Shelagh is Reading!!!

It's amazing. I'm so excited for her. I have always loved to read. I used to spend whole weekends doing nothing but (I used to read the whole Little House on the Prairie set over the course of a weekend for fun). I would find a book in a series and then read them all (hello, Agatha Christie, Sweet Valley High, etc). I could not wait for Shelagh to start reading. I had thought it would happen earlier, but I didn't seem to make time for it the summer before K started.

She'd been working on Phonics all school year and both enjoying and doing well at it. However, Joe and I were wondering why she wasn't reading yet. It's a fine line trying not to judge, have her be on my timeline and be one of those crazy moms that measures against friends doing things at different paces. She was happy plugging along at her pace, so I've been more focused on that. At a conference with her teacher last month, I asked about the general reading timeline. She indicated that once phonics finished, they would be put into reading groups and given books to work on. She said it would be amazing how fast they read after that and she was RIGHT! Within 2-3 weeks she read a book by herself and REALLY WELL. I went out and got her a few Biscuit early reader books from the library (she doesn't like dogs AT ALL, but the K teacher said all the girls like Biscuit books about this cute little puppy). She likes them and is working hard at her reading every day now.

Every night she sits in her mini-rocking chair and reads a book to me and Rory now and is SO proud of herself. I seriously well up sitting there. Joe got home to listen last night and we were both all choked up. Then, of course, Rory decided to give it a try. He took his formal seat in the rocking chair and read a whole Biscuit book himself (memorized, of course). He took great pride in reading the page and then showing "the class" the picture before proceeding. It was way cute.

Life Accomplishments

I copied this from GreenStyleMom...It was pretty cool to see all I've accomplished. Of course, the majority of them took place during college years and early 20's.


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars (I'm not a "camper", but I have done it a few times)
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii (On our honeymoon...one day we'll go back. How many years until all the kids are in sleepaway summer camp???)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (I think Disneyworld counts. Also, EuroDisney. Really)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (I played Mr Fox in a musical rendition of Fox & Sox at my camp when I was probably around 12. Not only did I sing several solo's, but they were all tongue twisters!)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a thunder and lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (I never quite enjoy a hard-boiled egg the same way without thinking of this hideous experience)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (I try!)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (It was much smaller than I expected. And covered with bullet-proof glass)
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (Who could afford that as a poor college student backpacking through Europe??? I was lucky I could eat gelato - top priority of course!)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (3, in fact. 2 to the Carribbean and 1 to Alaska - all with my grandmother. My sister and I were the only ones in the under-60's set for sure)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (If Woody Woodpecker doesn't inspire this trip, what would?)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (I'm not sure what town they were from, but I did go to Austria and loved it!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (I wish I had known it at the time!)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person (It's seriously at like a 45 degree angle!)
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (It's huge! The statue, of course)
41. Sung karaoke (Let's just say that if a certain video of me performing the Tiffany song "I think we're alone now" were to crop up, it might spoil any of my chances of doing ANYTHING)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (Joe and I took a trip to Tortola, BVI at the beginning of our relationship. We took the whole class on scuba and then he couldn't go down b/c of a head cold. He sat patiently on deck while I went down and it was amazing. Poor guy didn't realize he was sitting on a cooler of beer the whole time)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (Almost, maybe one day...I was going to be a professional organizer. I still might one day!)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (Toe)
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle (I was a little kid and got burned of course)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (Simply amazing! I can't wait to go back with Joe and the kids one day)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican (My friend and I got a private tour "behind the scenes" and were able to see the Pope's chapel, his closet of robes, and the Vatican gift room. Who would have thought 2 nice Jewish girls from East Coast USA would have had that chance???)
82. Bought a brand new car (And we still have it!)
83. Walked in Jerusalem (Another amazing place I can't wait to visit again)
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (And it wasn't so bad...)
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (Yes, everyone, the famous person I met was a Mr Red Buttons. Old person extraordinaire. On the old person cruise)
92. Joined a book club (I started one in my 20's. It was really fun, but too many people. So, not great for book discussions, but great for socializing!)
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby (3, in fact!)
95. Seen the Alamo in person (Just the outside, but long enough to ask if they had a basement. Thank you, Pee Wee)
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Movie: Precious

Wow, was this intense. Mo'Nique TOTALLY deserved the win for this. It was really a horrifying story, but quite touching. I give a big recommend on this one. We did watch it in green and red, unfortunately. I bought a new DVD player so I guess it's got to be something wrong with the receiver. The TV is fine when watching live, so it can't be that. So frustrating...Shouldn't receivers last forever?

