Some New Pictures of My Girl

Here is Norah with Nana and her Godmother, Kelly. We celebrated her baptism on November 15th. She didn't take kindly to the devil being cast out of her. She squawked for most of the mass, and tried to dive in the baptismal font. 'Atta girl!

Sadly Delayed in Posting

After suffering a bit of a post election deflation, I'm finally coming down from the high. The past two months have been crazy. I am finishing up my teaching schedule in about three weeks, I'm starting a new part time job this week, and I am gearing up half heartily for Christmas. I'd really like to boycott Christmas altogether. I heard a good line recently, "Christmas needs us to spend like pregnancy needs us to eat." I spent three weekends including Thanksgiving in Indy this past month-it has been a long time since I've made that many trips to visit family. The cousins are all growing up together.

We finally got around to baptizing this beautiful baby girl a few weeks ago on November 15th. She is after all quickly approaching her first birthday. To all those who have been wondering what has happened to me....she's what.

I am always thinking of jobs that I'd pay people for if I had money, and today I thought of a wonderful gig for someone with elfin spirit-The holiday decorator. Wouldn't it be nice to come home have all of your decorations put out and the boxes put back away in the cobwebby basement? I would seriously pay money for someone to hang lights and not have to hear my husband curse at the Christmas tree stand and threaten to throw the tree out the window.

Anybody up for the task?

Get Out and Vote

One week from today we will have a new president of the United States. Please God, let it be Barack Obama. Let this country heal, let our nation be lead by intelligence, competence, respect for humanity, and diplomacy.

A few weeks ago I took all three kids to see Obama along with 20,000 other Cincinnati residents. We saw old, young, black and white waving flags and being proud of their country...feeling hope in our future.

We have a nation in transition. We have a world full of evil. But we also have the promise of a nation that has the power to do good things in the world.

Get out and vote. Help someone else to get to the polls.

Peace.

Leaf Flurries

The gorgeous days of early fall are here with their vibrant hues of orange, red, purple and gold. Already it is mid-October. I've been holed up in my house for the past two months grading papers and taking care of my new teaching responsibilities after going back to work as an adjunct in the English Dept. at Northern Kentucky University. I've never felt pulled in so many different directions. I have my three babies at home to watch over and feed and nurture, then what feels like my 60 babies to teach, remind, assess, respond to, and redirect. Somehow I imagined that teaching would be this perfect part time fit for me; I could not have been further from the truth.
But we're hanging in there. John has really stepped up and taken on a lot more around the house and with the kids. He's morning carpool driver, chief lunch packer, and cooks dinner at least two nights a week.
The fall has also brought new challenges for the kids. Julia has started playing soccer and has about 3 games left to her season. For a kid whose never played a team sport before, I think she's been amazing. She's typically cautious on the field, but she's made contact with the ball and even made a few assists. Plus she's just so darn cute out there in that royal blue Nativity Kings uniform with that strawberry blond ponytail blowing in the breeze. She has a look on her face that is a cross between concentration and fear, as though she is praying, "please don't let the ball come my way." I remember similar prayers as an outfielder when a heavy hitter would step up to bat.
Ian, too, has taken to the field playing in an instructional soccer league called Ken-Sil. He plays on a 4 and 5 year old team and though they've yet to actually play a "game", they seem to have a lot of fun just doing drills. He waves at me wildly from the group making sure that I saw his kick or stops mid-run to ask, "can I go climb that tree over there?" He has entered a whole new stage of his life that exists outside of our home; school, sports, friends. He is growing up so fast. Just today I noticed this little box of blocks he hasn't played with in such a long time. My heart just tightened at remembering his little hands on those blocks and how big he seems in comparison to them now. This is what people should think about when they are rushing around to fold laundry and clean kitchens, that there are only so many afternoons they'll want you to get down on the floor and build miniature villages out of those little blocks.
Oh, but thank God for little Norah...one last chance to get it right! She is so fast and nosey! She is climbing up and down stairs (though not well enough to allow me to exhale once in awhile). She dumps over art projects and destroys Lego cars that took days to build. She piles mardi gras beads around her neck and crawls from room to room jabbering away, dragging her beads behind her. She has these two adorable, unbelievably sharp baby teeth with which she regularly reaches out to bite you. Despite her miniature size, she eats at least as much as the two older kids, if not more. She bangs her fists and demands more spaghetti before anyone else has even sat down! We think she went straight from breast milk to a taco. She's my pal, and we've got ourselves a little rhythm now.
Life is full, and we are blessed. This is a mantra I have to continually remind myself of in these trying times. I turn on the radio or news and I'm bombarded with all there is to fear in the world; money problems, job insecurity, health care woes, and it is hard not to be overwhelmed by these things. I have to just keep looking at my little family to realize that if we have each other, we can take care of the rest.

