Happy Halloween

Hope you all have had a great All Hallow's Eve (the Eve before All Saints Day!) We tend to sway with the secular side of things and dress up and go door to door to get free candy. Tomorrow we'll celebrate the Big Feast.


This morning Brett was at a rehearsal so the kids had cereal with orange milk. For lunch we had Jack 'O Lantern pancakes. They were a big hit, and fully cooked I might add.

Here's the captain of the bunch.

The First Mate

A Super Scary Pirate

Here's the whole crew.

We had a great time trick-or-treating, and now the kids are coming off of their sugar and trying to go to sleep. We will let them eat on their candy through tomorrow and then they will have an opportunity to trade their candy in for an "offer they can't refuse".

The Biting Noodle

I can't remember if I ever posted the silly story about Gianna mixing up the term "poodle" with "noodle". If I did, sorry for the repetition. A little explanation is necessary to understand the rest of this post.

After I was bitten by a poodle while we were in SD this summer the kids tell me to "look out" whenever we see a dog. We were riding in the car and Gianna started saying something about a "biting noodle". Well, she really meant the biting poodle, but now we all call poodles "noodles" and we are always on the lookout. It would be a shame if I were ever to forget the fateful day when a noodle's teeth took a chunk out of my leg. My children are making sure that will never happen and are always asking if I am wearing my "biting pants" whenever we see a dog.

Fast forward to today, Halloween. The three oldest kids went from wanting to be Narnians to Pirates. Although I have to admit that the Narnia costumes would have been cool I was relieved when they decided on being Pirates because well, I'm afraid of my sewing machine and there is no sewing required for a bunch of swashbucklers.

It had been decided that the youngest of our clan was going to be the parrot, but we were having difficulty in finding a way to make a not-quite-9-month-old look like a parrot.

This is the second choice, but all the kids were pleased. They are trying to convince me to wear a pair of pants with a hole in them. Humph!!!

She may only have 4 little teeth, but she's fierce. The Biting Noodle.

Big brother

To get shot, or to not?

That's the big question around here. Do we get the flu shot? The swine flu shot? Both? Neither? There's so much information out there, what is a mother to do? Well, after much thought, prayer, and consideration, we've decided to opt out of both flu shots. I respect people who plan to get the shots. We're just not going to.

Our reasons?

We're already fairly "picky" when it comes to vaccinating our children. This is no exception. Our doctor supports our decision and works with us to find the best schedule for the immunizations that we do. I really appreciate his input and he appreciates our knowledge and awareness of what these shots are and which ones are important and which ones have just become routine.

Seasonal Flu- Every year that I've gotten a flu shot I've gotten sick. Yes, yes, I know, I know. You can't get the flu from the shot. Maybe not, but every year our family has gotten the shot we've all gotten the flu. The true knock-us-out-for-two-weeks-fever-chills-achy-type flu. Not fun. Multiply that by 6, really not fun. We emphasize hand washing, water drinking, healthy living in our home and we are really cautious about being around people during the flu season. I know that people can become very ill from the regular flu each year and unfortunately some die. Do I want this to happen to my family? Of course not. However, if we happen to get the flu, the statistics are in our favor that we will get over it without many ill-effects, and our immunity will be that much greater in the future because it will be a true immunity, not one derived from a weakened/dead version of the flu. I realize the strand changes from year to year, but chances are for several years it will be the same strand...so, we'll be good for awhile anyway.

H1N1- As worried as I am about my children getting extremely ill from anything, I'm just not jumping on the bandwagon with this one. This flu has been man-made (it was traced back to a lab that was working on flu viruses), and I'm not putting it in any one of my kids' bodies or my own. Unlike the seasonal flu, I'm expecting that we will get this bug. I know there are some scary stories out there, but I know people personally who have had this, and I'm just not all that worried. The statistics are being compared to seasonal flu. They are trying to compare apples to oranges here. Naturally there are going to be more hospitalizations from this flu because it hasn't been dormant at all. It's been going full force since April. We haven't seen the seasonal flu yet so saying that thus far there have been more deaths and hospitalizations from H1N1 than seasonal flu just isn't a fair comparison. Enough of my ramblings.

