Gentle Years

I took the week off before returning to my regular job as a high school social studies teacher-in the summer I watch the grandsons to both save my big kids money and to spend time with them.  Here is what we did with our week:

Monday-the ocean with Aidan.  Four hours of boogie boarding and on the two hour ride home, he kept saying, "that was cool, Mommy" and "when can we go to the ocean again?"

Tuesday-I'm not really clear on this day, though I think we did some school shopping. 

Wednesday-I just couldn't spend a week without the little ones, and Matthew and Aidan get along so well that I asked my daughter if he could spend the day with us.

Thursday-Brody hung out with Aidan and me fand since he cannot stand to be next door to "the farm" (Great Grammie's house) and not go there, we went.  We saw the cows, the piggies, and even picked some of my tomatoes on the way.  Aidan eats them like apples, so Brody tried that as well, only to say, "It's not very tasty, Grammie," and give it back to me.

Ricky and I had two summers alone together before Aidan was adopted and I know that sometimes he and I both miss that alone time.  So I asked my daughter if I could take him out on Thursday afternoon.  He was so excited that he didn't nap at daycare.  We went first to mini golfing (see the Pirate booty he got, above) and then to a farm where he chased a rooster and wanted my help.  I told him that I have chased enough chickens in my time and asked if he knew what that rooster was going to do to him if he caught it?  We then had a big cup of chocolate milk before leaving the farm.  But do you know what he really wanted to do with our afternoon together?  Just come to my house.  So we came home and he and Aidan played and he was happy.

So on Friday Little Baby, Aidan and I went back for more mini-golfing.

Saturday was the annual fundraiser for my nephew's memorial scholarship.
Sunday was Brody's second birthday party.

It is raining-Hallelujah!  The well has been dry for almost two months.  I'm sick of doing one load of dishes a week and two loads of laundry a week and only one or two of....everything else!

Now I have five days of in-service training, meetings, a little bit of time allowed for me to actually work in my room and get ready (my room is used all summer and then at the very end, maintenance on that end of the building is done, so there is no way to get in and get ready ahead of time).  Wednesday I'll be skipping the day, though; Little Baby will be off to Vermont for college.  So Golden Baby went to Maine and Pretty Baby went to Massachusetts, and Little Baby will go to Vermont.  When you are accepted there, at least at her school, the governor sends a letter to you and your parents along with a Vermont guide, travel map, and information about the state.  I think it's really nice.  Maybe Aidan will go to college in Quebec? 

This week I will actually be on vacation.  The grandsons will return to daycare full-time and Aidan and I will have five days, more or less, for the two of us, before I go back to work next Monday.

I will miss the brothers, of course, especially since the younger one has just learned to enjoy coming to our house and being away from his mumma.  He is a true outdoor guy and would spend every minute, except for lunch and freeze-pop breaks, outside.  Outside, outside, outside is, in fact, his favorite refrain.

He and Aidan really enjoyed one another's company on the days that it was just the two of them.  Here they are, just like grown men, hanging out in their comfy chairs in the garage, having a drink and listening to music.

Ricky and Aidan, meanwhile, are just like brothers/cousins/uncles and nephews are when they are close in age.  Every day they have an argument and a crying jag.  Then every day they are the best of buddies for the remainder of the day.

And then there is their handsome little cousin, who comes once a week.  He and Ricky are actually great playmates.  They are alike in most of the ways that count-smart, quiet, sweet-and different enough that they usually don't pose a threat to one another in terms of affection or toys.

This past week Mom went to the oncologist to say that she does not want any more chemotherapy.  She did two rounds of 21 days at 50% dose and didn't like it.  She felt that it stole some summer days from her because of the restrictions on exposure and activities and this just after she had recovered some strength following the placement of a stint in her intestine.  She had never wanted chemo anyway; she only tried it because some of us asked her to give it a try.  So she won't be doing it any longer.  Seven of us siblings and a nephew went to her appointment with her so that the doctor would know that we support whatever she chooses and so that we could ask questions.  The time left to her is uncertain, as it always is with cancer, but she probably won't be enjoying next summer with us.  Here is a picture of her enjoying her annual birthday hike to the top of the mountain, back in 1987:

There is no news on the adoption front.  G's medical has been sent to China to have them pre-approve it and we are waiting for the response to that.  We have been waiting three weeks; I contact the agency each Monday to ask if there is any word yet, so I will ask again tomorrow.

Here in central NH we pack as much living as we can into the time we have to call summer, since it's such a short season.  Sometimes it doesn't really get started, weather-wise, until after the 4th of July; other years, like this, it starts earlier.  Here are the boys enjoying summer.

Brody, at 22 months, working very hard to read.  Below, Aidan is ready to go see Avatar with Pretty Baby.  The two of them have been watching the cartoon for a long time-remember that Aidan was Aang for Halloween?-many things were different in the movie from the show.  But a promise is a promise-he loved the movie!

Matthew pumping iron (wood) at the 4th of July parade.

