Happy Campers

Now that the Summer is behind us and everyone is back to school, it seems like a good time to finally add a new post and capture some of the highlights. We enjoyed a great family vacation to Santa's Land in Putney, VT and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Yes, it was the first night of the Kelly family's camping trip, when some relief from the drought finally came. I'm sure the locals were very appreciative. In spite of less that spectacular weather, we had a blast. We enjoyed it so much that we camped out in our backyard the weekend after we returned from the trip. Hey, we had to dry out the tent, anyway!
Psst ... let me tell you a secret ...

A little too much spinning on the Turtle Twirl for Matthew!

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About to turn 6 years old, Tommy feasts on a Breakfast of Champions and dreams about the party that's about to happen.
Here's a typical Saturday morning in September. Just don't call me a Soccer Mom!

Here's our big second-grader.

... and here's the kid brother boarding the bus for Kindergarten. They are growing up, and they are doing great.

In the Summertime ...

Matthew boards the bus for Winding Trails Day Camp. Mommy has finally found a way to tire him out -- yeah!! Camp is a success!

A big step for Matthew this summer was his first extended trip away from home, by himself. He spent 5 days with his aunt, uncle and cousins in Massachusetts. He did great and had a wonderful time. The grand finale was taking in the Red Sox game on Friday night. There was a rain delay and the Sox lost, but a great time was had by all. As you can see, Tommy was visited by the Tooth Fairy twice in 3 days. Hard to believe our little guy is at that age. He has been doing a Summer Camp and Kindergarten Readiness program four mornings a week at the Preschool this summer, and it's going great. In the afternoon, he's got a great baby-sitter and his cousins who keep him busy for a couple of hours. Fridays are Tommy & Mommy Day, and we make the rounds of the gym, the library and Winding Trails, for swimming and a picnic. This is the life!!

2010 has been the year that the Kelly men took up fishing. Tommy was the first one to actually catch something.

He Is Risen

Easter was truly special this year. One of the things that made it so was Matthew's first grade class enacting the Living Stations of the Cross. Yes, there's our boy in his Jesus costume. Matthew did a superb job of leading the procession into the gym and portraying the role of Jesus. We've been on Matthew's case a lot lately, trying to get him to help out around the house, put more effort into his school work, etc., etc. He really stepped up on Holy Thursday, though. I don't think I've ever been so proud of him.
Nothing like a beautiful warm, sunny Easter Sunday. We had a great weekend!

Thomas and our friend, Gregory, taking a juice-box break during a recent play date. A far cry from the stuff they had to play on back in Ukraine.

Thomas had his first T-ball practice tonight. It was hard to resist just taking off and playing tag on the field. That all changed, though, once he had the feel of the bat in his hand and stepped up to the T.

On a sadder note, we send our thoughts and prayers to Chris' Aunt Sylvia, who passed away last week. May she rest in peace.

Go Bananas!

With the gorgeous weather this week, the boys are emerging from their winter hibernation and rediscovering the outdoors. Yeah!!! We've been cooped up way too long.
Here are Matthew and Thomas enjoying some Green Eggs and Ham. They both celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday in school. It was also a good lead-in to St. Patrick's Day.

Matthew donned shorts for the first time after school today. Glove in hand, he showed up on the deck in full Red Sox regalia. He's been playing soccer indoors throughout the Fall and Winter. We went to the park after school yesterday and he was pretty disappointed in his friends wanting to hang out at the playground and roll down the hills. He's much more interested in getting a baseball or soccer game going.

Thomas spent a good part of the afternoon in batting practice, getting ready for the Spring T-ball season he's registered for. He's doing great with the hitting, and has a good arm, too. Everyone who sees Thomas remarks how much he's grown. He is becoming such a big boy, right before our eyes.

So, what's with "Go Bananas!", you ask? Thomas is still really into The Wiggles. Specifically, he can't get enough of their "Go Bananas" DVD. He's been getting up at 1:00 a.m. to pop it into the DVD player. Yes, we're all going bananas.

Bittersweet Day

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of Mama and Papa meeting Matthew and Thomas. The joy of the day has been dampened by the passing this day of Mel the cat.

Mel was just about 14 years old and had lived with Chris for 18 months in Newington, 6+ years in West Hartford and now nearly 6 years in Farmington. Every night that Chris was home, Mel would either lead him to bed or wait for him on the bed. When Chris would lie down, Mel would place the top of his head under Chris' chin and purr for about 15 to 20 minutes. After that, "Mr. Shnuggles" would get off the bed, have drink of water (only from the bowl by the bed, never the water dishes in the kitchen) and would then either move on or curl up at the foot of the bed.

Mel was a gentle giant, and total wimp, attaining a weight of 19 pounds, but ending at 12+. In all his years, he was only known to hiss once - at Lucy. He was rarely fresh and even when he was, he was sweet, and that's probably the best word to describe him - he was sweet through and through.

He seemed fine until two nights when he didn't come to bed. Yesterday he was limping on a foot with an in-grown claw, staying under a bed and not eating. He even let Thomas pet him. We got him to the vet who diagnosed an infection, took care of the in-grow claw and prescribed antibiotics. He was up late last night and ate, walking better. This morning the same - even better, almost looking normal (tail in the air!). Then there was loud meowing which was totally uncharacteristic as he had the meekest voice, he was panting and in obvious distress. We put him in the carrier and rushed to the vet, but he expired en route. The blood work from yesterday showed nothing more than an infection. The vet suspects there was a cancer.

Mel had a great life with a family that loved him, and he gave much love back - forget all those things you hear about cats being standoffish or aloof. Mel always had a look of "What would I do if I were a cat?" and was the brunt of much joking, but it was all in good fun. He will be missed.

We're trying to figure out if there is a message in his passing on this anniversary. I always referred to him as my son and more recently as "number one son". It's as though he has passed the torch.

A Day Like Any Other

Here in CT, it was a damp, bleak, January day, much like winter in eastern Europe. Not being a great day to be outside, we baked cookies and muffins after school. We also checked out the Disney World website, to satisfy the boys' curiosity. They understand, though, that a trip to see The Mouse is a long, long way off. We rejoiced today when one of Matthew's front teeth came out. He probably yanked it himself, as he has been known to do, because he's so annoyed by loose teeth. Matthew and Mommy watched a video of the Lion King. Daddy had to leave, because it's too sad, and Thomas couldn't sit still for very much of it. We showed the boys lots of pictures on Kelly World. When it comes to The Old Country, there are some faces they remember, but many that they do not. It's the time of year again when some of us do a lot of reminiscing. Yes, two years ago today, Chris and I got on a plane to infinity and beyond. It's quite a contrast between that day and today. I remember so much about that trip, but so little about the first 6+ months after we got home. Good thing we have photos, and vehicles like this blog to help capture some of the milestones and ordinary events that mark the passing of time.

Speaking of milestone's, here are a couple of shots from Matthew's 7th birthday on January 3rd.

Happy New Year, everyone!