November in a Nutshell

After Halloween, as normal, came my birthday. It sneaks up on everyone, including me. Unfortunately a case of food poisoning also snuck up on Jen so it wasn't quite as joyful as we would have hoped. Other than that it was pretty much the perfect birthday.


Except for which one it was.



My dad and I spent a lot of time refinishing the basement after our basement flood almost two years ago. Not only are the rusty carpet tacks no longer poking out of the floor but it's actually extremely comfortable down there and the kids can go play without me being worried about stepping on a rusty nail or smashing their head on cold concrete.



A much simpler project, though just as gratifying, was removing the final baby gate. This simple change provides an obvious aesthetic improvement but the most satisfying bit is how luxurious and wide our staircase feels now. Added bonus: carrying laundry or other items up the stairs is no longer fraught with peril.


Elliott spent much of my birthday party writing "COME ON" on pieces of paper and handing it to Jen. At the end of the night he spelled it out in Halloween glow sticks and called me in.

Jen has made a huge tactical error in sharing how much she hates it when they say this to her so, obviously, they have doubled their efforts. While this isn't unusual for kids it is amplified by the DNA coming specifically from her side of the family tree. Once Jen and her sisters learned how much her mother hated monkeys they have never stopped getting her monkey-themed cards, wines, pictures, or anything else they can get their hands on.

Payback is coming hard for Jen.


The following week Jen and I headed downtown for her to be sworn in as an American citizen. Personally, I think she's making a huge mistake. That being said, she is very excited to get to vote out of pure anger and rage.


We had to bid a sad farewell to our neighbors Mr. Tim and Ms. Anita. They have been absolutely the most perfect neighbors anyone could hope for and we will miss them dearly.


Elliott drew a card of his favorite memory with Mr. Tim. Of course that memory was of the day Tim came over with a giant box of their son's old toys and gave them to the boys. Elliott still gets choked up when he thinks about it but mostly because he knows it will never happen again.


One night when Jen was out we had the inaugural movie night in the basement. The boys actually requested Return of the Jedi. I was more than happy to oblige.


The following day we surprised the kids by bringing them to a live show of the Wild Kratts. The kids were blown away by the show and spent the next few days reenacting scenes and dressing up in their costumes. I've got to say it was a pretty incredible show. I'm not really sure how those guys keep up their enthusiasm levels for ten minutes let alone for an entire live show. They definitely had complete control over the audience. It was like watching a band at the peak of their popularity play a stadium. The kids in the room were in awe.



I also finally got to work on my charcuterie board project, something that is slow going. My complete lack of woodworking skill is certainly contributing to the pace of the project but my hopes are that it will still turn out okay.


This year marks the first time my work schedule has allowed me to go to the Thanksgiving feast at day care. Josie had a really fun time with us there and against all odds did not freak out when we didn't take her home with us after it was over.


We also did our fifth year at the Illuminations at Morton Arboretum. We discovered the secret to doing this after five long, hard years at this event: have children that are five or older.


The boys did great. There was a brief period where they were unhappy about how hot their hot chocolate was but they walked the whole way, were up for viewing the entire display, and in very good spirits. Josephine, on the other hand, melted down about halfway through. It was better than the freezing cold year, and far better than the year it rained on us, but still not quite ideal for the under five set. Cousins Evelyn and Oliver were similarly cranky and it was understandable. It's a tough thing for a kid. When the final cousin is five years old it's going to be an amazing Illuminations experience.


Illuminations 2021 is going to be lit. Literally. Literally. Literally lit.


We also did a family photo shoot. The kids did great but after a solid hour of pictures were pretty done but we rewarded them with lunch downtown. Cousins were sick so they weren't fully into it.


The sickness spread and Josie came down with hand, foot, and mouth for the second time. Third time? I don't know but with the kids we've gone through it about ten times now. Each time gets easier. Each time is still profoundly crappy.


Jen flew out for work and Josie spent a day with daddy decorating our new advent calendar tree which she is obsessed with. Also, we watched Frozen four times before the boys got home from school. Then one more time with them for good measure.

The cold never bothered me anyway.

Springing Out of Sickness

We are one third of the way through 2017 and there has scarcely been a day where one or more of our family has not been ill. While this is one of the most mild winters in recent memory it really hasn't mattered much as we've spent most of it inside, suspending all rules and watching eight or more hours of television with one or more ailing children. Meanwhile, our toboggan and saucers sit unused in the corner with hopes of getting their maiden voyages next winter.


We spent some nice chilly days working on projects and trying to make the most of being cooped up indoors.


