Mommathon

Sean and the boys have been playing a knights game on the computer after dinner for the past few weeks. They love it and look forward to Daddy getting home each night so they can play. Well, on Friday night, they absolutely refused to eat their dinner. (I don't even remember what it was now, but they acted as if they might die trying to eat it.) So, Sean told them if they didn't eat it then they couldn't play knights that night after dinner. Colm still wouldn't eat. Liam tried, but he was picking and poking at his food and I was not going to sit there with him all night. So Sean told them that they wouldn't be playing knights that night and got up from the table. (oh, dear, you should have heard the wailing). But it got worse...Sean went and played without them. He went in his office, shut the door and played for a good half hour. Their little world collapsed. The tears. The howling. I think there were some pint-sized insults thrown in Sean's direction. You should see these kids eat now though. Not only are they eating things they would never have eaten five days ago, but they know they have to eat it in a reasonable amount of time, too. They were literally scarfing down their pasta last night. I love it! I could serve them pigs ears with garlic sauce now and I think they would find a way to choke it down.

This afternoon Colm found his new favorite book in Liam's room. He brought it to me to read to him, but he didn't shut Liam's door and the dog was going to go in his room. This is a big deal and Colm knows it. The dog is not allowed into their rooms because he eats their stuffed animals. I told Colm he needed to go back and shut Liam's door and then I would read him the book. He wouldn't shut the door, so I shut it. He then realized that I really wasn't going to read him the book now because he didn't follow directions and shut the door like I had asked. So he went back and opened the door so he could then shut it so that I could then read him the book.

We stopped at Costco to get gas today and there was an elderly couple there gassing up their bright red VW bug. These people were AT LEAST 80. They were so cute. She was in the driver's seat with her bright white, fresh from the beauty parlor curls. He was putting in the gas. He had on a cute little fisherman hat. If I would have had my phone with me I would have tried to sneak a picture of them.

Before Sean and I even had kids we always said we wanted them to go to school A (we'll call it that for anonymity-I have no idea who is reading this blog). My brothers went there and since they are 13 years younger than me we got to see what a great school it was. We had Liam enrolled there last year for kinder, but with our house not selling and moving and all of that jazz we forfeited our deposit and decided not to send him. I am SO glad we made that decision. There is NO WAY we could have packed, moved and done everything that had to be done to build this house and still gotten him to school and picked up each day. I am also glad we sent him to the school he went to this year. It was a great way for him to meet the neighborhood kids, he has a great teacher and the school is wonderful, too. We are in a position now, however, to send both Liam and Colm to school A now. I called them on Tuesday, the boys had their evaluations at the school on Thursday, we got the paperwork for next school year on Friday and we sent it back in on Saturday. There was only one spot left in first grade next year so we snapped it up. They are a private Catholic school in an urban setting that goes from Montessori (preschool) through Grade 8. It is a small school with only two sections of each grade with a policy of twenty or fewer kids per class. They have an indoor pool (which is ancient!) where the kids take weekly swim lessons, they begin learning French at the Montessori level, since it is in the city it is both racially and economically diverse (which is very important to us considering the reputation our county has for its affluence and whiteness), all students are evaluated before being offered a spot at the school (you don't have to be a genius, but a certain level of smarts and behavior are expected), we love the history (our kids will be there for the school's 100th anniversary) and it is Catholic. Another thing I noticed when we were walking around that is in the middle school level, their lockers didn't have locks and most of them were ajar. I love it! They don't need locks because that kind of crap doesn't happen around there. I also love how they combine subjects for the little guys. For example, their P.E. class is conducted in French. There is one downside. It is not close, but there are several families around here who go there and the school is very good about helping families set up carpools since people drive from all over the metro to get to the school. I am so excited, but more importantly...so are the boys!

I think Colm has a future as a librarian or a book reviewer or something of the sort. He has come up with a system to classify his books. Since we usually read in his bed, the system goes like this: books he likes get dropped on the floor to the left of his bed when he is done with them, books he doesn't like get dropped on the right and books he kind of likes go at the foot of his bed. Most books make it to the "like" pile, very few make it to the "kind of" pile and I have noticed that most of the books that make it to the "don't like" pile are non-fiction books. At least he knows what he likes!

There are going to be some big changes around here come August, one of them being me being employed. Someone is going to actually pay me money to do something. See, the tricky part is though, I have to actually get a job. With the boys gone at school for a large chunk of the day I would like to do something productive. There are a few catches, however. I need a job that would allow me to be home with the boys on breaks, during the summer, and when they are sick. Additionally, I would like to go with them on their field trips and be at their holiday parties. I would also like to be able to volunteer at their school and eat lunch with them every once in a while before they get to be too old and too cool to have their mom do that. I also only want to work during the hours they are at school. Also, I would like to get a job near their school to minimize the driving. I have a job in mind, but someone already has that job. She has mentioned that she has thought about quitting though. Would it be rude of me to remind her that she had mentioned in the past that she might leave her position? Just a gentle nudge. I will wait and see how the whole getting everyone to school and getting everyone picked up thing goes and see what happens from there. I have a feeling I am not going to find my dream job. I am not in a rush, but it would be nice to receive a paycheck.

