5¢ Bags

Yesterday we took a trip to Washington D.C. to go the temple. We had an arrangement with Nick and Nadine wherein they would drop off their kids early in the morning at our house and then immediately leave for D.C. They were to call us when they pulled into the temple parking lot at which point we would leave--and hopefully arrive just as they were walking out from their temple session. We hoped that this plan would make it easier on all of the children (and the parents) since it wouldn't require that the children spend 4 hours inside the visitor's center trying to find something to do.

Megan and I had envisioned making it in time for the 1:00 p.m. session, and then running an errand from 3:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Alison had an interest in seeing the Lincoln Memorial since she learned all about Lincoln ("famous people are on coins") on President's Day. We thought we'd leave D.C. around 5:00 p.m. and make it home in time for bathtime and bedtime, and a relaxing evening at home.

This is what our car looked like as we were pulling away over an hour behind schedule:

Clearly, our visions of the day were a bit optimistic! So, how did the day actually turn out?

• We made the 2:30 p.m. session, not the 1:00 p.m. session.
• After the temple, everyone was uncomfortably hungry so I suggested that we blow some of our upcoming tax refund and go to the Cheesecake Factory. Had I known that we would spend one hour waiting for a table and then spend 2 more hours there eating, taking kids to the restroom, eating more, crying, talking to doctors about Kaitlyn's possible ear infection, and taking kids back to the restroom, I probably would have just suggested McDonald's!
• Since we didn't leave the restaurant until almost 8:00 p.m. seeing the Lincoln Memorial got cut.
• We did, however, decide to still run our errand...

Megan has been wanting to go to IKEA to get some matching kids plates, utensils, and cups so that we could throw away our random assortment of free plastic restaurant cups that we've been using. While Megan went into the store, I circled the parking lot waiting for the closest space to the door to open up. When I found the perfect spot, I took it and waited. I called Megan to tell her "I've got the closest spot so it will be easy to find us when you get out." It turns out that I got the closest spot to the entrance--which is about a quarter of a mile away from the exit. As Megan briskly walked up to the car, I noticed that her arms were completely full. I opened the car door and she yelled, "They charge you for bags!" I agreed that that was pretty lame, but then I discovered an interesting fact: the bags cost 5 cents. That's right; 5 cents. Megan was so frustrated with her day that she wasn't going to spend even 5 more cents on anything unnecessary!

We finally made it home at about 11:30 p.m. completely exhausted (yet 5¢ better off).

I can tell that you're exhausted from just reading all that, so in an attempt to inject some family cheer into your now bleak view of our weekend, here is Mr. Max sitting with with us today at family dinner for the first time, as well as my first attempt at uploading a video (Kaitlyn's puppet show).

"This little puppet was Ali, and this little puppet was Kaitlyn."

One more thing I really ought to mention: Megan ran 6 miles on Saturday morning! She's really quite inspiring with her half-marathon training.

Glue Sticks

Max is developing faster than even I had expected. After church this afternoon, I brought Max into the house in his car seat and set him in the front room while I went to go put everything else away that we had taken to church. While I was busying myself with things like making lunch for the girls, Max must have seen an opportunity to act. He unbuckled his seatbelt, climbed out of his seat, and then somehow managed to find the lone glue stick which was left out after last night (more on that later). Incredibly, he then climbed back into his seat and got his buckle back on, so he could start gnawing on this forsaken sticky treasure. Either that, or Kaitlyn thought Max should have it for some reason and gave it to him.


So, as you can see, Max's biggest challenge in life isn't the cradle cap--which must itch like crazy because he has learned to stratch it incessantly--but rather, it's surviving his older sister Kaitlyn's "love." Today at church, for example, Kaitlyn was characteristically in Max's face pretending to be a lion and growling at him. ("It's OK Max, I'm not a real lion. I'm just pretending to be a lion.") Suddenly, she had the urge to cough and coughed squarely into Max's face with the full brunt and force of her open mouthed cough. According to Megan, "the whole ward saw and cringed."

