactly what I completed for the day. I also like that it shows me what I have done over time like this picture of my steps over the last year. It is also a good check to see if the amount you think you are walking is actually what you do. I found that when I was working I thought I took a lot of steps because I was up and down from my desk a lot. In reality, it was not a lot. It made me realize that I needed to do more steps outside of work to be fit. It can also keep track of everywhere you have run/walked. So years from now when I can't remember exactly where I ran on a trip somewhere I can look it up and relive that run.

Whether you track what you are doing or not, you are worth it to take time for yourself. You deserve to be important too and sometimes you need to make a conscious decision to put your needs first. When you do that you will be better equipped to help and take care of others.

Stay at Home Life

Now that I have done a post on the work/life balance let's get some humor on my role as a stay at home mom. My life has not seen a major shift. I didn't go into the office anymore anyway. It was normal to not talk to people during the day. Yes, I miss running with my girlfriend but otherwise, my conversations during the day were limited to talking to my mom on her drive to work or talking to my brother at random times during the day. So really not much has changed....except that now it feels a little weird to have people in my house during the day that I don't speak to! They are there....seems like we should speak but we don't.  They have things to do. Jason has work which is just as busy as ever. The girls have zoom classes, homework, piano, art, and fitness that they work on daily. This was very weird to me to have them home but really inaccessible to me. I won't lie...it was hard to adjust. I kind of felt like "no one cares what I'm doing". That wasn't a good feeling. But then I realized that if I treated the days as business as usual then it wasn't about them not wanting to do things with me. It was about them doing the things they need to get done. It wasn't about me ignoring them. It was about me completing my daily tasks. I went back to running business as usual for myself. No more waiting around for them to be ready to do something with me. So what does this mean for me? I don't have to work out crazy schedules to get the kids where they need to be nor do I have to be ready to pick up at 2pm. My day just got longer with free time! I go for runs in the woods around my house, I go on nice long walks while talking to my mom, I work out either by myself or with one of the kids if it coincides, I continue to clean my house, make healthy meals,  and have started looking for projects that can get done. I decided to revamp my blog and have taken on being a Beautycounter Consultant. Things that are necessary, fun, and engaging.

I'll leave you today with a funny story from my cleaning adventures yesterday. I vacuumed and then began washing my floors. As I'm washing Jason came in the kitchen to get lunch so I paused and let him do his thing. I continued on once he left the kitchen and then onto the living room, hallway and the room the girls' desks are in. Once I got there I realized Sofia wasn't at her desk.

"Where's Fi?" I asked.
"I'm in the kitchen," she said.
"Ugh, I just washed the floor!", I said.
"Oh don't worry I have my crocs on," she said.

Do you see the humor there? I'm so happy I will have croc prints on my wet floor. Was it the shiny floor or the stools up on the counter that you missed as clues to a wet floor? I can choose to get mad and upset that she walked on my wet floors or I can laugh at the ridiculousness of it. I choose laughter because if this is the worst of how my life will have to adjust to Corona....people interrupting my cleaning, leaving dishes on the counter, lunch spanning from 11:30am-1:30pm, etc. I've got it pretty good. And if she doesn't pick up on the cleaning clues in the future I think washing floors may have to be added to their chore list!😂😂

Work/Life Balance

Work/life balance is not a separate being. We lived with it daily before COVID-19. We are fine with Jason having to hop on a work call or send e-mails or texts while he is home because it gives him the ability to be home and engaged with us as a family rather than being in the office for all hours during the week or having to go in on the weekend. We have come to realize that his work and our life can co-exist. We all benefit from this integration. He can be home and doing fun things with us or working with the kids on homework or hiking, etc and not feel like he is missing out on getting work done. Knowing he can respond when needed or take an hour sitting in the same room with us to get work done alleviates his stress and involves him with the family. Jason read a good book on it once by David Dewolfe about living an integrated life and it really helped to shift our mindset.

