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.