Good times and bad

First the good stuff. . .

Matthew had a good report from his Sunday School teacher. You may remember that he was asked to leave preschool early last fall because he wouldn't follow their routine and had trouble listening to his teachers. I've been talking to his Sunday School teachers about this since then and they've been working with him on it. Well yesterday his teacher told me that he had participated in all the class activities, obeyed the teacher and stayed in his seat during Wee Worship. So he got to be the line leader on the way back to the classroom from Wee Worship. Yeah Matthew!! I'm so proud of him!

The other good news is that we have given Rose her own email account. She's been asking us for one since last summer. It was a tough decision but we decided to trust that she will be responsible with her email address. We talked to her about what to do and what not to do and laid down some rules for her. To say that she is excited would be an understatement. It's a step into a whole new world for her. She loved being able to "chat" with me online even though we were in the same room. This is actually a big step for all of us, letting her have a bit of independence. My baby is growing up! I admit I'm nervous and am planning to monitor her very closely to see how she handles it. It's definitely a different world than when I was 10!

Now for the bad news. I went to a funeral today. A friend of mine from MOPS had to bury her baby girl today. She arrived 3 months early and just wasn't strong enough to survive. Plus she had been diagnosed with Trisomy-18, a birth defect similar to Down's Syndrome. My friend knew this would probably happen and had been preparing for it. It was still hard for her though, especially since she just had a c-section about 10 days ago. I am so sad for her and her family. Seeing that tiny casket at the church this morning was just heartbreaking! I haven't been to many Catholic Masses before, but I was raised Lutheran so parts of the liturgy and songs were familiar. We sang "On Eagle's Wings" and "How Great Thou Art" which are 2 of my favorite hymns.

A couple things didn't make sense to me though. They sprinkled incense over the casket at the end of the service, Why? What does that represent? And why did the priest refer to the baby as a saint? He was talking to my friend's kids and told them that they had their very own personal saint in the family and that they could pray to her and she could help them. That doesn't make sense to me. I thought the process of making someone a saint in the Catholic church was a long, involved process including documenting miracles performed and other things. Can any of you, my few but faithful readers, help me understand this?

I did learn something new though. Today, December 28, is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which commemorates the baby boys under age 2 that Herod had killed in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. Having the funeral on this particular feast day seems appropriate somehow.

More Christmases!

Well Christmas #2 and #3 are both done and I am so exhausted that I want to crawl in my bed, lock the door and stay there for at least 2 days. I had fun though! Yesterday my parents came down from Columbus and Brett came over. We had lunch and talked some then opened presents. The kids got some nice things and a bit of cash (which thrilled them of course). I so appreciated them driving down to celebrate here, especially since they had driven to be with my grandma Christmas Day and are planning to leave tomorrow for a month in Florida. That's lots of driving!

Today we went over to mom & dad Hahn's house for the big Hahn family gathering. Mom had some fun games for the kids, including a white elephant candy game where each kid ended up with a jar of candy and a money game where each kid got to pick out a small tin of money (mostly coins, although Dave and Rachel both ended up with a $5 bill in their tin). Then we exchanged gifts. My 3 older kids got some cash and Matthew got presents to unwrap. Rose, David and Rachel are so excited by the cash they've received this Christmas and are already trying to decide what to do with it. It should be interesting to see what they think. Matthew got this really cool toolbox book with actual cardboard tools that pop out so you can hammer or saw or whatever on each page. He has read it 3 times already and has only owned it for a couple hours now.

At one point mom lined up all the Ford and Hahn grandkids and asked them their name, birthdate, favorite color and favorite Bible verse. I was surprised to learn that Rose's favorite verse is Proverbs 3:5 which says “Trust in the Lord with your whole heart and lean not on your own understanding.” That's such a good one! I am so proud of her – she has such a strong faith in God and I just pray that she keeps that throughout her lifetime! David said his favorite verse was John 3:16 but I'm not sure if that was really his favorite or if he just said that because his cousin Daniel had just said that was his favorite verse.

Anyway. . . I got to talk to most everyone at least a little. I had fun hanging out with baby Jack (Stamper). He is 9 months old now and just so adorable! He was looking around at everything and was very easygoing. He let me hold him and play with him some and he doesn't even know me. I just LOVE babies!!! (not enough to have another one though)

It was a fun couple of days but as I said earlier I am ready for some alone time! Phil and I got the kids settled in bed tonight and immediately went our separate ways to different rooms and different computers. He needs some time away from people, just like me.


p.s. Lori, if you're reading this mom and I ate raw broccoli tonight off the veggie tray and thought of you. Mom suggested that we should have had our pictures taken eating that most delicious vegetable and sent them to you since you "love" broccoli so much! Hee hee hee

Merry Christmas!!

As you may know if you've read my blog before, Matthew has taken to sleeping on the couch in the living room. Last night he fell asleep in the middle of watching Santa Clause 2 with us. I headed to bed about 1:30 and was laying in bed reading a bit. Yep, even that late at night I still had to get some reading in. It was about 1:55 when Matthew wandered sleepily into our room fo no apparent reason. I tucked him back in on his couch and lay on the other couch to make sure he went to sleep and didn't rip open the presents. He was mesmerized by the lights on the tree and spent probably 20 minutes just staring at the tree. I assume he fell asleep eventually, but I fell asleep on the couch before he did.

Fast forward to 6:30 a.m. when Matthew woke up. To his credit he asked me to come downstairs and put in a movie for him. I seriously expected him to want to open presents but he waited until about 7:45 when the other 3 got up. Then they dug into their stockings. That took all of 10 minutes. Next the kids charged upstairs, into our bedroom and woke up their father. Phil came stumbling out, barely awake and headed for the coffee while the kids dug into the presents. The hope was that we would take turns opening presents. Ummmm, that didn't really happen. They dug into presents as fast as they could find them. I loved watching their faces as they opened everything. They were just so excited - well not about the clothes they got, but certainly about the toys.

It was all over in probably 40 minutes. Our living room was strewn with empty boxes and wrapping paper everywhere. Breakfast was our traditional cinnamon rolls then I started work on lunch and even managed to sneak in a nap while they played.

Mom and dad Hahn came over for lunch and more presents. It was a simple, easy meal but everyone seemed to like it. Then a few more presents for the kids while the grownups rested and talked. It was a very relaxed, fun day! I loved spending time with everyone and not feeling stressed!!!

The day ended by Brett coming over wanting the kids to spend the night with him. Matthew and the girls packed a few things and headed for his house but Dave wanted to stay with us. So here it is almost midnight and I have enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day with my family and a restful, relaxing evening with 2 of my favorite guys!

I admit that I was really worried about how this Christmas would go since Phil is still out of work. I knew we wouldn't be able to afford presents for the kids. But we were blessed beyond anything I expected! Friends and family gave us money, gift cards and presents for the kids (even a couple gifts for the grownups). It was truly amazing to see how many people reached out to help us through this holiday. God has given us a special group of family and friends and I am so grateful to all of you for your help, support, gifts, prayers and encouragement. I know I don't tell each of you individually how much you mean to me, but I do appreciate you (yes, you, the one reading this blog!!). Thank you for being a part of our lives!!!!!

December

Well it's been a low-key Christmas season this year. Due to financial constraints, we are not sending out the usual Hahn family Christmas card/letter/photo. I have not done much baking (or cooking frankly). We haven't been able to do our usual outings to the Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights and the Cincinnati Museum Center's Holiday Junction like we have in years past. I have been kinda sad at the change in our routine. But ya know, in spite of all that, the kids are just as excited for Christmas as they usually are. So I certainly learned something about what's really important at Christmas-time.

Oh don't get me wrong. We still did some fun holiday things. We watched Christmas specials, made wish lists for Santa, and spent an evening driving around neighborhoods looking at some spectacular light displays. There is a neighborhood across the river in Kentucky maybe 15 minutes from us that has the same display every year. Their small front yard is filled to overflowing with lights, giant snowglobes, a Santa and sleigh and a shadow box featuring Alvin, Simon and Theodore singing their version of the Christmas song. "Christmas, Christmas time is here. Time for gifts and time for cheer." The kids (and me too!) look forward to seeing that every year!

Fast forward to Christmas Eve. We were tired after a busy week of housecleaning. A friend (actually she's the younger sister of my best friend from high school, but I consider her a friend too) came over to help us clean and pitch things. We worked SO HARD for 2 days. When we were done, there were 4 giant black trash bags filled with stuff we were throwing out! Yahoo! I am so thankful for her help. Can you believe she was willing to spend both of her days off hanging out at our house? The kids loved her and she wanted to help and was full of energy. She is just AMAZING! So now our house is clean and I am snapping at the kids, making sure the house stays clean.

We relaxed most of the day then went to the Christmas Eve service at church. It was less than an hour but not very kid-friendly. My older 3 kids behaved really well and seemed to enjoy the singing. They were bored during the sermon of course but sat still and kept quiet. Matthew however was squirmy and uncooperative. So I took him out and, ummmm, "talked" to him about his misbehavior. Then we just stayed out there the rest of the service, along with probably a dozen other kids and their parents. Next year we are gonna find a church with a more kid-friendly, family service!!!

The kids were bouncing off the walls and had a hard time settling down to sleep. But finally by 10 p.m. they were all not only inbed, but actually asleep. So Phil and I started wrapping everything. We put on our traditional Christmas Eve, present-wrapping movie "It's a Wonderful Life." What a TERRIFIC movie!!!! We had everything wrapped and under the tree by 1:30 a.m. which is about average for us. Now onto Christmas!! Yay!!!

The worst Thanksgiving ever!

