I'm going to pass

A friend gave me her travel magazine that has Paris tips in it. On the cover it also highlights that I could "Win! Win! Win! Free Egypt Trip". Umm, I'm going to pass on entering that one for now... Nope, couldn't even pay me to go there. i think I might avoid Libya too.

I can't make up stuff this good

Sean missed some drama at the hospital during his days off this week. In one department someone got into a fight with their boss about how some posters were displayed. Shoving resulted, then the MPs were called, then the MPs were shoved, batons brought out, people escorted from the building. They both returned later in the day for some reason and then it escalated to a fist fight. Do tell, what kind of posters were these? Well, again, I can't make this stuff up.... they were posters about preventing violence in the workplace. You're welcome.

4443

The children are well documented, to say the least. I just got an email that photoworks is closing and I need to transfer my 4443 photos to Shutterfly. The worst part is that is only 5 years worth of photos because I haven't used photoworks in several years. Rest assured though that I didn't put 4443 photos into obsessively detailed scrapbooks. Can't fathom having that much free time...

Booked

Yes, I did it, booked my ticket to go see Belgium Heather! 4 days in Paris, a few days at her chateau (for real) in Belgium... a slight upgrade over our previous trips together: Portland, Seattle, and let's not forget a brief overlap at Disney. Also a slight upgrade over my previous international travel experiences... taking the shortcut from Detroit to Buffalo and a day trip to Tijuana! Clearly, this is long overdue and quite unlike me. I haven't left Manhattan proper since early December, people, unless you count that one trip out to Ft Riley a few weeks ago. I get very anxious when I leave the children for any sort of travel and I just figured out that it's not going to go away for a long, long time so I just need to get over it. I could pay a therapist to help me through this but I'd rather take that money to Paris for some retail therapy. Can I get a shopping high five? (thanks Heather!)

Rough night

At some point between 2am when Sean went to work and 6:30am when I got up, Patrick came downstairs, turned on all the lights, found a bag of goldfish crackers, took them to his room, took off his pajamas and ate the whole bag. Then he slept until 9am which was very unusual and a bit annoying as his "school" started at 9:15. So we were a bit late today and he missed out on some running around the classroom. Glad to know other boys are the same way with the nonstop running inside. Better weather needs to start like, yesterday, because we must move this show outside. Anna got some pedometer thing and she has also been bouncing around inside trying to get her step count up. She is a loud bouncer, much like her counterpart of the older generation... Bridget. Sean gets that deja vu feeling a lot with the girls, so much like his sisters growing up.

Who could resist?

I just got an offer from Saks on email and if I spend $3000 I will get a $350 gift card. Why, I am practically losing money by not shopping! $3000 sounds totally ridiculous but if I got everyone in our family one outfit from Saks it would be about that much, yikes. Good thing there isn't one in town...

Eight is Enough

Actually, seven is enough, especially when they are all 9 and under. Andrea and I never overlapped pregnancies so in theory these 7 kids could all be siblings. Oh the horror. Oh the dishes. Oh the laundry. The boys had a great time together with their Buzz Lightyear obsessions and the girls fought over holding new baby Ellie. Andrea and I haven't seen each other in 2.5 years but thankfully we talk all the time on the phone so it's not like we had to use this visit to catch up. Ha ha, who has time for adult conversation when you are running a short order restaurant and juggling babies? Sean had two very rare day shifts and since this visit was planned at the last minute I know he wasn't faking them. They have been written on the calendar for weeks now. Kudos to Ryan for not running away to the man cave. And kudos to all the adults as none of the children ran away either! Ah, door chimes, how we love thee.

Ellie and crew

Some shots for Grandma Marjie. Ellie was the star this weekend for sure, although I did manage a few shots of Miss Julia and a hilarious group shot. Yes, Patrick wore his tiger pajamas all day today and then put his Superman costume (or as Seinfeld calls it, Superman's pajamas) on over it. Super attractive.

Vintage Park

We checked out a new park this week which was empty and rather close to us, although I suppose it may have only been empty because it was no longer 80 degrees out. Don't let Patrick's shirt fool you, I was in a winter coat. The scary old teeter-totters were quite a hit and when we came back the next day I had to be Patrick's partner on it. He is pretty solid but still, only 3 years old so the balance was a bit off. To get him to the ground I had to jump up. Are you getting a visual? I assure you, it's even worse than that. Thankfully the park was also empty the second time we went, so no one taped that to put on youtube. My legs are still sore because of course he wouldn't let me stop. Just look at this face.


