Let's get it started

It was very fitting that after we left Sean at the airport the first song on the radio was Let's Get It Started by the Black Eyed Peas. Yes, so ready to start the count down and get it over. The kids did fine yesterday, spent hours at the park to wear them out and then Kitra and her girls stopped by for drinks and screaming (my girls, not hers) so everyone stayed up late and went to bed too tired for tears. No one has mentioned Daddy today (sorry Sean), so the TV and computer are great distractions. Of course many weekends Sean is working and sleeping much of the time so day to day life isn't much different other than me letting them do whatever they want all day. Don't worry, by the end I will be mega strict so they won't associate the return of Sean with the return of TV limits.

I am keeping busy with all sorts of cleaning and projects that normal people do on a regular basis. Just one of those days where I look around and realize that we've lived here almost 18 months and certain things have never been done. I won't reveal what exactly as I'd like people to stop by and drink with me. I did make a crock pot dinner at least, mostly because I didn't want to bother with getting everyone in the car to get take-out. I also forgot to do a real grocery run before Sean left and thus we are trying to make it until Monday afternoon without milk. Of course I can get milk at Wendy's which will be their choice after church tomorrow I'm sure. What else can I buy there?? Bread flour??

Almost Irish goodbye

We decided to have the girls go to school today as normal and that seemed to work well. Of course I may get a call to pick them up later, although I did not tell them this was an option. They just did a quick goodbye to Sean and then I drove them to school and we discussed the fun stuff planned and bribes they can earn, starting with a Jedi membership to some gaming website that they are obsessed with. I told them we can just have a lazy weekend or we can go someplace and Megan seems pretty gung ho on going to KC to the American Girl Doll store. Perhaps I will just offer to pay the shipping off the website and order them the stuff they want. Cheaper than gas for sure. We'll see what kind of mood we are in.

The rest of us will take Sean to the airport later this morning where Emily says she will "kiss Daddy". I told her this a few days ago, didn't think she would remember. I don't know how much she understands, probably will take a while to sink in for the littles. Again, it's a good thing these kids are so easily bribable, that will distract them. I would feel guiltier about us back here doing fun stuff while Sean is gone but at least he is going someplace decent and not to a canvas tent with 7 other guys and no a/c in Afghanistan. That's one thing army is good for... having so many crappy options that you know it could always be worse. We are just ready to start the count down and get this over with.

Tuesday randoms

Emily has to point out "more purple trees" every time we drive past one. At least she is talking a little now, just need a few more words, although I don't think I need a summer full of "more green trees". I am assuming that summer is coming though and have switched out the girls' winter wardrobes for their summer stuff. Always a good idea to review how little of their stuff actually gets worn before I go buy new stuff. I am being thrifty and even cut off some of their jeans with holes so now they have shorts. Not all of them though, I realize we could still get snow.

I just loaded Downton Abbey and Mad Men onto netflix and bumped them up ahead of all the crap on that queue that I've been avoiding for years now. Never a good day when some documentary that I read about 4 years ago shows up in the mail, ugh. So we'll see if I end up with time to watch stuff while Sean is gone, otherwise I will put netflix on hold and use that money for an extra hour of babysitter. Or extra bottle of wine. The collection has been hit hard lately as Sean prepares for 6 months of beer only. As Emily often says, "blah".

Cram and Done

Sean leaves on Friday so we have been trying to cram in all the fun and eating we can before then. Also cramming in as many moonlighting shifts as possible to pay for upcoming emergencies. Nana and Pops arrived on Tuesday and they got their fill of the kids by the time they left on Saturday morning. Sean and I went to the Plaza for Thursday and Friday, so that was two full days of quality time away from them. Nana and Pops took the kids to Kansas City too which was pretty brave, to the Hallmark center, something with hands on art projects I guess. And then to the restaurant with the trains that deliver the food, Fitz's?

We much preferred the food delivered by waiters at Blanc Burgers and Bottles, the Cheesecake Factory, and Gram and Dun, which is a new gastro pub that we highly recommend. All I have to say is that I hope Lisa is right about how she loses weight whenever her husband is deployed because that's what I'm counting on! I am also counting on dragging the kids to the Plaza a few times though so I can get take out from those restaurants. After six years I finally feel that I can get to and from the Plaza without a navigator. I realize that is ridiculous that it took so long but we usually only go a couple times a year and trying to find the right ramp onto the expresswayt to leave is a challenge to say the least. But now I can do it! Unless there is construction to screw it all up...

Anyway, the kids are done with spring break now and not at all happy about it. Just waiting until next weekend when Sean leaves, then the drama will really start I suspect. They are already deep into the bribes and after a week of rain they are deep into the TV zone. It did stop raining long enough for them to go to the buffalo farm, another thing that Nana found for them to do. I have all the photos from this stuff, just posting random ones here. You can at least see Megan's new glasses in them. She isn't too upset to have to wear them, especially since Kira wears fake ones just for fun. Anna wants them now too. May need to put some fake ones for her in the bribe box...

