Archive for the 'Family' Category

Kids say the darndest things

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Ben just tossed the pen he was using aside and said, “Good bye pen, you stink, you’re pink.”  I have no idea what that means but it made me laugh for no good reason.

Of course, everytime we ask Jack how his day was, he gets downright sullen, crosses his arms and says with all sincerity, “I had a bad day.”  It’s hard not to laugh at him.

In other news, we had Thanksgiving dinner here on Thursday.  Laura’s father, Paul, is in town for a few days and Carrie’s mother, Ann, was here as well.  Matt and Carrie’s friend, Umberto, joined us as well.  We had tons of food and a good time was had by all.  Yesterday we got our tree (pictures to follow sometime soon) and Laura has been busy decorating.  She just loves this time of year.

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Please donate

Thursday, May 21st, 2009
Katie

Katie

Many of you know about my cousin’s experience with HLHS and how Katie affected so many people’s lives.  Well, her mom and dad have put together an organization to honor Katie’s legacy.

Please visit Kisses From Katie and donate.  While there, read about all of the good things that they’re doing to help folks that find themselves in a similar situation.

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Happy Belated Halloween

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

The legions of Penchuk.com fanatics (you know who you are) were asking for more posts.  Others asked for more pictures.  Here’s something for both of you.  Below are Halloween pictures of the boys from earlier this year.  Click for more.

Halloween 2008

In other news, last week we had visitors. Grandma Sara came in from Teaneck and shared an early Thanksgiving with us. Deep-fried turkey (and chicken, but I’ll save that story for another post)!! Then Alan and Vickie came to visit. It was great to see them. Both Laura and I love living in NC but when we get to spend time with family like them, we wish we were geographically closer. This past weekend we went down to South Carolina to visit with Baba and Epa. We had a typical Thanksgiving and also went on a Hooter Hunt an Owl Prowl. We actually saw one Eastern Screech Owl. Pretty cool.

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The elderly and the young

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

This past week hasn’t been a good one.  Very early Wednesday morning, my maternal grandmother, Raye, passed away.  She was 88.  She suffered from dementia for many years and thankfully, is now at peace.  Her obituary is here.

Earlier this evening, my second cousin, Katie, passed away at the age of 5 months.  Her struggle was valiant and tougher than most.  No child should have to go through what Katie did.  No parents should have to go through what Vickie and Alan have and will in the years to come.  We are thankful that Katie, too, is now at peace.  I hope that her parents can find some peace, as well.  More information is available here.

UPDATE:  Katie’s obituary.

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A visit from Paul

Monday, July 21st, 2008

This past weekend we had a visitor here in Cary.  Laura’s father, Paul, flew in from Rockford to spend some time with us.  It was great to see him and only wish he could have visited longer.  The kids love him, too.  It’s so cute to hear Jack say, “Ganpa O Dee”.

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Terrible two’s

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

As of yesterday, Jack has officially arrived in the terrible two’s.  He’s trying Laura and my collective patience.  But, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t still make us laugh.

Yesterday, we gave Ben bubble gum (now that he’s 5).  He quietly chewed for 5 seconds, looked up and said, “I love it.”  About 3 seconds later, Jack said, “I want gubble bum”.

Right now, Jack is “playing” a keyboard and yelling things into the microphone.  For example, “Daddy in da house” and “I love you, Cooper Kitty!”

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Wagon utilization up 73%

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

So the weather in NC has been amazing for about a month now. It’s been beautiful many days and even nicer in the early evening. Tonight was the first day it was actually hot. Mid-to-upper 80′s as a high but it was 78 around 7PM when we took what’s becoming a customary trip to the baseball fields. I pile the kids in the homemade wagon courtesy of my father and we’re off. The point is that we’re using it ALL THE TIME now. We take it to the park. We take it events in downtown Raleigh. We take it to the Fresh Market (and actually bring it into the store). We take it to the baseball fields. We take it on walks down random greenways. It’s a really handy transport and the kids just fit perfectly in it.

