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Re: blog is a funny word
Thanksgiving...
Began a week before, when Mom and Dad came to visit. While they were off on a side-trip to Albany to visit my grandma, Steven and Isabel took turns getting sick. So did Mac, but of course he went to work anyway. (He wasn't on surgery, just the wards, so whatever....) Then Mom and Dad came back on Tuesday, while Steven was home sick. On Wednesday the kids were all better. Luke had a Thanksgiving thing at Preschool which involved making pumpkin muffins, and theoretically eating them. He told me emphatically after the fact that he does NOT like butter... (I think the older classes churned butter, so the teachers were probably trying to push it on the kids!) While he was at preschool, apparently refusing to eat butter, Mom and I were running around doing the pre-Thanksgiving shopping. We went to Toys R Us (to get birthday presents for the parties the twins attended Sunday), then to Bed Bath and Beyond (to get an electric knife to cut the bird), to Starbucks (to get some decaf coffee that Mom drinks), and to Costco (where we scored the LAST turkey...because it didn't have a tag, so it was passed by by who knows how many shoppers, but I asked the fish guy to weigh it and viola-- we scored the last turkey! I was so proud of my ingenious shopping skills...), then to Trader Joe's to get some produce. That was a lot of errands to pack into 2.5 hours, but we did it.
Then, Wednesday afternoon, I went to Steven and Izzy's class to help with their Thanksgiving Feast. It was pretty interesting. All 100 first graders were lined up in a hallway, sitting down around a huge strip of butcher paper, to eat popcorn, pumpkin pudding, etc., etc. It was too much noise for Izzy, and it was too hot, and all they had to drink were juice boxes (she only drinks water and milk), so she sat there looking miserable. Steven, a few seats down, was having a hilarious time goofing off with other boys. I was busy getting popcorn for kids, etc., etc. It was controlled chaos. I think, for the most part, the kids enjoyed it.
Meanwhile, at home, Mom and Dad were devising all sorts of wonderful plans for what Mac and I can do to our house. First, they decided to decorate the outside. That is fine- since they are coming back in January and can take it down and try to figure out where to store it all... We have no storage space, whereas they have storage rooms in their house. Besides the decorating frenzy (which sent them on several trips to the Home Depot and to Michaels), they were busy planning some projects we could do to make our outdoor space "more livable". For instance, we could extend our deck to cover almost the entire back yard, since the grass doesn't really grow there (except for in the part where the deck would extend to cover), and since then the kids would have room to roll their big wheels around with more ease. And while we're at it, we can add a ramp to one side of the deck, so that the kids can run their big wheels down our hill and onto the ramp and then up to our deck again. And then so that they have a sandbox, we could take the patch of dirt that is in the back of our yard and build a mini-deck, with a sandbox built into the hill. This would leave us with a strip of about 10 ft x 8 ft of grass on one side of our yard. The rest would be deck and sandbox. Then, since Mac really doesn't want to endanger his surgical hands or use up all his leave time to build such a structure, we should probably just hire a contractor to do the work. So, my Dad, who dreams big and does lots of remodeling/landscaping at their home, estimated it would cost around 10K.
Hmmmmmm... well... I was planning to use that spare 10K for jewels and stuff, but a deck might work....
Anyway, some things don't register with my parents. Like pesky things called "limited bank accounts". Maybe we'll take down the big pine tree that is partially dead and kills all our grass someday. That may cost 1K, but it may help our yard actually grow grass... And it may be something we could afford after we get our tax refund.
So then, we worked our way to Thanksgiving day. Mac did have the day off, which was splendid. I, however, was not splendid. Although I had planned several dishes, I caught some variation of the kids' bug on Wednesday night and just needed to crash on Thanksgiving. My mom took care of the turkey, and made a really delicious gravy (I can't do gravy), and I managed to make a cranberry sauce, but that was about all I could handle. Anyway, it turned out OK. My parents and Mac took the kids to the Bee Movie, and they really liked it. The theater was empty, since it was before most people eat (like 1 pm or something). And I sort of rested, except our annoying neighbors kept playing their base. Grrrrrrr.
So, they kept playing their base all day, until finally Mac went over and asked if they could please turn off the base after 10 pm at night because "base travels through the walls really easily". The stud (or boyfriend, or boy toy) of the neighbor lady said "OK" and that's that... for now. The previous stud (or boyfriend, or boy toy) said the same thing. We are on stud II. I think everytime there is a holiday and people don't have to get up before the crack of dawn the base will be on and driving me nuts. Which started my parents on a new track: we should rent out our house and buy a new one with a no-money down loan. My dad assumed we'd get a rate of 5%, with no money down of course, and that we'd find renters easily, and that we could afford to buy a single family home somewhere. He plugged in the values on the computer (did I mention that when he was here he was on line, except for when he was sleeping, helping mom decorate the house, or measuring our backyard for a deck?), and figured it all out for us. Thanks, dad. Except, I don't think we'd get a 5% rate, it would be a pain to find renters and be landlords, and we can't just afford the payment, even at 5%, on a house. My parents went through the whole medical school to training to career tranisition. They should have more of a clue about finances, but now that he's making bucketloads of money in his private practice that he kills himself for, I guess it's just not on the register... Oh Kay...
