Here comes Christmas

I think my kids are at the best age for Christmas magic.  Seamus doesn't have a lot of real memories of last Christmas and relies on Liam to tell him what to expect.  They are both terrified of Santa and if it weren't for the presents would never let him creep around our house while they are sleeping.  Seamus' wish list consists of every toy ever made, even if he has no idea what it does.  The only exception is that he does not like "girl toys".  Anything pink or dollish is not for him.  Liam, on the other hand, is very cautious about what he wishes for.  He knows Santa isn't bringing him everything he wants and wants to be sure he only mentions the real wants so Santa doesn't become confuse, skip a serious want and bring something lame he just mentioned in passing.  


This year's tree picking was not fun.  It's the third year we've gone to Angevine Farm and the third year we tagged a tree that was taken by someone else.  I exchanged emails with the farm but what can you do.  The farm is on a HUGE steep hill and, with the snow, the kids can't climb it.  Between the crying about losing the tree and wind and the climb it was just a misery.  We're going to find a new farm next year.


This is also the first year we put up the tree earlier then Christmas eve and the first time Seamus "helped".  He's pretty much a disaster in tree decorating and won't keep his hands off the tree even now but he likes that we didn't put it up during his nap.  Now if we could get a snow day the Monday before Christmas that would be ideal.  Getting Liam on the bus midday causes me trouble.  I don't feel I can get anything done, I'm always waiting for the bus. 


I have all my shopping done and most of my wrapping but the nightmares that I've missed something still continue.  I will probably forget to buy the turkey.  I keep dreaming that my presents are still in transit and the few I have are not wrapped on Christmas morning.  I am looking forward to Christmas as much as the boys but for very different reasons. 

It's been a while

You are right AnnMarie, I have gotten far behind. Why?  Well I drive kids around a lot and then wait for them a while and then drive them back. I feel kind of busy but not accomplishing anything.  I could use a little something, a part time job, a big project, something that makes it not feel like I am on a hamster wheel all the time.  Something with a beginning and an end.  Perhaps I should paint the living room.

I think all stay-at-home moms go through this after being home for about 5 years.  The need to talk with grown ups, wear clothes that aren't really sensible and don't have food smeared on them.  To be needed for things that don't require feeding, wiping, changing or scolding another human.  I have been looking around for something else.  Liam freaked out when he asked what I was doing and I said I was looking for a job.  He's such a boy.  He wants me home, in the kitchen waiting to take care of his every need.

There are really no jobs unless I want to drive a UPS truck for the holiday months.  I have looked at a few blogger jobs.  That could be fun, writing.  Articles have a beginning and an end.  We'll see.  It would be nice not to have to juggle kids around just so I can entertain my mind a little bit.

Ireland Trip 2009

I don't like to fly and had great plans in my mind for how our flight would go to make it easy for me. The flight left at 10PM so I envisioned Seamus falling asleep in the airport and sleeping the whole flight. Liam would sleep too, once we took off and maybe I would doze a bit. It would be a fast and calm flight and then we'd be there at 9 AM Irish time. None of this happened. Seamus ran around the airport like a lunatic. When it came time to board he freaked out. He was terrified to get on the plane and tried to jump out of my arms. The stewardess introduced him to the pilot, nothing worked. I muscled him into his seat and he crashed. Thank GOD. He was out cold before take off. He slept for 2 hours and then was awake the rest of the flight. Liam slept just as Seamus woke up so I had to be up with someone the whole flight. Ger was across the aisle from me and couldn't help much because it was a really rough flight and the seatbelt light was on most of the time. I was happy to land. It's very quick getting out of Shannon airport and before you knew it we were in our cars and the boys were asleep and we were off to home. Seamus was really still traumatized from the flight and often woke screaming on the way.

My favorite part of Ireland is when you first get to Granny's and get out of the car. There is usually some kind of a breeze and the air is so fresh that, after the stuffy plane ride, you feel like you are taking your first breath of fresh air ever. Granny always has sausages and tea ready. We put the boys in beds that are prewarmed with hot water bottles. Granny had made the spare room into a nursery and it was so cute. A little toy box between two little white covered bed, good Irish linens of course. Then I sunk into our bed for the most glorious nap on earth.

When we woke up (and ate again of course) we went for a walk down the lane. It's a little sad, especially for Ger I think, that a lot has changed (mostly for the good but some changes are hard to take). There isn't as much farming in the area anymore and the lane isn't this pristine pathway anymore. There isn't much point to it's up keep if no one is herding animals down it so it's a bit over grown. The fields owned by the neighbor who kept the lane trimmed doesn't seem to go down there at all anymore.

After our walk Liam and Ger played catch in the front yard. In Ireland almost everywhere you can see for miles. It was a beautiful evening and the sun doesn't set until almost 10 PM. In mid summer it doesn't set until about 11:30 and there is always a glow of sun on the horizon. It's very hard to convince yourself (much less your kids) that the day is over and it's time to come in. We played in the yard and on their tractors until well past dinner time. Then we went up to see the house that Ger's brother is building. It's in a field adjacent to the field Ger owns. A beautiful spot on top of a hill that overlooks the lake "Lough Derg". Paddy has a great eye for this kind of thing. His house is in the best spot on the property to get the best of the view and the least of the wind. The colors and tiles and wood work he picked are gorgeous. It's going to be a great house. Very light, lots of windows. As I went into the master bedroom I couldn't help but wish for him that he could find a nice girl to marry so he'd have someone (besides his parents) to share this all with. It's so hard to find anyone though, in such a remote area.

The next few days we stayed close by. The kids loved just being outside. The fields are great to run through. Although, since Paddy doesn't have dairy cows anymore they aren't as glorious as they once were. Again, there is no point to putting that amount of work into their care when they just aren't being used like they were. I miss how is was but I am sure they don't miss the hard work and heart ache that often goes along with dairy farming. They keep a small beef herd now though. During our trip they lost a cow to pneumonia. While most farmers in the area would have gotten rid of her at the first sign of trouble they kept her and tried everything to save her. I think they were really sad to see her go.....even though she was meant for hamburger at some point.

The day after we arrived we went to "the cousins". Ger's mom has a first cousin who has 6 daughters, each of these girls have 5 or 8 kids themselves. The live in Dublin but have purchased a huge near-by house to vacation. Basically the younger kids are left there all summer and the adults come and go to mind them. The older kids also come and go as their schedules allow. There is never a dull moment there, for grown ups or kids. We spent the whole afternoon and most of the evening. When we got home Seamus entertained everyone with his tricks. He kept kissing Paddy's leg and then turning to the room and scrunching up his nose and waving his hand in front of his face and saying "eww smewwy". The more people laughed the more he did it.

I thought perhaps Granny could straighten out his picky eating if I just stayed out of it but he brought Granny to the dark side instead. He ate almost nothing but pie and cereal. Granny baked a few things and there is so few things over there with artificial ingredients that at least he ate better then home.

