Happy St. Patrick's Day

I'm not even a bit Irish, so I tend to forget about this holiday every year. The problem is, kids get killed if you forget. Two years ago I forgot. Last year, I made up for it by baking green pretzel dogs. This year, I decked them out in green. Okay, so I noticed Cara was wearing her 'defying gravity' t-shirt this morning. It was freezing and she normally wears warmer clothes when it is cold. So I noticed the t-shirt and noticed the green. Then I remembered it was St. Patrick's Day. So I just made sure I got green for the other kids. But look at this cute pic of Maddie and Leah. I just did 'fade color' and they look like they have green eyes. Computers can fix any problem. No more forgotten St. Patrick's Days, thanks to photo shop.

But anyway, we've actually had some big milestones lately. Leah continues to try walking. She takes more steps everyday. She is trying more words, but so far, it is mainly "Dada." She uses that constantly. She loves the word, 'no.' She doesn't use it. And when she hears it, she thinks of it as a suggestion. Mainly as a suggestion to try whatever she did again. She loves pulling hair. And when she wants to hear the word, "No!" she pulls hair. It is one of her favorite games. Yesterday, she fell asleep in my arms and I started to miss her. I realized that she will not be a baby for too much longer. Her first birthday is almost here and I won't be holding any more sleeping babies.

If you think I get time to hold Leah often, you would be wrong. She was sick and I was forced into it, but that didn't sound as cuddly. Normally, the six children don't allow for sitting. Max constantly demands time when he is home. But lately it is a demand for playing with a friend. That's great, except when I can't find a friend. Two days ago, his friend came over. He showed up on the porch and I answered the door. He asked, "Can Max play?" Before I could respond, he patted the plastic nerf gun in his pocket and said, "Don't worry, it's not real." Thank goodness. They played for awhile and the friend wanted Max to come to his house. Max said, "No. I'm too shy." (more like, too lazy) The friend said, "Please, I already told my family all about you." Max responded, "You did? That's a little creepy."

Plus, I have Sam to deal with. He is a twelve-year-old boy and as such, demands time by default. We went skiing on Monday. Sam is the only one of us without equipment. Not because we don't love him, but because he informed me at the beginning of the ski season that he probably wouldn't want to have to wake up early to go skiing. Of course, he has since changed his mind and loves it. But back to the story. I had to take Sam into the rental shop to get equipment. It involves a long walk from the car instead of getting straight on the lift next to the car. Also, it took time to get the equipment. And double time because after a few minutes, Sam decided he wanted bigger boots so we had to get in line again and start over. Then he decided he was hot. So I had to take all of his stuff back to the car and told him to wait at the lift with the other kids. So he went to the others, who had been waiting a long time for him, and said, "I'm not waiting. Let's go." So he went up the lift while Cara, Maddie and George waited for me. It took me a long time to run Sam's errand because the lift by our car that would take you to the lift the kids were waiting at, was packed. It was full of ski school kids. Anyway, I had to wait. And so did the kids. When I got to them, I had to try to find Sam. Fun. It seemed to be the theme of the day. Sam takes off somewhere on the mountain and we all waste time finding him and he doesn't think we are wasting our time at all. It's a blast.

Yesterday, Sam had an orchestra concert. I dropped him off at the high school early for practice. Then I went back to the high school for the concert. The doors were locked and I couldn't get in. I tried different doors and no luck. I called Cara to see if Sam had called home. He hadn't. I drove by the junior high. The parking lot was full. I went in and sure enough, the concert was there. Of course I frantically searched for Sam. I spotted him on the seats. He had already had his turn, so I missed his performance. I sat through the rest of the concert and then asked him how he got there. His counselor saw him and drove him to the junior high. Apparently, at the high school, he realized he needed to be at the junior high. He said all the kids looked creepy so he refused to ask anyone for a phone. He didn't go to the office because he was freaking out. He told me the kids were singing. So basically, he didn't ask any choir kids to borrow a phone. And I know they did not all look creepy. This is Utah. So he decided to try to run to the junior high so he wouldn't be out 100 points for missing the performance. That was when his counselor was driving by and saw him and gave him a ride. This is the same counselor who I asked Sam if I could skip the parent counselor conference because I was going to Hawaii. So now I look like the flake.

I've only written about three children and already I'm exhausted. Yesterday, I had to pick Cara up from school to get her braces off. She was ecstatic. Now I have to take her back to the orthodontist today to pick up her retainers. And while I am doing that, I have to take George to gymnastics and pick up his friend along the way. Maddie plays with a different friend everyday after school so you can see that her social life is quite busy. And if she is playing with friends, that means I am driving her to a friend's. I've started to tell her that she needs to play here because I need someone to babysit. Cara is so busy with piano, voice, and school that she doesn't have time to babysit. And well, I just described Sam to you. He is a great babysitter, but I have to keep him away from Leah so he can focus on his homework.

Anyway, now you know why holding Leah while she sleeps is a rare moment. And now you know why St. Patrick's Day is not an easy day to remember.