A Feats of Strength Thanksgiving

Sometimes it takes a holiday like Thanksgiving to remind you to be thankful about the things you take for granted.

I am thankful for my parents, who constantly sacrifice to make their children's lives better and easier.
I am thankful for my siblings, with whom I share a strong bond.
I am thankful for my husband, who loves and accepts me as I am.  Who works hard so I can stay home with the kids, cleans up puke in the middle of the night, and is the first one up with the kids every morning.
I am thankful for sweet, funny children who make my life better.
I am thankful to be related to so many smart, articulate, and witty people (cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws included).
I am thankful I get to live in such an amazing neighborhood.

I could go on, but I will spare those who have grown weary of reading what everyone is thankful for in Facebook posts.

After our first year of marriage, Dave and I decided that we would never again do two Thanksgivings.  We now celebrate with each family every other year and it all works much better and our guts thank us.  This year we celebrated with my family.

Eileen was VERY excited about her pilgrim hat she made in preschool.

While I baked pies,  Linus decided it was important that he teach Eileen so that she could be smart like him.  He went about making her a worksheet and then quizzing her.  It was really quite endearing to listen to.

I was so excited to see my aunts Molly and Eileen, uncle Duane, and cousin Emily.  I don't get to see them nearly enough.  They were always so good about playing with us when we were kids.  It warms my heart to see them take an interest in my own kids.

Great Grand Eileen, Emily, and Robin

We played a lot of board games.  We taught Linus how to play Battleship that morning and brought games with us to my parents' house.  I really appreciated everyone's willingness to play games with the kids, giving Dave and me a break.

Crazy Eights with Uncle Duane

My children are weird and don't like Thanksgiving food.  Linus doesn't even like sparkling apple cider.  What's wrong with them!?!  In an effort to get the kids to try food, we implemented a feats of strength competition.  Can you drink sparkling cider while doing a one armed push up?  My brother, Tim, apparently has the ability.  It was enough to get Linus to try cider.  Linus managed a one armed push up while drinking orange juice.

Tim eating sweet potatoes while doing a one armed push up.

We debated passing around an aluminum pole (selected for its strength to weight ratio) in order to do an airing of grievances, but decided against it.

Our family has been wracked by ailments for the past month.  Linus threw up almost every day for three weeks.  The kids currently have colds, causing Eileen to lose her voice.  Eileen's dinner of cider and pie was apparently too much and she puked twice in bed last night.  I will be thankful when everyone is finally well.

I asked Linus today what his favorite part of Thanksgiving was.  His answer?  Playing board games.  That's my boy! 

From the Mouths of Babes in November

Eileen:  Here Mommy.  I made this for you. Say "Aw thank you."

Linus:  Eileen do you want to be 41?
Eileen: No.
Linus:  You get to be an adult.  You don't have to live at the house or follow rules.

Linus:  Eileen, Mommy and I baked you this cake with love.

Eileen:  I am bigger than monsters and I can fight them with my bunny powers. (Eileen often talks nonsense upon waking up from nap.)

Eileen:  I hate birthdays tomorrow.  I like birthdays today.

Eileen:  This is not how we treat books (gliding across floor while standing on book).

Robin can't speak yet, but I think he is trying to send Linus a message.

 

Gone Baptizin'

Robin was welcomed into the Catholic Church on Sunday.  No limbo for this baby boy.  Dressed in our Sunday best, we drove out to Holy Innocents in Duvall.  Dave's mom is the church lady there.  We got married there and the other kids have been baptized there. 

The first time I ever went to mass at Holy Innocents there was a baptism and I thought to myself, "They do baptism right here!  When I have kids, I'm going to totally have them baptized here."  It's not that I hate the way our parish does it, but Holy Innocents makes it seem just a little more special.  I also appreciate that we were the only baptism instead of one of eight like at St. John.  I love Holy Innocents parish.  It's too bad Duvall is so far.  The music is great and the altar is in front of a wall of windows that overlooks the Snoqualmie valley.  The mountains are even in view.  Linus was excited because we told him that Holy Innocents had a Star Wars Jesus.  The crucifix looks like Jesus has been encased in blocks of ice, sort of like Hans Solo.

Back to the baptism.  Linus was mad at me because I put Robin in a dress.  I tried to explain that it was not a dress, but rather a baptismal gown (and an heirloom at that) and that in the olden days even little boys wore dresses.  Linus was not appeased.  My mother made the gown.  My siblings and I all wore it, as well as my cousin, Casey, and Linus and Eileen.  The blanket was a wedding gift to my mother from the nuns, intended for the first grandchild of my grandfather who did volunteer work for the nuns.

