"I wish"

Yesterday afternoon, I brought Finn down in the basement so I could fold laundry. Aidan was down there playing Halo, the mega block variety-not the video game. He came over to "show" Finn all the different guys, as one fell out of his hand, Finn tried to grab it first. I said, "You're to little, you can't play Halo yet." Aidan said, under his breath, "I wish."

All you need is Love

That was the tag line on this picture for our Christmas card this year.

It's been a long, tiring, sad, fun, eye-opening, exciting, crazy year. 2012 came with it's good and it's bad... we had some celebrations and some devastation.

As you can see, we've got a lot to be thankful for.

So CHEERS 2013, here's to a new start!

What's new....

Wow, It's been awhile....Here's a little taste of the happenings in the Healey house.

Aidan has really taken off with his reading. He's also becoming slightly obsessed with a little game called Minecraft on the iPad. So in all my infinite wisdom (after several hours of arguments) I decided he's got to "earn" his time on the game. For every minute he reads, he gets a minute of game time. It took a week or so but it's finally sinking in. The kid who's arm you had to twist to open a book, is waking up in the morning and asking to read. Ah, another small victory for Mom. I might just be getting the hang of this parenting (bribery) thing.

Clare is just starting to read, so she constantly asks what things say and is sounding our everything. She has a new room now (the boys share) and she loves it! She has a little desk that she keeps very organized and she loves playing school with it. She recently went to the ballet with Aunt Patra (a little Christmas tradition) and she loved it. At least she didn't fall asleep this year! She's quite the social butterfly, always going to a friend's house after school. We gave in this year and got them both Advent calendars with the chocolates in them, Aidan eats his piece the second he wakes up in the morning, Clare gets a marker and circles the number each day. She doesn't like chocolate. So guess what Mommy is going to do on December 24th...yup I'm going to snuggle up on the couch and start peeling back little cardboard doors.

Finn is rolling and bouncing around! He loves to bounce in his little exersaucer. He laughs and smiles so much. He loves to be outside. The poor kid still has no personal space. We are all constantly in his bubble. But he's so daggone cute we can't help it.

Sean and I are slowly coming out of the newborn haze. He's been super busy at work, so with me being home now, at least we've been able to breathe a little easier. We finally had a night out (actually 2) and boy did we need it. It was nice to be together with no kids for a little while. This place is a bit chaotic at times but we're still laughing our way through it. Hey, it beats crying!

Brotherly Love

Little Finn has no personal space, his bubble is invaded at any given moment. Sometimes by me, sometimes by Sean, sometimes by others but mostly by his siblings. Sean and I have been cautious not to poo poo the big kids every time they get in Finn's face. It's sweet to see them loving all over him, but at times I do feel for him.

The other day Aidan told me, "Mom, when you first had Finn I didn't really like him, but now, I LOVE him!" And that pretty much sums it up!

Mellow Yellow

The first month of 1st grade (for Aidan) and Kindergarten (for Clare) is coming to an end. Everything is going GREAT! Now anyone who has a child in public school in the state of Maryland is aware of the behavioral chart they use. It's essentially based on a traffic light. Some schools add more colors but it's basically all the same concept.

Here at Mayo Elementary we use the standard tri-color light, kind of like the peppers in the grocery store. You know:

Green = GO (good behavior)
Yellow = SLOW (verbal warning)
Red = STOP (principal's office)

So far both of them have been on green everyday and then- bam! Within 4 days they each were on yellow once!

Clare's behavioral chart came home last Friday (which means I didn't look at it til Sunday) and it had a yellow check on it for that day. Under the check mark was a note that said, "Clare stuck her tongue out at the boy next to her because she didn't like what he was doing." After a nice little chuckle, I approached Clare about said yellow check mark. It went a little something like this, "Clare why did you get on yellow?" She immediately starts crying and says she's sorry! he he!

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon, Aidan's chart comes home yellow. The 1st graders have to color in the daily box themselves. When asked WHY he was on yellow, he responded, "Oh I was fooling around with HF." UGH! "Great well now you miss the dance party on Friday." The 1st grade gets a dance party the last 5 minutes of school on Friday for everyone who stays green all week. His response, "That's okay, the dance party isn't that long anyway." (Great so now he's adopting the I don't care-i-tude."

At dinner that night I simply said, "Okay guys, you both know how the behavioral charts work right?! Well, you each got your one and only time on yellow. It won't happen again this year!"