Aidan and a buddy checking out party favors at his grandparents' cook-out.

Had to have the silly bandz (don't know if I spelled it right)-notice the smaller ones are on his fingers.

All three grandsons at the pool.

This one does not love swimming, especially if the water is deep or if people are splashing.

First it was the beach with LB, PB, her sons, Aidan and me. 

Then it was Storyland with all four of our children, our daughter in-law, and three grandsons. 

G wasn't there this time, though he does like that kind of thing.  He's busy getting an antique stock car ready for a show next weekend.

Okay, first, the temperature has dropped to a mere 80º outside, which is a relief from the midday heat we had.  Second, the humidity is only at about 50%, which is really great.  But that won't last, of course.  The temps will drop into the 50s tonight but the humidity is going to be 100% before dawn breaks, climbing at about 10 % every couple of hours from supper time forward.  It has been a beautiful weekend.  Sunny and hot, but with a breeze.  So of course it will change.

This week my cousin's wife was named community citizen of the year by our town Grange.  That was a very nice ceremony.  I love our Grange.  When I was young, that's where our school Christmas programs were held.  Even the smell of the building makes me happy.  Suppers, square dances, Christmas programs, it all comes to mind the moment I walk into the building.

Mom made it to church today.  She has had a great week, probably because she hasn't been vomitting constantly and actually has had a return of her appetite-a nice change from two Saltine crackers a day for an 81 year old weighing 85 pounds!  Her best friend is also back for the summer-she goes to Florida each winter-so Mom can now get out with someone her own age who enjoys a lot of the same things that she does.

Yesterday we had our monthly family breakfast with "the big kids" and their children, this time at our daughter's house.  The three grandsons are all so different.  RB (Ricky) is bright, loving, serious, stubborn, and eager to be good.  He showers me with affection, so of course I think he's just great.  BB (Brody) is a little reserved, doesn't waste words, is happy, stubborn, extremely smart and amazingly sure-footed.  He never talks baby talk; his vocabulary is extensive and he speaks in sentences at 20 months old.  He adores G.  Then there is MB (Matthew).  He is charming, snuggly, a little bit precocious, and not afraid of much except being away from his mother.  We expect him to be the one that comes up with all the neat ideas for the three of them to pursue.  Then, when they get into trouble, the older ones will say that it was the baby's idea (and it will be), but most people will think that they should know better than to follow the youngest.  So we can't wait to see if this comes to pass. 

Today MB went to church with Aidan and me.  Afterwards, we played outside on the swings and in the sandbox.  It felt just like summer-I hope that when summer actually comes it doesn't feel like spring!

The big kids decided that they want to have breakfast together at least once a month, so we began this past Sunday.  Normally  Sunday is out for me due to church, but Mom and I both skipped it.  I did so because of my company; Mom did so because she was sick, again.  She is currently awaiting a date for a liver tumor biopsy. 

Since early March she has been sick with vomitting, to the point two weeks ago that she lost four pounds in four days, and she only weighs about 85 to begin with.  So they put her into the hospital for a couple of days, ran some tests, did some more tests this week, and now she's waiting for the next step.  I will never understand cancer.  This is a woman who has never smoked, never drank alcohol, never drank carbonated beverages, ate all of her vegetables daily, and every day gets fresh air and exercise.  Her favorite sandwich is wheat bread with cottage cheese, lettuce and raisins, for pete's sake!  I am hopeful that this is isolated and can be treated locally.  But we just have to wait and see.

This was an up and down week.  Kids at school were great, but school was rough-we had a two hour professional development thing after school on Wednesday, which means for us who teach high school, it's really three hours of staying after (we start and end earlier than the other schools).  Then, on Thursday we had four hours of parent-teacher conferences (until 9:00, which is already past bedtime).  I woke at 3:30 on Wednesday morning with a backache, at 3:00 on Thursday morning with a migraine, and again at 3:30 on Friday morning with that same migraine.  So I took Friday off.  It was a seven hour speaker in the auditorium thing, and I can't breathe within an hour of being shut in the auditorium with no air, no light, and old carpet.  I was unable to go back to sleep on any of those days, but on Friday I finally realized it didn't matter-I could call in; so I did.  Spent the day sleeping for the most part once I got my migraine prescription filled.

On Thursday night, since we had to work, some colleagues and I met in my room before the parents came, lit a candle and passed it around while we read the Old Testament promise of salvation and then several passages from Matthew.  It was really quite nice.

Today my daughters went to see Clash of the Titans together, so I had the boys.  Here are a couple of shots of them playing outside on an unseasonably warm afternoon for NH.  When I published the photos, I was amazed at how much the little one, MB, looks like my fourth brother/our middle sibling. 

Golden Baby turned 28 this week, and his birthday was on the same weekday on which he was born.  I don't know how often that happens, given leap years, but it brought back a lot of memories.  Here he is in the shirt I gave him, which goes well with his ref uniform, and here are some other photos of the week.