So during this time of COVID-19 maybe take the time to think about an integrated life. If your kids walk in on conference calls or you forget to put a conference call on mute while trying to make lunch for your kids don't worry about it. It is part of life. While sometimes it might feel embarrassing I think we should all see it as normal. Do we think"OMG what a loser" because their kids walked in? No, we find it funny or cute and it makes you a little more human. We learn more about ourselves and our family when we see our spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, parents etc working. The professional side of ourselves is often hidden from our home life and now it is there for everyone to see. I read on social media about how people are learning things about their spouse. Comments like, "I'm married to the circle back guy" or the "stick a pin it is guy" etc. We do behave differently in the workplace because we need to be more professional or the situations just call for different types of conversations than at home. I think it is fun to see the business side.  I don't actually get to see much of Jason's business side since he goes upstairs into our office, closes the door, and works all day. Our home life is there for his work to see though (our kids are older though so they don't walk in on his conference calls). We had a good laugh when one of Jason's co-workers pointed out the diversity in our bookshelf that is behind Jason on all of his video calls. We hadn't really thought about it before but we have Rosamunde Pilcher (romance), David Baldacci (Suspense), Dr Seuess, The Couples series (thanks 1987 middle school scholastic catalog), and Leading Geeks, Steve Jobs, Learning Czech and many other varied reading options along with some amazing childhood artwork :).

Technology Adjustments

We all use technology in some form.  We accept that it is part of every day life.  I would like to also acknowledge that using technology has limitations and challenges.  For those people that are feeling challenged by it right now in the "time of Corona" I want to say you are not alone! Making changes on the fly to new products, services, and delivery mechanisms is challenging whether you are a baby boomer, Gen X, Millenial, Gen Z etc. It is hard because you aren't just making technology adjustments. You are making adjustments to communication. You are making adjustments to limit interpersonal contact. You are making adjustments to your personal freedoms whether to protect yourself, someone you love, or people you don't even know.

How do we stay truly connected without face to face interaction? How do teachers know if their students are understanding the material in real-time if they can't pick up on body language in a classroom? How do people stay focused for hours on end in front of a screen if they are used to having breaks between meetings or classes? How do teams build camaraderie if the only thing they do is interact in a meeting? These are real-world problems that once acknowledge can lead to change. I am a big proponent of voicing fears and concerns because until they are given a voice they just sit and fester and hold us back. How can we impact change if we can't admit that change is needed? I'm also a proponent of voicing positivity and laughing about life when it is ridiculous. So I will leave you with some positive thoughts/things to think about today.

1. Try a tele-walk with someone.  When we can't walk literally with a person put your earphones in
and your phone in your pocket and go for a walk at the same time that your friend/mom/dad/sibling etc do the same. It is amazing how refreshing this can be.

2. Go for daily walks or just sit outside in your yard, patio, driveway. Fresh air and sunshine do wonders for our mental health.

3. Get exercise. This doesn't mean start a really intense workout regimen. Start slow...go for a walk. If you feel like you are ready for more than a slow walk then try to speed up. Maybe graduate to a couch to 5K program. Check out some online streaming programs like www.dailyburn.com that have so many workout options for every fitness level. I'm happy to give ideas for programs or help you find a couch to 5K programs that would work for you.

4. Look at this time as a gift to try things you haven't tried, start eating healthy, start exercising, start calling people that you haven't spoken to in a while because life was so busy.

5. You can do this! Look at today and see what step you can take to make your life better than it was yesterday. Being positive is possible...start training your brain today so see the good.

Remote Learning 2.0

We are trucking away here at the Luce Family homestead.  The kids start Remote Learning 2.0 (as our schools are calling it) today. They are moving from Remote Learning 1.0 of maintenance learning to actually learning new content. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I’m fortunate as the girls recognize the need for routine and have been working every day on academics, piano, being creative, and staying fit. Jason is working from home every day but is really sequestered in the office and on conference calls for most of the day so I see him in the morning before his “commute” 😂, at lunch, and when he “comes home”. We have been going for walks almost everyday and have realized that the “old people” are onto something with their daily walks! We get time to chat and explore where we live and it is so calm and quiet. I am enjoying having everyone home and get to run/workout with the girls, do my own exercise, and walk with Jason so I have a lot of fitness options. It varies from day to day as I can’t run as far as Ali on her long runs nor as fast as her on her tempo runs but I get to run her “easy” runs and hill repeats with her. Usually, Sofia joins in on those runs too and it is fun to be with them and listen to them laugh.  I’m grateful they have each other. 

