Right now

Right now...Gene is trying to say Mass. And redirecting the girls. And asking me for help. And talking on a cell phone (maybe trying to reschedule Mass for naptime when he can be undisturbed...)

Right now...Lucy is wearing a black shark hat and has spread a blanket on the kitchen floor. She calls it a puddle, and says we can walk around it. She now has a blanket on the dining room floor, and a pillow with it. "Church is almost starting, and I am in the puddle".

Right now...Janie is walking around with an empty sippy cup, and ends up next to Lucy and the "puddle". Lucy is trying to keep her from getting on the puddle.

Right now, I am trying to stay at the computer for more than 1 minute between interruptions. Not having to even talk for a few minutes would be nice, but about impossible. Kids come up to me, or call me, or just cry. I can't get away.

Well, if I didn't expect to have any time to myself, I wouldn't be disappointed. I need to change my expectations, I guess....

Now Jane is crying...better go...so long free time...!

So, here is a random assortment of pictures from the late summer/fall/early winter. I haven't posted any pictures in quite a while...

Gene runs to pull out his tools every time Brendan is working on a project. Here, they are installing some new shelves Brendan built into our school cabinets.



Jane learning to walk with her wagon before the weather cooled off too much.



Jane's favorite place to climb these days- on the wooden high chair turned on it's front (made to have 3 uses- high chair, rocking horse, and desk)



Lucy and Gene love to wrap up in blankets, or cover themselves in blankets, and often fight over which blanket is their favorite (the current favorite is a new one Brendan gave me for Christmas...but it has become Brendan's favorite too and where does that leave me...?)



Gene and cousin Ben at the apple orchard. They picked a few, mostly they ate apples and climbed trees).



On the trampoline. We work on taking turns...



Janie at the apple orchard. She also learned to eat apples this fall, and it kept her busy for the whole hour or more that we were there!



Lucy and Gene took turns climbing up to try and pick an apple from the high branches.



Brendan and his favorite little babe.



Gene was Robin Hood for Halloween.



Maid Marian. But she wanted to be a llama.

Janie as a pumpkin. But not sure where she was going in the early evening hours of Halloween. This year, the other kids sure knew! And Gene was so excited to read all the candy wrappers when we sorted through their buckets afterwards...his favorite candies were "crunch" (i.e. Nestle's Crunch Bar) and "tootsie" (pronounced as in a tooting horn, and without the "roll" on the end).

Brendan and I went to a party as War and Peace...

More pictures may follow. But here are a few Lucy quotes to top it off. She is our quoting kid these days...Gene had his turn, and Janie will follow, but right now Lucy cracks us up all the time!

Eating jello (unsuccessfully) with a very small spoon, "Mama, frogs jump and jello jumps."

Observing Jane climbing up on my parents' treadmill, "Are you thinking you are going to go running, Janie?"

Eating oatmeal one morning, after talking recently about how eating healthy foods make us grow big and strong. "Mama, I am eating all this good food. And soon I will be eleven."

Randomly, Lucy will comment on what we are having for the next meal, "Oh, _______(fill in the blank with a food)...I love that stuff."

Seven Quick Takes Sunday

It is a fairly cold, rainy Sunday, and here is what's on my mind lately:

1. I love computers, but they can also be very frustrating. I use ours all the time, but when I spend a long time typing something, and then can't find it in my "documents" folder a few days later...what's with that? Should I print out everything and file it in real file folders??? Or should I make it a habit to save everything to disk often? That's something I am really not good at, but maybe it's necessary. The funny part is, the particular document I lost was about home organization...

2. Speaking of organizing, I read a book recently (borrowed from my mom) on the subject written in 1981. Kind of like fly-lady and sidetracked home executives (for those of us who have tried/heard of those systems). But definitely pre-computer age. It has made me think of the benefits of computers, but also the benefits of paper filing systems. Also paper grocery lists and paper calenders...I have been doing so much on the computer, but I don't think it's always the most efficient. Especially since it is not my own personal computer but shared with the family.

3. We went to a Christmas party on Saturday, stayed up really late, and I am tired. And I don't handle being tired very well. I get cranky, just like my kids. So, enough on that point because I need to get to bed soon...

4. Christmas prep. We are slowly but surely getting ready for Christmas. Why is it that before Thanksgiving, Christmas seems so far away. But then, once you hear Christmas music for a few days on the radio, suddenly you realize how many people you have to shop for, mail cards to, etc... Why does that always happen? We have a felt Jesse tree (thank you Kathleen!) that we use with the kids, reading a Bible story and putting up a picture to represent that story each day before Christmas. That has been a real hit. Also, our advent candles are popular. Gene always reminds us to light them and sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel before dinner. We got our Christmas tree but don't have it (or any decorations) up yet.

5. I have read other blogs regarding snow...we haven't played in the snow yet. We have (well, I mean the kids) walked in a dusting of snow, eaten fresh snow off the car, and slipped on our sidewalk pretending to skate on the ice. But there hasn't been enough snow to play in. Luckily, no one is complaining. I'm sure we'll get our fair share of snow...like I have tried to explain to the kids, it isn't even really winter yet. They really don't understand waiting till December 22. So, I ditched that idea and proclaim with them that it really is winter, because there is snow. Lucy was excited the other day because it was snowing a little and it was "winter again!".

6. The two girls are sick with colds. Lucy is pretty bad, but handles it fairly well. She knows how to blow her nose and can mostly do it by herself, if I remind her. A couple days ago she came downstairs and pronounced that "We have got to get my nose to stop this!" And this morning, she reasoned that "Maybe I will be better in the spring". Hopefully...

