Heavy hearted

(I'm writing this purely for catharsis so feel free to skip past this one if you want.)

Our dear friends and former neighbors are taking the final step in their move to Kentucky. They stopped by tonight to say their goodbyes and, in their wake, leave a gaping hole behind.

Although Mark moved several months ago to take a wonderful job in Kentucky, we were fortunate enough to have Helen stay on a few more months. Unfortunately for us, she missed Mark too much to stay up north without him and has decided to move down now instead of waiting until June. Also unfortunately for us, they are taking our honorary niece and babysitter, Lauren, with them.

We have been so lucky to have these people as our friends and neighbors for the better part of the last 16 years. Really, how many people can say they are so blessed to have their neighbors be such close friends? As Mark recently put it, it's as if we're losing siblings and not just friends - so very true.

So, I'm sitting here crying and missing them already and trying to work it out in writing.

It's not working.

A special Christmas-time cache

Last weekend we went out caching (nothing new) and found a truly cool cache: Christmas Tree Cache 3. There's something magical about finding a Christmas tree in the woods complete with decorations!

So, Happy Holidays from our family to yours. We hope you have a magical holiday, wherever you find it.

An unexpected visitor

We had a new visitor to our backyard today.

I've checked my Peterson's Guide several times and still can't exactly figure it out. At first I thought it might be a Northern Harrier but the head doesn't have enough white. Then I thought maybe it could be a Broad-Winged Hawk. (What you can't see is the brown and white stripes on the tail...otherwise I might have thought it was a Red-Tailed Hawk which is very common around here.)

I give up.

Whatever it was, it scared the daylights out of the sparrows, finches, juncos and chipmunks that usually empty my feeders daily.

What made this the most fun was how excited Chance and Maia were when they saw it, and how proud they were to come get me and show it to me. They knew they had a rare find!

Very cool, indeed.


Addendum: I've checked with a few people, including the wonderful & knowledgable folks at our local Tinker Park, and they confirm it was a Broad-Winged Hawk. Finally, the mystery is solved!

Anniversary

Last Saturday was our 6th anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's only been six years since we've known each other for 20, but the official count is just six. The good news is that Sean's decided to renew my lease, so I got that going for me (which is nice).

Honestly, I count myself incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful husband and father of our children. I don't know how he manages to do it all and make it look effortless, but that's just him.

On a much less serious note, we celebrated the occasion by going out to Tastings. I've never been too interested in going there because, well, it's Wegmans fercryin'outloud! Why spend all that money on a dinner out and go to Wegmans?! Well, I take it all back. We had a fantastic dinner - the food was amazing, the wine wonderful and the service was great, too. It ranks up there with our favorites: Rooney's, Rio, Sienna Grill, etc.

So, all in all, another year celebrated and the promise and excitement of many more to come.

I love you, Sean. Thank you.

Pumpkin time

We went to Gro-Moore again this year for our annual pumpkin quest. There weren't the usual billion-and-one to choose from (bad year for pumpkins, I guess) but it still wasn't easy. Chance & Maia had lots of fun trying to pick just one...there's always a better pumpkin wherever you turn.

New Beginnings - Part 2

Maia Starts School

A little over a week after Chance started school it was Maia's turn - she just couldn't wait to go to school. She had so much fun her first day she was practically bouncing off the walls. No hesitating at the door, no tears...heck, no looking back!

She's off and running and should be ready for college in another month or so. :)

New beginnings - Part 1

Chance starts school

It's hard to believe that my little guy is actually starting Kindergarten. Wow, where'd that go?

His teacher wisely recommended sending along a "friend" for the first day so Puff got to go too. It was a good thing since his smile faded the moment the bus pulled up at the driveway.

Oh boy.

The good news is that Chance came bounding off the bus all smiles and chattering up a storm about his first day at school. *whew*

It's been nearly a full month since he started and he's still excited about school and loving it. It's just amazing to see his enthusiasm and it makes us happy that his initial trepidation is nothing but a distant memory for him.

Maia's Birthday

Our little girl is 3!

