1st Day of Pre-School

Since I had to go back to work today, Devin had to go back to school, and thus vacation is over! BUT Devin is now officially a Pre-Schooler! He is at the same school he went to last year (for day care) where they did a lot of playing, but also projects, circle time, and so on. This year he is in a 3-and-4 year old class with "Miss Marilyn" and "Miss Emily" where he will continue to get lots of free play and outdoor time, with a little more focus on academics such as colors, shapes, numbers, alphabet, writing, and learning through discovery. He was very excited to go back to school and see all of his friends.

Here he is outside of our house today:
Devin is really looking like such a big boy to me lately. It could be the nearly 2 inches he grew this summer.....

Siesta

Honorable Men

40 years ago my father was in the Army National Guard when he was drafted/called to Active duty for the Vietnam War. He reported to South Vietnam from September 1968-1969. He was just 20 years old. Last night my family and I attended a ceremony with my father to honor his Battalion, specifically the men who did not make it home. You can read an article about it here. The ceremony was humbling and emotional.

There were pictures and memorabilia to look at....(my dad is in the middle)

Artillery...
Family support:
The following picture shows the painting that exhibited the lives that were lost just 2 weeks before their battalion was to return to New Hampshire. The men's vehicle hit a land mine. All of the men were from Manchester, NH and it was declared the "saddest day in the city's history." The painting was then placed for display in the Armory's entrance.



The entire evening was very nice. It certainly made me very proud to be my father's daughter.

Middle of the Night

As I was peacefully dreaming of cost-free relaxing vacations on beautiful islands and calorie-exempt desserts, I was awoken by a shrieking little voice yelling, "Mommy! Mooooom! Mommy I have to peeeee!"

So I got up and helped the little guy to the bathroom. Both of us, in a half drunk stupor, made it there and back. As I was tucking Devin back into bed he asked me, "Can I be done sleeping now?"

"Uhhh, no Devin its 1 am. Its still the middle of the night." I told him and I kissed him goodnight and went back to bed.

A few minutes later he was coughing repeatedly and I knew it wasn't going to stop. <His asthma has been really bad lately.> I went and got the Nebulizer and medicine and brought it into his room. I entered into my "Nurse Mommy" roll and administered the Neb while Devin lay half-asleep.

When it was done, Devin asked me, "Are you going to watch the news now Mommy?"

"No, Devin. I am going to WASH the Neb and go back to bed."

"Yeah, its the middle of the night." Devin said.

Fun Photo Friday

Devin's loot from our shopping trip:

Devin and Lexi playing yesterday:
Lexi :)

Shopping Trip

Yesterday we took a trip to the Outlets. We did really well!

The Stride Rite outlet had shoes for Devin for $19.99!! We usually have to pay around $50 for his shoes (since he has WIDE feet we have a hard time finding good shoes for him!) We got him a nice pair of white sneakers and a pair of brown playground shoes. Oh and he went up to size 12w! Yowzers!

At Carter's all of the fall clothes were 50% off! Woo hoo! I was in heaven! I had to narrow it down because I would have picked one of everything! I got Devin 2 sweatshirts, a pair of jeans, 2 long sleeved shirts, fall pajamas, a clearance bathing suit, and a clearance polo shirt for next year all for around $68!!! (The clerk also gave me a 20% whole purchase coupon to use!! Before coupon it was about $86) GREAT DEALS!

I got myself 4 shirts and a pair of dressy jeans from Dress Barn. The deals there were "okay."

I would have LOVED to keep on shopping, but our pre-set budget limit was reached. Oh well! Next time!

Train Outing

Yesterday Devin and I went out for the afternoon with my parents. We went up to the Lakes region of New Hampshire to catch an hour long train ride around (part of) Lake Winnipesauke. After the train ride we hung out in the arcade for a bit before heading out for a yummy seafood dinner. Everyone, except Grandma (a Land Lover only!) enjoyed delicious seafood at the Makris Lobster House- even Devin had fresh haddock sticks!

Here we are enjoying the train ride.
My mom and I :)
The arcades! I didn't know the impulse to play in these places would start so early...
Here is my Dad trying to win Devin some tickets.
Some really nice older biker guys gave Devin their tickets. So with those, in addition to the ones my dad got him Devin was able to get a water ball, a parachute guy, and his favorite prize was a small magnifying glass. He has been making everything BIGGER since! Hey, it keeps him busy!