Here's another picture from this week of Kaitlyn loving Max and Max looking up, as if to say, "Ugh...could you please take her away from me for just a couple of minutes?"


Aah...Kaitlyn is a wonderful girl; she just needs to learn how to tone back her loving a little bit. But, she is quite perceptive. She carefully explained to Megan the other day when to utilize different common English phrases:

When you smile, you say "cheese." And, when you "toot" you say "excuse me."

Now, on to last night: "Estrogen Night", as I like to call it. I was still reeling from the postponing of Friday's Van Halen concert, and was trying to console myself in a book. As I cruised through "The Little Book That Beats The Market" (which I would actually recommend as a sort of a 2-hour summary of what every non-MBA really should know), I got to hear Megan, Sarah, Sarah, Amy, Karie (not Underwood) and Christine using those pesky glue sticks, hole-punching and stamping cards while talking about labor, pregnancy, girl-stuff, estrogen, etc. It didn't really bother me as long as there were enough chocolate chip cookies around. I think they all had a great time, and I got an excuse to eat cookies while reading about buying good companies at bargain prices.

Ali had a great time this week. First of all, she enjoyed pretending to be the Statue of Liberty with a strawberry.

Next, she enjoyed playing YMCA basketball at her school on Saturday morning. The coaches made the kindergarten participants go through dribbling and passing drills, and then finally turned them loose to play a game. Ali has been practicing dribbling the basketball since Christmas in Indiana, so they tried to have Ali dribble the ball down the court. As she dribbled the ball down the court (and pretty well for a 5-year old I might add), she was literally tackled by about 7 other kids who were trying to get the ball. As she was finally able to climb out from under the dogpile, she came running in tears to me on the sideline. I wasn't sure if it was her legs that were hurt from being tackled, or if was her feelings that were hurt because they dared to try to take the ball away from her. Come to think of it, the coaches never ran any drills explaining the concept of "fouls." So, it was a good "no call."

Super Ali and Princess Kaitlyn

Even before our son was born, we pretty much decided that his pet name would be "Mr. Max." And, since October 3rd, I've probably called him "Mr. Max" at least once per day, if not more. Well, this afternoon I thought, "We really ought to have a superlative for each of the children." At first, I suggested "Super Kate" but it didn't get any sort of reaction from either Alison or Kaitlyn. So, I thought about it a little longer and announced "Super Ali" and "Princess Kaitlyn." Ali immediately started running around the room making webslinging actions with her hands and telling me that she was using her super powers to freeze me. Kaitlyn beamed from ear to ear and started nodding her head in agreement. I think I got it right.

Ali told me an interesting joke through the door this afternoon:

"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Me."
"Me who?"
"Me going to tackle you."

I could hear her jumping on the bed while she told me the joke. Sensing, perhaps, that she had given away her devious plan, she immediately said, "Don't remember that."

It was an interesting Valentine's Day this week. Ali has been looking forward to Valentine's Day for almost a whole month. Not because of the treats or because of boys--but rather because she has been stamping individualized Valentine packages for each person in her class. She started by asking each person his or her favorite color. She then made an envelope out of that color construction paper and wrote each person's name on the outside. Then, she cut, mounted die-cuts and stamped (with Megan's help) a "coloring" page for each person. Each person also received 2 crayons for coloring. Ali kept track of everything on a big sheet of paper on her clipboard. It's almost like she's witnessed Megan's party planning for 5+ years.



It was more than her whole backpack to take all of these things to school!

Now, here's the difference between Ali and Kaitlyn. By 4:00 p.m. on the 14th, Kaitlyn had already plowed through the Valentine's Day candy we had given her. All that was left was a couple of sucked-on Kit Kat bars. Ali, on the other hand, hadn't touched it because she really like the crafty, decorated can that Megan had made for them and put it all in.

Both girls got new shoes this week. (Don't get Megan started on how her kindergartener had to have Sketchers-brand shoes that light up when you walk.) Kaitlyn wanted to be like Ali and have shoes that lit up--but she wanted them to be more dressy. What she ended up getting were shoes that look like white buckle Sunday shoes, but that have a sole more like tennis shoes.