Does it bother anyone else? What I understand from this is that the FDA has approved beef and milk that has come from cloned animals to be sold as food. That bothers me. What is also troubling is that they don't have to label it. It's already been decided that such products are not kosher. I think I'll either convert, go back to being a vegetarian or start raising my own animals.

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Finished a book tonight...it is a story of a family who loses two family members in one night, how the family's truths are revealed to them over the course of a weekend and how forgiveness can heal all things. Good and fast read.

On Sunday night I was cooking dinner when out of the corner of my eye I saw a large flash come out of my oven and then there was a loud pop. Not good. Whatever happened, it tripped the circuit brakers. We didn't turn them back on either. We felt like there was something major enough wrong that we should probably let an electrician handle it. So, finally, today an electrician was able to come to our house. It took him quite a while to figure out what was wrong, but he kept at it and finally figured it out. Our stove and cooktop are only supposed to be pulling a certain amount of amps, but the cooktop alone pulls almost as much as both of them together are supposed to pull. How did that happen? Well, I guess we didn't get the cooktop we were supposed to get when we built the house, but they didn't take that into consideration when they wired our house. So now they have to rewire that part of our house or something like that. So, we have been eating out the past few nights. Tonight I got out the crockpot. I hope they get it fixed by tomorrow. I like to eat out as much as the next person, but it does get old after a while.

I am so excited! We are getting a Whole Foods less than ten minutes away from my house. I hate trekking all the way up to the other one. I don't know when it will be done, but hopefully it won't take too long since the building used to be a grocery store...all they have to do is fill it with yummy food.

You know it has been a banner day when you can get two blogworthy quotes in less than 12 hours. The newest addition:

Mom, my boogers are dancing.

Stop licking the dog.

If I have to tell you who I was speaking to when I said this then you don't know our family very well and even if you aren't sure, I bet you can make a pretty good guess.

Fresh cilantro is a gift from God. It is so good! Everything tastes better with fresh cilantro...okay, not everything, but you know what I mean. It's really good and can make great food taste even better!

I am not a big fan of riding the bus and Liam does not ride the bus. I rode the bus growing up from second grade through about ninth grade. It was fine, I survived, but I hated standing outside in the weather. There was also a guy at my bus stop in middle school who was a jerk...and if you miss the bus...well, you miss the bus. Also, the bus is a great place for things to happen without any adult to intervene or really know what is happening. The principal at Liam's school even implied that the bus is not the best place in the world for a kid. That said...this morning I really, really wished Liam was a busrider. Colm was FAST asleep this morning and I had to wake him up to take Liam to school. I am sure the construction workers working across the street think I beat my children...Colm screamed and fought me for a good five minutes as I tried to stuff him into his carseat. My upper arms were tired when I finally got him snapped in. Maybe it would be worth paying for the bus for the few days like this when it would be nice to let Colm just sleep, unfortunately, Liam has let me know that he DOES NOT want to ride the bus.

If you or someone you know is looking for a treadmill, let me know. It is a high quality treadmill in great condition and has only been used a handful of times. We'll take the best offer we get and the new owners need to pick it up.

Great form, Mr. Robert! :)



Today was Show Day where the kids get to show off all they've learned. Colm did a great job with his bar "routine". He is a lot stronger than I thought. The balance beam proved to be a little trickier. Colm loves his medal! He can't wait to show it to Liam when Liam gets home from school.

We have the best library! They have great storytimes and about three times a year they have drop-in activity times. They are centered around a theme and are perfect for three and four-year olds. There are multiple activities based on the theme; some they can do on their own and others require a little help. This one was called All About Me. Colm had a great time and he would have liked to have stayed longer, but we had to leave...the librarians had to go eat lunch.

Who takes their young children to see a play about a wicked witch who throws small children into an oven? The answer: I do. I was thinking this, as we were watching Hansel and Gretel a couple of weeks ago. We had read the book, so the boys knew the storyline and didn't seem troubled. When we went to see the play, however, Colm was a bit disturbed...since we had read the book, he knew what was coming and buried his head in my shoulder anticipating the arrival of the witch. Now, the pamphlet had said that the story had been adapted for small children so I trusted that the whole "children burning" thing would be kept to a minimum as would the wickedness of the witch. Colm and I were both pleasantly surprised. Not only was the witch not too scary, they had actually made her look kind of pretty. She even did a little upbeat song and dance. That said, when the play was over and the children can meet and speak with the actors on the way out, Colm made a very concerted effort to avoid the witch...even a pretty, singing, dancing witch is still a witch.