But Padme and Anakin did it...

Rory wrapped his arms around my neck, closed his eyes, tilted his head, and planted a LONG kiss on my lips. I told him "That's not a mommy kiss; that's a girlfriend kiss when you get to be a LOT bigger." To which he responded..."But Padme and Anakin did it..."

I was cracking up. "Rory, you're hilarious." "No, Mom, YOU'RE hilarious." He keeps trying to make out with me now!!!

So here I was worried about all the weapons and fighting and chopping people in half with light sabers. Really, it's the make out scenes I need to worry about.

"Jedi Business. Go back to your drinks."

Spring

The sun is shining. The sky is blue. The tulips are poking out of the ground. My kids left the house all smiling and hugging this morning. Kelly's trifecta of horrific rash, super-swollen molar, and ear infection has subsided, so she slept all night and woke up calling out "Mama" to me followed by a super-Kelly-hug (is there anything better?). Rory told me this morning that he was giving all his love to me today (how is it that your kids are intuitive and know just what to say and when to say it? It's uncanny). Shelagh proudly went off to school with her first project about penguins (pictures coming later). She worked all weekend on it and waited until Thursday to bring it in on her favorite day. No one is bothering me at work today. My iPhone sound is working again so the headphones are in as I plug away.

Life is constantly challenging us. You keep taking hits and you move forward. And, you look at your beautiful family and the blessings in your life and you refuse to let the tough stuff pull you down or negativity impermeate. And you move on. I'm having a huge "I Appreciate" day.

New Thought: Sometimes I feel like Lt. Dan tied to the mast on the shrimp boat with Forrest Gump during the storm at sea when he screams at God to bring on whatever he can. And then the storm stops and he is a new, appreciative man ready to face life again. Except I have legs and not such a scraggly head of hair. So I guess that's another plus for me!

Movie: Up in the Air

We watched Up in the Air with George Clooney and Vera Farmiga this weekend and both liked it, probably me a bit more than Joe. However, Oscar-worthy??? Don't think so. The writing was solid, the story was semi-original (with a little bit of hokey-predictable woven in, which was ok - not everything can be "Memento"/"Fight Club"/"Usual Suspects" original...I'm not that snobby about it). The music wasn't memorable. I liked the small parts from Danny McBride (who I don't think will be anything other than Eastbound and Down for me forever) and from Jason Bateman, who just excels at sarcastic, dry, dickhead type guys.

I'm glad George didn't get nominated...he did get rave reviews for his role. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was good, but don't you get the impression that his portrayal was just "George Clooney charming"? It didn't seem like that much of a stretch to me. Not that I know that he is truely charming in real life or anything. You just get that idea that he is a charming flirty kind of guy with a lot of charisma that people generally like. I thought Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick were quite enjoyable to watch; but, again, not worthy of an Academy Award in my humble opinion. So, I'm glad they didn't win. Jason Reitman really is kicking ass so far...Thank You for Smoking, Juno, and now this. I look forward to continuing to see his films into the future - also, he looks like Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters so I like him just for that.

I will note that we enjoyed this movie despite the fact that our DVD is broken and all movies are displaying in red and green only. This worked for Brotherhood (the series we just finished) since it is telling the story of an Irish Family and it was St Patricks Day. This does not work moving forward and I just have to get off my lazy ass and get a new player and recycle this one. It's irritating.

Update: I stand corrected, Clooney did get nominated. Thank you, Chris. I reiterate my opinion that he didn't deserve it. Not that it wasn't good or he wasn't good. I just don't think it was much of a stretch.

St Patricks Day Classic Dinner

Of course we had Corned Beef & Cabbage and I decided to try to make a brown soda bread. The CB recipe is a real simple one my mom gave me. In short, you saute carrot/onion/celery in a bit of oil, put the CB on top with water covering it and 1 Tbl pickling spices for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a medium to low heat covered. Add in a cut up cabbage and potatoes for 20+ more minutes. I've made it a bunch of times and it's pretty easy to do.

This year, despite my continuous dough disasters, I decided to try the Mrs O'Callaghan's Soda Bread recipe from this months Food & Wine (not online yet) as discovered and written about by a Mr Andrew McCarthy of St Elmos Fire/Pretty in Pink fame (none other worth mentioning in my humble opinion). When I think of Andrew McCarthy, I think of his weird "grabbing-face-before-mashing-what-appears-to-be-a-kiss" move on Ally Sheedy. Turns out it wasn't his weirdo character b/c he does it EVERYWHERE!

