Who's Gonna Tell You Things Aren't So Great?

Thoughts on my trip to Wegmans:

1) Screw you, Wegmans, for having carts so appealing that my kids go into fits of depression if we can't find an available one. I'm talking about the ones with the truck part attached to the front, where two small children can squeeze in and elbow each other discretely, beyond the obstructed view of their parents. These carts are both longer and wider than regular grocery store shopping carts, which makes navigating crowded aisles feel a little like you're in the mall scene in Blues Brothers. (The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year!)

2) Because these carts are so long, there's an extra pair of wheels on them, on the front extension where the kids sit. I don't know if they did it intentionally to try to make the whole monstrosity easier to turn, but the wheels are not all set at equal height, they're rockered. So the two middle wheels are always on the ground, but the front two wheels and the back two wheels don't touch the ground at the same time. It doesn't actually make the cart any easier to steer, but if you push it through the parking lot at a good pace and jump on the back like a scooter, the rockered wheels will cause you to spin and eventually hurt yourself and/or others. Lesson learned.

3) FINALLY, a grocery store that has the beer right next to the diapers! One stop shopping for us parents.

4) I'd like to thank the person who gave me the gift card to Wegmans. I had a lot fun there!

Eat, Drink and Be Married

On Saturday, August 22, 2011, two friends of mine joined hands and became one, and they were kind enough to not only invite me and my family, but include my oldest son in their wedding party, as the very punk-rock ring bearer!

Last year, the bride asked me for permission to use Danny as her ring bearer. Knowing my son, I hesitated, and was going to say no, but after I made her promise she was not going to be upset if he didn't do what she wanted him to do on that day. (Anyone with a 3 year old knows that they can turn on you at anytime, good parenting or bad, especially with lack of naps on busy days like that!) She smiled, said 'no of course not' and the rest is history!

The Wedding Weekend started off with me and the boys helping out one of the bridesmaids (and sister of the groom) with set-up for the rehearsal dinner. We set tables and rearranged and decorated. Then after no naps (great start to a busy weekend) we showered and dressed and we were off to the Church for rehearsal. Thankfully, it was at our home parish (Holy Angels) so Danny knew the church well (and we practiced walking up the aisle after mass one Sunday) so everything seemed to go well. (Plus, he and the flower girl) were being escorted by the very lovely Maid of Honor. Then it was off to party! Good food, some drinks, great friends. And the priest said something that I liked. He said a good marriage consists of 3 bones. 1. A backbone. 2. A wishbone 3. A Funny bone. And he added my favorite, "Bon Apetit." And after some alcoholic consumption and lots of chatting, it was time to go home to get some sleep for the big day.

We woke up, I made some waffles for breakfast, and it was time to get dressed. And, the ring bearer was already being difficult. He didn't want to take a shower and we had to do his hair, get him dressed, plus get ourselves dressed drop Liam off with my parents (thank God for them so we could focus on keeping Danny happy), and get to the groom's house by noon.

Danny walked down the aisle nicely, and I'm convinced it was because Meghan held his hand the entire way. After a few minutes of arguing with him that he couldn't see Daddy, he decided to take a nap during the ceremony. Sleeping on the kneeler, the pew and using the ring pillow as a pilllow for his head all happened. But, when it was time for walking back down the aisle with me and the flower girl and her mother, he walked very nicely.

After lots of pictures, it was time to get Liam back from my parents (they and he were at the wedding but left so that he could possibly take a nap) and pick up our babysitter for Liam for the evening, and off to party at Pearl Street Bar and Grill.

Danny was very excited to do some dancing with me, which we did, but first he had to dance with the flower girl. I hate to admit it, but people were more interested in Danny and the flower girl dancing then the bride and groom and their wedding party. But at least the bride and groom were pleased to see them together, and we all have dreams in our eyes of my son marrying the flower girl in 25 or 30 years, and using the photos from this wedding in their wedding video. And of course incorporating the bride and groom in the future wedding, since they are the reason Danny and his future bride met. After much partying, it was time to go home and get some sleep.

And to top the weekend off, the bride and groom hosted a picnic for the wedding party and out of town relatives. My heart broke a little bit when Danny ignored the flower girl the entire picnic, except the end when they hugged and kissed again. But she will learn soon enough that boys love to play hockey, soccer, baseball and frisbee and that a lot of the times, that will come first. (But as long as the girls stick together and the boys are happy, everyone is happy!)