This evening it seemed like there was an overabundance of noise. Kaitlyn was walking around banging a metal dishing spoon and a plastic stirring spoon together. She was also yelling or singing something, probably. I asked her what on earth she was doing. Her response? "I'm making music."

Also this evening, I walked into my bedroom and found Ali sitting in front of Microsoft Outlook on my laptop that I had left up. I walked in as she was scrolling up or down. I asked her was she was doing. She answered, "I'm reading your email." Sure enough--she was reading an email from Mary Lee summarizing Grandpa's talk at his ward over Christmas. She said she picked out that one to read because she knew who it was from.

Now, I just hope I can remember to call them by their "appropriate" names.

Famous People Are on Coins

For the past week, Ali has been reminding us that Lincoln's birthday is coming up and that Washington's birthday will be after that. So, today we decided to press her a little more on these important holidays. Megan asked her who Lincoln was. Ali's reply was "I don't know; he's on the penny." Megan proceeded to tell her all about Lincoln, states' rights and the abolition of slavery. She then went into Washington--one of the Founding Fathers, who crossed the Delaware River for some reason. After listening to Megan's lecture, Ali summarized everything she got out of Megan's speech: "Famous people are on coins."

After we finished laughing, Ali asked if we could play The Game of Life (again). I consented. As we neared the end of the game and it was becoming clear that she was going to win (why do I always get the Accountant with a $20,000 salary!?), she explained to me that "It's not about winning. It's about having fun. But, it is exciting when you win."

Since we've been talking about Ali, here's an picture from this week, not related to anything we've been talking about.


The picture was from our ward activity yesterday which was a very well done "Clue" Party. It was a mystery about who took the cake and what the perpetrator used to eat it with (was it a spoon, a fork, fingers, or a spork?). That was the mystery for the adults to solve. And, wouldn't you know it, we figured out that they ate the cake in the gym with a fork--just like we all did at the end! The kids got to figure out a Blues Clues--which Ali and Kaitlyn loved. Yet, for some reason, the cake didn't make Kaitlyn as happy as it did the rest of us. Perhaps she was still full from the pizza and cupcakes she ate at the Darden Partners Association's Family Valentine's Day Party.


Kaitlyn has been happy, however, about taking ballet lessons. As you know, she loves to dress up every day. Combine that with dancing around to Disney tunes, and she's in heaven.


The other day I asked Ali what she liked about Kaitlyn; she answered that Kaitlyn played school with her. Later that day, they played school outside. The weather has been pretty nice these past couple of days. I took this picture from our bedroom window while I was supposed to be working on cases for the next day:

We found out this week that Max has a pretty good case of Cradle Cap. Although this condition apparently endows him with superior intellect later in life, at present it manifests itself through overactive oil glands which have led to chapped and sore cheeks (facial cheeks). Note the band aid on his left check and general redness.

Before the doctor made this diagnosis I thought it might have been something called Fifth's disease--but that was mostly because Ali's school sent home a note to parents indicating that someone in her class had it, and which has similar symptoms. This shouldn't be confused with Saks Fifth Avenue disease, which is what Megan has.

Megan had a great trip to Utah to visit family and friends. I especially enjoyed the video call we were able to have last Sunday so that I could prove that I was holding down the fort pretty well while she was gone. With significant travel in my future, we've pretty much confirmed that video calls are really going to help us manage. It is so much better than simply talking on the phone! If you haven't tried it, you really need to.

Finally, while Megan was in Utah she loved the bow that little Addilyn McIntyre was wearing. In order to remember how cute it was, she put it on one of our children and took a picture. I don't want this particular child to feel bad about having a bow on later in life, so I'll leave it to you to follow the clues!

Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for...212 days after this blog got started, Megan is going to post for the very first time! (But, please climb back into your seat before you read it.)

