I need to get better at writing more often. Last time I wrote I was actually planning on going to Philly and northern VA at the end of February break. The day before I left Cris called to tell me Kate's Grandad passed away and the calling hours and funeral were in Houlton that Saturday. Plans changed and I packed to drive north.
I drove up that Thursday after the gym to get up there in enough time to play with the kids and wait for Dave to come home. It was girls night. :) JT had gone with Cris and the kids to a museum and they had planned on dinner out. Margarita's, Walmart and a movie. We're the coolest ladies ever. "When in Rome" was not the greatest movie and we were the only 3 in there. Nate wandered down the stairs at 10pm. First he asked for a snack, then he asked where JT was, then he asked where his present was. "Auntie, where my present?" I had told him Mrs. Margarita (our friend we were 'visiting') would send a present for him instead of him coming with us. Luckily Cris had Mike an Ikes left over. He got two. He questioned them. I'm pretty sure he thought it was a crappy gift but he accepted it. You can't make promises to a 3 year old. They remember when you forget.
Friday morning Dave took Nate ice fishing with the other males in the family. The goal was to catch a gooey fish. He ended up catching a little fish but not a gooey fish. Gooey Fish: a purple and brown fish that is shiny. And apparently hard to catch. Cris, Maddie and I watched some Olympics, played a little dress up and then went to Freeport to look at packs for the California trip and wander. Originally we were going to go take pictures of the guys fishing but Nater was cold with the wind, so we missed them.
Maddie playing dress-up while watching the Olympics.
Saturday morning Cris and I got up pretty darn early to get ready and drive up to Houlton. I really should have taken a picture of us. Cris looked pretty normal, besides the dress pants and slippers. I was wearing a dress and sweater with a sweatshirt, sweatpants, fuzzy socks and sneakers. And my big blue jacket. I was warm and looked like a weirdo. I realized I hadn't been that far north since Christmas of 2005. Super boring drive. I don't plan on doing that again anytime soon. But, it was nice to see Kate and family. I'm glad we were able to be there for her.
On the way up we stopped in or just before Island Falls to get gas. We were talking about how old the gas pump was when the teen that worked their caught us while washing the windshield. Oops. Ha. And I was taking pictures by leaning across the front seat in my get-up.
The drive back down was much harder than the drive up. Early morning driving with coffee was fine. The 5-ish hours back down weren't as entertaining. We stopped in Winslow to get us some Big G's for late lunch. Mmmm.
When we got back Cris dropped me off and went to Josh's 5th birthday party. I was able to get some stuff done for work while the house was quiet. The four of them came back, the kids ran upstairs for bubbles and pjs, and to bed shortly after. Cris and Dave went to the store, leaving me to listen for the kids and leaving Nate with his giant balloon. He was laying in his sleeping bag staring at the big blue balloon above his head. At one point I heard him moving around so I went to check on him. He had turned on the light to see the balloon better. "Nate, maybe you should close your eyes and think about the balloon." "If I close my eyes me can't seeeeee it." Good point, little man.
Nate wanted a picture of Elle. We then took one of Elle and Other Elle. "Good night, Nate." "You have a good night too!" He's a good kid.
At one point during the weekend we (Nate and I) practiced some self control. He could come sit next to me at the counter and we would practice keeping our hands to ourselves. Every time he would reach out to grab something in front of him he would have to get down from the stool for a couple minutes. I would explain why and tell him we'll try again in a little. He'd walk away bummed and after a couple minutes come back to say he was ready to try again. We'd talk about keeping our hands to ourselves and get up on the stool again. A couple times he reached out to grab things, I'd block his hand and he'd say, "Me getting that for you". It's going to take lots of practice.
The rest of the month went quickly. Seeing that there were only 8-ish days left. That Wednesday was Heather's last day of work. She was in Child Find meetings all day at the Preschool and I was working on a few things in the same building. Between meetings I'd bring her water and snacks, Millie (our lovely nurse) would check her blood pressure and legs due to swelling. It was quite the day. Due to how swollen everything was on Heather, I never left the building, just in case something happened or she needed to go to the doctor. She ended up making it through the day and waited until the next day to go to the doctor.
Heather on the 24th. We were at the preschool just before she left for the day. The next morning the doctor told her she couldn't come to work anymore. She was fine with that... until she was told all she could do is sit and got bored really quickly.
And that was February.
JP
No comments:
Post a Comment