So that was Thursday. It was good, in all, and by the evening I started to feel better.
On Friday, Mac took call. We had an exciting day. Mom and Dad decided they would like to go to a museum. So, we loaded up the kids and headed to the metro station. We opted for a museum off the beaten path: the National Geographic Explorers Hall. It was quite small, and less of an "OOOHH, AAAHHH" factor than the biggies, but I think they were probably overstuffed with tourists. Even this place was crowded. They had an exhibit on the cameras that animals wear, and a whole series of video clips of the footage the animals gather. It was a bit over the kids' heads, and a bit nauseating for me to watch long. Of course, Luke has discovered the glory of not being in the stroller and running wild, so I was busy chasing him around. Where did my passive scaredy-cat go? Who is this bold new preschooler running around like a wild man? Enter a new stage of development. We may have to take a rest from going to museums for a while... After that, we went to eat at Union Station, and then home. At night, the kids were a bit wired (no nap), and Isabel managed to jump into a bookcase and slice open about 1/2 inch of skin right above her eye, below her eyebrow. Dad looked at it and thought it was pretty deep, and would need stitches or some dermabond. Which means, an ER visit. But wait! Is there a dawkter in the family!!!! It was so wonderful. We have done our share of waiting in the ER for various things (strep, broken bones, asthma attacks) and it always takes about 4-6 hours to get out of there. Since this happened around bedtime... I did not need an all-nighter. Anyway, Dad and I took Isabel down to see Mac, who was on call. He had supplies and an examining room, and the two dawkters conferred about the patient, while I played the role of protective parent, and then we all traipsed down to the ER to get a tube of dermabond (thank you to the wonderful triage nurse for giving it to us). Then one dawkter held the laceration together while the other dawkter applied the dermabond. I was left to restrain the patient, who did splendidly. All in all, it took about 40 minutes to drive there, about 30 minutes to do the procedure, and about 40 minutes to drive home! Such Bliss! It almost made it all worth it. And I was so proud of my dawkter husband. He usually is such a basket case when the kids are injured. I'm usually the clinical one. He was just perfect. And he got paged several times while we were with him, but he just took it in stride, took care of us first, and didn't even rush us to get to his real patients. I was expecting him to say, you all wait here while I go answer this page, but none of that. It was really wonderful.
So that was Friday. On Saturday I had a nature class with Steven and Izzy in the morning, Mac was home (in body anyway, he got no sleep), and so my parents left him with Luke so they could go do more shopping for Christmas lights... Then Saturday night we went to a fabu Japanese Hibachi style restaurant (loved it) where the twins ate shrimp!!! This is huge. I haven't been able to get them to eat shrimp ever. They both loved it!!! It gives me hope for vegetables. Then after that, we went to the drive through lights at a park. It was really great. The kids were able to sit/stand wherever they wanted (no worries about seat belts going 2 miles per hour in a tank--Suburban) and the lights went on and on and on... It was overdone, of course, but really fun. My mom is a Christmas lights freak. She loves them. We used to go looking at Christmas lights on decorated houses several times per season growing up.
Then on Sunday, Mom and Dad left. And we did the magical Birthday Party tour. First, Build a Bear. I have to say, I am hooked. I know it's a huge gimmick, but I went in for American Girl too. I am going to take the kids back later to choose a bear, etc., etc. That party went on and on for about 2.5 hours, which gave us only enough time to get home and collect the presents to go to the Chuck E Cheese party. Most of the same kids were there, too. I think it was probably one of the best days ever for the twins. They loved it.
All in all, Thanksgiving was a success. I am glad my parents were here to visit, and though we didn't really rest much, we did lots of fun things as a family that we don't usually do. And that's always good.
Thanksgiving...