Aunt Bridget Visits!

We had perfect weather for St. Patrick's Day when Bridget flew in for a quick visit before Sean heads off to Africa. We grabbed lunch at Blue Stem and then had a great view for the parade which seemed really long this year, guess no one skipped out due to bad weather as must happen other years.

We had plenty of time outside at the park and then at home. Sometimes we left the kids inside watching TV so we could enjoy the quiet outside. I'm sure the neighbors appreciated that. The kids are so loud, so much fighting.... No doubt Bridget is enjoying peace and quiet in her apartment tonight.

Downside to hot weather for St Patrick's Day parade

Green bikini bottoms...

skimpy Irish belly dancing costumes...

More worries for the kids

We were driving home from the park today and had to stop near the stadium because there was a big dog fight going on in the street and of course I didn't want to run any over. I just put it in park and put the windows up as fast as we could. Some poor little dog was being attacked by four big scary dogs (rottweilers we think?), so the little dog at least was safe under my car while the four big dogs were going crazy banging into the car and trying to get under there too. Meanwhile people were screaming and trying to pull the big dogs away, kicking them, whatever they could so they could rescue the little dog.

Looked like two of the dogs who had big collars on had escaped from a nearby yard because their owner came running out covered in soap from his shower to pull one off and take him away. The other two had no collars, lots of people standing around, not sure what the story was there, where those ones came from. They were just going after the little dog, which did not fare well I'm afraid, and the kids are so traumatized by it. I was glad to see that the dogs didn't attack any of the people of course, especially since there was a stroller with a baby in it right there on the sidewalk. Cops were driving up as the dogs left my car so we left and didn't see the ending other than the little dog in his owner's arms, lots of screaming and crying and swearing. Aunt Bridget is visiting and is always on alert for dogs when we run so I'm afraid she is traumatized too. This happened on my usual running route, may have to pick up some pepper spray or something. Not sure that would help though. Pretty sure this will put off the kids' campaign to get a dog for a while....

Ready for the pool!

80s this week so everyone is confused as to why the pool isn't open yet. Spring break, summer break, what's the difference? 81 is "hot" to Anna, but 72 is "cold", so this week has been pretty tough on her. Small window that makes her happy and I'm sure we won't see it at all in June, July or August. I gave in and let her play in the sprinkler at least and somehow I ended up washing 5 beach towels as a result. Because I do not have enough laundry?

Big time bribery

TV and bribery will help me survive the deployment and we have started the bribery part at least, complete with complicated point charts and prizes that they can redeem points for. Today I got the junk food portion of this plan. It is helping to motivate everyone so far, even got Patrick in the car in less than 10 minutes today. Huge victory. I could be taking him to Disney World and he would still not get in the car without yelling, threatening, and pretending to leave without him... One of my least favorite parts of the day is having to take him someplace. Worth every penny when I can use a sitter to avoid some of that.

Definitely two now

Emily is getting more difficult these days, no longer the sweet baby I could take anywhere with me or let play around the house without worry. Nope, that's over. It is ON. I found her getting into Megan's wallet the other day and she screamed so much when I tried to take it away that I let her hang on to it, hoping she would get tired of it. Instead she just went to another hiding place...

TV addicts

I caught the girls sneaking down the stairs at 5am this morning. Yes, their bodies think it's 4am since we just changed the clocks, but they were desperate for their TV. I sent them back to bed for another hour so their teachers wouldn't hate me. They keep finding more and more shows aimed at their age group and I try to keep them from watching those with the littles (and me) around. Guess this was their solution...

Kids are fine

Well, they are fine for now. We'll see how the actual good bye works out. They are at the perfect age for bribing and TV distraction at least. Sean is off for the next two weeks so they should all get some fun time with him. An hour less today but it's raining so all that means is one less hour of TV. I have already started in with making them do more around here, like make their own food when they request it during the hours that the kitchen is closed. Anna was not pleased by this rule but as soon as the bribe box is revealed I think it will click for her. I am going to wrap up all the crap kid food that I hate and let them cash in points for it. They can also earn things that I would normally just buy them, like new bathing suits. Kind of cruel but moonlighting funds are going away so we need to cut back. I mean, I'm still going to buy the good orange juice but probably not the endless supply of go-gurts that they demand. Did I already mention that I'm so glad I stocked up on wine back during the big wine sale in October?

Broke the news

Sean told the girls tonight that he is "taking a trip for work". Megan ran sobbing from the room after that one sentence. Anna just started in with her random questions, like can you bring me back leaves from Africa for my fairy house? We coaxed Megan back downstairs to explain to her that it's not that bad and other people go for much longer to places that aren't as safe. Then I told them about all the fun stuff that we'll do to keep busy when Sean is gone and they seem okay with it, Anna more so than Megan, as expected. We don't know how much Patrick will understand and we didn't want him around when we told the girls since we didn't want them to scare him with their crying. Emily won't really understand probably ever.

