Holy Mother of Cords

Seriously people, what the hell?! I managed to tame these somewhat as I moved stuff around tonight. Surprise for Sean when he finally makes it home, guess where all the furniture is! Soy muy forte! With some help from my sister.

Winter Storm Prep

To counteract the driveway that requires more than 50 pounds of ice melt (I ran out with 20 feet to go, just going to slide the rest of the way), we have the wine fridge. I am a very slow wine drinker so this is actually 2 years worth of wine in good weather, 2 days worth in winter storm weather.


After Sean slid across the driveway and then drove down the walkway next to it, I stressed for the 2.5 hours it took him to drive to the airport. Let the record show that I did not drink any wine during that time period. It was 10am, I felt that Katie might stage an intervention if I did that. But he and Patrick are safely in Florida now for his grandma's funeral so I am more relaxed. Oh so relaxed... Strange not having Patrick around but enjoying the calmness. Might I complete a project around the house?! Well, let's not go that far. We can survive many days without leaving at least. In addition to the wine fridge I have enough bread making supplies for a few weeks and a big stack of Barefoot Contessa peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. All the essentials are covered.



Sean is supposed to be back tomorrow night but if we get the snow predicted he will be enjoying the swim suits I threw in the suitcase at the last minute. Katie's flight tomorrow was cancelled and she is scheduled for Thursday now. Poor Lane has to endure two more days of chaos and attention. He's a trooper!

Midnight snack

Last night around 4am Patrick came in my room and asked if he could have a banana. Ah, whatever buddy, just leave me alone, eat whatever you want. So then when I got up in the morning I came down to find this mess. He apparently changed his mind and tried to have some cereal and then tried to clean up the mess. I asked him if he had a banana and he says that he did but I have yet to find the evidence. We aren't sure if he then stayed awake from that point on because he was really dragging today and almost fell asleep in church. That was the best behavior we've ever had from him during mass!

Poor Lane

Katie is here with baby Lane, who coincidentally was born the day I ordered my furniture and what do you know, they both arrived here at almost exactly the same time! Excitement all around. The girls were definitely more excited about Lane as you can see from the photos but Patrick seems to really enjoy jumping on the new chairs, no offense Lane. I'm sure as soon as Lane can play guns with him all will be fine.

House Research

I found some old photos of our house online and can't believe how different it looks. They also have the updated photos and you can see Patrick standing in a doorway. I knew the guy was taking pictures but didn't expect to see us in them. Not sure if I think this is cute or disturbing. Anyway, I don't think we will be going back to the ivy look although that would take care of having to wash the windows...

Clean up girl

Before we had Emily it always seemed like no matter what I cooked we ended up with just a tiny bit of food left, enough for another child, not that this is why we had her, just something that I noticed. I think the other kids just don't like what I cook enough to actually finish anything or ask for more. Well, along comes Emily who has decided that she wants to eat whatever is on our plates. She will yell and point after she has cleaned her tray so sometimes I just give her a plate that someone else refused to finish and she gets to work on it. Cold green beans are the current favorite and it turns out that we always have plenty of those left. Anna is seven yet thinks that it is totally acceptable to still just eat one green bean to get dessert. Anyway, here is Emily the other night, right before she threw the plate and got rice all over. Hard to sweep up, fyi. And yes, Anna is the one who doesn't like rice. Who doesn't like rice? What is so offensive about rice?! These kids are so spoiled, it is time for dinner boot camp, no bread and butter to tide them over until the next meal...

Progress?

At least he is wearing underwear...

15 hours per gallon

It turns out that if you use a really small brush a gallon of paint will last 15 hours. Ah, a hearth room full of trim work, good times. I had to update the paint color in here to go with the new furniture and it was no small task. I started out working in the evenings when Sean could corral children but towards the end I was desperate and forced Patrick to watch lots and lots of TV while Emily napped or hung out in her high chair. I enjoyed listening to the same episodes of his favorite shows over and over and over again. Patrick also repeatedly offered up the sage advice that I should be careful on the ladder. Thank God for paint fumes. I will post photos when the furniture arrives which will hopefully be Friday.