"Okay Mom!"

And she's off...

to Kindergarten that is!

I can't believe it but Clare started Kindergarten this week. She jumped out of bed at 6:00 Thursday morning, did a little victory dance outside the bathroom door to the tune, "It's the first day, it's the first day!"

She ate breakfast right away and was dressed and ready by 6:32. She then proceeded to ask repeatedly when we could go to the bus stop until 7:12 when we finally gave in and went out. The bus comes at 7:20 so she had a few minutes for a photo op and some mingling with the other kids.

When that bus came rolling down the road, I snuck in a quick hug and kiss and before I knew it she was off running. She never looked back. Part of me was sad, but most of me was happy for her. She's been waiting a long time for this and she was totally ready.

I realized something this week, sending your kids off to school is a true test of your parenting. This is your chance to let them out into the world beyond your safety net to use the skills you've been working on with them for the last 5 years. As far as I'm concerned we've done a pretty darn good job with these kids and it's time to share them with the rest of the world. We are very proud of them both and the cool little people they've become. I honestly think being a parent to Aidan, Clare and Finn has made me a better person.

Avalon

Last week we went to Avalon, NJ with the whole McDonough crew.

Here are some highlights:

23 people in one house
Finn's first trip to the ocean
watching Aidan and Clare surf and boogie board
seeing multiple dolphin in the ocean
a shooting star
meeting Rory Smith
dinner on the deck watching the ocean
trip to the candy store
getting all 23 of those people in one picture

New Pics of the Bobbins

July 11, 2012

My little Clare Bear turned 5 YEARS OLD! She's grown up so much, especially now that she's a big sister.

These days she's into painting her nails, doing arts and crafts, writing new words, bossing my around, fashion, doing makeovers on her baby dolls and stuffed animals, playing barbies in the pool, riding her bike, having sleepovers at cousins houses, playdates with friends, ice cream cones with sprinkles and telling me she loves me as many times a day as she can. She can also swim across the whole pool by herself and about 3 months ago ate her first whole cupcake. (If it weren't for her looks I'd question if she was really mine- the kid doesn't really like sweets?!)

She's growing like a weed and gets more beautiful by the day! Happy Birthday Buggy!

3 Kids, a Queen and the Force Field

Sean was out of town for work one night, his Mom came up to stay with us since it was the first time since Finn was born. Which was nice because I got to have some adult company.

When it was time for bed Aidan asked if we could all sleep in the same bed, OF COURSE! You see when Sean goes out of town overnight I always put the kids in bed with me. It just feels better to me to have the as close as possible, plus I feel like when we're all together I can pull my force field over everyone at once. So that night we got into bed- Clare got on my side, Aidan got on Sean's side (we actually started Finn out in the playpen at the end of the bed) and I laid at the bottom of the bed so I could hear Finn better (and had more room).

By morning, Finn was laying in my arms at the bottom of the bed while Clare and Aidan resembled somewhat of a pretzel at the head. As I laid there in my old lumpy queen size bed surrounded by 3 of my favorite people I smiled thinking about how lucky I am.

Three Irish Bobbins

One week ago today....

I fell in love again! Finn Thomas Healey made his way into this world at 3:31 pm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012 (4 days early). He was 7 lbs 15 oz and 19.6 inches long. He's as sweet as our other two babies and we're all completely in love with him.

(picture to follow)

We're finally ready...

Ready as we'll ever be. This past weekend Sean and I moved Aidan and Clare into their "shared" bedroom. So far, so good. They both seem to be okay with the move, possibly even enjoying it.

Tonight they got sent to their room, together, for the first time. WHAT A JOKE! (The memories flooded back of being sent to my room with Maureen when we were little.) They went in, closed the door and were gabbing away with each other til we told them to come down. I love it!

Surprisingly, the room seems really cozy. Luckily we have the playroom in the basement to put all the toys in because there isn't much room to spare in the bedroom.

Father's Day

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to our Dad who makes up laugh everyday!

We love you!!!

SOCCER MOM

Saturday we did the split, Sean took Aidan with him to the dump while I took Clare to the grocery store. When we arrived I got my reusable bags out of the back of the van and waited for Clare to get out of her seat, push the automatic door closer button and jump out- just in the nick of time.