At least that's the way it started out. So what happened to make my kids dub this "the worst ever?" Well Tuesday we headed up to Columbus to have an early Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and my sister and her husband. They (my sis & BIL) made a short trip to Ohio from their home in Nebraska where he is a pastor and had to divide their time between our parents and his parents. We celebrated early so they could also see his parents. The dinner was yummy - my mom's usual fabulous cooking. We also did something new this year. Each person had a placecard listing a different Bible verse about being thankful. We went around the table reading them aloud and telling one thing we were thankful for. How cool is that?

It was after dinner that the trouble began. David and Rachel had been coughing for a couple days and continued coughing there also. The others were concerned about them - thought it sounded serious. When David started running a slight fever, everyone kindof panicked. My dad, trying to help, gave 3 of the kids codeine to try to stop their cough so they could sleep. Well Matthew slept so soundly he didn't wake up to use the bathroom. So he was up around 4 a.m. soaking wet and upset. I didn't sleep well that night and apparently neither did he! The next morning we ended up going home. The other grownups were too concerned about the kids' coughs to want us to stay until Thursday like we'd originally planned. It was a very upsetting morning and knowing that no one wanted us there had me in tears as I drove home. We went to the pediatrician's office where I found out that David has an ear infection and Rachel has some slight chest congestion. After everything that happened, their illnesses were nothing serious after all. The kids were crushed that their trip had been cut short.

But in spite of all the drama, our holiday turned out quite well. We managed to find a webcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Watching the parade is a tradition in our family and the kids were heartbroken when they thought they'd have to miss it. Fortunately they didn't. Hurray for the miracle of the internet. So instead of spending the day with extended family or traveling or cooking, we spent the day playing games, resting, talking, laughing and eating leftovers. Reading on Facebook about my friends who were cooking, running around busy and stressed out made me glad that we were alone together as a family.

As much as I complain, I know I have a lot to be thankful for. Here is a partial list (in no particular order):
1. I am thankful for a wonderful supportive husband who works hard at his current job (which is job-hunting) and lets me nap whenever I need to.
2. I am thankful for my messy house; I know it'll never be clean but the mess reminds me of my husband and 4 loving children. I'd rather have a messy house than a life without my kids!!!
3. I am thankful for my kids; being a mom may not be a glamorous job but it is the hardest, most fulfilling job I have ever had. I wouldn't trade the hugs, kisses and love I get from them for all the money in the world. For all those who say I am "only" a mom who doesn't have a job, I say that there is nothing else I'd rather be and no job I'd rather have.
4. I am thankful for our lack of money because it has taught me what is really important - not tv, not shopping on Ebay but my family and friends.
5. I am thankful for my parents in-law who have been so loving and supportive through this whole nasty time of unemployment and stress.
6. I am thankful for all our many friends - you know who you are!
7. I can't say I'm thankful that Phil doesn't have a job. But I am thankful for God's faithfulness and provision during this time. This has been a real test of my faith.
8. I am thankful for Brett, who loves our kids and goes out of his way to spend time with them, teach them about God and be a part of their lives. (In fact, as I write this I am sitting in a house populated only by Phil and 3 cats. Brett took all 4 kids for an overnight at his house tonight. How cool is that?)

There is so much more that I am thankful for. But in the interest of not putting to sleep the few people who read this, I'm gonna stop now. I've hit the most important ones already anyway.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I hope your holiday was joyous and fun

Bragging about my kids!

Well fall report cards have come out so it is time to brag a bit about my wonderful kids. The 3 in school are doing very well overall.

David's report card was good, but he doesn't get letter grades yet. Rather they list the skills he is learning in various subject areas and give out either a B (beginning), DV (developing) or IN (independent). He has a few INs, one B (for his handwriting, which is just atrocious) and the rest DVs. Pretty good! Here are some of the comments (summarized) I heard from his teachers at the parent-teacher conference I went to earlier this week. “He is a very sweet boy. He loves the number searches we do in class (note from Amy: they are like word searches only with numbers instead) and is good at them. He'll even ask for another when he is done. He loves to read when his work is finished. Mrs. Knake (his teacher) LOVES that he hugs her before he leaves every day. He is very good at math and problem-solving and can do problems in his head. He likes to go to the board and show his work; she likes that he is comfortable doing that and has the confidence in himself to volunteer for that. He is also very hard on himself - if he loses something or doesn't do something right he will apologize to Mrs. Knake and is very upset about it. He also will frequently ask if he can help her with something.” What a great kid!!!!

Rachel also had a good report card, although she also gets the B, DV, or IN instead of actual letter grades. Hers was mostly DVs and INs. She got INs in reading which is awesome. I just LOVE that my kids all love to read and are good at it. Yahoo!! I haven't had her parent-teacher conference yet so I'll write more about her later.

Rose got a report card with letter grades for the first time this year. She was very nervous about how she did, but came home with all A's!!!!! That's my girl!! I am so proud of her! Her parent-teacher conference was interesting, but not quite as informative as I'd hoped. In 4th grade, the kids start switching classes so the teacher she has for homeroom only teaches her science and couldn't comment much about the other subjects. There is another teacher that does social studies and language arts (they used to call this "english" when I was in school. what happened to that?) . For math, Rose is in the ELO program. I can't remember exactly what that stands for but back in my day they called that the gifted program. So she goes with probably a dozen of the 4th graders to yet another teacher who does math with them. I got to meet Mrs. Smith )the ELO teacher) and see her classroom. She is doing some seriously fun stuff in there, games and such. They are currently learning fractions and will be moving on to decimals soon. They do some basic algebra and story problems. It's a good thing Phil likes math, because frankly, I don't like helping her with all her math homework. Anyway. . . she is getting a 93% in ELO math so far. On her report card, the other teacher did comment that she should be improving her vocabulary by choosing books to read that are more advanced and can challenge her more. Right now she is plowing through the Little House series. Do any of you have suggestions about something that's more advanced reading than that but has subject matter that's appropriate for a 10-year-old. That's the problem I'm running into - some of the books I've found have things in them that I'm not necessarily comfortable having her read about until she's older.

Matthew is not in school yet, but knows all of his letters, basic shapes, basic colors and numbers, can count to 20. He loves to have books read to him and can even identify a couple states. We have this USA map puzzle that he likes to put together. He can identify Ohio, Kentucky and Texas. Yeah Matt :-)

I am just so proud of my kids and love them very much!!!!

A visit from some piggies

Wow! Two blog posts in 1 day! Not bad eh? Anyway, the season of sickness has started very early here in the Hahn house. We have had a visit from piggies. Yep, several of us had the swine flu last month. The girls and I were sick for about a week. David was sick for only a couple days. I'm not convinced it was the flu, although I don't know for sure. We were all healthy very briefly but now poor Rose has pneumonia. Poor kid - she seems to get sick so easily. She has missed quite a bit of school already this year and it's only November. The only good thing about having Rose home is that we can watch girl movies together. As I type this, we are watching The Sound of Music. She loves musicals just like her mom. Yay!!

So what are the other kids up to? David loves to play with legos. He makes action figures out of them and plays Star Wars. He is a huge Star Wars fan! He also likes to cook and wants to be a chef when he grows up. He and I made homemade applesauce last night. His teacher brought in homemade applesauce to school to celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday and he came home wanting to try it too. It turned out more like baked apples than actual sauce but he loved it. He is also developing quite a sense of humor and makes up jokes to tell us at the dinnertable.

Matthew has a never-ending supply of energy. He loves to play pretend and has stuffed animals and action figures he plays with. He loves zebras and giraffes, mainly because he likes the movie Madagascar. Have you seen it? His favorite characters are Melman, the giraffe and Marty, the zebra. He has a stuffed zebra that he carries everywhere and has named Marty. That and his lamb's wool blankie (which he calls "woolie scrap") are his two favorite possessions that he never goes anywhere without. He is still sleeping on the couch in the living room. He started that back when we had a tv in the living room and would watch a video as he was falling asleep. Well we've given away that tv but he still likes sleeping there. He is good about not wandering the house so we've let him sleep there rather than fighting with him to move back into the bedroom with David (who loves having a room all to himself). Matthew is also into playing with tools and doing magic tricks. He'll hold up an action figure, say "Abracadabra make this diappear. Poof!" and toss it over his shoulder onto the floor. Look - it disappeared! And if you don't clap, he looks at you, wrinkles his brow and says very sternly "You didn't clap!"

Rachel? Well I haven't spent as much time with her lately. She is in school full-time so I don't see as much of her as I did last year when she only went to school half a day. She is full of energy and loves to hug people. She loves to play with makeup, wear dresses and look pretty. She loves drawing and coloring and is always coloring a picture for someone. Her favorite possession is her pillow with its Ariel the Little Mermaid pillowcase. She calls her "Pilly" (pilly is a girl) and takes her everywhere. She is a sweet, energetic, caring little girl who wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. She loves our 3 cats and has been very responsible about keeping their food dish full.

So has Phil found a job yet? Nope. He is currently studying for his CCNA and plans to take the certification test next week. Having this will give him more (and higher-paying) job possibilities. CCNA stands for Certified Cisco Network Administrator I think. All I know is that having this will give him some much-needed confidence and make him more valuable/marketable.

The only other big news is that due to a lack of money, we have given up cable tv. So now we have no tv channels at all. Surprisingly the kids haven't protested much at all. We have dvds to watch if they want. But they have adapted really well and spend more time playing and reading books. Yahoo! One unexpected benefit of having no money!

Well it is time for the bigger kids to get home so I'm gonna sign off and hopefully not take quite so long to blog again!

A Birthday!

Well life has been busier for us recently. I can't believe I haven't found time to blog. Rose turned 10 exactly one month ago. I can't even believe she is 10 already! I remember when she was born. She was breech so my doctor suggested they try a procedure to try to turn her around. We headed into the hospital one Saturday where they gave me drugs to relax me. I don't know what it was but it made me as jittery as if I'd had 12 cups of coffee. Then they tried to turn Rose around but she wouldn't budge. She was stubborn even back then! Well they sent us home and scheduled a c-section for Oct. 16. Well Tuesday Oct. 12 in the wee hours of the morning my water broke. Phil was working 3rd shift at the time so I called him at work. He was excited to have an good excuse to drive home as fast as he wanted. So we ended up at the hospital for an emergency c-section. everything went smoothly and Evelyn Rose Hahn arrived at 7:42 a.m. and changed our lives forever.