Toy Box

Emily, like all her siblings, much prefers to play with kitchen items over actual toys. This is the kid dish drawer and she likes to climb in, after emptying half of it naturally. Dishes always all over the floor, delightful. The empty spot above it is now filled with the fixed microwave so the children can eat again and I can warm up my tea repeatedly.

Boy Stuff

Patrick quotes movies all the time which gets confusing because I will have no idea what he wants, when in fact he wants nothing, he is just acting out a movie. I had no idea this quoting thing started so young but that explains why Sean is so good at it, years and years of practice. I heard him quoting a Friends episode this week. Umm, we haven't watched that show since it ended how many years ago? We don't have time to just watch reruns either, what with Sean's demanding Netflix queue. Ha, you thought I was going to say his demanding work schedule, didn't you? No, Sean somehow manages to carve out quite a lot of time for entertainment and gaming. Ah, not sleeping sure comes in handy.

Back to the other boy, Patrick has been acting out the scene in Toy Story 3 where Andy is sorting stuff for college so his room has piles all over it. He keeps talking about trash day too (also from the movie) and I wish I had listened yesterday as we missed trash day in fact, not that we could have gotten it down the hill in the snow that early in the morning, but still. Those diapers freeze well and will save until next week at least. One thing we are not allowed to throw away is anything Patrick has made at school. He is so super proud and I let him use a picnic basket to save them all. He was getting them out yesterday and admiring them before Sean left for work. Being a good dad, Sean asked if he could take one to hang up in his office at the hospital and Patrick was aghast. Thankfully Patrick no longer quotes my "oh hell no" so instead he just started quickly packing up his precious art and then latched the basket, crossed the handles and put it back in the cupboard. I don't think we could even sneak any of it out when he is sleeping. I'm sure he has it all organized and categorized and would notice immediately. Clearly that picnic basket is headed to college!

What's not to love?

about a snow day?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Did that sound upbeat and cheery? Or can some of you see past the clenched teeth fake smile? Guess who isn't booking tickets to Belgium today? If we keep it up with all these snow days who knows when the kids will get out for the summer. And if we ever want to leave our neighborhood in the winter we are going to have to cut into the travel budget and get new vehicles. Ugh, I just realized that the trade in value of the van is less than 6 plane tickets. And I didn't think my mood could get any worse.

Back to the snow day though, wondering if there is a point when they will start doing make-up days on Saturdays like they do in North Carolina. I know the kids don't think it's fair but you know, kids don't think anything is fair so too bad. There are even some parents who protest this, apparently not realizing the value of Saturday babysitting. All last year I tried to find a sitter who would come on Saturday mornings so we could golf, go to breakfast, run errands, go to yoga, whatever, and failed. Of course only half our kids would qualify for Saturday school so I am not pushing for it.

Anyway, this morning was so predictable. Emily woke up at 6:30 so I went in to get her. Anna asked if they had school and I foolishly told her no. She then bounded out of bed and happily asked if she could come play with Emily. Slightly different than the response I normally get when I wake them up. This week in particular has been nasty with Anna denying that it is morning because it is so dark that it surely must be the middle of the night. So then they lay in bed as long as possible and stomp around when threatened with various punishments if they miss the car to school. Today will be long but hopefully the girls can help watch the littles so I can finish the painting. Some poor UPS guy delivered a rug and two tables yesterday, thankfully it was just as the snow was starting, so the room is coming together. Maybe the couch and chairs next week! If they can make it up the street! Fake smile!

Don't blame the Koenigs

It is becoming more and more obvious that the kids' personalities are coming from the Keenan side. Sean feels that he is reliving his childhood with his sisters... the sulker and the screamer. Over a long weekend we really get the full effect too, plenty of time for drama. Megan with her crossed arms and sour face and harumphing noises, wow, such a joy. And then Anna with the heel stomping, ear plugging and irrational accusations. She didn't want to go to church yesterday, even though I said we had to if for no other reason than to meet Megan after her sleepover, because she said Megan would run right up and kick her. No, that would be Patrick, but that's another story. Now, don't be too insulted, Caroline and Bridget, because the fact that you are nice normal adults gives me hope that someday the girls will be okay too. I really understand the important role that wine plays in the Keenan family now though, especially for the mother.

