Christmas Shopping

I have done most of my shopping this year online for the obvious reason: avoiding the post office. I think I have finished off my list but one can't be certain when operating on mass quantities of white tea, which I assure you does not have nearly enough caffeine in it. I am loath to go full strength and discover that caffeine results in baby party all night long.

Anyway, I did hit Target in person the other day with the goal of running into random friends to talk to (it is the social hub of Manhattan after all) and not only was I successful in bonding with Kitra and Keenan in the Star Wars aisle, but I also found the best gifts ever for my girls. They have started watching The Magic Schoolbus which is on some channel with excessive commercials for brilliant products like the super hanger and the brownie pan thing. The girls are quite enthralled by these items (almost forgot the "touch 'n' brush which is currently being broadcast) so when I saw an end cap of As Seen on TV products, I knew I had to check them out. My main question was, have the girls seen the informercial for the Dog Snuggie?? I mean, I want to make sure it is on their list before I shell out $9.99 for such a necessity. I am very aware that we do not own a dog, but why should that factor into buying something that everyone must have? Just like how we have ridiculously large closets in this house (sorry to rub it in Andrea, owner of cute bungalow house with faux closets) that don't come close to being full, yet we NEED the hangers that triple our closet capacity. I think these products all fall into the category of "coal", so we'll see how many I need for stocking stuffers this year.... (based on behavior at church today, I know I need at least a couple).

I keep forgetting that I still don't have a good idea for a gift for Sean, which is how he ends up going on all those trips.... last minute panic.... ah, your gift is a, umm, trip to Vegas with the poker guys?? Or a golf weekend someplace far more expensive than I ever dreamed possible? Hmm, I may still have some rollover credit from those trips in October. Maybe I will just put some Sham-Wow in his stocking, he has mentioned that commercial. Of course he just got a hopefully awesome present: Brian Kelly, welcome to ND.

Back to School

Anna was in denial that she had to go back to school today. I think she asked me at least 3 times if it was a snow day again, hoping I would change my answer. It is actually a bit harder having the girls gone since they did a good job entertaining Patrick for small amounts of time the past couple days. I did manage to get the little ones out of the house briefly to take Megan money to school for some xmas shop they have for the kids to buy presents. She called to ask me to bring it since she forgot all about it over the 2 days off school. As the grandparents can attest, Megan refuses to talk on the phone normally so the fact that she called me meant she was desperate. I actually wasn't sure if it was her on the phone, thought maybe it was Anna. Such a good mom, don't recognize my own kids' voices.

It is still very cold here today, I think it said negative 5 this morning but the snow has stopped. Still patting myself on the back for hiring the lawn boy to come plow our driveway too. Sean had resisted this idea in year's past but I knew with a new baby in the house, I was going to need Sean to be inside helping with the kids, not outside cursing me for throwing away his boots at some point. Lawn boy even shoveled the sidewalks which I didn't expect but certainly appreciate as my xmas shopping boxes are starting to arrive. Schwans man also came today and seemed confused as to why I keep buying steaks from him. What, other people don't grill when it's negative 5 out?? Makes more sense than standing over the grill when it's 95 out.

Well, those piles of wet snow clothes need to be dealt with before Patrick alerts me to the fact that he is emptying his dresser instead of taking a nap....

Entertainment Crew

Sure could have used my entertainment crew the past couple snow days, here they are in action over the weekend.

2nd Grade School Program

It had nothing to do with the holidays, instead they sang songs about the 6 pillars of character... honesty, responsibility, trustworthiness, something like that and a few others. The show was dedicated to Tiger Woods. You can bet I was making note of some of the lyrics to remind the girls of later when they are fighting too. I just got a few terrible photos, one being this chicken thing that I know Andrea and Stephanie will enjoy. "Has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken?" Ca-caw, ca-caw! Ah, now why wasn't I watching my Arrested Development DVDs to get me through these snow days?!

Four Beers and Half a Pot of Coffee

Nana and Pops headed to the airport this morning and left me with 4 beers and half a pot of coffee. Too bad I can't stand either, more of a hard liquor and Jolt Cola kind of gal here (do they still make that??). Anyway, snow day for the girls... not what I had planned at all. The roads were pretty bad so I wasn't thrilled that Sean still intended to get to work on time. One of those days when you're thinking maybe an H2 is better than a Civic, ignore the gas bill. He claimed to have some "procedures" to get in for, which I believe is code for "I need a break from this 2 year old".

So, by 7:45 I was on my own with the 4 kids and while everyone else in town was thrilled to have a day to play in the snow, bake cookies and make gingerbread houses, I needed some new ideas. We had our first trip outside over and done with by 8:15 and the first pile of wet clothes soon followed. Nana had done the cookies and gingerbread house thing over the weekend, so we resorted to the old standby of popcorn and a movie. Yep, popcorn for breakfast, I don't even know how many of those mini bags I made, Patrick just kept asking for more.

