Patrick's parting words

Patrick enjoys shouting advice incoherently at people as they leave. I am so glad no one can understand him because otherwise people might wonder what really goes on in our house. I think I mentioned before that Patrick would always bid farewell to our babysitters by yelling to them that they shouldn't shoot anyone with bullets. Just in case they are feeling rage after spending time with Patrick? Lately he has been yelling to me that I shouldn't eat so much that I throw up. Yes, let's make it sound like mommy has an eating disorder as she heads out to dinner. This stems from the Judy Moody movie as Patrick's favorite scene is the one where the kid barfs on the roller coaster. Thankfully today Patrick just stuck his tongue out at the Jehovah Witnesses, instead of yelling something insulting at them. Making progress. Then again, maybe they would stop coming by if he thought of some really good advice.

Well, it's time for Lawrence Welk. The kids think they control how much they watch TV but they don't know how to work the DVR, so while they can turn it on, in the afternoon it is stuck on PBS with old time dancing and singing. They also enjoy the painting show, the home repair show and the quilting show. I could really go for a nap today and those would all make good background noise. Recently Patrick was telling Sean all about his day... watching the man fix a bathtub. Seriously, he finds it fascinating. I fear for the day he discovers ESPN. He got a small dose of that at Buffalo Wild Wings last month when I was picking up some food. So amazed at all the different sports on all the TVs. Maybe that is why he asked me how he can get on a team. Hmm, hoping to put that off a few more years...

Productive

Amazing what I can accomplish when I am not on the computer all the time. Also, not running marathons is saving me a ton of time. Why, in the time it takes some people to run one, I painted two bathrooms. In the time it would have taken ME to run one, I painted three bathrooms! In the time it took Sean to run the Army Ten Miler, I detailed my car and cleaned out and organized the garage. And for the amount of money for a plane ticket to DC to run Sean's race I bought enough wine to get me through several weekends on my own. Now in the time it takes me to get a shower the kids can undo all the cleaning I've done...

Faux Grandparents

Here is Patrick with his faux grandparents at the K-State game last week. Not sure why I didn't have Sean take him to see some real ones this weekend...

Weekend Martyr

Apparently it takes four days to run ten miles, as Sean is leaving tomorrow for his race. If I wasn't so tired I would get around to planning a weekend away myself but I can't seem to get ahead enough to think beyond two days out. With Sean's schedule I need to put in requests for say, January, today. Who knows where I'd want to be in January. Oh wait, someplace warm.

Anyway, to up the martyrdom I am also going to do some projects this weekend which I will mention now so I am forced to follow through. I will post photos later because I AM GOING TO DO THEM. Any locals who want to help, please remember that I have quite a stash of wine and tequila...

1st haircut

As I mentioned earlier, I finally trimmed Emily up but have had a hard time getting a photo as she insists on rushing over to see the camera every time I get it out. Lots of blurry shots. But here is one from before when Sean was throwing her in the air, perhaps for the last time as she is getting a bit heavy. And then after when she and Patrick are enjoying endless applesauce. I did finally learn to not get the kind with extra fiber in it. Also of note, the pink pull-up that Patrick had to wear to bed because we ran out of Buzz Lightyear ones. He didn't mind at all, pointed out that his friend Keylee had princess ones too!

"Sick" Day

Patrick had been coughing and had a runny nose so I thought it best to keep him home from school. I made this decision last night and told him. So of course he woke up feeling fine but still wanted to stay home. So here we are... digging in the dirt, making a mess, getting dirty...

Weekend recap (no cougars)

First things first though, Jude Law was a special guest on Sesame Street? Why oh why did my kids stop being obsessed with that?? Just saw a clip and he appeared to be showered, in contrast to his usual dirty British look. Anyway, clearly the kids are enjoying their slow Monday morning in front of the TV so I can get on the computer. I mean, clean up the kitchen.

Sean spent most of the weekend working or watching football. He took the 3 oldest to the k-state game and Emily napped while they were gone. Surreal. I got so much done, not that you can tell now. In general the house is so much cleaner these days though thanks to the new facebook format which manages to mostly just show the boring stuff so I am no longer addicted. I am even getting around to those dreaded projects like cleaning the high chair, for the last time! She barely used it anymore, thinks she is such a big girl, so time to free up some space in the hearth room. I discovered that at some point there was a ketchup accident because the bottom of the high chair was splattered with it. Must have been a dropped plate. The floor also had lots of ketchup spots, made for a fun afternoon I assure you. I also trimmed up her hair, which I'd wanted to do for a while but she protested and refused to sit still. I had to offer her the most favored treat.... the kid toothpaste. So she sucked on that while I quickly trimmed up. She is very proud now though. Photo soon.

Sean has a funny picture from the k-state game of Patrick sitting with the grandparent type couple in the row behind our seats. He can pour on the charm when needed. Patrick pointed out to faux grandma that Willie the Wildcat isn't a real cat. So then faux grandma says that she has a real cat and Patrick tells her about his cat.... lives in the backyard, bigger than him, has a long tail... Faux grandma asks if he means a dog, nope it's a cat! Sean didn't bother to clarify that Patrick was talking about the cougar, which by the way we have not seen in our backyard, just heard it was in the neighborhood. I saw a big tail by the front door this morning and freaked out though. False alarm, just a squirrel who apparently missed the memo that the backyard is loaded with walnuts. Patrick is aware of the walnuts though, good for throwing and good for peeling and staining hands.

We also made a couple briskets yesterday, thanks to the Schartz cow. The girls tried to declare themselves vegetarians after Kira explained how her cousin raised the cow (and became a trillionaire in the process, so then Megan asked why he continued to live on a farm if he had so much money, apparently someone is biased to the big city life of Manhattan!). Anyway, I explained that vegetarians have to eat vegetables, not just bread, and by the way, cheeseburgers contain beef. Hmm, they will have to think about that some more. Anyway, thanks to the advice of FIL and a very very detailed webpage, we managed to not ruin the meat. Rub, big green egg, oven, cooler, special sauce. A busy day. Sean also did army work and moonlighting work in the midst of all that so he didn't get to enjoy the part of the instructions that involve a lawn chair, a book, and a 6 pack of beer. It was far better than I expected and I'm still feeling a little sick from it. Perhaps we should work on perfecting a meal that is healthy?

And now I will go put away all the dishes that were involved in making it... TV show almost over.