Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas Update

Merry Christmas everyone! This is the first post in a very long time that will have no pictures attached. We are currently without a laptop power cord so we are unable to download pictures to our computer without connecting the actual camera to the desktop and who has time for that. Long story short, we almost burned the house down with a faulty cord a few days before Christmas. Smoke, melting carpet, and sparks means we can't recharge the laptop battery right now. Hopefully the cord will arrive soon and I can update with some photos but until then, here's what's been going on...
Christmas Eve was at my parents house this year and most of my mom's side of the family was in attendance. We even got a visit from Santa Claus (aka my brother Steve). The kids had a good time playing with their cousins and even tried most of the traditional Christmas Eve fare.
On Christmas Day we woke up super early to see what Santa left us under the tree. Katie was running around the house trying to find Santa since she knew he brought her presents at my parents house the night before. It took some convincing and a super-cool new play kitchen to get her to come by the tree and open presents. After a quick breakfast we headed out to church. My mom and other family members sing in the choir and we all enjoyed listening to the singing. The kids even made it through the whole mass thanks to some snack traps filled with Cheerios. After church we headed to my parents house for more gifts and Christmas dinner. My parents have been doing a theme-based meal for the last 10 years or so and this year's theme was Middle Eastern food. My brothers and sister-in-law did most of the prep work and cooking and without a doubt this was the best year yet. Tons of garlic sauce, tahini sauce, hummus, kabobs, and shwarma later we were all stuffed and planning out next years theme which will be Mexican! We hung out there for a while and then headed over to Pat's parents for another round of gifts and food. His family always does a white elephant type exchange and everyone has a blast cracking up at some of the crazy ideas people come up with for gifts. By that time it was way past the trio's bedtime so we headed home with some very cranky 2 year olds.
Sunday we spend the day hanging out at home and my parents came over to see what Santa brought. Pat's sister Kathy who was in from NC also came to stay in the Aunt Kathy bed for a few nights before she had to head back home. We got to go back to Pat's parents and spend some more time with them and his brother Tim and nephew Conner while she was in town as well.
Yesterday Kathy had to head home and my mom underwent some precautionary surgery. My dad was at the hospital forever yesterday so I brought him a snack and went to keep him company for a while. Mom was finally out of recovery and into a room around 9pm last night. They had gotten to the hospital around 10am with surgery at 1pm so needless to say, they both had a very long day. We went to make sure she was okay and settled for the night and then headed for home.
This morning Dad headed back to the hospital to be with her and Mom actually came home this afternoon. She'll be out of commission for a while but we're hopeful that her recovery will go smoothly. Today was also the day that Pat got to pick up his new car. We turned in his Caravan since the lease was up and decided to get something with a little better gas mileage. Even though the new Malibu won't fit 3 car seats, it will hopefully save us some on each fill-up! Well, it's been a very hectic few days. I hope everyone had a great holiday. I'll post pics as soon as I can. Merry Christmas!!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...


The trio helping Daddy cut down the tree


Katie picked our tree, isn't it cute??


We finally got to go get our Christmas tree yesterday. We tried a new place out in Applegate and drove out there with the usual crew of Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Steve, Aunt Becca, Uncle John, Clay, and Drew. Aunt Christ and Wayne even came out to join us this year. The kids favorite part was afterwards when they got to go into the cabin and have some hot cocoa and popcorn. They weren't overly excited about trudging through the snow looking for a tree. I'm not sure I would have been either if the snow was as deep as my boots were tall, like it was for them. We went back to Aunt Beccas and had some pizza afterwards as well as helping them get their huge tree into the house. I wish I had thought to take a picture. Their trees are always enormous! We came home afterwards and put our tree up and decorated it. The kids helped put up the ornaments and can't stop themselves from touching them every time they walk in the room. 2 more days of work for me until Christmas Break, I can't wait!