She has grown up into a young lady who loves Jesus, likes to invent games to play with her siblings, enjoys doing arts and crafts, LOVES reading and is sweet, compassionate and sensitive. I am so grateful to God for giving her to us to raise. She is an amazing girl who I love very much!!

The picture is one taken by my wonderful mother (ok technically Phil's mom, but I'd rather call her mom than mother-in-law). She gave Rose an absolutely gorgeous dress which she modeled. Doesn't she look so grown-up?

It's Been Awhile. . .

since I've posted. Last week I was in Nashville for the 2009 MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Convention at the gorgeous, swanky Gaylord Opryland hotel and convention center. I'm a Zone Event Coordinator for MOPS so it wasn't all sitting around by the pool; I helped out making sure the sessions in "my" ballrooms ran smoothly. I was on my feet around 15 hours a day (I think even my blisters got blisters) and worked really hard. But I got to work with and talk to some amazing moms! I thoroughly enjoyed working with all the MOPS staff and the other ZECs. I miss you ladies already!!!! Hugs to any ZECs reading this :-) I got back Sunday afternoon and spent Monday just relaxing and recovering from all the busy-ness.

Phil was home with the kids while I was gone and he did a good job keeping them alive. The house was relatively clean when I got home. I say "relatively" because our house is never truly clean with 4 kids around, but we do our best. The bad news when I got home was about Matthew. As you all know if you've read my earlier blog entries, Matthew started preschool a couple weeks ago. His first day did not go well. When we picked him up, the teacher informed us that he had hit them and we needed to talk to him about that. Trust me we did!!! We had a long conversation about how you treat grownups and especially teachers. Every day since then we have mentioned this to him. We were hoping this was the end of the problem.

The next week he was vomiting and missed preschool. The 3rd week of preschool (which was actually only his second day) was the Friday while I was gone. Phil took him over to preschool, came home and went back to bed. Now Phil sleeps like the dead so he never hears the phone ring. Apparently the school called but couldn't reach him. To make a long story short, Matthew acted up in preschool that fateful day; he wouldn't listen to or obey his teachers. I didn't hear that he was hitting anyone, but he was evidently unwilling to follow the rules and was somewhat out of control. So they said he can't come back. He's been evicted from preschool. Kicked out. Asked not to come back.

I truly don't understand this because at home he is a sweet, imaginative, energetic child who loves to play pretend, read books and work puzzles. Ok I admit he is strong-willed. I am completely devastated by this news. David and Rachel went to preschool here. This is a fabulous program and I am sad that Matthew will not be finishing there like 2 of his older siblings did. I am very depressed and having a hard time processing this news. I am feeling like a complete failure as a mother. I don't have problems with him at home (well other than run-of-the-mill parenting problems that everyone has with their kids). Where did I go wrong? What can I do? He starts kindergarten next fall and I want him to like school as his older 3 siblings do. I don't want him to be the problem child who constantly needs discipline and ends up in the principal's office. I am just completely overwhelmed and stressed by life without income right now without adding this on top of it. I don't know what to do. I have FAILED!!!!!!!

So, now what?

Today is a milestone in the lives of the Hahn family. I am excited and sad all at the same time. Today is Matthew's first day of preschool. Yep after 2 years of taking kids to preschool, Matthew is finally big enough to go too. So now all 4 of my kids are in school. Of course Matt only goes one day a week, but I'll take it.

His preschool is an amazing program at a church a couple miles from our house. It is free and is one day a week for 4 hours. The teach the kids Bible stories, do crafts, learn letters and numbers, have playtime, snacktime and lunch. Matthew was up early this morning (he's up early every morning!). But he was excited about going to school so by 8 a.m. he was dressed and had his backpack on and his lunchbox in his hand. Poor kid; preschool doesn't start until 9:30. But soon enough the time came. I loaded all 4 kids in the van, dropped off the bigger 3 at their school then headed to Matt's preschool. We got there early (which is very atypical for us) which meant I had time to take pictures of him in front of the school. We headed inside to his classroom. He's in the same classroom that Rachel was in when she went to preschool there; different teachers though. He was the first one there and found his chair right away. Each child has a chair with their name on it and a crate to put their backpack and lunch in. He made himself at home and started playing with playdough. I took a couple pictures then said goodbye and left.

I expected to be excited and thrilled to have time to myself. I am, but I'm also sad. I mean he's my baby and now he's old enough to be in school. It's so hard to believe! I admit I was a little teary-eyed when I left. But I know he'll have a great time!

So, now what? I'm hoping that Fridays will be my day to get some projects done around the house. But today I'm gonna relax and enjoy the sound of silence! Even Phil is out running an errand. I have the whole house to myself!! So good night, I'm gonna take a nap!

Happy Birthday David!

This is a bit late. David actually turned 8 on Monday, August 31. I can't believe he's 8 already. I still remember the day he was born. We were so stressed out because he was due around the end of August. At that time Phil still worked for the school district and couldn't get much time off because school was starting then. David was breech so we'd scheduled a c-section and lined up people to help take care of Rose (who was only 22 months old at this point). But then David decided he didn't want to be breech anymore. So my doctor wanted to wait and see if he'd come on his own. Of course this messed up my plans and meant that there was no one to watch Rose. ACK! Well to make a long story short my doc agreed to do a c-section anyway on August 31. We arrived bright and early at 6 a.m. I got checked in, put on one of those lovely hospital gowns and settled down to wait. Phil brought along cards and we ended up playing gin rummy, a tradition that started with Rose and would continue with all of our kids (some of the nurses actually remembered us from one kid to the next simply because we played cards). My doc was gonna do my surgery then head to the office to see patients. But an emergency c-section came in and I had to wait. By the time it was my turn, my doc had to go to the office. So I was stuck waiting all day until she got done seeing patients. Another doc offered to do my surgery late that morning but by then I'd had 2 sips of 7-up, which meant I couldn't have the drugs. So I ended up waiting anyway. David was born at 5:15 p.m.

Since then he has grown into a kind, sensitive, caring, helpful, generous young man. He likes to cook, play video games, watch Star Wars movies, read books. He is in 2nd grade this year and has developed quite a good sense of humor. He loves to regale us with jokes he's heard or made up himself. He loves to be silly. He is very smart and enjoys school - last year he was reading at a 3rd/4th grade level. He is an amazing kid and I am so grateful to God for putting him in our family!

Happy Birthday David! I love you lots!!!

Back to School!

August 25, 2009 was a very big day in our house. Not only was it the long-awaited first day of school, but it was also my birthday. Yeah! The morning was a frenzy of activity: kids running around getting dressed, looking for backpacks; parents shuffling around, looking for caffeine. We all made it out the door by 8:30, which was 20 minutes before the bus came. Brett even got up for the occasion, which was good because his camera works and mine doesn't. I'm hoping to post the pictures he took (if he ever emails them to me!). The bus came and my 3 big kids hopped on and off they went. Rose is in 4th grade this year and is in the ELO (gifted) program for math. David is in 2nd grade and Rachel is in 1st grade. My baby girl is in school all day now! Did I cry when they were gone? NO! For the first time in 2 years I don't have to be home every day at noon to get a kindergartener off the school bus. Yippee!

So what to do with only 1 child at home? Leave of course! My best friend came to take me out to breakfast for my birthday. We did some grocery shopping afterwards - just us. No kids around! She has 4 kids also, so for the 2 of us to escape alone was nothing short of a miracle. Back at home, Phil sent me to take a nap while he played with Matthew and cooked dinner. Yep, he cooked. He made chicken parmigiana, one of his specialties. It is SO YUMMY!!! We had cheesecake instead of birthday cake and the kids watched as I opened my present and cards. What a lovely day :D

The kids had a great first day of school. Rose loved 4th grade and said she couldn't wait for tomorrow. She is confident she's gonna have a great year. For the first time, she actually gets letter grades on her report cards. She said she's trying for all A's. She's so smart - I know she can do it! David also had a good day. He said his favorite part of the day was listening to his teacher read the class a book. And Rachel had a fabulous day - her first day of being in school all day. She wanted to buy lunch for her first day and came home a little frustrated. Lunchtime is very short for each grade so by the time you get through the lunchline you typically have only 10 minutes to eat (at the most). She wasn't used to this and ended up having to waste some of her lunch. She came home starving. She said her favorite part of the day was storytime. She loved hearing her teacher read their class a book, but couldn't remember what the book was about.

So now we're slowly getting back into the routine of school - making breakfast quickly, signing planners, making sure homework gets done. But it's a nice change of pace. I'm excited to see what this year brings for the kids!

Road Trip to Charlottesville

Well this was a very last-minute road trip. Phil got a call on Tuesday from the Albermarle County (Virginia) School District wanting to interview him that Friday. I was already busy and stressed trying to simultaneously get ready for a MOPS leadership meeting I had to run at church that night plus filling out the hundreds of forms (ok not quite many but still quite a few for 3 kids) for registration day at school the next day. So I left Phil to take care of the details of his trip. Which by the way, was tough for me. I am used to planning all the details of events and trips and knowing what's going on and where we're going. But Phil made the hotel reservations and MapQuested the directions and everything. Yay!

Flash forward to Wednesday afternoon and after many phone calls, conversations and stress, Phil and I are both heading to VA the next day. Phil's parents offered to keep the girls, which thrilled Rose and Rachel to pieces!! And my parents offered to come down, pack up some of our things (in case we had to move) and help Brett take care of the boys. So being the detail-oriented person that I am, I'm frantically packing stuff for us, packing stuff for the girls, doing 5 loads of laundry (can't pack dirty clothes after all!) and trying to figure out what my parents can pack up for us. Stress? What stress?

