Grandpa's Gloves

Lm found a pair of Grandpa's work gloves and he had to wear them around the house the rest of the day, even while watching his Elmo video!

Then Lk of course wanted to have his own pair and he took the ones his grandpa uses for his work gloves so they are a little worn and dirty, but he didn't care.

Maybe one day they will be out working on the farm like their grandpa!

Future's So Bright...

...we gotta wear shades!

And Lk got ahold of Grandpa's shoes, put them on, and walked around in them all evening.

I've got 2 crazy cats!

Catholic Friends Who’ve Dumped Me

When I first moved back here from the east coast, I’d been gone for 5 years and only had two friends in the area anymore from childhood, so I joined a local YA Catholic group and met some new people. Over the years it was a group of maybe 15 of us who got together on a regular basis. Some got married and I went to their weddings, people’s house parties, hosted a few gatherings myself, etc. This went on frequently for about 10 years.

After I got pregnant though, that was the end of that. Sure, I could chalk it up to the fact that I had less in common with those people after I had kids, since ironically out of everyone in the group, including the 7 who got married, I’m the only one who has had children. (To be a by-the-book-Catholic, you’ve more or less got to either have no kids or 10 of them). But, out of all the baptismal invitations and announcements that I sent out to them, only one person (who’d been a friend since childhood and who I almost asked to be godmother of one of the boys) sent me a card. None of them came to the baptism.

Since then, I’ve seen the one childhood friend only 3 times though I know she drives past my house often to visit her parents. The last visit was a year and a half ago. She’s the only one I’m really disappointed in.

I sent out a flurry of Christmas cards this year in one last attempt and to see if I’d get any back from them, but nope! Not a one! This week I got a strange email from one person in the group who wrote that he had not heard from me in some time; just one sentence that sounded accusatory to me. So I wrote back that it was because he’d never bothered to respond, and left it at that. It’s like a weight off me because now I am DONE trying.

Ironically my parents friends have been much nicer; they’ve even surprised me with gifts for the kids and cards, all showed up at the baptism. It’s the same way at my parish, nearly all the women my age are cold toward me but the older ones are super sweet. I guess it’s less of a risk when it’s not peer-to-peer.

My kids mean so much to me that I would not trade them for anyone, so I really haven’t let it bother me too much.

Favorite Things

I'm always receiving "get to know you" chain emails that I never answer so here's my attempt at something like it. I am tagging Jenn, Aimee, Nat, Susan, Rita and Heather on these questions.

FAVORITE TOP 5 NOVELS: The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell (a powerful tetralogy that tells the same story from 4 viewpoints), The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

FAVORITE SHORT STORIES: The Premonition by Joyce Carol Oates (very chilling—told in third person limited narrative by the brother of a family experiencing domestic violence); Why The Sky Turns Red When The Sun Goes Down by Ryan Hardy (a futuristic couple agonize over their beloved robotic son, who has begun to experience mechanical breakdowns).

FAVORITE POEM: Sheep in Fog by Sylvia Plath

FAVORITE SONG: Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones and The Sun Always Shines on TV by Ah-Ha

FAVORITE CONCERT ATTENDED: Roxette (yes, I’m a nerd)

FAVORITE ARTISTS: Rembrandt, Degas, Edward Hopper, Seurat, Rodin, van Gogh, Andrew Wyeth (RIP), Gauguin (the Tahiti years)

FAVORITE MOVIES: Interview with the Vampire (the historical aspect), Elizabeth (1998 Cate Blanchett version), Titanic, Juno, Husbands and Wives (Woody Allen)

FAVORITE TV SHOW OF ALL TIME: Cheers

FAVORITE FOODS: seafood and steak

FAVORITE VACATION: to Greece, it was amazingly beautiful

FAVORITE SPORT: none really, but baseball is the most palatable

FAVORITE TIME OF DAY: crawling in to bed at night

FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK: Saturday

FAVORITE HOBBIES: anything related to literature, music or art

Mad Caps

I know two little boys who love to steal their grandpa's hats and run around with them all over the house. Sometimes they will fight over a certain one. Last night it was the blue, but finally Lk gave in and let his brother have it.

And Mr. Serious...