I am so glad for the bride and groom, it was a long time coming, and I'm so glad that they can join the "Happily Married" club. We're always accepting new members!

Who's next??? :)

Also, I lost my camera so I didn't get many pictures myself. But I think that was God's way of telling me it's time for a new camera (since it's on it's way to being broken) and my birthday is coming up soon! :) (I just hope it gets found soon since I have some pictures on there that I would like. It's somewhere between my house and car...)

Back to School To Prove To Daddy I'm Not a Fool

The Erie County Fair in Buffalo means that it's the end of summer, shortly.

We have a busy weekend coming up. Our friends, Steve and Amanda, are finally tieing the knot after 11 years of being together. And they had graciously asked if Danny would be their ring bearer for the ceremony. We have his tuxedo, his purple tie and his purple chucks. His mohawk has been trimmed and ready to be stood up, and sprayed purple. We have the rehearsal and dinner on Friday, the big day on Saturday and the picnic hosted by the bride and groom on Sunday. Pictures to follow, of course.

The main reason for this blog post, as indicated by the title, is Danny is going to school. We have settled on the Pre-K 3 program at Catholic Academy of West Buffalo. He will be going on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8am to 11am.

It was an easy decison, but bittersweet of course. Danny is starting a new chapter in his life, and of course I'm emotional about it. He is not excited, but I think it's because he doesn't know what to be excited about. I'm definitely excited for him. And I'm excited that Liam will be getting some one on one time.

It's going to be tough, for me, getting up and out of the house by 7:30am to get him to school on time, but at least it's only 2 days a week. It'll be tougher, next year, when he'll be going 5 days a week.

The other thing that will be tough is I'm not so sure how Danny is going to manage going to school. I have a feeling I will be staying, at least the first day, or he's going to have a fit. He needs this because his socialization with adults other than family, and children other than Liam, is supremely limited. (One reason I chose Pre-K 3 over regular Pre-K.)

Which brings me to my 3rd worry. Danny is so suprememly socially underdeveloped. I am seriously hoping this will change, especially since he won't have someone to hide behind. We recently went to a family party, and there were lots of little children, all around. I found Danny, playing in the corner, by himself. I had to encourage him to play with the other children. Thankfully there was a little girl, who also struck me as very shy, and took Danny under her wing and tried to play with him, even though he was oblivious to her.

When I enrolled him in Pre-K 3, I was told I had the option of skipping Pre-K 3 and just going right to regular Pre-K. He is super smart. Knows all his colors and the alphabet and on a good day will count to forty for you. But the lack of socialization and the fact that his birthday is so late in the year (December), I decided to keep him back. So he will be the oldest (or one of the oldest) children in his class.

We only have a few more weeks to enjoy his freedom, but enjoy them, we will.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

As the weeks get closer to August 20th, my friends wedding is quickly approaching.

Danny is her ring bearer and his toddler tuxedo is in. (If anyone needs a 3t toddler tux after August 20th, you can definitely borrow it!) His purple chucks were ordered and will soon be in our position. Danny still needs a haircut, but his mohawk is coming in nicely and we have purple hairspray that will hopefully work.

Last night, was the Bachelor/Bachlorette Party so Dan and I went our separate ways to party with the Bride and Groom. (And the children spent that night at their grandparents house.)

The ladies had a very tame evening, and that's ok with me; I had a great time. Dinner at Kyoto and dessert at Melting Pot. Some drinks, some food and some great company. And maybe some dirty remarks to our very cute, very young (and possibly gay) waiter at Melting Pot. :)

I am very excited for the upcoming festivites with those ladies (and to see my very cute toddler as the ring bearer.) Rehearsal dinner, Wedding and after-Wedding picnic.

Pictures of the very cute ring bearer all dressed up to come later.

Three Year Old Brain

This blog is seriously going to become funny things my kids say. Or, to be completely truthful, the things that Danny says, since Liam's personality has yet to shine through in his answers.

Some background on the current funny statement...Danny still has yet to understand the concept of a question. (Kind of strange and worries me sometimes, but we get by.) Most of the time when I ask him a question, the answer is always yes. And it irks me to no end, so when Liam adopted this method, I lose my patience sometimes.