The post man in Ireland goes door to door and puts mail in a slot in the door. Seamus thought this was fascinating and spent much of his time putting things through the door to Grandad or Granny who would put them back to him. There is very little to do for a kid inside in Ireland. Internet isn't the norm and most people don't have much TV (although, thankfully the in-laws have satellite TV). Liam was outside non-stop. Ger played catch with him or he road with him to Paddy's new house to work on something or other. He said he would live there if they had baseball. That night we did a little driving around. I find the twilight time in Ireland to be kind of melancholy. Unless you are doing something with the cousins it's often very lonely feeling at this time of the day. They have few indoor distractions and when the sun starts to set it feels rather closed in. On this night it felt even worse. I couldn't stop thinking of all the things that could never be. We couldn't live there without giving up so much of what we have here. We can't get there as much as we like. We can't have both sets of grandparents spend time with them at once. If they are with one set they are missing and being missed by the other set. Ger can never spend a bunch of time with his brother and he's been gone so long that they don't really know how to spend time together anymore anyway.

Church was something we were fearing. Seamus can be quite a handful in church and in Ireland they don't mess around like they do here. We were pleasantly surprised. First of all church isn't as long as it is here. Secondly there was a huge Hurling match on in the afternoon (Tipperary vs Limerick) so the priest skipped the homily completely and raced through the prayers like he needed to get to the bathroom. 30 minutes and we were done. Even Seamus could manage that. We visited the graveyard on the way out. It's a lovely historical trip. They know the families and stories of each person there.

That evening Ger's first cousin and her family came to visit. This was the high point of Liam's trip. I love Veronica and John, they have been so good to us and never forget the boys. She's the sweetest woman on earth and John is just a nice, down to earth, honest guy. He is just recovering from a long battle with cancer that required they both give up their jobs. He's had a tough, tough year and it was so great to see him happy, healthy looking, energetic. They are a bit older then us and have 12 year old and a 15 year old. They also brought the son of another first cousin of Gers.

The boys are very sweet and were so interested to see Liam's baseball glove and try them out. Luckily we had one for each. The each got one and tossed the ball around a bit and then started taking their own sports equipment out of their car. Hurls, soccer balls. They eventually made up some game that involved the gloves, baseball, hurls and some tackling. It was fun whatever it was.

It was nearly 9 PM when we saw the guy across the street driving a combine into his field to cut his barley. The two oldest boys pretended not to care while Liam and Mark had to go see what was up. We walked over to watch the action and after a bit the older boys came over too. That was so fun for the boys. It amazes me how late the sun stays out and how late in the day they stay working (or start working). Liam was so sad to see the boys go. Which they did after a trip to see Paddy's house and some sandwiches. It's hard for him to have so much fun with new friends, see them once and then not again for a year or two.

The founder of Paddy's company had died during the week so unexpectedly Paddy was getting Monday off out of respect. He wanted to have Ger help him pick out some things for his house in the Limerick area so we made a plan to head that way and have Ger leave me and the boys at Bunratty castle while they did there thing.

As is usual on a farm, Paddy had issue after issue and the plan we made wasn't going to work out. We left for Bunratty anyway and hoped that if he did make it where he had to go he could call Ger and he'd meet him. I was happy to have Ger with me anyway. We went to Durty Nellies for lunch. I love that place, mostly their pavlova. Seamus was so excited to see the folk park and castle that he got up and left the restaurant when he was done eating. We had to dash out after him so no pavlova. I told him what he missed by running out and all day he said he just wanted to got back to "Durty Bills" (not sure where he got Bill from) and have his special dessert.

The folk park was nice and relaxing and it was a beautiful day. We walked around until the kids were tired and got in the car to drive to Clare. Liam wanted to go to a beach. The beaches aren't great. The first one we stopped at was just rocks. Really steep and full of garbage that washed ashore. We didn't stay because we couldn't stand or sit.

I was surprised to see such a busy "beach scene" all along the coast. It was kind of cold and it's hard to find places with sand where you can go in an swim. I am sure the water is freezing but they still swim and camp and hang out like it's South Beach. We did find a little place to sit and play in the sand. The kids were upset that we didn't pack their dollar Walmart sand pails for the trip. We didn't stay long because, being home with Granny, we were used to eating every hour. (Odd but I lost 6 lbs) . We drove forever to get to this pub we love in Doolin. We brought my family there during our wedding trip after a cold day at the cliffs and it was so nice and warm and great. We have a great picture of my mom with a Guinness mustache. This trip was a HUGE disappointment. Seamus was acting up so the barman said he'd send the kids meals out first. Well good enough but the kids were done with their meals for a half hour before ours showed up (even though we asked where they were about 6 times). The meals were great (from what we tasted since we had to choke them down because the boys wanted to leave). We stopped at a shop for road food and made the long trek back home.

Now here is where I need to apologize to my beautiful and sweet Goddaughter. She was Seamus' age when she came to Ireland for our wedding. Three is the WRONG age to be bringing a kid on a trip like this. They don't adjust to the time either for eating or sleeping and it's much harder for them then any other age group. Morgan took this same trek home and was just DONE. My sister put a little blanket on baby Daniel but did not have one for Morgan so for I'd have to say about an hour Morgan said, over and over and over "I want my blanket, I want my blanket." We actually refer to this portion of the country as the "I want my blanket area." At the time we said "oh Morgan, you are so difficult" and other such things about Morgan's behavior. WELL.....Seamus made Morgan's trip look like a trip to paradise and Morgan an angel sent from heaven. We kept waiting for him to sleep as Morgan finally had but he never did. He eventually went from cranky to just plain annoying, bringing Liam with him. The invented this saying that they said over and over (there must be fairies in the area that cast a spell on kids to make them repeat themselves in this part of the country). Liam and Seamus started saying "ribbit, ribbit, fingers on bibbit." It makes NO sense and drove us completely insane.

We decided Tuesday was a stay at home day. We played outside and when Seamus tried to nap we left him with Granny and took Liam in the fields. This was for me one of the best days. We spent hours and hours roaming the fields, Ger telling us about his special secret places from when he was a kid. The cows followed us everywhere because they were curious about Liam, having never seen a kid up close. There are two fairy ports in the fields. These are entrances to the "other world". Ger told Liam all kinds of stories about Changelings and things. We were starting to believe Seamus might be a Changeling. In old Ireland they used to dress small children in rags to make them look ugly because if a fairy found a beautiful child they would change a nasty, cranky fairy for the beautiful child. Seamus was becoming quite spoiled and rather cranky and think he might have been switched. In America I think they always called this the terrible twos.

We had a shower or two during our walk and ducked into hedges to avoid them. The cows would peer in at us. One used her long tung to pull down a branch to eat it. Liam thought this was so awesome he drew a picture of it.

When we got back of course Seamus was up and entertaining Granny who was feeding him whatever he wished. We decided to go to Terryglass to the playground. It's beautiful there but the playground was rather dull. We went on to Borrisokane. That playground was amazing. It was very new and clean. It had thick rubber titles under all the equipment and everything moved or spun. We were having a blast. There were very few people there. Across the parking lot is a bunch of duplexes that they call "Pram Row". These houses and all their costs (TV, phone, power, etc) are provided free to single mothers. Children are the prized possessions of Ireland and a lot of public funds go to their care. This allows moms to work very little, if at all and be home with their kids. The playground is part of that I believe. They houses are very nice too and well kept.