Back to business...As usual, I feel like an idiot with dough, never knowing if I'm over or under doing it and getting flour all the F*&^ over the place.

Here's what the dough looked like before-hand...not too bad...seemingly not cohesive, a bit chunky, looking like it will fall apart...

Should this much dry mixture have been left over????? Hmmm

Here's what the bread looked like afterwards:

Not too shabby, huh???

And...it tasted ?

Not too shabby. It was nice warm with butter, but what doesn't taste good warm with butter, right? Pretty good, I thought! Maybe there is hope for me yet!

Happy St Pats Day!

3 Irish kids happy to dress up today, 1 unhappy leprechaun this morning...

Already starting a tradition of chugging on St Pats Day!

Joe got up and made the kids green pancakes and green milk. It was a big hit!

"What the hell are you trying to feed me??? There is no way I'm eating this crap!" And, she didn't. I tried to jam one piece in so she'd see it was just like a regular pancake but she'd have none of it and just gave me that look before chucking a pancake at me. Nice.

Also this morning from Rory..."I'm not Irish. I'm Unique!" We've been talking about all the things that make each kid special and unique (skin color, hair color, likes and dislikes, etc) and now Rory has decided that everything he says and does makes him unique.

Celeriac Gratin

I feel like I've been reading about Celeriac (or Celery Root) for months now. I've never done anything with it before. I grabbed one from the store this week, but wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I figured I'd roast or mash it or something. Apparently it lends itself well to slaw-type salads as well, but I wasn't in the mood for that. I looked through a few veggie books I have for ideas...

• Vegetables from the Time/Life Cookbook series from way back when. It had some nice tips on general preparation and cooking styles it works well with. There was a gratin recipe for a quartered Celeriac and a mixed potato/celeriac mash, but I didn't do either.


• Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and cathleen Hockman-Wert which focuses on vegetables in their prime season. Nothing good in here.
  
• Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop - nothing here.

I ended up adapting a recipe from this Celeriac Gratin in Martha Stewarts recipe database. It was HEAVENLY. I used 1 big root instead of 3, 1/2 cup parmesean and 1/2 cup cheddar instead of gruyere b/c I didn't have it, 3/4 cup light cream, and no nutmeg. Also, I par-cooked the celeriac in boiling water for 5-10 minutes first...I'd probably do 5 or not at all next time. Try it!

Are You Sitting Down?

Good. Here we go...

Joe and I are proud to announce that Downes No 4 is on the way! I know, SHOCKING, isn't it????? It seems pretty rare these days to go beyond 3 from what I can tell. We actually do know 3 families with 4 kids - 1 was an a 3rd child that turned out to be twins, but the other 2 were intended that way. I'm going to need to tap in to those guys for some advice...How do you find your sanity? Do you EVER go out anymore? Are you drowning in diapers? Is your family schedule color coded? (That's the part I really look forward to, of course). Right now I'm desperately booking my baby sitter for as many days as I can! Not only does 4 change things on the babysitting front, but our sitter is transferring colleges and moving away. HUGE bummer.


It's so not on anyones radar that people haven't even been noticing that I haven't been drinking (although what could drive you to drink more, really?). They don't even NOTICE! That's what a circus freak I was feeling like for awhile there. It's still sort of a weird conversation to have with people...a few family members were beyond shocked and didn't have much to say (I get it. Really, I do).



We told the kids this past weekend and they seem cool with it. Shelagh actually asked me, while in the shower last week with me, why I looked like I had a baby belly when Kelly already came out. Rory asked where my belly button went and interestingly, Kelly has been poking my stomach. Shelagh has named the baby already for girl or boy. Rory said he would like a baby brother now because "there are enough girls in this family".



I asked the big kids each what was 1 thing they were worried about and 2 things they thought were cool about it (yes, I sort of stacked the deck. let's call it "spin"). Shelagh said she was worried that even if we put the new baby up high on the table that Kelly would not be gentle with it. She was happy that 1) she'd have another kid in the family to play with if Rory or Kelly wouldn't go along with her games and 2) she'd always be oldest and would be able to be teacher if they played school. Rory said that he'd love to have a new delicate baby around. He doesn't seem to be worried about anything other than the too many girls in the family thing.