Megan's First (and Last) Post

I just want to give a huge THANK YOU to all those who made it possible to go on my rockin' Utah trip. Nathan is an amazing dad and husband; I'm so lucky that he was okay with sending me away for a week (I wonder if he wishes he could send me away more often). Really though--he's a rock star and I adore him. I had an absolute blast hanging out with my fabulous friends and family, eating yummy food (I heart Cafe Rio), and seeing all the cute new babies.


We so missed Lacey and Tyler, but I was lucky enough to hang with that gang a few weekends back. And, to hear all about that super fun trip and see great pictures of the kids, check out Lacey's blog.

I Need A New Finger

For the last several days, Kaitlyn has been complaining about her finger hurting. The weather has been cold and dry here, so I think her hands are cracked. It culminated this morning when she came in to me as I was getting ready and said, "I need a new finger."

Speaking of getting ready this morning, we had a good adventure before church today. First of all, let me give you a critical detail: Megan and Max left on Wednesday afternoon to visit friends in Utah, and won't be back until late Tuesday night; so, that just left Alison and Kaitlyn in charge of me for 6 (almost 7) days.

Now, let's return to this morning. We woke up at what I thought was a good and reasonable time, considering the fact that Ali, Kaitlyn and I stayed up to watch Ratatouille and eat popcorn last night. Well, it was a good and reasonable time for the girls. I opted to stay up a little later to blow off--or rather, postpone--my school work, in order to record the following untitled song. My head finally hit the pillow at about 12:30 a.m. But, hey, I thought I deserved it. I'd been taking care of the girls each afternoon, and then spending the 5+ hours after they went to bed at 7:00 p.m. to do the schoolwork that I would normally have done in the afternoon.

Back to this morning: Kaitlyn and Ali woke up spry, energized and hungry while I stumbled out of bed groggy-eyed, still dreaming of my guitar soloing the night before. (Did you download and listen to the song yet?) Now, if Megan were home, the girls would have had baths last night. She plans ahead. She remembers important things. (She even made arrangements before she even left for the Adens, Crofts, Nielsens, and Webbs to watch Kaitlyn during my scheduled class times--thank you all!)

As I finished attempting to do the girls' wet hair at 7:50 a.m., I wondered how I was ever going to shower myself and get us to church on time by 8:30 a.m. Somehow, we walked in during the opening hymn. However, I thought you might enjoy seeing how their hair turned out: (Forgive the lower resolution; Megan has the good camera.)



So, here I am, sitting at the computer wondering what I should do for dinner tonight. Since it's Sunday, I can't do Pizza Hut or Chick-Fil-A like the last couple of days. Fortunately, Megan left a pan of pre-made enchiladas with cooking instructions written on the aluminum in the freezer. I think I'm in luck!

Yesterday, as I was getting ready Ali came running in and asked, "Dad? Who do you want to win the Super Bowl, the Giants or the Patriots?" I looked at her and asked, "Are you serious?" She explained that they had been talking about it at school and that she had voted for the Giants and it was too late now to change her vote, even if she wanted to--which she didn't.

So, let's recap a few points:

1. Megan is an amazing mother and wife, and being as good as she is is a lot harder than it looks. It appears to take me 1.5x the time it takes her to do the same things.
2. I'm so lucky to have Ali and Kaitlyn (...and we've all missed Megan and Max). I have had an absolute blast spending dedicated time with the girls this week. We've gone to the park and mall playground, read books, done water painting, eaten lunch with Ali at her school, had a "game day" and a movie and popcorn night, and had fast food for dinner. It has been so much fun, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Megan Jr.

Alison is Megan Jr. She loves to make crafts and do scrapbooking. Yesterday morning, after we had our traditional Saturday morning Tweety-bird waffles for breakfast, Ali pulled a chair up to Megan's scrapbooking table and got out a piece of a paper with her handwritten notes on it. The paper had headings indicating colors, and underneath each one were the names of various of her kindergarten classmates. Apparently, she had asked each one of them what color valentine envelope they would like, and was working on personalized recipticles for each person.

She explained that she would make the envelope for each one of them (complete with name), but that they would have to further decorate it themselves.