Well somehow it all got done and we left around 11 a.m. Thursday morning. The trip out was delightfully uneventful. We were listening to music, doing crosswords together and enjoying being able to drive without a small voice from the backseat wondering “Are we there YET?” when we realized we were low on gas. Phil said that the car runs out of gas very suddenly right near empty (our van can drive probably 15 miles on empty before it quits). We decided to get off at next exit. Halfway up the ramp the car stopped. Yep, out of gas. So we walked to the top of the ramp. Fortunately there was an Exxon right there so we got gas in a borrowed gas can and and started walking back. Then of course 2 people stopped to ask if we needed help. Where were they when we were walking up the hill??? We got a surprisingly yummy dinner at a little restaurant adjoining the gas station and got back on the road and continued driving through the rain. Then we saw it - a double rainbow – that was symmetrical no less. The colorws were (from left to right) blue, green, yellow, orange, red; then red, orange, yellow, green, blue in the rainbow next to it. How cool was that?? Then ¼ mile later we saw another rainbow – an amazingly brilliant rainbow – you could actually see all 7 colors vividly. A full arch too. I have never seen a rainbow this long and colorful before. It was easily the best rainbow I've ever seen!!!! If only I'd had a camera. . .

We got to the Super 8 that Phil made reservations at. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there were indoor corridors (as opposed to those motels where you walk from the parking lot directly into your room), free Wi-Fi, cable and even a continental breakfast in the morning. We ordered Chinese food and settled down to relax. I found a website with sample job interview questions and was quizzing Phil, while munching on egg rolls and fried rice. What a nice evening!

So the next day Phil put on his suit and we headed to the interview (after what Phil called “the lamest continental breakfast ever”). I dropped him off and went to look for some real estate books and scope out the area. About 45 minutes later Phil called to ask me to come pick him up. I could hear it in his voice before he even said anything. The disappointment and defeat. The interview hadn't gone well. As it turned out, the interview was more like an interrogation. They handed Phil a list of 15 questions which they claimed they asked everyone and told him to read them out loud and answer them. Then they just started at him without cracking a smile or anything. Phil said it was like talking to Mt. Rushmore. Questions #14 was “Knowing that this is only a 2-year position, are you still interested in this job?” WHAT?!? Yep, apparently this job is part of the stimulus package from Pres. Obama. It lasts 2 years then dries up. And of course Phil didn't want to uproot his family, move to a state where we knew very few people only to be unemployed again in 2 years. So we are back where we started We are both sad, but determined to press on with the job search. And hey; at least we got a road trip out of it!

My Son, the Sleep-Walker

So it's now Monday morning around 1 a.m. and I've just been inspired to post another blog entry. Here's what happened: About 20 minutes ago, I was in bed playing on Facebook and hoping to get tired soon (I've been battling insomnia lately). I heard a knock on the door but no one came in. I get up and open the door to see Matthew standing there with his thumb in his mouth, clutching his woolie scrap and stuffed giraffe in the other hand. "I wanna watch a video," he says. "Ummmm, it's 1 a.m. . ." I say. "Let's go back to bed." We head down the hall to the living room (he still sleeps on the couch in the living room rather than in his bedroom with his older brother). I tuck him in and he insists "I wanna watch Patrick and SpongeBob and Sandy and. . . " and trails off into incomprehensible mumbling. I kiss him goodnight and leave, laughing to myself.

But he's not the first sleep-walker in the family. Rose has been known to sleep-walk in the past. I have had some entertaining conversations with her while she's asleep, when I go in and check on her before I goto bed. Phil, however, has seen her come downstairs late at night and ask him something or tell him something that doesn't make sense. She's obviously still asleep so he walks her back upstairs to bed. This in itself is rather entertaining but when you consider that she sleeps on the top bunk and has to climb down a metal ladder, her sleep-walking becomes a pretty impressive achievement!


And just for more entertainment, here are a couple random conversations that have happened in our house recently:

Rachel: What would happen if cats could fly?
Maggie: People wouldn't let their pets outside anymore.
(Maggie is Rachel's best friend and was at our house playing with Rachel)


Matt: Mommy tickle me!
So I tickle Matt until his face turns red, he is laughing out loud and begging me to stop. Then. . .
Me: Matt your face is turning bright red
Matt: oh no!!! we have to go see the doctor so she can fix my face!


To update everyone on our job search. . . Phil is still applying all across the country to whatever jobs he can find that he's qualified for. I am working on updating my resume and plan to start hunting too (I don't wanna give up being a stay-at-home mom, but might have to). Phil interviewed for a job with the Marysville (Ohio) Schools but didn't get the job. He had a phone interview about 3 weeks ago for a job with the Upper Sandusky (Ohio) Schools. All we have heard about that one is that they are still deciding! C'mon people - make a decision!!

Rachel's lip and Rose's eyes

I love each of my kids for thousands of different reasons. I really like seeing their personalities come out though and laughing at how silly they can be. Take Rachel, for example. She is spunky and determined to get what she wants. Her main method of persuasion these days is the pouty lip. She will look up at you with her big round pleading eyes and stick out her lower lip and say "pleeeeeaaaassssse?" She's just so cute when she does that you can't help but laugh.

And then there's Rose. She's fun to tease these days since she's getting older and can recognize we're teasing without getting mad. She just crosses her arms, narrows her eyes and glares at you with this expression in her eyes that says "I can't believe you jsut said that.". Hee hee hee.

David is turning into the jokester of the family. He is getting good at making up jokes and one-liners. And when you laugh at one of his jokes, his face just lights up. You can tell he's just so proud of himself for making you happy.

And Matthew. . . where do I start? Today my parents came down - they are keeping both girls for a week and were here to visit and take the girls home with them. My parents took all 4 kids to the playground near our house. When they came back, my dad was telling me about a penny Matthew found. He asked Matthew if he had a piggy bank to keep it him. Matt said no. So dad asked where he kept his valuables. Matt replied "at the zoo." We all burst out laughing because Matt was so serious. He looked around at all of us and kept asking "what's so funny?"

I just love my kids. They are each different and special in their own way. Raising 4 kids is HARD (quite easily the hardest job I've ever had!(, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Our God is an Awesome God!

I don't know why I'm so surprised. I shouldn't be but somehow I still am. Does this mean I don't have faith in God? No it just means I worry too much and try to solve our family problems on my own instead of relying more on God like I should. So what am I talking about? In the past week we have received some very practical help from several very unexpected sources. We've gotten checks we weren't expecting and have been given food (leftovers from a couple different cookouts we were invited to). Praise God for His provision! We are now able to pay our mortgage for next month and either the gas/electric or the water bill. Yeah!!!

This whole process has really made us depend on God. It's been a great lesson for the kids about God and how He really does take care of us. Rose commented just today that life hasn't been much different since dad lost his job. And that's been our goal. The kids don't need to know how much we've struggled and stressed about the future. They know their dad doesn't have a job right now, but they don't need to know all the details of our finances. They have been great through all this - not complaining and begging for things (well except Matthew some, but he's still little and doesn't understand).

We have been so blessed through all this with an amazing circle of family and friends who have been praying for us, calling to check in and emailing. We appreciate each of you so much for supporting us through all this.

There is no job on the horizon for either of us yet. Phil has been diligently applying places most every day. I am working on updating my resume and will be looking for something as well. I love being a stay-at-home mom and don't want to give it up. But if I can find work, I will. And for those of you wondering why we don't just apply at McDonalds or retail or something for now just to get a little money, well we could but it wouldn't really help. Places like that aren't hiring people like us who want benefits and full-time work (or even part-time work) because we're overqualified. There are so many people looking for work right now that retail and fast food places aren't looking to hire someone like me with a Master's degree when they can get someone for cheaper who won't be quitting when they get something better.

But through all this, the kids and I are still having some fun. We went to a cookout that a couple in our small group had at their house. They have a fenced-in backyard with a pool and trampoline. The kids were thrilled and spent 90% of our time their in the pool. And this was in weather that was maybe 74 degrees. It has been a surprisingly cool summer here but that didn't deter the kids from swimming.

We've been spending lots of time at the playground a mile from our house. They have 3 separate play areas with stuff for littler kids and stuff for bigger kids to do. We get there and my 4 kids scatter in different directions, climbing the rocks, sliding, doing the monkey bars, playing tag and just generally having lots of fun. I so enjoy watching them enjoy themselves and run off some energy!

Thre best news recently though is that Matt is finally potty trained. Yes he is indeed 4 already. I've been putting off training him but finally decided it was time last month after his birthday. Success!! Yippee!!! He has had 1 accident in the last week so I think it's safe to say that we've passed another milestone and have entered the phase of life that doesn't involve taking extra diapers everywhere we go. We still have several in pullups at night, but at least I don't have to change diapers anymore. Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What day is it?

Seriously, does anyone know what day it is?? I am noticing that with both Phil and I home full-time there is nothing to mark the passing of time. The days tend to blend together. It's been a progression actually. Back before Rose was born when I was still working for money, I really looked forward to weekends as a time to kick back, relax and not have much of anything to do. Work wasn't really fun but I got things done. Projects that I checked off my to-do list stayed done.

Then Rose was born and I started staying home full-time. What a big adjustment. Weekends were suddenly less exciting because they weren't that different from weekdays. Things I got done got undone really easily. The work was a LOT harder but I loved it so much more than any job I'd ever had in the past.

Now that Phil is home full-time I have no way to mark that it's a weekend. He is always home. It's definitely been an adjustment.