Ger and I were sitting on a bench watching the boys play. I have to say I love the way my boys play together. We both had our eyes on Liam as he tried to come down one of those dumb ladders that go up and then over to the equipment, like an upside L. He was trying to get down the ladder but was facing out instead of in. He fell and because he was holding the ladder his hands were behind him and he landed first on the left side of his face. He was going so fast that his feet flipped over his head, snapping his neck back and scrapping his face on the rough rubber tile. We both thought he'd damaged his neck and he tried to stand but couldn't immediately. We ran to him yelling "don't move, don't move". He was covered in blood when we got to him. The whole left side of his face was an abrasion and his cheek was swelling like mad. I had only diaper wipes and I wasn't sure where he was bleeding from and how big the wounds were and didn't want to use a wipe. The blood was flowing into his eye and coming out his mouth. Thankfully there was a lady playing with her son who was a nurse. She had gauze pads, bandages and sterile water. She handed it all to me but I guess I was a little shaken because she took them out of my hands again and cleaned him up and bandaged him. The cut on his head producing all that blood was very minor but he's cut the side of his lip and under his nose rather badly and he landed on a stone which made an ugly bruise on his cheek.

When he was cleaned up he said he still wanted to play but when he stood up he looked glazed and didn't move to go anywhere. We took him home and his grandparents made a fuss over him and put frozen veggies on his cheek. He looked much better after a bit of time. Then after a round of "it could have been much worse"'s we all went to bed.

We planned on visiting Galway the next day but were promised a day of rain so stayed in. The morning looked fine so we went back to the playground since the boys felt so gypped the day before. Liam met a local boy named Luke and they chatted and played. I overheard Liam introduce Seamus to his new friend and Seamus was a great climber. I was saying to Ger how I love that even when Liam finds his own friend he's still very nice to Seamus and says nice things about him. At that very second Seamus says "Yeah and this is my brother Liam, he's tanoxious" (he means obnoxious, it's the best he can say it). At least it works one way.

We had to spend most of the rest of the day indoors. It was a trial. Grandad can only watch so much kid TV and turned on the news and his soaps so then we had to find other ways to keep the boys from destroying the house. This was my least fun day.

Thursday we took off early for Galway. I love this city. It looks so old and historic but the people are very modern and artsy. There are no cars down the main streets and they have plenty of street performers. They keep the kids entertained while we take turns dashing into little shops to pick up odds and ends. Liam was in a great shopping mood so he and I shopped while Seamus danced in the street with Ger. We had showers on and off and it was cool but it didn't hinder our fun. We ate at Kings Head which Ger and I always mistake for a pub we went to on our honeymoon that we loved and could never find again. We will find it again.

While on our honeymoon in Galway we walked to the end of the feet only street to where the cars were and this car beeped and pulled over to the side of the road by us. We were wondering what on earth was THIS guy up to. Turned out to be Dave and Jenn, who came for our wedding and stayed to celebrate their first anniversary (most all other guests had gone home to America). We chatted about where we were all staying and oddly enough, we were staying in the same town. We had a great dinner together and it was so nice to have friends to spend time with. How odd that we live in the same town and hardly happen upon each other but in a whole different country we ended up in the same place at the same time.

After a little shopping and the most incredible frozen yogurt I've ever had (that the kids hated....all the more for me). We hopped in the car for Salthill. It's the next town north of Galway and is a big beach town. They have a lot of beautiful sandy beaches that just go unused because the climate is disagreeable. We loved walking the beaches and looking for shells. On one beach we found a whole pack of kite surfers. We had fun watching them but the spray was blowing so hard off the water it actually hurt your skin. We came back into the town and toyed with the idea of going to the indoor pools but in Ireland they make you where a swim cap. There was no way I wanted to get in one or struggle Seamus into one so we opted for the aquarium. It was a great choice.

They have only fish and sea life local to the west coast of Ireland. As you first walk in they have a tank that every so often a huge bucket of water gets thrown in to simulate the surf. It's loud and splashed out. Seamus backed up and said "I am NEVER going in there". We forced him in but both boys seemed really afraid. The whole middle of the bottom floor was this low (like waist high) tank. HUGE. Full of baby sharks, rays and these sideways, sand color fish that hide down at sand level. It was all a touch tank as was most of the aquarium. There were works all over the place to help pick up fish and things if you wanted to hold them. Even lobsters, crabs, star fish. It was awesome and by the end the boys didn't want to leave. We got some food and did other things and came back to do it again it was so fun.

In the parking lot they had the Green Dragon. The Volvo Ocean Race boat sponsored by Irish companies. We would have loved to see this race come around Ireland but we missed it by a few months. We got to tour the boat though which Ger and the boys loved.

After another trip through "Seamus' fishes" we went on home. Ger wanted to get a closer look at one of the windmill farms that are popping up all over Ireland so we started towards one of them. Three miles or more up this cow path we drove. Literally we had to wait for cows to move to go on. Now this was unspoiled land (except for the path made to bring wind turbines up the hill). It was a fun trip, although it really felt like we were doing something illegal which we probably were.

The boys fell asleep on the way home and he had a nice quiet ride the rest of the way. It was way closer then our trip from Clare.

That night Paddy was dosing the cows with some medicine and a man was coming to pick up some of them for the slaughter house. We left the boys in with Granny and went to help. You need to get all the cows into the shed and then dose and sort them. The man arrived to take the cows he ended up taking 4. One was the mom of another cow there. I hated it. They loaded them on the truck and she never took her eyes off me. She was in for a long truck and by morning would be slaughtered. I don't think I could do that regularly. I hated watching those doe eyes knowing her moments were numbered. I could easily become a vegetarian after that.

Friday was our last day. We went to Nenagh looking for Tipperary Hurling jerseys for the boys. Clothes in general are more expensive in Ireland but the shirts were ridiculous. We couldn't justify it but did get the boys some hurls. I am still amazed at how much non-sanctioned Yankee baseball stuff is available in Ireland for a country that can't get the games on tv, radio or even the newspaper.

The afternoon we had to visit some of the older people that wanted to see us. We did this on the way to the cousins again for their end-of-summer party. There were 40 or more kids there when we got there. They had a huge, three part bouncy house and a little kid pool and all the sports equipment a kid could want. The boys had fun. There was someone for everyone and no one was left out. The older kids are so great about keeping an eye on the younger kids and even the most naughty of children knows that he can't let Seamus play on the trampoline alone and will stand there watching him until someone else comes to take over. I've seen it in every house I've visited that the older kids just naturally take responsibility for the younger. They play with them, take care of them, feed them. It's so great. There doesn't seem to be any resentment as though the older kid would be having fun if not for having to care for the little guy.

At the party there are so many kids that they feed them in shifts. Three shifts of burgers for the kid and a huge pot of curry chicken and rice for the grown ups. I was completely exhausted when we got home.

We left Seamus at home with the grandparents and went to say goodbye to the fields. I was dragging but Liam seemed to want to start the day over and have it like it was the first time we walked the fields.