The first one happened a few months ago while sitting in my parents kitchen. We've been trying to teach him his name (first and last), where he lives, where his grandparents lives and his parents names. When we ask him who I am, his answer is Mommy. So we started getting creative and asked him what my mom calls me. Sometimes he says Lucy, but this one time I asked him, 'Danny, what does Mammers call Mommy?' He thought about it for a moment and answered 'On the phone.' And he's right, mostly, I'm a texter. And although I've convinced my mom to text some, most of our conversations (other than in person) are on the phone.

Which brings me to my next story. We've been in the car for over 12hrs, and due to lots and lots of traffic and an ill-advised detour, we still have quite a few hours left. (Yuck!) And since we've been on the road so long, the natives are getting restless. Aunt Jenny, the extra adult and wrangler of children, decided to help our bored children (can only watch so many movies) by playing a game. After making sure he knew his colors, settled on playing the color game with Danny. She picks a color and he has to look and find that color. Easy enough, right?

So the first color she picked is red, after passing multiple red cars, a coca cola machine and some other red things, she asked him if he saw anything red. He said 'Yeah, red and yellow.' She asked what was red and yellow.

Danny responded, in the most serious, matter of fact tone with a hint of you're silly for not knowing this...'They're colors!!!'

From the Mouth of a 3 year old

While we were on vacation in South Carolina, it was easy to notice that there were no helmet laws in effect for motocyclists. (Something I find very stupid, by the way.)
Danny stated, after noticing this, 'That guy needs his butt slapped by that guy's mommy!'
Hmmm, I wonder which parent threatens to slap butts when the boys are in trouble...
And seriously, if a 3 year old thinks it's wrong (without any prodding from his parents) maybe those helmet laws aren't a bad idea! Or are we just tainted by our NY ways?
Speaking of, I don't miss cigarette smoke in bars or resturaunts. Not sure if they have those laws in SC yet, but there was some smoking on the patio at Margaritaville, and it was gross.

It's Raining Men

Day 4 of our 8 days at Myrtle Beach. It has rained every single day, but the past 2 have been all rain. I know Myrtle needs it, but just my Buffalo luck. (See it's not just our sports teams, it's our weather too. And why can't it be the hot hot hot weather from last week!!)

Yesterday we beat the rain by going to the very crowded aquarium, which was awesome. There are a couple of other things to do, but today might be a drinking day since we haven't done much of that. And there is some sun forecasted for later in the week so I can come home with some darker color than when I left. Maybe.

Dan and I have hopes of going on a date night and visiting Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville or a restaurant called Dick's where the waitstaff are, well, dicks. But not much else planned other than chillin' on the beach. Which I could seriously do everyday.

I absolutely love being on the beach. May have to retire to a costal community. But with Dan being my husband, will have to be very near to an NHL hockey team. Any suggestions?

Please enjoy the picture from the beach house deck of our rainy view of the ocean.

Hi, I'm in...

The Laughlins' have started their trip to Myrtle Beach. We're about 6hrs in. And we're somewhere in the backwoods (ok, really the mountains) of West Virgina. The trip has been so far, uneventful. We're packed like sardines, but the Traverse is definitely a smooth ride. And the boys quite enjoy the dvd player.
Danny experienced a first today. First gas station bathroom. *shudder*
More from the Laughlin vacation later, but for now you can enjoy a picture of Liam, covered in chocolate and eating a gummy worm. And yes, the picture was taken at 6:30am.

Kids Say the Darndest Things (Part II)

Another thing that Danny says all the time is "In in
there."
I was told to write this down (thanks Mom) or I would forget this when he's a sulky teenager. And well, the blog is good enough for me.
And have a mentioned his pronounciation of dinosaur "dine-nore."
Plus we can't forget about Liam. Instead of Banana, Liam says "Min-na" and here you go, Mommy is really "No no Mommy." (That one took me a long time to figure out. And the only way I did figure it out was because he kept handing me stuff while saying no no Mommy.)

