Monday, November 15, 2010

The new car

So last week before Matt left for Las Vegas the check engine light went on in the Malibu. When I found out what the code was for the light we knew it was time to get a new car. So while Matt was in Vegas I checked the internet to find out what might be one of the best cars available with great gas mileage on the highway under $20,000. It turned out to be the Honda Civic. So Saturday after Matt confirmed my research he set out to make a deal on some new wheels.

In the meantime it was such a beautiful day I couldn't let it go to waste and decided it was a perfect day to put the Christmas lights on our front tree. I got out the big big steel ladder that I swear is going to kill me one day because it is so heavy to push it straight up. I finally got it near the top of the tree so I could start there. John and James were available to help out a little while Tommy and Patrick rested. When I got up there I was wondering how am I going to get the lights to go around to the sides without having to move the ladder 3 or 4 times. So I remembered that we have one of those grabber things with the suction cups at the end in the van so when on trips I can pass drinks and snacks to the back seat. John went & fetched that. In no time at all the top part was finished and it was time to put away the big ladder and get out the 6 foot step ladder. Around the tree the ground is not level so it is key to find a good spot to put the ladder. I still needed to go pretty high on the ladder. So when I was nervous about going to the next step I told John and James "Ok, here is the deal. John if I fall and my eyes aren't open go across the street and get the neighbor. Then I made the boys pray "Please do not let Mom fall". We successfully put the rest of the lights on without me falling. It turns out the tree grew and we needed some more lights on the bottom. I bought some a while ago at BJ's. It turns out they were size C6 and I needed C9. James proudly pointed out that if I turned the box upside down it makes a 9. If only I could do that with the lights.

Matt came home shortly after with a sporty looking Honda Civic LX. It is really nice and we now don't have to worry about him getting to and from work.

Yesterday at the kids religion class they talked about prayer. In James class when it was his turn to say what he prays for he said "that my mom does not fall off the ladder when putting up the Christmas lights". My friend who was in the class with her son said it was really sweet. I'm impressed he wasn't praying for Star Wars Legos!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

The Business Trip

So this week Matt is on a business trip to Las Vegas for work. Because his car's "check engine" light went on we decided that I would drive and pick him up from the airport. So yesterday afternoon Tommy, Patrick, Matt and I headed out to the airport. Patrick was complaining about the sun being in his eyes so we told him to go to sleep even though we know he hasn't been taking naps lately. We weren't even to the freeway and he was out and not much longer Tommy was out. We ran into some traffic which made us crawl for a bit but eventually got Matt to the airport in plenty of time. When we get to the airport Patrick wakes up for some reason and not far from home Tommy woke up too. Ok so if your doing math at home that is not a long nap for Patrick which is ok but even shorter for Tommy which could make things crazy later. I was most concerned about keeping them entertained so I could focus on homework with John and James. When we got home Tommy said "Where's Daddy?" Umm we just took him to the airport while you were sleeping?? When the boys got home from school we called Matt who was still waiting for his flight so the boys would have a chance to say goodnight. I guess that went well but our boys are not much talkers when it comes to the phone. We made it through the evening without too many more questions about where is Daddy.

So this morning the boys actually sleep in since this time change took effect. I was pleased. Then they come down and start asking "Where's Daddy?" me - in Las Vegas. Patrick in Downtown Cleveland? No Las Vegas. James - did he sleep in his car? Me no in a hotel. I then showed them on the weather map in the newspaper where Matt was compared to where we are.

When we return from picking Patrick up we pull the car in the garage. Matt's car is there. Patrick says "Daddy's Home" Nope Las Vegas. Remember we took him to the airport yesterday because his car is broke and he will probably get a new one this weekend? Patrick - he should get purple, Tommy - no black.

