Sunday, August 2, 2009

We're Baaack!

Yes . . . I'm still here. Sorry. There's been an unprecedented lag-time between posts and I really have no good excuse (as usual) except for vacation and the general demands of life.

First, the kids and I (and our nanny, Lauren) went on vacation last week. We had a great time, and I was especially grateful that Lauren was along. Without her, I would have been tethered to Finn with no opportunity to really do anything with the big kids. Having Lauren with us made all the difference in the world and allowed me to actually enjoy our vacation.

The kids will be taking another vacation in a couple of weeks: Aubrey is going "Up North" with her friend and her friend's family on their annual trip to Northern Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Regan, Jack, and Finn will be going to Jeff's first cousin's wedding in Minnesota with Jeff's parents. They will get to see their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and will have a blast, I'm sure. I'll be home alone working and performing with the band.

Meanwhile, I've been busy unpacking and doing laundry and catching up on messages and bills, etc. "Little Daddy" survived our absence. However, we are now babysitting a friend's crayfish for the next 10 days while they are on vacation.

There have been lots of changes for me at home and at work over the past couple of weeks. One notable example is Aubrey's hair. Aubrey used to have medium-brown hair--very wavy and pretty. She usually straightens it. She recently got it cut above her shoulders and layered. But, then she dyed it dark brown and got platinum blonde highlights. It is super cool and I'm only slightly jealous.

Oh--I almost forgot: Jack's baseball team WON the Championship! It was very exciting. I didn't realize I had left everybody hanging on that point until my friend, Scott, called this week and mentioned that I never said on the blog whether Jack won or not. So . . . yes, he won and he got two more trophies. He's accumulating quite a collection to go with his coveted Pinewood Derby trophy. And as an aside to Scott--I trust you made it safely to Egypt and are already exploring your new home!

In other news, I recently learned that some of Jeff's high school classmates have organized a memorial Fun Run as a way to raise money for the endowed scholarship in Jeff's name at Lincoln Pius X high school. When I have more details I will post a flyer on the blog, but it sounds like it is shaping up to be quite an event.

Finally, tonight, Finn heard a song by Coldplay and insisted that he saw Daddy in the CD player and although he kept saying "Daddy scary" and kept pointing to the CD player and wanting up and completely clinging to me and burying his little face, he also wanted to listen to that Coldplay song over and over again, each time saying "Daddy, Daddy . . ." Weird.

Earlier today, Regan said, "I wonder if Finn remembers Dad." At that moment, Finn was looking at our wedding album and pointed to Jeff in a picture on the front and said, "Daddy." So, I am confident he can at least still identify him and knows who he is. If you ask Finn, "do you miss Daddy?" he'll get a sweet sad look and nod his head "yes." I don't know if he really knows what he is saying or what we are asking, but I like to think he does . . .

Well, I'm sorry this is short and unfulfilling, but I'm totally exhausted and start a new week at work tomorrow and still have lots to do tonight. I'll try to get back into a more consistent pattern of updating. Until next time . . . thanks for reading. Please stay in touch!

Kelly et al.

5 comments:

Jackie said...

Those of us on the other side of the country are going to need to see a picture of Aubrey's hair. Please, please, please!!!

mphaley said...

For those on Facebook, there's some additional information on the Fun Run here:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=109231021854

Thanks for keeping us up to date Kelly!

Terri said...

I agree, I'd like to see Aubrey's hair. Also, how freaky is that about Finn? I think kids especially little kids have a sixth sense if you will, wierd...

Katie Clancy said...

Where the heck are ya? Looking for an update, Make a public one or drop me an email with all your news, if any!

Laura Gilbert said...

Hey, Kelly. It's so good to hear from you -- I love your updates. As the weather turns (actually, don't know about you, but it's been pretty fallish all summer in MN), I keep thinking about the fact that it's almost been a year since Jeff's death. I have no idea if that triggers more pain and sadness, or if it's more of a day-to-day thing, but please know that I'm thinking of you and the kids and am with you in spirit, sending out prayers of comfort and support.

Now, let's see a picture of Aubrey's hair :)
Best, Laura