The next trip outside was to the screened in porch which thankfully no neighbors can really see into... first Patrick went out in his fleece pants and coat (yes, he will briefly wear it now) and shoes. He stayed out about 20 seconds and then slipped on his way back in the door. He is not a fan of being cold (he gets that from me). I stripped off his wet top layer so he was down to pajamas and socks. He then demanded to go back out. Fine, no one can see him, I figured he would last 10 seconds. Sure enough, he wanted right back in and slipped again on the doorstep, covering himself with snow again. So then he was stripped down to just his diaper, which we call the "big white baby" look. It's a little disturbing to see him compared to Emily when he looks like that... he seems so huge and his skin is so fair compared to hers (why, he is almost as pale as a radiologist!). Anyway, there he is in his diaper begging to go right back out. I would suspect a lack of short term memory except it is really hard to distract him from whatever he wants theses days (namely CANDY). I did pick that battle and refuse to let him back out. Another bowl of popcorn, all was well.

Meanwhile Emily was sleeping away which is how I was able to get a few pictures outside. Overall the girls did way better than I expected, thanks to some Elf presents that appeared (and of course the threat that the Elf might catch them being bad and report back to Santa). Patrick did take a nap, first one in 4 days, so the day was a success and I managed to clean up a tiny bit. I did a great job of overcoming my OCD cleaning tendencies this weekend and just enjoyed having adults around to talk to instead. The house did reach the point where I started to think we could just move and let the new owners clean it up... but it is under control now.

Another snow day tomorrow so I don't know when I will get around to ordering Christmas gifts for the kids, not to mention address all the birth announcements/Christmas cards. My main concern is whether or not we have enough popcorn in the house. I couldn't find it earlier but Sean informed me that Patrick put all the little bags under the couch, so convenient. Wish me luck!

Patrick's a Pizza

My dear friend Nora sent us this book when Patrick was born and Nana turned it into an interactive game yesterday. I don't know who has more energy- Patrick or Nana! He kept asking to play the pizza game over and over and over and then he wanted to play with the little train and then do "this little piggy". It was endless but Nana seemed amused for some reason. In general it has been a very whiny and irrational couple days for Patrick (I know, you were thinking I was going to be the one who is whiny and irrational but I am merely whiny). Nana insisted I take a nap yesterday and that has made a big difference. Emily has been very good and sleeping well this week, trying to make up for Patrick's behavior and 5am wake up times apparently. Grandpa arrives in a few hours so we'll see how much energy he has!

Good Kid, Bad Kid

(Can't start a post without a shot of the "new baby". That is what Anna calls her, I think it is her way of protesting the name which she lobbied hard against. Sorry, no Ruthie Keenan in this house.)

The girls have played Good Kid, Bad Kid for years, just like Caroline and Bridget did according to Sean, so we have been wondering how this game will go with four kids. Patrick is old enough to play along and so far it has been the ratio of one bad kid to 2 good kids. This usually plays out with Anna refusing to even look at her dinner. She will go sit in the one chair without a plate in front of it and shoot us dirty looks. This never fails to inspire Megan to rave about the dinner and make lots of eating motions. Later I will realize that she ate only a few bites, but she sure puts on a good show.

Anyway, I am afraid this will end up being 2 bad kids, 2 good kids with the teams of Megan/Anna and Patrick/Emily. We headed out last night for my favorite holiday activity: going to see Christmas lights. That's right, the kids are all strapped in their seats and can't get into (much) trouble, what's not to love? Well, Anna immediately started in with the same complaints from last year, namely that all the good lights will be out Megan's window. And then she tells us that Megan is bragging about this which is ridiculous as we can hear every word in the van. (By the way, patent still pending on our invention of a soundproof barrier to put down right behind the driver's seat.) Also ridiculous is the fact that all the lights happen to be out Anna's window for some reason. Megan takes this in good humor, i.e. the good kid! Emily cries throughout the first half of our drive, thanks to the shouts of "lights!" from the other three. We finally cure that and Patrick has a complete meltdown which only ends after we get home and Sean walks him around our neighborhood to see those lights. Oh and apparently we have never taken Patrick out driving in the dark that he remembers because he was amazed by all the lights on stores and restaurants, those were the most impressive in his opinion I think. Extra loud yelling of "lights" briefly interrupted by "cheeseburger" when he saw Wendy's. Sigh, the 3rd child... yes, he is well acquainted with the drive thru cheeseburger.

Well, Emily (good kid) is napping and Patrick (bad kid) is undecorating the xmas tree. I decided I am not going to care about the tree anymore... if they break something, I will sweep it up. In 4 years I can just start over...