"Hey Mom, Miss C. said we can bring a movie into school tomorrow. But, we don't have a DVD player in our classroom, so it has to be one of those really old rectangle movies."

Mrs. R: Hey Georgie, your pants are on backwards!

Georgie: No, my pants are not backwards... my BODY is backwards.

Trying to get the kids to bed early tonight so I can spend some alone time with my Valentine, and this is what I hear:

"Mom!! Georgie put his head in the toilet!"

I've been busy today, cleaning and laundering (clothes, not money). When I finally finished changing the sheets on all six beds (including the top bunk in Abby's room, which should count for at least four beds in itself), I sat myself down to watch a little Dirty Jobs.Oh, how I love that show. Once I had learned more than I needed to know about owl vomit, I proceeded upstairs to complete my own dirty job - cleaning the guinea pig's cage. Armed with bags of hay and wood shavings, I knocked on the door to Abby's room. No one answered. I knocked again, and put my ear to the door. I heard shuffling and hushed commotion.

"What are you guys doing?" I called through the door.

"Uh! Nothing! Be right there!!" Abby and Georgie yelled back.

I slowly opened the door, and I found them both trying desperately to put all of the pillowcases back on their pillows.

"What did you guys do? I just made your beds. Alright, I guess it's really no big deal. Please start putting the pillows back together so I can clean Eliza's cage."

Georgie points to his sister. "Abby did it. You're in VERY big trouble Ab! Mom is MAD at you!"

His brow was all scrunched, and I could see the wheels turning in his little head.

"Do you know how much trouble you're in, Abby? Seventeen! SEVENteen troubles." he finally blurted out.

I did my best to keep a straight face. "Seventeen? Why seventeen?"

"Because seventeen is a very big number," he said. "And Abby... is in very big trouble."

There's Something About Mary Norah

A Full Moon in the Morning.

I was cleaning the house this morning, my regular Saturday routine, and the kids were in the living room 'taking pictures' with Georgie's View-Master®. Every now and then, they would command me to turn around and say "Cheese!" They'd snap my 'picture,' look into the camera to see if the shot 'came out okay,' and run away to take more photos. I smiled as I wiped down the countertops, listening to them giggle because, I thought at least, that they were enjoying taking pictures of each other's silly grins with their new camera. Well, I was half right. They were indeed hysterical over the photos that they were each posing for, but it was not silly faces they found amusing. Georgie was the acting photographer, and Abby was the stand-in model. Apparently she is working on her future career as a butt-double for movies, because when I went in the living room to check on them, there was Georgie yelling, "Say cheese!" and Abby was turned around, pulling down her underwear so that her brother could capture her full moon on film.

Needless to say, I am extremely proud.

Just thinking of stuff I didn't add before... Friday when I was upstairs washing some dishes, Abby and Georgie came up with a new game... Indians. Abby "decorates" herself and Georgie with markers, drawing tribal lines and shapes all over their bodies... When I came downstairs, much to my surprise, Georgie's hair was completely green, he had blue lines all over his face. Abby had colored all of her fingers, both legs and her face. It was cute, but a big mess... the floor was the hardest to clean.

Saturday we went to Sean's First Holy Communion... well, we missed the church ceremony due to a migraine (mine), but afterwards we met the family at Villa Barone for dinner. Good food! Abby had a great time with her cousins as usual. Georgie had his first taste of real Italian food, fresh mozzarella cheese, great homemade bread, still hot from the oven, and of course, pasta. I think he may have even eaten olives. He loved it! His stomach was so full, it was actually rock solid to the touch. After gorging ourselves at the restaurant, we all went back to Denise's for dessert, as if we didn't have enough food at dinner! Abby met Annie and Sean's new hamster. The hamster's name is Kiki, though Abby insists on calling her "Pinky..." They still have their first hamster, Buffy, too. If you can imagine, Abby was in her glory! Two hamsters! She wants her own now, but I keep telling her we can visit Annie and Sean's any time she wants!

She put on a "Hat Show" with Sean and Alyssa towards the end of the night, where the three of them would try on different hats they found around the house, and then come outside and model them for everyone! The funny part is that Abby, the usually shy and reserved little girl, was walking down the back steps and through the yard like it was a runway, and she was a very confident, assured model! She kept walking up to Al and telling him, "Look at me, Pop-Pop! I'm Beautiful!" She has continued the 'show' at home, where she has managed to pull out (and try on) every hat, scarf, glove, and mitten, along with all my jewelry and makeup... We turned the hallway into a runway, and she models for me and Georgie!