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!!!!