There is nothing new to report on the job front. Unemployment is still processing our claim so we don't have any income on a regular basis. But God has been so good about providing for us. We've had friends invite us out for lunch or over to their house for dinner. We've had unexpected checks arrive in the mail along with a bill we wouldn't have otherwise been able to pay. The kids have been terrific about not begging for new toys, trips to McDonalds, etc. I'm so proud of them for the way they're handling this!!

Don't get me wrong - Phil and I are still worried about how we're gonna pay the bills next month. The future is so uncertain and stressful for us, not knowing how we're gonna put food on the table or pay the mortgage, not knowing if we'll be living here or somewhere else. But we're relying on God (or at least trying to). He has a plan and will provide for us. Worrying about next month won't change anything and certainly won't help.

The First Day of a new chapter in our lives

Well this is Phil's first day unemployed. He spent the morning sleeping in then did some housework and job-hunting after he got up. He told me that he didn't get depressed if he kept busy. This will be a hard transition for him (and all of us) I think. We got his last paycheck in the mail today. Yikes!!

Meanwhile the kids and I went over to mom & dad Hahn's house for a play date. The kids were thrilled because they have been asking when they could see their grandparents again. They had a terrific time playing and I got to relax and have some grownup conversation. Mom even fixed lunch for us - I discovered that I like grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. These tomatos were so sweet!! Yummy! Anyway, after lunch we 3 adults took the kids to see Disney's Up at the theater near their house. Rachel sat still, behaved wonderfully and loved the movie. Matthew watched parts of it and said he liked the movie, but squirmed through probably 2/3 of it. He has just an unquenchable source of energy somewhere. He is on the go nonstop until he just crashes at night. He does still take the occasional afternoon nap, but if that happens he is up until 10:00 p.m. usually. Ugh.

Anyway, back to the movie. It was cute, but not exactly for people Matthew's age. It had a slow start, establishing the history of one of the main characters. There were some really funny parts though; I won't mention what specifically in case you haven't seen it yet. But it had some really inspiring messages though, like loving people, not things; spending time with your kids; and keeping your promises. One thing that really struck me was when Russell was talking to Mr. Fredrickson (the two main characters). He was telling his new older friend about how his dad used to have more time to spend with him and described what they used to do together. "It might sound boring," he says. "But I kinda think it's the boring stuff I remember the most." That is so true! I may want to spend lots of money doing fabulous things for my kids (like trip to amusement parks or the bowling alley) but in the end it may be the little things we do together (like snuggling on the couch for Family Movie Night or trips to the playground and McDonalds) that they remember the most. I've gotta remember this!!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

That seems to be the theme of our lives recently, at least in some areas. Not that it's bad, just slow. For instance, I finally bit the bullet and put Matthew in regular underpants rather than the diapers he prefers. Frankly it's past time for him to be trained and to be honest, he knows what to do but is stubborn. So he's in undies now, which is one step forward. But he's still having accidents and is changing clothes at least once a day, which is is frustrating. And he actually pooped in the local pool a couple weeks ago. Two steps back.

Last Friday we went to the Museum Center for Free Friday (one Friday a month during the summer Union Terminal opens up its museums for 4 hours to everyone for free). The kids love it there and were having a terrific time. One step forward. But David slipped off a low carpet bench and knocked his face into a nearby concrete wall. The result? Scrapes all over his nose, blood all over his face and 2 front teeth missing, plus a nice lisp. Two steps back. Poor guy.

At the beginning of June, I went downtown to apply for food stamps and medicaid in preparation for the upcoming job loss. A very nice case worker told me we would qualify but she couldn't complete our application yet because we still had income. She put us in the system though and said this would save us time later. I was told to come back towards the end fo the month. One step forward. . . Last Friday I went down to finish up the application and was told that I couldn't do anything then since we still had income. Not only that but I was also told that because we would be receiving unemployment we wouldn't actually qualify for food stamps. Now does that make any sense at all? Definitely two steps back. I'll head back downtown later this week or next and try again.

An Update. . .

I can't believe that it's almost the end of June already! It's been such a busy month so far. The kids are thrilled to be out of school of course. They have been keeping busy making messes (which they don't clean up), playing outside, playing inside, plus of course fighting and whining (although those last 2 arte not limited to summertime only). Seriously though it's been a fun summer so far.

The Monday after school ended the older 3 kids started Bible Day Camp. It is a glorious program run by the church where David and Rachel went to preschool. It is a VBS program that lasts 4 hours a day for 5 days. I packed each of my kids a lunch and dropped them off every day. Then I had the whole morning to myself!! How glorious!!! My morning involved a bit of housework, some grownup (non-animated) tv and a nap. Aaaahhhhh!!! Now at this point the 2 of you who read this regularly are probably wondering what has happened to Matthew in all this. He's not at Bible Day Camp, yet he's not at home. What did she do to him? He was playing at a friend's house. My dear friend Lisa offered to keep him mornings that week if I took her older 3 kids to Bible Day Camp with my kids. What a great week :-)

The next week was VSB at our church. This was 2.5 hours in the evening and instead of dropping off my kids, I got to go too. I was a crew leader for a group of 7 and 8 year olds. We walked to different rooms in the church for crafts, snacks, games and storytime. It was a tiring week, but lots of fun!

We have also discovered a pool near our house that costs $1 per person to get in (or like $10 per person for the summer). The best part is that they give the kids free lunch! So we go, hang out and swim. The kids come home fed and tired. Yeah!!

As far as a job update, well, there's nothing to report really. Phil's last day is this coming Tuesday the 30th and he is getting increasingly stressed and discouraged as the days go by. We've been looking everywhere for jobs, sending out resumes, applying online with no luck. He's had 2 interviews but no job offers yet. I hate to leave Cincinnati, but we are thinking we may have to. Gotta go where the job is ya know. So keep praying for us and I'll try to blog at least somewhat regularly to keep you updated on how we're doing.

Fun times with David

So today I was hanging out with the kids and we were telling jokes. The kids are very into joke telling these days. I have a book called something like "Laughs for Lunchtime" that I got at MOPS convention a couple years ago. It has pages with clean funny jokes on them that are perforated and can be torn out and put in your kid's lunch box. So the kids were reading me the jokes I put in their lunch today for Bible Day Camp and we got onto state jokes. Ya know, like "What did Missi sip?" "She sipped a Minne sota!" Hee hee hee.

Out of the blue David looks at me and asks why there isn't a Mr.Ssippi. He reasoned that since there is a MISSissippi there should be a Mr. as well. After I stopped laughing, I thought for a moment and told him that "Miss" refers to a woman who isn't married yet. So naturally there couldn't be a Mr.Ssippi until Mississippi gets married! I just had to laugh!!! Ya just never know what kids are gonna come up with.

Matthew turns 4!

My baby is 4 now!! I can't even believe it. Where did the time go? I remember when he was born. The nurses in the hospital actually remembered us from the previous 3 kids we'd had there. Ok that and the fact that we brought a deck of cards and played gin rummy while we were waiting for my c-section to start. He was so little and adorable and helpless. Now he is full of energy, curious about everything and still wearing diapers. ACK! Yep it's true. I may have the only child in history who will goto kindergarten in diapers. Oh don't get me wrong-he knows what to do. He just WON'T. But next week after Bible Day Camp is over he is going to be quitting diapers cold turkey - he just doesn't know it yet.

Seriously though Matthew is a great kid even though he wears me out. He is always on the go, exploring things, curious about everything. "What will happen if I. . . " seems to be his motto. He loves to read books and will climb on my lap with stories for me to read to him. And if I read it wrong, he'll correct me. He has his favorite stories and loves to hear them over and over. Another favorite pastime is playing pretend. He'll grab a couple of the many action figures, Happy Meal toys or even toy cars and have them talk. And of course he gets me in on the action. He'll hand me a couple of random "people" and tell me what to say. And he's very serious about his games. He loves to help me out with whatever I'm doing - he loves to be wherever I am and gets upset if I leave the room (heaven forbid I leave the house without him!). He is very attached to his woolie scrap (a lamb's wool blanket that he drags everywhere!!) and a small red plastic figure that he calls "toy" (creative name eh?). Poor toy looks like he has been through a war - there's tape everywhere holding him together but Matt is very loyal to him. At night he can't goto sleep without his Blue's Clues blanket, his curvey pillow, the woolie scrap, toy and the most recent addition to his collection -- Marty the marty. Marty is a Webkinz zebra that Matt got for his birthday. Not only has Matt named him Marty after the zebra in "Madagascar" but he has started calling all animals by their movie or tv names. For example, a zebra is a "marty," giraffes are "melmans," hippos are "glorias," and starfish are "patricks" (from SpongeBob SquarePants). *sigh* It certainly makes like more interesting!

As I mentioned earlier, this week is Bible Day Camp for my oldest 3 kids. Bible Day Camp is 4 hours every day for 5 days - kinda like VBS on steroids. It's at the same church where David and Rachel went to preschool. And boy this church really goes all out for this program. It's amazing really how much they accomplish - and it's all free. The volunteers all dress up in costumes appropriate to the theme. This year the theme is "Power Lab" so everyone is wearing white scientist coats. They do skits of Bible stories for the kids, sing songs, play games and make really cool crafts. Today for example my 3 kids each brought home a lava lamp that they'd made themselves. It was some combination of oil and water my 9-year-old informed me. All we had to do was add one tablet of Alka-Seltzer and it started bubbling and looked like an actual lava lamp. Now how cool is that exactly? So what does all this have to do with the Bible? Well I'm honestly not sure, but I'll find out Thursday night. They are doing a program for all the parents to show off what the kids have learned all week.

The best part of this week for me is my free time! My best friend and I are carpooling. We each have 4 kids, 3 of whom are going to Bible Day Camp this week. So I take the older 6 and drop them off at the church. She takes the younger 2 back to her house where they play happily together and I have the morning off!!!! It was amazingly quiet at my house this morning with no children there. So what did I do? NAP of course (after I put in a load of laundry and started the dishwasher). AAAHHHHH!!!!!

