Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Sisters.

I bet it's funny reading a post on my blog entitled "Sisters." As a mother of three rambunctious boys, it may be hard to believe that I came from a family of 4 girls, and am the youngest by some seven years. Growing up, I never really realized the gigantic gap because I had a sister that would play with me and do kid things even though she was ten years my senior. I don't know what I would've done without Becky. In our family, my sister Lisa and Kristin were always pretty tight, and the same went for Becky and I. Becky always stood up for me, protected me, cared for me, and loved me far beyond what was required as a sister. When my family moved to Argentina when I was seven, I cried every. single. morning. going to school for six months. The compound where my school was had elementary, middle, and high school all on one campus, so Becky rode the bus with me. I clamped tight onto her leg when it was time to get off the bus and she would have to walk me to my room and coax me off of her. My teacher would come and get her out of class because some days I just wouldn't stop crying and she was the only one who could comfort me. I remember the night before her wedding, she chose to forgo a bachelorette party for a night with her 13 year old sister, and I remember sleeping in her room that night, imagining what it would be like without her. As we both got older, things changed, but I always knew I could still come to her to talk. I rejoiced with each child born into her family and welcomed an opportunity to be a short term nanny to her oldest when he was first born and I was home from college. When she was pregnant with twins and I found out I was due to have my first a short 4 months later, I was so excited, hoping that our kids would become great friends. They have. Becky's husband, Kenny works for the State Department and they travel all over the world. Their family has lived in Tel Aviv, Brazil, Colombia, and now Australia. I hate that she is so far away and that months and years go by without seeing her and her family. I just want them here. These past 5 weeks having "home" have been the best. We've seen each other almost every day and my kids have waken up each morning asking what they will be doing with their cousins. The summer has flown by because we've stayed so busy. I've loved every minute. They got on a plane yesterday and we won't see them for two years. It's almost too big to comprehend. Mason is asking where his favorite Uncle Kenny went. Gavin wants to play with Casey, no Megan, no Ryan, no Sean, and Cameron sobbed when he found out they were leaving and Dylan wouldn't be able to play with him anymore. Me? I want my sister back. The same sister that was always there when I needed her in second grade. I'll be counting the days, Becky.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Forting

I almost feel like summer hasn't started for us yet. I decided not to repeat our alphabet summer this year since it would be hard to top, but we did have a list of activities we wanted to do during summer break. We've barely made a dent. My sister Becky that was supposed to only be here for 3 weeks has had to extend her trip for some unforseen circumstances and we have been basking in the cousin love almost every day. We've been to the movies and the pool and Busch Gardens twice, and although we haven't done anything particularly exciting, there have been very few minutes of down time. So needless to say, our summer has been flying by and the kids have been happy as clams, asking when we will be with "cousins" next.

Back to that list of activities we wanted to get to. We did make a ginormous fort in the basement with the boys. It was a maze of tunnels and it stayed up for about a week. The boys watched movies under it and slept in it for two nights in a row and it sure was fun to play in it with aforementioned cousins. They sure were sad to see it go, but we couldn't walk around down there without having to crawl through it! We'll have to do it again before the summer's through.


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Patriotic in The Plains

For the fourth of July this year we went with several families from church to Great Meadows in The Plains. It was perfect for tailgating and we got the best spots right in front of this big field where the kids could run and play. We played with the little streamer/confetti firecrackers and had a water balloon toss. We ate lots of junk and watched these 6 helicopters fly back and forth which the boys loved. Once the sun was down, we waited until the show finally started. The fireworks were great and we even got out quickly before most of the crowds. Besides all of the fun, we tried to explain to the boys why we celebrate this day of freedom. We are truly grateful for all of the liberties we enjoy in this country and for the men and women who fight for those rights.








Saturday, July 2, 2011

Tsunamis

This year I am so proud that two of my boys are Piedmont Tsunamis! Gavin is pretty young at 5 on the team, but he has persevered through practices and excruciatingly early and long meets. Cameron has blossomed within the last year and can really compete! He competes in all the strokes and today he got first in his heat for breaststroke and second for backstroke. Gavin swims freestyle and backstroke, but he has yet to qualify his time in back because he always turns around to see how much farther he has to go. We'll get there :) I am just amazed at the progress these two have made and am probably the loudest mom out there cheering on my boys. They make my heart burst with pride. Go Tsunamis!
My favorite angle:
Gavin "diving" in for freestyle
Gavin in backstroke

Cameron in breaststroke

Best Buddies