Mr. Bookman

I need recommendations for a good book. I need to read more and am horrible at just picking books since there are millions out there. I pretty much need someone to hand me (or tell me, this book is good, read it.)
So any suggestions would be good.
Currently reading: Time Travellers Wife
On the list to read: Skinny Bitch, Sarah's Key and the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo Series
Any suggestions old, new, fiction, non-fiction are welcome

Test

Just set up the mobile app for blogger, so I want to test it out.
And we'll throw a picture in their for good measure.

Lost in Translation

Liam has been talking in full sentences since he was 18 months. YAY! him, right? Absolutely. (Especially after dealing with Danny's speech problems. I still think he's delayed for his age, but always progressing so I'm not too worried)
...and back to the subject of the post...
Boo, for me.
The one bad thing about Liam's awesome speech is he hasn't quite mastered pronunciation. (Normal for all children, mostly the people around the child can understand them, still happens with Danny sometimes.)He's getting much better, but he tries to have conversations with me, and I don't understand half the things he says.
I find myself asking Danny "Hey Danny, what did Liam just say?"
At first, Danny was thrilled to translate for Liam. But lately, Danny sighs at me (for anybody who knows me, I sigh all the time so I only have myself to blame), tells me no and walks away, and I'm left wondering what my almost 2 year old is trying to tell me.
Oh, and a side note, Liam gets very upset if he is not understood. Lots of crying (mostly me) and yelling. But it's a work in progress and Liam's pronunciation is slowly progressing.

Some upcoming things I'll try and post about:
Vacation to Myrtle Beach
Danny as a ring bearer in a friend's wedding (wearing a tuxedo!)
Danny starting pre-school 3 in September (He's getting so BIG!) :(

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Those who have kids know that sometimes what comes out of their mouths can really be hysterical. I won't bore you with all of the things that Danny says (Liam isn't quite at the stage yet) but I will share a few.

* Danny has an obsession with the saying "what that crazy (insert object here) doing". He says it for quite a few things but my favorite is about the moon. 'What that crazy moon doing, moms?' My favorite is when he told my husband that it was going to supper and sitting at it's own table. (Supper, for those who don't know, used to be Friday Fupper and it happens every Friday without fail with my parents. Mostly at the same restaurant, but not always. The children have really come to enjoy it and I'm excited when I'm not scheduled on a Friday and can join them.)

* This one may be a bit embarrassing but it's from the brain of a three year old who doesn't quite understand embarrassment or shame. (Nor should he.) Recently I finally found a way to potty train Danny, and he's doing pretty well other than nighttime and we're having issues battling number 2. He asked me one day "Danny fart underwear?" I told him of course, everybody farts in their underwear. Well, he proceeded to tell me who farts in their underwear and it was people he saw: me, my husband, our neighbor. Let me tell you, I can't look at my next door neighbor without giggling a little bit. He has since stopped asking, especially since every time he said something I made him say 'excuse me' for farting. But I've been a little bit nervous when I've been around friends without kids for him to ask the question.

* The last one I'll talk about isn't quite as humorous, but just interesting to see the world through the eyes of a then 2 year old. My dad, on the days I work, comes to pick up my children. One day, Danny points at his tires, which have the Toyota emblem on them, and told me 'Rocket Ship, Mommy.' I wasn't really paying attention and just said 'yeah, yeah, whatever.' But he kept saying it. I finally looked at what he was showing me and realized that the upside down Toyota emblem really does look like a rocket ship.

Sibling Rivalry

It's that time of year again - the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are starting! Anything can happen in the second season, which made me wonder, why do people pay so much attention to what the puck pundits predict? What are their picks really worth? I decided to find out by having my kids pick the first round games and match them up against some professional playoff prognosticators.

The boys both chose the winner of each series independently, without coercion from me or other outside influence. For Danny, I merely asked him who he thought would win in each series. Liam took a more visual approach; I showed him a puck with the logo of each team and he selected the one he thought would win. Sounds questionable, at best, right? I'll bet he comes pretty close to these coin flippers from ESPN. I just wish I had enough space in this blog to show all of the analysts' picks. Clearly, Melrose put a lot of thought into it and then just went with all of the favorites. Barnaby chose 3 upsets, which seems more in line with the entropy of anyone-can-beat-anyone playoff hockey.