Look Who's Forty!!

Check out this handsome devil. He doesn't look a day over 21! What a hotty!

John turned 40 on September 20th. He survived his 30's with me...

Norah The Explorer

At 8 months old Norah is quite a character. She is a lightening fast crawler and as you can see gets into everything including cabinets.

We've all had a dose of typical Cincinnati summer this week with temperatures and humidity in the 90's. Ian is loving kindergarten and we get lots of details about who has what kind of lunch box or who had to sit in the quiet chair "thinking about their mistakes." Why don't I have a quiet chair?

John is off on the golf trip this weekend, and Julia will have her first soccer game with only one practice under her belt.

I've just finished watching Failin' Palin giving her fear speech to the whiteys at the GOP convention. I am planning my escape should the Gimp and the Barracuda take over our country.

School Days

Thought you would like to see a couple of shots of Julia and Ian starting school. Let me know if you have any trouble checking out these or other posts.

I have to say they look pretty cute in those little uniforms. They seem very happy. Julia has decided to play soccer (yes, she does know there's a ball involved). We're going to have the baby baptized in October. We realize that she's going to be 10 months old then, but she is little so its okay.

Bathing Beauties

Look at these bathing beauties scrubbing off the dirt and grime of a church festival. We've had a long, long week. Julia and Ian started a new school, I went back to teaching after a glorious spring and summer at home with my children, and Norah got two new teeth perfect for biting and keeping her up at night. Why is it that babies seem to have a 6th sense about change or work that needs to be done so they decide to pick that time to wake up all night and need to be held all day...jeepers. So we survived the week, I got through the handing out of syllabi and the first reading and writing assignments. The children seem to love their new school, and we all had a blast at the fall festival. I will be happy to never hear the words "tickets" and "webkinz" again for a good long time. Cross your fingers that we win one of the baskets that we put many chances in to win (a grill for John, the Ruthie American Girl for Julia, the relaxation products for me). Happy Labor Day!

The Dressings Get Dressed Up

Here we are at TJ's wedding. Don't we look smashing? We all had a lot of fun. It was Julia and Ian's first wedding. They danced like crazy all night. It was one of those weddings where everything is just as you expect it; the chicken breast and pork on the buffet, the cake, the dj's voice and the songs (all the good ones-YMCA, Old Time Rock-n-Roll, Love Shack, Electric Slide, C'Mon Ilene), not to mention the "open" bar with beer and wine. I was a little worried about going with all three kids, but the baby was wonderful. She fell asleep right as the dancing got started so she hung out in her car seat while we hit the dance floor. It was a beautiful ceremony...what I saw of it from the cry room, and a great cap to our fun summer.

So Long Summer

In typical Jayne fashion we are in the midst of change, change, change. The kids are starting a new school this fall, I'm going "back to work" teaching 3 classes, and the baby will be hanging with Grandma twice a week. We're leaving our Montessori school to test the waters of the award winning Catholic school in our neighborhood. No more 7:45am start time, no more trek across town twice a day, no more one hour bus ride for Julia. Hello Uniforms! I won't go into detail about the hideous plaid, but let's just say it could be worse (like it could be brown and orange instead of Christmas colors). We've had an amazing summer, but I admit I'm exhausted. The past 5 months have been the first time since I was 16 that I haven't' had at least one paying job. It was weird and scary, but I'm really glad that I did it in spite of my fear that we will end up with no college savings for our children and very little retirement for ourselves. I learned a lot about myself and though I may not have always seemed like it, I did really enjoy getting to see my children grow. Julia and Ian have been these amazing little helpers with Norah; I don't know what I will do without them when school starts. They play with her, keep her entertained while I start dinner or take a quick shower, and they just shower her with love, as we all do. I still can't fully believe even after 8 months that she is really ours. She is such a shining light, and as hard as it is sometimes to juggle three little peoples' needs, I am so overwhelmingly glad that she is here. The kids began working on little poster boards about their exciting summers-I'll post pictures if I can. Holy Cow, what a summer! They went to King's Island, had a lemonade stand, spent many fun days at the lake where they learned to knee board, did lots of tubing, invented all sorts of games with their cousins (golf ball racing), and helped build cardboard boats. They went to my faculty picnic where they rode ponies and watched a hot air balloon attempt to get off the ground. We watched Wall-E and the Kit movie, and Dad took them to the zoo and to a Cincinnati Reds game. We spent lots of hot days at the pool with friends, and lots of days just playing in the backyard with all our wonderful neighbors. We visited at least 5 new places in the city, and supported our local farmer's market every Monday we were in town. We planted seeds and grew tomatoes and herbs and giant sunflowers as tall as our fence. We slept in most days until 9am and some days played in our pj's until much later. We met new neighbors and gathered for potlucks to support Barack Obama and his march to the White House. We read enough stories to earn books and prizes at our library. So what's left in these last couple of days? Well, unfortunately I made the mistake of asking what one thing they would both like to do before we officially end summer. To my horror (and without hesitation) they both said, "Chucky Cheese." NOOOOOO!!!!!