So, that's that. This post isn't to try to convince anybody one way or the other. On this issue when I say that each family needs to make their own informed decision, I truly mean that. This is the decision we have made. I'm resolved to not spend the next several months worrying about whether or not we are going to get sick. I don't want to spend this winter wondering "what if" I would have done something differently. There's just no way of knowing. We will take precautions, be prepared if we do get sick and not hesitate a moment to contact our doctor if we happen to get one or both of these icky bugs. I have only listed a couple of our reasons. There are more of course, but will be left un"said".

Status

I'm not currently on facebook, but felt the need to post my current status.

"Meghan is sitting in a comfy chair, snuggling with a sweet baby who fell asleep on the way home from our homeschool group, and is only feeling a little bit bad about not putting her down to get something done. Okay, so a very little bit. Okay, okay, she doesn't feel bad about it at all."

Undeniably cute

Oh, My Full Hands

A few weeks back I was shopping at a major retail store. As usual I had my kids in tow and we maneuvered through the store trying not to forget anything on the list lest we have to run a 5K to get to the other side. We were in the toothpaste aisle when we happened upon three employees from the store. What they were doing I don't know, but it took awhile for me to speak up loudly enough to ask to get through. When they turned to see me this is the "conversation" that took place:

Employee #1: Wow, you sure have your hands full. Doesn't she? Aren't her hands full?

Employee #2: No kidding. Her hands are full.

Employee #3: They sure are. Wow, her hands are extremely full.

I politely smiled at Employee #1, walked past as Employee #2 was speaking, and was turning the corner out of the aisle smiling to myself as I heard the exclamation of Employee #3. I found great humor in how much time and energy they took just to comment on how full my hands were. The best part was that I had two walking kids, one in the cart seat area, and one in my sling that I rarely shop without. Technically my hands were completely empty! Silly employees.

Fast forward a couple of weeks to my next experience at this same retail store. As I was walking out with the same above mentioned crowd with me a lady walking past me said, "Wow, you are a busy mom." I don't know if she noticed the effort it took me to smile at her comment as I was not having a particularly great day or if she thought twice about what she said. Not two seconds after we had passed one another she turned back around and tapped me on the shoulder. "You have a beautiful family!" Thank you stranger lady. Not so much for thinking my family was beautiful, but for rethinking how your original words could have been taken.

Yummy!

These pictures were taken almost a month ago, but I haven't had a chance to put them up. Veronica is enjoying some gluten-free pancakes! She hasn't found much that she doesn't like to eat. She even likes the gooey stuff that is packaged so sweetly in little glass jars for those days when I don't cook something that is "baby worthy".

It's the Law!

I was watching the news the other night because there was a story being done on the benefit dinner that we're having for a young mother from our parish who is battling leukemia. While waiting for the story to air there was another story about a new law being passed in Wisconsin. This new law would prohibit minors from drinking with their parents in a restaurant or a bar. Yes, that's right. Up until this law is passed it is perfectly legal for us to bring a child of any age into a bar or restaurant and have a drink with them, and we're not talking chocolate milk here. I find great humor in this, and am tempted to indulge. Of course I never would, but I can just see Brett buying rounds for all the kids.

India Study

Any guesses on what this could be?

If you guessed the Taj Mahal you were right!

