New England YMCA Championships 3/15/15

I just posted the video of Evan's Medley Relay yesterday. It's an exciting race! They are in the lane with the two men in white shirts - his teammates have the purple and black bathing suits and caps (Evan doesn't wear a cap). Evan swims the last leg - freestyle. You can see how far behind they are after the first two swimmers and then Antonio (No No)who swims our butterfly makes up some substancial time - then comes Evan who swims a 32.48 freestyle leg - his fastest time ever - to clinch first place in their heat! They came in 17th overall, out of 29 teams I believe. It was such an exciting day and race! I may have told some of you, but the kid who won most of the events is a 10 year old from the South Shore, MA. He broke the national record yesterday for the 50freestyle for boys 9/10year olds. He swam it in 26. something seconds! It was very exciting to watch! We took Evan out to dinner last night in Boston with the rest of his relay team and parents. He has made some new friends and you can tell he is so proud to be part of the team. Jeff and I are still floating today - so proud of Evan and just love seeing him confident and having fun. He proudly wore his New Englands tee shirt to school today and had fun telling his class all about it. We had a very nice e-mail from his coach last night saying how proud he was of Ev and how well he has done for a first year swimmer. This has just been such a positive experience for all of us. I never imagined that I would grow to love watching swimming so much! We have a month off now until the next meet and a month off from practice. Evan is bummed, but we are happy to have some of our family time back at night for a few weeks !! Enjoy the race!! :)

Medley Relay - New England Championships, MIT 3/15/15

Pumpkins

The kids were very proud of their pumpkins this year!!

Sophia's Last Soccer Game

Sophia had her last soccer game today - we squeezed it in before the rain started. Evan's was cancelled as it was later in the day and it was down-pouring by then. Sophia had a great season - lots of fun and she learned a lot! Jeff had a fun time coaching too.

Halloween Fun

Evan, the Ninja, and Sophia, the Fairy Butterfly, had a great Halloween! We hosted the neighborhood Halloween party this year, complete with a home-made fog machine and eyeball punch!! The kids had a fun freeze dance party and got lots of loot trick-or-treating. We are blessed to have such a great neighborhood filled with so many kids and fun adult friends.

Mayo School Literacy Parade

Here are some pictures from one of my favorite days at Mayo School - the annual Literacy Parade. Sophia chose "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" as her favorite book and Evan chose his recent favorite, "Danny the Champion of the World", by Roald Dahl. The third graders did "pizza box book reports" this year. It was a great day, as always, and even more fun because we had two kids marching this year!

Fall Fun!

Time flies when you're having fun! I am not sure where the last 2 months have gone but they sure have been busy. Jeff and I both agree that we have entered a new phase of parenting called "the shuttle bus phase!" It seems these days that we just go from one activity to the next. As crazy as the nights and weekends get, we are loving it and enjoying every minute watching the kids have fun at all of their activities. There's really nothing we'd rather be doing. (well, maybe sipping a fruity drink in the Caribbean, but aside from that, nothing!!)First and most importantly, school....all is going great for both kids so far. Sophia made a very good transition into full day Kindergarten. She seems to really like it and hasn't complained at all about the long day. We have had some difficult late afternoons/evenings at home behavior-wise, likely due to the transition and Sophia being overtired. She has definitely tried our patience during these difficult times but knock on wood, she has really seemed to have turned a corner just this past week. She is sleeping later in the mornings which I think has had a positive effect on how she starts her day. It's amazing how much behavior can change in a child when they are well-rested! Like anything, its an adjustment and just taking some time. Academically, Sophia is making leaps and bounds progress reading. She is sounding out words and reading full books. She has caught on so quick it has amazed us. She loves to read and wants to read to us every chance she gets lately. We are very proud of her! Sophia started dance class in September...the verdict is still out as to whether or not we will continue. She seemed to love it in the beginning but the last two weeks she hasn't wanted to go to class. She says that she doesn't like dance. I am giving her one more chance this Tuesday - We'll see how it works out....She is, however, loving soccer this fall! She is a little fireball on the field and is quite aggressive for her first year and all. She doesn't like to give up on the ball. Her best buddy Isa is on the team and half the time they are running up and down the field holding hands. It's pretty cute! She is fast like her brother and when she puts her mind to it, she really gets into it. It's been very fun to watch.



And now on to Evan...where to begin? Aside from turning 9 this past weekend and almost being as tall as me, he has just been so active that we can't keep up with his schedule these days! He is loving 3rd grade - he has quizzes each week on his multiplication and division tables and is writing paragraphs, topic sentences, conclusions etc...he still loves writing and it is great that he is learning now about the whole writing process. This is right up my alley! He has a new pen pal (seniors in town) whose name is Jane that he is absolutely smitten with. He says she reminds him of his 1st grade teacher, who is still his favorite. He sat down at my computer last night and typed a super long letter to her. He is so excited to have a pen pal this year. Writing is definitely his favorite subject - besides recess, gym and lunch! ;) He goes off to soccer practice two nights a week now and has games on Saturdays. The level of play this year has really stepped up and his games are so fun to watch. Most teams have been very competitive and he has done very well so far. We love those games - they are very exciting! He played in a wonderful tournament in town last weekend - it was a great event, a full day of soccer and raising money and awareness for undetected heart disease in children. And then there is swimming.....Evan "our fish" has joined the Central Mass YMCA Stingrays this year and is just doing fantastic. He has placed in the top 12 in every event he has swam this fall which has earned him a spot at Championships next weekend. He will be swimming 5 events, including an IM. His relay team had the Relay Championships last weekend and they took 2nd place silver medal! He was so excited! We are so happy for him that he has experienced such success so quickly, especially since he has been swimming in the 9/10 year old events as an 8 year old. It has been very exciting to watch! Although it has been a huge commitment for all of us, it has been a very positive experience. We hope to be able to post some pictures and videos from championships which are coming up on Nov. 2nd. :)



I apologize for the length of this post but it has been so long since I have posted any pictures or updates or even have spoken to many people this fall as to what is new with the kids! Up until the last couple of days, I have been working every day during school hours which hasn't left me with much spare time for blogging. I am waiting in limbo right now about work. My 7 month project just finished and they are trying to create a p/t position for me working in the office, 9-3 while the kids are at school. I heard from my boss this morning who said he really hopes to have good news for me soon. I am crossing my fingers - we really would love for me to have a job we can count on, allowing me to work but also be here for the kids when they need me. It would be the best of both worlds, as I have loved being back to work. I will keep everyone posted on how it turns out! Hope all of our family and friends are happy and healthy this fall!

Labor Day Weekend - Rhode Island

First Day of School!