Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Mat's dad is home from the hospital! After being there for just shy of a week, he is home resting in his own bed. I find that patients heal much faster in their own environment. If nothing else – not having someone interrupt your sleep about 100 times a day/night is about the best reason to be discharged from the hospital. When I worked night shift on a pediatric floor, I always felt terrible about waking the kids every 4 hours for vital sign checks. It just seemed to cruel to wake kids in the middle of the night when they looked so peaceful.

But he is home and on the mend. He still has a long road ahead of him in his recovery, but each week he will get stronger and stronger. We look forward to seeing him next weekend.


The rest of the week was busy. Wednesday was a fun day at work for me. I went on a field trip with the third grade class. This is the class my diabetic child is in, so a nurse has to go with him. But I didn't mind. I had a sub, and the trip was fun. One of my favorite things about living in New England is its incredible American History. This third grade class is studying local history, so we got to tour some of the oldest homes in the area and learn about the history. We got to see the oldest grave stone they had still standing, and the person died in 1711. We toured a house – preserved how it was then – from the early 1700's. We went to the town hall and got to see all the records they have, and we opened a book from 1634. AMAZING. Truly. And it was touchable – and readable – very cool. We did find out that the town where I work was bought by the British from the native Americans for 30 coats. The British gave them 30 coats (worth about $100) and the British got 100 square miles. Unreal.

Wednesday Arlington had swimming lessons. A little bit of her “swimming memory” comes back each week. The class has definitely been worth it to make her a strong swimmer again. I need to remember to take my camera one of these lessons so you can see her in her swim cap and goggles - she looks hilarious.


Thursday was T-ball game #2 this week. We FINALLY played another “own town” team (we have been playing neighboring town teams the last couple of weeks) and I got to spend some time with other Kindergarten mommies I know. So that was fun. During this game it rained off and on. Never hard, but enough that I thought they might call the game at some point. But they never did. A little rain didn't melt anyone, and it was nice to get the game in so we don't have to make it up. Arlington hit the ball on all three of her turns this time without the T! It was great! A couple of them she hit on the first try. She really seems to love it. Arlington was the last batter of the last inning, and as soon as she rounded to home plate, the skies opened up and it started to pour. We got really wet and were glad it was time to go.

Friday, finally, we didn't have to be anywhere. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week I lost my early evenings to activities. So it was nice to come home today and not have to quickly eat dinner and rush back out the door. So, after picking up the kids from school on Friday, we changed our clothes, and headed outside to play. We stayed out for an hour and a half just enjoying the sunshine and time off from running around.

I took a picture of one of my new lillies that opened up.



I planted four orange lily plants in the back yard. The deer haven't eaten them yet – maybe I shouldn't say anything.

Friday evening around dinner we watched “The Tale of Despereaux”. After Arlington read the book, she wanted to see the movie. It was sort of like the book. She didn't care – she liked it anyway.

Today was soccer. Finally. Arlington, as always, loves playing soccer. She and I went and Mat and the babies stayed behind so that he could work on the playset. Soccer went well – I managed to take one picture. But, you have all seen her play before, so I didn't feel too bad. It was a nice morning – warm, but not too hot. There were a lot of other Kindergarten mommies there to chat with, so that passed the hour and a half quickly.



After that, Arlington and I came home to help Mat (and the babies) with the playset. Mat had gotten pretty far while we were gone. And you aren't going to believe it (and I am afraid it might snow now), but the playset it DONE. DONE. DONE. DONE. Say it with me!!!!! DONE!!!! It took until 6pm tonight, but it is finished. The kids even used it a bit! They were so glad. We are so glad. Although, since Mat and I are old not in our 20's any more, we are both REALLY sore. Tomorrow isn't going to be a picnic for either one of us.

But it looks great! Here it is!


Now all that is left to add is the sandbox that Gramma and Pappy are getting for the kids, and the “play area” will be complete. Yay.


One funny story from Arlington. It started out a little sad, though, because I accidentally hit a squirrel today with the car. The squirrel was crazy and I couldn't avoid it - I felt terrible. I don't think I have ever hit anything ever before. Anyway, Arlington - the avid animal lover - wondered what happened. She was okay with it for this reason:

Arlington: what color was the squirrel
Me: it was a gray one - so sorry honey
Arlington: oh, that's okay then
Me: why?
Arlington: well, it had gray hair, which means it was an old squirrel.

Oh boy.

So that is all. Tomorrow I am having some ladies from the school over while we work on our school's end of year picnic details. It will be fun to have them here in the afternoon. Arlington also had flower planting at our town's library at 4pm. (BTW - I looked up our town library and it was built in the mid 1800's).

One last note - today was the memorial golf tournament for my Godbrother, Matt. He died the week before Arlington was born in a horrible car accident. He was student teaching in music when he died, so every year, his parents and my parents and several other 100 friends and family - golf and raise money to give away 2, 4 year scholarships to two high school students who will be majoring in teaching. This day is both wonderful and heart wrenching at the same time. But each year, the turn out is bigger, which makes the scholarships bigger, and I know that makes my Godparents smile. Mary Louise and Chris - we were with you in spirit today, and hope that next year we are there golfing with you guys!

Here is a saying just for you guys:

"Don't tell God how big your storm is. Tell your storm how big God is."

Loving and missing Matt every day.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I will see you Tuesday!