Began a week before, when Mom and Dad came to visit. While they were off on a side-trip to Albany to visit my grandma, Steven and Isabel took turns getting sick. So did Mac, but of course he went to work anyway. (He wasn't on surgery, just the wards, so whatever....) Then Mom and Dad came back on Tuesday, while Steven was home sick. On Wednesday the kids were all better. Luke had a Thanksgiving thing at Preschool which involved making pumpkin muffins, and theoretically eating them. He told me emphatically after the fact that he does NOT like butter... (I think the older classes churned butter, so the teachers were probably trying to push it on the kids!) While he was at preschool, apparently refusing to eat butter, Mom and I were running around doing the pre-Thanksgiving shopping. We went to Toys R Us (to get birthday presents for the parties the twins attended Sunday), then to Bed Bath and Beyond (to get an electric knife to cut the bird), to Starbucks (to get some decaf coffee that Mom drinks), and to Costco (where we scored the LAST turkey...because it didn't have a tag, so it was passed by by who knows how many shoppers, but I asked the fish guy to weigh it and viola-- we scored the last turkey! I was so proud of my ingenious shopping skills...), then to Trader Joe's to get some produce. That was a lot of errands to pack into 2.5 hours, but we did it.
Then, Wednesday afternoon, I went to Steven and Izzy's class to help with their Thanksgiving Feast. It was pretty interesting. All 100 first graders were lined up in a hallway, sitting down around a huge strip of butcher paper, to eat popcorn, pumpkin pudding, etc., etc. It was too much noise for Izzy, and it was too hot, and all they had to drink were juice boxes (she only drinks water and milk), so she sat there looking miserable. Steven, a few seats down, was having a hilarious time goofing off with other boys. I was busy getting popcorn for kids, etc., etc. It was controlled chaos. I think, for the most part, the kids enjoyed it.
Meanwhile, at home, Mom and Dad were devising all sorts of wonderful plans for what Mac and I can do to our house. First, they decided to decorate the outside. That is fine- since they are coming back in January and can take it down and try to figure out where to store it all... We have no storage space, whereas they have storage rooms in their house. Besides the decorating frenzy (which sent them on several trips to the Home Depot and to Michaels), they were busy planning some projects we could do to make our outdoor space "more livable". For instance, we could extend our deck to cover almost the entire back yard, since the grass doesn't really grow there (except for in the part where the deck would extend to cover), and since then the kids would have room to roll their big wheels around with more ease. And while we're at it, we can add a ramp to one side of the deck, so that the kids can run their big wheels down our hill and onto the ramp and then up to our deck again. And then so that they have a sandbox, we could take the patch of dirt that is in the back of our yard and build a mini-deck, with a sandbox built into the hill. This would leave us with a strip of about 10 ft x 8 ft of grass on one side of our yard. The rest would be deck and sandbox. Then, since Mac really doesn't want to endanger his surgical hands or use up all his leave time to build such a structure, we should probably just hire a contractor to do the work. So, my Dad, who dreams big and does lots of remodeling/landscaping at their home, estimated it would cost around 10K.
Hmmmmmm... well... I was planning to use that spare 10K for jewels and stuff, but a deck might work....
Anyway, some things don't register with my parents. Like pesky things called "limited bank accounts". Maybe we'll take down the big pine tree that is partially dead and kills all our grass someday. That may cost 1K, but it may help our yard actually grow grass... And it may be something we could afford after we get our tax refund.
So then, we worked our way to Thanksgiving day. Mac did have the day off, which was splendid. I, however, was not splendid. Although I had planned several dishes, I caught some variation of the kids' bug on Wednesday night and just needed to crash on Thanksgiving. My mom took care of the turkey, and made a really delicious gravy (I can't do gravy), and I managed to make a cranberry sauce, but that was about all I could handle. Anyway, it turned out OK. My parents and Mac took the kids to the Bee Movie, and they really liked it. The theater was empty, since it was before most people eat (like 1 pm or something). And I sort of rested, except our annoying neighbors kept playing their base. Grrrrrrr.
So, they kept playing their base all day, until finally Mac went over and asked if they could please turn off the base after 10 pm at night because "base travels through the walls really easily". The stud (or boyfriend, or boy toy) of the neighbor lady said "OK" and that's that... for now. The previous stud (or boyfriend, or boy toy) said the same thing. We are on stud II. I think everytime there is a holiday and people don't have to get up before the crack of dawn the base will be on and driving me nuts. Which started my parents on a new track: we should rent out our house and buy a new one with a no-money down loan. My dad assumed we'd get a rate of 5%, with no money down of course, and that we'd find renters easily, and that we could afford to buy a single family home somewhere. He plugged in the values on the computer (did I mention that when he was here he was on line, except for when he was sleeping, helping mom decorate the house, or measuring our backyard for a deck?), and figured it all out for us. Thanks, dad. Except, I don't think we'd get a 5% rate, it would be a pain to find renters and be landlords, and we can't just afford the payment, even at 5%, on a house. My parents went through the whole medical school to training to career tranisition. They should have more of a clue about finances, but now that he's making bucketloads of money in his private practice that he kills himself for, I guess it's just not on the register... Oh Kay...