Here is a quick rundown on the experts:
Danny - Has begun but not mastered potty training; Loves playing hockey on our backyard rink; Boos when the Sabres are scored upon. Favorite Teams: Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks.
Liam - Climbs the stairs on his own; Still lives with his parents; Thinks 'Liam' is his brother's name. Chose the Bruins over Montreal because he likes the letter 'B' in the Bruins' logo better than the 'C' in the Canadiens' logo.
Matt Barnaby - Former NHL player; ESPN analyst; possibly best well-known for brawling with Garth Snow during the 1995-96 season.
Barry Melrose - Former NHL player and coach; ESPN analyst; most recognizable mullet in hockey. Melrose is the only coach to bring Wayne Gretzky to the Stanley Cup Finals and lose.

My guys are definitely easier to look at, let's see if their systems for picking winners are superior as well. (Leave your own picks in the comments!)

This Old House

We're starting to do some remodeling in the kitchen. I wish I had taken some "before" pictures to compare with the end result, but alas, I did not. First, we're painting one of the walls red. (The color is called "barn," but if you're like me and can only name six or eight colors, you would be spot on if you called it red.) I'm hoping to have the painting finished today or tomorrow. After that, I'm going to hang a shelf for our cookbooks. Then we're going to replace the lighting with something a little more modern/safer/brighter and have a little more electrical work done. I'm also going to tile the floor and finally, we're adding a peninsula (it's like an island, but one side is against the wall). When all is said and done, we look forward to having a (mostly) new kitchen. I think Lucy and I would both like to replace the counters, but that's not in the budget this time around. Stay tuned to find out how bad this ends up!

The Icemen Go-eth

Well, it's supposed to be Spring, but it's still not. Every time I think I'm overdue on taking down the backyard rink, it freezes again. We sure had some good times on the rink this Winter. Danny loved playing hockey in the yard, and we even got Lucy out a couple times. There's something comforting and Zen-like about walking out of your back door and onto the rink. Yes, it's on the small side, but we also don't have to share it with three guys racing around, and handful of people who insist on holding hands and skating 4
abreast, and two people making out in the corner. It's ours. The "boards" are only a few inches higher than the ice - enough to keep the puck in play - but we're not out there trying to compete in the hardest shot contest so that suits us just fine. Even so, there are still some impressive displays of skill - Danny can hit the net from the far end of the rink and Lucy has perfected the falling down kick save. Liam has yet to make it out to the rink, due solely to my discretion, but he's just as athletically inclined as his brother and I'm confident that next Winter (or possibly next month the way the weather has been) he'll be holding his own on Laughlin Pond. I can already see quite a few broken windows in my future.

Sit and Spell

Exciting times for the Laughlins! We have had a lot go down in the past couple weeks. Liam has been rolling over like a champ, but now he can hold himself up in a seated position too! Lucy and I are convinced it was our good example that he's following. He'll be crawling in no time (but no, he won't learn that by watching us). As you can see, he's quite a handsome young man. (o=

Danny has taken some time out from slap shooting wooden blocks at Teppo to learn some letters! He doesn't quite know the whole alphabet yet, but he recognizes more than half of them consistently. He's particularly emphatic about the letter 'R' for some reason. We're not sure yet, but he may grow up to be a pirate. Lucy and I switched his regimen from Cheerios to Alphabits, so hopefully that will help Danny learn the rest of the alphabet. With a little work, he could be reading before he turns 3. Last week Lucy cut Danny's hair, too. What do you think?

Lucy has been training to run her first 5K in several years, the Race for the Cure. She's having a hard time finding the time to run though, since she has picked up more hours at work, but I know she can do it. She hasn't taken any time away from her boys though and continues to be a wonderful wife and mother.

Thursday, Lucy and I went to a happy hour with a bunch of friends, family, and coworkers to celebrate my new job! Starting on May 3, I'll no longer be employed at LPS and will be working at The PCA Group. It was time for me to move on and in addition to several other benefits, The PCA Group has offered flexibility, with regards to scheduling around classes, that wasn't available at LPS. All in all, I'm excited about it and I know it was the right thing to do for the family and for me personally.

We may have more good news to share next week, but until then, let's hope the playoff beard keeps growing. Go Sabres! Go Blackhawks!

Sesame Street Presents :The Body / Easter Weekend

The Laughlins failed to post a blog last week, so this week you readers get a "twofer". (And I'm not really sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing because I either have a choice of condensing the information or making a really long blog entry.)