The next morning we had to leave really early. I hated this because we really wanted to take time to thank Ger's parents for all the work that's involved in keeping us. They give up their car. She is cooking and doing dishes around the clock to keep us fed. Then on her "down time" she's baking. It's a ton of work and they refuse any help. But we have to just brush cheeks with kisses and get in the car and go. Seamus flatly refused to kiss anyone and would not wave goodbye out the window. We swear it won't be two years before we go back. We weren't ready to go home at all.

The plane ride home was bumpy too. The plane is 3 seats, aisle, 3 seats and on the way over we sat in a line with Ger across the aisle. The way back we sat two and two against the window with a stranger sitting on the aisle next to us. Liam and Ger were behind Seamus and I. Seamus was full of energy and didn't want to stay buckled despite the "shivering" of the plane as he called it. We had to go over the hurricane and went to 38,000 feet but still had a ceiling of clouds and a rough trip. Seamus finally fell asleep after about 4 hours and slept for 2 glorious hours. When he woke he ate his complete dinner (the most he'd eaten in 10 days). He said his dinner was very yummy and his tummy was happy. We landed an hour later.

I am sure other memories will come as the days go by and I will post those too. It was a great trip.

Rock Cats Clinic

As most of you might have guessed by now Liam is a baseball fanatic.  He lives for it.  We signed him up for the Rock Cats Baseball clinic for yesterday because it was his last t-ball game and it was a great way to celebrate.  If you sign up for the clinic you get a t-shirt and a free ticket to the game.  The thing they don't tell you until later is that the game starts 4 hours after the clinic ends.  In any case we went along with our good friends.  Liam's buddy Jack and his family.

We had only a few minutes after his game to get ready and drive up.  On the way up Seamus said "Nicky Nick is my favorite cousin" (Nick is Jack's brother, not his cousin but what else can you call someone you think of as more then a friend?  cousin it is)  Liam said what about Eli?  Seamus said "Oh I LOVE Eli.  I love all the Frans Vliets".  

We got to the clinic and there were a ton of kids.  Jack and Liam were among the youngest.  They broke them into groups by age and brought the group from station to station to run different drills.  The first drill was a little pop up drill.  The coaches are just players, very young with no kids of their own.  This coach threw a little pop up to each kid.  Jack put his glove up more like how you put your hands up to God and he was going to catch the ball but it kind of rolled or bounced off his glove right into his face giving him a bloody nose.  It must have hurt like hell and the coach was rather freaked out (he must have felt like a jerk for hurting the poor kid) and they had no clue what to do.  Thankfully we had moved closer to where the kids were and called him over to us.  His mom and dad fixed him up and stopped the bleeding (I am not really used to boys, having only sister.  Girls don't really get bloody noses.  They freak me out a bit too).  Jack was such a trooper.  He cried a tiny bit but not much.  I am sure it hurt and seeing that much of your own blood has got to be upsetting but he kind of dealt with it and went right back out there to finish the clinic.  I was really impressed with him.  I'd call that a big injury (anything that leaves blood on your shirt is) and he just got over it.

The boys got pushed around a lot.  There weren't any lines to speak of and there were a LOT of kids.  The older kids pushed to the front a bit and Jack and Liam kept finding themselves at the back of the pack a lot.  It was harder for them because when they called the kids to move to the next station the shorter kids couldn't find their groups easily and they didn't work very hard to keep them together.  Liam got stuck at the batting area with every kid pushing in front of him.  He's just not the kind of kid to push in front of someone or even to hold his place in line so they called them to move to the next group and he hadn't batted yet.  The coach told him to stay and spent a lot of time with him, which was nice, but he wasn't sure where to go when he was done.

The heat was incredible and that combined with the stress of so many kids and so little direction was a little nerve racking for Liam and I think he was relieved when it was over.  We then had 4 hours to kill.

We went to the East Side Restaurant (http://www.eastsiderestaurant.com/).  The food was really good and the people were so nice.  All authentic German food, decor and costume.  The boys got big beers and when they arrived the waiter said "TIki Toki Tiki Toki" and everyone in the restaurant yelled "HOY HOY HOY".  Very festive.  The beer was yum but I could only have a sip because of all the Lyme Drugs I am on. 

After eating we still had time so we decided to get an ice cream.  Seamus wanted to be with Nick and Liam with Jack so we moved car seats and kids around and found some ice cream.  We STILL had time after that so went searching for a mattress for Nick's new bed (Seamus said that this was his favorite part) to no avail and then headed to the game.

Ger had gotten us great seats just behind home plate on the first base side, three rows back.  We were right by the Rock Cats dugout so I sent the boys to peak in to see if any players were in there.  As they waited some professional autograph seekers shoved them out of the way.  AGAIN they were shoved out of the way.  This became the theme of the day. They were much bigger kids and some were adults (one had blue hair).  They had 8X10 glossies and books of baseball cards to get signed.   I got up and told Liam that he should hold his place in line.  Then a grandma sitting in the front row got up and grabbed the grown man by the shirt and told him that these kids were first and they shouldn't shove them out of the way.  She turned to me and said "I have 3 grandsons you don't shove a kid".  The players gave the boys each a ball.  

The Rock Cats lost (of course) but the boys didn't mind.  Liam really watches the game which is cute.  He knows the umpire signs and gets excited when things are going well.  Seamus fell asleep halfway through the game which was a huge blessing since he was just running around anyway.

We had so much fun. We were with people who like to have fun and got into the game and the fun around us.  The kids have so much fun together and everyone was happy and tired when we left.  We woke up happy and still a little tired (I am very sore today).  I made pancakes (with Seamus' "help") and then he brought me the syrup and a sippy cup and asked me to pour him a sippy cup full of syrup.  I did not.

Now back to laundry and cleaning and a trip to the store to FINALLY get Seamus some pull ups.

Catching up

I really meant to write something every other day at the least but I have Lyme Disease and it's affecting my arms the most.  My computer is set up to fit in it's space not to be ergonomically correct so the keyboard is higher then it should be and typing has been tough.  I am on the mend though so will take some time to catch up a bit.

The last few weeks have been emotional and stressful.  The year-end stuff is just designed to make a parent tear up and with gymnastics, preschool and baseball there have been a bunch of these things.  In addition, my sister and her husband are in the process of adopting the absolutely sweetest boy on earth.  They had some very stressful legal wrangling that occupied everyone's thoughts until it was concluded, positively, last Wednesday.  I feel like I'm on vacation now from all the high emotion.

While your emotions are already at peak it makes you more sensitive to the issues surrounding your kids.  Like watching how serious Liam takes the game of baseball.  I am intermittently very proud of how dedicated he is, how much research and study he puts into it as well as how much he practices.  Then I get nervous that he is too intense and narrowing his focus too much for a 5 year old.  I don't know who you consult on issues like this but would love to talk to someone who can tell me what is a healthy level of dedication for a kid his age.

Liam literally eats, sleep and breathes baseball.  An off day for the Yankees is hell for us because he watches baseball classics. It's painful to watch some 1970's game, the hair, the grainy video and gravely voices, those awful tight uniforms.  I hate it.  I try to keep him playing more then watching but the rain has been making it very hard.  Liam also plays Wii baseball all the time and then wants me to sit and watch his "highlight reel" from the "game".  