Sometimes I feel like I am in the movie Groundhog's Day.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Halloween Fun

So as the week built up to Halloween the boys were excited but still a little nervous. I bought glow sticks so they wouldn't be afraid of the dark. I offered to take them for a walk so they could see our neighbors houses in the daylight. Costumes were ready. Finally Halloween arrived. It is 6:30am still pitch black out. Patrick is already requesting to go to the neighbors house across the street. I say sure, if they are home. He immediately opens our shutters and looks across the street for any light on. We come home from church. The questions begin - is it time yet?? no. After nap. Is it time yet? no we still need to eat. Finally it is 5:25pm and it is time to start to get layered up. We snap a few pictures in the front yard and the kids cooperated fairly well. They already ditched their masks so they could see ok. We went to the neighbors across the street before Trick or Treat began so we didn't have to try and cross with the extra Halloween traffic of imports coming from other cities. We come back after a nice visit and we light the glow sticks. The kids are running around the yard. Is it time yet? Tommy goes back inside claiming he is already cold. The wind was brutal. Finally it is time. We start at the house across from us. Then we go down the street one house with lights on at a time. When the kids were nervous we just skipped the house. Patrick had no fear on most houses and was first in line. Tommy was usually last and near the end the bag was so heavy that I was carrying it along with the masks. We made our way back up to our house. With bags full of goodies and cold hands. The boys are excited to see Matt again and to begin their duty of shouting out and inviting anyone and everyone to our house for candy. Patrick and Tommy immediately wanted to go in the house to warm up and start eating the candy. After I checked their bags they had a few pieces. It is tradition for the fire trucks / ambulance / or police cars to come around the neighborhood with candy for the kids. John and James announced that the fire truck was making its way down our street. I got Tommy and Patrick bundled up again and we waited on our tree lawn for the truck to come. Finally I realized it was our mayor and a fire fighter on the bumper of the truck with a sucker. The boys all got a good look at the truck and a sucker. The truck left and Tommy was very disappointed. He was crying and crying as he went into the house. Apparently he thought a ride came along with the candy. Sorry buddy that is not the case. We got in our jammies and watched Scared Shrekless for the 10th time in 24 hours and the boys were off to bed with sweet candy filled dreams. The highlight of my night was when John said "I never thought it would be so much fun!"

Thursday, October 14, 2010

When it rains it pours

The stomach flu has hit our house this week. It was one of those things where you hope it was just one child and maybe yourself out of sympathy and that was enough suffering. Turns out we were not so lucky. Yesterday after dinner, Tommy became the next victim and then later in the evening it was Patrick. Right now John and Matt are the lucky ones and hopefully with them not being around it as much as I have they will escape this nasty bug. Yesterday I was lucky enough to clean more of Tommy's room in preparation for my parents visit next Monday. When Patrick went down ill, I pulled down a cot mattress and made Tommy's room a medical ward that way I didn't have to keep running up and down the stairs if Patrick got sick again. Needless to say it was not a restful night for me. It was nice that we did not have to be anywhere so I could rest on the couch and then get up to take care of things here and there. I would like to think we are almost out of the woods but I'm not so sure. Tommy hasn't had much of an appetite and I think James' appetite is coming back.

Yesterday John came home from school with a big grin on his face. You would think he won the lottery or something. Turns out he did in a way as he lost another tooth. I'm so glad a few more are starting to drop because it front teeth are looking a little funny and they need the two next to them to grow in so they can be pushed closer together. I'm not sure if John is OCD or just very detail oriented. He made not to us this morning that the tooth fairy put the dollar bill in the top right corner and not in the center like normal. Also the dollar was folded differently than before. I told him it must have been a substitute. I'm also thinking this under the pillow thing is for the birds and he should leave his tooth out on the kitchen table so we don't have to worry about such details.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Good Times Good Times

Yes I am quickly realizing that I no longer have little babies but little boys who don't even think twice about jumping into mud puddles when they are playing a soccer game. Boys that start playing a pickup football game not caring about falling on the wet ground therefore having wet muddy knees and muddy coat. Boys who really want to buy a school lunch and apparently did one day without my knowing - lucky for him the cashier was not the normal one who would question why he wasn't buying milk like he has done several days in a row. Boys who tell me they know their penis is "the best part" (don't ask me how they know this) but would still like it cut off so they don't get pee on their leg or on their toes. Boys who like to ask a question and then constantly follow it up with "why?" Boys constantly telling me they need a snack. Boys who think we can just go see Dancing With the Stars like its in Downtown Cleveland.