Last Sunday (March 28), the Laughlin Family made their way to the Buffalo Museum of Science for the current exhibit, Sesame Street Presents: The Body. Right up the aisle of a toddler. The boys had been there before so it was old hat for them, but for me, it was all new. (The boys went one afternoon when the Grandparents / Babysitters were vacationing in Florida and Dan took some time off so I could still work.) For those with children, it really is worth a look. Danny really enjoyed kicking the "gocker" (soccer) ball and playing in the mock Elmo's world. Other attractions were shopping in Hooper's store, sitting on the iconic front steps (see below), Dance Dance Revolution with Grover, learning the bones and muscles and some organs with a replica of the Count's Organ, a game show with Guy Smiley and how digestion, the heart and the nose work. And let me tell you, when the big fake giant nose sneezes, there really is a little bit of mist that comes of that nose. There was also a faux handwash / hygiene station. Danny was very distraught that there was not actually any water that came out of the faucet; he tried quite a few times! That kid loves to wash his hands!

We also made our way around the rest of the Museum since I had not been around it in quite a few years. (At least over 10 if you don't count Body Worlds since we only saw that exhibit.) Boy has it changed! We spent quite a lot of time in the Toddler Play Area; Danny quite enjoyed the tree slide. And the 4th Floor was not as cool as I remember. All I could talk about was how much I loved Stars and Planets and whatnot, and I was not impressed. I think I told Dan 12 times in the span of an hour I had once aspired to be an astronomer when I was younger. (However, after taking Astronomy in high school, I realized it was an unattainable goal since math is not my strong point. At all.

Flash forward a week, it's Holy Saturday and as any normal Saturday, we spent our evening with my parents, after a busy day at home / arpund town. Dan did some much needed yardwork, we purchased sneakers for Dan and myself. Dan's knee hurts from all the marathon training and as wells as resting it, our friend who is a physical therapist, suggested Dan needed new sneakers. And I needed sneakers since I am getting back into shape (other than round) and I am doing that by training for and running in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure (Breast Cancer) run, in WNY, on June 12. And of course since we purchased sneakers, we had to break them in so we headed to Delaware Park for a run / walk. Dan ran 3 1/2 miles. While I pushed the boys in my double stroller for 1.77 miles. Without a running stroller, I could not run, but I at least got my heart pumping, and boy was I sweating after the first 5 minutes! As beautiful as it was, it was difficult excercing. The heat kicked my butt.
Speaking of, April in Buffalo is not normally a warm weather time, however we had a tropical heat wave that was much enjoyed. Thursday tied the current record (not sure what it was), Friday broke the record of 72 by a few degrees and Saturday broke a record of 8 degrees at 84!
Before watching an extremely disappointing 4-0 Buffalo Sabres loss to the Montreal Canadiens, Danny and his "Mammer" spent some time dyeing Easter Eggs. (At least the loss to Montreal did not affect getting into the playoffs; the shut out would have been even more devastating.) Danny got very, very messy, as any 2 year old would.

Easter Sunday, we again made our way to my parents house after a breakfast of home-made chocolate chip waffles, the best tasting coffee I've ever had (can you tell I gave up coffee for Lent) and 10:30 Mass at Holy Angels. We stayed there for a few hours, long enough to see Great Grandma, but we missed my brothers. After my parents, we made our way to my in-laws house for dinner, also known as our regularly scheduled program. Dinner was fantastic as it always is. We had Manacotti, salad, asparagus, carrots, ham and lamb, with cannolis for dessert.And no holiday would be complete without some form of sport played, and of course, it ended up being street hockey. Can't expect anything different from a Laughlin?

Until next time...

Warming the Bench

I'm sitting home on Saturday afternoon instead of running because I hurt my knee. My medical professional said it was due to overuse, so training is on hold for a while. It's kinda depressing; I'm used to running and biking and playing hockey every chance I get, so this is throwing me for a loop. I'm trying to stay positive about the whole situation, and that's really easy when I spend the extra time with my family.