So the trips to the baseball fields are becoming more frequent because Ben is really getting into baseball these days. Not only is he interested in the Yankees and Cubs, he’s playing teeball and wants to play catch every night. Just in the past week, his skills have improved so much that we can actually play catch. It’s amazing. We’re using a tennis ball (he’s still kind of scared of even the soft hardball that we have) but he’s catching it. He throws it back to me almost every time. I throw it back and he’s catching it more than 50% of the time. Frankly, I’m amazed. Laura came out and was watching us yesterday and I said to her, “This is really cool.”

Last but not least, let me tell you about Jackson Edward. He is in the midst of his terrible two’s. Lately he’s been yelling, “I neeeeeeed it”. Repeatedly. Did I mention he says it again and again? Oh, and again and again. Then you finally cave in and give him whatever it is he feels he neeeeeeeds and he stops all crying, all screaming, all whining to look directly at you and simply say, “No.” It’s not quite as cool as playing catch, but Jack will have his day, too.

Bottom line, we’re both appreciating the heck out of our kids no matter what they do.

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Treasuring every moment

Monday, May 26th, 2008

I’ve been thinking about family a lot over the past week.  The main reason is the unbelievable story of Katie Manning.  Laura and I have not been able to stop thinking about what Vickie and Alan have been going through.  So far, the news has gotten better and better after their world’s were, as they wrote, “moderately adjusted”.  Sweet Katie has reminded us all of how precious life is and how important the people in our lives are.  Take a moment, hug your kids and enjoy that moment of frustration and remember that tomorrow, it might not be there.

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Family in town

Saturday, November 24th, 2007

Just a quick post about the family spending time here for Thanksgiving. Mom made it down for the big holiday and has done a ton of cooking. Matt and Carrie have finally made their way down from Boston and are looking for a place now. Carrie’s mother and stepfather, Ann and Archie, were in town. We were lucky enough to spend Turkey Day with Ann. She makes a mean gravy.

The boys are doing great and all else is well. Hope your Thanksgiving was everything you hoped for…

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What’s new in North Carolina?

Saturday, October 13th, 2007

We’ve been a busy family lately.  We always seem to have something going on whether it’s a visit from Grandma Sara, one of Ben’s teeball games, Laura’s softball, my hockey or Jack’s unexpected doctor’s visit.  But, we’re happy!

  •  Ben – He’s playing teeball now and loving it.  His favorite part seems to be running the bases and hitting.  Ben’s speech is doing much better, too.  He’s growing up so fast.  It’s pretty amazing how fast it all goes.  I took him ice skating for the first time and he LOVED it.  Then I took him a second time and it wasn’t quite the same.  Not really sure what happened there, but, we’ll try again.  He’s doing great at preschool and loves his teachers.  He’s got the alphabet down and it seems like he will soon be reading.
  • Jack - This kid is a riot.  He’s almost always happy.  He’s also a fruit lover.  Apples, grapes, melons, whatever.  He vacuums it up.  It’s really interesting to watch the second kid go through these early years with his odler brother coaching him the whole way.  Jack just tries to emulate Ben whenever possible.  Just last night we noticed that he was hitting a toy golf ball and then throwing down the club.  Then he ran in a circle in the room.  Laura figured out that he was running the bases like his big brother does at teeball.  Amazing.
  • Laura - My wife of seven years (as of tomorrow) is quite the first baseman.  She played on the Dancik softball team this fall and she had a good time.  Other than that, Laura’s been doing well.  I feel like I write this everytime but she’s a great mom.  Always a step ahead of the rest of us and always keeping us in line.  Without her, this house would fall apart.
  • Andrew – Things are the same with me.  Still working, playing hockey, not reading as much as I would like, etc.  One thing I’m really enjoying is helping out at teeball.  It’s been so long since I’ve worked with a group of children that it brings back memories of my days on Royal Caribbean.

All is well and for the moment, everyone is healthy.  We’re looking forward to Uncle Matty and Aunt Carrie moving down here.  Since they’ve been in Boston, the Red Sox have been good.  It’s time for them to leave…

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