Mommathon

Some kids hide behind their mother's legs, some kids go hide in another room. Not my kids. They react to new people by acting like a couple of crazed monkeys. So, today, Mrs. Doolittle, Colm's teacher, came to visit. Oh my! They were crazy, especially when she first got here. Things did settle down after a while, enough for her to read them a book. She assured me she has three boys and completely understands, but still couldn't they just act normal for a while? I held onto the door and laughed to myself for a second after she left. Please, dear God, don't let her think this is how my children act on a regular normal day.

Well, we thought we knew where Liam was tonight-in bed. He wasn't. He was laying on the floor as flat as a pancake as quiet as could be on the landing above our family room watching TV. Yep! He decided he wasn't tired, but knew he was supposed to be in bed, so he snuck a little extra TV time in. So, he watched an hour long Nova documentary on dinosaurs and an hour of Star Trek. The funniest part was how he got caught. I went upstairs to go get the cat out of our bedroom and there he was. The look on his face was priceless. Busted!

The boys took an art class this month through Gymboree that is just like the one Colm took last fall, only it is for siblings. The boys had a great time and it was a good way for them to get to do something together before they head their separate ways for school in a few short weeks.





Liam as Darth Sidious-these are actually little magician's capes that he has fashioned into this Star Wars getup.

Sean and I are trying to figure out what to do about carseats and traveling. I know you don't need them for the airplane, but what about when we get there? We don't plan on renting a car, but what about when we get in a taxi? We can't drag carseats with us all over the city, but we also need to be safe. What to do? I found this website where you can rent all kinds of stuff for kids and babies when you travel, so maybe they can help us.

My hubby is the best storyteller. I had no idea. While we were driving around today they were griping and complaining so much I started to laugh because they were driving me crazy. (You know, the crazy kind of laughter, not the ha, ha funny kind of laughter.) So, to get them to zip their lips, he started in with the story of Peter and the Wolf with voices and everything. They begged for another one after that so he told them a Scottish story about a fox and a scone and then he told them another Scottish one (kind of like Hansel and Gretel) about a little boy, an oven and some pudding. They wanted me to tell them stories, too, but after that kind of performance there was no way I was going to even attempt to tell them a story.

We got kicked out of the house today for four hours because we had an open house plus a showing, so we drove around for a little while, went out to eat and then went to play video games at Dave and Buster's. Have you been to Dave and Buster's? We had not, but a friend of mine (whose opinions I trusted until today) does take her kids there. That is the most kid un-friendly place I think my kids have ever been to. I thought it would be more like Chuck E. Cheese only with better food. NO. Vegas is less of an assault on your senses than this place. It was LOUD and at least 50 percent of the games involved shooting something while holding a simulated gun in your hand. We don't do that. We whisked them over to the most kid-friendly part of the place we could find and then hightailed it out of there. The boys can go back there if they want when they can drive themselves there. Sean and I have no desire to ever set foot in that place again.

You know you can always get an honest answer about a situation from a five-year old.

Sean: Maybe someone will buy our house today.

Liam: I don't think so, Daddy. No one ever buys our house.

Thanks, Liam. We really appreciate your candor.