Well it's official

We have known this was a possibility for a couple weeks now, but now we know for sure. Phil has been laid off. He fixes computers for the school district we live in. Our district has really high quality schools and a community full of people who typically pass levies and support the schools. Earlier this month there was a school levy on the ballot that was meant to maintain the services and value of the schools currently. State funding has decreased so the district had to ask for more money just to keep things at the level they are now. Well as you all know, this economy is in bad shape. So for the first time that I can remember, the levy failed. So the administration has been making cuts and unfortunately for us decided to outsource the entire tech department. They think they can save money by giving the contract to this other company. Good luck with that! So Phil's last day is June 30. The company has offered to interview any of the techs who are interested. Phil of course gave them his resume but found out that they only pay somewhere around $12-$15 an hour. That is less than half what Phil makes now. That's not a teribly realistic option.

So now what? Well we are updating Phil's resume and searching online for any place that is hiring computer techs. I have been contacting all of my friends and acquaintances across the country to get their help also. There's gotta be a job out there for Phil that will pay enough for us to live on and that he is qualified for. We hate to think about moving, but may have to if we find a job elsewhere. Meanwhile, Phil and I are both stressed and depressed and trying to deal with this the best he can. Phil tends to scream at the kids more often while I tend to cope by playing on Facebook and trying to avoid reality temporarily.

God is telling us to be strong and courageous; that's a verse in Joshua that He's been bringing to my mind quite often these days. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." We're trying our best. The kids have taken it better than we expected. We've cut out all unnecessary spending and they don't seem to mind. We are so fortunate that this happened in the summer when there's more to do that doesn't cost anything. Parks, pool, playgrounds, etc. If this was winter, we'd be out of luck. My kids hate cold weather so the best options for getting out of the house involve fast food restaurants with play areas. Ugh!

Anyway, that's the update from around here. Sorry it's not more cheerful.

The Ongoing Adventures of Matthew

This is the next installment in the ongoing saga of Matthew, my affectionate, lovable, curious, destructive, energetic almost-4-year-old. Yesterday my best friend called wondering if I wanted to meet at McDonalds so the kids could play and we could talk. Of course! The 2 oldest kids were still at school so I started rounding up the 2 youngest, gathering shoes, keys, cell phone and (in Matthew's case) clothes. But where were the actual children? I found them in the kitchen looking out the back door at one of our cats hunched over something. Upon further investigation we discovered that our beloved ball of fluff was guarding a baby bird Was she protecting it or tormenting it? Hard to tell. We discovered a dead baby bird nearby too. The kids were fascinated and picked up the dead bird. I scolded them and herded them inside to wash their hands and head to McDonalds. Fast forward 15 minutes and we were settled at McD's waiting for my friend and her 4 kids. I left the kids playing happily and went out to get a snack for us to share. When I got back Matthew had pushed a highchair up to the table. And what did I find sitting in the highchair? Matt's orange Diego Rescue Pack and. . . the dead baby bird. I believe my exact words at that point were "AAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK! Yuuuuuuuuuccckkk!" I am still not sure how he managed to smuggle the bird into his rescue pack or why he felt the need to bring it with him. Needless to say the bird did not make it back to our house again. Lesson learned? Check whatever backpack or bag your kids insist on bringing somewhere because you just never know what you'll find.

Mother's Day weekend

As usual I have blogged a LOT less than I'd planned. I have no idea where time is going but magically it gets away from me. I even have pictures on my camera from Christmas that I haven't downloaded onto the computer yet.

We are at the end of what has been a wonderfully fun but rather busy Mother's Day weekend. Friday morning I got to take David to school 40 minutes early for "Muffins with Mom" organized by the 1st grade classes. In his classroom are groups are 6 desks pushed together and called a table. Each table was covered with a plastic tablecloth and decorated with assorted projects that I soon learned were gifts for us moms made by our kids. David and I sat at his desk where he presented me with a paper corsage and tied it on my wrist. Then he gave me a portrait of me he had drawn himself. And last was a book he had made. It was called "Mom's Jobs" and had a hard cover on it and looked very professional. At least as professional as a book done by a 7 year old can look. Each page had a picture on it and a different job that I do. According to David, some of my jobs include chauffer, police officer, maid, chef, housekeeper and linen service. I had to laugh. It is very cute and he was very proud of his work. So then we got to eat a muffin and drink some juice together. Just hanging out with David one-on-one doesn't happen very often so this was fun and very special. Then all the 1st graders and their moms headed downstairs to the gym where the kids got up on stage and sang a couple cute Mother's Day songs for us. The only one I remembered started out "She's a V - I - P, a Very Important Person." By now the busses were arriving with all the other students so the moms left and the kids headed upstairs to begin their school day.

Saturday was a rare day with nice weather - we've gotten so much rain lately that I'm seriously considering building an ark! What to do on such a nice day? Rose suggested we goto the zoo. Great idea! I packed up the 4 kids and some snacks and headed out leaving Phil at home to nap and mow the grass (in that order). This was one of our first trips to the zoo without a stroller. What a concept! It's amazing how different it was. My hands were free - no stroller to push or diaper bag to carry. Yeah!! And we could go anywhere. There are a few places in the Cincinnati Zoo that we used to avoid because they aren't terribly stroller-friendly. But no more!!! Matthew was actually well-behaved and didn't run off. He stuck with us and obeyed me really well. It was a genuinely fun day with my kids. I came home with sunburnt shoulders and aching feet, ready to rest.

Alas, rest was not on our agenda for the evening. An hour later after cooking dinner, kissing a couple random boo-boos and taking 1 kid potty (Matthew, who at the age of almost 4 is STILL potty training) Phil and I left the kids with Brett and headed down to the river to meet some college friends of his. These are friends he has recently gotten in touch with again but hasn't seen in probably 15 years. We all saw the new Star Trek movie together then went out afterwards to talk and hang out. The movie was a prequel to all the other movies and featured a younger Captain Kirk and crew before they took command of the Enterprise. I really enjoyed it!! Great movie and awesome effects, especially on the huge IMAX screen!! It's a good movie to see even if you're not a fan of Star Trek. Phil really enjoyed catching up with some old friends. I hadn't met any of these people before and was a bit nervous but ended up having fun. We got home late and stayed up late talking and reading in bed.

Sunday morning was church. Then Phil and the kids wanted to take me out for lunch. I didn't feel like battling the huge crowds that were bound to be dining out also so we ended up taking sandwiches from Penn Station home and having a picnic together. I just love their food but don't get it too often. The kids had made me cute cards and gifts at school and church which they presented to me. I just love the homemade stuff rather than something store bought. They were so proud of their gifts and I loved seeing their smiling faces. I love my kids to pieces!!! But that didn't deter me from taking a nice long nap that afternoon. I woke up rested and refreshed to the smell of someone grilling. Brett had bought ribs, hamburgers and hotdogs plus all the fixings and was cooking dinner. I just love hamburgers off the grill. Yum!!!!! Of course Brett and Phil got involved in conversation, leaving me to clean everything up, but that's not a real big surprise! All in all, it was a wonderful relaxing day spending time with my loving family. I love being a mom!

Just when you think you've seen it all

Having 4 kids, I have had a wide range of interesting experiences raising them, from the time Rachel colored herself purple when she was a baby to the time David ran naked around our neighborhood (and he's not the only one Hahn kid who's done that either) to the time Rose had a seizure and ended up in the ER all day. So I tend to be a bit jaded when it comes to Matthew and think that I've seen it all. Well that was proven wrong yet again just this morning. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day so Matt and Emma (one of the kids I babysit 2 days a week) and I decided to walk the big kids to the bus stop. I sent them out with Rose while I put on something besides my nightgown. I have mastered the art of getting dressed quickly when necessary so I wasn't inside more than 3 or 4 minutes. I went outside just in time to see my girls running down the sidewalk towards home yelling "Matthew ate a dandelion and now he's throwing up." Sure enough Matt (who was actually dressed by the way) was vomiting. I didn't panic or anything - after all, he ia the 4th child, not the first. My days of panicking at every little thing are (hopefully) over.

But Matthew has been giving me new experiences since he was born. He developed janudice and a heart murmur in the hospital. The janudice disappeared on its own when he was about a week old. And the heart murmur disappeared when he was about a month old.

Fast forward to Janauary 2006 when Matthew was 8.5 months old. He was able to stand up as long as he had something to hold onto. And boy was he determined to stand! I took him to church with me for a MOPS retreat. We were upstairs talking and he was hanging out holding onto a chair when he lost his grip and fell backwards onto the carpet (which had no padding so was really hard!). He hit his head, had a seizure and lost consciousness. Boy did I panic! My first ride in an ambulance and I was too worried to enjoy it!

I go on and on (but I won't). Needless to say, Matthew has made my life an adventure. He frustrates me on a fairly regular basis but I love him to pieces and am so happy that God gave him to us to raise!

Nothing much happening

This week has been glorious because the kids are back in school. Don't get me wrong - I love my kids dearly. But after a week of having them underfoot durinbg a cold and rainy spring break, I was more than ready to send them back to school. Sadly Rose stayed home from school today. She's been complaining about a sore throat on and off all week, but I figured that it was just her overreacting. She takes after her dad who tends to be a bit of a hypochondriac. So I didn't take it too seriously. But today she looked terrible so I kept her home and we headed to "the fishy doctor." That's what Matt calls our pediatrician because there is a giant fish tank in their office. When we got there, Matt promptly lifted the lid of the tank and dumped his toy hammer in. Poor Hammer (yes, he named his toy hammer "Hammer") has not been the same since. It used to talk but doesn't anymore. (yippee!!).