Then the kids found this cement thing in a tree stump and thought it was the funniest thing ever. Not sure what it says exactly other than "Julie loves"... is it Dumb David? That's what the kids think. Clearly it should say George Clooney. Err, I mean, Sean.

Mutant

Megan was delighted by this mutant strawberry. Yes, this is all one berry. Surely no chemicals were involved in this, eat up kids!

More than shoes

Along with shoes I received some clothing for my niece Ellie to shop from... and some for Emily... and some for our dear old babysitter who now has a 28 month old, a 14 month old and a newborn.... and hey, if anyone else wants to stop by, plenty for everyone. I have never seen so many bins of perfectly folded and organized clothing. Did I mentioned that each bin is labeled? Of course someone that organized has her own label maker. I am so tired thinking about how much work went into this...

Shut up, magazines

As some of you know, I get a lot of house "porn" magazines.... full of gorgeous, perfectly clean and staged homes which I actually find inspiring and at times you will find one room in my house perfectly clean as a result of this. Anyway, I have somehow ended up getting Sunset which has some homes but also has food and travel and a guilt section. An actual teaser on the cover is "Simple pleasures: grow your own herbal teas". Shut up. Isn't it enough that I BREW my own tea. Most people don't even make their own tea or else they use some powdered instant stuff which I don't think counts (and also don't think it tastes anything like tea). So the fact that I am brewing tea from loose tea leaves in my fancy pot is enough of an accomplishment for me.

Yes, I am coming up with a list of accomplishments to rattle off at the college reunion this summer... Many many thanks to my dear friend and inspiration Carrie, of the Krauts and Stouts blog, who went to her reunion last summer and pointed out that all anyone cares about is who got fat. So I will lay off the caramel cake (any takers in town??) and use this as an excuse to get some new clothes without stains on them. And get back to work on my list.... oh, oh, I also make my own bread. In a bread machine!! Whoo-hoo! I should also go get one room perfectly clean before Andrea, Ryan, Charlie, Julia and new Ellie arrive...

Beyond Comprehension

As Gloria on Modern Family said, "Jay, you make good money, why aren't ALL your underwear good?" Well, sometimes I am just too cheap to buy new shoes for a child who outgrows them constantly. She also crawled much longer than I thought she would, only recently switching to half walk, half crawl. Well, thanks to a dear friend who is ready to unload her stash of girl clothes and shoes, Emily is one happy girl. She can't believe the selection she has to choose from! Sparkly and pink are the favorite right now and she took them to bed with her the first night.

Didn't think we'd get to use this...

It was so cold yesterday that Emily actually wore this hat to the park and kept it on for a while. Why yes, I did move the snow shovel to the garage storage area. I figured since it was so hot the kids begged to come inside the other day that it would be a safe move. Har har. Andrea and family arrive tomorrow to pick up the van and we are supposed to get 4 inches of snow. I hope the van makes it down the driveway! Maybe I will go move it now...

Caged

I'm sure everyone is so anxious to hear how our exciting spring break is going so I will post a real update tomorrow. Until then, here is a shot that shows how we are all feeling a bit like caged animals since winter is back. Don't feed him, he's in the good living room.

Apology accepted

Patrick just noticed my stretch marks and asked what they were. I explained it was from when he stretched my belly out and asked if he wanted to say sorry. He did. But is he really sorry that I won't embarrass him in a bikini at the pool? Those days are long over. Now who to blame for the deflated top? Oh, the money I save by not needing a sports bra! Thanks kids!

Sugar Crash?

Perhaps my extreme grumpiness is actually just a series of sugar crashes. I may need an intervention here as there is almost an entire caramel cake left and it is far too easy to access. Maybe I should store it at someone else's house. Or give it away for real? Certainly not send it to work with Sean, let's not be ridiculous here.

Emily is also crabby and refusing to fall asleep tonight but her complaint is that her blanket is no longer stinky because I washed it. She still doesn't talk but is very good at communicating. Today when I tried to take her out of the swing to go home from the park she hit my hands away. I am wondering if she should know more words by now but then I listen to Patrick and his very specific demands. It is just a matter of time and another boss will be up and running the show, no rush.