Anyway, it's big news and certainly a big change coming to our family in September. Oh yeah, I just bought new pants for the first time in like 6+ years from having lost weight. See ya! Rubber band on the pants already and Maternity clothes out and sorted through. They are seriously getting immediately passed on after this. Hello, steamy hot summer with me as big as a house. AWESOME!



Oh yeah, the baby is doing fine..I got a nice few U/S profile pics, a hand wave, and all tests look good so far despite my "advanced maternal age", my genetic counseling I had to have this time, and a quick but resolved no-heartbeat scare. I'm feeling good and beyond the seriously exhausted stage. So, onward we go!!

What the Hell do I Feed this Kid????

I've been seriously over-posting cute pics of Kelly lately. Who would know she was a third kid??? I'm still as psycho about compulsively photographing my kids!!

The obligatory Black Bean Face picture I've taken of all 3 kids. It's one of the only things she'll eat these days.

Doesn't she look so big sitting up properly on a stool?

The VERY short list of food that Kelly will eat these days...certainly my most food-challenged kid yet. Nothing drives me more crazy, I might add. She definitely knows it too.

Will Eat

• MILK - by the gallon (or so her diaper tells me)
• Toast (like Father, like all Children)
• Pancakes (Another common thread through my kids. I always prefer savory over sweet for breakfast, but I guess on my own with this one)
• Yogurt (any flavor, any brand, any time, any place...you just can't spoon it in fast enough)
• Cheese (she seems to like Cheddar, Swiss and Havarti so far. I'm trying to steer clear of American - JUST BECAUSE)
• Grilled Cheese
• Black Beans
• Pasta w/ Red Sauce & Parm or w/ Butter & Parm, but only small shapes like stars, pastina, orzo and the like
• Rice (lots of varieties so far - white, brown, yellow, spiced, etc)
• French Fries
• Fish (Haddock or Cod go over well...I should try Salmon probably)
• Pretzels, Cookies, Crackers

Carbs, carbs, carbs...

Sometimes Will Eat (if she thinks I'm not looking and if Miss Queenie is in the mood)

• Turkey
• Salami (but only the Hebrew National Beef soft kind cut up small)
• Eggs
• Oatmeal
• Muffins (but has been known to dig out berries, etc)

Will not Eat and will definitely THROW

• Cereal
• Ham
• Meat (Chicken, Beef, Pork, etc)
• Vegetables of any sort, color, texture (she managed to spot a single broccoli floret buried in a mouthful of pasta and dug it out)
• Ice Cream (I think the cold bothers her)
• Fruit of any sort (SERIOUSLY!). I manage to get applesauce (if it's not cold) and baby food fruit in there sometimes.
• Mashed Potatoes

Oh, she's also teething all 4 molars right now. So, maybe this is all a big "Screw You" and she'll be fine when they are in. Oh wait, then she'll be teething all the eye teeth so forget that.

Kids

I cannot get enough of Kelly's "Cheese" fact. Neither can Shelagh give up any opportunity to pose for a picture, so it works out! How freakin' cute are these?????

Rory loves his baby...

Who was beating the shit out of her new hammer toy, by the way...She has some serious fierce-ness in there!

Frig Full of Lots of Crappy Food

I actually did quite a bit of cooking last Tuesday on my home-from-work day. Kelly and Rory were both sick and slept most of the day away. I did a Red-Wine Braised Short Rib dish, a Wine Braised Brisket, and I also threw in a Maple-Cumin chicken. All 3 were pretty much disasters. See pictures below AKA Charred blocks of Short Ribs, Stiff & Shitty Brisket Blobs, and didn't bother with Soggy Ass Chicken. I guess it was okay, then, that my whole family (but me) got the worst stomach bug anyway. I feel slightly less bad about dumping all this crappy food now.

I think the big problem with the 2 beef dishes is that I tried to half the recipes. Who needs a 5lb hunk of meat when there are only 2 adults eating, 1 baby throwing food, and 2 kids I'm bribing to take 3 bites anyway???? It's easy to cut the recipe ingredients but I don't ever seem to get the right sized cooking vessel and then I definitely miss the boat on timing. You still want a long slow cook for a braise so that the cheaper meat cuts have time to break down. Then again, you have less liquid (which is why the short ribs burned, I'm guessing). The chicken went in and came out last and then sat out while I put the kids to bed so what should have been crispy yummy skin turned into a rubber duck.

Then, I barely recovered with Strawberry Muffins from me and Rory and then Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies from Emeril in this months Everyday Food.

Booked at Stir!