11 days

When I came to work on Monday Jan. 5, after 11 days in a row at home with my boys, I hung up my coat, plopped down in my chair, and thought, “Whew! Now I can relax.”

No kidding, even my toughest day at the office does not compare to the easiest day at home with L&L. They really keep me hopping! The weather was so frigid that only 2 of the days was it warm enough to take them outside. Then it took 1/2 hour--no joke--to get their gear on: hats, double layers, coats, shoes, gloves, etc. They didn't want to wait for me to get all MY gear on, so I let ‘em run out by themselves for 2 minutes while I quickly put my coat and boots on--BIG mistake, as I heard screaming when I went out the door and found Lm stuck in a small ditch near the cornfield where he had covered himself head to toe in mud.

You know those prairie women who used to go crazy living in the Plains in winter? I was nearing that point.

The second day I was able to take them outside, went a little better...

L&L built their first snowman!

Lm lost his glove...

It was a proud Mommy moment when we put in the raisin eyes and carrot nose, even though it ended up looking a little phallic.

I tried to schedule at least one "activity" per day to keep my guys busy. Grandma bought them Play-doh for their birthday they hadn't opened yet, so we got that out.

Lk preferred to just lump all the different colors together in a large pile...

Notice they had to have their new tractors in sight at all times. Lk has his tractor with him always, except the bathtub. He eats with his tractor on his tray, holds it in the car, and carries it everywhere.

On Tue the 30th, I convinced my mom to go with us to the Children's Museum. There was a line out the door and the place was packed. I'm claustrophobic and can’t stand to be anywhere that’s crowded, so it was a very stressful 3 hours for me. The nice thing is that the boys really did enjoy themselves, even though they had to wait to play with a lot of the activities. Lm got so excited that he was running and accidentally did a somersault on the floor.

My two pilots...

They had a TON of activities there and we must go back, when there are about a thousand less people there on the same day.

Grandma watches gamely in the background.

"Here, Gah-mah!" says Lk.

"Buh-bye!"

I stopped taking pics at the museum, but they played a long time on the play kitchen, taking pots and pans out and "cooking" many meals, putting bottles in drawers. They do this at home too of course, but this time they didn't have to hear me nagging them to quit. One of them spilled their milk all over my cellphone in the diaper bag so I had to buy a new one the next day! Mom and I were thoroughly exhausted after the museum day and lunch, but my guys were so pumped up they wouldn't take a nap. If only Valium were sold over the counter!

L&L must have enjoyed their holiday, because they were upset when Monday rolled around. Sunday night, Lm woke up three times crying. The next morning when I put my coat on, he sobbed and threw himself around my legs so I would not leave. Lk was so mad that he kept saying, “I want Gah-mah,” and wouldn’t acknowledge me.

Now they are happy and settled in to the old routine. Lm was so eager to leave the house today that he did a somersault down the steps. They are wooden and he has 2 goose eggs on his head, my poor baby! I just held and coddled him as long as I could, gave him some ibuprofin and an icepack for daycare to apply.

My Monkeys

Over the weekend, Lk had the grand idea of taking all the pots and pans lids from the drawer under the stove and putting them all in his high chair. Once he piled them all up, his work was done for the day.



The man and his handiwork...

We had a pretty good weekend. Lm is talking a lot now! He loves stars especially, and every time he sees one, he points and says, "That's a star!" Maybe for their birthday this summer I will try to make a giant star cake or cookie for them. I made sugar cookies in the shape of stars yesterday and they love those. I have to keep them hidden in a tin way up high, as these guys are very agile and will do just about anything to get to them. "Right there!" Lm will point at the tin and shout. "Over there! Stars!"

Over the Christmas holiday, my mom had made little plates of fudge and cherry mash and other candies for friends and neighbors. She lined all the plates up in the bay window of her living room so that she'd have them ready when people showed up at the door. Well, one day she found Lk hiding behind the recliner with his face covered in chocolate, a piece of fudge in each hand, and the plate totally ransacked. Caught red handed! Naturally, he didn't eat his dinner that night...

Tomorrow I'll post more about our 11 days "vacation" over Christmas. Still recovering from that many days home with the kiddos!