Great big sister

None of us had a real good sleep last night, so I wasn’t surprised when I looked back as we are driving towards Connecticut to see Noah had fallen asleep. 

At first he was leaning towards his door but as he started leaning towards the middle I saw Ella lean towards him so his head landed on her shoulder. Once he settled she turned her head and gave him a kiss on the head. 

How can they spend this many hours in the car and get along so well when sometimes going to the grocery store it is non stop fighting?

Day one was long

Yesterday we spent a little over 13 hours on the road. Not all of it driving though as we made some stops. The kids did amazing!

The only hurdle we hit was with our cell phones. We planned to get some prepaid plans from Verizon. As soon as we crossed the border into Houlton ME we stopped at Walmart and picked up a couple. 

By the time we made it to Bangor and we still had no service, there was obviously something wrong. We found a Best Buy and they tried to help but couldn’t. They sent me to the actually Verizon store where I was told our phones would not work on their network. I had checked their website before we left and it said they would be compatible. 

You can’t return SIM cards to Walmart so now we have two useless cards and are out over $100 right off the bat. Luckily after wasting a lot of time between different stores and on the phone AT&T were able to get us setup and working within minutes. 

If this is the only off thing this trip I’ll take it!

Last night was a little interesting with us all in a hotel room. Noah was a bit excited and wasn’t looking to go to sleep. Everyone else tried to stay quiet so he could. It ended up meaning an early night for all of us which isn’t bad. 

Today is a much shorter travel day. Looking forward to some fun. 

And we’re off

 We were up late getting all the last minute things packed and ready, then up early again. Hopefully we didn’t forget anything because we’re on the road. 

So far so good all the kids are busy with the things they packed. We have a long drive today but after that they’re shorter drives. 

Keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t hear too many phrases like, are we there yet, how much longer. Or even worse, Siri help get me back to the I95, where are we?

 

Celebrating 10 Years of WordPress.com & Automattic

Even though I’ve only been here for 7 months, I’m very proud being a part of Automattic.

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This year marks the 10th birthday of WordPress.com and our parent company, Automattic. We are proud to have served this community of millions: from writers, photographers, artists, and small and large publishers, to business owners and entrepreneurs.

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Date your spouse

By no means am I a relationship expert but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about having a happy and healthy relationship. My wife and I have been married for over ten years and we love each other deeply. She is my best friend. However it seems to become easy to let life and everything else in it take priority.

Lately that is where I feel we’ve been. With so many things happening between work and everything our kids are involved in, we don’t seem leave any time for us to even talk. Most nights we are together watching TV or relaxing but we will both end up having either our computer or phone with us. Sometimes just checking email and Facebook, but other times doing work or planning the coming days.

Having both of us work from home should make it even easier to stay connected. Somehow it is almost like we take the fact that we are in the same place together so much of the time for granted and not really be together.

We have a family vacation coming up. For the first time ever I’m not looking forward to getting away from work, but getting away from the rest of life is going to be a welcome break. It is still a family vacation though so there isn’t going to be any real time for just us.

This is me realizing that I need to make the time and deliberately ensure that we get time together. Set date times away from the house where chores and distractions are easy to get in the way. They don’t need to be big elaborate or expensive dates, but just together over a coffee, or a walk alone together. When we were first dating we used to love just going for a drive, no where in particular but just driving and talking. These are the things we need to get back to.

I encourage everyone to make time and to date your spouse.

Oreo Cows

Love the Oreo cows at the zoo. 

  

Taking a break

Spent some of the afternoon running around getting errands taken care that need done before we head out on vacation. 

The last thing was to drop off Ella at dance class. Almost right across the street is a provincial park. It makes a great place to sit in the sun with a good book and coffee. 

  

Proud Father

Today has been an extremely proud day for me. My children never cease to amaze me in all the things they can do and accomplish. Today it was my three daughters who all really out did themselves.

Alexandria finished writing her exams today. When we arrived home after the last one this afternoon she checked online and all the marks were in except for the one she wrote today. Over the past few weeks she has been working extra hard at studying for these exams. We have pushed her hard and she answered by buckling down and keeping with it. Her efforts really paid off and all the marks reflected that. It hasn’t been the easiest year, but she proved once again that when she tries her best she is capable of doing very well.

Tonight Caile and Ella simply blew me away. They have been working hard for a long time now preparing to put on the play Wizard of Oz at there school. It has meant lots of learning lines both at school, during long practice days and also here at home. Today was show time, they put on three shows today starting this morning and then we just got home shortly ago.

They spent most of the play on screen with Caile being Dorthy and Ella right with her as Toto. The whole production and everyone involved did an amazing job, but seeing them up together filled my heart with pride and happiness and at points brought tears to my eyes which doesn’t happen very often.

Caile was always my shy and reserved child so to see her up in front of a large audience shining was almost strange but felt so wonderful. Ella was only given the role of Toto a couple weeks ago but she put everything into it and learned her lines and cues so fast.  The two of them together seemed like naturals on the stage.

Here is just a small clip of them on stage together alone with Caile singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Father’s Day

Yesterday Jen and the kids all gave me a wonderful Father’s Day. They helped make me some French toast for breakfast with lovely raspberries and blueberries on top.

In the afternoon we all went to see the new movie Inside Out.

My favourite part though are the cards and little gifts they gave. Some are hilarious and very fitting. I’ll share some pictures of them below.

Personal Note from Ella
Drawn by Alexandria
Top 10 by Caile
Hand Heart by Noah
Back of Chocolate Bar Wrapper
Front of Chocolate Bar Wrapper

Treat with the oldest and youngest

Jen is helping out all day at the drama practice with Caile and Ella. Alex spent the morning studying for her exams. So this afternoon we decided to walk down our hill together for the first time. 

We stopped and talked with friends along the way but made it down to the cafe to have a little treat.