I’m still the family cook, house cleaner, grocery shopper, to-do list doer. My biggest and most complicated job is that of scheduler and it is currently on hold. Yes, I still schedule remote piano lesson and remote French lesson but that is it.  There is nothing else for me to really juggle. I find it a little disconcerting to not have to constantly juggle pickups, drop-offs, carpools, changing schedules to accommodate one offs etc. I realized the other night as I lay awake that my brain didn’t feel tired and I think it is because it is not in constant motion of scheduling. I’m trying to take it as a blessing that I get a reprieve from scheduling but honestly I look forward to getting back to it as it is like a giant jigsaw puzzle I get to complete every day!

That you Rona?

Coronavirus (COVID-19) - The virus that changed the world.  Living through a pandemic is kind of crazy.  Business is shut down unless it is considered essential. Grocery stores limit how much of certain items you can buy and toilet paper is the holy grail for some reason. Now stores limit how many people can enter the store at one time. You have to be at least 6 feet apart from others (except those you live with) and no visiting anyone. Schools are closed and kids are doing remote learning which is better than nothing but definitely not as good as in person. Some people still continue to visit with friends and not social distance which will, in the end, make this all last longer which is frustrating.

There are upsides to Corona though.....there are a lot of funny memes, there is no rushing to get anywhere, my kids have more time to read and play piano or create art, as a family we have been exploring the woods around our home and catching up on movie watching.  It took a pandemic for us to learn we have all these amazing trails steps from our house. In all fairness, we knew there were trails. We just didn't know they were these beautiful wide trails that were easy for walking and running on.  Given my dislike of ticks I had stayed out of the woods because I assumed the trails were narrow with ticks just waiting for me...hahaha. Now I make sure my clothes are treated with permethrin and I dose myself with off and go for walks and runs on those beautiful trails. Being outside is such a boost to my mental health.

We will be in this state of social distancing until at least May 4 so might as well try to enjoy the ride.

Fast Forward

I've been thinking about getting back to writing. It has been a while and a lot has happened since my last post. I did go back to work and did so for 4 years. It was fun and challenging. After 4 years of non-stop 5:45am - 9:45pm I decided I had enough and needed to slow down. The girls were busy with school and sports. Ali was at the gym every night from 5-9pm and Sofia had swim club every night and it was a 45-minute drive from home. I had started having trouble getting a full breath and realized that the stress of going full throttle for so long was taking its toll on me. I gave my notice and decided to stay home. It ended up being perfect timing because that summer we had a new septic system installed and put in an inground pool.  Two large projects that now I had time to manage!  The girls and Jason decided it was time for a change too. Ali decided she was done with gymnastics and Sofia decided she needed a break from club swim. Jason changed jobs and was not traveling very often. Now we went from non-stop speed to all being home for dinner.....sitting down at 6pm and realizing we had 4 hours until bedtime! That felt like an eternity. Anyway, life carried on and school started up. I was feeling achy and old and still had trouble getting a full breath.  I got a "cold" in December but kept doing all of my to-do lists including working out and running. By mid January I was still sick and went to my primary care doctor since I just couldn't seem to kick it and I was so tired! Nothing came of it and he told me it was a cold. Skip ahead a couple months and I changed doctors....low and behold I had mono and lyme disease. Crazy times....was I badass for keeping up with all my activities through mono and lyme or a little crazy for not taking it easy? I choose to think badass. :) Decided to have the family tested for lyme and both girls had it as well.  All on meds and the girls cleared up pretty quick. Apparently, I had mine for much longer so a year later I'm still on meds but hopefully will be wrapping them up soon. This leads me to my next post....the time of Coronavirus or COVID-19 whichever you prefer to call it.

Back to Work

I had toyed with the idea of going back to work for a while but there didn't seem to be a way to work it out.  The kids schedules are so busy and I did not want to take away from them in order to go back to work.  I started looking to see if I could find a part time job that would be interesting, local, and flexible.  It seems impossible right?? Well I have found it!  I accepted a job at Faith Community Church as a Communications Associate.  It is a new challenge for me and a change from my career in Human Resources.  I have been working for a week and a half and everyone seems very friendly.  I'm still learning the ropes as one does in a new job.  It will be something to challenge my brain and gives me the flexibility to work 9am-2pm while the kids are in school.  If one of the kids is sick I can stay home with them or if there is a snow day I don't have to worry about coverage.  The kids schedules can stay the same too which is great.  Of course it means I have a lot more on my plate since I am now working 24 hours a week but Jason and the girls are going to have to help out more around the house.  I think we can make it work.  It will be good for the kids to see that Moms can work and it will be good for everyone to help out around the house to see how much work goes in to keeping the house running smoothly.  I'm still fitting my exercise in but it is definitely a challenge.  I am having to be very flexible.  I will do split work outs where I do cardio for half and hour and then a few hours later get in the weights.  Flexibility is the key for all of us so we will see how this new chapter in our lives goes.