Here is a quick video (if you can listen through all of the background noise...) to show just how much Devin enjoyed the train ride. He is singing "I love the train!"

Swimming

Swimming has been Devin's favorite activity this summer, and he is pretty good at it! Poor kid does have to wear a lot of gear to get in the pool though. First he has his molded ear plugs due to his ear tubes, over that he wears a headband to make sure that we don't lose the ear plugs. He also wears his life vest which makes him VERY mobile in the pool! All in all our pool has been a life saver this summer!

Here is a quick video of Devin swimming all the way down to the deep end.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A lot of the time in the pool is spent with our neighbor Lexi. These 2 are so cute together!

Busy Week-end

Erick has been working a lot lately, so we had to cram a lot in between Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Saturday when Erick got home we hopped in the car and headed to his parents house for a visit. His aunt, Tia Tonya, was there and her daughter, Carolyn, stopped by with her daughters, J'Lynn and Jada. Everyone had fun eating BBQ, playing ball, and winding down with a little Disney channel (for the kids)/Red Sox (for the adults). It was a great visit.

Here is Erick with Devin and Erick's dad.
Erick and his mom playing baseball with Devin.
Devin doing a little dance while running the bases. (It was pretty cute!)
Here is Jada, Devin, and J'Lynn.
Jada and Devin.
On Sunday we headed over to the beach to see our friends, Hollie and Moses and their kids Kolbe and Aiden. Devin had fun playing with kids in the sand, going back and forth to the water (which I was told wasn't too cold) and I enjoyed relaxing in my chair soaking up some sun, reading, and chatting. The weather was great (read: not too hot) and everyone enjoyed themselves. Later we went out for dinner and ice cream before heading home.


Here are Devin and Aiden.
Hollie and her boys, Kolbe and Aiden.

Fun Photo Friday

Devin received this "armor" from one of the secretaries at work. She is moving away and consequently cleaning out her closets. She sent this, her older son's beloved dress up gear, along for Devin to enjoy. He wears it while singing, "I'm a knight! That's right! I'm a knight, that's right!" (from the Backyardigans)

Below is Devin meeting Maggie for the first time. Maggie is my best friend Erin's new dog. She is a beautiful (as you can see) and well-natured 1 year old Golden Retreiver. Devin and Maggie played very nicely together!

Wordless Wednesday

Touch-a-Truck (Again)

Last year we went to this event called Touch-a-Truck. It was a lot of fun and Devin really liked looking at all of the different types of trucks that they had there. So when we saw that they were holding it again this year, we decided to try it out again.

This year Devin went in/sat in more of the trucks, but was not so keen on all of the LOUD horns and noises! (It was noisy and got annoying!) It was a lot of fun and the weather was great. Here are some pictures of our adventure!

Daddy had to try out the big rig to get things started!


Then Devin was ready to try the trucks. The firetruck was a top priority!
An armored police truck was really cool.
Look at us!
Here we are!
An ice cream treat for a nice hot day!
*We saw and tried many more trucks, but these were a few of the favorites. There was also an ambulance, Red Cross van, CSI Truck, Police Car, Oil Truck, School bus, UPS Truck, Garbage Truck, Tow Truck, and more!

Meet Wanda

Wanda is a new "Toy Fairy" that has entered our lives. She has been somewhat of a God-send. Devin had been giving us a hard time with picking up his toys recently, and after reading an article in Parents magazine about a woman who tried something of this sort and was successful with her similar aged child, I decided to try this approach.

I told Devin that if he didn't pick up his toys, 'Wanda' might come and get them and give them to girls and boys who had no toys. He immediately began to pick up his toys and got a little nervous. "Hurry Mommy! We don't want Wanda to find my toys!" (I told him we had to hide them.) At first I felt a little bit guilty for lying to him, but then I thought about it...he has been dragging this out, making me nag him, etc. If this makes him move it, then so be it! Guilt-be-gone!

I tried it again that night when Erick was home. Erick got into it and really liked Wanda once he saw how well this new strategy worked! He even text messaged Wanda when Devin wasn't cleaning up! That got Devin moving!

Bottom line...maybe we aren't the best, most honest parents...we do the whole Santa Claus/Easter Bunny thing, I am sure we will do the Tooth Fairy thing too, why not Wanda the Toy Fairy if it helps make clean up a little easier???