While getting Norah dressed for bed...

Me: Hey pretty girl, what's your name?
Norah: My name is Norah Bean!
Me: Nice to meet you, Miss Bean! Do you know my name?
Norah: I do know your name already! It's "Mommy the Best."

May your dreams be full of stars, Norah the Sweetest...

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!"

The long awaited snow day!

It took almost an hour to gather all necessary clothing, and dress them up, but alas, they were ready! Norah was not so thrilled with all the layers.


Georgie wasted no time before he dove right in and started eating the snow from the ground.


Norah immediately turned right around and begged to go back inside. She spent the rest of the afternoon looking out from the inside, watching her big brother and sister frolic in the repulsive white stuff on the ground.


Abby was so happy, she hugged all the trees in the yard. I have no explanation for this.




Later, some friends came to play!


After we spent hours outside, we all came in to drink hot chocolate and eat valentine cakes. To get even warmer, we gathered together in the family room around the fireplace where we watched movies the rest of the afternoon. It was a good day...

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."

The day after.

After the many weeks spent carefully maneuvering through the stores, chockablock with overwrought shoppers; the days of meticulously wrapping dozens of asymmetrical boxes; and the hours of cleaning, organizing and decorating, Christmas came and went in, well... a day.

At about 7:15 on Christmas morning, I heard four little feet come bounding down the stairs, letting out squeals of excitement when Santa's stopover was confirmed by the many packages under the tree. The kids headed for their stockings hanging from the mantel, making sure Santa remembered to fill them with candies and other goodies, then quickly returned to the tree to check out the tags on the boxes, trying to sort out whose present were whose. Next came the forethought of waking George and me, who felt as if we had just closed our eyes only moments ago. I could hear them whispering from the other room:

Abby: Ok, first we have to tiptoe into Mom and Dad's room. And then... HEY! LOOK GEORGIE! THIS ONE'S MINE!!! SEE IT HAS MY NAME ON IT, AND IT'S THE BIGGEST ONE!

Georgie: Yeah, Ab. I see... HEY! THIS ONE SAYS NORAH! WOW! I CAN READ THAT, SEE?!

A: Ok, alright. So when we get to their room, you wake Dad... No. Wait. I'll wake Dad, and you wake Mom, Ok?

G: Ok!

A: Remember. Tiptoe! And you wake Mommy! Ok?

G: Ok, Ab.

A: SHHHHH!

G: O-kay AB!!

(I don't know why she insisted on tiptoeing. Wasn't the point of coming in to wake us?)

After being pounced on repeatedly, I did my best to hold back the wired masses for 30 tortuous minutes, until pulling a groggy Norah out of her crib. And then the ravenous attack on the presents began!

***************
When every last gift was opened and admired, Abby said, "I got everything I wanted in my WHOLE life!" (Whew!)

Georgie was too busy playing with Norah's new toys to care about his shiny new playthings - which worked out well, because...

Norah, the 18 month old baby, kept throwing all of her toys back into the bags. She had no interest in her new puzzles, books, dolls, or other extravagant toys. Instead, she spent the morning clutching her new shirts and dresses. She tried on her new shoes, and admired her new embellished jeans. She ripped open the packs of socks and onsies, and tried on the new clips for her hair. I think Santa may need to rethink (and re-budget) his gifts for next year for this little fashion diva.

Today, I am spending my day collecting shreds of crumpled paper, cursing wire twist ties, and sorting micro-sized pieces and parts from god-knows what toy sets. As I work, I hear my children hard at play - figuring out their new games, breaking in new dolls and action figures, and laughing at each other while garbed in their new dress-up clothes! It is a reward to know that what I have been working for the last few tiresome weeks, has finally paid off tremendously. We should do this again. Maybe this time next year?

Into the garbage chute, flyboy.

Well, today the kids and I were so productive. We each claimed our spot in the family room and played LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy on our new Xbox. Once we succeeded in each developing carpal tunnel syndrome, we put down the controllers and, continuing with our theme, watched the Original Star Wars Trilogy on DVD. It was true bliss.

I am officially broke, but my sanity was worth every penny!