Hip Update

I saw the doctor a couple weeks ago for my hip.  It was a great check-up!  He cleared me to start skiing which is great because going up north for a ski weekend and having to stay at the house when everyone goes off to have fun at the mountain kinds of stinks.  The other big news was that he has cleared me to start running on the treadmill.  I can increase my distance on the treadmill by 1/4 mile a week.  I'm up to 3/4 of a mile now and it feels fine.  I get to increase my mileage up to the 2 miles mark and then I have to hold steady until July and then I CAN RUN OUTSIDE!!!!  I can't wait to be able to hit the roads again.  It will make my workout schedule so much more flexible and running outside is WAY more fun than running on the treadmill!  I do have to take it slow and if my hip starts to get sore I will have to pull back a bit but I've been good about not pushing it for this long I can follow instructions to the home stretch.  The anchors that are in my bone take two years to be absorbed by the body so until they are completely absorbed I will have to make sure I am babying my hip.  I don't want my body to attack the anchors after all the work I have put into having my hip fixed.

Piano Recital

In between skiing, swimming and gymnastics we also managed to squeeze in a piano recital.  Sofia was a trooper.  She had a swim meet this same weekend which meant we woke up on Sunday morning and drove to Seekonk for a 6:45am start time.  I entered her into three events that were early in the event list so that we could get out of the meet quickly and head home.  She had time to rest, shower and dress and then it was off to the recital.  As usual, Sofia did a great job.  Here is the video of Linus & Lucy.

Meets, meets and more meets

Between ski weekends we have been attending meets . . . swim meets and gymnastics meets.  Sofia has been struggling with swimming and her times have been all over the place.  While she has had some races that she has added 11+seconds to her time I have to say I am proud of her.  She has been putting in a lot of effort.  Unfortunately when she puts in a LOT of effort her for
m falls apart.  At some point she will put it all together and she will start cutting down her times.  She has one meet left this weekend to make her cut time for championships but I do not expect her to make the cut.  She needs a little more time to pull things together.  I think it will be good for her to not make the cut because then she will get a break from swim meets for a while and I think she needs that break.


Ali has been doing great at her meets.  She went to the Brestyan's meet (home of Aly Raisman) and had a tough meet.  It was an early morning wake up at 5:45AM with a drive into Tufts.  She started on the beam.  It is a tough way to start and she fell from the beam.  It was her first meet fall.  It really shook her and she struggled on floor and vault.  I felt so bad for her and kept wishing she would shake it off.  She got to the bars and I watched her warm up and I didn't have much hope of her shaking off her fall but she surprised me.  She LOVES the bars and she rocked it.  She placed 1st on bars out of all 69 Level 3 girls at the meet. She finished and turned to me with a HUGE smile.  I was so happy for her!  After the meet we went to the awards ceremony and then headed back to the gym floor to meet Aly Raisman!  It was such a cook experience for Ali and a little embarrassing for me.  As Ali was standing there I kept saying, "Ali look at me, ALi at the camera Ali smile"  Then it occurred to me that HER name was ALY too!!  I quickly apologized and explained that I wasn't speaking to her and that she had a very nice smile.  A classic mom moment!!

 Here is a video of her bar routine from Brestyans.

Level 3 

At her next meet (which was this past weekend in Connecticut) Ali and her whole team rocked the meet.  The team placed 1st as did all levels from Elite except level 9 (placed 2nd)!  I'm still unclear to me what is the proper ranking for gymnasts since they make the awards based on level and age and not just on level 3 so I will give you the different options.  To me it would seem the age shouldn't matter since every kid competing at Level 3 must have the competency to move into a Level 3 team regardless of their age.  So, while she gets awarded based on her age division I like to know how she did regardless of age.