If he does make it to the pros he better thank me in every interview he does.  The watching and waiting and driving and answering endless baseball questions (some impossible to answer without a computer feed to MLB).  I adore watching him play though.  He takes it so seriously and does not appreciate that other kids may not be as intense.  You can see him silently fuming when a kid sits on the pitcher's mound to play in the dirt.  He rolls the ball to some kids while trying to make a play rather then throw it overhand because he said he knows that particular kid can't catch it.  I am a bit fearful of the days when they start keeping score.  I  try to remind him that he will be a more successful ball player if he's a good guy to have "in the clubhouse".  He needs to be a leader but that means being a good team player.  Don't call people out in front of everyone.  Don't get upset with people for making mistakes, be a good sport. This is the hard part for him.  I'd like him to play with slightly older kids so he can see how they treat him when he messes up.

For Seamus' part all this rain has made him very bored and a very bored Seamus is a LOT of work.  He likes to go in drawers and cupboards and take something out and leave it somewhere else.  It could be anything.  I find the oddest things in the oddest places.  One afternoon I found a cordial glass on the toilet.  The lid wasn't shut, it was right there on the actual seat, waiting to topple in.  I find measuring spoons in the dogs dishes and spoons "planted" in my potted plants.  It's a full time job following him around putting things back where they go, rewashing things over and over.  

In attempting to entertain himself he entertains us quite well.  He came to me and asked me to see what's wrong with the TV.  I went to look and found nothing wrong (other then that he colored on the screen with crayon).  I asked him what he thought was wrong and he said "When I scratch my head the whole TV shakes".  Then he laughs and runs away.  

I also found him trying to put diaper cream on himself.  He wiped his hands on my desk to get rid of the extra.  He also found my Pedegg and said "I just need to use this to get the crust off my foot".  I have not used the Pedegg since he gave me that visual.

So now we are on our last day of rain before summer really gets into full swing.  I am starting to feel better.  The boys' sinus infections are getting better and we are ready to make some great summer memories.  

Ahh to be young

Sometimes I see the little things my guys get excited about and wish that I didn't lose that thrill as I got older.  Seamus will give you a stream of requests, all so easy to accommodate and he's so excited when you say yes.   

"Can I have a bath Mommy?" "Yes Seamus". He throws up his hands and says "Yay! Can I have soap?" "Yes Seamus" "Yay! Can we blow bubbles?" "Yes Seamus". "Wooo! Can Liam come?"  

I wish everything was still so simple for grown ups too.  As we where walking down the street at the Torrington Street Fest, Seamus spotted an ATM and said "Ooooo let's go get money out that one."  I am not sure it's healthy for a kid to think you can just walk up to a hole in the wall and get money when you need it but we'll deal with that a bit later.  

It's funny that Seamus can go from being a sweet and lovey boy one minute to a complete "cranker" the next (cranker is the worst insult he can think of).  I was in our front yard talking to the neighbor, Ger was about to mow the lawn but it was full of clover flowers.  Seamus comes running out of the house and yells "Mom look at all these flowers" (Big sweep of the arms) "and they are ALL for you".  

Then if you tell him "no" to anything he turns in an instant and says "That's it, I'm done with you." Or lately "We are not playing with you anymore."  Not sure who the rest of "we" is.  The last time this happened he said "That's it, I'm not staying here anymore." And tried to open the front door but couldn't,

He also got sick of asking Liam to stop it in the car and said "Liam you a noxious".

His little sayings are funny.  Instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup he thinks he's trying to avoid High School Corn Syrup.  He doesn't do thumbs up he does thumbs out (this actually makes more sense then the original). He never asks what's the matter with something he says what's a matter for this. 

I have more but he has his hands wrapped around my neck and insists we hug on the couch.  He will sit for 5 seconds and be gone.  He just wants me on the couch to watch what he's doing. 

I wanted to take a moment and wish my friend Maggie peace as she says goodbye to her Dede....someone who was more then a grandmother to her.  We attended the service today which was beautiful.  Maggie spoke and she is so eloquent and strong.  It was very tough for her and it's very tough to watch Maggie be sad because she is always so upbeat and happy.  

I was proud of Liam too, who had a choice of going to lunch with all his friends for the end of school or going to Grammy's or going to the funeral.  He choice the funeral.  I said "You know it's church right?" And he said "Yeah I just think I need to be with Jack."  Jack is his buddy from school.  

It turned out well because Jack sat with us and that took a lot of pressure off of Liam.  Since Jack has been dealing with this for days Liam looked to him as the expert in how to behave and Jack was just his normal Jack. It was a great relief to Liam who thought he was supposed to be crying or something.  It was also good because the last funeral we went too was a disaster.  It was for my mom's aunt.  Someone who Liam visited in the nursing home but didn't have an everyday part in our lives.  Everything that you see in sitcoms that go wrong at funerals went wrong here.

They dropped the casket while trying to put it over the grave, it nearly fell in the hole.  Then Liam started yelling "What's in the box mom."  Before I could shush him my niece Sophie yelled "I think it's our new shed."  She was a large woman but a shed???

This funeral was peaceful and beautiful.  Liam didn't know Maggie's grandmother so while he got the seriousness of the occasion he wasn't very sad.  It was a beautiful learning experience for him.  Having his buddy near by helped a lot.  After chatting quite a bit I tried hard to keep them a bit still and quiet.  I explained that some people are very sad and need them to behave right now.  Jack turned to me and said "I know!!  This is a very big deal for us."  Indeed he is correct.  

When his mom spoke at the end I was very choked up.  She was really having trouble keeping her emotions in check while she spoke truly from her heart about this person she adored.  Jack saw the tears and says "Oh THERE she goes."  I am sure they had moments like this a lot the last few days.  

As I listened to her speak I was amazed at how well she captured the human spirit, imperfect but beautiful in it's imperfection.  I was thinking back to Monday when we both dropped our boys off at school.  Maggie was leaving as I was arriving.  She was like skip/running.  I asked her if she was off in a hurry and she said "No, I'm just feeling sparky today."  I thought that was so great.  Her husband is about to go out of the country and leave her with two boys for a long time and she still finds something to be sparky about.  That's just Maggie though, she can find the good and fun and joy in every bit of life, something she has passed to her boys.  I couldn't help but think what terrible timing to hear that her grandma had taken a bad turn on a day when she was feeling so sparky.  

Instead of any funny stories today (although the moment when Maggie's son Nick got away from me and lapped the church before I could even react was amusing) I would just wish Maggie well and offer a prayer to her beloved Dede.  Rest in peace.

For a long time if Seamus woke with a nightmare he'd come running into our room saying "there's a monster in my movie".  The night before last he must have had another.  He was in our bed around 11 but never said anything.  Then last night I was putting him to bed and he said "I'm not going to see that same movie again tonight right?  It was too scary."  I told him that he would not.  He said he would come in my room if he did and I told him that was fine.  He said "Do you care if I do?  Mommy do you weawy weawy care if I do?"

This being up at night takes its toll on both of us.  I had planned to go shopping today. It's only day we have during the week and we wanted to get some Father's Day things and something for his friends for graduation.  I was so excited to go to Borders.  I know it's dumb but when you are dragging two kids around in the rain the little excitements really help.  Seamus loves the "library store".  I thought we'd take our time and for once not rush.  

