Brotherly Love

Everyone always comments on how well the boys get along. They truly are each other's best friend. But the flip side to that is that they're also each other's worst enemy.

Yes, it's true that we were walking through the Home Depot this weekend and the boys, standing behind us, said, "Look at us!" So we turn to see them standing in the middle of the aisle, just hugging each other, like in this picture here. Fellow shoppers smiled and said how cute they were. If they only knew the episode from earlier that morning. Rewind about 2 hours and this is what happened:

Ron and I are finishing lunch in the dining room when we hear the telltale wail that means one of the boys is hurt. Typically, Robbie is crying because Scottie has hit him in a battle over a toy or Scottie has fallen down or walked into a wall, but we try to always hear them out to get to the bottom of it anyway. Well, this time it was Scottie who was the injured party. He came in crying, holding his hand.

"What's the matter, Scottie? Did you get hurt?"

"Yes. My hand is hurt."

"What happened? Did you fall?"

"No, I didn't fall down."

"Well how did you hurt your hand?"

"I tried to punch and hit a toy."

(Ron and I are now trying to conceal our laughter.) "You tried to punch and missed? What did you try to punch?"

"Robbie."

"So you went to punch Robbie, but missed and your hand hit a toy and that's how you got hurt?"

"Yes. Can you kiss it to make it better? I need a snuggle."

Well, we just couldn't contain ourselves anymore after that. Ron and I burst out laughing and told Scottie he doesn't get a snuggle for trying to punch Robbie. We sent him on his way and finished our lunch. Just a typical day in the Maisch household!!

Robbie, the Reader

Last night, I took Robbie upstairs to go to bed. As he's brushing his teeth, he sees the flashlight we keep in the medicine cabinet for emergencies (and sometimes for reading books to Robbie after Scottie is asleep). He asks, "Mommy, can I have a book tonight?" I tell him, of course, he can.

"Actually, Mommy, can I read the book tonight? And can I use the flashlight to do it? I know which book I want to do. I can read "Little Jack Horner" all by myself the right way."

So, we get him tucked in and he says his prayers and I get the book. (These are little 5-page nursery rhyme board books we have from a whole set.) I'm thinking he'll say all the words and then flip the pages and talk about the pictures, like he usually does.

But he takes the flashlight in one hand and the book in his lap and uses the flashlight to follow the words across the page. He turns the pages all at the right time, and said every word correctly. I was just so proud! I know he's not "reading" it yet, but I love this pre-reading stage. It's so cute and he's so excited about learning to read!

When he finished, I told him how proud I am of him and he said, "Maybe someday I can read ALL of our books the right way, Mommy!" Love this kid!

Here's a little taste of him "reading" to all of us last week when we had my parents over for dinner. "Green Eggs and Ham" is another favorite and Robbie did the ENTIRE BOOK for us like this. It was so cute!!



And we can't leave out Scottie. His favorite book before bed is Sandra Boynton's "Snoozers". It's a collection of bedtime stories with the silly Boynton rhymes. Here's Scottie reading us his version of "Pajamas" from that book:

Kid Quotes and Prayers for "One HIP Grandpa"

We've been saying prayers at night with the boys for Grandpa's hip surgery to go well. We're pleased that it has gone well and love hearing what the boys say in their prayers for him. A few favorites include:
"and God Bless Grandpa's hip." and
"God Bless Grandpa with shurgy" (that's with "surgery" from Scottie) and
"God Bless Grandpa with a fast covering" (that's "fast recovery" from Robbie).

Another cute one that gave me a giggle was last night in a conversation with Robbie. We were talking about why I've been on the computer so much this week (I've been filling in for my editor while his family was on vacation) and this is how that went:
Robbie: Mommies don't work. Only Daddies work.
Me: That's not true, Robbie. A lot of Mommies work. Mommy is a writer. I just get to work from home. That's what I do when I'm on the computer.
Robbie: But Mommies don't GO to work.
Me: Well, some Mommies do, but they get someone else to help take care of the kids.
Robbie: Well, Mommies should not work when Daddies work because then we would not know what is the right things to do.
:)

Happy New Year!!

We rang in the New Year around 8pm here tonight. The boys got to go outside in their jammies and snow boots and brought out some old pots and pans of mine. With a wooden spoon in one hand and a pot in the other, they banged and shouted and made lots of fun noise. As they get older and can stay awake longer, we might even make it close to midnight someday.

But this was the first time they acknowledged New Year's Eve, so it was lots of fun!! We had fondue for dinner (velveeta for the boys, the real stuff for Ron and me). They thought dinner was lots of fun and couldn't wait to go out to make noise for New Year's. You know it's high on the priority list when they'd rather go outside to bang pots and pans than finish watching Rudolph's Shiny New Year on TV!! Check out the video above of the banging and shouting. This one is my favorite since you can hear Robbie (who refused to put on a sweatshirt over his jammies) say, "Happy New Year!!......Can we go inside now?"