Liam has not been this sick in a VERY long time. He has that glassy look in his eyes that kids get when they are super sick. He has a temp of 103, he is hot and then he is cold, sweating and then shivering. His lymph nodes are swollen and his inner ears are red. He is coughing and is SO congested. He has spent the better part of the past two days sleeping on the couch. We had to change his pajamas last night because they were soaked with sweat. The dr. gave him some antibiotics and I am giving him some OTC meds as well. Not to mention that he has his regular regimen of asthma meds he has to take every day and then the extra asthma meds he has to take when he has congestion. He is being SUCH a trooper. The antibiotic he is taking is so nasty I didn't even try to pretend that it was good. He has already gagged on it once. It's gross. I remember that stuff from when I was a kid...ugh! The OTC medicine isn't much better even though they say it tastes like bubble gum.

Sean isn't much better either. He went to the dr today and got his own set of meds to help him get over his junk. He sounds terrible when he coughs and he can't talk.

Please, dear Lord, keep Colm and I away from all of this. PLEASE!

Colm decided to "help" me make brownies yesterday by spilling some of the chocolate chips all over the floor. This a pic of Colm and our dog scavenging them off the floor. Now, I know Colm shouldn't be eating off the floor and the dog shouldn't be eating chocolate, but I had to take this picture. It was like they were competing, it was a race, to see who could eat the most chocolate.

This is such a good movie. Sean and I watched it tonight after we put the kids to bed. Sean and I have watched quite a few movies lately and this was, by far, the best. HIGHLY recommended.

There are many different types of learning. Garner recognized seven different types of intelligences: spacial, linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, spacial, mathematical-logical and kinesthetic. You probably know what type(s) you and your children are. I started thinking about this yesterday when I was working with Colm doing his It's A Match game. This was only the second time he had worked with it so I was kind of sitting with him walking him through how to do it when I realized that he was doing it perfectly right, but not at all the way I would do it. He had tackled the problem in an entirely different way that I would have. We want back and forth for a while until I realized what was happening. I was trying to help him when I realized I wasn't helping him at all, but was keeping him from doing it his own way. By the way, if you have a two-three year old, you need to get one of these toys. They are great for teaching problem solving skills and Colm loves it because it is self-checking. He pulls down on the tray when he is done and if the colors match up then he knows he has done it right.

I know of two people who have had their credit card numbers stolen from the same local restaurant in the past year. If I know two people who this has happened to, then you know there are more AND when they were trying to figure out what happened one of the first things the bank asked them was if they had eaten at this restaurant. That tells you right there that there has been a pattern. One particular person had used their debit card to pay and their entire checking account was cleared out to the tune of about $3,000. Yikes! I am not going to mention the name of the restaurant here so I can't be sued for slander or libel or whichever one it is, but if you e-mail me I will tell you which one it is.

I dropped the boys off at The Little Gym this week for a few hours and I managed to get a TON done. Sean has been crazy busy at work over the past few weeks which means I have had A LOT of quality time with the children, but very little time to get anything done. So, in the three hours they were gone, I went to two different Hallmark stores looking for something I didn't end up finding at either one, I made two trips to our storage unit to get stuff out, I went to the scrapbooking store, Sonic, the drycleaners and the post office. I would have never been able to get all of that done with them. The post office alone would have sent us all over the edge. There was a long line and there is just way too much stuff for a curious three-year old to get into at the post office. Same goes for the scrapbooking store and Hallmark, too, now that I think about it.

Another memoir. This one was recommended to me by my friend Christie. Very good book. Sad. Tragic. I also have to remind myself while I am reading a memoir that this is someone's life. These things really happened. I was warned to get the tissues ready and I used them, too.

I saw a report on the news the other night that brought back the night our house burned down. These poor people on the news had to sit and watch their house burn down because it was so cold outside the firemen couldn't get the fire hydrants open and when they did, the line cracked because it was frozen. We were in a similar situation the night our house burned down. It was cold and it was dark and it was late and the fire hydrant was frozen shut. I had just gotten home from working at Minsky's. It was a weekend, so it was at least 11 or so when I got home. I was downstairs in the basement getting ready to go to bed when someone came and BANGED on our door. I ran upstairs and someone said our house was on fire. My parents, who always take care of everything and I knew who would take care of this, started rushing around. I went back downstairs because my parents always took care of everything and never let harm come our way. Somehow I realized that this was the real deal and that my parents couldn't make this one go away. When my mom and I walked out the front door there was a line of fire going up our living room wall. A nice woman down the street gave me some socks to wear since I had left in such a rush and we spent the night at the Holiday Inn. The next day, when we went back to survey the damage, we were reunited with our cat who had miraculously survived my crawling in the dryer. Everything on the first floor was a big piece of ice. I don't remember there being an upstairs. I think there might have been a shell of the upstairs left, but I don't think we could go up there. My bedroom was a mess. Since it was in the basement all of the water that got sprayed in the fire ended up in my bedroom. My textbooks were floating around in the mess and pretty much everything that had been on the floor was destroyed. The thing I will never forget is the smell. It stayed with us and on our things for quite a while. You hear stories on the news of fires ending much more tragically. We were so lucky.