But seriously, how can you not put your baby boy in a baptismal gown when he looks this angelic?

He's working on smiling.

Due to a scheduling miscommunication, Robin didn't get to have the same priest who married Dave and I, as well as baptized the other two kids.  Oh well.  Dave thanked me though for scheduling it during a Seahawks bye week.  Our friends, Megan and Rocky, agreed to be godparents again. 

Dave is trying to point out the mountain to an antsy Linus while Fr. Johnson blesses everyone else with holy water.

Mmm.  I love the smell of chrism.

I thought it was cute that Fr. Johnson asked to hold Robin.

Big family and not everyone was even there!

The kids were sooo well behaved which was a huge relief since we were in the front row.  Everyone headed over to my in-laws for a reception/monthly gathering.  If I haven't said it before, my kids have the.best.cousins.  I really appreciated all the family and friends that came to celebrate with us. 

Welcome to the Catholic church Robin Francis.  Let the Irish Catholic guilt begin!

Harry Potter

This summer I wrote a post about reigning in my budding tyrant, Linus.  To curb increasing negative behaviors I instituted ways to earn screen time.  The system has worked well.   It really is amazing how much behavior improves when children have less screen time.

One of the ways Linus can earn screen time is by reading with me.  He can choose between practicing learning to read or reading a quality book--no Calvin and Hobbes or Star Wars.  I'm not knocking George Lucas or Joseph Campbell's heroic cycle, but the Star Wars books written for young readers are seriously lacking.  I also want to expose Linus to all the rich literature of the world, or at least to the world beyond Star Wars.  For the record, Linus does have other interests but at the moment Star Wars takes front and center.

I decided to introduce Linus to Harry Potter.  He had a vague idea of who the boy wizard was, but had never seen the movie.  I thought it would be fun for us to read the first book together, and then use the movie as a reward.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is pretty short and mild compared to the other books.  Thanks to my years of teaching, I am fairly adept at reading aloud.  Previously, Linus had not shown an interest in chapter books despite my best efforts.  I must admit I was a little surprised when Linus sat peacefully next to me while reading and was willing to stop after a chapter (versus making me keep reading).  The teacher in me could not resist using literacy strategies with him.  As the story progressed Linus became entranced by the world of Harry Potter.  Suddenly, one chapter was not enough.  It became one chapter in the morning and another before bed.  He was an addict.

Linus began wondering aloud what life would be like if he was Harry Potter or at least had his own owl to train.  Throughout the day he would rehash the story thus far, highlighting his favorite parts.  After two days, Linus assembled his own Harry Potter costume.

Yes, I even let him go to Target like this.

Due to his enthusiasm, we finished the book in under a week.  Today I let him watch the movie while Eileen was at preschool.  He loved it.  Reading the book ahead of time definitely enhanced his experience and understanding of the movie.

Linus now wants Harry Potter legos.  He keeps mentioning how he can't wait to read the next book. I'm thinking I want to postpone reading the others a little since they get pretty scary and I really have no desire to read Goblet of Fire aloud.  That book is long!  I'm thinking maybe something along the lines of Shiloh or Sign of the Beaver.  I'm excited to break out the books from my elementary classroom library collection (they've been gathering dust since 2004).

He works hard for the money

Linus loves getting things.  Linus loves money.  He greatly appreciates that he now receives an allowance and the buying power it has given him.  He is a budding entrepreneur.  The other day Linus was trying to convince me to have a garage sale or let him sell hot drinks to earn money.  I declined.  When he asked how he could get more money, Dave and I both looked in the backyard at the same time and without discussing it said, "You could rake leaves."  He took us up on the offer.

Dave eventually went out and helped him.  I watched with Robin from a rocking chair.  Linus earned a whole two dollars for his efforts.

Eileen was happy to enjoy the spoils of all his hard work.

Oh where oh where can my Baby Eileen be?

My sweet baby Eileen turned three yesterday.  I marvel at how much she has changed over the past year. 

To know Eileen is to love Eileen.  She is a bundle of sweetness. Eileen loves to be close to people, especially to hold their hands.  She is a snuggler.  Eileen is generally very go with the flow and doesn't rattle easily.  She even managed to charm and impress the ENT doctor (a woman whose nickname could easily be the Ice Queen).  She only asks that she get to be included.  Eileen loves to be around other little girls,  which sadly doesn't happen often enough.  She is the only girl in her preschool class.  If you can't find her, just look and she's probably sitting quietly in the corner playing quietly by herself.  She loves going to school and doing "big girl" things.  Eileen is excited about life.