Tomorrow is a big day around here for us, too. Penn State plays USC in the Rose Bowl at 4:30pm. We have friends coming over to watch with us and cheer on Penn State. My old college roommate and her husband and their 3 kids will come over here. Four adults and six kids. Should be fun!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

Our Virginia Visit

I joked I would do this, but really didn't intend to follow through. But now I've lost 4 versions of posts to this blog, so I'm going ahead before I lose it again.

Kate posted an update to her family's blog, which included some details and pics of our visit. Check it out here until I can get Comcast to do their job and fix our internet connection!

Kate's Blog

Christmas fun

Our Christmas was incredible! We had the best time on Christmas Eve with family at Nana and Poppy's house, then a blast opening Christmas gifts on Christmas morning at our house. Then more fun on Christmas night at Aunt Mare and Uncle Ted's house. These kids are spoiled with all the fun, family, food, presents and general craziness! I don't think anyone in our house went to bed before 9:30pm on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

The kids all loved opening all of their goodies the best, of course. Robbie's favorites seem to be anything that had a "Scottie" gift tag on it. ;) Scottie's favorite was my personal favorite, though. It seemed to be the only thing on any list that didn't come from a commercial. It was just something he thought up and asked Santa to bring: a drum. A simple, basic, old-fashioned tin drum. And Santa delivered. Scottie's enjoyment is obvious!
And Allie's favorite was just watching the chaos and being in the midst of all the pretty paper and bows.

There really is nothing that can compare to the wonder of Christmas through your children's eyes!!

Christmas Rejects

This was first printed in my column, "Because I Said So," on The Alternative Press.

My kids are so good. Every year, come December, they put up with my alter ego: Crazy Picture Lady. They suffer through about four clothes changes, some in sweaters, some in jammies, some with Santa hats, some without. They sit in front of the tree, on the steps, by the stockings, on a chair, on a stool, kneeling, standing, and sitting in laps. Crazy Picture Lady only comes around once a year, but can stick around for as many as three or four days, depending on how tough it is to get a shot good enough to be deemed "The Christmas Card Photo." One year, I counted and took 281 pictures of my kids to get one useable photo for our family Christmas cards. (This year may have come close to that. Good thing I didn't count!) Thank goodness for digital photography and the "continuous" option on my camera that just keeps the pictures snapping away while I hold down the button to try to get one shot of all three kids looking in the same direction with something resembling smiles on their faces.

As I shuffle through the hundreds of photos on my computer, trying to find the perfect one, I have a great time laughing at some of the rejects. In one, the baby's Santa hat was completely covering her eyes, so all you could see was her little nose and mouth. In another, my younger son had a wide open mouth full of cereal for the world to see. In yet another, my oldest son was holding up his pointer finger in the "I'm #1" pose. I laugh as I see them looking at each other and laughing at their crazy mommy. So I saved a few of the rejects to share this year, just because they're so much fun. In fact, a couple of the rejects are now on my computer desktop because they're my new favorites. They actually show my kids' true personalities. And they reflect the reality that is our family. Far from perfect, but much more fun.

Putting my album of rejects together made me think of all the misfit toys from my favorite Christmas show, the old-school Rankin-Bass production of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Those cute little misfits were the rejects of their lot, too. A train with square wheels, a Charlie-in-the-box, a bird fish, and a spotted elephant. All deemed too imperfect to be played with. But they've ended up as stars of the show now. Even Santa recognizes their value in the end.

The Christmas season is filled with so much magic and wonder, but so many of us make ourselves crazy trying to get everything perfect. We want our table to look "just so" for our guests, our house decked to perfection in every room, even our landscape twinkling with perfectly-spaced lights on every tree or bush. Yes, it's a magical time, but I think the misfits and rejects are what make it so magical. Some of my favorite ornaments on my Christmas tree are old and faded and worn. There are threadbare hand-knit ornaments that my grandmother made for my parents' tree, paint-chipped toy soldiers and snowmen that were gifts to me as a kid, and one little bear ball that my Nana had bought the year she passed away. I collect Christmas angels as my favorite decorations and my three favorite angels are each broken or worn in some way. But I take them out of their boxes every year and remember the time, place and person who gave them to me with warmth and fondness. If I could find brand new versions of the same favorite angels, I wouldn't trade them for anything. It's their imperfections that give them character. I suppose I have my own misfit choir of Christmas angels. But I love them.

So I thought I'd send out a misfit version of a Christmas wish for all of you. Instead of wishing that your holiday season be filled with perfection, I actually am wishing that you're able to find the joy in all of the misfits and rejects you encounter. May your wreaths hang a little crooked, your cookies come out a little crumbly, and your Christmas card photos be crazy. I wish for you that all the imperfections of the season bring you nothing but joy and laughter and fodder for future Christmas stories worth retelling.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!