Rose

For a long time, Elizabeth has wanted a bearded dragon.  Because of the size of the tank needed, we said no and so instead, she got a gecko.  The gecko(s) were short-lived - one got an eye infection that eventually led to blindness (and starvation) and the other had a parasite that slowly killed it.  Once the geckos were gone, she started working on us in earnest for a bearded dragon - including an 8 page business case, which included costs, necessary items, etc.  We told her that if she was able to meet certain conditions, we would consider it.  The conditions we put in place - a complete attitude change, straight A's for the year, and a greater focus on her math - were too burdensome, or so we thought.  She proved us wrong and at the end of the school year, Lee and I were faced with a tough decision.  We visited a friend with a bearded dragon, did some research of our own and finally made the decision.  Lee actually found a beardy on Craig's List (which is its own story) and as it turns out, we ended up rescuing her bearded dragon.  She's an interesting creature, much more interactive than I thought she'd be, and we have all enjoyed having her in the house.

Rose got her name from her coloring, which has become more pronounced the longer she's been with us.

She loves to snuggle with Elizabeth. 

Braggalope Bay 2017

Last weekend, the stars aligned and the girls and I were able to make the trip up to New Hampshire to visit with my best girl friends from high school, spending the day at Braggalope Bay.  The kids enjoyed an afternoon on the water, swimming and kayaking, and the moms sat around and caught up on life.  With all of the changes going on in life, it was comforting to be with people that I've known for so long and who are some of the greatest friends I've ever had.

I don't know what's going on here, but Emily's face is priceless. 

The Boucher Boys and the LeBlanc Girls took off in the kayaks. 

Kevin and Clint. 

The kids swam out to the raft and had a great time jumping off of it.

Goof ball. 

Thirty years of friendship. 

Annual photo (sans Lee, who was home with Baxter).

Baxter

On Monday evening, Baxter went over the rainbow bridge to meet up with Elliot and Rudy.  Over the last couple of months, he lost about 20 pounds and his quality of life went downhill drastically.  He had five mast cell tumors and although the medication initially shrunk some of them, the one on his head came back at close to double the size.  He started having frequent accidents in the house, waking up at all hours of the night, throwing up, difficulty with breathing, and generally became antisocial with us, something we'd never seen before.  Lee and I made the incredibly difficult decision not to wait and drag things out, something that was very hard for the girls to swallow.  We had a bit of a rough weekend, but spent a lot of quality time with Baxter and he got some great leftovers out of us before we went to the vet on Monday night.  Baxter had an amazing life - from Syracuse, NY to the streets of Hartford to our home for the last five years.  He brought us so much joy and so many laughs and we will miss him so terribly much.  RIP buddy.

May 2012, only a few days after I found Baxter in Hartford. 

Summer 2012

Last photos... 

Final ride. 

Thirteen

Elizabeth turned thirteen today.  I know that I say this every year, but I just can't believe it - where does the time go?  It seems impossible to believe that she is entering yet another phase of her life, the teenage years.  Elizabeth is both incredibly sensitive and tough as nails.  She impresses us with her maturity and her ability to weather any storm - not that she is impervious to pain, but that she comes through conflicts bruised and battered, but stronger than than before.  Elizabeth continues to excel academically, thanks to God's gifts and an incredible work ethic.  Her love for reading knows no bounds and while math continues to be her Achille's Heel, she's made tremendous progress over the last year.  She buckled down and really committed herself to her sports over this year, taking her lacrosse game to a whole new level, leading her cross country team at every race and becoming a dependable and reliable member of her basketball team.  She loves animals and wants to save every animal she lays eyes on, regardless of species.  Despite the fact that she drives us crazy and challenges our parenting abilities (and our patience) at every turn, Lee and I could not be more proud of the person she is and the person she is working to become.  Happy birthday to our teenager.  We love you so much!

P.S.  You know you have a teenager when they pick a song by Pitbull for their birthday video....

June Odds and Ends

Every year, the 7th graders make the 8th graders posters as a part of their goodbye.  Elizabeth and Laila worked together on their friend Teddy's poster (even staying after school to put in extra work on it) and it came out so great!

Elizabeth waiting anxiously to take the SSAT.

Last day of school selfies.

Emily and Gianna - love these girls!

Emily is obsessed with boomerang.

Seaside Classic

Emily's travel soccer team is staying together for one more year (yeah!!) and the coach is keeping them together as a summer team.  For three weeks, they practiced two nights a week and then last weekend, they played in the Seaside Classic in Rhode Island.  They played some of the best - if not the best - soccer we've ever seen them play and against very tough teams.  Every team they played was a premier summer team.  They lost one and tied one on Saturday and then they won both of their games on Sunday, including a huge 2-1 win in the final game on Sunday against a team that was previously undefeated and unscored upon (and is the number 2 ranked team in Rhode Island).  It was so awesome to watch them pull out all of the stops and just play so tremendously well!  Now they have a few weeks off before they start practicing again before the next tournament.

Emily tousled with this girl the whole game and finally decided that she'd had enough - a foul, as long as it happens in the right place on the field, can sometimes be the right move.... 

Meg and Emily 

Abby and Emily 

GVSA 06 Girls