Ticket to Ride? Part One.

We got pulled over. For having such a lead foot, I really haven't gotten pulled over in a long time. I think I got pulled over about 7 times in the year-and-a-half between getting my license and turning 18. No tickets, though. I said "yes, sir" quite a bit and tried to seem very innocent and remorseful. At some point, that just stopped working. Maybe it was the minivan instead of the cute little sedan. Maybe it was the kids in the car - the whole - endangering innocent lives thing. Or maybe I've just lost my mojo.

Back to the point. It was Liam's birthday, May 19. Grandpa Ken took Liam golfing after school and I picked the girls up at the bus stop and drove straight to the chiropractor appointment. Bus comes between 3:58 and 4:04. Appointment is at 4:15 because the chiropractor refuses to give me a 4:30, which would actually be realistic. And he's cranky when we're late. And it takes about 18 minutes to get from bus stop to chiropractor's office with ideal traffic. So. Impossible to be on time, right? If obeying the laws of physics, gravity and Indiana? So, we defied the only one of the three we could.

We got pulled over when we were about 5 minutes away. The nice police officer informed me that he pulled me over because: (multiple choice)
A) I was speeding.
B) My plates/registration were expired.
C) I had a child in the back who appeared not to be in a seat belt.
D) All of the above.

If you guessed D, you are a sadist. And also correct.

I was speeding. True. It was May 19. Apparently, my plates expired on May 15. I had the plate in the garage and I was waiting for John to put it on. The registration said that the new one expires on May 28, 2009, so I assumed that the current ones were the same. No, the nice officer informed me. In 2008, they expire on the 15 of the month and in 2009, they will expire on the 28th. Fantastic.

And so we come to C. Buckling up in the car has never really been a priority for Bella. She usually took care of any other little thing in the car (putting on her shoes, brushing her hair, talking/fighting with siblings) before buckling up. We have tried: "Your job is to put on your buckle first, as soon as you get in the car." We have tried: "Don't do anything else until you are buckled in." We've tried yelling, screaming, pulling over and waiting until she does what we ask. She growls at us. It's less than fun.

Back to May 19: We're halfway to the chiropractor. I look back and Bella is sitting in the middle seat, lap belt only (no shoulder belt) and not in her booster seat (required in Indiana until 8 years or 80 pounds). I got angry and told her she had to be in the booster and not in the middle. She unbuckles to move into the booster seat sitting right next to her. According to the police man and Bella's combined accounts, Bella decided to "bounce around" and say hi to Jackson in the seat in front of her before settling into her seat belt. This seems to be the time when the police man "allegedly" clocked me driving just a skosh over the speed limit. With expired plates.

You'd think that would be bad enough. That calling to tell the chiropractor that we were waiting on the side of the road to get a ticket and wouldn't be able to make it would be embarrassing enough. Nope. It appears that since one of the charges was a child restraint violation, that I had to go to court for it. Awesome. Who's coming with me? You got it. Bella.

!Feliz Dia de Padres!

And a Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. As I said to John this morning, nice job spreading your seed! [wink] Hope you have a wonderful day full of the smell of animal flesh searing on the grill, the crisp flavor of an ice cold beer and the warmth and love of your family.

Ah, those olden days before DVDs and electricity...

Maddie and I were chillin' the week before last. Mamaw Dot took Liam and Bella back to Ohio, so during the day I just had Maddie and Jackson. Maddie and I were watching a movie - Cinderella 3. No, seriously. It was so bad, it didn't even go straight to DVD, it went straight to Disney Channel.

Anywho, there was a scene where Cinderella was out in a meadow, singing.

Maddie: "This part reminds me of that one movie we watched with Grandma Dot."

Kat: "The Sound of Music?"

Maddie: "Yeah! That's the one! Back in the olden days, they really liked that movie. I think it's kind of boring."

This from the child who sat attentively through "March of the Penguins" in the theater and after it was over and we were walking out said, "Um, that was just a movie about penguins."

Who was that masked man?

I retract my comment that the current soccer league is perfect. After the drama of Liam's soccer coach no-showing last week and Grandma Dot having to step in, this week proved to be interesting in a different way. It was the Liam show.

Liam basically took the ball to the net every single time his shoe touched it in the first quarter. He scored at least two goals and some of the kids seemed to give up at trying to stop him. In the second quarter, the coach tried to change it up a little by putting him on defense. That worked really well in some ways. None of the other team's players got anywhere NEAR the goal. Liam would go after the ball and boot it to the other side of the field. This would have been really great if any of his players were on that half of the field, but all the offensive players from his team were huddled around where the ball just was.

The coach took him out for a while, but then greedily put him back in because the game was kind of boring without him in. So, he scored a few more times. At one point, a player from the other team was dribbling the ball near midfield on the side of the field John and I were on. Liam runs up to the kid, says "thank you," steals the ball away and scores. John and I look at each other. "That was borderline," I said.

I have no pictures from this game because I put the camera away. I just didn't want to be that mom who is shooting pictures of her kids whooping your kids' butt.

The hatred of grownups...

We have an atypical policy on cursing in our house. When I discovered that I have a bit of an impulsive potty mouth, I re-evaluated calling profanity "bad words." If the words are bad and I use them, that would make me "bad," right? So, I took to calling them "grownup words." This way, I can use them and you can't. Someday they may be smart enough to see through this logic, but for now, it works. If one of the children gets caught using a grownup word, the consequence is scrubbing the toilets, several loads of laundry, paying bills online or one of the other numerous joys of being an adult. After a few warnings, the kids using profanity really hasn't been a problem.

