Computer Addicts

The girls have increasingly become fond of the computer to the point where we were fighting over mine. Then I remembered that Sean bought yet another computer recently which brings his total to 4. Granted, one is army work, one is moonlighting work, but there are 2 others and I'm pretty sure they are for gaming and the occasional middle of the night call study. Anyway, long story short, no more Quinky or some game like that on my laptop. Now the girls just fight between each other for screen time on one of Sean's and I'm realizing that we're going to need to set some serious limits soon. Anna just told me she wants 5 hours on the computer this morning, she has only had one. Sorry, only mommy gets 5 hours! Megan did just see an email that I need to respond to (Belgium Heather) and she was shocked at how long it was. Yes, because it is like a letter, not like she does with Kira which is one liners and lots of emoticons. Actual info is being exchanged. So everyone who thinks computers are making us more socially isolated, you are using it wrong. Thankfully I have a few friends who still send real messages and they keep me sane, even if I haven't seen you in 6.5 years, Lisa! Hard to believe it has been 8 months since Paris with Heather and yes, we are planning the next one, who wouldn't?? A perk to making an effort to stay in touch with real friends.

Measuring Patrick

Patrick is so creative when it comes to making up his own games. Okay, he gets his ideas from Curious George, close enough. Lately he is into measuring everything and uses the big tape measure, banging it around the house. He asks to measure everyone which is at least better than making us step on the scale. He just measured the couch, then my "wine" which is 8. It's a hard cider, close enough. And it's 4:30, close enough to 5. After a huge tantrum in the car today and then another at home, we are certainly operating in the eastern time zone. Sean texted to let me know it has been a long day so I picked up different movies for the kids at least and bought lots of food in case we are too tired to leave all weekend. No really, we have some plans, we aren't totally lame... but close enough.

Patrick stories

By popular demand, I am trying to come up with some Patrick stories. He still hasn't outgrown his doorman stage and just yesterday I had to make the sitter go back outside in the cold so he could get dressed and then let her in. Yes, still running around in underwear, Emily in just her diaper. I don't keep it that warm in here. He will wrap a blanket around himself to play Wii, which is in the cooler sun porch, but that is his only concession to winter. He is still grumpy in the morning, must be careful how I greet him. One reason might be because he has great dreams and is disappointed to wake up not being Batman, other than in pajama form. The other night he was Batman, his hero Carson was Superman, and his gal pal Keylee was Wonder Woman. We read him a book every single night with those three characters. Megan and Anna asked who they were in the dream and he didn't know that he should make something up to make them feel better, but then again, at least he didn't say they were the "bad guys".

He has just reached the stage where he understands the differences between boys and girls, no doubt thanks to bath time with Emily. The girls never went through this stage, but I think they've figured it out now. Patrick likes to explain it to us very patiently, in case we don't know what boys have that make them boys and also, a long list of who the boys are that we know. Kind of like Adam Sandler's song where he lists famous Jews. Then on the way to school today he told me I was a liar when I explained why I wasn't turning left with oncoming traffic coming. He followed up with saying that Daddy is always right. Hmm. Just what went down at bedtime last night when I was off at a fabulous voice recital with Manhattan Heather? Daddy revenge bedtime talk? May need to have a female power seminar when I pick him up from school in a few minutes.

I'm a brat

I'm a brat, I'm a brat, I'm a brat, I'm a brat, I'm A BRAT! You can sing that to the catchy tune of "I'm a map" from Dora. So yes, I thought I would sing that part up front to acknowledge the fact that I realize I'm totally spoiled to be able to buy myself something pretty whenever Sean has a busy week with lots of moonlighting or being on call for army. Trust me, I joke about buying myself something pretty way more than I actually do it. It's just my way of getting through the days when Sean isn't around and the kids are hyper. Then I don't irrationally get annoyed with him for having to work a lot which isn't his idea of a yeehaw good time either. Now when he takes a golf or Vegas trip, this is an entirely different situation but also involves pretty presents for myself. We did have plenty of years when extra work did not result in extra pay, so I really really appreciate these days.