Well none of it went this way.  They didn't have the two things I know I wanted and Seamus was UNREAL naughty.  He wouldn't stay with me.  He was shouting, climbing shelves, crying then laughing.  He was so tired.  I finally told him that the treat I promised for later would not happen if he wasn't good.  He said "I want to be good.  I DO!  It's just not happening for me today."  I felt bad for him for being so tired but bad for me because I was having to deal with him.  I just cut my losses and left. 

When we were checking out the woman at the register said "I love his name, Seamus.  It's a nice name."  I asked how she knew his name.  She said "Everyone here knows his name now."  YIKES.  

Besides being tired the weather is getting to us.  Our squash plants have this mold-like fungus from so much humidity.  I think humans must get something like that too.  You can't shower it off.  It is only killed by sunshine.  The dogs are stir crazy.  We are stir crazy yet tired which is a bad combination.  The animals around our house are starting to show their impatience with the weather.

We've had a deer in our front yard just mocking the dogs.  The bark collar is the only thing keeping Guinness from going completely nuts.  Then a bunny showed up.  Bolding watching our hound try to get out of the house to eat it.  Seamus asked if he could bring it a carrot "in case the bunny wants to nibble."  

Hoping for better tomorrow but we are promised serious rain instead of the humidity, clouds and showers.  FUN! My hair is going to dread-lock with all this frizz. 

I've been taking notes so I don't forget things when I finally get time to sit and write.  It's been a crazy few days.  I don't think I've recorded everything though. 

The mornings are crazy funny usually but I am sorry that we are so rushed getting out to school.  I think this might be the cause of some of Seamus' disgruntled behavior.  That and he can't stand if we don't have what he wants to eat.  I told him we were out of Frosted Flakes and he said "No! We are in of Frosted Flakes."  He still doesn't get that wishing it doesn't make it so.  Like his daddy who still insists that he's a 30" leg when really he's a 29" (at best).  

When we went to pick Liam up from school the kids were all on the playground playing Duck, Duck, Goose.  Seamus insists the game is named Duck, Duck, Moo.  Again, wishing it doesn't make it so.

This week the boys both had their Victory Days at gymnastics.  This reminded me again of how very different they are.  Seamus performed beautifully.  He listened, was focused, did his activity to perfection and sat down again.  Normally in gymnastics he forgets what comes next and is too busy looking around to do what he's supposed to do.  With an audience he's spot on.  Also when he did his "stick and stretch" instead of just putting his hands over his head he put up his pointer finger (rock star style).

Liam on the other hand was beat red the whole time.  He had his tongue jammed in his cheek the whole time.  He was so embarrassed to have people watching him and clapping for him. At one point he slipped off the spring board and fell and I thought he would just die.  My mom said "oh he's hurt his foot".  Ger said "I think he hurt his tongue too".  

It was very cute though.  I find the end of the year stuff is so emotional.  In addition to our Victory Days my niece Morgan had an award banquet for theater, my other niece Remy did her fly up to brownies and then her story reading.  My sisters sent photos of these events and that has me tearing up.  My nephew's baseball team is in first place by a LOT so I am sure he will have championship games to play that will have us laugh/crying.  And we haven't seen yet what the last days of Sophie's pre-school will bring.  Liam will graduate from pre-school next Wednesday which is sure to be a tear filled event.

Seamus lightens the mood though.  Lately his is wearing just wellies with no socks.  The smell of his feet alone with get you over any sadness.   He also has such funny little sayings.  The other day he said "Ice Cream....I just fell in LOVE with you!" And then last night he made up this song:

"It's gonna be Trouuuuble.  It's gonna be Trouuuuble.  It's gonna be Trouuuuble. Cuz he works all day then he Rocks and Rolls."

Where does he come up with this stuff? I don't know.  He must browse the web when I'm not looking.

Liam's funny too but often doesn't know he is and would die if he were laughed at.  At baseball on Saturday he made a great slide into first which I recorded.  When he watched it back it seemed to him that the coach of the other team was laughing.  He was so angry that there was a chance that the coach was laughing at anything he did.

It's hard not to laugh though but you can't laugh or else.  Last night we made strawberry rhubarb pie with the strawberries from our garden.  He was so excited he told Ger we made a "rhuberry pie".  You have just hold in the laugh, very hard to do! 

One last thing I left off my last post.  On Sunday after church we usually go to my parents for coffee and rolls.  It's great, especially at this time of year, because the kids run in the yard and we can relax on the patio and have coffee and a chat in peace.

Today Seamus came and sat on my lap and was getting harassed by a fly.  It landed on his cup and on his nose once.  The said "here you go mommy I caught the bug."  I laughed at his joke because who can just reach out and catch a fly.  When I looked though, there was the fly.  He just reached out and caught it between his thumb and first finger.  I was half amazed and half completely grossed out.  It was funny although he didn't mean it to be.  

I started this blog to keep track of the funny things my kids say and do and as of the first entry they stopped being funny.  I was really running out of material but found the key to comedy.  EXHAUST them.  If they aren't at full melt down they are really funny.

This weekend we went to a birthday party for the three year old son of friends of ours.  Liam and Joey go to school together and are on the same baseball team.  Joey's dad coaches.  Joey is really cute.  He all boy.  Rough and tumble, frogs and mud, you think of Joey when you think "boy".  What's funny about Joey is that he's also the sweetest, most affectionate kid you'll meet too.  He's always hugging.  Usually after school he has a huge hug for one of his buddies (often Liam) that knocks them both to the ground.  Liam always says "stop, let go, get up" but always has a smile on his face and told me that he tells Joey to stop but really he likes the hug.  One time after school Joey gave Liam a hug and a little nibble on his ear.  It was so innocent and honest and cute.

I love that as "boy" as Joey is he's learned that's it's totally great to love his friends and show them how you feel.  We have had him over and he's give us as much love as the kids.  I LOVE this.  I hope he never feels that being a guy means holding that back.  Today on the way to church he and Liam held hands.  It just makes you tear up that they are so cute and can so easily express themselves.  

Saturday was a pool party for Joey's little brother Zachary.  He's a funny kid too.  He has a very deep and gravelly voice for a three year old.  I want to teach him to sing "What a Wonderful World".  I think Lois Armstrong would be impressed.  I dressed the kids in their swim suits and rash guards and just as we were walking out the door Seamus said "I want to go too." I said, "Of course, come on." He waved his hand over the front of himself (picture Vanna White) and said "I can't wear THIS to a party."  I told him it was a pool party and he told me he didn't know what was and what it had to do with what he was wearing.

We had a blast and were really tired when we got home.  Seamus took a nap and then when right out to his swing.  He loves to swing and would happily allow you to push him all day long.  As he's swinging he makes up songs.  Yesterdays was about a monkey on our road that had a job and worked, worked, worked all day and swung, swung, swung on his tail all night.  

