A month ago we were celebrating two boys growing another year older. It's crazy to think its already been a month since Declan turned 8 and Connor turned 5 and it's even crazier knowing I have an 8 and 5 year old! I feel like they are still should both still be my babies instead of becoming big kids. Declan is doing amazing in 2nd grade and at JET and Connor is thriving in his last year of preschool and is more than ready for kindergarten. We didn't plan birthday parties for the boys this year because of their hockey schedules and the fact that many of their friends share birthdays around the same time and had scheduled parties, leaving us with no open weekends to have family and friend parties. We did celebrate the boys with a small party at home and they took treats to hockey and school. Also, we celebrated my dad's birthday a few days later at a Mexican restaurant so the boys got to see some extended family and celebrate with them as well.
A few weeks after birthday celebrations, Declan had a hockey tournament here in town. The team finished 7th out of 8 team but he got to play at The Barn at the Centene Community Ice Center. It was fun to see him play in an outdoor rink and with the weather not as brutal as Kinderhook last January, watching the game was actually comfortable as well.
Connor had a field trip to the pumpkin patch with his preschool class and had an absolute blast. The pumpkin patch had corn bins, animals to feed, tractors, hayrides and of course, pumpkins. He got to ride in a mini school bus and learn all about bus safety and preparing for elementary school.
Halloween this year was a bit different for us. For the first time ever, we were not home for Halloween. Since my kids are social butterflies (unlike their mother), they were invited to a Halloween party and trick-or-treating with their friends. Declan had two friends (twins) in preschool that he absolutely adored, Margot and Harper, and Connor is best friends with their little brother, who is the same age as Connor, Danny. So this year, we opted to attend the Halloween party and let the boys trick-or-treat with their friends and they enjoyed the night immensely!
This weekend, we had more hockey. Today Declan had two games in Granite City, Illinois. With the location being between our house and my dad's side of the family, we invited everyone to come see Declan play. Unfortunately, most of the family had other plans, but my dad and step-mom were available and came to watch Declan. This was extremely special, mostly because my dad is not in the best health to be able to attend such events. I don't believe I've mentioned it, but my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's almost 2 years ago and we've seen a real decline in his health. Sometimes he doesn't know who we are, where he is or how to do the simple things he's done for so long. It hurts to see his decline. But, we've talked to him about both boys playing hockey and he wanted to try to make it to at least one game. Since this one was close enough to his house, my step-mom drove him to catch the games. My dad's vision isn't the best anymore due to the type of Alzheimer's he has but he was there cheering on my kid and it was the sweetest. I don't know how many more games he will get to attend for my boys but I'm so glad he was able to come today. Ironically, when my dad was much younger, he played hockey with some of his co-workers at the Granite City rink so it was a good to get to reminisce about his younger days.
Other than that, we're headed into the holiday season and full on hockey season. It's super crazy and super busy and I'm just trying to get through it all without losing every brain cell.
As always, here's a photo dump of our fun.
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