Life and Times at Miss Doreen's

... or, as Joergen says, "Misoreen's"

For the amount of time that the boys spend with Miss Doreen, it's no secret that she has become truly a part of our family-- often called Aunt Doreen and of course Uncle Sam for a reason.  Liam and Joergen love her, her family, and the other kids there so much, and are rather blessed to be loved in return... especially with some of the things my darling children have done to her and her poor house over the last 4 years!! (who remembers the events that precipitated Liam having to wear the green jammies that zip up the back and are impossible to get out of...? *shudder*)

Daddy drops them off each day around 7:30 am and I pick them up again around 5:30 pm... which makes for approximately 50 hours every week that we are away from our boys.  I'm so grateful that she and her daughters often send me pictures while I'm at work of what they are up to, and my mommy guilt is at least a little bit eased when I see how happy Liam and Joer are under her care.  So in no particular order, I would like to share some of my favorites.

Doreen often captures them in silly dress-up pictures, like this one of Fireman J:

And this one of Princess Liam!

One of the many things we appreciate about sending them to Doreen's is that they get to help with household chores and learn about things like yardwork, gardening,

-- and when their handyman Frank is around-- light construction and maintenance.  Whenever Frank is going to be at Doreen's house, Liam insists on wearing "worker-man clothes" (the definition of which changes with the wind) and bringing his toolbox so that he can help.  I love this picture of Liam clutching his little hammer and using every ounce of restraint to not climb that ladder!

Doreen's daughters often refer to Liam and Joergen as their little cousins, and they truly might as well be!  They are all so good with our boys.  Theresa (Tweesuh), who once in a while even comes to our house to babysit, has probably spent the most time with them, and the boys absolutely adore her.  Her latest mission is to get Joergen to keep saying "cucumber"-- because he sure does love his "cumummers"! (Insert squeal of laughter here)

A rare moment when all three of Miss Doreen's daughters were home at the same time as the Fab Four:

Em, Krissy, Joer, Liam, Theresa, Kaelyn, and Danielle

As long as it isn't raining or sub-zero temperatures, the kids spend as much time as possible outside in the backyard at Doreen's house. They dig in the sand, have races down the hill, look for bugs, play baseball, and the list goes on.  They've even watched as a bird built a nest, laid eggs, and hatched baby birds in the eaves of her patio roof!

Best buds Kaelyn, Emmy, and Liam

Monkeys

Riding the scooter with Aunt Doreen

My boys gravitate to mud like bugs to light, and Doreen is always kind enough to send me pictures like this so I know what to expect (and how much laundry I'll be doing) when I get home in the evening.

When it's hot (not that we remember what that's like...), the kids love nothing more than to put on their bathing suits and play in the sprinkler or in the little pool.  This was from last summer:

Raleigh, Rylie, Kaelyn, Liam, and J

(Sidebar: Liam now refers to Rylie as "human Rylie" in order to properly distinguish her from our next door neighbor's "dog Riley."  And let us not also forget Liam's favorite stuffed animal Riley, who is simply referred to as "my Riley."  Thank goodness for that clarification.)

Alas, the pool is not simply a summer thing:

Fall Swimming

Spring Swimming

The boys got another friend at Miss Doreen's this year, and for the first time ever, it was another boy!  Baby Declan (or Deck-uh-win, as Liam calls him) joined the gang, and the boys for once now outnumber the girls.  Joergen had to get used to no longer being the baby of the house, and Liam officially made the switch to being one of the "big kids".  This clearly took a while for him to get used to...

Our kids' love of teeny bopper music was born at Miss Doreen's house, where they love to crank up the tunes and pretend they're pop stars:

The new One Direction.  Joergen's backwards hat was his own touch.

One in a while, the kids will take a break from the action to watch a little tv or cuddle together on the couch.  Our boys just love their Emmy and Kaelyn... I have no idea how they will handle next year without them!

Emmy and Liam playing "married." Liam insists he will marry Kaelyn someday, but "maybe Emily too"

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I truly don't know what we'd do without Miss Doreen.  And this doesn't just stop with the boys!  Case in point: I lost my engagement ring last week in Doreen's backyard while brushing sand off Liam, and we spent hours on our hands and knees searching for it to no avail.  I could have died!  When we had to call it quits for the night, it was Doreen (with the help of not one but two metal detectors) while I was at work the next day who not only finally found my ring, but cried when she did so because she knew how much it would mean to me to get it back.  She has more than earned her wings!!