After making repeat phone calls like a teenager calling Ticketmaster in the 80's for a lame concert, I finally got through and booked at Stir. This is Barbara Lynches new Cookbook Store, Demonstration Kitchen that offers classes and demos. I've been dying to get to another of her restaurants or stores, etc. Joe and I had a wonderful meal at No 9 Park in Boston and she just released a cookbook, Stir, that looks great.

The class we really wanted, Best of Stir, is a hands-on class of some of Lynches signature dishes. Plus you get the cookbook. Sold out in 1/2 a day today. Such a bummer. We are going, instead, to more of a dinner party type of set up which is demo but not hands-on. I'm still excited and hope to hit the Butcher Shop next door, also owned by her, and to peruse her cookbook store. Either way a fun night out with a friend for a Mothers Day gift to ourselves! Yay!

2010 Oscars: Follow Up

The tribute to John Hughes was phenomenal. Holy memories. I suppose it was the time, but I've seen all of his movies and have loved all the teen flicks through and through. Judd Nelson was looking a little leathery and Ally Sheedy was a little pale, but otherwise, it was awesome to see a collection of John Hughes actors and the clips just made my day. Does Anthony Michael Hall look like a completely different person, or is it just me??? I seriously cried. Not that it takes much...

I would comment on the rest of the broadcast, but TiVO hosed me and deleted it. I don't know what the hell is taking up all the space. I do have Star Wars II and III in HD saved. I have 8 HIMYM's and a handfull of other shows, but not that much really. Oh well. I didn't really care to watch much else anyway.

Yum

Starbucks Black Cherry Mocha - 1/2 caf, non-fat, no whip. Delicious. I usually lean towards the Cinnamon Dolce Latte, but have been getting a little bored of my regular drink. Alas, a new drink out and it was so yummy. Hit the spot today.

TV: The Office Baby Delivery Episode

I just have to say that Pam accidentally nursing the other womans baby in her hospital room in the middle of the night was hilarious. Also, the "I want you to have my baby for business purposes only. Let's meet in the usual spot and bang this out" storyline between Dwight and Angela and the associated contract conditions couldn't have been funnier. My fave from Angela..."No Star Trek names".

2010 Oscars: BOR-ing

First, I didn't watch the Oscars yet. I watched a few minutes when Supporting Actor was on, but that's it. They are taped and I will skim through them to see, mostly, how Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin did. I will say that all this "Oscar season" article writing, campaigning, and guessing who will win - along with the 10 million other award shows preceding the Oscars and "predicting" of how the Oscars will fall out - has made the Oscars themselves BORING. I didn't even care to watch b/c you already knew who would win...Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, Sandra Bullock, Mo'nique, Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz, Avatar for all the tech awards, blah blah blah.

I will say these things about it though...

• I, obviously, did not see all the main movies in the nomination list although a bunch of them I'm dying to see and they are mostly coming up my Netflix list now (Up in the Air, Precious, etc)
• Hurt Locker was really good and intense. But, I have to say I did not finish watching it with a wave of "This has got to win awards it was so good". Don't get me wrong...I really liked it, but to me the war genre is exemplified by Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Band of Brothers. This movie had a lot of great build up, but it didn't completely blow me away.
• Avatar was amazing to watch and deserves all the technological awards out there. The sheer magnitude of this project should be recognized. But, let's face it...the story was predictable and just ok. I'm glad it didn't win Best Picture.
• Sandra Bullock...I don't DISLIKE her, but she just seems to pull out kind of old hat, boring movies in my opinion. She would never draw me to a movie nor would I expect any mind-blowing acting performance from her. I realize that might not be fair, but I consider her an average actress who hasn't really had a role that seemed extremely challenging. I also have not even been a little inclined to see Blind Side. It looks corny to me and not the awe-inspiring sports movie (a la Hoosiers) you would want it to be. I felt unfair about judging her and then the clip of Blind Side just didn't change my mind. I guess I'll have to see it now to confirm/dispel my opinion. On the other hand, she does seem like a totally down to earth cool chick in real life and I've enjoyed interviews with her in the past.
• I liked Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. I didn't see the other performances so I guess I'm ok with this right now.

A few other points...

• I saw Julie & Julia last week. I liked it, but come on people. Meryl Streep is a wonderful actress but do we have to nominate her for EVERYTHING????
• Up was pretty good, but Best Picture nomination? Really?
• Why even have an animation category? It always seems like every animated movie makes it in every year. Princess and the Frog for an Oscar? I don't think so. Maybe the music...that was pretty good; but certainly not Oscar-worthy.
• We also saw District 9 a couple of weeks ago. Really good, but NOT OSCAR WORTHY. Original, yes, and I give originality a lot of consideration b/c most movies are predictable and already done. I could see it's nomination for the Screenplay category, no problem. But Best Picture? No way.

