Happy Easter!

Look at all you cute kids!  It was a really nice Easter at Aunt Molly and Uncle Dave's house.  A rainy day, so the Easter Bunny left your baskets and eggs in the house!  We had a yummy brunch, and then headed back to Columbus so we could stop and see grandma Mary and grandpa Ken.  School tomorrow!

The flu house...

And three days later, we all have it!  Bridget, you've gotten by with a slight case of the back door trots, but Friday morning, Will, Charlie and me are all down for the count!  Poor dad is doing his best to keep up with the clean up - his favorite!  Good times....

April 12th

Charlie - you chose to go to McDonalds for your birthday dinner really because you wanted to play in the (germ-infested, smelly) play place there.  Ok, I can suck it up with the promise of Menche's ice cream afterward!  Just as we're ordering, Henry throw's up on the floor.  Yeesh.  I'm hoping it was something he ate and it passes.  We eat our dinner, and Henry falls asleep on my lap.  You, Bridget and Dad go on into the play area and I carry sleeping Henry in there as well, thinking he can hang out and let you play for a little while - it is your birthday afterall!  As I sit down there, Henry throw's up again, but all down my front - into my purse, down my legs,..we're both covered.  So I took Henry home and told Dad I'd be back in awhile.  Got him cleaned up, but the barfing went on through the night.  And no Menche's!!!  Sometime, I'll tell you the very unexciting story of the three birthdays in a row when I had the flu,...well, I guess I just did.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

The Story of your Birthday

Charlie, I got a kick out of telling you the story of how your birthday was supposed to be on April 9th so I thought I'd write it down for you. 
I was supposed to be induced on April 9th as the 8th was my due date.  We got everything prepared - including care for Will, days of work scheduled, and arrangements for Molly to come down.  I got to the hospital at 8:00 in the morning and was just getting ready to get my IV when the nurse told me they were too full for me to stay.  WHAT!?  Dad and I were beside ourselves with anger and disappointment.  They told us to come back at 11:00 that night - that maybe things would have calmed down by then.  We thought maybe your birthday would be April 10th - sounded like a good day to be born!  Well, needless to say, that didn't happen either.  They rescheduled us for the 12th, and said that maybe things would happen on their own before then.  I walked, I ate, I walked some more,...no luck.
We went back for the induction on the morning of the 12th - they actually kept us - and by 7:50 that night, you were born.  Aunt Molly, Aunt Megan and Oma were all there along side Dad for your birth.  Believe it or not, you were the biggest baby of the four of you - at 8 lbs. 6 ozs..  You were so cute - a spitting image of your dad!  Sometime soon, I'll write down the story of what a good sleeper you were and about your paci's.

Charlie's 8th Birthday

How can it be that you are 8 already, Charlie?  I know everyone always says "it seems like yesterday..." but it really does.  I remember your 1st birthday when you dug your fingers right into your chocolate cake, and your second birthday at Aunt Molly's - we all went bowling and you slept in your carseat - in the bowling alley of course!  They always seem to go hand in hand with Easter get togethers with our family.  When you were 6, you had your first birthday party with your friends.  You had your party at the Worthington Rec Center where we went swimming.  On your 7th birthday, we went to Magic Mountain - a kid favorite, mom's least favorite!  This year, we went to the Rec Center again for swimming.  Friends in attendance: Thomas, Alex Nelson, Cameron and Kaitlyn Robinson, Visvam and Anutam, and Jackson Raabe.  We swam for a few hours, then had pizza and cupcakes (grapes and carrots, too), and opened presents.  Another year of Star Wars gift - figures and Legos and Star Wars III for the Wii.  A great birthday party and the kids were all WORN OUT!  Happy Birthday Charlie!

Charlie's new Hamster, Spike

This is what happens when A., Mommy leaves Daddy in charge, and B., Daddy goes to the pet store.  Wouldn't it have been cheaper to get dog food at Target, I ask?  Charlie's pretty happy with his new pet - named Spike after a clone trooper in Star Wars - and Bridget and Henry (and Farley and Phoebe) like following him around in the ball.  At least it wasn't two like when Will had hamsters!  Funny story,...Will had two tiny hamsters when he was about 5.  One of them died, and I didn't have the heart to go through that with him at the time, so I went to the pet store and said "we had two females, so I'd like another female FOR SURE!"  Okay, she said.  Well in about two weeks, the two girls hamsters multiplied to 10.  I thought, in a couple weeks when they need their mom less, I'll take the babies to the pet store.  No sooner did I suddenly have another eight hamsters - and then another, until the hamsters started to be born with mutations like only three paws!  Creepy!  So when there were about 40 some hamsters in the cage, I took the whole damn thing to the pet store and came home with none!  Science lesson - the gestational period of hamsters is about 3 hours!

Mommy's Retreat to the "Spa House"

     So it was time for a trip to Baltimore to visit Jane Beatty with dear friends Beth Cullinan and Terri Goldring.  We get to see each other once a year, but coming to Baltimore is just perfect.  Jane's house is so peaceful and inspiring, and being here with these amazing women is bliss.  We laugh until our muscles ache and eat so much good food it should be illegal.  A few highlights... Friday was the roadtrip out which went quickly for a 7+ hour drive.  We put our jammies on and talked until very late.  Saturday morning, I woke up at 9:00 to the smell of bacon - how often does that happen for a mom?  Jane had made us a DELICIOUS breakfast of waffles, bacon, smoothies and coffee.  We got cleaned up and headed out - a stop at the mall and moved on to Charles Street in the Mt. Vernon area for some more interesting shops.  Terri and I bought some beautiful beads to make bracelets - all the beads reminded us of little things about being here.  We went down the street for a Thai food dinner, which was incredible.  We had curry chicken, pad Thai, duck and Mai Thai's.  Back home for Proseco and carrot cake.  Another night of laughing that lasted until 2:30am..  Sunday morning, we headed out bright and early for the farmer's market.  Not too much produce yet, but the smells, sights, and sounds were perfect.  Coffee from Zeke's, mini donuts, fresh squeezed orange juice, pies from the Rock-n-Roll Pie Guy, pickles, cool purses, punched metals angels and birds, amazing people, a wonderful morning.  It has been such a restful, happy trip.  This afternoon we're going to Henna dye Jane's hair and enjoy our last night at the Spa House.  And we'll probably watch "Crazy Nastyass HoneyBadger" for the 6th time on YouTube. 
     All has gone well at home - Dad is as good as it gets and I am tremendously grateful to him for making this happen for me.  Of course, a picture came through with a text yesterday that said, "So, we went to the pet store for dogfood,..." and suddenly we have a hamster named Spike.  Okay.

So happy....

4 Happy Girls at the Market