Now that we have moved we have a different trash and recycling company. That means we have a new list of rules and regs that we have to follow about things we can and can't recycle. I like it. We can recycle so much more here and I find us recycling about twice as much as we were previously. The thing that really bothers me though is that we can't recycle glass here. I understand why. Glass is heavy which means it costs a lot to transport, but it causes me great pain to just throw it away. I don't know what to do. I can't have a bunch of glass piled all over until I can find a place to recycle it, but I hate throwing it away. What to do.

We have clearly been watching too much Arthur. Sean and I were discussing whether Buster's parents were married. I said that they were and that he is a pilot and is gone all the time flying. Sean said that he remembered an episode where Buster had to leave for the summer to go stay with his dad. Yeah, I remember that one, too. Grown-up adult married people shouldn't be discussing Arthur. We should be discussing world politics, the upcoming election year, caucuses, assassinations, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Nope, we like to focus on the light stuff-Arthur. :)

Liam made his first and hopefully last winter visit to Children's Mercy last night. Croup. Man, it is so scary. It always seems to be the same every time he gets it. He is fine one moment and a half hour later he is gasping for breath. We went out to dinner, came home, took a bath, practiced violin (he was fine the whole time). Then Liam and Colm played on the computer with Sean for a while. He started coughing while they were on the computer, by the time they were done he could barely make it up the stairs. I gave him some asthma meds thinking that was the problem. When those didn't work I knew things were going to get way worse before they got better. I am glad we went. They had to give him the big drugs...but they worked. We got home a little after one. I'm tired.

When we went to go see Mr. Magorium a month or so ago there was a preview for the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Liam and Colm new instantly that they wanted to see it. Sean and I new instantly that there was no way on God's green earth that we would let them see it. Uh, it's awful in every way I can think of and that is just based on what I saw of the previews. What makes me even sadder is that for the past two weeks it has been in the second and third spot at the box office. What does that say? Either there is absolutely nothing else to see at the movies and people are desperate to waste their money. I think it might also say something sad about what we, as Americans, find funny and entertaining. Even sadder, I think people really want to take their kids to the movies (especially since their not in school) and that is the closest thing out there to a kids movie right now. Why can't there be more good kid movies? We get about one good one a year, that's not enough.

Liam is at a difficult age right now. It really hit me when I started trying to plan his birthday party. He is getting too old for some things, but isn't quite old enough for other things. He really wants to go to a Laser Tag place for his birthday party, but he isn't old enough. He also wants to do glow in the dark golf, but I don't think five-years olds quite have the fine motor skills to do that, especially in the dark. Yet, he's a little too old, I think, for some of the other options that have been pretty standard up until now. He won't take animal crackers in his lunch...they're too babyish. (I think someone told him that because he eats them just fine at home.) He will still watch Backyardigans (especially if it's one he hasn't seen before) and he still likes an episode of Diego every now and again. His book choices are becoming more complex and so are his tastes in movies. He wanted to go see Waterhorse over break, but after doing a bit of research we decided he wasn't old enough. We explained it too him. He still wants to see it, but he didn't put up a fight. He is still making good choices, but I can feel it coming. I am holding onto his "little guyness" at long as possible, but I know that I will have to let it go, eventually, too. They grow up, darn it.

I am learning to gauge when Colm is done with Mass. I was very proud of him today, he made it all the way through the homily. That's a first, folks. He has adopted Liam's Bible and was very busy with it most of the time...mostly scanning the pages for pictures of bad guys or people who were crying. He wanted to know why each person was crying. It got to be a little much after a while, so I told him I would tell him later. Anyways, when Colm is done, he is done. There is no bribe or threat that will get him in line and it is in everyone's best interests if you know how to handle it. So, as soon as he gets that way we leave. I don't try to bribe him or get him in line because it won't work and he just ends up getting worse and disturbing the people around us. I am not going to punish him, he is three and I don't want him to think of church as a boring place where Mom and Dad get mad at him. Most three and four year olds have a hard time sitting still for an hour or more; it isn't really developmentally appropriate for most children that age to sit in one spot quietly for that long. I also want him to know, however, that he can't misbehave in church. It's a fine line. Children eventually learn to sit through church and listen, but it takes a while. So, we go the the foyer so he can blow off some steam and walk around and I can still participate in Mass.