The exhaustion held though and everyone slept so good last night.  I got more sleep last night then since I was pregnant with Liam.  It was glorious.  In the morning Seamus got up, came in bed with us and then fell asleep again.  When he woke up for good he wanted me to wash his eyes (he has a leaky eye that we are going to get fixed that makes his eyes stick during the night).  When I didn't jump right up (because I was fast asleep) he said "Come on Mom I'm dyyyyiiiinnnngggg."  

He went into the bathroom off our bedroom but wouldn't let us in because he was pooping.  We both dozed off and Ger jumped up when he realized Seamus never came back from the bathroom.  He found him standing on a chair in the bathroom and stacking the paper cups one by one into the holder.  The stack was almost 2 feet high.  It kept him very occupied and he was proud of his "fake tower".

When Liam wakes up he often goes right into the toy room to make us an art project.  Today he used red sprinkles (since we don't do food coloring anymore we use those sprinkles for art work) and green tissue to make a picture of his strawberry patch.  It was really cute. 

We went looking for a farm market today and I told Liam that maybe we'd get him cherries.  He thought about that a bit and then said "I'd really like parmesan cherries." At first I thought, EWWW!  Then I realized he meant Maraschino Cherries.  Still eww but I get it at least.  He has a lot to learn about what's real food and what's not.  

We had a great ride around Warren and Goshen and back and then got something to eat while we were out.  We did some gardening, washed the cars, ate dinner and NOW are about to melt down from all the tired.   Seamus is on the floor under my computer now shoving papers up the legs of my shorts.  Time for baths.

Last night I went to a party two of my friends were hosting.  They've invented a new educational product which they sell online and through home shows.  It's call The Circle Connection (http://www.thecircleconnection.com/).  

As I was getting ready Seamus is turning on and off my lamps.  They have pull chains on them which (like my white couches) seemed like an awfully great idea before we had kids.  One lamp is hooked to the light switch one doesn't.  He went to the lamp not hooked to the switch and was turning it on and off, on and off.  He nearly knocked it over and was being a real nudge.  I told him to take off so he just went to the other lamp.  After trying to turn it on many times with no luck he said "mom, this lamp needs new batteries".  

Anyway, I got the kids fed, Ger bathed them and they were all in bed reading a book when I left. I had a great time.  The woman at the party where all mom's of Liam's classmates.  I have to say that he has a great group of classmates and I really like almost all of them moms.  I haven't met all of the dads but I like the dads I met too.  I think we are spoiled because I know this won't be the case when we get to public school.  This group of moms are among my absolute favorites.  Although Maggie couldn't make it and that would have been even more fun.  They are a great group of funny, smart, reasonable moms who are so supportive of each other and of everyone's children.  It's so nice and I'm sorry Liam' time at Holy Infant is coming to an end.  I hope the change isn't a huge shock for him.  

We had a blast last night but of course when I got home Liam was still up.  Seamus would have been too but I intentionally didn't nap him so he fell asleep during the book.  When I came in I said to Liam "Why are you still up?"  He points to Ger and said "HE let me" as though he was desperate for bed and Ger just wouldn't let him go.  

They were watching "Man vs. Wild", the one with Will Farrell in it.  At one point both men stopped to pee in the snow.  Farrell of course makes a joke about the cold and said "I can't even find my penis".  Liam was like "What's a PENIS?"  So I told him it was the technical name for that part of his body and what we SHOULD be calling in.  In fact what we WOULD be calling it if we weren't so immature.  

He thinks a bit and says "Oh I wonder if I ever lost my peanit.  I didn't know you can lose your peanit. "  You can see the stress mounting at the thought that he could go looking for it and it just wouldn't be there.  He asked who would help him look for his "peanit" and under what conditions one might lose it.   I told him that the guy was just making a joke about the cold.  And Liam nods his head and said "Ohhhhh yeah shrinkage".  

Today was a slow day up.  I didn't sleep well and it's all dark outside, just begging you to stay in bed.  Seamus was up at 5 and was hungry.  He kept trying to get Ger up but he wasn't getting up that early.  So Seamus got out of bed and laid in the dog bed for a bit, falling asleep for another half hour.  Liam eventually woke up and we all piled in his bed a bit.  He doesn't like waking up and is often cranky.  Bed Seamus climbing in bed with him and snuggled him and then held both sides of his face and kissed him and said "time to get up my brudda".  He has a way of making Liam really happy.  He just can't stay crabby with Seamus around.  We cuddled in bed a while, not minding too much that we were making ourselves very late for school.  Sometimes it's just better to keep the cuddle a bit longer.  

So Liam is at school.  We got our snack for baseball tomorrow and are just about to go get the big man again.  

Today was Liam's all school picnic.  I always want to like the picnic but when I used to go with my sister and her kids I didn't know anyone.  Last year I kind of knew people but not well and there was a pack of much older, rowdy kids that kept knocking kids down.  One pushed Seamus off a big boulder.  He was JUST 2 years old and I was really ticked off.  So this year I wasn't all jazzed to go.  Plus I thought it would be cold and rainy.  

Liam slept very late this morning and the moment his eyes opened he reminded me of when Seamus was pushed off the boulder.  He told Seamus about it and his plans for revenge and the two of them planned their counter attack.  I think Liam was nervous about going (as he seems to be in the beginning with a big crowd) and kept trying to psych Seamus up for all the fun they would have.  He said "it's right at church...oh but don't worry, you won't have to go into church".  He kept telling him about the great food they would have but all that Seamus seemed excited about was that there would be water.  

On the ride down we were talking about all the friends we would see.  Liam is especially close with Giacomo, Joey and Ryan (although he loves everyone he goes to school with).  Most people call Giacomo Jack or Jackie.  Not Seamus it's ALWAYS Giacomo.  We love the name.  Whenever we mention him we say his name at least twice.  It's just a great word that is fun to say, especially for Seamus.  He is doing something weird with his O's now and says Giacomow and Howme.  Saying his name over and over got Liam to thinking "Is Jack's middle name Moe?"  It was funny.

We were only there seconds when Liam got himself involved with a baseball game.  Thankfully there were other baseball nuts there as I am almost out of energy for pitching to him.  His team mates Braydon and Dominic were there too (Liam says his name Donna mick and although he knows that's not right he can't say it the right way).  

Liam played baseball the entire time and didn't eat anything.  Just as we were leaving he grabbed a brownie and some grapes.  I keep try to impress upon him the importance of refueling with good food if he's going to be a superstar but this only works at home. 

It was really a fun time and I enjoyed seeing the kids all playing together.  Last year when they were all 3 and 4 the boys and girls all just played together but now that they are 4 and 5 the gender difference really show.  The boys get Frisbees, rockets and baseballs and the girls blow bubbles and pick wild flower. They still get along really well as a group which is a credit to their amazing teachers (who cooked the food by the way....we really should be cooking for them).  

It's so hard to believe that in a week and a half they will graduate.  They get big so fast.  I hope they stay in touch with each other, they are great friends.

Tonight aI am off to two of my friend's home party for educational products they designed and created.  Can't wait to see what they have.....will report back!