We're going to hit the ground running next week as Julia jumps into 3rd grade and Ian takes the big leap to Kindergarten. All our love...

Daddy Rocks

Have you ever noticed that when dads do something routine that moms do all the time there's a lot of hype and praise around it? Like when I mention my husband making dinner while we're at soccer camp from 6-7pm it raises eyebrows among several women. "Really?", they ask, like I'm telling a joke, "does he cook often?" Yes, he does. And I want to add, he also bathes the children, picks up groceries, and vacuums (a little too often for my liking!) You'd think it was 1958 and not 2008.
But occasionally my husband really does take on a task with the kids that is surprising and worth some back patting. This weekend he took all the children, including the breastfeeding infant to the Cincinnati Zoo for the afternoon. I was worried because it was really hot, but I packed their lunches and water bottles (as I do for visits to the zoo because I say no to extra treats figuring it is already a big treat to go to the zoo). I waved goodbye and got down to business working on my class that starts in exactly three weeks.
Three hours later they returned cheeks flushed and mouths stained bright red and blue, including the baby who looked extremely jacked up on sugar. "Mom," they yelled upon entering the house, barely able to contain their excitement, "Dad took us into the Sponge Bob 4D movie at the zoo, and it was awesome!" "Yeah," they added, "and we got slushies and cotton candy!" I could tell they had been told to keep this on the down low by the way John slinked out quickly to "clean out the van." "What are those arm bands your wearing," I asked, "did you get those in the movie?" "Oh, these are for the all day passes to ride the carousel and the train," they explained. (Picture Bill Cosby doing the "Dad is great...give us chocolate cake" skit)
My mind is making the cha-ching sound and I'm thinking of all the times I have taken them to the zoo where I told them there was just a statue of Sponge Bob, but no movie. I'm thinking of how I navigate my way around the zoo to avoid the cotton candy battle, and how only once have I given in to a shared slushie. I'm ruined at the zoo; how will we ever go back to the low key experience of just checking out the gorillas and petting the goats?
But they are so thrilled I can't be angry. I guess this is what dads get to do sometimes; they get to be the fun guys, the ones who buy treats and sugary cereal and let them watch loads of t.v. Even the baby is kicking her legs wildly, seemingly not tired after this long hot day with no nap. She looks like she's just been let in on some secret about Daddy that I've been hiding. Something tells me she won't mind Monday nights while Mommy is teaching anymore.
I know (Lord do I know) that it is not easy to take them places without another adult, I do it everyday so there's a hardening to their constant barrage of requests that I am much more capable of accepting. I am grateful for the three hours of peace and quiet in the house during which I did make lots of progress on my class. Three tickets to Sponge Bob, $15, three slushies, two cotton candies and all day carousel rides, $30, one afternoon of solitude for mom, Priceless.
Later as I'm tucking them into bed, I ask them if they had fun at the zoo, and what animals did they see, but I don't get much information. They saw some elephants they say, off in the distance. "Well, Ian says thinking it over very seriously, "I did ride a giraffe on the carousel." Ah yes, of course.