Eileen adores Linus.  She copies him constantly--whatever he says, she says; if he asks to run down the hill, she immediately asks the same; if he does a funny walk, she mirrors him.  Linus does not appreciate his number one fan.  If Linus throws a fit because no one will go with him, Eileen will offer.  Eileen is always willing to give Linus part of a treat without a second thought.

At three years old, Eileen's favorite activities include:  reading, Dora, Diego, puzzles, princesses, playing house, baking, coffee and nail dates, duplo legos, playing with her cousins and second cousins.

Eileen is not a big fan of time out, nightmares about slugs in her hair (a recurring dream), being told no, becoming untucked in bed, and naptime.

It only took three weeks for Eileen to warm up to Robin.  When he cries, she comforts him by clicking her tongue (it seems to work usually).

getting ready for nap

Eileen was so excited for her birthday.  Her body was bursting with excitement.  Throughout the day she couldn't help but exclaim, "It's my birthday!!"

3 years old!

 In the morning we celebrated by going to Playdate SEA (it was also to celebrate Linus since we had gymnastics his birthday morning).  There was lunch at Dick's.  During naptime, I hung streamers and decorated her cake.  She asked for a rainbow ninja cake.

lots of ninjas

Dinner was Kraft mac n cheese and cucumber sticks.  Very fancy.  We had to wait for Dave to come home to open presents and truly celebrate.

Dave and I gave her the mermaid legos she had been asking for and this fairy thing that comes with fabric that you use to create different outfits.  Grandma and Grandpa gave her a mixer and cash register.  Our friend Heather sent her dolls with magnetic outfits.  Despite declaring that boy toys are better than girl toys, and you would have to pay him to play with girl toys, Linus kept trying to get Eileen to let him play with her new toys.  He almost stopped when I reminded him they were "girl" toys.

 Getting a picture with the kids is never easy. 

Linus complimented me on my scarf.  He said it reminded him of Minecraft?

Happy Birthday Eileen!

One Month In

It has been just over a month since little Robin joined our family.  Everyone asks me how it's going.  My answer--alright.  I have discovered a new level exhaustion resulting from constantly caring for a newborn while trying to meet the needs of two preschoolers.  It's amazing how you can forget how hard it is to be woken about every two hours during the night for 10 minute stretches.  I can easily understand how sleep deprivation is a form of torture.

My least favorite part of the day is preschool pick up.  It requires waking Eileen up from her nap.  While she benefits from a 2-3 hour nap every day,  Linus' pick up and drop off schedule leaves her getting only somewhere between 1 and 1.5 hours.  The result is an often overtired Eileen and a fried mama.  My one real complaint about Linus' preschool is the lack of parking.  Parents are required to park in the neighborhood and walk.  This means I have to adjust timing to allow for walking 2-3 blocks to the school once we park.   The effort that it takes to get out of the house and to and from school is at times overwhelming.  It is often in the moments after returning home from taking Linus to school and getting Eileen down for nap that I just want to collapse.

Preschool griping and lack of sleep aside, life with a newborn is pretty wonderful.  Robin is a very good little baby who loves his mama best.  Since I'm pretty sure this is our last baby I have been trying to soak in every little moment.  Weekend afternoons are lovely.  Robin and I snuggle up together and take a nap.

People tell me I look good.  I am so happy to not be pregnant and to have my healthy little baby, I know I am often glowing.  I am also practically mainlining coffee, so maybe it's just the sheen from a dark roast.  Blissful babies and strong coffee, how can you not look alive and well?  I also went to the chiropractor a few days ago which was immensely helpful.  So I guess overall, when I am not ready to collapse in a puddle on the floor and cry from exhaustion and the constant meeting of needs, I am overwhelmed by feelings of joy, happiness, and caffeine.

overwhelmed with joy or overtired? not sure but the baby is very cute

Today while Eileen was at preschool, I took Robin and Linus in for well child checks.

Robin is doing great.  He is now 20.5 inches long (7%) and 9 lbs 1 oz (23%).  He has been battling a nasty case of baby acne but the doctor assures me that baby acne is not an indicator of his future adolescent acne.  He got the Hep B shot from which he quickly recovered and then slept the rest of the day.

Linus got 2 shots (MMR and Polio) and the FluMist vaccine.  I had to pull him out of hiding from behind the exam table and then hold him down during shots.  Linus did not recover as quickly as Robin and quickly informed me that I was terrible, a mean mommy, and the worst mommy he ever had.  I responded with hugs and a simple, "I know."  We then got milkshakes at Dick's and things were mostly all forgiven.

Three kids is definitely a handful, but at least it feels like we kind of know what we are doing.  It's too bad you have to learn everything the hard way the first time around.

I also wish someone had told us earlier that if you wanted the kids to be quiet and leave you alone, just put them inside storage benches.