Patrick keeps tweaking his bedtime routine. A few months ago he started refusing the goodnight kiss. He would protest and wipe it off, also would wipe off the blessing at church, in a very dramatic manner of course. Well, bedtime now goes like this... he lets us read him a story which either includes holding his finger while he counts things in the book or letting him say most the words (depends on the book). Then there are no kisses, no hugs, no tucking in, no turning off the light.... no, he pushes us out his door and down the hallway. Then he shuts his door and puts himself in bed. Also, there is no saying good night or I love you. He will yell at us, "don't say that!". At least it is efficient...

Emily requires no routine, she is just sick of everyone by 7pm and she lets us just lay her down in the crib with stinky blanket and we leave. Except tonight she has been complaining for a good hour about how she is not happy about the lack of stink. I tried Tylenol for the nonstop teething and she spit it out.

I just put my elbow in a puddle of syrup FROM THIS MORNING, so I think I need some sugar rush so I can get this pit cleaned up. Then I can at least have the sugar crash in bed before we start all over in the morning. We lost power last night so we didn't watch the K-State game. Now I am really hoping the power goes out soon because there is a lot of yelling about how ND is doing... maybe someone needs a piece of cake down there.

Coal Mine Update

I managed to find a breakfast that all 4 children will eat. Anna has the most sensitive palate and refuses to eat pancakes, french toast, muffins, eggs and no longer likes the butter I use so the standard bread and butter is no longer an option. She will however eat homemade waffles that require a lot of time and oil. And I have to make an A with whipped cream. I made a circle this morning and paid the price. Never mind, I just found Emily's waffle on the floor, guess she no longer approves. I may need to upgrade from the green tea if I am going to survive this shift. You will notice that the person from whom the pickiness originates is never around for breakfast duty. Good luck when I'm in Paris...

Another Exciting Spring Break!

We did intend to take a real vacation this year but a long list of boring reasons put an end to that. So in addition to endless iCarly the girls are enjoying the Harry Potter legos that we let them "earn". They got up at 6AM yesterday and tried to go up to my loft to play with them, but this involves lighting up my whole room, so no, that didn't happen. Megan couldn't figure out why she was so tired early last night, hmm, 6AM does that to you, I can vouch for that. So far they have played about 10 hours without fighting so that was well worth the money. However, I am hearing some screams now... which will end when I threaten to put Harry himself in timeout. Oh, beloved Harry, he fits in my pocket...

Sean must have also bought himself a new toy the other night because he got up early to go to his office for some video games. I am allowed to text him if I need help over here. (What sort of face am I making right now?)

I am hoping to get all of us out of the house at some point today for sanity but if the rain starts we aren't going to the parade. It is traditionally the lamest parade ever and we always talk about how we need to enter something the next year, but then we forget. Maybe I can get the 4 Notre Dame Club members in Manhattan to join us next year. If we hand out some good candy maybe people wouldn't hate us so much. Okay, that might only work for small children but it's a start. Even our priest here refuses to utter a single word about ND (or any other Catholic college), which having gone to many churches across the country is quite unusual. And don't say this is because we are in a city with a university because I grew up in a college town and I heard plenty about ND growing up. It is a shame that our children are not being taught the value of a religious college experience and in fact, my girls are self conscious about wearing ND t-shirts and are afraid they will be made fun of. We are mostly afraid they won't be able to get in when the time comes. We are taking them all to the reunion this summer, let the indoctrination begin. And thus ends my crabby rant for the day.

Irish Pride

Recovering from a great St. Patrick's Day and gearing up for the big choke from ND b-ball team today, per tradition. Thought the rest of the Keenans would like to see the shirts we wore yesterday. Something they have always known of course.

Irish Skin

What better what to celebrate St. Patrick's day than with some super pasty white legs? 79 on Thursday. Watch out lads, it's going to be blinding when we break out the shorts.

Doing something extra for Lent

Old school Catholic is giving up something for Lent, current teaching is to do something extra, like something to help others I suppose. I am helping Caroline's Cakes by giving them extra business. A small piece every day for getting through this extra long month.... the kids keep asking why we don't have any desserts in the house, ha ha, it's because I do have my own and forget to make anything for them. Not sharing, that's for sure. In all seriousness, I am doing something extra by going to bed early so I am not so crabby with the kids. After my piece of cake...