Emily is too sweet to imagine having either of these personalities and Patrick is just a normal crazy 3 year old boy who likes to exercise on the furniture. Hopefully he will grow up as laid back as Sean so the high school years will be a breeze. And then in college when he brings home girlfriends Megan and Anna can declare them "skanks" until he brings home a girl like his mother! (Thanks for weeding those ones out, Caroline and Bridget, good judgement there.)

Birth Month

Poor Megan and her January birthday. So overlooked and never any good presents left to get her after Christmas chaos. I didn't want to cancel her dinner out on her actual birthday so we picked up her best friend and just us girls went out in the snow last Monday. Sean got her some mini cake (no more sweets in this house, please) and we remembered to sing to her on Tuesday and I booked her a party for later in the month because I am slacker mom. I mean, I wanted to keep the fun coming! So it is fitting that I am just now getting around to posting the photos from these events.

In other news, we parked in the garage yesterday for the first time since Monday. And the weather channel says an ice storm is coming tonight, yippee! I bought an enormous bag of ice melt, so it is ON. I am not giving up and buying a new car, this is the year for travel (and not by van!).

Advanced in Fighting

Emily isn't walking or talking much yet but at 14 months the girl is a pro at fighting. She knows what will make Patrick mad and she is quick to sound the alarm when he fights back. She loves to go sit in his little chair and she will often take his lunch box and hold it while she sits there... double taunting. And then she pastes a huge smile on her face and waits for the reaction. She pushes back when he tries to push her out of it and I have to intervene quickly because Patrick is not gentle. He is not happy that she's mobile now and it has led to many behavior issues lately. Sean's project for the 3 day weekend is to secure a location where I can put him in time out. I have no means to punish him lately and it shows. When Anna sat down to breakfast this morning, he turned to her and immediately shot her with his toast gun. This was after he took his wagon railing upstairs to wake them up, machine gun style. I have never let him watch anything with guns, for the record.

Winter charm

This house looks great with the snow, the backyard is beautiful, the snow covered branches outside the windows upstairs are like art. The walk down the driveway and then down the street to the ice encrusted van in negative 3 degree weather while carrying Emily and dragging Patrick, umm, not charming. Thank God we have such short bursts of winter here because I am counting down until it thaws and it looks like that will be Friday. I did shovel the driveway, thank you very much (had to scuffle with Sean over that one because the other person would have to watch 4 stir crazy kids), but that doesn't matter when you can't get up the cul de sac. I know because I tried yesterday and I was stuck for quite a while but I did succeed at last and did not take out any mailboxes. Not a good way to meet neighbors.

I then tried to teach Patrick how to buckle himself in his car seat in hopes that if he could do that then I could put him in the back row of a new AWD vehicle that isn't a minivan. He's not so good at it and I don't know if he could ever do it. I understand making it hard for a child to undo, but why can't they make it so a child can buckle in themselves at least? Megan doesn't even have the finger strength to get it to click. Oh well, it is much less stressful driving an old van in the snow. At this point a little fender bender wouldn't even be noticeable on the van. (And every time I ding the side mirror pulling into the garage it doesn't even make a new mark! Nope, a zebra chewed off that paint years ago on a Texas safari.)

Patrick does finally grasp the concept of cold though and was whining and crying for a long time after the walk up the hill yesterday. Maybe he will let me zip his coat and put on mittens today? He quickly latched on to the concept of beach vacation though after I tried to console him with that plan for spring break. Of course, still no concept of time so I hope he forgets instead of asking every day if we are leaving. Sean and the girls go to Florida in a few weeks and trying to keep them from talking about it is a challenge. He will be furious if he figures that one out.

Well, this has been terrifically boring, but such is life in January. Time to get Patrick to eat more than cookies for breakfast.

