A few items of note

1.) Nicholas had his end of the year hockey banquet tonight which was really just a 3-ring circus with little boys darting around the room knocking everything (and everyone) over while high on sugar. My boy got yet another trophy for his overflowing trophy shelf.


2.) Finally, finally, finally! I broke down and bought myself a new camera. And this is what I got...

Nothing fancy but it should do the trick. I want the camera to do all the hard work for me. It even has an "easy" mode. Gotta love that!

Well...except this picture Danny took tonight. I'm hoping it's because he didn't know how to use the new camera???

3.) Right now I'm overdosing on Friendly's Butter Crunch ice cream as I'm writing this. It was buy one get one free today at the store. In a moment of weakness, I made the purchase and now I'm regretting it. Oh...and what good would the ice cream be without tons and tons of chocolate jimmies? Talk about sugar highs...and...oh dear...I just found the nutritional info for it on line. Yes, I've eaten way more than a 1/2 cup. Not good.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1/2 Cup (67g)
Calories 150 Calories from Fat 60

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 7g 11%
Saturated Fat 4.5g 22%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 25mg 8%
Sodium 120mg 5%
Total Carbohydrate 19g 6%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 16g
Protein 2g 4%

4.) Thank goodness the hot weather is gone. I thought I was going to have heat stroke. Gianna didn't really like it much either although she did have fun in her pool the other day. We played with her mermaid dolls and I, as usual, played the role of the boy dolls. I'm always the boys.

a BIG thank you

I have to say a BIG Thank You to my sisters, Auntie Kimmy and Auntie Kerry, and my Dad, better known as Papa, for entertaining, taking care of and giving lots of love to our three kiddies while we were gone for the day yesterday. They had a GREAT day playing at Nantasket Beach (on the second most glorious day so far this spring) and having a yummy dinner and dessert at Friendly's. They had lots of fun stories to share when we came home. Auntie Kerry taught them some funny stuff we learned when we were kids (you should have seen Gianna doing the "blowing out the candle" story last night). It makes me so proud to hear that they were well behaved and fun to be with. It truly is THE best compliment a Mommy can ever get!!!

This vacation week has had its ups and downs. One of the ups was bowling with Papa and CeCe the other day. We bowled, ate pizza and played in the arcade for hours. Papa was a real trooper bowling with the kids and really out-bowled us all! His back isn't what it used to be and you know what? He never complains!!! A lesson we can all learn from him! And CeCe...well...she had one minor "slip" up. Wish my camera was rolling for that one!

One of the prizes Julia picked out at the arcade...

And I had to include this picture to show how this girl ALWAYS points her toes! A true dancer...

And the downs??? A bout of the stomach bug which Nicholas kindly passed on to Mom & Dad. Yuck.

Artwork

"Shooting Star" by Gianna

"Mermaids" (Mommy, Julia & Gianna) by Julia

"Goalie" by Nicholas

Mite A's

Nicholas made the Mite A team for next year! Way to go Nicholas!!!!

Hockey Champions & Opening Day

Hockey is over...for now anyway. Nicholas' team won the championships!! The game was SO exciting! Lets rewind though for a minute. His team played in the semi final game a few weeks ago. Turns out the other team brought in their #1 Mite A goalie (Nicholas is on the Mite C team). It was completely unethical, not to mention against the rules, to have anyone play who is not on the roster from the start of the year. Nicholas' coach confronted the other teams coach after the game but he gave a lame answer and quickly left. Thankfully, our coach didn't let it go and went to the league about it. Our kids deserved better after a fantastic first year of playing hockey! Long story short, the other team forfeited and the coach apologized. The kids on both teams were taught quite a lesson.

So our kids got their chance to play in the Championship game last weekend! The game ended up being tied 2-2. They had a 5-minute overtime that ended up with no goals so they went to a shoot out! Each team picked their 5 best players (Nicholas got to go second). Each team scored a goal so it was tied again! Then they picked five more players from each team. This time our team scored the winning goal! To make it even sweeter, the boy who scored the goal was our coaches 6-year-old son! Our goalie's Mom was in tears the whole time and my knees were shaking! I'm so proud of my boy! He is the fastest skater on the team...no question about that. You just know he'll be the first one to the puck and always has tons of break aways. Now...if we can just get him to stand up on those skates for the entire time he's out on the ice!!! We lovingly call him the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. He has a tough time standing on both feet off the ice, never mind on the ice!

The coaches hosted a party for all the kids and their families last night. They got to ride on these motor boats. They had a blast! They also played soccer and dodge ball in another part of the building, ate pizza and munched on lots of chips, cookies and brownies.

Today was opening day for our town's T-Ball / Baseball season. Nicholas has now graduated from T-Ball to baseball playing in the 7-year-old division. His team is the Red Sox (which he is so thrilled about). Our town had a parade early this morning.

The girls waiting for the parade...

Nicholas is just to the right of the sign. See who's in the picture way on the right with the little boy on his shoulders? (Click on it to make it bigger.) His son is on our team again this year. Maybe he'll hang out on our porch again this summer??? Mom, you coming over this time?

Girls on the boat:

Nicholas on the boat:

Oh what a morning...

This girl just cost me $56.00. Her new movie opened today and of course Julia was dying to see it. The kids' elementary school was having a private showing of the movie this morning at 10:00. I bought 4 tickets for me and the kids about two weeks ago. You know me...Miss Organization. I put it on the calendar so I wouldn't forget. I got the kids ready early this morning, stopped off at the store to buy candy (the prices at the theatre are ridiculous), and arrived at the movies a good 15 minutes early. Huh?? We are the only ones in the parking lot. I pull out the ticket to make sure I have the time right and yes it was starting at 10:00. I laugh thinking how punctual I am and how late everyone else is. A few more minutes go by and I decide to look at the ticket again. It says Foxboro on it. Why didn't I know that??? You would think that since we all live in NA that they would pick the theatre right down the street in NA...not Foxboro! By this time it was almost 10:00 and there was no way we could make it there. By now Julia is in tears and Gianna starts crying too and asks me if we have to return the candy to the store. (That's all she cared about...her Skittles.) I called the theatre in Foxboro when we got home and they said the next three shows there were sold out and there wasn't anything they could do about our tickets.

Being the good Mom that I am, I took the kids to the 12:00 show in NA. I had to dish out another $32.00 on top of the $24.00 I lost on the first showing at 10:00. That doesn't include the candy and popcorn.

Julia loved it...Nicholas thought it was OK...and Gianna only liked the parts when Hannah sang. I think she thought she was going to see her live on stage. She looked up at the little window where they show the movie from and asked if Hannah was going to come out of that small hole. : )

7 weeks

I can't believe it has already been 7 weeks now since I've seen my little boy...and I still miss him so much.

This picture was taken five years ago. He looks so young and healthy here. His fur is so thick and shiny.

And this picture just cracks me up. It wasn't taken all that long ago. He was just enjoying a nice day on the deck...sound asleep right in the middle of the floor.

The weather was so beautiful yesterday and as I was sitting on the back stairs enjoying the sunshine, I just missed him so much. I know he would have been laying right at my feet. The weather he loved is now here and yesterday would have brought him so much joy. I just hope wherever he is, and I have to believe he IS somewhere waiting for me, that the sun is shining down on him and a warm breeze is blowing for him.

1987

Was I really ever that fresh faced???


Did I really wear a bikini???

What the heck happened to me. Amazing what 22 years does to you. What a life I had back then. Hardly any responsibilities at all. Just a job. Lived at home...no boyfriend...no kids...I was dancing a lot thus the bathing suit...man oh man. If I knew then what I know now...I would have taken better care of this body and skin of mine.