So that was Thursday. It was good, in all, and by the evening I started to feel better.
On Friday, Mac took call. We had an exciting day. Mom and Dad decided they would like to go to a museum. So, we loaded up the kids and headed to the metro station. We opted for a museum off the beaten path: the National Geographic Explorers Hall. It was quite small, and less of an "OOOHH, AAAHHH" factor than the biggies, but I think they were probably overstuffed with tourists. Even this place was crowded. They had an exhibit on the cameras that animals wear, and a whole series of video clips of the footage the animals gather. It was a bit over the kids' heads, and a bit nauseating for me to watch long. Of course, Luke has discovered the glory of not being in the stroller and running wild, so I was busy chasing him around. Where did my passive scaredy-cat go? Who is this bold new preschooler running around like a wild man? Enter a new stage of development. We may have to take a rest from going to museums for a while... After that, we went to eat at Union Station, and then home. At night, the kids were a bit wired (no nap), and Isabel managed to jump into a bookcase and slice open about 1/2 inch of skin right above her eye, below her eyebrow. Dad looked at it and thought it was pretty deep, and would need stitches or some dermabond. Which means, an ER visit. But wait! Is there a dawkter in the family!!!! It was so wonderful. We have done our share of waiting in the ER for various things (strep, broken bones, asthma attacks) and it always takes about 4-6 hours to get out of there. Since this happened around bedtime... I did not need an all-nighter. Anyway, Dad and I took Isabel down to see Mac, who was on call. He had supplies and an examining room, and the two dawkters conferred about the patient, while I played the role of protective parent, and then we all traipsed down to the ER to get a tube of dermabond (thank you to the wonderful triage nurse for giving it to us). Then one dawkter held the laceration together while the other dawkter applied the dermabond. I was left to restrain the patient, who did splendidly. All in all, it took about 40 minutes to drive there, about 30 minutes to do the procedure, and about 40 minutes to drive home! Such Bliss! It almost made it all worth it. And I was so proud of my dawkter husband. He usually is such a basket case when the kids are injured. I'm usually the clinical one. He was just perfect. And he got paged several times while we were with him, but he just took it in stride, took care of us first, and didn't even rush us to get to his real patients. I was expecting him to say, you all wait here while I go answer this page, but none of that. It was really wonderful.
So that was Friday. On Saturday I had a nature class with Steven and Izzy in the morning, Mac was home (in body anyway, he got no sleep), and so my parents left him with Luke so they could go do more shopping for Christmas lights... Then Saturday night we went to a fabu Japanese Hibachi style restaurant (loved it) where the twins ate shrimp!!! This is huge. I haven't been able to get them to eat shrimp ever. They both loved it!!! It gives me hope for vegetables. Then after that, we went to the drive through lights at a park. It was really great. The kids were able to sit/stand wherever they wanted (no worries about seat belts going 2 miles per hour in a tank--Suburban) and the lights went on and on and on... It was overdone, of course, but really fun. My mom is a Christmas lights freak. She loves them. We used to go looking at Christmas lights on decorated houses several times per season growing up.
Then on Sunday, Mom and Dad left. And we did the magical Birthday Party tour. First, Build a Bear. I have to say, I am hooked. I know it's a huge gimmick, but I went in for American Girl too. I am going to take the kids back later to choose a bear, etc., etc. That party went on and on for about 2.5 hours, which gave us only enough time to get home and collect the presents to go to the Chuck E Cheese party. Most of the same kids were there, too. I think it was probably one of the best days ever for the twins. They loved it.
All in all, Thanksgiving was a success. I am glad my parents were here to visit, and though we didn't really rest much, we did lots of fun things as a family that we don't usually do. And that's always good.
So far Kate has had soccer, drama class, and basketball. Mac wants Steven and Izzy in soccer this spring too, because they really really are excited about it. So... that will be interesting.
while I was able to spend a whole morning sewing the curtains for my room that I've been waiting to sew for about... 3 years.
The twins did not care at all-- and in fact there were several presents there for them (when my MIL realized that some of the guests thought they were celebrating the twins' birthday, she ran out to the towns only store and bought some hideously overpriced gifts for them!) but the party was clearly for my dear husband, whom I have to call Junior when he's at his parents' house. 
I don't expect a 20-year old body, I try to keep it real here. I don't have the time or the desire to work to that end, and I think the pregnancies have done a fair share of "irrecable damage." (Sorry- another resolution I won't make is to improve my spelling. It's just not a big priority...)
Basically, I wouldn't let him touch me during a certain time of the month. And I was so freaked about getting pregnant, that I really stuck to my restrictions. So this pregnancy happened well outside our "window" of "TTC", but that's biology, kids. And that's why the "rhythm" method is not very successful as a birth control method.
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