A couple quick funnies I will forget by morning

After dinner we all sat on the couch to watch the game.  Liam can't sit.  He gets a ball and glove and plays catch with himself and the dog.  After a bit he picked up a soft toy, just the size to fit in his hand, and for some reason winged it at Seamus.  It hit Seamus on the head and Ger and I both jumped all over Liam.  "Why would you DO that?"  "What is WRONG with you?" "What are you thinking?" Liam looked properly sorry which made Seamus laugh and say "Well THAT'S going to hurt in the morning."  He totally let Liam off the hook which was very cute.

Seamus has been potty training and we find keeping him bare-bottomed helps a lot.  He ran to go pee and came back to report.  We got to talking about it and I said "You know baby Nick goes poop in the potty", something Seamus refuses to do (Nick is just 20 months old).  Seamus starts mumbling so you can barely hear him. It was like he was trying to think of an excuse and talk at the same time.  All I heard was "Good boy Nick", then some mumbles.  Then, "Well he SHOULD go in the potty" and then something about his poops stinking worse the Seamus' did.  Then he tried to come up with one more good reason but I couldn't hear it at all.  Just mumbles.

We went to bed and read from our book (which by the way is an AWESOME book and I look forward to reading it every night.  My sister Sue recommended it.  It's call "Danny Champion of the World" and is written by Roald Dahl who wrote "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" among other great things.  So far my boys have learned to poach pheasant and drive an old car at 2 AM and hide from the cops.  It's a great book).  We read our chapter and I was kissing them good night and Liam said "Mom, did I do anything to make you laugh today."  That tugged at the heart a bit.  He's so serious but sees how great it is that Seamus is so funny.  I like how Seamus lightens him up a bit and Liam shows Seamus there's more to life then laughs.  

In this case though he had done something.  He was being very goofy catching his ball today to make Seamus laugh.  Seamus belly laughs and it's very contagious.  So Liam threw his wiffle ball up and let it bounce off his head.  The dog let it bounce off of his head too and it was really funny.  We thought the dog part was an accident but Liam picked up the ball again and threw it up, bounced it off his head and Pooka did it again.  

Now they are tucked in bed, 880 AM tuned in so they can hear the game.  I finally got a clue and turned it down low so that they have to keep quiet to hear it. 

June 3rd

So we went to the Harambe last night.  It's great fun.  Harambe means "come together as one". It was mainly a concert but really was all of the school coming together as one.  They had art and poems and everything.  All teachers were involved and gave it a great sense of community.  My nephew sang and played the recorder and my niece is in the choir.  I was noticing that it is a great example of how different my kids are.  Liam sat on someone's lap the whole time, seemly bored but if you really looked he was inconspicuously clapping or tapping his foot.  His face was serious the whole time but on the way home he had a billion questions about where the music came from and how they learned their instruments.  He just doesn't outwardly show his excitement.  He doesn't come by this strangely, his father once had a stripper tell him to cheer up.  They're just that way.

Seamus on the other hand dances and sings.  He has no questions about it afterwards just enjoys it for what it is.  He was very upset to leave and it showed.  Liam was upset too but unless you really listened you'd never have hear him say "I really wish that wasn't over yet."

Seamus loves to dance and sing.  He only hears a little bit of the chorus and starts singing loudly, who cares if he gets 90% of the words wrong.  He makes up dances too and names them.  It started with the jig, something he also calls the "dittle lee" dance.  He then started the "Butt Dance" and "Booty Dance" which despite the names are quite difference.  He has his "New Dance" that he will only do for Papa and now the "Baby Dance" that is obviously highly influenced by Baby Nick's "Food Dance".

We didn't get home until very late so we are all dragging this morning.  Seamus was up in the night and then up VERY early this morning.  He is usually up early and I can hear him climb of bed (he grunts and groans like an old man).   He yells "WWWAAAAAAHHHHH" as he runs down the hall.  We aren't sure if that's to clear the hall of dogs or boogey men.  He launches himself into our bed from about the door to our room, wraps his arms around my neck and puts his feet between my legs for warmth.  Then he sighs a big "AHHHH" as though happy and surprised he made it.  Sometimes he'll go back to sleep but mostly he starts singing.  Sometimes he picks such obscure songs that I can't imagine where he's gotten them.  Songs from the 50's, songs I am sure he could have only heard once.  

Liam woke up late as usual but got dressed himself and went right out to help Ger in the garden and collect the eggs.  He showed no signs of wanting to come in and eat and get  ready.  He is so ready for summer to begin.  I love how he throws himself into each season.  In winter he gets up and gets himself ready to ski, just in case we can work that out for him. In summer he's ready for the beach or the garden or a ball game the moment his eyes open.  He takes all of this very seriously.

We were very late getting Liam to school and had a few things to pick up at the grocery store but Seamus was so tired he did not want to go in the cart.  He just kept saying "I just want to HUUUUGGG youuuuuu!"  I carried him as long as I could but he's heavy and pushing the cart and holding him became really hard.  I told him that I just had to put him in the cart a bit.  He refused to bend his legs and stood firmly in the front seat.  As I tried to sit him down he put his finger in my face and said "Curse you MOMMY!".  Of course there is one old lady always near by who either never had kids or forgets what kids are like and gives me the "tsk tsk tsk".  Ahh bite me old lady, we're doing the best we can here.

Then we get online and Seamus starts up a conversation with the lady behind us.  He told her he had a dog named Seamus.  And she said "Oh yeah and what's your name?"  He said "Guinness."  I had to explain to the shocked woman that we did not, in fact, name our child after beer and that he was fooling her. Something that I am sure he learned from his big brother who loves to trick people now.....more on that later.

Welcome to Oh SEAMUS

Many of my friends suggested I should start a blog because the lunacy in our house is too much for the standard Facebook Status.  I thought I'd give it a try but can't guarantee I can keep it up.  I've titled it "Oh SEAMUS" because I swear I say that more then any other phrase I have ever said. Sometimes in exasperation but mostly not.  Our Seamus is a funny, funny boy.  

We should have known what we were getting when we had Seamus.  It took a huge act of science to get us Liam.  We waited anxiously every month to see if we were pregnant and month after agonizing month we were not.  After nearly a year and a half we finally found ourselves expecting.  We walked on eggshells, followed every rule ever written about having a healthy baby and 3 weeks early, there's Liam.  Early yet huge.  

Seamus on the other hand was a poorly timed surprise, his sense of humor evident at conception. We had just closed the day before on a new house.  Twice the price of the house we were in.  The sale of our current house had fallen though.  We had two mortgages and no maternity insurance (thinking we would buy it when we though to try again).  Looking back this is very funny, then....not so much.  With my second pregnancy many of those precious rules were broken.  I lifted, drank coffee, took a sip or two of wine or beer, ate soft cheese and lunch meat.  Threw caution to the wind.....it shows.

Now I am not putting Seamus above Liam.  Liam is very funny in his own way, usually unintentionally.  This blog will address both of them but Seamus does provide a lot more material.  He loves to get a laugh out of people and is a born performer.  Where Liam is quiet and serious Seamus is a loud riot.  He laughed from the time he was a month old.  Don't try to tell me it's gas, it was a belly laugh.  I have had gas, it's not that funny.

They love each other beyond reason though which I love.  I laugh almost all the time.  Although their love for each other often has them teaming up against me....like today.   

Am off to my niece and nephew's Harambe so will post more another time.