Did I mention Matt and his tiny pants? A couple weeks ago during one of our sunny, warm days we were outside playing in the backyard. Matt was wearing a diaper and tshirt and nothing else. At some point we had to leave to run some unspecified errand that I can't even remember now. So I told Matt he had to wear pants. He played in the backyard some more while I went to fetch some. And of course I couldn't find any that were clean so grabbed some shorts instead. I brought them out to him and he just looked at them with a confused expression on his face. Then he looked up at me and said "tiny pants? those are tiny pants mom!" I laughed so hard!!! Nope, son, they're called shorts I informed him. No, they're tiny pants he insisted.

Oh and before I sign off I just have to tell you what Matt wanted to wear to bed last night. I was downstairs gathering pillows, stuffed animals and miscellaneous necessary bedtime stuff. I came upstairs to see Matt wearing these grey shark swim goggles and a clean diaper -- on his head!! And nothing else. And he just stood there and grinned at me. Well what can you say to something like that except "Nice hat Matt!"

Spring Break

As a kid I always loved spring break and the chance to stay home and play all day. As a grownup I'd like to find the person who invented spring break and send my children to stay with him for the week! The kids seemed to have fun, although personally I was disappointed at the lack of sunshine and warm weather. I had lots of fun things planned, like trips to the zoo and playgrounds. But the weather didn't cooperate, so we ended up at places like Burger King and Chuck E. Cheese.

The highlight of the week was a trip to Columbus to see their grandparents. Trips to see my parents are good but always stressful. Their house is not child-proof - it doesn't need to be - which makes it tougher when we come up. I have 2 active curious boys and my 3 year old likes to explore things. He is constantly getting in trouble with his grandfather. But they have the best basement ever, according to my kids. They have lots of toys down there, plus a mini trampoline and even a swing! What a kid paradise!

My highlight of the visit was seeing my grandma on Thursday. She is 94 and doing fairly well for being as old as she is. She loved seeing her great-grandchildren of course, especially Rose who is named after her. Rose's first name is Evelyn, just like grandma. So we hung out in grandma's little apartment (she has her own place in a nursing home/assisted-living place). It's a small place so the potential for destruction is just immense. The kids were trying hard to be good, but had lots of energy. We got Burger King and ate with grandma in her room then my parents took the kids to the playground.

I was able to spend over an hour with my grandma having an uninterrupted conversation. Do you even know how long it's been since I was able to do that?? Well at least 9.5 years. I so enjoyed my time with her, hearing about her childhood. Her parents were very strict with her; she knew that if she did something wrong, her dad would cut a switch off the cherry tree and she would get it! So she raised her boys strictly too. They were Methodist and went to church every Sunday. And back then there was no Children's Church or anything so the boys had to sit with their parents and behave. She said she brought along a book or 2 and some paper to draw on, but the boys just learned to sit still and be good. They lived on a farm so they grew up having to work hard. My dad always loved working outside with his dad; he still likes working outside actually. But after high school, my dad left home, spent a couple years at a community college then married my mom. 2 weeks after they were married, he left for Vietnam. He got home the same day Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. I was born the next August.

Boy I kinda digressed there didn't I? Where was I? Oh yeah. My conversation with my grandma. Her younger son (my uncle) was around 6 years younger than my dad. He stayed close to home after he finished school and didn't get married until he was older (28 or so). He and my aunt still live there actually.

So it was a fascinating afternoon. I am so glad I got to spend time with my grandma. That doesn't happen too often since we live 3.5 hours away.

When the kids got back from the playground, we loaded up and headed back to my parents house. The kids got to play while I loaded the van and we were off. And 3 hours, 3 potty stops, and 37 fights between siblings later, we arrived back home. Phew!

It's Finally Done!

Well 2 of the kids' activities ended on the same day. Our schedule is now a little less hectic. Yippee!!

Last Friday I picked up Rose and David at school and took them along with Rachel and Matthew to the bowling alley for the final day of the Maddux bowling league. It was a pizza party and glow-in-the-dark bowling. All 4 kids (and mom too!) got pizza even though Matthew wasn't technically in the league and probably shouldn't have had any. The whole place was dark except for the gutters in each lane which were lit with these funky lights. The orange 6 lb. balls that the kids used glowed in the dark as did the white shirts that some of the kids wore (each kids had gotten a white Maddux bowling tshirt when the league started). My kids LOVED it! Each kid got a trophy too. They passed them out by teams from last place to first place. My kids were on a team together that they named "The Hahn Kids." Amazingly they didn't end up in last place. They were next to last and didn't care a bit! They just loved being able to bowl. Rachel ended up with an average of 73 or 74. Rose had an average of around 77. And David ended up with an average of 81. He even bowled a 123 his very last game!! Yahoo! He's actually a pretty good bowler!

And I'm so glad that they provided pizza because that was dinner for the kids. After bowling was over I drove straight to church where I dropped off Rose and David. Their children's choir performance was also tonight. Talk about busy! They had to be there early so I had enough time before the performance to drive home, grab a drink, change clothes, pick up Phil and Brett and head back to church.

The show was great. It was called "Living Inside Out in an Upside Down World." Rose and David both had parts in it. David was one of the 3 blind guys. The song was like "The 3 Blind Mice" each boy was wearing sunglasses and a sign. David's sign said Greedy on the front and Generous on the back. It was about how people can be blind sometimes - not physically blind but spiritually blind. They are greedy when they should be generous. I'm not describing it very well but maybe you get the idea. David was very cute dancing around during his big song.

Rose had a speaking part and solos in 2 songs. One song she sang alone was "Living Inside Out" and talked about how living out your faith in today's world is like wearing your shirt inside out so the tag is showing. We should live differently from the world so our faith shows, just like the tag on an inside-out shirt. It was a great message and Rose did a brilliant job with her solo. Of course I'm biased. She also played a girl named Sara who shared her faith with some of her classmates at school. My favorite line of hers went like this:

Other kid: Why would Jesus want to live in YOUR heart Sara?
Sara: Location, location, location!

You just had to hear her say it, very cute and flippant. All the kids stood on risers except when they had lines or solos. Rose was in the front row of the risers and was very enthusiastic with her singing and doing the motions. Most of the kids followed the director who was mouthing the words and doing the motions. But Rose knew just what she was doing and didn't need to look to Miss Pam for help at all. She got quite a few compliments after the show; so many people thought she did a terrific job. She certainly has a flair for performing. Can you tell I'm a proud parent?!

So now 2 activities are done for the year. I don't know if there will be children's choir at church next fall or not. The 2 current directors are stepping down; they have been doing this for several years now and need a break. If no one stpes up to take over, there will be no choir.

What a weekend!

Saturday has evolved into cleaning day. Not on purpose, but simply because it's the day everyone is around. Plus the house is usually a mess after a busy week of school, church, homework and extracurricular activities. So Saturday after doing some much-needed cleaning I loaded up the kids to run some errands while Phil slept. Nothing too exciting: drive through the bank to get some cash, drop off books at the library, stop by Game Stop to swap some of our Game Boy games for some newer Nintendo DS games for Rose and David, and drop off videos at Blockbuster. So after an hour of the kids being good I decided to stop by McDonalds to get everyone a snack and let them play. I was sitting reading a book keeping one eye on the kids and enjoying being able to read a bit when I noticed Rachel's outfit. She was wearing a white t-shirt and what I originally thought were black leggings. Upon closer inspection, it turned out they were just tights. So not only was she out in public with NO PANTS but she was wearing her tights inside out. And they had a hole right in the back that showed off her underwear quite nicely. She didn't understand why I was so embarrassed and why I insisted we leave right away. Good grief!

Later that day we were talking and I happened to mention that we had 7 or 8 Frischs coupons that would expire in a couple days. Rose asked whether we could go to Frischs sometime over the weekend. I said maybe and changed the subject, hoping perhaps she'd forget about it. Not likely!! Around 6:30 Sunday evening, after a busy day of relaxing and taking a nap, she asked if we were still going. Hmmm. . . What a choice. Eat out with my oldest daughter and not deal with Matthew or stay home with a grumpy husband and clingy children and try to cook something everyone would eat. So off we went to find shoes and head out. Well good news must travel fast in our house because pretty soon the only person not going was Matthew and that was only because he was asleep and Phil who had already eaten and needed to stay with Matt. Well as luck would have it, Matthew woke up just as we were leaving. He was upset and wanted to go along. So in a moment of sheer insanity, I decided to take him along and told Phil he had to go with us to help with crowd control.

Now you have to understand that we have only taken all 4 of our children out to a restaurant without a play area maybe once or twice in their lives. Normally that's something we emphatically avoid, like our cousin Lori avoids broccoli. My kids have lots of energy and are not the quietest and most well-behaved kids (unlike their Ford cousins who are extremely well-behaved in public). So the idea of taking all 4 out together even to get 4 free kids meals was a bit scary.

Amazingly though it was a success!! Apparently our reputation preceded us, because they sat us in the back corner near the kitchen. This worked in our favor though because the noise the kids made was drowned out by the noise from the kitchen. The kids all sat in their seats, stayed relatively quiet and didn't destroy anything. YAHOO!!! This was the 1st time the 6 of us had eaten out at a regular restaurant and all went home happy! I got to eat my food (including the yummy broccoli I put on my salad!), didn't have to share much of it and didn't get frustrated with the kids. YIPPEE!! What a milestone!

I just have to tell you that while I was writing this I was interrupted by Rose and Katie (one of the kids I babysit-age 9) saying that Matthew was outside naked. Upon investigation, I discovered that sure enough he was running down the sidewalk with Emma (Katie's sister, age 3, and Matthew's partner in crime) wearing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! After I stopped laughing I called him home and told him he needed to at least be wearing a diaper. So as he's running home, a school bus rounds the corner. I watch embarrassed as it slows down to stare at him before driving on. *sigh* What's that about?? I do remember David being outside naked at around the same age though. So is it a boy thing or is it just because he's 3?

