Pumpkins

I seized the moment during my busy autumn rotations to go to a pumpkin patch.  The kids were initially resistant (especially Ethan) but I will enjoy a family outing on my day off, goddamnit!  Eventually the weirdly costumed scarecrows, the "petting zoo" of wind up toys and free range pumpkin selection won them over.

Life these days

Ethan has transitioned so smoothly to kindergarten.  He works diligently at his worksheets, follows the rules (who is this kid?), loves tussling on the playground with other boys.  He has a new dear friend, Soren, who lives just a couple of blocks away.  No bike riding yet but Ethan can swing across the monkey bars.  He is really into video games, especially using the hand me down Xbox we've been blessed with.  He's starting to sound out words and sometimes carries a notepad in his pocket so he can "take notes".  In the warmer weather, he was scooting to the playground most evenings.  

Sam loves puzzles, trains, legos, playing with new buddies.  He's also getting a little 2 year old attitude.  He goes boneless at naptime, issues a few smacks when he doesn't get the gum/candy/toy he wants.  He sings and knows all the words to many songs.  It's not uncommon to catch him singing Baa Baa Black-sheep or Twinkle Twinkle to himself.  He is an aggressive climber, fearlessly climbing to the top of play structures that would daunt the average 5 year old.

I live mostly home.hospital.home.  I'm learning a ton, enjoying the occasional weekend off, frustrated with all the computer documentation, sometimes overwhelmed by the immense privilege and responsibility of caring for patients.

Jeremy had his first season with the Wisconsin Rugby Club.  We are thankful for much less travel time (recall that he was traveling 1.5 hours just to practice in NH) and the opportunity for him to have a little bit of his own life, separate from the kids and my work.  He's reconnecting with old friends, making a few new ones (shout out Andrea Riley!), and finding a great groove with the boys.

First day of Kindergarten!

Halloween

Zombie, Spider and Flapper

Playgrounder

Soccer

Ethan played on a community soccer team this fall.  He loved being on a real team, just three players to a side with lots of time on the field.  He had some really stellar teammates who looked like they'd been playing since they were in the womb and they were great inspiration.  Ethan eventually learned what to do with the ball at his feet and even scored a few goals by the end of the season!  We're excited for another round in the spring.

Sam loved playing on the playgrounds at the local schools where Ethan played and cheering along the team ("Go 'Tonio!").  

Update from the front

• Residency is busy
• Jeremy does all the work at home
• The kids are adjusting so well it is astonishing
• Sam is in a big boy bed now, mostly sleeping through the night again
• Jeremy has his own little workshop in the basement
• I bike to work every day along the lake on the bike path (a road for bikes!), watching the sunrise on the water, swimmers traning for the IronMan, homeless folks sleeping in the park, early risers fishing
• I had a flat tire the other day that I patched in 5 minutes and wasn't even late for work
• I have my own panel of patients.  I'm somebody's doctor.
• Ethan has a tag-along bike that attaches to our bikes now, and he LOVES coming along for rides
• We have 4 playgrounds within a few blocks of our house
• Chocolate Shoppe ice cream just down the street (trouble)
• Nerf guns are a way of life now.  Sam can even load and shoot one. 
• We love our new house.  Big and beautiful with garden and backyard and shed and huge basement.
• We miss my folks and the Hogans
• We're doing fine

The Move

We moved from NH to Wisconsin in a whirlwind drivng journey in June. 



Packing was crazy.  I thought I was ahead of the game by packing a few boxes per night for several weeks, but we were still left sticking random appliances/pop up books/costumes/inflatable pools/snowpants/foam swords into boxes at the final hour.  We had tons of help packing the truck, in the form of old friends, rugby teammates, and some very industrious 6 year olds.  At one point we had to stop the truck loading procession so we could grab necessary clothes out the dresser for the drive, and here was a good 30 min where our moving team all sat around while Jeremy frantically organized the truck.  I was up almost all night before we left scrubbing 5 years worth of kid gunk off the counters, and Jeremy spent one entire afternoon washing who-knows-what out of the carpets.   My brother and his lovely girlfriend earned their status in the inner circle by washing our bathroom.  Nana brought back her Starving Artists Movers moves with packing, sorting, and kid entertainment.  Couldn't have done it without all the help.

 

 

 

Poor Sam got kind of lost in the shuffle.  On our last night he had to sleep in our bed (sorry, no more crib for you!).  All we could find for him to wear was a 12 month onesie that was too short to snap and random pajama bottoms. I will neither confirm or deny that he was for left to entertain himself with the recycling.

 

 

Marcy came with us and provided incredible help with kid wrangling (my kids like her better than me anyway), driving relief and lovely company for the long, quiet stretches in Ohio.

 

 

The kids were INCREDIBLE. Ethan rocked some screen time, Sam played with whatever toys found him (including a great collection of duplo vehicles and guys from Marcy), emergency "fruit" "snacks" were purchased, vending machines were explored.  We wowed Marcy with the midwestern travel plaza, too. 

 

 

 

 

We also got to spend a day visitng Jeremy's family in Pennsylvania.  It was so precious to see Ethan playing with his cousins and Jeremy's friends' kids, and to have time to just enjoy some of the family we see so rarely.  Uncle Dan got to witness Sam go crazy on the playground, and Ethan got to see Dan's 40K minature collection.  He's still talking about that one.

 

We fianlly made it.