Patrick exercise

Patrick demands that I remove the tray to the highchair so he can do his exercise every day. Whatever, it wears him out. And yes, he only likes to wear backwards underwear these days. I'm just happy he seems to have somehow gotten potty trained.

It's Back!

A shot from this morning, enjoying Daylight Savings Time.... yes, by March we figured out that we need to move the car down the driveway the night before. But that does require some work from the girls to clean it off. Wondering how much they charged Sean for that.

I heart snow

When it was 70 the other day and I was thinking about planting flowers, part of me was so sad that winter was over. Oh, how I love snow and freezing temps and lying with sarcasm. If we have a snow day tomorrow, God help us all. The girls will sob with joy that they have more time for dear, dear iCarly. Even with the time change they are plotting to wake up even earlier tomorrow to squeeze in an episode before school. This is the equivalent to getting up at 5:15am just to watch one episode. I doubt it will happen or if it does, I will probably be unaware of it until I've had a pot of tea. This has been a horrible and extra long week and I am ready for a new start.

The good news last week was that Caroline and Andy had their baby, Sienna Noelle, on Thursday! I hadn't posted anything earlier because I was hoping to have a picture to share, hint, hint. When our other niece was born a few weeks ago, Ryan had pictures posted on facebook very early on. Just saying Andy, maybe it is time to cave in and sign up for the addiction. Everybody's doing it. Sean even does a status update once a year at the start of football season. Maybe he will say something about the basketball team being a #2 seed! I'm thinking upset in the first round, if anyone needs help filling out their bracket...

$30 to fold laundry

The girls have their sights set on yet another unnecessary toy, this time it's some Harry Potter lego set that is $80. They spread coins all over my floor and somehow counted up $50 and then asked what they could do to earn $30. Megan of course is reminding me of things she did in the past that she would now like to bill me for. I suggested that they could start with folding laundry, which I did teach them how to do at one point, but they blocked that out. I bartered them down to $5 if they also put their own stuff away when they were done.

Well, a laundry fight ensued and now there is stuff half folded and thrown about my room and there was also a bit of yelling that somehow didn't wake up Emily. I need to go clean it all up and fine them $5. They helpfully also left the coins all over the floor so that will be easy. Sean had an even bigger mess to clean up at the hospital so we are all having an awesome day.

Caved

Earlier this week Megan was having a pity party about how everyone at school talks about shows that she doesn't get to watch. I never specifically said no iCarly, I just figured that they already watched plenty of TV, why work in a new show? So, to keep social suicide at bay I started recording iCarly for the girls. There must be a channel that only shows iCarly because I think there are 10 new episodes on the queue every day. Anna laughs hysterically while watching, taking care to explain what is so funny or what she thinks might happen next. It's like a laugh track for the clueless (or the 3 year old). There was a point today where all six of us were watching it. In my defense, I was doing Megan's hair so I was trapped. This was not a proud family moment, no photos were taken.

Thankfully we were able to spend some time outside today also, trying to reverse the brain rot. Definitely need to wean them off and better weather will help that. I attempted to tame the back room in the garage, at least combining our junk with the junk that was left behind. Oh, the paint cans I have collected.... I think it is time to dry them out and toss them, before the kids find them and make art on the driveway. There is also a curious collection of boards and stuff left behind by previous owners. We couldn't be less handy if we tried, so I guess those will remain for the people who buy the house after us. Treasures! I also found some ice melt left behind, which would have been super handy when I ran out during the last ice storm and couldn't find any to buy. If I had found a snow blower I would have been really pissed. I have tons of flower pots now and was starting to think about filling them when I remembered that it is still March. Plenty of time for winter to return. Buying flowers would make it come back with a vengeance. But at least I have the ice melt now!

Healthy Ones

Today is Anna barf festival so I did not get any shots of her. Megan enjoyed lunch out with just me and then she got a long overdue haircut. Patrick also got his cut but I'm afraid to trim up Emily and have her look like a boy. It has been a random week with nothing going as planned. I tried to give up laundry and dishes for Lent, but somehow I am doing double it seems. I hate the hearth room now, it's like my own personal coal mine. Nothing but work... cooking, cleaning, sweeping, clutter management, butt wiping (Patrick's bathroom is right there), and bread detail. Sometimes there are a few fleeting moments in the morning when it is still clean and it is quiet. And then Patrick arrives on the scene... and The Cat and the Hat. To the thingamajigger!