We just had a small party to celebrate Maia's 3rd birthday - I'm not doing the kid chaos yet with her for another year or two. Just her family and her honorary aunts and uncles for now.

She had a great time and got lots of wonderful presents (it was a sea of pink). She wanted a Hello Kitty party and so it was a day chock-full of Hello Kitty stuff, too.

Vacation

Ahhh...vacation. That word alone just relaxes me and brings my blood pressure down several points. The only down-side is there just aren't enough of them.

We spent a fabulous week up in Orillia, Ontario at a place called Fern Resort. It's an all-inclusive family-oriented resort on the shores of Lake Couchiching. It was a full week of being pampered and fed like royalty!

Just do me one favor: Pleeeeease don't say "Oh, it's like the place in Dirty Dancing!" [shudder] Think of it more like taking a cruise that stays in the same spot.

The kids have so much fun and we do as well. The days are just packed. Each day there's a sheet full of activities for the kids and adults and you can be as busy or as lazy as you like (the hammocks are very comfy). It was heavenly.

We took so many pictures there's no way to post them all here or even narrow it down to just a few. So I'm just going to link to the online photo album.

Catching up...again

I have a lot of catching up to do. Not like that's anything new.

Three big things I need to post about are our vacation to Fern, Maia's birthday and Chance's first day at school. All of which deserve nice big juicy posts of their own. All of which require a tad more time than I seem to have these days.

Stay tuned!

Butterflies

This year I've been working on my butterfly garden. I have a planned area and a wildflower garden, both of which feature flowers that are supposed to attract butterflies (and maybe hummingbirds). So far I haven't had a lot of traffic (that I've seen, at least) but the occasional Monarch makes an appearance...giving me just enough hope that I keep looking.

A week or two ago I saw a Hummingbird Moth (odd duck of a thing) but didn't run to get my camera. Today, however, I was quick enough to get several pictures of a Giant Swallowtail butterfly. Unlike the Monarchs, it wasn't terribly shy and even got fairly close to me while I snapped away.

By the way, I'm not a great photographer and my subject isn't a patient critter so please excuse any blurriness. Maybe after Sean gets me that new 10x optical zoom camera my photos will improve. (hint, hint)

Wrapping up soccer

Last night was the Parent-Child game at Chance's soccer league. I was looking forward to it but with a little apprehension since I've never really played soccer. Little did I know that it really doesn't matter. We all had so much fun playing with the kids and they with us. Chance was so pleased with himself because he personally blocked three of my goal attempts. Another year or two and he won't let me live it down.

A Little Ham To Go With That Cheese?

A local cacher by the name of Chilehead has several signature items he leaves in caches. His bandana has become one of Maia's favorite things. This is the latest off the Paris runway...look for it in the fall collections.

Coping with a Thunderstorm 101: Headphones are your friend

Cheap Excuses

Where does the time go? Honestly, every time I say that I hear my father's voice in my head. I remember hearing him say that so often when I was a kid and thinking he was nuts - time didn't fly, it CRAWLED! Well, unless it was summer...but that's different.

Anyway, more than a month has passed since my last update and I have no idea where that time went. Maybe it's evaporated at the parks or at the soccer games (if anyone calls me a "Soccer Mom" I promise I'll hurt you) or maybe it's been while we cache. Who knows.

I'm going to catch up in pictures just because it's easier than trying to sound witty on a rainy day. (It's pouring buckets...again.)

The end of June we spent one Friday up at Hamlin Beach Park (along our "North Coast")....

Birthday Party Recap

Wow. We had a record turnout for the party this year...unbelievable! Or, maybe it just felt that way because people came and stayed longer and there were lots of kids running around. Whatever the case, it was a loooooong day!

I want to thank all the people who stopped in and helped us celebrate our birthday (for those of you playing at home, Sean and I have the same birthday...cool, huh?) and made it a rather memorable one (and you know who you are.) ;) For those of you who couldn't make it, well..., we'll be doing it again next year so there's always another chance.

Birthday Parties for Dummies

So, did you get your invitation? Excellent!