Cheap Birthday

Thank God for snow days because this has saved Megan from a very lame 9th birthday. I haven't planned anything, couldn't find any gifts to get her besides more kindle books (what fun to open?!), and her party isn't for a few weeks. So the girls got to sleep in a bit, which only happens when they think there is school, and then I let them go right out and play per their request. Patrick came down in basketball shorts and a football jersey, wanted me to help him with his boots. He was walking around like he was wearing high heels, guess they were a bit small. I did finally convince him to put on his snow suit but he never made it outside, so sorry, Sean, the driveway isn't going to get shoveled. Patrick is the only one with enough energy for that task. The girls came in after 20 minutes and Anna was furious, having a tantrum about how cold and wet she was. Oh, the money we will save by not taking ski trips. So now we are enjoying technology... girls with the DS, Patrick asking to play Angry Birds on the iPad (which I don't allow, who taught him this??), and I am trying to communicate with other adults via the laptop. Anna is now begging to use my laptop too, DS boring already? Only 9am and Sean is debating pretending that he is snowed in at the hospital for fear of what he will find at home. Never too early for a movie and the required popcorn. I will throw a basket attached to a rope down the driveway in case someone would like to put some organic whole milk in it for Emily. Could be a long winter.

Grocery shopping online

Lack of a sitter has compelled me to order some food online since we aren't getting out for date night and trips to the grocery store with children in tow is not very productive. The children will hate it no doubt but they can just eat bread and butter. I also made some of the croissants that Caroline sent to us from Williams Sonoma and when Anna got up this morning she asked what smelled horrible. Guess I have to eat two.

ps the UPS woman must be hating us. She carried that big box all the way up the driveway in the dark the other night.

Don't need a drink

Nope, just need to put a three year old to bed and life will improve dramatically. He is now singing, "Happy birf-birf to me and Megan". Just gearing up for Megan's birthday on Monday apparently. At least someone is... others have yet to plan a single thing, whoops. That poor baby born so close to Christmas. But back to my baby boy, he has been ridiculous today and Monday we may need to find him a daycare. It is going to be ugly when he finds out that he won't be getting any birthday presents with Megan.

Don't Delay!

I made the mistake of calling Sean instead of just texting him back when he asked what was for dinner. I was hoping that by telling him that I was cooking for real, he might come home a bit early so I could actually do that. Instead he heard the chaos, the screaming, the fighting, the annoyance in my voice. The kids are not buying into the whole TGIF thing as they are in terrible moods. Patrick is a baby today, complete with diaper. Anna is mad that Megan went on a playdate. Anna is mad that the new TV is not hooked up right (I won't out the guys who hooked it up but I am mad too). Anna is mad that she can't have popcorn because now the microwave doesn't work at all and she doesn't like the other kind. I am mad that I can't go drink wine in my room because I have places to drive tonight (and children I need to take care of I suppose). For a brief moment they are watching a movie downstairs but the fighting will start soon I'm sure. Here are photos of what I had to deal with earlier today. I feared that I would be taking Santa to school pick-up, but alas, Santa had other plans for his outfit.

Harsh Reality

I had a few minutes this morning before I had to wake the girls up so I made pumpkin muffins (box mix of course) in an effort to keep them from being too sullen before school. I wasn't nearly as loud as Anna was banging around in the bathroom but she still came downstairs and accused me of waking her up. I guess she was too groggy to understand what I meant by go back up and get dressed because when she came back a few minutes later she asked if she could get her bags ready now so she would have more time to play in the morning. Wow, you can imagine her delight to learn that it was in fact morning already. She then stomped around for a while, complaining that it was the middle of the night still.

One other reason I made the muffins was because I have no way to thaw pancakes for them. Not sure what happened to the microwave as it will pop popcorn but nothing else. It sounds and looks like it is working but it doesn't cook anything else, not even when I try to trick it by using the popcorn setting. This is harsh news for those with children, or dementia, because it makes drinking a hot cup of tea difficult. I make a pot of it when I get up and then drink it when I get time. Sometimes I can manage to drink half a cup when it is fresh but then I am constantly reheating in the microwave. At least wine is good at room temperature because it usually takes me 3 hours to finish one glass. I have to get a sitter if I want a whole glass in one sitting.

The TV guys are here this morning and I am so glad that I'm not a celebrity or reality TV pawn because it is a lot of work getting ready and getting the house cleaned up with kids thwarting my every move. Yes, these TV guys are here to HANG a TV, not get footage, but it made me laugh when Sean warned me the TV guys would be here today. Also, a little shout out to those friends who report back on the celebrities they see because word travels quickly if they leave the house with unwashed hair. So nice to be anonymous because with all the getting ready this morning, hair washing still wasn't on the agenda. Cannot trust Patrick with Emily for more than 30 seconds. I can't even trust him alone for 30 seconds and right now I am wondering what is going on in the bathroom because his new game involves a lot of toilet paper. You can imagine what my harsh reality is at clean up time...

