Five years?

So, for those of you counting, today is our fifth anniversary. The one thing that I am constantly reminded of on this day is how wonderful our families are. "They" say love is not enough to keep a marriage going. I agree that the love between two people can be hard to maintain through the day-to-day chaos of life.

But, love is enough. Love is a many splendored thing, Love lifts us up where we belong, All you need is love! (Moulin Rouge) And in those times when marriage and compromise seem difficult, it is the love of our parents, our children and our family that drives us, supports us, surrounds us. And the truth is, I love my husband more today than I can ever recall. Thank you to all our family who reminds us what life and love are all about.


Anniversary dinner at Joseph DeCuis

The Guide Lies...

That's right, I said it. The guide on the cable box does not tell the truth. It says "Blue's Clues" and you know what comes on? Dora the Explorer. After two previous episodes of "Dora" and one of "Go, Diego, Go", which is (are you ready for this?) a spin-off of Dora. Seriously. A spin-off.

I tell Isabella to be patient, wait for the commercials to pass and she will be rewarded with a much-anticipated episode of Blues Clue's. The opening for Dora plays minutes later. Know who's to blame? ME! She gives me that look. The one that says "were you lying, or are you not all that smart?" I flip channels, looking for the blue-highlighted shows that are rated for kids. I see no Blue's Clues, just Dora on two other channels. Don't get me wrong, I love Dora as much as the next girl. The kids pick up a little Spanish and no one gets killed, captured or called "stupid." I'm a big fan.

So, we switch to something else. The teaser says, "Go, Diego, Go" is up next! Isabella is excited! "Great! Go, Diego, Go!" I ask if she likes that show. She says, "yup!" And at the top of the hour, guess what comes on? "Dora the Explorer." Isabella has had it. "Not Dora de splorer! Ugh!"

And... it's the episode that was on earlier. Which I thought was cute the first time because Dora's mom has a baby and there are no obstetricians or machines that go beep. But upon further investigation, I don't like the fact that the surprise Dora is waiting for "drinks from a bottle" and "sleeps in a cradle." Apparently she's never met the bottle-despising, heat-seeking missiles we produce.

*Note: pardon the cynical tone of this particular entry. Lack of caffeine and alcohol changes you.

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT (and Isabella's Intuition)

Funny story. Isabella was right. (see blog date: October 5) We found out this week that the Hoosier Hickey family is growing (as is my waistline). I did start to get suspicious after Isabella CONTINUED to tell everyone that we were having a baby soon. People kept calling me and asking me if I was pregnant because Isabella said that I was. I kept telling her that we were NOT having another baby and she had to stop telling people that, but she was determined. I don't really want to think too deeply about how Isabella knew before we did. I think we'll just leave it at that.

So, we're expecting the fourth Hickey baby to arrive around June 26, 2006,**thanks to Kim for pointing out my poor math skills**give or take a few days. The kids are thrilled. When we told Isabella she was going to be a big sister, she replied, "and Maddie can be the little sister!" We had to explain that they would both be big sisters. Isabella responded, "Okay, Maddie can be the LITTLE big sister and I'll be the HUGE big sister!" Maddie was so excited when we told her that she was literally speechless, probably for the first time in her life. You'd think we gave her a pony. Liam and John pray nightly that it will have a Y chromosome. John and I are thrilled too, but I miss red wine already...

Pumpkin Carving in the Hoosier State

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins. We all took on very challenging pumpkins for our respective skill level. Left to right is Johnny's, Kat's, Liam's, Maddie's and Isabella's. They make "Mr. Potato Head"- type pieces for pumpkins, but Isabella would not have any part of that juvenile version of pumpkin carving. Maddie's pumpkin was so thick, it was like carving cement. She deserves first prize just for being able to push a saw through it.

All children grow up. Except one.

Peter Pan and Wendy Darling

Our Liam and Maddie have planned for weeks to portray Peter Pan and Wendy for Halloween. Liam has been practicing saying, "Oh, the cleverness of me!" Maddie has been speaking with a British accent and calling me "Mother." Seriously. Even the smallest of us take our roles seriously. Liam is holding his homemade telescope. Maddie's arms are up and out because she is flying.

Seriously, if you haven't seen the live-action Peter Pan movie from 1998, you must. It is beautiful and I love the scene after Tinkerbell drinks the poison. Maybe none of us ever really grow up...