I have to confess that there isn't anything here that isn't on the invite...I just needed a URL to put on it to keep true to the "Dummies" format. So shoot me.

However, since you're here already you may as well sign in and let us know if you're coming or not (don't want to have to run out to Weggies for more food halfway through the party, ya know.)

Thanks for stopping by and take a minute to check out the kids' pictures, too!

A Day Out with Thomas

We were invited to join our friends Don and Joan and their little guy, Jack, for a Day Out with Thomas this past Friday. Luck was with us and the weather was beautiful in spite of the weather man's predictions.

At first, Chance wasn't as thrilled as we hoped he would be, but he finally let his guard down and had a good time. It's amazing how quickly he moved through this "phase" though - it seemed as though he was soooo into Thomas for so long and then, just this year, he was done. He still loves trains and is fascinated by them but he no longer plays with his wooden trains or oohs and ahhhs over Thomas and Friends.

Luckily, Maia is now starting to get into it a bit so maybe there's some life left in those wooden train sets after all.

Just because they're cute

It's my blog, I can brag if I want to...brag if I want to....

Caching in Letchworth

As you probably already know, we love caching. One thing about it, though, is that it has its highs and lows: from "Wow, we found three caches in one day!" to "Is this thing calibrated right? We couldn't find this cache if it was on fire!" Yup, it can be a love-hate relationship some days. One major saving grace is that even when you can't find a cache you're usually in some place pretty and/or cool so you don't mind so much. That pretty much sums up last Friday.

Sean took the day off and we all went down to Letchworth Park to find some caches and sightsee. (Quick aside, both Sean and I have lived in the greater Rochester area for *gulp* 20+ years now and this is our first trip to Letchworth...how stupid is that?) Anyway, we had quite a few caches to choose from and the kids were happy to head outta Dodge. To make a long story short, we ended up chasing after two caches that we never found. Oh well.... We settled down at Wolf Creek for lunch and managed to take lots of great pictures so all was not lost. The caches will simply have to wait for another day.

Picture time

Apparently bears aren't the only thing that hibernate in the winter - it seems our camera has done a little as well. So, with spring now in full swing around here our camera has come out of hiding and we've got pictures to share again.

Last weekend the kids were itching to wash the cars (hey, who are we to argue?) so Sean got them all set up and let 'em rip. (Too bad it rained the next day.)

Nothing in particular

Blogging is a funny thing; even when you don't have anything particularly noteworthy to say, you still feel somewhat obligated to update the darn thing.

So, in an effort to at least stay in the habit of this, I'm just going to ramble. (You may want to just hit that "Next Blog" link now and spare yourself.)

Here's something: Last week I received an email from a friend from high school. It completely made my week to hear from Bill B. and find out how he's doing these days. Since reconnecting we've done some catching up and it's been like a breath of fresh air for me.

I'm sure for some people that doesn't seem like a big deal, but for me it was. You see, I don't have friends from that period in my life (well, ok, maybe two or three) but being so far from my old hometown I've lost touch with them. There's something very grounding about maintaining friendships with people who knew you 'back then'. Whoever you become on your road through life, there will be those people who knew you in your formative years...people who know the core you. *shrug* Oh well, enough of my rambling.

My Big Brave Boy

Today Chance and I went for his 5 yr. check-up. He's healthy as a horse, right on target for height and weight, and (contrary to my speculation) has great hearing and eyesight. (So what's his excuse for not hearing me call him or seeing the blitzkrieg in his room?!) Sure, some tears were shed over the three shots, but it's nothing that a Wendy's Frostie didn't cure.

I have to say I was beaming with maternal pride as he navigated his way through the exams and talking to the doc. He was poised and managed to put his shyness in his pocket long enough to answer her questions directly. Did I mention I was proud? Oh, yeah, I guess I did. Anyway, I told him all day how well he did and how proud I was/am...ad nauseum.

Ya know, sometimes this mommy-thing is pretty cool.

Chance turns FIVE!

Here’s Chance opening a gift at his party at Chuck E. Cheese. He invited 8 friends to help him celebrate. He had such a great time and so did his friends. Mom and Dad, on the other hand, were completely exhausted after two hours. On the upside, at least they weren’t tearing our house apart!