Older Kids

I remember being the mom with "just" two kids. One who was 21 mos. old and one who was a newborn. As my oldest two grew I was open to having more, but to be honest, not exactly looking forward to the chaos that would ensue with adding to the bunch. Moms of little ones are busy. Period. There's just no way around that fact. Toddlers and infants are a lot of work. I remember clearing a whole day to just get to the grocery store when I had one baby, or a baby and toddler to tote a long.
Enter number 3! When Gianna was born I was more than surprised to find that I had ample time of bonding with her and resting when I needed to. My previously attention-starved (or so they thought) oldest children were playing with each other. Packing the baby along to whatever we were doing seemed like nothing. Whenever I took just the baby anywhere it seemed like I was missing something. One kid? That's it?
Enter the newest baby. People always comment on how busy I am, how full my hands are, how they don't know how I do it. Truth be told? I've never felt so lazy in my life. My almost-not-toddler toddler and baby still keep me busy, but I have older kids. Wow! What a difference. The almost 8-year-old can help and be helpful. The 6 year-old does a pretty good job too.
A couple examples in case I still have some skeptics out there that don't believe me that having four children is easier than having two.
-someone always has someone else to play with
-if a couple of the kids are just not getting along, they can be separated, and still have a choice of a sibling to be around
-while I held the sick baby who was feeling rather needy my 8-year-old cut up olives, and grated cheese for the tacos we were having (he makes the oatmeal in the morning, and can make a mean breakfast of scrambled eggs, all by himself)
If you are still unmoved, the following will win you to "my side".
The whole house has been sick (cough, stuffy/runny nose, sore throat, etc). I haven't slept well for the past few nights because my baby can't sleep. This morning my oldest three children played, by themselves, while I napped with the baby for 2 1/2 hours! Oh glorious children! If you are a parent of young toddler or baby, I highly recommend getting yourself an older kid.

Fail!

Pot, with chicken burned and stuck to the bottom of it. It was going to be chicken soup. Fail!

Pancakes, stuck to pan. Second attempt at making pancakes in two days. Fail!

Pumpkin spice cake, which is a result of a failed attempt to make pumpkin-spice pancakes. I didn't want to waste the batter so I tossed it into the pan. After baking it for 3 hours I gave up. The middle was still liquid. Fail!

After these consecutive attemps at cooking for my family I sent the following email to Brett, "We're having Burger King tonight. Don't ask."

I seriously felt like a brand new wife who had never been in a kitchen. I'm not sure what was wrong with me, but everything I touched ended up in the garbage. I'm happy to announce that I'm back to my normal cooking-things-that-my-family-can-eat self again.

Disclaimer: The pancakes were made with gluten-free flour which has a tendency to be very dense.

Two-wheeled wonder

Our bike-riding season is extremely short around here. Last summer/fall I was pregnant-enough and not really in any position to be running alongside a cute little girl riding on a bike. We almost missed the opportunity this year to get her out there without training wheels, but luckily we had a very warm September and Brett had the chance to get the newly-turned 6-year-old out for a bike-riding lesson. Go Emma, Go!!!

Learning Experience

Last night I learned a lot.

We hosted a speaker who came to our Newman Center and spoke about abortion. She is intelligent, articulate, gentle. We had hoped that the advertisement for this event would bring a handful of proclaimed "pro-choicers", but as it was she was preachin' to the choir.

At the last minute we decided to switch the "point" of the speech and instead we had a "answers to the top 10 pro-choice 'questions' seminar". It was so helpful and so empowering. My pro-life stance has developed overtime and I know that my experience last night has solidified it even further. However, I learned to brush away the anger at the "other side" and to be confident in the pro-life cause without needing to harp on the "other side". People who are pro-choice are not horrible, awful, evil people. No, they are concerned for the same women that I am concerned for.

An "a-hah" moment that I wanted to share from last night:

"In America, one of the most developed, richest, and compassionate nations in the world, are we really offering these broken women (the ones who are seeking abortions) our best? Is our best really paying for them to kill their babies? Are we not strong enough, wealthy enough, and caring enough to do better for these women?"

We were up late last night, and I did tell the kids that we were doing school today so I think I should leave on that note. I'm pondering a lot today. On the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary I know what my prayer will be. How about you?

Declaration!

I have officially declared today "Pajama Day!". We will still "do school", but we will be in our warm, soft, and comfy pjs. It's rainy, windy, and cold outside and we're not going anywhere. We spent all day yesterday (pay day!) running around and I don't want to step foot outside of this house today. Veronica doesn't want to see the inside of our car today, and I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that the other kids don't want to see the inside of a bank or any store today. Yay for "Pajama Day!".