Spring Day with Dad

 Right before Easter, when the snow finally melted, Todd took the kids outside.  I take them outside almost every day, but everything is always more fun with Dad.  Football and baseball, in particular.  Todd taught Adam had to stand with the bat that day.  He was really hitting them.

 And, because he's my son, he fell flat on his bum once, too!

 Abbey ran out and jumped in with the football.  A natural in her sun dress.

 Adam kept at it.  I go out with him and the bat and ball, but apparently it's way more fun with Daddy.

 Love the grin.

 In action.

 Football!

 My heart melts....

 Scooter time.  We do this almost every day.  Up and down the sidewalk.  I can't wait until they have a yard and that circular driveway.

 My boy.

 Abbey always ready to go.

 Of course, there are fights all the time who uses what.

 What childhood is made of!

Oh, my heart.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, we met Jackie and Annaleise at the park down the street at the fort.   It's a park we use all the time; one I used to yes almost daily when Abbey was such a runner because it is fenced in, which is what attracted Jackie to it.   We walked down and met them and I brought my camera because I don't enough and documenting Annaleise is fun, too... Watching her grow up with my camera!

Everyone had fun, with Abbey a little naughty and Adam having fun encouraging Annaleise.

High five!

He's so good with Ellie and he was with her, too.

Ellie was having fun... She got a little grumpy it was cold and she was tired...

Maybe I'll try the slide...

Waving :)

Can I take your picture? Thanks Abbey...

One of my favorites... The expressions on their face.

He tried to high five her!

Later that day, Grandma Kathy came by to give them Easter baskets.   The bunnies are still a big big...Ellir loves them and Adam named his Joey.  Abbey calls hers knufflebunny, from a favorite book.

Trying to get all three is always fun.

Abbey modeling a dress ...Kathy got the girls matching sets.  Abbey just loves to model her clothes.

Adorable Ellie is Eleven Months

Ellie will be a year in a week and I never posted her eleven months.  Such a cutie that these pictures make me almost want to wake her up and hug her.  Almost.

She had definitely started her growth spurt, which has continued.

Oh, that twinkle.

Such a sense of humor.

My favorite.  That's her monkey.  You can tell how much she's grown by looking at it.   At eleven months, she'll crawl the minute she hears Daddy's voice and she was already resisting being fed.  Won't even do it now!

OK, Mom.  Enough.  But it never will be.  Slow down baby girl!  I can't believe how fast it's going.

Coffee Connection to the Past

  This morning I had 45 minutes between getting my blood drawn to check and make sure my current medication isn't killing me and going to the dentist.  When I have time like this on Wednesdays when Bobby usually comes for 3 hours, I love to grab breakfast or coffee but I wasn't too hungry today.  As I mentally prepare myself to leave Oswego, my home of 20 years (minus a year and a half in Virginia), I found myself thinking I'd like to go some place I hadn't in a while.  I headed over to the Coffee Connection.  It was empty as it usually is when I stop in to grab on the go every year or two a coffee.  I asked if the upstairs was still open and it was, looking much like my college days.  Tammy and I philosophizing and debating and planning as we stayed up all night...(they once stayed open all night during finals...remember?).  A few scattered memories of others... NIkki, a weird night when Stephen McSweeney tried to teach ,e chess.  It's funny how when you walk into some place and focus and think the past can seem like a ghost...almost visible but so very out of reach.  I don't long for it nor live in it, but on occasion, a place will do this to me, if I'm alone.  I can see imprints of some of the best sorts of memories of my young college aged life.  I can see Tammy in her braids and me in my black on black, worrying, worrying and worrying and thinking we'd be a million miles away from here long ago...not really knowing what we'd do, just that we'd be great at it.  I brought a book.  I've been trying to read again.  It's really hard for me to focus, but this is short stories.  Bobby gave this book to me the Christmas after Dad died and I burst into tears. Stephen Kind was our bond.  One of them.  It was such an unexpected response my whole family was silent and shocked.  Me, too. But it's OK, now.  It was a perfect 40 minutes, drinking my cappuccino (I can remember having my first one in high school at Happy Endings with Heather Giler...I didn't know what to expect.  How many have I had since then?)  And apparently gourmet English muffin.  It was really good, like in Europe... and the 80's music blaring from Old City Hall across the street at 10am.  And I love this for an Iphone picture :)

Looks almost the same but...the booth is gone.  I almost asked the owner about it, but changed my mind.  The past is the past, sometimes the mystery of the change of time keeps us from being haunted by it.

 After I finished my Mother's Day post, I was surprised right there with breakfast in bed, arranged on the tray from Ellie's high chair. Pancakes, OJ, coffee and eggs.  And green eggs that Todd got from one of his workers to surprise Adam.  Who wouldn't touch them.  And weren't to my taste. The kids were so excited...it was a nice day.  We never made it to Five Guys as Todd and Adam had to go to work, but I got to watch a couple of episodes of Bates Motel and didn't have to cook so that was all I wanted.

We are still waiting for the bank to sign off on our deal.  It's making me antsy and a little anxious.  I'm ready for this change.  I'm ready to move forward.  And whenever I waffle or go someplace like the Coffee Connection, I then pull into Garafolo's, and two different arrests were happening on each side of the building and I was like yeah, it's time to give my kids a little different footing in the world.

Happy Mother's Day

 It's a Hallmark holiday.  But one I had better never, ever forget.  You've met my Mom.  :)  But honestly, I don't mind making her feel appreciated on these days as I get older.  The longer I'm a Mom, the more I appreciate her.  I still don't agree with all her choices or understand some of her decisions, but I can understand the strain of four kids.  I'm laying in bed no chance of sleep.  Ellie got up at 545 drank her bottle and then proceeded to talk to us until I got up at 7am.  I cleaned up the kitchen and then came back into bed at 7:45 so Todd could cook.  It's almost nine and I'm just getting things done on my computer!  I don't need Todd to do anything for Mother's Day.  Or most of the holidays (birthday and anniversary excluded!) because he does stuff for me all the time.  But, I do not want to cook.  Feeding everyone all the time is probably the biggest day to day hassle.  I found myself thinking about what does Mother's Day mean to me. It's simple.  These faces.  I took these the other day.  Look at the love in Abbey's eyes?  She wanted me to take her photo with Ellie because she thought she looked cute.  And Ellie gave me the tongue.  Then Adam wanted in.  He just loves Ellie.

 I took this yesterday...so grown up!  She makes me heart melt so much.

 Last night, Abbey lined up her dollies on "carpets" like at school for story time.  These are my favorite moments.

 This is my Mom April 2012 when she came back for a day after running away that December.  Looking at them makes me ache for Adam because he took her being gone hard.  Which she never seemed to get.  But that's not really her personality I guess to realize such things.

 Look at his face.  He was so happy to see her again.  Then poof, she left again. Clearly she hadn't been ready.  I know still she struggles with missing Dad so much.  I feel for her on that.  My Mom gave me strength, a core value of not judging people on looks and for valuing honesty and hard work.

 This is a couple years old, but scrolling through I just loved it.  He hasn't changed much has he?  The minute he was born, my life changed forever.  All the things I cared about seemed less important.

 Another old one. My Abbey.  Wild and adventurous.  All my grey hair.  And I love her all the more for it.  Crazy, right?  I think I want Five Guys for dinner.  Boy, I need to focus on losing weight.  Tomorrow.

I