We pay the phone bill

On the off chance that anyone tried to call us in the past week and got the message that our phone was disconnected, sorry. Huge bleeping mess that we didn't even realize for a few days, but it is finally fixed now. At one point we had one number for the office and 2 other numbers for the house, none of which were the number that we have used for 4.5 years. Of course the school had to call about a sick child during all that and then my cell phone wasn't responding either. I eventually got a call and a bunch of voice mails at the same time. Lovely. Good news is that the internet kept working the whole time...

Back to Reality

Emily is pulling on her ear and fussy, Patrick refused to stay at school today. I have so much laundry to fold that it's frightening. How is there still clothes left in the closets? The rain is picking up so I guess I am not that sad to skip picking Patrick up at school after lunch. The girls can come find me in the car when they get out. I am making them more independent? And I love my heated seats and xm radio. There is a BBC radio 1 station that I could just listen to all day. Who cares what they talk about between songs, just love the accent. Like Jude Law is sitting next to me. What was that about back to reality?

Here is a photo for my Dad... how many turkeys are here? At first I thought there were about 5 and then it was like an invasion... this doesn't even show half of them. Total was closer to 50. Delicious.

Cruising

I had no idea the lighting was perfect on the bus, otherwise I would have taken more on there. These are my favorite two shots from the night, love the candids.

Real Housewives of Manhattan

Some of my favorite masked (and unmasked) ladies. I didn't know about half the people there last night, hoping a few more I know can make it next year! And yes, we always look like this... especially the morning after, ha!

Krewe of Allegawaho 2011

Best way to celebrate Mardi Gras when you have four kids and can't get to New Orleans. (Err, once was enough in New Orleans though, 17 years ago, yikes.) Anyway, a great krewe and the decorations were unbelievable, props to that committee. All I did was order some hurricane mix and load up on the Pellegrino for those of us on the downward slope of sore throat crud. Same band as last year, which started off with a questionable Phil Collins song, but got much better. The ladies of the krewe also did a surprise flash mob type dance to kick it off. Some technical difficulties but thanks to the hurricanes I don't think many people noticed. As Sean said afterwards, you cheated on me in the worst possible way... with choreography. (a la Cam on Modern Family). I think he was beginning to wonder how many krewe meetings I had to go to, a lot of rehearsals.

As for the attire, I haven't left town in 3 months so I had to order a dress online. Didn't realize the blue would clash so badly with the rest of the krewe and decorations (Red Light District was the theme), but it's the same designer as the dress from last year so I knew it would fit, desperate times here. Then I had some Texas style hair which was fun to drive around town with in my jeans all afternoon, like a true Texas gal. I channeled that later in the evening when I killed a cockroach in the bathroom with my heels. So classy, Texas instincts just kicked in there. Now I do hate wearing masks and this one was always crooked so it didn't stay on that long. Sean hated his just as much. Maybe I will order some more stylish ones for next year. And hopefully my ears will stop ringing long before that.

Denial and Tyrants

I know, sounds like Libya, but that also sums up my week. I think I am indeed sick but am holding out hope that it's just allergies and another day of my meds will clear it up. I just don't want to be wiping my nose all night at the Mardi Gras ball, gets tricky with the mask. As for the tyrants, the sick littles have been incredibly demanding all week. No idea what Emily wants most the time, so she ends up being held all day just to keep the screaming down. Patrick knows what he wants but will only point to it and get angry when I can't figure it out. In the middle of the night even he doesn't know what he wants but I know that I want to keep him from waking up the rest of the family. In summary, it has been an exhausting week. I should go to bed now so I can rally for tomorrow. Sean has had an even longer week though and he is just now getting up from a nap. Tag team!

Camera wins

Emily is now entering snotty grumpy mess stage and was sitting rather pathetically on the couch this morning when I tried to take her picture. She immediately perked up and was all smiley. I need to just keep the camera out to help us through the day. Patrick is mostly better, lots of running laps and jumping on furniture as Buzz Lightyear, but I kept him home from school since he is probably still coated in germs.