I haven't been able to get much use out of my shoes lately, but someone else is getting lots of use out of his. Danny got new shoes last week! He's now sporting a pair of black Converse One Stars, the first pair of shoes he's walked in with a hard sole (aside from my shoes). The hard sole took a little getting used to, and they're a bit big on him which doesn't make it any easier, but he loves them and asks for them all the time. He is sure to have Mommy or Daddy tie them on before going outside to play soccer. And he LOVES playing soccer. On Thursday, he pointed outside and said "car" all day, until Lucy figured out that he just wanted to get the soccer ball out of the car. It was raining that day, so soccer had to wait.

Liam has been kicking like a champ too. He'll be crawling all over the place soon, but for now we're happy that he just sits around looking cute. Liam has started eating some solid food, but it's a battle. So far, Lucy has been the brave soldier.

Lucy has started a new job - she's a Sterile Processing Technician at a local hospital. While she has assured me that she hasn't had to clean any brain fragments off of anything, she says she still enjoys the job. AT only 24 hours a week, it's enough for her to spend some time with adults, but not so much that she feels l like she's missing out on her kids.

I flipped my wig watching RIT advance in the Frozen Four tournament yesterday and the Sabres are probably going to win the Northeast Division, so I have some good hockey to watch while I'm sitting out. I don't know how soon I'll be able to run or what the next week or month or year holds for any of us, but I wouldn't be the least bit disappointed if it weren't any different from what it is now.

Week 6 Training Update

Welcome to the new site! Well, the site has actually been around for a while, but we stuck with ThoseDarnLaughlins.com until we (Dan) realized that we don't have the free time to spend developing and maintaining all the features of the website that we wanted. So we finally admitted our lack of effort. Wondering where all that free time went? Here's some of it:

Monday, March 1
Rest day. Lucy works on Mondays, so my routine has become feeding and bathing the boys and then, once they fall asleep, I do a core workout. I've read that strengthening one's abs and back helps over a long run like the marathon by helping to maintain form and whatnot. I can't say whether it really does or not, but it definitely makes my pants a little looser.

Tuesday, March 2
Ran my 3.5 mile lunch route. I like these runs because they're short and because they don't interrupt any other daily activities. Today I ran at a 7:26 pace.
3.5 miles

Wednesday, March 3
I hate that it happens every week, but as per the norm lately the six miles scheduled for today got bumped. Lucy was home this week because her work schedule got rearranged, but instead of freeing up some time for me to run, it just made time for us to spend together - watching the Sabres game together.

Thursday, March 4
I rocked this run today! Snow is starting to melt here in Buffalo, so instead of heading to the park where I know the road will be plowed, I ran in the streets around our house. It was a rough start, but I felt like I got stronger as the run went on. I finished at an 8:07 pace, which I'm very happy with when the route is 5 miles or more.
6.7 miles

Friday, March 5
Happy birthday to me! I ran my 3.5 mile lunchtime route and ran home as quick as possible because I was meeting some friends out for dinner, all of us with birthdays within 2 days. I didn't have time to shower though because I had to run home to pick up and drop off Danny and Liam and in between I had to stop to buy formula because we were almost out of it. I made it to our reservation at Kyoto on time, and had a great night with Matt, Josh, Rachel, Albi, and Jocelyn, but great nights are not conducive to running the following day.
3.5 miles

Saturday, March 6
Hung over. I just don't have any tolerance anymore.

Sunday, March 7
Felt much better today. Lucy and I went to a wedding shower and then headed to my mom's house for dinner and family time. Before dinner though, I hit Delaware Park for a few laps with my brother, Joe. He's working on his own fitness for a race or two this summer. We ran out of daylight, but being the only ones in the park allows you to just shut off your brain and just kick one foot in front of the other.
9.17 miles

This was a "step down" week so I was only scheduled to run 21 miles this week and I finished with 22.83 miles. It has been an ordeal, but I feel good about mt progress so far. I'm already looking forward to my next challenge after the marathon. Hopefully, it will be a masters' program in the Fall. I've applied, and been accepted, into the MS, Computing Security and Information Assurance program at RIT. There are still some hurdles, not least of which is trying to balance family time with study time. I love spending time with Lucy and the boys and classes would definitely eat away at that time, probably more than marathon training. We're also having a difficult time trying to figure out how to finance this latest educational endeavor. I was awarded a 20% scholarship that could get pushed to 30% based on my grades from the first 12 credit hours of the program, but that still leaves a hefty sum. More details as they become available.