We also don't allow them to call people names like stupid, fat and other things we feel are disrespectful. We also don't allow them to say "hate". Hate, even in small doses, breeds hate on a national and world level. Words reflect consciousness and we don't want our family, even in adulthood, to use unkind words.

Grandpa Ken relayed a story about a time he was in the car with just Bella a few months ago. They were driving along and Bella was telling him about something that frustrated her. (which could be anything because we are all so much less enlightened than her...)

Grandpa Ken: "Oh, Bella. I hate it when that happens." He caught himself and said, "Oops. Sorry, Bella. I'm not supposed to say 'hate'."

Bella: "Don't worry, Grandpa. You can say it, it's okay. Just kids can't say 'hate.'"

Dork sidebar

In case you notice that my pictures are a little crisper, or that maybe my photo composition is better (?), I just wanted to recommend two things. First, I'm taking a photography class that is totally amazing. I still scratch my head at the people who adjust the f-stop on every photo, (because I'm trying to shoot pics while Jackson is running away) but my eye is getting much better.

Second, I bought a new camera. If you've been thinking *forever* that you were interested in buying a dSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera, AKA one of those big cameras with changeable lenses, I'm really happy with mine. I bought the Canon Digital Rebel Xsi (450D). I did a lot of research and asked photographers who all agreed on this one. The wonderful photographer who shot Kevin's wedding recommended it highly.

The combination of new camera and photo class has been perfect. I don't know if I would have ever figured out how to really use this camera to it's full potential without the class. Now I just need a second hard drive for all the pictures. :)

How the Hickeys Got Their Groove Back

We took some time off from soccer. Liam and Maddie played a few seasons when we first moved here, then Bella joined for 63% of one season. (we discovered she doesn't "do" cold) We bundled up tiny little baby Jackson and took him to the field every Saturday morning for hours of soccer, yelling and wind. Then this past fall, I missed the signups. And it was just easier. With all three kids going to three different schools, by the time everyone was home at 4:30, I couldn't imagine getting in the car and going somewhere else. I am really possessive of our time at home. Kids need to play outside, to daydream, to eat dinner with their families.

Since I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and the school year was nearing a close, I signed Liam and Maddie up for a 6 week soccer session at our local YMCA. It's perfect. Maddie's team practices for 30 minutes, then plays for 30 minutes each Saturday. Liam's team practices one evening a week and plays a 40 minute game each Saturday. It's low pressure, with no parents screaming. (except for this one dad yelling at his kid in Spanish today)

The other advantage of this laid back group is our kids are really shining. Liam and Maddie each scored 2 goals today during their games. The coach took Liam and two other guys out of the game because they were beating on the other team so badly.

Here's a few pictures of the Hickey kids in all their glory...

Liam is doing a great job of managing the ball.

Maddie was the go-to girl that everyone was throwing in or kicking to.

She also volunteered to play goal.

Jackson and Bella both had a fever and a cough.
They were not having any fun.

Equal Opportunity Offspring

We traveled into Ohio this weekend to attend a few family parties. We attended a surprise 80th birthday party for Great-Grandma Hickey and a graduation party for my cousin. On the way to the graduation party, we pulled up next to another of my cousins at a stop light. I chatted with him for a second and then we pulled away.

Maddie: "Who was that?"
Kat: "That was my cousin and his boyfriend."
Maddie: "They're gay?"
Kat: "Yep."
after a brief pause, Bella: "That's awkward."

What I love about this 5 year-old's response is that it's not at all judgmental. She took what she knows of the world and of our family and assessed (accurately) that being different from what people expect must be awkward. And she's right! The girls had a few more questions and we chatted for the remaining few minutes of the drive.

At the party, Maddie spent some time playing the piano with my cousin's boyfriend. They played Heart and Soul as a duet and he gave Maddie a few tips on playing more fluidly. When we got back in the car to go home, I asked Maddie what she thought of his piano playing (he's a very talented musician). She told me the piano tips he gave her.

Maddie: "He's really nice. I can see why (our cousin) likes him."

Busy day, busy day...

Jackson has reached that age where kids start to really resist naps. He desperately needs them, but has trouble giving it up. It's hard sometimes because we tend to be on the go and sometimes he'll fall asleep at 8:30 am on the way home from dropping off kids at school, or will hold out until we go pick up Liam at 3:00 pm. Other days, he completely crashes.

Exhibit A:



I offered him a graham cracker. He didn't want it and acted offended that I offered. He threw the cracker on the kitchen floor and proceeded to eat the scrambled eggs that were on the table. After eating the eggs, he started asking for the cracker again. I let him get down to get the cracker. I am not sure if he actually took a bite. I do know that I watched him slowly put his head down on the floor. He didn't move for a few seconds, then a minute, then another minute. So, like the great mom that I am, I grabbed the camera.

I have so many pictures of the kids sleeping in unusual places and positions that I could create a whole new blog just for them. Maybe I'll post a few more here and there...

International Midwives Tribute 2008

Our Doula Network hosted Penny Simkin for our two-day Birth to Baby Fair. This is the tribute to midwives and doulas' care that I made for the event. It includes a brief thank you to Penny at the end. We showed it at the birth professionals breakfast.