The Speed of Summer

It’s hard to believe that all of June and most of July are already behind us; another summer winding its way into the blistery hot beginnings of a new school year. I think we’ve spent the better part of that time in our bathing suits as it should be. I’m not sure Ian knows what underwear is anymore and Julia’s nose looks like we sprinkled cinnamon on there. We all have the hard calloused feet of folks who don’t spend much time wearing socks and shoes…okay, shoes in general.

So far we’ve spent some glorious days at the lake, the kind of wonderful day where the big kids just make up silly games like golf ball races and the baby naps long enough for me to read and doze in the sun. Julia and Ian have both learned to knee-board and have become experts at the cannonball off the back of the boat. They’ve overcome the gross factor of swimming in the seaweed and are doing Geronimos off the peer. Norah has become an expert crawler and loves to explore the room she’s in discovering her favorite things: electrical cords, stacks of magazines, and small pieces of potato chips or marbles. We put a blanket down for her outside, but it’s no use; she doesn’t mind crawling all over the grass chasing the croquet balls and trying unsuccessfully to catch up with the dog. She loved taking a “lakey” to wash off the applesauce and vegetable mush that covers her after meals. She was not a fan of the baby life jacket, but who really enjoys being in a straight jacket?

Girl Scout camp has come and gone, but the songs remain with us still (sigh). Percy the Pale Faced Polar Bear rings in my ears as I fall asleep exhausted at night. The highlight of the week was when all the girls were gathered around preparing for lunch. One girl suggests that they do a “prayer” before eating to bless the food. Why not? She gets very serious and asks for silence. All the girls sort of get quiet and kind of bow their heads, and she begins, “Hail Mary, full of grace…blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit loop Jesus.” It was all I could do to keep a straight face. The two Jewish girls in the troop were like “what the heck is going on” and the rest of the girls just mumbled the few words they remembered.

We’re in the dog days now. I’m getting ready for a pretty big teaching gig, three classes starting in August,and the kids will be starting a new school this fall so there’s uniforms to be purchased. Just the words “back to school” give me the heeby jeebies.

As you can see from the photo we’ve eaten our weight in ice cream this summer keeping the toothless guy in the truck in business as well as the owners of Paytona Bay.

Why I Love The Lake

Okay, more on that subject later...I'm really tired, and I have a Vodka Tonic in hand so I just want to post these photos of Norah and Julie and Mallory having their little girl pool party.

Let's just say its been a long day, and it is Girl Scout Camp Week (also known as Drink Vodka Tonic Every Night Week). It is about 100 degrees in the shade, and we have to build a teepee tomorrow. I might actually do a rain dance in a few minutes.

Adios, amigas and amigos. I've got to get to bed so I can build a fire and cook over it tomorrow. IT doesn't get any better (well, okay it does because Friday is coming).

Updates on the Dressings

Our summer is off to a hot and heavy start. Typical of Cincinnati in June, it's already been 94 degrees with 100% humidity. Our air conditioner decided to ice up and basically produced no cool air for about 3 days of the hottest weather. It's cooled down now to a mere 85 so we're feeling a little better.

Julia celebrated her first communion in May, and we had a whole crowd over for the party. Let's just say the expression "it's not over till someone gets their eye poked out" will never be funny to me again.

Ian turned "5" and had a fun evening swimming with the cousins. We can't believe he's going to start Kindergarten in the fall.

John and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. Just to show how in the "thick of it" we are, we were eating our spaghetti with the kids when we both suddenly realized that it was our anniversary. So much for romance. We have vowed to do something big for our 10 year.

As of today, June 12, Norah is officially crawling. She's a mere 14 pounds and change, but she can really get around. She'll be 6 months old on the 16th...already half a year has gone by since she joined our family. She keeps me unbelievably busy. I look at couples with two children with a new kind of envy...

Here are some shots of the kids. More news later.

A Thousand Little Pieces

Wasn't that the name of a recent book? Or was that a million little pieces? I tell you what almost has million little pieces...the blasted Lego kit that Ian received for his 5th birthday. The box says 6-10 years, and I'm starting to wonder if that's how long it takes to finish. Granted, there are instructions with these pseudo three dimensional pictures that tell you exactly how to connect three pieces the size of your pinky fingernail, and then how to do it again in reverse for the other side. All this to build what appears to be semi-truck on steroids with a steering wheel that mysteriously is attached to the rear of the vehicle. After about an hour and a half in, Ian is just playing with the wheels, and I'm trying desperately to put on the windshield. My eight year old takes over for a while before she tosses the truck in frustration disconnecting about 30 minutes worth of connections. I have to go back at least 10 pages in the instructions to figure out what went wrong. Who comes up with these things? Do they really think 6 year olds can do this? Where are those brilliant 6 year olds?