Intermediate age division session 7B
2nd All Around
1st Bars
2nd Floor
5th Vault
7th Beam

Level 3 Session B
4th All Around
1st Bars
3rd Floor
9th Vault
18th Beam

Level 3 All Sessions (about 190 girls from 34 teams) - This does not seem to be how anyone ranks because the sessions compete at different times of day and even on different days but I think it is interesting to see.
10th All Around
3rd Bars
7th Floor
Beam/Vault  - I don't know her place because they only list the top ten girls

Any way you look at it though she did awesome.  She works so hard every practice (13 hours a week) and has improved greatly since joining this gym.  It is nice to see all her hard work pay off for her.  The best part is that she is thoroughly enjoying gymnastics and her teammates and even after a three and a half hour practice she is bubbling with happiness.

New Years in Vermont/ MLK weekend in Vermont

We went up to Vermont to spend New Years with Jason's brother Matt and his family.  Matt and Jodi are so nice and easy to be around.  Our kids get along great and we always have fun together.  Everyone skied three days while we were there and I spent time shopping and at the gym since I'm not cleared to ski yet because of my hip.  It was strange to send them off for the day and not be going along but it was relaxing.  I got to workout and it didn't matter how long I took which was nice.  Jason and the girls had a great time skiing and at night we all hung out together.

Matt, Jodi, Jason and I took one night for ourselves and headed out to a kid free dinner.  Keely was great and watched everyone while we were enjoying a fantastic meal together.

We headed back up to Vermont for MLK weekend.  Jason's co-worker owns a house in Vermont and he let us borrow it for the weekend.  We invited our friends to come up for the weekend and we all had a fantastic time.  The house was beautiful and very secluded.  We went with our friend Ally and Jerry and their three kids, Paigie (Ali's friend), Colby and Tucker.

Jason skied with the girls and Ally and Jerry joined them for most of the day.  Our friends kid hit ski school for the day and had a great time.  I spent the day going for a walk and doing an at home workout.  I managed to find a small shop to buy a cappucino which was great!  I met up with everyone at the mountain at the end of the day and we all headed back to the house to hang out.  The kids played and once the kids were fed and in bed the adults got a chance to talk and play board games.  It was a lot of fun to travel with friends and our parenting styles meshed really well which was great.  The second day noone went to the mountain.  Instead we went for a walk in the woods right from the house.  The owners must have had trails cut in the woods because there were many clear trails to follow.  It was a lot of fun and we hope to get back up to use the house again.

Christmas

Christmas is always a crazy time of seeing everyone.  We went to my parent's house on Christmas Eve for the McGinn/Sheehan Christmas celebration.  I always think of it as the McGinn Family Christmas as it was always at my grandmother's house when I was growing up.  I never remember a time when we didn't go to Grandma's house on Christmas Eve.

The cousins (minus Aiden who was anti-photo)

 Now the tradition continues but it is the kids turn to go to Grandma's house for Christmas Eve and they of course know it as the Sheehan Family Christmas.  It is still just as crazy as it was when I was a kid and just as fun.  We head down to my parents house in the afternoon so that we can exchange presents with my parents and brothers (with their families) before the mayhem really gets going when all my aunts, uncles, and cousins arrive at 6pm.  Once everyone is there we celebrate with about 30 people.  Dinner is served buffet style and once finished with dinner it is time to dig into the gifts.  The opening of gifts in my house was always a crazy mayhem of paper.  No one really watches anyone but rather everyone tears into their presents with unrestrained glee and shouts of "thanks Auntie _____" or "thanks Uncle _____".  It gives me joy to see this tradition maintained.  I remember being so excited and happy on Christmas Eve and I'm glad my kids get to experience that as well.  After everything is opened the kids go back to running around and playing, my aunts and uncles leave and we give my mom a hand with clean up before heading home to put the kids to bed.

Christmas morning is more laid back.  This took time for me to get used to with Jason as he grew up with a slow opening of presents and one person opened at a time.  I appreciate it now.  It gives me time to enjoy seeing the kids faces as they open every present.  We always come downstairs together as a family and head to the stockings.  After opening the stockings we take a minor break so that Jason and I can get some coffee and we all have some holiday sweet bread.  We need some sustenance to continue with the presents!  Once all the presents are open we have breakfast and laze about for the remainder of the day.  This year instead of just having our family dinner we drive down to my brothers for Christmas dinner with my brother's family and my parents.  The girls were excited to spend more time with their cousin and I was happy to be with my family again.  We had a nice meal and then headed home.  It was a very easy relaxing day.




