Field Day - Emily

Last week, Emily participated in her first ever Field Day which, coincidentally, was also the first field day that I've been able to attend as a parent although Lee has always been there. The day started a bit slowly with the obstacle course (painful, see video below) but soon picked up as the kids went through each of the other events.  I must say, I have always viewed Elizabeth as our "athlete" and Emily as our dancer.  It appears, however, that Emily has the fire in her belly, and just might end up being our athlete after all; definitely our sprinter!!  Not that Field Day was a competition or about me.....

The three legged race. 

The sack race. 

The potato push - Emily blew away the rest of the class in this one.  It's all about the technique. 

Egg race (good things the eggs were wooden, otherwise the field would have been a disaster). 

Bean bag run. 

Ring toss.

The first event of the day was the obstacle course and it was a bit painful to watch.

The sack race was pretty funny.

The dash was my favorite event.  Right before it, I went over to Emily and told her to try her best to win.  She flew up the hill in first place and tagged Lee's hand; unfortunately, she got jammed up in the turn around and lost a lot of time, so ended up finishing a close second.  This was probably the most competitive that we've ever seen Emily and it was great!!

Logan's Birthday

Last weekend, we went to Logan's birthday party.  Emily and Logan are kindergarten classmates, but we have known him since he was born, as his brother and Elizabeth met more than 6 years ago a play group (and were also kindergarten classmates).  He is a good buddy to Emily and our families enjoy spending time together so it was bound to be an enjoyable party - even before we knew about the mini golf!!!  The girls have never played mini golf before, which is hard to believe considering that Lee and I spent so many of our dating years on a mini golf courses!  It was great fun and we all had a great time.  Happy birthday Logan!!!

The party kids! 

Love these two!! 

Angry Birds cake! 

Singing to the birthday boy! 

Birthday Boy! 

Ready for mini golf.....

Summer, Elizabeth, Meriel and Emily (in height order, apparently!!). 

No clue... 

Considering that I regularly kicked his butt "back in the day", I'm not sure why he was teaching her how to play. 

In the bumper boats. 

Elizabeth and Summer in the bumper boats.  What we learned from this experience: Summer is a crazy driver and we will not let Elizabeth drive with her when they turn 16!!!

Newton's kids

The Little Red Hen

Each year, the entire kindergarten class puts on a play for the school and their parents.  Two years ago, Elizabeth's class performed the Three Billy Goats Gruff.  This year, Emily's class put on The Little Red Hen.  For the last couple of weeks, we have been listening as Emily practiced the songs and her one line.  By performance night, she was ready!!!

Singing about the fox. 

She had a great time!! 

Saying her line (video below). 

Part of her class.

Steel Eyed Fox

(I Can Do It) By Myself  

Look at That

  

Emily's line!!!

 

The Finale

Cloverisms!

- "Why is Mr. Nick afraid of dogs?" asked Emily.  "He's not afraid of dogs, he just doesn't like dogs."  "Why?"  "Because he usually comes into contact with them when he is arresting someone and the dogs try to bite him and hurt him." "Well," said Elizabeth, "he's never going to have to come here to arrest you or Daddy, so there's no reason for him to be afraid of our dog."  Can't really argue with that kind of logic.
- "Grandpa, were any of your relatives during Jesus' time disciples?" Sometimes, Elizabeth's curiosity about biblical times is very amusing.  Of course, my father proceeded to tell her how the Celts were pagans at that point in time, and I don't think that she appreciated that very much.
- "I just love the Bible."  A head-turner uttered by Elizabeth at Easter brunch.  We aren't quite sure where she came from, but she can't be ours!!
- "It's really hard to hug powerlifters...." Not sure why Emily came up with this gem.
- "This is the best dessert you've made since you made that chocolate cake."  High praise from Elizabeth about the "mug cake" I made, unless you consider the fact that I made the chocolate cake two weeks ago....
- "I want to stay a kid forever.  Because if I grow up, people might forget it's my birthday and not get me a cake.  Like what happens to you, Mommy."  Note that Emily doesn't feel badly for me; she just doesn't want to share my fate.
- "It's Sunday. If we're not having roast beef for dinner, what could we be possibly be having?"  God forbid we were to do something that is not part of the routine!
- "You are the best mommy in the world," said Elizabeth one night when I was putting the girls to bed.  "Even though I won't get you an iPod?" I asked.  "Yes, even though you won't get me an iPod, you are still the best mommy in the world."  Wow, I must be pretty great.  ;-)
- "Did Daddy do a good job taking care of you when I was gone?" I asked Emily, after I spent an overnight with some of my friends.  "Yes," she replied.  "Oh, good, then you didn't miss me."  "I missed you."  "If Daddy did a good job, then why did you miss me?"  "All I know is that it hurt a lot right here when you were gone," said Emily, pointing to her heart.
- "Let's ask Daddy.  He's really smart about this kind of stuff."  Emily and I were trying to decide what she should be for "dress like your favorite book character" day at school and couldn't come up with anything.  Wouldn't you know, Lee thought of two great ideas right away and Emily went to school dressed as one of them.  We would be lost without him.
- "She is popular.  But that's only because all of the girls are afraid of her."  Stunningly accurate insight from Elizabeth about one of her classmates, who Lee and I have nicknamed "the mean girl."
- Me: "I'm thinking of changing my last name to LeBlanc."
  Elizabeth: "Why would you do that?"
  Me:  "So that we all have the same last name.  Wouldn't that be nice?"
  Emily: "I like your name, I don't think that you should change it."
  Me:  "Isn't important to you that we all have the same last name?"
  The girls: "No."
  Lee (grinning): "Sounds like a bad idea to me."
- "Mommy, I'm going to give you a great big hug because you look so beautiful today."  That's my Emily.