We give up for awhile to eat waffles. Ian decides to hook up the wheels and just make his own alien ship/semi truck Lego thing, and I could not be happier. I have a feeling several key parts made their way into the vacuum later, but what to do?

On a better note, my brother will be happy to hear that I got the kids playing an awesome game of wiffle ball in the backyard. Ian's new nickname is The Wiffle. I definitely am more adept at slow pitch with a large plastic ball than the minuscule Lego units. Ian is still running to third base first, and neither kid is exactly sure how to hold the bat, but we're getting there.

And to think, this is only the first day of summer vacation.

Running is in Our Blood

So here's my younger brother and my nephew after finishing their first mini-marathon (13.1 miles!) in Indianapolis last weekend. They ran the entire race and finished in under 2 hours and 20 minutes--spectacular! They have that rosy glow of adrenaline and accomplishment on their faces. There's nothing like that feeling. If I can ever build back up to my pre-third child training mode, I will be there with them next year. Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

Congratulations Jason and Jackson. You guys ROCK!

The Grass is Always Greener

So I'm 4 months in to the stay at home mom gig, and I have to admit that it is the hardest work I've ever done. It's like having a full time job where your midget boss follows you around all day asking obvious questions and messing up work that you've just completed. Not only is the midget boss (or team of bosses) incredibly demanding, but he/she is also critical, messy, sometimes whiny and cranky, and pays you $0 dollars and no change. The midget bosses even follow you to the restroom--very unprofessional.

We're having dinner with some new neighbors, and we're all talking about what we "do" in addition to raising our children of which there seem to be at least 18 by the noise in the house, and I'm finding myself overwhelmed with jealousy as one mother of two describes her job as an art teacher and department chair at a nearby prestigious private school. A year ago I would have felt envy if she had been describing her day staying home with her children and taking them to the park or art museum, and packing lunches to go to the zoo. I would have felt like the slacker mom who rushes in a little grouchy after a long day at work to whip up some half assed dinner all the time thinking about what needs to be done at work and how quickly I can get baths and get them to bed. But I sat there listening to her and thinking about the creativity of teaching, and the freedom of movement throughout the day, not to mention the extra income to save for vacations, or say the gas and electric bill.

Maybe its just that I don't feel like I'm any good at this stay at home thing. My house isn't any cleaner, I'm still rushing to make dinner (often more than half assed), we still lose important papers, and we have no money. I do attempt to take the kids more places, but until the last few weeks its been too cold to really want to go anywhere. Not to mention, the threat of E coli virus on every surface has left me thinking twice about most of the indoor climbing/play places. Plus we get there, and I think about all the things that I should be doing at home, and I wonder how many days that clean laundry has been sitting in the office upstairs waiting to be put away.

So the grass is always greener. Why is that?

But I make my life sound tragic. I have left out a few details that make it all worth while, like the look on Ian's face when I pick him up from preschool, and he can't wait to show me the button he sewed on his felt bracelet. And how much I love meeting Julia at the bus and walking home with her realizing how tall she's getting and the quiet confidence she has acquired. I love the mornings when the older children leave for school, and its just me and a sleeping baby for about an hour until I hear her sweet little cooing, and she greets me with this wide gummy grin, her whole face lighting up when she sees me. And sometimes, though not all the time, I love the crazy chaos that is our life; the painted pictures and sticky floors, the glass jar filled with dirt and worms I find in the living room, the piles of folded laundry we dig through to locate the gym clothes. And I love that it is wonderfully, completely and totally mine to love.

Time is Flying By

Check out this amazing girl. She is just the sweetest baby, unless you don't have mommy milk in which case she will cry non stop for 3 hours. Can you believe it?

Easter Sunday

A few smiles, a few tears. Fun was had by all, though John became the equivalent of the Easter Bunny scrooge because he says I "overdue" Easter. Does he know I'm a Martin? Has he met my mother who still makes us Easter baskets to this day?

Dressing/Martin/Read Family Spring Break

Fat Man's Misery

On Top of Natural Bridge-Hope Davis isn't wearing Heelies!