The decorating Elves


The finished product!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Breakfast with Santa


Today we braved the crazy Michigan weather and went to have breakfast with Santa. The Berlin Twp Fire Department was hosting the breakfast so we met Aunt Becca, Clay, and Drew this morning for a visit with the big guy. We also got to see 3 cars in the ditch on the way there as well as some of the fire trucks at the station. The girls again had no problem going to say hi but Seamus wanted nothing to do with him. Pat had to hold him to even get him close enough for a picture. Funny that he didn't mind taking the candy cane when it was all over. I'm doing the snow dance hoping for no school tomorrow but it's not looking very good. The 4 inches or so we got today is just not quite enough. We've lost power a bunch of times today too because of the weight of the snow so maybe the odds are better for no school due to a power outage. Oh well either way, only 7 more work days and then Christmas Break!


Wow! A real fire truck!


Fire-Girl Katie

Monday, December 6, 2010

Cha Cha Cha Changes...


Big changes have been taking place in the Murphy house over the last week. For the first time, the trio is not spending every moment of their existence together. Seamus got his own big boy room! We’ve been having some serious trouble with bedtime shenanigans and came up with the common denominator of Seamus. Every time we would have to go up there it was him out of bed, turning on the light, jumping on his sisters, getting the wipes and Kleenex off the dresser, I could go on… Don’t get me wrong, the girls were not innocent in all of this. We did find Katie running around with a garbage can on her head, but the instigator was definitely Seamus. Needless to say something had to change or we may not have made it. I couldn’t take another night of wanting to go to sleep and hearing nothing but the sounds of silliness coming from down the hall. Friday night Aunt Becca babysat since Pat and I had a party to go to but bright and early on Saturday morning, we moved Seamus’s bed to his new room. At the store later that day, we bought a new nightlight and a new moose lamp for him. We picked up a dresser from Grandma and Grandpa H last night after my Christmas concert, got it home and put most of his clothes into it. He has slept in his new room great! I’m not sure why it took us so long, I guess Pat and I just weren’t ready for him to be such a big boy. Hopefully it lasts… The good thing is they started behaving just in time since St. Nicholas came to visit yesterday as well!

We are so grown up we can even make our own bagel pizzas!



Look what St. Nick brought us!


Finding the gifts in the shoes


Helena finds an Elmo


Katie finding Big Bird


Seamus and Cookie Monster

Monday, November 29, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

On Tuesday Katie, Seamus and Helena started their winter Gymnastics class through the Parks and Rec. We registered late so it was actually the second meeting, but with winter coming we decided late or not they needed to be able to get out of the house and get some exercise. They all did pretty well and had their own particular skills. Katie was best at a move called the "Bear Walk." Seamus excelled at the "Stairs and Wall" course. Helena's special skill was to sneak up to the CD player and push the buttons so the wrong song kept playing when it was started. Mary and I both had Wednesday off, which was good because we needed to clean up a bit because Aunt Kathy Murphy stayed with us through the holiday weekend. After straightening the house we took the kids out to do some shopping for Christmas. Thanksgiving was not as busy as in the years past, we only had two stops to make. We actually got to relax around the house until 3:00. I got to watch the first half and a bit of the Annual Thanksgiving Lions Debacle in the comfort of my own home. Our first stop was at Aunt Kathy Soup's house for Thanksgiving Part I. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Huddas, Uncle Steve, Aunt Becca, Clay, Drew, Aunt Kathy Soup and Uncle George. We saw some of Mary's cousins, aunts and uncles we don't often see and it was nice to see them on the Holidays. Afterward we went to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Pat's house for Thanksgiving Part II. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Murphy, and most of my brothers and sisters with their kids. Even Aunt Kathy Murphy was in from NC until Sunday and was staying the rest of the weekend at our house. On Black Friday we went shopping at Costco mostly to pick up the Christmas cards pictures we took on Thanksgiving and played with Aunt Kathy almost all day. On Saturday all five of us went to Partridge Creek with Aunt Kathy, Aunt Shari, Uncle Tim, Aunt Robin, Conner, Nikki and Brenna. The kids got some new shoes, looked at the pretty decorations and got lunch in a restaurant. After we ate, Mary and Aunt Kathy found Santa in one of the department stores with no line! Helena and Katie sat on Santa's lap and go their picture taken. Seamus wanted nothing to do with Santa, he just stared at him and took a candy cane when it was offered. On Sunday Mary and I needed to get some groceries so Aunt Kathy got some alone time with the Trips before she had to leave for home. We always hate to see Aunt Kathy leave, so she snuck out during nap time to make things easier for everyone. After the kids woke up from their nap, we decided to get the Christmas lights up because we didn't know how many nice days we'd have left since December is right around the corner. Three and a half weeks until Christmas Break...