Martin briefly became obsessed with Mario and Luigi and even worse this outfit to school one day.


Jen and I had visions of a great day spent at home making homemade pasta with the boys. Instead our pasta maker broke and the kids showed nothing but disdain for the entire project.


We got a chance to go to the train show at the Morton Arboretum once again which Josie was captivated by. While last year she spent the entire time silently gnawing on a pizza crust, this year she looked on in awe and occasionally had to be stopped from diving in to grab the trains.


We took them out for a lunch at Portillo's where they got to eat small amounts of food and drink large amounts of milk shakes.


We returned to the theater to see the Pete the Cat musical number and they got a chance to meet Pete after the show despite being rushed along by a crabby woman who wanted nothing more than to crush little childrens' dreams.


The boys also got a chance to partake in their first sleepover at Auntie Lauren's with cousin Evelyn. Josie was a little dismayed at watching her brothers go out on their own adventure but she quickly calmed down and cheered up the next morning when we got to go over for breakfast.


The boys have continued to enjoy their daily Kindle time during Josie's naps, one of the only ways to ensure a quiet time for everyone during the treacheros mid day nap.


As Valentine's Day approached we were able to twist the boys arms into making valentines for their friends. Josie needed no such arm twisting.


Valentine's Day came with a tea party for the kids.


I put together a rare dinner that wasn't thrown together in five minutes and hearkened back to the days before children when this would have been a run of the mill Thursday dinner.


Soon after Valentine's Day we were all stricken with a nasty stomach virus that ripped through the family leaving no one unscathed.


After a few days when we were feeling a little better we walked Josie to the Mediterranean market where she napped and we purchased delicious hummus and pita for dinner.


During the extended stomach issues we continued to make use of our disastrous living space to entertain the children, including this amazing pirate ship. If you look closely you may be able to pick up on the fact that that is not an actual pirate ship but merely a recreation made from chairs!


We took the boys to Kindergarten preview where Martin barged in and met the lady at the front desk who he instantly told his full name, explained that they were twins, told them how he was the oldest, and described the difficulties of Elliott's birth in great detail. Meeting new people is not a fear that Martin has.


Less than two weeks after getting better everyone got sick again, this time with a much worse stomach bug that kept the boys up all night. Somehow Josie was the only one spared this time.


Everyone was (mostly) well in time for the annual pancake breakfast which was a big hit even though we were leery of them eating pancakes and sausage so soon but it all seemed to work out for the best.


We later had dinner and went to free cone day at Dairy Queen to celebrate everyone being well again.


Later that night I took Martin to the emergency room for extreme abdominal pain. That begun a week straight of Martin being up all night, writhing in pain, and having multiple hot baths to soothe himself.


After the worst week of the year and a lot of care Martin seemed to beat the intense pain and we were able to take the boys to their first skating lesson.


That was the perfect warm up for their first ever hockey game to watch the Chicago Steel play.


Elliott did not care for the horn they played when a goal was scored but the kids had a blast. I went to the concession stand no fewer than twelve times to get popcorn, water, hot dogs, pizza, beer, lemonade, Kit Kats, and Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. I think I got to see a few minutes of the game as well. Thankfully the concessions were located very close to where we sat.

In reading back on previous years it would seem we spend the beginning portion of most with a great deal of sickness. Now I am just hoping that the bulk of that is behind us and we can move forward to a healthy remainder of 2017.

Now bring on the Spring!

Rough Start

December is in the rear view mirror and here we are looking ahead at most of January ahead of us. As I've spent about 75% of 2017 either in bed or reclining on a chair so far, I'm going to call today my New Year's Day.

More on that later.


In the lead up to Christmas the boys' excitement was hard to contain. Every day they excitedly asked if tomorrow was the big day. Their inability to really understand time yet leads to frequent questions to calibrate where they are in the Christmas season. I suspect next year they will know exactly where they are and that will only make the agony of waiting even worse.


They selected some cookies, milk, and beer for Santa. I suggested the beer but by the time they were in bed I just returned the beer to the fridge and collapsed into bed.

Martin and Elliott were so excited that they decided to sleep together in the same bed. In the middle of the night when I went to check on them Martin sat up, mumbled then collapsed on Elliott. I found this to be a dangerous position to leave them in, not wanting them to wake prematurely, so I moved Martin to his bed where he mumbled about Elliott and the cold and then eventually fell asleep. In the morning I would find him returned to his brother's bed.


The stage was set, we just needed to wait for them to wake up. I awoke at 5:00 AM due to a work related emergency then anticipated they would be up any minute. By 7:30 AM we actually needed to wake them all up.