It doesn't seem so special to win an Oscar these days b/c I don't think they accurately award people and films fairly. They give the win to someone who hasn't gotten one and deserves one even if they are giving it to them for the wrong movie (Ex 1: Denzel Washington - got it for Training Day, should have for Malcom X or Philadelphia; Ex 2: Jeff Bridges - is Crazy Heart really his best role?; I'm sure with some thought I could come up with a million more examples of this practice).

That's it for now. After I watch the show I will comment on Alec & Steve, any boring/notable Thank Yous, and the outfits of course. I don't watch Red Carpet anymore b/c honestly if it's not Joan Rivers or Kathy Griffen, why bother.

Catch up: Joe Skiing, Trip to NJ, Kids Puking

I've been slow on the blog front over the past week+. Just busy, busy, busy. Joe was on his annual guys ski trip out in Vail this past long weekend. I somehow managed to get the kids all dropped off on time and picked up on 2 work days (they are in 3 separate places, so this was a small miracle). We packed up and head down to NJ for a quick family visit on Friday morning while he was gone. I got to sit in on one of my Moms cooking classes in NYC on Friday night while my sister watched all the kids. It was really fun and nice to see her at work doing what she loves.

The kids had a blast with their cousins too. They are close in age, but my oldest nephew is 2+ years older than Shelagh and almost 4 years older than Rory. My younger nephew is in between my 2 big kids. They always got along, but usually they pair off in some combination at each different visit and usually have some varied interests. This time they were ALL STAR WARS, ALL THE TIME! The spent the entire day on Saturday pretending to be Star Wars guys fighting the bad guys with their light sabers and various other "weapons". While I'm not so crazy about the shift to violent "killing" and "chopping off" games, I am thrilled to see all the imaginative play going on. I don't think the TV went on until late afternoon. Star Wars, of course. It was so nice to see all 4 kids wanting to do the same thing at the same time and thoroughly enjoying each other - fight free for the most part - for the weekend. Rory followed Jacob (8 year old) around constantly. Sat down where he sat, copied him with play, etc. It was way cute. The boys loved snuggling Kelly too and she just sat right in the middle of them and played Yoda with no complaints. Shelagh, my sister and I snuck out for a bit in the afternoon and got mani/pedis and only the redheads got designs on their big toes (Sasha and Shelagh only)...it was pretty special and nice to see Shelagh uncling from me and attach to Sasha.

We drove back early on Sunday so Rory could make his best friends bday party. I made great time and the kids just chilled out listening to Laurie Berkner and watching weird and creepy Barbie movies (who came up with these totally corny movies????). Kelly slept most of the way back and I got to listen to the Best of Howard Stern from this past week including AMAZING interviews he did with Barbara Walters and Harry Shearer. If he leaves Sirius next year when his contract is up I will be devastated.

We got home before the party and the kids surprised Joe (who was sleeping off the Red eye flight from the night before). Rory then completely melted down that he didn't want to go to the party and he wanted his Dad, which was simultaneously adorable and sad at the same time. I convinced him to go, knowing he'd regret not going, while Joe took the girls to the park to enjoy the gorgeous high 50's, sunny weather. He started off great and then melted down twice there - I just figured he was cranky and overheating from running around. He inhaled ice cream and cupcakes and then gummy dinosaurs and then proceeded to puke everything up in 2 separate aisles of the grocery store afterwards. "I need a clean-up in aisle 7 please!!! Some kid puked all over the place!!" I took off his shirt and let him walk around stylin' in my black wool cardigan (All I had left was milk and eggs - did it really make sense to ditch my cart full of groceries and bolt??? I think not). He had a slight fever and made it through the night fine.

Flash forward to this morning when Kelly woke up screaming. Turns out she puked too and then proceeded to wipe it all over her hair and face and into her eyes. It managed to go between the crib slots, into all the crevices in the crib and rails and down onto the crib skirt even. Fun, fun, fun. It took 3 hair washes to get the smell out. So, I'm home today and not able to dial into work because of a technical problem. Back to Sesame Street for me...

Random Pics from the Last Few Months

I just downloaded a bunch of pics from my iPhone from the last 6 mos or so...