7. We have stopped exercising until Christmas. We are really planning to train for another triathlon, but it is getting so darn busy that exercise is very low on the totem pole right now. And yet, I have said to Brendan more than once, "If I start getting cranky, please tell me to exercise". It really does make me feel better, physically and mentally...so why is it one of the first things to be dropped when life gets busy? I don't know...I'll think about that a while, and maybe try to go running this week.

That's all for now. Happy Christmas prep everybody!

Friends and Growing Up

We had Ben and Ellie over for the WHOLE DAY yesterday, and I can honestly say that the day was great! It is so nice to say that. The kids actually played together, talked together, etc with minimal bickering and tears...not to say that those things always happen when Ben and Ellie come over, but they usually happen often when ANYONE comes over...mostly because of the age of my kids and the kids who visit. But, things are looking up. Everyone is growing up, and it's so neat to see. Gene and Ben actually played Sorry for probably 3 hours total, spaced out between lunch, rest time, and dinner. And they would have kept playing... So that took care of two of them. Ellie and Lucy kind of did their own things, and I held Jane. Yes, she is still working on growing up. And she still needs her Mama a lot. But it was nice to just be with her, and not worry about what I should be doing. She is very upset when I can't hold her at her beck and call, so it's nice to give in once in a while.

Triathlon #1...come and gone

I just realize that because I so rarely post on this blog (and I am trying to remedy that!) I never posted about the triathlon this summer. To keep it short, we trained, we raced, and we finished! And not too shabbily, either. It was a great day, and now we are at least talking about training for another one this summer. Any family or friends are welcome to join us. I would recommend two books that I really enjoyed reading beforehand and found very motivating: The Idiots Guide to Triathlon Training, and The Big Fat Triathlete.

So I am posting today to say that I went swimming this morning and it was hard! And that was just the warm-up. Honestly, the muscles in my arms need me to swim about three times a week in order to stay in working order (i.e. able to swim for a while without succumbing to fatigue)...but I definitely have too much going on to swim that often per week. So...we'll see. At least once a week is on the calendar for now, with a couple other days of weight lifting per week. My arms will just have to make do with that!

Funnies...

Sorry I haven't posted in so long...in the meantime, Gene and Lucy have had birthdays, too, but I don't have a chance to post pictures now. We'll get around to it:) Here are a couple things that have made me laugh recently:

Lucy, eating lunch one day (after we had talked about dipping bread sticks in spaghetti sauce, and how crackers could also be dipped in the sauce): "Or, you could dip your hot dog in your yogurt!" Yum.

Gene, not wanting to wear his jacket after he got 2 shots in each arm (what a way to celebrate turning 5!): "Well, they gave me a shot, so I won't get sick if I don't wear my jacket..."

And Janie is starting to take steps! She doesn't talk yet, other than grunting and screeching and the occasional "Mama", but she has taken a couple steps multiple times in the last few days!

Happy Birthday Jane!!

Jane turned one this month, and some pictures are below for your viewing pleasure. (If anyone has more pictures, I would love to add them to my meager collection...) We had a large family party in the evening of her birthday (September 4th) with cupcakes, balloons and a few presents mixed in with all the aunts, uncles, cousins and friends...She had a good time, and since then has been acting like a true toddler (well, except for the toddling part...she is not walking or even crawling yet) and not like a baby anymore! She is able to make it through the morning without a nap (though only when absolutely necessary!), understands when I talk to her (she can drop her pacifier into her crib after naptime without too much hesitation, and eat a vegetable before she gets a fruit or another favorite food), she can actually do things with toys besides hold them, drop them, and eat them; and she can say "pa-pa" when she wants to (which is, unfortunately for Brendan, not as often as he'd like!) She is beginning to learn the mechanics of walking with the walking wagon we have (she walked a whole block and a half last night, knees buckling and arms holding on for dear life...but she loved it and cried when I tried to pick her up). And she can climb the stairs! She was awfully quiet this morning and I found her up in the bathroom with Lucy! (Usually we still stay right behind her when she climbs, just in case).

She can say "more", "all done", and "please" in sign language, and we make her say them often...one of her favorite games is to say "all done" after a meal in which she has been dawdling with a few last bites for a while, and then as I go to wipe her hands clean she'll pick up a bite and put it in her mouth so that I'll have to stop wiping her- grrrr! But pretty funny, too, because it happens so often.

She has mastered the art of the "cup drop" and Lucy and Geno show their most helpful sides by almost always volunteering to pick it up for her. Hey, as long as it helps them grow in virtue I'm all for it...if they ever stop being so willing, Jane will learn quickly that she'll be "all done" with her milk if she purposefully drops it.

Here are some pictures of her party, and life with Janie these days:
Waiting to blow out her candle (or, actually, wishing the candle part would hurry up so she could jut eat the cupcake...)

Eating the candy off the top of the cupcake, and realizing how chewy gumdrops really are (luckily she doesn't have many teeth for them to get stuck in).
The number "1" on her bedroom door, to continue a Hendricks' family birthday tradition.
"What's in the bag, Brendan?"
"Peekaboo!" (She looked so comfortable in there, and she obviously thought it was pretty fun).
Janie dressed up in her finest to watch the Michigan game with Brendan...Gene generously let her hold his Teddy (whom she is also very fond of).
Modeling the dress that Lindsey and Donal picked out...she wore it to church last Sunday and was the best-dressed Cousino that day!

When Jane gets really excited about something, she opens her mouth wide and tilts her head back a little...and knows she is being a little ham. In the above picture, she had just maneuvered an alphabet letter into the plastic magnetic thingy that will say the letter sound out loud and play the alphabet song. It is tricky for her to get it in, but she likes to try, and was so proud when she got it!
"Oh yeah, I'm walking...just look at me. I could do this all day..." Way to go, Janie!