They pawed through their stockings with groggy enthusiasm.


Josie was very happy to receive Play-DOH, her favorite substance on this planet, but she was slow to understand why we had woken her up.


Upon opening the gift Martin had gotten him, a pizza making set, Elliott was so excited that he hugged it joyfully.


Then he got up and gave Martin a huge hug. Given the fact that Elliott's response to "I love you" from his brother is usually, "You stink!" I think this hug may have been Martin's best Christmas present.


After a few moments of present unwrapping, the living room was destroyed and would only get worse over the course of the next two weeks.


We got a toboggan from Aunt Pat and all the cousins posed on it, though I don't think they will be all riding this together for another few years.


For dinner I did my second annual charcuterie spread, breaking the different platters into themes.


We scaled back dinner even farther than last year, simply making this rib roast and some roasted Brussels sprouts to go with it. I'm confident we will keep this radition for many years, at least while the kids are young. It gives me the ability to enjoy every moment of Christmas with the kids, not enter the kitchen until 4:00 PM, and yet still enjoy a ton of delicious foods.


The kids, newly convinced of their love of the kids' table, enjoyed their self-imposed exile as the adults sat at the big table, and we didn't have to bring in an auxiliary table for the first Christmas yet, despite the addition of Josephine and Oliver.


The actual sit down portion of dinner was for small plate, dessert, and attempted uninterrupted conversation between adults. We only got two of those three things.

I'll leave it to you to guess what two.


The next day the kids had fun just playing with all their new toys, including Connect Four.


Elliott and Martin split the game pretty evenly and waited until the other completed his row to declare, "We both win!" When I tried to show them how to actually play they were disgusted by the competitive nature of the game. I think it may come from being twins. They are generally very good at sharing with each other -- GENERALLY -- and usually consider the other when making moves or playing games. It could just be because they've never experienced anything other than having their brother nearby and having to experience a lot of give and take.


Elliott dutifully built his TIE fighter with minimal help from Grandpa. Martin didn't quite have the attention span to get his done.


They wrote notes to Great Grandpa and Great Nana to thank then for their Christmas gifts and wish them a happy new year.

On New Year's Eve I woke up feeling terrible. At first I thought maybe it was because I'd had a couple of drinks the night before though I'd certainly done that in the past with consequences far less dire. Then I thought maybe it was because Josephine had woken us up in the night. Again, this was not a something I've never experienced before.

I quickly realized I must be getting sick. This was pretty annoying because I'd never fully kicked the cold that knocked me out of work for a day just a few days shy of Christmas. While at work I put myself on a regimen of cold medicine, vitamins, caffeine, tea, and anything else I could think of to perk myself up.

Nothing worked.


While I was at work, Jen, Caolan, Paul, and Lauren worked tirelessly planning an extremely last minute New Year's Eve party for the kids.


The party was awesome, filled with food, decorations, and a chocolate fountain. The chocolate fountain may have been the single greatest thing that the children had enjoyed in their lives.


The countdown to "midnight" went pretty well and we were able to get the children to bed with relative ease. Perhaps the work of planning and executing the party had taken the fight out of them.


After dinner we sat by the fire and played Masterpiece. It was so much fun but after a round of the game I quickly realized I was not going to make it to see midnight. In fact I was not going to make it to see ten o'clock and I turned in for the night. I awoke once to the sound of adults celebrating the ringing in of 2017 and then quickly fell back asleep where I did not leave bed other than for a quick check-in downstairs until 3:30 PM. This was supremely disappointing given how I'd arranged my work schedule to take full advantage of Caolan, Paul, and Jane visiting. Instead I stayed in bed for most of my time with them.


The kids all slept in one giant bed after a fair amount of fooling around.


Apparently this was consumed while I was unconscious in bed.


The kids had a lot of fun on the first day of the year. They went to the park with Paul, Caolan, and Jane, they played, they iced Christmas cookies, and presumably other things while I slept all day.


Eventually I got enough energy to descend from the bedroom and lie down under the Christmas tree, propped up on Mr. Beow, the kids' insanely large stuffed bear. While I felt awful it was good to at least hear the kids having fun an be a minor part of conversation (and pity) rather than just wallowing in my own misery alone.

Unfortunately our friends left early the next morning and I could barely summon the will to come down and see them off. Jen, who'd been hoping to have some help with the child activities, unfortunately, was left high and dry by all of this.

As I write this I am feeling a lot better and returning to work tomorrow. I always say that I wish I had more time off around the holidays.

I'm going to stop saying that.