Next came the family party. As if Chance hadn’t gotten enough cool toys already, he got even more. Although, the biggest present was being surrounded by family. Oh, who am I kidding, he’s 5…it’s all about the presents!

Seriously, though, it was nice to gather everyone to celebrate our little guy turning 5. Sean and I have done a lot of reminiscing about the past 5+ years and how wonderful (and..ahem..challenging) they’ve been. We wouldn’t change a thing. I mean, c’mon, look at those two…would you trade them for the world? We wouldn’t.

Melancholoy Milestones

Well, we've done it: Maia is officially weaned.

It's such a bittersweet milestone, really. She's 2.5 now and was only down to nursing briefly twice a day since I'd been cutting her back for awhile to prepare us both for this. I even started to notice that I was feeling a little awkward about still nursing her at this age. But, still....

So here I sit, roughly two or three weeks since we stopped, with tears in my eyes feeling sad that it's over. Something that I truly enjoyed is done forever and I'm feeling sad that we're done and guilty for the slight tinge of relief.

I'm such a goof.

What a week

It's amazing all that can happen in the span of a week.

Last week Hunter was scheduled to undergo a spleenectomy on Wednesday after his ultra-sound on Monday confirmed that there was something wrong with his spleen. Well, the surgery went well and Hunter is now home and acting as though nothing really happened. His appetite has returned (mooching food like a pro). His energy level seems normal. He isn't really bothering his incision very much. *sigh* But it was a helluva week to get here.

He's not completely home free, either; we're still waiting for the pathology report on the spleen that will tell us if the tumor was benign or malignant. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and not think too far ahead. He's home, he's happy and he's like his old self again...I'm grateful for all of it.

I cannot gush enough about his vet and the animal hospital that took such wonderful care of him. Although not all of the info he gave me was all that good to hear, he prepared me for anything and everything and was so attuned to my needs that I almost thought I was his patient! Anyway, if you know us and are near us and need a vet, please let me tell you about this doctor...he's among the best. Thank you Dr. K. Cosford!

Finally, I want to thank everyone who kept us in your thoughts and prayers this past week. I'm truly overwhelmed by the number of friends and family who have reached out to us during this last week. Your kindness and caring really made a tremendous difference to our family (esp. me since I'm the biggest sap). Thank you for being so sweet.

One of those days

It's one of those days.

You know the kind, where your kids seem almost as if they're plotting the demise of your sanity. Yup, one of those. Oh, and let's not forget how everything else can snowball right along with all the other little things.

The biggest "thing" right now is Hunter. The snowball started last week when I noticed he'd been acting a little strange. A trip to the vet, some bloodwork and x-rays and then a follow-up call from the vet and I went into full-blown anxiety mode.

Today saw us at two separate veterinary offices for an ultrasound and then more bloodwork as we confirmed that he needs his spleen removed. Is it cancer? Dunno yet. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning and then...well, I don't know. I'll know how bad it is when I get a call either from a nurse or the doctor. A nurse means it's very bad and I'll have to make the call to let him go on the table or bring him home and wait for the inevitable. The doctor means a (hopefully) better prognosis.

I know this may seem silly to some--I mean, c'mon, he's a dog--but this boy is 10 years old and like my own kid. He came into my life at a really rough time and he's been my cuddle buddy, confidante and companion for so long now. Not to mention that it's not even a year since losing Kenei. This is the worst part of loving pets so much: their lives are always too short to bear. Maybe what I need is a parrot.

Anyway, I'm sorry to dump all this here...I mean, you probably didn't come here to be depressed or read my rambling thoughts on man's best friend and my bad day. I just needed to get it out...besides, it's cheaper than therapy.

Another milestone

Last Thursday marked another milestone for Chance and me: I registered him for Kindergarten. Sure, he doesn't start until fall, but there I was filling out paperwork, forgetting his SSN, and trying to choose between morning or afternoon session (only half-day K here).

So, done is done and my little boy is all set to move from AAA League to AA come September.

*sigh*