Ahhhhhhhhh! (That was a sigh of relief and contentment.) I just got home from my night out - which I needed so much more than I realized. The past two weeks have been extremely stressful. I was actually going to cancel tonight due to the massive headache I was fighting all day, but I drugged myself (with Imitrex. Relax!). I rode it out, and wound up feeling 120% better in every sense - mentally, physically and emotionally. This entry is here to remind myself that the next time I want to bail on my plans because I'm not feeling high-spirited and social, I need to get my ass out the door anyway to eat, drink and be merry until I can't take it anymore!! When I came home, I really missed the kids, so I peeked in on them all just to watch them sleep. With Abby, it is almost always the same: I pulled her covers back over her, and swept the hair from her face. She woke for less than a moment, just long enough to smile sleepily at me and tell me that she missed me. "I'm happy you're home," she said in a dozy voice before rolling over and snuggling back into her pillow. She sighed contentedly, and instantly returned to a light snore. I kissed her on her cheek, and whispered that I was happy to be home with her too. I didn't have to go very far to check on Georgie; he was asleep in Abby's room, in the bottom bunk. As usual he had flipped himself upside down in the bed - his feet on the pillow, and his head on the blankets at the foot of the bed that he had kicked and churned into a tangled mess. He didn't stir when I turned him around, careful not to bang both of our heads on the bunk above. I straightened his blankets, pulling them back over his shoulders. When I tucked his Spiderman figure back into his palm, I kissed his forehead, cool and damp with sweat, and I smiled to myself at how fond he is of his Spidey, and how he was probably dreaming of climbing walls, shooting webs, and defeating the bad guys as he slumbered, just like his favorite superhero. When I looked in on Norah, I was surprised to see that she was still awake in her crib, and I was excited to pull her out and play with her a while. We stacked a few blocks and played a few songs on her piano, but when she started to rub her eyes and look drowsy, I changed her and made her some warm milk. I laid her in my bed and talked quietly with her while she drank her bottle and daintily patted my face with her pudgy little hands. After a while, I started to feel a little sleepy myself, so I placed her back in her own bed. I couldn't help but laugh when she wildly waved "bye-bye" to me with an immense grin on her face as I was closing her door. I missed them all so much while I was out tonight, but I think I need to miss my kids every now and then to fully appreciate them and recharge. I am more than ready to start fresh in the morning with my newly recharged batteries.

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.

Spiderman-iac

I took Abby to Kyle's birthday party tonight. When the movie ended, the last of the pizza and cake had been eaten, and the games had all been played, Abby and I made our way back to the car, party bags in hand, where I noticed that I had three missed calls from home on my cell. (I had kept the phone in the car to charge, since the battery was beyond dead.) A small wave of panic washed over me since George doesn't usually ring my cell when I'm out unless it's pretty important. I returned George's call on the way home and learned that Georgie had come down with a fever and had not eaten anything all night. In fact, he had stayed curled up in my bed most of the time Abby and I had been gone, which is rare for him especially since his Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop were over for a visit. When Abby and I walked in the door, I pulled Georgie onto my lap, and sure enough, he was hot as hell from head to toe. As Abby told him all about the party, his head hung towards the floor. I figured he must have felt pretty bad, so I coaxed him into chewing a Motrin to bring the fever down quickly. After he reluctantly swallowed his medicine, I asked him about his night, but he would not speak a word to me, or anyone else, and continued to stare down at his feet. I asked George if he had been this quiet all night, but he said, "No, actually. He was crying about a Spiderman car for the first hour or so after you left. He cried so much, I wonder if that's what made him sick."

"Spiderman car?" I asked. "What Spiderman car, Georgie?"

"Tile." Georgie responded miserably, but finally with a little interest in conversing.

"Tile? What are you talking about - tile?"

"Tiii-ile! Ti-ile!" he whined, and so I continued asking him insane questions about floor tiles and game tiles until I figured out that he was not, in fact, referring to tiles after all. He was talking about Kyle (clearly pronounced "tile" in two-year old dialect) and the Spiderman car that Abby had bought for the party.

"You want the Spiderman car that Abby bought for Kyle?" I asked him.

"Yes," he said. "Tile's bider-man tar. Not Tile's. Mine. My bider-man."

I should have foreseen this "spidey-envy" when we were at the toy store buying Spiderman toys. I should have realized that I could never get away with bringing a Spiderman product into our house and then back out again for any reason. Who was I kidding? I have the boy who does not waste time pretending to be Spiderman, but instead has convinced himself, and truly does believe, that he is in fact the superhero himself. I reassured Georgie that first thing in the morning, I would take him to the store to buy him his very own Spiderman car. The instant this promise was made to him, his temperature instantly plummeted back to 98.6°, his mood elevated significantly, and he has been happily coloring at the table (in his Spiderman coloring book, wearing his Spiderman pajamas) with his sister for over an hour, chattering away the entire time (about, who else, Spiderman).

I've been sitting and thinking about what new illness Georgie may be coming down with, but then I started to wonder: is Georgie really falling ill with the flu, or could it be that he is literally sick without Spiderman? And was it really the Motrin that brought down his fever so rapidly, or was it the promise of a new "bider-man tar" that healed him?

I think that we are, without a doubt, dealing with a Spidermaniac.

Tables are for glasses, not for a****

I sent George out tonight because I have alot to do around the house... So far I have accomplished nothing! Oh, well... it's nice to have things quiet for a while. I have to get back in touch with the administrations department tomorrow about my math class from the summer. Apparantly the school thinks I dropped the class. I was there every day, took every test, and the teacher gave me my grade on the last day of classes... I got a 98! I definitely want to make sure those credits are counted! I worked hard (and paid good money) in that class! Anyway, I have some stuff to do, but I just wanted to add in that Georgie is now climbing on everything!! I was cleaning the dishes earlier, and while I was in the kitchen, Abby yelled up the staris, "Mom! Georgie's on the table!! He's being so bad! But not me. I'm not bad. I'm a really good girl! Come and see!" I dried my hands and walked down the steps to find the baby on the kids table! He climbed onto one of the chairs, and then onto the table! What next? I think it;s so funny, that for a kid who's afraid to walk, for fear of falling, has no fear of climbing high onto furniture (or anything else, for that matter)!! He's a character! At first, when I came downstairs, he looked very guilty, like he knew he wasn't supposed to be where he was...

oops... am i in trouble??