So look what was on sale last week! I have been checking on these babies for a long time now. Parisian style and a color that goes much better with my natural, earth tones home. The Fiestaware was better suited to a garishly painted tract home in Texas and will be much better for a beach house someday (if I'm super bratty), so I think after 10 years maybe I can pull it out of the rotation, except maybe for summer. Let me also point out that I have a card to lay down, it's the "I didn't register for wedding china" card. Even back then I knew I wanted to keep that card and not end up with some china that a 22 year old thinks is awesome. I also pull out the "didn't have a professional wedding photographer" card out every time I want to get good shots of the kids and anytime we have an event where I need to buy a dress I of course use the "I didn't buy a wedding dress" card. We did have a honeymoon though so I don't have that card but then again, who needs an excuse to travel? We had enough excuse to NOT travel for many many years, namely no money, no time, and tiny babies. Finally inching our way out of that stage, should plan something fun soon... Paris, Heather????

Not a typical Monday morning

Usually Mondays are filled with only two kids and a lot of TV while we all decompress from the chaos of the weekend. Today not only is everyone home but we have extras from a spontaneous sleepover. And while we were all in our pajamas and I was running a short order restaurant, the doorbell rings. Why it's the painter! And the door guy is on the way! And I'm in my pajamas still! Did I mention that already? Sean ended up working all night so he was still in bed, somehow sleeping through the noise. Since the door is being replaced in his office, he couldn't sleep over there. Nice to know the alarm works though and I even answered a call from 800 service, which was the alarm people letting me know that something was up with that door. Yes, the door is gone, thank you for paying attention! Well, I somehow need to motivate the children to get their stuff together before their parents show up and are horrified by the state of this house.

Please note the extra exclamation points. They are due to how much caffeine I am having this morning. Emily decided to sleepover in my bed while Sean was working and she is a kicker. Yay!

Winter??

We had a couple cold days and a dusting of snow but back to 60s today (the retirees always want to know how our weather is, so there you go). So nice to send the kids outside to play or take them to the park but I also enjoy the excuse to be lazy when it's cold. So much guilt if it's a nice day and we don't take advantage. So while I appreciate the mild winter thus far, I am ready for a solid week of lounging around the house. I also need an excuse to break into the Williams Sonoma salted caramel hot chocolate with fancy marshmallows. It's so rich that it makes me sick, so I am unable to chase or yell at children afterwards, which does not work for a park outing.

The mild winter has been good for the littles and their love of not wearing clothing. They play some game that they call "bites" where they strip down to their diaper or underwear and then throw their arms in the air and yell "bites" and laugh. Clearly it's an inside joke. Patrick does bite on occasion but Emily's mode of attack is hair pulling still. She got a good hunk of Anna's hair today and Anna didn't even hit back. I think because she was on her way to her first penance service with her class and she had her confession list all memorized, didn't want to add anything to it.

Well, clearly this is a lame time of year and I have nothing interesting to post. I will work harder on getting some good Patrick stories next week. He was so tired tonight that he barely tolerated his bedtime routine and then pushed Sean out the door as soon as the story was over, no time for small talk. Props to the sitter for wearing him out! Didn't dare take the littles to the penance service, so they got to enjoy the nice weather.

Busy busy

Against my better planning we have ended up being really busy this week. Fun stuff, but you know it still cuts into my lazy around the house time. I have been cooking things from pinterest, so right there it has already beaten facebook for usefulness. Of course then I am making a total mess of the kitchen and neglecting the children for hours as I chop things up and cook them and then clean up. Might be more worth it if the children liked the food I made but the adults are happy, so there you go. Leftovers for a week now.

I will post photos of Megan's low key 10th birthday later. Decided to skip the big party with friends as there is drama between various friends and we don't need that. Sean did think of a few gifts that she really wanted and didn't get for Christmas, so that made her very happy. No, not a computer or cell phone, Harry Potter stuff.

In other news, I saw a license plate with JESUS on it the other day. What does Jesus drive? A Kia. Who would have guessed? I won't reveal which church JESUS was driving to...

Leftover night!

Due to laziness, I haven't been going to the grocery store as often as I should. Today Sean ended up working all afternoon so that didn't help either. So once again, I made a questionable meal, finishing up random stuff we had in the fridge and pantry. It really helps when some of the leftovers include half a bottle of wine and a lonely hard cider. So much for being inspired by recipes on pinterest... someday, someday.

Pinterest Hunger

Now that we're 5 days into the new year I am seeing a lot fewer diet tips and exercise motivation quotes and a lot more recipes that look amazing. Apparently when you are trying to lose the holiday weight all you can do is think about food. I am lacking the motivation to go to the store to buy the ingredients for these recipes though so my diet plan (pure laziness) is working.

Curious George?

Actual quote from the episode of Curious George that is getting us through lunch today:

"George and Jumpy played nut hockey until the sun went down. It was a good day."

I feel that I need to rewind and get a closer look at what the children are watching these days.