BPBC 2012

The 4th Annual Bench Press for Breast Cancer was held last Saturday and, as usual, the event was a great success.  More than thirty lifters participated and raised money for the Connecticut affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  Thanks to your amazing support, Lee and I raised more than $1,100 and were the top fundraisers for the event.  This year, many of our local friends came out to support us and the cause - although personally, I think that they just wanted to see Lee lift in person! 
As for the numbers - Lee is training for a competition in late June, so he treated the event as light training and lifted 315 lbs and 345 lbs.  I prepared a great deal and did my best to listen to Lee's advice - I ended up lifting 85 lbs, 100 lbs and then 115 lbs, a new PR for me.  Next year, I want to do 130 lbs....but we'll see about that.  Thanks again to everyone that supported us and this event!

The girls. 

Maureen - opening bench of 85 ponds. 

Lee smiling - a rare gem. 

Lee putting up some light weight. 

Maureen - 115 pounds (thanks Courtney!).

The girls holding our Top Fundraisers trophy. 

Colin, Erin and Emily. 

The family that lifts weights together.... 

My sister came down to bench! 

Almost all of the BPBC lifters.

Hobo Sam

Last week when I was running at lunchtime, I came across an old dog tied to a fence with an old shoelace.  There was another person there with him - a woman who was walking her dog stumbled across him a few moments before me and called Animal Control while I petted him.  He was so friendly and I felt so badly leaving him to go back to work.  When I told Lee the story, he told me to keep an out for the dog on the Hartford pound's website.  I contacted the pound the next day and for a couple of days, we tried to set up an appointment to meet him.  We (Lee, Elizabeth, Elliot and I) were finally able to meet him on Monday afternoon and we thought that he was a sweetie.
His story is an interesting one.  He is microchipped and the chip traces back to upstate New York.  The ACO contacted the owner last Tuesday afternoon and didn't receive a return call until Friday evening; and while the owner cried about how much she loved him and missed him and how wonderful he is, she wasn't interested in coming to get him.  Indeed, she had no idea how he could have gotten from Syracuse to Hartford....She did provide the ACO with some information about the dog, although we have reason to believe that almost everything she said, except for his name (Baxter - which he clearly answers to), was false.  The ACO believes that he was living with a group of homeless people in Hartford and that when they discovered that he had an ear infection, they tied him to the fence in a well-traveled area so that the someone would find him and the ear infection could be treated.  Under city ordinances, however, a dog picked up by AC must be adopted within ten days of entering the pound or be put to sleep.  Lee picked up Baxter on Wednesday afternoon, just a few hours before he would have been put to sleep.  Baxter visited our vet, where he got a clean bill of health, and the groomer (where he got a much needed bath!) on Thursday morning and is settling into his new life in the Cloverhood.  He has a ton of energy (which we are not used to), but is a very good boy.
About the title of this post....given his "story", but before we knew his name, Lee wanted to name him Hobo; I wanted to name him Sam; and Elizabeth wanted to name him Samuel, for Samuel Adams (the revolutionary, not the beer); and Emily could only think of girl names.  The girls and I decided that we would call him Hobo Sam.  And then we found out that his name was Baxter.  So Baxter it is.

Mr. Adorable 

Emily loves her doggies. 

Baxter settled in nicely on the couch, like he owns the place. 

Pals 

Emily couldn't be more in love....

Girls' Night

Last weekend, I met up with Sheila, Jen, and Janet, my best friends from high school, for a long-hoped-for-but-quickly-planned Girls' Night.  Sheila, who lives in Arizona, was scheduled to be in Boston for the week on business and decided to come out a few days early.  The rest of us hastily arranged or rearranged plans so that we could join her at Braggalope Bay on Sunday and Monday.  We stayed up far too late (almost 4 am!) and got up far too early, but we had so much fun spending time together and just unwinding.  It was so great to see these ladies and we really hope that we can make this into an annual tradition!

What better way to celebrate our time together than with some champagne!!! 

Janet, the master mixologist! 

Yummy Cosmo! 

Jen, preparing the fondue pot.

Fondue!!!  At 2 a.m.!!! 

Janet, Jen and Sheila

High school Besties!  Photo courtesy of Janet and her mini-tripod!

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, I received some wonderful handmade gifts from the girls, which were so just so precious and special.

Elizabeth made this card. If you look closely, the "mirror" says that I am strong, perfect and quiet.  Lee is probably still laughing at that one.

Emily thinks that I make the best toast with peanut butter.  I actually do a lot of cooking and baking, but my toast is clearly outstanding! 

We took some pictures together before we went to mass. 

Me and my girls.

At mass, the girls participated in the crowning of Mary.  They actually led the procession!