Rachel

Well Rachel turned 6 almost a month ago. Funny how time flies. I still remember when she was born. Rose and David were both breech so I had c-sections with both of them. So with Rachel, my doctor said I didn't have a choice, but had to have a c-section. So they scheduled her for 3-3-2003, which was just such a cool date and so easy to remember. My parents came down to watch Rose and David while Phil and I went to the hospital. We brought along a deck of cards and played gin rummy while we were waiting. Ya see, they tell you to be there at a certain time for a c-section. But then you just wait. So every time we went to the hospital we played gin rummy while we were waiting. And some of the nurses actually remembered us from when we were there before with David because we played cards. Well what are you supposed to do for almost an hour before surgery?

The c-section was easy for me of course. The only problem was that the spinal started to wear off and the doc wasn't quite done sewing me up. So they gave me morphine. That is some serious stuff!! It made me really loopy. I don't actually remember the end of the surgery. Phil took a picture of me being wheeled back to my room after it was over. I was holding Rachel and had the goofiest grin on my face; I was very spaced out. And ya know, I don't even remember that. They were awfully trusting to let someone doped up on morphine hold a newborn baby.

Anyway, Rachel has been a joy ever since she was born. She was full of energy from the very beginning. She has been interested in art and coloring since she was only a couple months old. She was maybe 4 or 5 months old and found a crayon that someone had left out. She managed to color all over herself before I discovered her. Ironically it was purple, which is currently her favorite color. I have a really cute picture of this, but sadly I can't find it on my computer anywhere. If I find it, I'll post it.

Rachel is very much a girl. She loves to wear dresses and look pretty. Ironically she is not great at remembering to brush her hair every morning. She likes makeup and nail polish and wearing jewelry, unlike her big sister who is a bit of a tomboy. She is a very affectionate girl and loves nothing more than to snuggle on someone's lap with pilly. Pilly is what she has named her pillow. Pilly is a very special part of Rachel's life and hangs out with her at home constantly. Pilly is currently dressed in an Ariel pilly sheet, which has seen better days and will need replaced soon.

I know some people thought we were crazy for not stopping with 2 kids (and we certainly did get some comments about that!) but I can't imagine our family without our precious Rachel Katharine!

She's growing up!

Apparently my kids aren't the only ones growing up. Now the cartoon characters we watch are growing up too. Nickelodeon is introducing a new "tween" version of Dora the Explorer, designed to appeal to 5-8 year old girls. They are moving Dora to the city to goto school, but apparently she will still be an explorer. Swiper, Map, Tico, Benny and the rest aren't making the move with her though; Dora will have a group of girlfriends to explore with. Now what exactly is she gonna explore in the city? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't let my 6 year old explore the city by herself. What kind of role model is this new Dora supposed to be? Mattel says that they found that parents wanted a way to keep Dora in their kids' lives. Now kids tend to stop watching Dora around kindergarten; but this way they can keep watching Dora as they get older. But the "best" part is that the new Dora doll is gonna be interactive. Supposedly the new doll comes with a USB port and can connect to a special world on the internet (think Webkinz!).

New Dora comes out in October, but I, for one, will not be rushing out to buy this.

We're still here

I know I haven't posted for a couple days, but frankly nothing exciting has been happening around here. I used to love weekends, but these days I don't as much. You see, on weekends everyone is home. It is much noisier and much messier. The kids and husband are not great at cleaning up but are experts at mess-making. So my frustration level is always higher on weekends. I actually find myself looking forward to Monday coming and everyone going back to work and school.

Today was church. I was extra tired so we didn't make it to the 9:00 hour for Sunday School. We just did 10:30 church. Afterwards the kids and I (Phil doesn't usually goto church with us; he'll sometimes drive separately but not always) typically drive through somewhere to grab lunch. I'm not like my mom who always had lunch in the oven cooking before we left for church. The only hot lunch my kids usually get after church is fixed by a restaurant with a play-area. Sad, but true. Today the kids unanimously wanted to drive through Burger King. Since they all agreed, I did too. Usually this decision involves fighting, crying, negotations and pleading; it's worse than Congress debating a bill. So off we went. The reason they all wanted BK was the toys in the kids' meals. Currently they have Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award toys. Now how do you come up with toys based on an awards show?? Well what my kids ended up with was a burp toy. It has the Nick logo on it and a giant button that you press to hear the toy burp. So you can guess what we heard all afternoon.

Ok, one cute Matthew anecdote. He has figured out that when something he does makes me laugh, doing it again will make me laugh again. He is turning into quite the comic these days, doing and saying things just to get a laugh out of me. His latest trick started when I was sitting on the couch checking email and he decided he needed me to do something or fetch something. He said (quite seriously), "Mommy, get up." To which tired mommy replied, "But why?" Matthew's response was "Because GET UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It just struck me as funny because he was so serious about it and he said it so loudly and emphatically waving his arms and stomping his little foot for emphasis. Of course when he saw me laugh, we had to do this routine over and over again, much to the delight of Matthew and his siblings.

I'm headed to bed. I'll try to post more soon.

Face 2 Face

Ok this post is about my life without 4 children. At least temporarily. Phil and I celebrated our anniversary early (it'll be 11 years on the 21st) by going to see Billy Joel and Elton John in concert together. I saw them in concert together 15 years ago with friends of mine and loved it so I knew we HAD to see this. I actually found the tshirt I bought at that concert. Even more amazingly I actually still fit into it. Ok it was a little tighter now than when I first bought it, but I was impressed that I was able to get it on! So off we went. The concert was AWESOME!!! The format was fairly similar to what I remember them doing 15 years ago. They played a couple songs together, then each one did a set of 7-8 songs alone then they finished up with a couple more together.

We had seats on the extreme right side of the stage (as you're looking at the stage-extreme left if you were on stage looking out) and up in the nosebleed section. And those tickets alone were STINKIN' expensive! I paid as much for a tshirt tonight as I paid for the whole concert back then. And I remember griping about the high price then too. hee hee hee. Anyway, we found our seats and were waiting. The lights dimmed and the crowd cheered. Then onstage 2 empty pianos rose out of the floor facing each other and the crowd cheered louder. Everything got dark and we heard the sounds of "Yankee Doodle" playing as Billy Joel came on stage. There was some cute British song that played when Elton came on, but I can't remember what it is or where I've heard it before. What is the British equivalent of "Yankee Doodle?" They sang 3 or 4 songs as duets, which was just so cool! After the first song, they started playing something by Bach. It was very electronic and un-Bach-like but very cool. I just think they were trying to keep the audience guessing because that was the intro for Billy's song "My LIfe."

Billy lef the stage and Elton played 6 or 7 songs, several of which I admit I didn't recognize. He was not terribly talkative between songs-just waved to the crowd and kept playing. He did "Benny & the Jets," "Saturday Night's Alright" and finished his set with "Crocodile Rock." (of course-how could he not do that song?) When he first walked out, I was impressed at how conservatively he was dressed, considering his reputation for flamboyancy. He had on a royal blue shirt and a balck jacket and pants with royal blue sunglasses. I was impressed until the camera showed the huge, green, sparkly, sequined crocodile on the back of his jacket. Hee hee hee.

So he finished up and left and Billy took the stage. (Don't you love the way I call him "Billy" like we're friends or something?!) He did "Allentown," "Only a Woman to Me." WHile he was playing, his piano was moving slowly in a circle so everyone could see his face while he was playing. I have no idea how they did that. I wonder how he kept his composure trying to play and sing while the scenery kept changing as his piano moved. Anyway. . . He left the piano and started dancing with one of those microphones in a stand and was clowning around with it for a bit. He did a few Elvis-type moves and some Fred Astair-type dancing (did anyone see Fred Astair dance with the coat-rack in "Royal Wedding?") and finally sang "We Didn't Start the Fire." This is one of my favorite songs of his because I know all the words. It took me several years to learn them all. For those of you not familiar with this particular tune, it lists dozens of significant events in the last 50 years or so of American history. It's a big list and goes fast so it's hard to learn them all but I did.

Then they brought back Sir Elton and his piano for a final round of duets to close the show. In the mist of Billy's song "River of Dreams," they unexpectedly launched into playing "Hang on Sloopy." The crowd, which to this point had been cheering but sitting down, jumped to their feet and started singing along. For those of you who aren't native Ohioans, "Hang On Sloopy" is Ohio's official state rock song. The whole crowd was singing along ("Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy hang on. . . ) and doing the motions (put your hands over your head to form an "O" - put both hands up in the air parallel to each other to form an "H" - bring your arms together to form an "I" - then make another "O") The just as abruptly they went back to "River of Dreams" again. They also sang Happy Birthday to someone who was apparently celebrating today. Do you know the version that goes, "You say it's your birthday? It's my birthday too yeah!" They also did "Back in the USSR," "Candle in the Wind," "Uptown Girl," and of course had to close with "Piano Man." At one point Billy and Elton stopped singing and playing and let the audience do the chorus. So there we all were, singing acapella with thousands of other people: "Sing us a song, you're the piano man. Sing us a song tonight." It was amazing! One of the lines in that song is "It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday" which they thoughtfully changed to "It's a pretty good crowd for a Tuesday" since today was Tuesday. Lots of cheers for that of course. It was an absolutely fabulous concert!!!!!!!!! And the cool thing was that there was a huge age range of people there. Lots of people in their 30s, but also some people that looked to be about half my age (late teens/very early 20s) as well as some that looked to be almost twice my age (in their 60s somewhere). How cool is that? Personally I can't believe they are still touring. Elton John has been giving concerts since before I was born. In fact, during "Crocodile Rock" the giant screens were showing newspaper headlines from some of his very early concerts, talking about how he got the crowd singing and stamping their feet and what a great career he would probably have.

I'm sure there are things I've forgotten but that's all for now. I'm getting tired, but wanted to write this down before I forgot it. I wish I had brought my camera!!!!