Faux dogs and guns

I am no longer concerned about the kids begging pathetically and incessantly to get a real dog. Without even having to involve real dog messes, Anna has grown tired of her dog or at least tired of taking care of it because yesterday she was badgering Megan to do it for her. I'm not sure if this is like other animal game things where the dog will actually die if you don't play it for a while because I have other things to worry about, like toast guns. I have heard other people talk about their kids eating their toast into the shape of a gun but I figured they learned it from another boy. Patrick has no one to teach him that yet he has done that the past two mornings, complete with shooting noises obviously. Sean caught him with a silencer on his finger gun this morning, pointing it at Anna when she was verbally abusing him. He stood in the doorway and with a subtle trigger movement and a quiet "phew phew" took care of her. She was not a cheerful child this morning to say the least so maybe I am okay with the gun sometimes.

Interior Design Tip

Always have a table near every seating area to set down your drink.





(These chairs are a temporary compromise until the new furniture arrives. Now the living room is half empty. I thought I might lose my mind if I didn't have a place to sit in the hearth room any longer though. And I most certainly was going to lose my mind if I didn't have a glass of wine that night.)

Wild Times

Having no sitter on New Year's Eve tends to put a cramp in our plans so we just celebrated family style with a few other friends. Just so you don't think we are totally pathetic, check out the cake. We could barely make our way through half of it with 8 adults and 8 kids so Sean took the rest to work today. I'm sure his staff was thrilled to see that on their third day of New Year's resolutions.

Pat My Back

Yes, I just ordered the last photo book.... up to date as of 3 days ago. This is a huge, huge victory considering the fact that I was 2 years behind and have a camera obsession and have 4 kids who LOVE having their photos taken. "More pics" was one of Patrick's first commands. I had over 3500 photos to sift through just for this last year alone. I know, other people save lives or fight for justice, blah, blah, blah, but I am still feeling a rare sense of accomplishment. I have to admit that the auto fill function on kodak.com actually works now-- and works well so that is why I kept making them. I suppose I should attend to the children or clean the house now...

Dog Drama

So Anna accidentally "donated" her dog to the dog hotel, no doubt because she didn't know what the donate button meant, so she was very upset and hid her game. Megan found it under the rug and tried to figure out what was going on. So then Anna takes the rest of her money and buys another dog to replace Lucky, which means she has no money to feed or buy a brush to take care of her remaining dogs. I am making Megan go into "bark mode" (don't worry, I don't understand any of this either) to give Anna a brush and something to sell so she can feed her dogs. Seriously? I do not need these bleeping games to be stressing the kids out.

What is stressing me out is that my kitchen is littered with Cheerios and Patrick won't let me sweep them up. He is insisting that he will do it but he is easily distracted and thus has started and stopped this task about 6 times this morning. I need to sneak and do it really fast while he is upstairs interfering with bark mode. I don't dare turn on the central vac and alert him to that plan. He ALWAYS has to do the vacuuming, it's just not fair. Maybe I can do it next Tuesday while he is at CDO... If only I had a real dog who could just eat the Cheerios off the ground, although Emily does a decent job.

Concerning?

I feel that Patrick's new talent would be more socially acceptable in Texas.... he has started taking church songs and changing the lyrics to be about guns. Go shoot it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere! Just that one line, over and over and over. So charming. I did cave in and tell Santa to put the gun back on the sleigh after Patrick was "good" in church on Christmas eve. A veteran mom told me it was normal to put the gun to his baby sister's head while I was holding her, so I relaxed a little. I am more vigilant about monitoring gun use now, plus he is down to one bullet, this won't last long.

Resort Wear

Is it wrong to order sandals on January 1st when you are apparently the only one not going on a tropical vacation anytime soon? What is with all the catalogs showcasing their resort wear? Why must they taunt those with school age children and no babysitters who can last more than 3 hours? I am going to go sit by the fire and remind myself that my feet are in no shape for sandals...