Baby Ballerina

Bella Dancerella

We tried everything, and I mean everything (even bribery), to get Isabella to join in with the Peter Pan theme for Halloween. What could be more perfect than Isabella with a ponytail in the middle of her head and some fairy wings? She's already got the Tinkerbell attitude! She was briefly interested in playing Nana, the canine nanny, but her interest waned quickly. Doesn't she understand that we got 23 people to dress as Lord of the Rings characters for Halloween 2002!?

So, we finally agreed on a ballerina on Friday. We came home from shopping and she settled in to watch Dora the Explorer so I could unpack some things without "help". A commercial came on for a doll dressed as a dancer who came with a video to teach ballet. Her name was (I am not kidding), Bella Dancerella. Not Bella Ballerina. Not Bellarina. Bella Dancerella. The theme song is playing, "Bella, Bella, Bella Dance-er-el-la." So, Bella was thrilled. And I was disappointed in what marketing to kids has become.

Either way, she had a great time dressed as a ballerina.

Merely a flesh wound...

The kids were playing outside last Sunday - the usual plan here on Sundays - kids outside, grownups watching football and yelling at the TV. But, things changed and the yelling was coming from outside.

Maddie: "Liam fell off his bike and his skin is missing off his face! He needs your help!"

Liam comes in yelling and crying. Turns out, he took a sharp turn and the handlebars didn't quite do what he expected. He didn't have a whole lot of marks on his hands, so it didn't seem like he tried to break the fall with anything but his cheekbone. We discussed the fact that his helmet probably would have protected his face a bit more, but it can't do much from the floor in the garage.



Here's how it looked Wednesday, the 19th. A bit better, although we did have to have the talk about NOT picking off the scab. This was also school picture day. :( The photographers offered an "airbrush" option for the pictures. (Intended for children with acne, but I thought it was a great idea!) John insisted we leave the picture as-is to forever remember him at that moment.



Here's how it looks today. Much better. Lots of high-doses of Vitamin E oil on his face. It's almost healed. Our Liam is back to his beautiful self.

Asleep on the couch

We were all cozied up tonight with a fire in the fireplace, watching the tail end of "Grease." (John's actual quote, "Maddie, remind me to tell you a funny story about this song when you're older...") Liam fell asleep on the couch first. Maddie and John were all cozied up. Isabella looked at Liam and said, "Awwww, Mom. Liam's sleeping! I'm just going to cozy up right here with my baby Liam." And so she did.

Back online....

It's sad. I hate to admit it, really. I haven't written in the blog for over two weeks and I have only one excuse. And it's not even a very good one. Here it is: TV is really good this season. Seriously! That's all I've got! Arrested Development, Kitchen Confidential, My Name is Earl, Medium, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Alias... I could go on and on. There's even shows I don't have time to watch and wish I could! Alias and Smallville are on at the same time and Lost and Veronica Mars are on at the same time! And I keep hearing about Commander-in-Chief from someone (you know who you are) and I know there's other things out there that are good. Enough. Really. I'm embarassed. I am not a TV freak, but I have just gotten out of control these last two weeks. I must refocus. So, here we go.

I got a call from the neighbor yesterday. I don't think she's ever called before, so I just assumed one of the kids did something inappropriate. Here's how it went:

Francine: "Hi, Kat, this is Francine*."
*name changed to protect the innocent

Kat: "Hi, Francine. What's up?"

Francine: "Well... I was just wondering how you've been feeling."

Kat: "Ummmm... I feel great. Why do you ask?"

Francine: "Well, a little birdie told me that you were going to have a baby!"

Kat: "Um. Not that I know of."

Francine: "Oh! Well, Isabella** was just over here and she was just chatting away and she said something about you having a baby really soon. I knew it couldn't be really soon, but I thought you might be expecting."
**name NOT changed to protect the not-so-innocent

Kat: "Nope. Unless Isabella knows something I don't. We're not really in the market for another baby right now."

Francine: "Well, I just thought I'd ask. You never know what's truth out of all the stuff the kids in the neighborhood say!"

So. I had to get to the bottom of this, of course. Later, Isabella comes in from playing.

Kat: "Isabella, were you talking to Shelly's* mom?"
*again, name changed to protect the innocent

Isabella: "Yep."

Kat: "Were you telling her stories?"

Isabella: "Nope."

Kat: (getting to the point) "Did you tell Shelly's mom that we're having a baby?"

Isabella: (excited) "Yeah! We're having a baby soon!"

Kat: "Isabella! We're not having a baby!"

Isabella: "Well, not yet."

Kat: "When, then?"

Isabella: (smiling) "When you grow up!"