Cave Kids

Mmmnn...S'mores (Julia, Davis, Ian-Mallory in the background)

Spring Break '08

So here we are on top of the Natural Bridge after a brisk hike 3/4 of a mile straight uphill. Talk about terrifying-being at the top of mountain like structure with small kids who fall down on a regular basis.

We had a blast. We poked around in caves, went wading in the Red River, and ate way too many s'mores. The cousins all hung out and went exploring, and we all got to have some down time in a cool cabin in the woods. The baby was awesome, and got lots of love and kisses from the other kids. She's a trouper, a true nature lover. Have sling, will travel.

Red River Gorge, Here We Come!

We're off this weekend to spend the last few days of Spring Break '08 in a cabin with my brother and his family, plus two more nephews. We'll have 8 kids in all (and I thought the first part of spring break was rough). We'll do some hiking, make some s'mores, build a few bonfires, and play some games. I'm just looking forward to being out of my house with fewer toys, more cousins, and less stress. No ringing phones, no computer calling me, no laundry, and best of all, Daddy will be around for three whole days!!
Check back for posts with pictures of our adventure.

Goodbye to Spidey

Did I mention that Spidey the Hermit Crab from last summer's trip to South Carolina finally bought the farm? I think we might actually have slowly starved and dehydrated him to death forgetting on a regular basis to feed and water him. Or it could be that he finally succumbed to the near freezing temperature of our house. I read someone where that they like to between 70-75 degrees, and our house hasn't seen that temp since October. Too bad they don't make little crab sweaters.

But the actual discovery of his death was pretty creepy. Ian reached into his tank and pulled him out waving to me saying, "Look mommy, here's Spidy." As I turn my head Ian has this look of terror on his face as crabby slid out of his shell hard as a rock and landed on the craft table, shriveled as an old toenail. Yikes. I did not respond well I'm afraid to say. In fact, I may have even escalated the situation. "Oh my god, oh my god," I shrieked, "We've got to throw him away, holy cow." I think the kids actually were handling it better than me. I finally pulled it together to comfort Ian. I don't know exactly how attached he was to Spidey, and I think like me, he was a little more freaked out by that hard crusty naked crab on the craft table than the thought of "death."

He ended up in a butter dish with a quick goodbye (I think I might have even saved the dish) before being tossed into the kitchen garbage. We're not ones for sentimentality around here. No funerals, no final thoughts on Spidey.

He was a good crab. He lived a long time for our house. He switched shells 4 times. We're sorry we weren't better crab parents. So long Spidey.

Boys Will Be Boys

Ian has two good buddies on our street. Burly boys who love to wrestle and dress up in superhero costumes to fight the bad guys. They spend hours building forts, and running around cheeks flushed creating imaginary scenarios where they rid the world of evil. Anything can serve as a crime fighting weapon: paper towel rolls, kitchen spatulas, markers, magic wands, and, of course, one of the many toy swords that have made their way into our otherwise peace loving household. I worry sometimes that while I have encouraged dancing, singing, planting sunflowers, and knowing the difference between a skip and a gallop, that I've forgotten most boys this age are far more into throwing balls. This was never more evident than a few days ago when to the sheer horror of his pals, Ian wanted to give them both hugs and kisses. They ducked their heads; the cootie talk already beginning at age four. I saw that he was confused and a little crushed at their rejection. Oh, my heart went out to this sensitive boy who will probably have to get a few Indian burns on the arms to get over that kissing thing. "Ian, you can kiss mommy anytime," I said, "I love your kisses." He ran over to me and planted a sweet one right on my cheek. Looking over at his friends he said, "Do you know why I love kissing my mom? Because she smells so good."

Could he be any sweeter? I don't care if he does decide to be a theatre major or a gymnast, I'm not trading those hugs and kisses for a homerun any time soon.

Vote for Change!

Today is the day Ohio may redeem itself for helping George Bush take an undeserved second term in office. Let's make a change Ohio. I'm excited to be voting for a candidate rather than against one. Don't forget to vote for issue 10-all kids deserve quality education. Listen to what Michelle Obama says about being hte product of public education.

http://oh.barackobama.com/LookupOH

Yes we can!

Barack Obama is Coming to Cincinnati

Okay, so I am going to have to take at least two kids with me so no one else has an excuse for not going and hearing what our next president has to say.