Katie and Santa


Helena and Santa


Conner and Santa


Katie and Seamus putting lights on the bushes


Seamus and Sponge Bob


Seamus and Helena with Sponge Bob


Katie decorating the house


Katie, Seamus, Helena, and Sponge Bob

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Is your Heart in the Right Place?

Last weekend was probably the craziest weekend in recent memory. It was a long week of work for me and was going to be a long week of work for Mary because of our Parent Teacher Conferences. So this was, of course, when the whole family decided to get sick. Seamus was the one who ended up getting it the worst. On Sunday after nap time, he started to cough and it sounded pretty weird, but we decided not to bring him to the Urgent Care because he seemed OK otherwise. It wasn't until he was chasing Katie and Helena around the house and started wheezing that we decided to have Mary take him in. Mary took him to the Urgent Care by our house, and I kept the girls up expecting then to be home to all go to bed a just little later than usual. When Mary called at 9:00, I though she'd be on her way home. Instead she said Seamus might have pneumonia and to look up dextracardia because the doctor said his heart was on the wrong side according to his chest x-ray. I flipped out. I looked the condition up, saw some comforting things on WEBmd designed to give free medical information. I also read some frightening things about this disorder on other websites designed to scare the Hell out of you. Between looking things up and getting the girls in bed, I called my mom about twenty times to listen to my rants. Mary ended up taking him to the ER because his blood oxygen was low even after a breathing treatment and his coughs sounded like a seal barking. At the hospital we found out he had croup, not pneumonia. The doctor gave him a shot of steroids to bring the swelling in his throat down and a Popsicle to soothe his throat. Mary showed the x-rays to the doctors there, and they noticed that his liver was also on the wrong side! This is so rare that the ER docs gave him an ultrasound. So it turned out that his heart and liver was indeed on the correct side of his body! Mary called and told me this at about 10:45. It seems that the x-ray results were reversed at the Urgent Care. I would elaborate about how I feel about the people who work there, but as the cliche says "If you can't write something nice, you might get sued for libel." So everything turned out OK. Seamus got to have a Popsicle at 10:30 on a Sunday and we know where NOT to go for our medical emergencies.


Seamus at the Hospital


A couple weeks ago Mary decided to make banana bread, she had a lot of help



Katie helping Mommy make banana bread



Seamus helping Mommy make banana bread



Helena helping Mommy make banana bread

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Halloweens 2010


We love Halloween!


Anyone see a deer outside?


Katie the Giraffe


Seamus the Dinosaur aka Dragon


Helena the Lion, Roar!


How many times a year is Halloween? Until recently I thought it was just on October 31st. But with so much Trick or Treating, we need more than a little time. As we wrote earlier, we went Trick or Treating at the Outdoor Adventure campsite (I forget the date, all I know it was the MSU v U of M Game). On Friday Mary and I took a day off of work and went to the zoo. That was not really Trick or Treating, but the zoo was decorated for the Zoo Boo so it was pretty close. The next day, after the trio got their flu shots, we went Trick or Treating at the businesses in downtown Romeo. Clay, Drew, Aunt Becca and Uncle John went with us. It was a lot of fun, and it was nice to get out and move around our new home town. Since the kids are currently creeped out by "scary things" like masks and scarecrows, we needed to practice not being scared. On our Saturday Trick or Treat, Seamus was a little scared of two things; Iron Man and Wolf Man. Katie only got scared and cried about one thing. With all the costumes, decorations, and scary music the one and only thing spooked Katie and made her cry and grab onto me was when someone sneezed. I guess she was worried her flu shot hadn't kicked in yet. On Sunday, we all went to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Pat's house to eat dinner and play with Kevin, Jack, Shanon, Bryan, Conner, Uncle Tim, Aunt Robin, Aunt Shari and Uncle Ed. After we ate and played, we went Trick or Treating for the last time. All three of them had a blast each time they went out for Halloween. Even though they loved Trick or Treating I think they loved the chance to see their cousins, aunts and uncles more.