At least the boys are still little enough to think its fun to dance together or give their mommy kisses and tell her that they love her. At least they still little enough to sit on my lap and warm up under a blanket. Yes - these are good times!

Monday, September 20, 2010

School Memories

Last week was a great week for the kids with school. James did not complain once about going to school and John came home with school work that made me laugh. Tuesday John came home with a paper that was testing their comprehension of a story. Apparently the story had something to do with rules and following them. The last question was to think of rules you have at home and list one of them. John's response was "Do not use bad words". The very next day John had a paper that had a list of words that had the ending -all. You had to fill in the blanks with these words. When John gets something wrong I look at it to see if I can explain what went wrong and also to see if I can understand his thinking. He got two sentences wrong. The first sentence that was wrong that I looked at was "That man had a lot of ________" John selected the words balls. At this point I'm laughing hard on the inside then I look up to see the word he should have used. The correct answer was gall. I knew he didn't know what gall meant. When I asked him, he said - Mom, "That man has a lot of ball" doesn't make sense, I don't get it. I said the correct answer is gall. He said I didn't know what that meant, I thought it was a fish (like seagull). Now I understand why he put gall in the sentence "That man kicked the ______ in the net". Part of me wants to know what the teacher thought when she read his paper especially how John wrote not to use bad words at home the day before.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Having Fun

I don't know who is enjoying Patrick being in school more - me or him. It has been so nice to have just Tommy around. What is really great is Tommy is not at all clinging to me like I thought he would. He is a happy little guy playing by himself and using his imagination. Just like I figured he doesn't complain when I want to go to a store to look.

Patrick seems like he is enjoying school. I think he likes interacting with the other children. Because of school he seems to have fun playing with other children when we go to parks and is not shy.

I know he LOVES playing on his soccer team. Yesterday when we were walking to his game he was skipping down the street singing and being happy in his super large soccer uniform. It was so cute to watch. He is doing very well too. He hasn't scored a goal on his own where he kicks it in. He kicked a ball last night and another girl on his team pushed it in the goal with her hands. Either way he skips back to the middle of the field to get ready to play again.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Letting go

Tomorrow is a big day in our house. Patrick will be starting 3 year old preschool. It's hard to believe his social and school career is starting. Patrick is very much happy about being a big kid. He has been asking "When is it my turn to start school/" just about every day for the last two weeks. We met his teachers and dropped off supplies on Tuesday. The teacher had the kids listen to a story about going to preschool. It was so fun to observe Patrick sitting and listening to someone else read a story and answer their questions.

This weekend we watched movies of when James and Patrick were babies just learning to either crawl or walk. It seems like a lifetime ago when they were babies. I have very much enjoyed this new stage in our lives without strollers and 3 different sizes of diapers in the diaper bags. A little of me is sad too. Thank goodness Tommy still loves to cuddle with me.

Tommy will have some adjusting to do. I'm pretty sure he thinks he and Patrick are twins and whatever Patrick gets to do, so does Tommy. It will be nice having some time with just Tommy to run errands and hopefully do a few fun things before the weather gets cold. When I go out with just Patrick and Tommy now it feels like they are my 2nd family with John and James being my 1st family.

We are now letting go of summer and beginning Fall. I am now wondering if the jeans I have fit everyone not only in the waist but in length too. Oh yea and do I have enough. I love shorts - have enough of them and I don't have to worry about length!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Summer is winding down

It is hard to believe we will be meeting John's teacher tonight and dropping off his school supplies. The 8 weeks of swimming lessons went by so fast. I don't think I ever had the feeling like we have been doing this forever - maybe because this year I did not have to get a stroller out of the trunk! John passed to level 4 in swimming and James and Patrick know how to swim the front float and some back float. They both are not afraid of jumping in the water. Tommy isn't either and he hasn't been to a lesson yet.

Last week John and James went to Bible School. They enjoyed it very much. As always the closing concert on Friday evening was jammed pack with family members watching their loved ones sing songs they learned from the week. I'm actually enjoying the post concert as we continue to play the CD in the car. I hear both boys sing the songs.