So, anyway... he was so proud of himself that he made it onto the table! He was laughing & smiling like mad, and showing off his cup ...

check me out, mom!

...until Abby decided to climb up with him.

hey mom! she's in my shot!

That was a mistake! His ego was crushed that Abby too, shared this rare talent that he only recently discovered he possessed... He was so mad that she could climb onto the table too, and very upset that she stole the spotlight, even if only for a second!

crushed...

Ah, rivalry... it starts so young.

This week.

Mother's Day was very nice. I spent the morning just hanging out with Abby and Georgie, and then later in the day my mom and dad, and George's mom and dad came over for a barbecue. George made lobster and lamb chops. It was such a beautiful, beautiful day to be outside. Dottie and I wound up polishing off a "few" bottles of wine, and a couple martinis for our finale, and, to say the least, did not enjoy our Monday morning after. But, all in all, it was a great day!

To my throbbing head's surprise, Denise called around 11 the next morning, asking if Abby, Georgie and I would like to join her and Annie for lunch at the diner. I picked Dottie up at 1 o'clock, and off we went to lunch. It was so much fun to all get together in the afternoon, and we hope to try to make a habit of doing it more often. I know Abby loves spending time with Annie! When we got home on Monday, we never made it in the door. It was such a gorgeous day, Abby and I decided to hang out front. We pulled her baby pool out of the garage, and tried on her bathing suit from last year... the pool and bathing suit proved to be too small, but Abby didn't seem to mind it just for the day. Sydnee and Nick took their pool out, which is much bigger, and Abby, and even Georgie enjoyed swimming in it too!

Tuesday morning, I knew Kelly and James were coming over, so I headed out early to run a few errands. I made a deal with Abby the night before to give up her binkies and bottles for good, but as a reward for doing so, I would buy her two new bathing suits and a big pool just like Sydnee and Nick's. She agreed after some discussion, and so we headed out first thing in the morning. She decided on two bathing suits she liked, and picked the pool. We grabbed a suit for Georgie and headed home.

Kelly and James showed up a few minutes after we pulled up, and the kids played outside almost the entire day. We inflated Abby's pool and even Georgie took a dip. He "swam" around in his infant tube for a while, and couldn't be happier.

Yesterday, the kids stayed out all day, yet again... I got a lot of yard work done (finally). I spent the day pulling weeds, digging out and transplanting bushes, shrubs and flowers. It looks 110% better, and now all I have left to do is turn the soil and plant grass seed in some areas.

I got a letter in the mail yesterday about my placement test. My placement was for English 101 and Math 118. So I signed up for the math, which is basically an Algebra-II class... I'm happy I can skip Algebra-I. I start class on Monday! I can't believe how excited I am to be starting school again!

Today was the same as all the other days this week: swimming, running, playing and gardening!

Sorry this is very choppy, but I'm typing this very quickly. I have alot to get finished tonight since we haven't been in the house all week!

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!

General update :)

Well, I haven't been writing in this thing for quite some time, to say the least.... I haven't had a computer for a while... my desktop was all messed up and out of service. I was using George's laptop for a bit, and then he surprised me with a laptop of my own! It has taken me quite some time to get this new computer set up to my liking and personalized! It's getting there, but my old desktop is holding my old files for ransom! Waiting patiently to find some way of retrieving them! Anyway, I love my laptop.. so much better than the dinosaur I was using before! Georgie is getting so big! Within the last 2 months, he has been crawling like crazy (so fast!) and walking along the furniture, getting into everything!!! He's broken many things. He can hardly sit still for 2 seconds, which is the total opposite of how Abby was... she was so quiet! I hardly had to worry about baby-proofing with her! She's still that way!
This week has been the big Potty-training week for her! She is doing really well. She slept 2 nights without a diaper or Pull-up, just underwear... and woke up dry! She runs to the potty first thing after she wakes up, and pees! She has been going for 3 days with just underwear on when she plays! So far she is "accident free" for 2 days (with the exception of going #2, which I know will take some time to master!) She is so funny! She has been watching "Spirit, Stallion of the Cimmaron" which is a movie about a horse, and has become horse obssessed! She has a toy horse she likes to ride, but recently I guess she wanted something a little more "live" than the stuffed horse... so she decided to ride Georgie!! The poor kid... I heard him crying downstairs, a very jolted cry, and when I went down to see what was happening, he was on all fours with Abby straddled on his back, jumping up and down, yelling "giddee-up Georgie!"
Georgie is on most solid foods now, his favorite being sliced bananas! Between him and Abby, we can't keep a bunch of bananas in the house for more than a day!
Other than that, I can't think of anything else (atleast for the moment). I'll get back here tonight and try to give a more interesting update!!