After all the gift opening the girls say a final good-bye to Christopher Pop-In-Kins because he has to go back to the North Pole.  They each gave him a gift and a hug and we put him back on the mantle so he could leave when he was ready.

First Gymnastics Meet

Ali had her first gymnastics meet.  She was very nervous for the meet but like her sister seems to do well under pressure.  Ali was the first person to compete for level 3 so not only was it her first meet she had to go first!  I was very worried about that but after the meet I asked Ali about it and she said she was glad she was first so that she could get it out of the way and then enjoy watching her teammates.  Ali started on floor then moved to vault, bars and then beam.  She did well in every event but took 3rd in vault and 1st in bars.  We are so proud of all the hard work she has put in to gymnastics and we are glad that hard work paid off for her at the meet. Here is the video of her bar routine.

Chorus

In fourth grade the kids have the option to join chorus.  Sofia was very excited to join.  She has told us some of the songs she sings and as time neared for her first concert she began singing the songs more at home.  She was very nervous and excited for her first concert.  It did make me laugh though since she seemed more nervous about singing in a group of people than she has seemed getting up in front of an audience and playing piano.  There is no disguising a mistake at a piano recital but a chorus concert nobody would notice.  Oh well, she was nervous and when Sofia gets nervous she starts bouncing off the walls so it is just a test of my parenting to find a way to bring her off the walls and to soothe her nerves.  Usually this just means keeping her calm until she arrives at the event because it is something in the anticipation that gets her riled up.  As per her usual we got to the high school and she ran off with her group and her nerves came right under control.  The chorus did a nice job and Sofia was very proud.   it was nice to see the nervous replaced with a sense of accomplishment.

Thanksgiving

One of the things we have missed coming back to the States is getting together with our friends to celebrate Thanksgiving.  It is so much fun to be surrounded by those we call friends and we have found some really good friends here.  This year we decided to celebrate and give Thanks
for those friends with a pre-Thanksgiving party.  Since most people that are here celebrate actual Thanksgiving with their families (unlike expats) we held our friends Thanksgiving the weekend before real Thanksgiving.  It was a blast!  We ended up having 13 adults and 12
kids.

There was plenty of food and the kids played well together and all our friends had great conversation. We invited friends from all parts of our life.  Some are friends from Church and some are friends from high school and some are friends we have met through our kids.  All of them are kind, caring people so everyone got along well and everyone had a good time.  We will definitely be keeping this tradition going!

Chore Chart

The time has come to institute chores.  The girls are very active and do not have a lot of time but we have decided that there is a minimum level of help they have to provide around the house.  They aren't quite old enough to clean the bathrooms (with all the chemicals) or mow the lawn (they aren't heavy enough to keep the riding mower engaged) but they are old enough to not be slobs.  Jason came up with a points system where they can earn enough points to earn a small prize.  They can also earn money for additional chores done around the house that are not part of their point system.  If they earn enough points they get a prize.  There is a level where they get no prize and then a level where they get no prize and own us a chore.  They have to complete their chore list every night and at the end of the week Jason counts up the points.  It has worked amazingly well.  Jason is also responsible for the chore payouts so that it is not just another thing I have to nag the kids about.  I also don't have to listen to their whining if they don't earn a prize.  Well, I guess I hear it but it isn't my problem to deal with which is all that matters. :)

Halloween

This year we went to my friend Erika's house for Halloween again.  We don't get to see each other as much as we would like so it is always fun when we get together.  The girls love being with their friend Chloe as well so it works out well for our families.  Erika and I catch up, the girls play and then the guys get home from work have a quick snack and take the kids out trick or treating while Erika and I man the house.

By the time Halloween is over the girls are already discussing what to be for next Halloween.  I'm sure the girls went through 30 options but for this year they settled on a Greek goddess and a skunk.  Last year the girls were pretty similar so it made me laugh at the stark differences between them this year.  They both fit their costumes well and looked perfect.  Ali wanted to be a skunk because they do handstands to spray people.  She thought that was hysterical and then she could do handstands while trick or treating and it would be fitting with her costume.  Sofia reads a lot about fantasy and wanted to stay on the same theme as last year with a combination Greek goddess/vampire but since she was Cleopatra vampire last year she decided to go as just a goddess this year which also required no makeup.  This was a positive for her since she had redness around her eyes for days last year.