Katie, Helena, Seamus, and I Trick or Treating in Romeo




Seamus, Clay (Batman), Aunt Becca, Drew (behind Aunt Becca) & Uncle John Trick or Treating in Romeo

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

October of full Weekends

There has been some good fall-time fun around these parts so far in October. As we said last post, we had early Trick or Treating with Aunt Becca, Uncle John, Clay and Drew. Some more of our fall-time fun was raking up leaves. This is our first autumn in the new house and there are A LOT of leaves here. While Mary and I raked we had help from the trio. At first they were helping me push around the wheel barrow, and helped Mary rake. Eventually this became them all rolling around in the leaves. On Saturday we went to Grandpa Huddas's 3rd Annual Oktoberfest. The highlights for the kids was of course the hay ride behind the tractor. Seamus and Helena were lucky enough to get to drive the tractor! We have more fun weekends coming up. This week we go on Sunday to See Mary play in a concert. Then the weekend after that is Halloween, when we go over Aunt Debbie and Uncle Pat's House. There we will Trick or Treat with Bryan, Shannon, Jack Kevin, Uncle Tim, Aunt Robin, and Conner. There has not been one weekend this month we didn't go somewhere. Maybe we'll relax a little bit in November.


Seamus and Katie raking leaves


What good helpers!


Katie


Helena


Seamus


The kids making the Oktoberfest sign with Aunt Melanie


Hay Ride Time


Seamus driving tractor with Uncle Steve


Helena driving tractor with Uncle Steve


3rd Annual Shoe Kick (We didn't win again, I think its fixed)


Grandpa Huddas explaining the Shoe kick results to the kids at Oktoberfest

Monday, October 11, 2010

A Month of 5 Weekends!


Aunt Becca and Helena Trick or Treating


Katie and Seamus Trick or Treating with Mommy


The Hycki Clan, Aunt Carrie, and Aunt Christi and Uncle Wayne


Another week into October and it doesn’t feel like we’ve slowed down a bit. Pat and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary on Saturday. When we got home Friday after work, we were greeted with a Happy Anniversary sign that the kids made with the help of Grandma and Grandpa Huddas. They also made us a cake and cupcakes which we of course had to try right away. From the looks of them, the kids did most of the work themselves, which was awesome! Pat’s parents came over for a visit Friday evening so we got to spend some time with both sides of the family this weekend. Saturday, our actual anniversary we spend cleaning up the yard and then going to Outdoor Adventure which is a campground with the Hycki’s. There is a big Halloween party there every year so the kids got dressed up and we went to hang out with their cousins. They actually shut the roads down for a few hours so thank God Aunt Becca had a well stocked camper or our trio may have starved. Katie was still terrified of anyone wearing a mask. I think Seamus was more afraid of Katie being afraid, than anything else. Helena could have cared less about anything but getting stuff in her pumpkin bucket. Grandma Huddas stayed at the campsite passing out treats and went through 540 pieces in less than a half hour. That tells you how many people were there. The kids had a great time, but they were exhausted by the time we got home. Sunday we stayed home and cleaned up the house, worked on the yard some more, and actually saw the Lions win a game this season! I love fall, I just hope the good weather last. Thanks Becca for the idea for the title to this post, as her message to me said it only happens once every 823 years and it was just 10/10/10. I love random facts!


Helena being a friendly Lion


Seamus the Dragon or as he says "he's a dinosaur"


Katie cracking herself and Daddy up in her Giraffe costume