This being the last week of summer, I've jammed pack the week with fun for one last time. Monday we went to the Farmpark and Captains game at night. Tuesday James had bus safety class at school and in the evening I took them to Cleveland Browns Training Camp. They seemed to enjoy watching it. I was a little disappointed we couldn't be a little closer to the action. We ran into two areas of heavy traffic and that delayed us. Not to mention I needed to stop and put gas in the car and then we needed a potty break at a gas station. We finally parked the car and walked down the street to the practice field. I can't believe Tommy never complained because I know I was walking fast trying to get to the practice. He was probably happy to be out of the car after being in it for over an hour. Yesterday I took the boys to the Zoo in the morning and the Lake County Fair last night. They enjoyed looking at most of what the fair had to offer. Patrick did not appreciate getting to close to the cows that were laying down. They did like the caged birds - turkey and chicken. Of course they loved the rides. We were lucky one ride worker was in a generous mood because he let the boys ride 2 rides for free (without giving up our tickets) The last ride was very cool. It was a line of trucks linked together like a train. The lady let the kids ride for 3 or 4 minutes. They all wanted to do a fast pitch game which I nixed because I didn't want to blow all the $ I brought with me. Today was "get ready for school" day. The boys got haircuts, we bought jeans for John and James, and everyone got tennis shoes. They probably can start the school year in their old shoes but the store had buy one get one half off and then I had a 20% coupon to use on top of it. So I got 4 pairs of tennis shoes for $60. James talked me into some non-tying shoes which then led to John getting some non-tying shoes. They have elastic shoe laces. Both promised to continue to practice tying shoe laces. James' are pretty cool as they are Star Wars. John used to not untie his shoes half the time so I figured might as well be able to get the non-tying ones too. I'm not sure what is on tap for tomorrow in the morning. I am thinking Penitentiary Glen and then in the evening we have another Captains game.

Our Fall is going to be another busy sports filled time. James and Patrick are in soccer. Both have enjoyed practices so far. They should be starting games in 2 weeks. John is going to play Fall Baseball. Games so far look to be Saturday mornings. He will play double headers. First game at 9am and the next at 11am. I hope he doesn't get too burned out but he has had a month off. I'm not sure how long they will play. I'm guessing maybe to the beginning of Oct? That will put a wrinkle into their leisurely Saturday mornings.

Patrick will start school the Tuesday after Labor Day. I think he is anxious to go and see his classroom. They moved the location of the preschool to be in the same building as the K-8 kids. I'm anxious to see how drop off will go. I just got the bus schedules for John and James and they moved up their pick up time by 3 minutes. I'm definitely going to have to have my act together 3 days a week.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

This is one HOT Summer!

We hit the pool or splash park a lot this week because it has been so hot. Poor James had a terrible accident at swim lessons on Thursday. His swim teacher wraps him & Patrick up in their towels. When they get close to me they get excited and started to run. I just finished saying walk when James lost his balance and fell face first. His hands were under his towel so he couldn't use them to break the fall. He face is pretty scratched up. Because we are going to the pool it seems to be healing fairly quickly.

I can't get over how well all the boys are doing in their swimming lessons. James & Patrick both can do the front float and they are now working on their back float. In the beginning of summer they were afraid to jump in but now there is no fear of that. Tommy still has no fear of jumping in but likes me to catch him. John is just amazing to watch when he does the front crawl or elementary backstroke. Two more weeks and lessons are over. Its hard to believe!

John is going to be in the city's Swim Show again. James said he didn't want to and I wouldn't let Patrick. Its a long night so I'm fine with their decisions.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Apparently size matters

Well - at least to Patrick. For the past month he keeps asking me either before or after him using the bathroom or the tub if he has a big penis. I tell him its the perfect size for a little boy now leave it alone! He has even bragged to his brothers that he has a big penis. Gosh, can't wait till he hits puberty!