A few minutes after we got into the store we both had to go to the bathroom. As we made our way there, a man's voice came over the loud speaker. "Will the person driving a black or dark, SUV or minivan, license plate # blah, blah, blah, please come to the Customer Service Desk." I hear his announcement and think, well maybe it could be me but I mean come on who can mistake a minivan for an SUV? And who has their license plate memorized? Then he says the announcement again, but this time adds, "It has SOCCER written on the back of it." Oh, that's not mine. I don't have anything written on the back of my dark or black minivan.

We take our time perusing the isles of the store and picking out all the delicious treats our little hearts desire. As we head out the automatic doors and I look out to the parking lot at my car, there it is..... in perfect print, all caps, across my back window for all the world to see... SOCCER MOM. First, I laugh and curse one of the girls I work with who has threatened to find the biggest soccer ball magnet she can and put it on my van. Then I get to the car and check it out. Hum... nothing looks wrong to me. I figured I just left one of the doors open, cause sometimes I push a wrong button or two as I lock the doors, and that some kind soul just closed it for me.

Clare and I march back into the store to find out what went on with our precious vehicle while we were shopping. Of course, there is no one at the customer service desk and since I'm impatient and nothing seemed wrong we headed back out. As I was waiting for Clare to buckle up a nice woman came over to me and told me that she was the one who alerted customer service that someone hit my car and drove away. It was apparently an old lady, "too old to be driving" who could not get out of the spot and tapped the front of my van. She gave me the plate # but I didn't see any damage so I just left it alone.

The irony is that when I got home and told Sean he checked out the van and saw a spot where it looked like the waxy finish rubbed off. He says, "What's that?" I said, "Oh, that's from where I hit the cone yesterday." "Well HOW FAST WERE YOU GOING?" he asks. "Like 60 mph, I was on Muddy Creek Road." His response (as he shakes his head), "I thought you said you hit a cone." I said, "I did!" I just happened to leave out the fact that I hit it going 60 mph! DUH!

Summer is Here

This evening after dinner I took the kids with me while I walked around the neighborhood (Yes, you guessed it, with the slight hope that it may help #3 out). Clare rode her bike and Aidan his scooter. When we turned the corner, Aidan saw a friend from school. At the next corner, he ran into 2 more friends from his afterschool program. They both looked completely stunned as they smiled and said, "Hey AIDAN!" The first kid, says to them, "Yeah, he lives in the neighborhood." Clare and I continued down the street, leaving Aidan behind so he could hang out for a little bit. I was very excited for Aidan that he had another friend in the neighborhood.

As we walked around the block it made me a bit nostalgic for my own youth. Thinking back to riding my bike around the neighborhood, the sun getting lower in the sky and the humidity settling in for the night, the smell of charcoal and bbq chicken, the sounds of other kids in the near distance.

It was such a great trip down memory lane, all the while I'm watching my own kids riding through our neighborhood and realizing these will someday be their memories too.

Cover Girl

Clare gave Jeff's paddle board a try at Selby Beach over Memorial Day weekend. She's hooked! I think she could be on the cover of the next Athleta catalog.

The Graduate

Clare's Preschool Graduation!
The most beautiful grad on the stage! (If I do say so myself!)

Final Countdown

We're exactly:

4 days from Aidan's last day of kindergarten
less than 24 hours from Clare's preschool graduation
26 days away from #3's due date.

We are making the most of our time with the two "big" kids before baby arrives.
Here's the short list of summer fun so far:

Snowballs.
Rita's.
Swimming in the pool.
Swimming at the beach.
Cookouts.
Crabs.
Fireman's Carnival.
Playdates.
Catching fireflies.

SO FAR, SO FUN!

One happy Dad

Sean is a pretty die-hard Nationals Fan! Every stinkin night they play, the game is on in our living room. He gives me his own commentary on who's on first and what their strengths or weaknesses are. I have to admit, I do like baseball, when I go to the games! I find myself from time to time though being mesmorized by it, watching the TV and even asking questions. He LOVES watching the games, he enjoys when I sit with him and watch them.

However, if you ever want to see this guy's face light up like a Christmas tree in May, see how he reacts when Aidan or Clare comes in and sits on the couch to watch baseball with him. He gets so excited! It really is one of the sweetest things I get to see. His face lights up. He tells them all sorts of stats and explains who's who on the team. Clare calls them the "Nats" now because Sean does.

Tonight they both came in and watched with him and you would've thought the guy just won the lottery. In. His. Glory. (Even if the Nat's were losing to stupid Philly!)