Here are the details:
Keeping America's Promise Rally with Barack Obama
University of Cincinnati
The Fifth Third Arena
2700 O'Varsity WayCincinnati, Ohio 45221
Monday, February 25

Doors open: 12:00 p.m.

Snow Day

This is how lazy my family has become. We all oversleep today (for the 5th time since Norah's arrival) and wake to find tons of snow on the ground. I rouse my husband awake and we begin the frenzied rush to get everyone ready for school though it's clear we will be extrememly late. At some point in the rush John and I look at each other and pronounce, "snow day." Now before you freak out that I'm setting about example about the importance of school, I did know for a fact that my daughter's teacher is out all week so there's a sub in place, and Ian's preschool is over by 11am anyway.

So we took the baby to her two month visit where she was poked multiple times with needles, and then we dropped her off with dad and hit the slopes. There were no kids (since none of the schools were actually called off for a snow day) so the hills were ours alone. We did have a few neighbor kids with us who ditched preschool as well. It was great to get some fresh air and a blast of snow in the face as we raced down the hill on our whamm-o board. The best part was hanging out with my older two--it was like getting a missing arm back after two months of amputation.

But that was many hours and small snacks ago. Now we're entering that dark evil period from 4pm-7pm known as the witching hour, where the house is thoroughly destroyed, every pillow is off the furniture, every art supply is open with several projects going, and I'm having a snow day melt down. Julia innocently asks if there will be a snow day tomorrow. "Hell no, I mean no," I say.

Is it too early to start drinking?

Happy Girl

Just when you think you might jump off a bridge from lack of sleep and severe hormonal imbalances, the smiles arrive. Isn't she lovely....

Ice, Ice, Baby

Last week was pretty sad and pitiful in our household. It was cold and yucky, and all our little friends on the block were home sick with bad colds, fevers and throwing up. Nothing to mess with, and we kept our distance. It was one of those weeks where you sort of think about going to a museum or indoor playground, but then you remember all those little germy hands touching everything, and it seems safer to stay at home even though you're going a little crazy.

Finally over the weekend, the weather broke a little and the sun came out, and we were ready to move. I took all the kids to the park (baby in the sling!) where we spent a couple of afternoons checking out the amazing icy creek leftover from the freezing days last week. Ian and his friend Sam slid from one end of the creek side trail to the other with big "hockey" sticks in their hands and using rocks for pucks. They were fascinated by the holes in the ice and the bubbling water flowing underneath. "This is amazing", one said, as he discovered some huge icicles hanging from the rocks. "This is amazinger", the other exclaimed as he jabbed his stick into an ice hole pretending to catch a big fish. I was cracking up as I led the way on the muddy trail and they followed taking the creek, slipping and sliding and fighting off angry beavers and river trolls.

Julia sang her favorite high school musical songs and pretended to be doing a Disney-on-ice routine (I think even the woodpeckers were scared), and we all enjoyed some fresh air. It was great to be out in nature, bundled up in our hats and waterproof boots, and making the most of winter.

I am always awed by taking these opportunities, how little it takes to have some adventure with kids. You don't need museum memberships or indoor swimming, though those plans are fun once in awhile, but just give a kid some sticks and ice and fallen branches, and watch them use their imaginations. Best of all, they got to get really dirty, and it wasn't in my house!

Even the baby seemed to enjoy herself. She just cuddled into her sling and made soft little cooing sounds, sleeping soundly the entire hike.

So my advice: get out of the house, and get rid of the winter blues. There are few germs in nature, and all you need are some really warm clothes and insulated boots, preferably the kind you can hose off before getting in the car...

Life with Norah

Wow, what day is it? Things are pretty crazy around here; one minute it's 6:30am, and I'm getting the kids off to school with a newborn at my breast, the two of us smelling like we've spent the night rolling around in mama's milk (we have), and the next minute it's 3pm, time to meet the bus. My days are running together. Oh, and did I mention, I start teaching next week. Imagine throwing that into the mix!

Norah is the sweetest baby. I'm almost hate to utter those words out into the universe, but she couldn't be happier. She sleeps well, eats well, loves to be held by everyone, and I actually manage to get a shower on most days!

I had forgotten how much they poop and sleep (in 25 minute increments) and want to nurse. I had forgotten how much you absolutely fall in love with them when they look up at you in wonder as you're nursing them, and you can't believe that you were even a small part of creating this miracle of a person.

I know...I'm sleep deprived, but I'm enormously grateful and happy too.