In other news.. Baseball season is wrapping up. James had his last game last night and John is almost finished with their season ending tournament. John's team made it to the championship where they will play at Captains Stadium. I think more than anything he is really excited about playing on their field. I regret not asking for a new coach for James this year. Not once did they play catch before a game. She really didn't have much control over the kids. I don't think James got to be the home run hitter once but he got to play first base almost every game. I really have to think about putting Patrick in t-ball. I think he will enjoy the social aspect but hope that he will learn a little bit about the game. James is to move up to baseball next year and I'm not sure how ready he is. It will definitely be a learning experience for him.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

John going off the dive

He did this on Wednesday and then Thursday when I didn't have my phone he did a cannon ball! Friday he wouldn't do the cannon ball again so I couldn't film it.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The joy of raising boys - not!

Let me tell you how much summer fun I was having yesterday. After swimming lessons Patrick & James inform me they both have to go the bathroom before I know it they are running into the boys room which was great for me. They both finish and because they had on a wet suit they came out with their pants around their ankles just like they would if they were at home looking for some help. I had to explain that not everyone wants to see their privates. So then we headed to the other park in the city that has the Splash Park. We have fun and before we leave Patrick has to use the bathroom again. Before I know it he is in the boys room again. Fine. I open the door - Patrick anyone in hear with you? No. What's this? he asks me. Don't touch it. He continues to ask so at this point I need to be in there with him so he doesn't touch it - too late. Patrick its something to make it not stink in here. He pees and wants to touch it AGAIN!! No Patrick don't touch. Let's wash our hands. Yea me!

The good news from this week is John gained enough courage to jump off the low dive in 12 feet of water. It took 3 days but he did it. He is doing amazing at swimming the pool. I'm quite impressed with his backstroke. James & Patrick are actually getting along great. They have a different teacher than James had last year and I can see they are enjoying it a lot. She is getting them to go under water a lot of times. Tommy has become more attached to me. He won't put anything in the garbage can for me. I think he would rather be with his brothers but for now he's my baby.

Friday, May 21, 2010

James, James, James

As I mentioned earlier this week, James turned 5. He had a wonderful birthday full of presents and love. On Tuesday I sat him down to start writing thank you notes an idea he rejected. So I said we only have to one a day to help ease the pain. I want him to practice both capital and lower letters but I was getting a lot of resistence so I said fine write in all caps. That helped move things along for us. I am here to write things I noticed. First, James will write with either his left or right hand. His right hand writing is much better. Hopefully this left hand habit will leave or come in handy should he break his right hand. Second, he thinks of a story for EVERY letter you tell him to write. L – Luke from school, O – Owen from school, V – Olivia from school, E – Just like me. Then he would throw in a few jokes when I would tell him to write a “u” he would reply “no you”. When he focused on writing and not associating a letter with something we were moving and grooving otherwise it was like I had to hit him upside the head to refocus his attention. Luckily he has his 5 year old check up Tuesday so I can talk to the Doctor about it. Not sure if this is a sign of ADHD or just a 5 year old’s mind wandering. He doesn’t know yet about the doctors appointment. I don’t want him to start fretting about the shots he is about to get. There will be plenty of time for that later. I am planning on James and John doing some sort of school related thing during the summer. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week so they retain what they learned and continue to improve.

Monday, May 17, 2010

It's been a long time

I can't believe how long it has been since I had an entry. I have been microblogging with Twitter. Sometimes its just easier to write down a few thoughts on the go rather than finding time to sit down at the computer to type.

Today is James' 5th birthday! He was up at 4:50am with birthday excitement and the need to use the bathroom. I remember the adrenaline rush I felt after he was born after spending the whole night in labor. Needless to say I wasn’t feeling the same rush especially after Patrick was up at 5am .
I can’t believe I’m about to type this but I think Patrick decided he wants to be a big boy. It started off last week by him using the bathroom more and more. He has been in underwear for just one day and he has had no accidents. I signed him up for swimming lessons that start in July but if this keeps up I think I will see if they have room for him when the lessons start in June!
John had Opening Day for his baseball league on Saturday. The league had everyone go to Classic Park for player introductions, the National Anthem, and a baloon launch. It was a very neat experience. We then had his first game at the ballfield in our city.
Tommy is making a funny noise that we are not sure what prompted it but it cracks us up. Matt got it on video. Speaking of videos I was looking at some old ones when James was a baby and John was 2 or 3. I was tearing up at how cute they were and how I miss having a little baby. I don’t miss it enough to have another one but it was nice to enjoy them when they were little. It was also funny to see Patrick and Tommy’s reaction when they weren’t there!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

A good quote

This was too funny not to mention - While I was doing the dishes tonight and John was eating dinner he said when I get older I'm going to be hurt alot. I said not if you take care of your body. He said - well look at the Keough's - their knees and this house. Tommy caught his hands on fire. No John he burnt his hands on something that was hot - but I could see how he would think this. I'm still laughing on the inside.