Emily didn't have a good night either as she fell off the counter stool and split her lip open. Sean took her to a friend's house for an evaluation (easier than him meeting us at the ER) and she ended up with dermabond instead of stitches at least. She is unable to suck on her blankie though and thus can't go to sleep. Could be a long night for all. I have been wanting to wean her off the blankie anyway... may be a good time to start. I don't even want to think about how many ER visits we will have when Sean is gone or how long it will take without Sean to speed the process along. Painful evening all around.

Crashed out

Emily plays musical beds these days. Usually she gets in with Megan but the other night Megan sent her on her way to Patrick's bed instead. She had done that once before and Patrick had a total freak out tantrum when he woke up and found her there, just hysterical while she slept peacefully through it all. So when I found her like this the other night I had to remove her before he woke up and repeated that scene. After photos of course...

Picking up crap

Anna tried to play sick today, on probably my last day for at least 6 months with no one else in the house. Oh hell no. The girls have been setting their alarm for 6am (Anna wants 4am but Megan knows better) so they can get up and watch their precious TV before school. This used to be my time to catch up on emails and drink tea. Listening to the Wizards of Waverly Place really ruins that moment so I am getting crabbier and crabbier. I used my time today to actually clean without someone making a mess elsewhere in the house. Yesterday while I was cleaning the kitchen, the littles threw diapers and plastic bags all over the girls' room. Even when I leave them with Dora the Babysitter, they make a mess in that area while I clean elsewhere.

Last night Patrick apparently had some issues and even though he was only in his underwear he still couldn't make it on the toilet and left a pile for us to clean up. Yes, we literally clean up crap around here. I asked Sean to do it since I was cooking dinner and then he mentioned that I am really going to miss him. I was just making sure he wouldn't miss us!

Now I will spend the rest of the day trying to keep the house from falling apart since the kids are home. And then I will trash the kitchen baking for everyone else's grandparents at school tomorrow. We felt it was more important to get the grandparents to come in for the First Communion instead. I think as long as they get a cookie at school and get to come home early it's still a good day for them.

Pinterest kind of day

Finally tried a few pinterest ideas. In general I am not impressed with the recipes and there are much better ways to find those. A non-professional cooking blog is not always to be trusted (except for Megan Stephen's which is on my sidebar there). Back to Barefoot Contessa cookbooks to say the least. I did try a few cleaning tips today with varying success. Yes, the Bar Keepers Friend works to get those gray marks off your light colored plates. I always thought those were scratches through the finish but no, you can remove them and that actually did work. Fiestaware looks like new.

I then tried the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda paste to clean my nasty cookie sheets. Kind of worked. You know what works better? New cookie sheets. And then put tin foil over them and never wash them again. Oh, bad for the environment? Hmm. My recycling man says I am even then since he suspects that our excessive recycling bins actually belong to our entire cul de sac and we are being cheap and just paying one pick up fee. Nope, all ours. I am too cheap to buy new cookie sheets though, so no worries. Who cares what they look like? I don't have them out on display. Oh I also got the shower curtain rings to put on hangers to separate my kind of impressive/disturbing number of scarves. Grand total for the 3 projects, $4.68. Facebook never inspired me like this or so cheaply. Facebook makes you want to go put a luxurious vacation on your credit card and/or get plastic surgery. I either need to wean myself off Facebook entirely or hide a few more people who post obnoxious things.

Team Umi Zoomi!!

I was getting ready this morning and I heard Patrick shout out, "Team Umi Zoomi!" which is a show and iPad game he loves. I expected him to come running into my room so I could turn it on immediately but he never showed up. So I went to his room and his door was open which means he got up and opened it at some point but then I looked at his bed. He was still totally passed out. Can't wait to hear all about his dream when he wakes up. He still talks about his dream where a dragon ate a bowling ball.

Emily is still passed out too, after a long night of kicking many family members. First she invaded Megan's bed and kept her awake for a while. Then Megan brought her to my room with a very sour look on her face so I let Emily into my bed. She kicked me for an hour but must have left Sean alone because he didn't even realize she was in our bed. I finally moved her back to the crib mattress and threatened to take away blankie if she got up again. She nodded very seriously when I asked her if she understood. Still no sign of her, success!

They should both be exhausted because they had "school" from 9-12:45 yesterday and then I took them to the park until we picked up the girls at 2:45. And then we all went to the park when Sean got home at 5 for another hour since it was so nice out. The girls had been begging to ride their bikes so we went to a park with trails and I ran along with them. And then I dropped them off at the playground and did one lap for real. Some careful bike riders, speed is not their thing. Anyway, I'm hoping all that outdoor exercise will make me feel less guilty today when I let them just watch TV because it's too cold to go outside. And I need to get some stuff done around here. I do mean besides computer time too...