Category: Uncategorized

Neko has been really worried about Greg Wiggle. He’s been sick, and ultimately had to leave the Wiggles. The Wiggles did a great job of explaining it to the kids, with Greg handed the yellow shirt over to Sam, the new Wiggle.

But still, Neko is worried. She wants him to feel better.

She came up with the idea that she and I needed to make a Henry the Octopus for him.I prepped a lot of the pieces and helped her do the sewing, but a lot of the work she did on her own. A true collaborative effort, I think.

Now we’ll see if she can part with it so we can pack it up and send it to Greg…

I know, it’s not like she’s performing in Cirque du Soleil, but these days, when my camera-shy child demands that I take photos, I comply.

Oh, Madge, I sure could use you and your Palmolive right about now.

Our dishwasher is dead. Again. I’m convinced we have a lemon, but I’m not sure there are lemon laws regarding dishwashers.

We had this same model of dishwasher at our old house, and it was a workhorse. Never gave us trouble. But this one? We’re considering inviting the repair guy to Thanksgiving because we see so much of him.

He will be returning in a few days with the four thousand parts it will require to fix it (thankfully, under warranty), but until then, we’re washing everything by hand.

I am now convinced that there should be a state-sponsored program that when you have your third child, they just issue you a dishwasher, because clearly no family of five can survive without one. I feel like I’ve been washing dishes non-stop since it broke and my hands are raw and cracking. Seriously. No exaggeration.

My hat goes off to my parents and large families who live(d) day to day without this modern marvel.

This whole holiday break thing? Clearly not designed by someone with three children under five. That whole part leading up to the holiday was super-fun. Lots of anticipation and excitement. But clearly not a lot of sleep, because as of December 26th, it all went south. It seemed like nothing could please anyone and the bickering and temper tantrums being thrown at a rate that makes me think the kids were trying to get their name in the Guinness Book for some record or another.

Even though Tom and I have been diligently going to bed on time (except for that night we stayed too late at Greg and Nancy’s house), we are exhausted. The non-stop bickering (and then problem-solving) is physically and emotionally draining.

(I know you all are probably tired of reading about this topic, but just think, if you’re tired of reading about it, how awful must it be living it?)

The one bright spot? Neko and Shep have been playing Cars. They pretend they are cars (Neko is Lightning McQueen, of course) and run races around the house. This is actually and activity where they get along for the most part, so I’m thrilled when they fall into playing it. When Chele and Kendall came over, Kendall added the idea of making pit stops for gas and tire changes. And today I decided the kids need numbers. Thank goodness I went to four years of design school so I could make high-quality car numbers with Crayolas and computer paper.

Neko has already picked out a shirt with red sleeves for tomorrow so it will coordinate with her number.

First father-daughter lego building. And then we all fell asleep before midnight.

Tom got it while Neko was in school and I was at the orthodontist. His mom sat in the car with the kids while he selected it and strapped it to the car.

Okay, not exactly the picturesque outing I had imagined, but we did it.

The decorating, however, was really wonderful. Neko really got into hanging the ornaments, and did a great job of spacing them out and finding good spots. Although Shep did enjoy banging the balls together, he wasn’t lobbing them across the room, which is a huge improvement over last year. Ellery thought all the ornaments were delicious.

Yes, we’re standing on the kitchen table. Some rules need to be broken so that babies don’t choke on marbles. And keeping kids occupied while snowed in is equally important.

I know I’ve been using the word stupid to describe this week a whole lot. I wish I had time to come up with a new word, but instead I’ve been spending my time uncovering things covered in vomit—children, sheets, clothes, and couches.

Last night, just as Tom and I were contemplating bed, Shep started throwing up. By 1:30am, Neko started, too. And all the commotion woke Ellery up, so we were all up until 3am. By morning, the throwing up seemed to be over, but it looked like a tornado had blown through. We did about ten loads of laundry and cleaned and sanitized. Just as we were about to put Neko and Shep down for naps, Ellery joined the sick crew. More laundry and sanitizing followed. The kids were intermittently crazy (see photo) and exhausted.

So far, Tom and I are healthy. But the writing is on the wall.