A light at the end of the tunnel??

Yesterday - Patrick had his BEST potty training day ever. He was so close to a perfect day. I even had him on the potty one more time before he went to bed. He had one accident after he went upstairs but told Matt he pooped his pants and can't go to school yet. Today again another great day but he didn't tell me he had to go and pooped his pants. I'm so encouraged that he is getting it. On Sunday I finally got the kid a pooping prize one that he could cherish and I take away when he doesn't comply. Today he doesn't seem to be missing it that much but he sure enjoyed it yesterday!

Today was a lot of fighting. Tommy is getting older and wanting to do what the kids do and now Wii is one of those things. It makes it difficult because he doesn't have the skills to do anything but shake the remote. I'm so enjoying the peace that nap time brings. John had an early release day and is over a friends house so it is quiet.

Speaking of John, ever since I got a Cavs jersey he has been wanting one. I got him one on Sunday and he was so excited he wanted to know when he could wear it. I said let's see when the Cavs play again & you can wear it on that day. It turned out they play tonight so it gave me a chance to wash it. Last night John asked me if he could get dressed after he got up and went the bathroom - something he never does! I said - yes. It must have felt like Christmas eve for him as he was up around 5:30am and he was dressed shortly there after. He can't wait until he can wear it again. The Cavs play Thursday but he'll have to wait until Saturday (their next game after that)!

This afternoon I had the boys work on signing their names on their Valentine cards for their class. Poor James - you think his name was a mile long - he can't fit it into the little spot and every letter is capitalized - I think I'll end writing his name for him!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Winter Blues

I don't know if it is because we are inside more than not but the kids are acting very spoiled. It has been very frustrating for them to play with toys and then just leave them. When I ask them to pick them up I get a no. This is starting to wear on my patience - big time. Today at lunch Tommy decided to play Cookie Monster with his Cheez Its and had them all over the floor. That boy is going to start learning how to stand in time out - the problem is - I have to stand there to make sure he doesn't move delaying the clean up process which frustrates me further. I'm starting to cut back their Wii time because some days it just makes them mean and nasty if they don't get their way. How many more days until Spring??

Monday, January 11, 2010

Happy New Year!

I survived the holidays. Christmas Eve was a little rough as I started to assemble Legos at 9:30 when we thought everyone was down for the night but wait - its John - mister bladder of steel - needing to go one more time as Mom was in the process of dumping Legos everywhere to assemble. His set took me over an hour - maybe an hour and a half and when I was finished I knew it wasn't right I had to move onto the next set for James. James set was a little easier and I had Matt assemble a few parts as it was 3 different assemblies. It was finished at midnight. The kids slept in pretty good. It was 6:15 until Patrick came down and then we got everyone up. Once everyone used the bathroom and the cameras were ready the big boys took off for the presents and well Patrick - took off for the refridgerator for his OJ and milk. Tommy was up when Patrick got up but soon fell back to sleep in our bed but once we woke him up again - he enjoyed his toys.

New Years was fun even though most of the kids had a head cold. We celebrated at noon with party hats, poppers and noise makers. In the evening John stayed up until 10:30. I took a great 2 hour nap andwoke up in time to see the ball drop.

John spent all of his Christmas gift card money except for one store. I'm happy for him because he got a Wii game that he is really enjoying and now I don't have to feel bad when we go to the store and the boys get stuff and he doesn't. The other boys have yet to spend much or any of their money. The weather and theirs and my colds have kept us hibernated. We are all feeling better so I am hoping we can get out tomorrow. I know they will make things challenging just getting coats and boots on but hopefully once we are out they will have fun.