Guest post by Katie

Hello, my name is Katie. As being the oldest of 4 others, things can get pretty hectic. Also, with me being in 5th grade, I have a lot of projects and homework "To get us ready for Middle School" as the teachers say. I do write a lot of books, half of the ones I think of I write. And yes, I am an elf. My address is 5116 Apple Tree. Look at 5116 closely, and you might figure this out. Give your guesses in the commment box. J.R.R Tolkien is my favorite author. READ THE LORD OF THE RINGS!!!! It's great, unless you HATE fantasy( shame on all that do).
I sometimes get breakfast for the girls, watch them on the bus, play with them, etc.

Now for my big annoncment.

October 13, or around then, welcome kid number 6!!!
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of activity for one day....

...considering the fact that I have been updating this so infrequently lately. The reasons are:

1 - I didn't work yesterday or today, which means I'm fully rested (aka coherent) today
2 - I'm sick, so lazing around more than usual
3 - I'm feeling alive because I just quit my job! (Well, mostly. I'll still be working until mid April, but at least there is an end in sight to the 4am-4pm shifts of doom.)


Also, you'll notice the new twitter feed to the left. I know that it is ridiculous for a woman to have a blog AND a twitter account when she has nothing to say, but it was the only way to enter a "meet Conan O'Brien" contest. So, there you go.

Unpredictable

We were in Target today when Lucy, suddenly and with no warning, began to publicly humiliate a random woman who happened to be walking slightly in front of us.

"Look!" She yelled out, pointing, "It's an old lady! That is a OLD LADY!"

I would guess the poor woman was in her mid-forties. At the most. She looked pretty spry to me.

"Look at that OLD LADY!" Lucy yelled out again, just as I clamped my hand over her mouth and swooped her into a side aisle to get her out of sight.

"Lucy," I whispered frantically to her, "we don't talk about people like that. It's bad manners!"

"Oh," she said, furrowing for a moment. "I'm sorry."

We began to make our way through the store (far away from where the woman - who may or may not have noticed the commotion Lucy was making towards her) when Lucy, who must have been thinking it over, piped up, "Mom!"

"Yes?" I asked.

"But that lady was old!"

Back to the drawing board with this one. I wish I knew what it was about this poor woman that left such a strong impression on Lucy. I also wish I knew how to predict and stop these kinds of outbursts before they happened. I have a feeling, though, that this is but a small hint of the unpredictable nature of Miss Lucy Anna.

Another mystery, another potential horror

Does anybody remember the time somebody puked in my bathroom and nobody would fess up to it? You can relive it here, if you wish.

Thank the laptop gods that I still can't upload photos, because we had another mystery last night and this one was of horrific proportions.

A very suspicious brown smear appeared directly in front of the toilet last night. There was also a partial brown handprint on the wall by the light switch.

Disgust, horror, and wild accusations ensued. Everyone was questioned, everyone claimed complete and utter innocence. Just about everyone also had their own suspicions about who it might be; it was kind of like playing "Clue," actually, except that the "weapon" was biological.

The investigation reached the following conclusions:

1 - The hand print actually appeared the previous evening, and is most likely attributable to the chocolate mint souffle we had for St. Patty's Day.
2 - Nobody used the upstairs bathroom yesterday. Not no body, not no how. The various people who were all seen either entering or exiting the bathroom were in there for reasons other than using the facilities. They'd like to see anybody try to prove any different.
3- The girls spent a lot of time outdoors yesterday, and parts of the yard are still very muddy. Thus, although no one admits to being anywhere near the toilet, if somebody had, the smear could have come from muddy shoes.
4- No matter what it was or who did it, it needed to be removed and there was only one person qualified to get the job done.

As I scrubbed the floor, wondering if I should be grateful for having a cold and being unable to smell or if I should be frustrated at my inablitity to use that sense to determine if I was cleaning up mud or....something much worse, Beth stood near the door watching me.

"When I see you doing things like this," she said to me, "it makes me think that maybe I don't want to ever be a mother."

You and me both, kiddo. You and me both.

Guest post by Beth

The girls have suddenly gone blog-crazy, so I am allowing both Beth and Katie to write their own posts. Here's Beth's:

Hi! I'm Beth.Rebecca Mlinek daughter.(#2 out of 5.) Sometimes I pull Lucy around in a basket. One time I was cleaning my room. I put Lucy in the basket. Then I went to put clothes in the landry basket.When I got back Lucy was in the basket but sideways. "DADDY!" she cried.Yes,daddy.I've been known as daddy latley. When we play house I'm the dad.I found Lucy sideways alot.Finaly, I went dowstairs to put a toy away. Guess what? Lucy follwed me. Luckily, Katie was there so Lucy cried "MOMMY!" Yes, mommy. Katie is the mom when we play house.Lucy went with her. Free at last. Free to clean in peace! Only bad part is I don't really like to clean. I just like to play.(P.S When I wrote this so mom could approve it I was watching Dad and Uncle Andy play Modern Warfar 2 on the Xbox. Uncle Andy's broke.)

How Lucy dominates her father

Chris kindly let me sleep in this morning, and he most likely regretted it the moment he stepped foot outside our bedroom.

He found Lucy in the kitchen, meticulously strewing toilet paper around the table and chairs.*

"What are you doing?" he (sensibly) asked her.

She replied, "It's Lucy Anna's birthday!"**

Looking at his face as he surveyed the damage, she added, "It can be your birthday, too!"


*She also "decorated" the toilet paper with pink fabric glue
**It is not Lucy Anna's birthday

Irrepressible

Chris heard feet pattering in the kitchen after the girls had gone to bed. When he went to investigate, he found Abbie, who claimed that she couldn't go to sleep because Lucy was being, "crazy."

So Chris went upstairs to see what "crazy" meant.

Lucy had tossed her blankets around the room and was sitting on her bare bed, holding a clothes hanger and pontificating to her toys.

"Lucy," Chris thundered, "what are you doing?"

She turned calm and unconcerned eyes to him and replied, "Tomorrow, I need you to buy me some candy!"

She was actually surprised to find herself in trouble after that.

I've said it before, but it is really, really true: a worry and a wonder is what this kid is. In that order.

Word of warning

Katie has been reading my blog regularly for about three months now. She has decided that she should "give her perspective" in the comment box, and after thinking about it (I mean, this is my blog! I should be able to put whatever I want up here without an opinionated ten year old dogging my every move!) I decided to give her a go.

We'll see how this works.

I guess I'll have to stop writing posts about what a terrible, no-good loser my firstborn is. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. :)

(Also, another word of warning: I'm letting her read the blogs linked on my sidebar. She's mostly reading your blog, Vanessa - just to let you know!)

Our first neice!

We have a niece! Our very first!

If my computer would allow me to upload photos, I'd put one on here. Unfortunately, everyone will just have to imagine how perfect, and sweet, and utterly adorable baby Gianna is. It's easy - just picture the most adorable baby you've ever seen, and then kick it up a notch. Don't forget the soft cloud of dark hair and perfectly round, lightly pink cheeks.

She's really beautiful.

And now here is a funny story:

Chris and I have been asked to be the godparents for this particular bundle of awesomeness. We were only too glad to accept, naturally. Becky and Dante were both firmly convinced that they were having a boy, and we both had a little laugh over the fact that, although we collectively have 5 godchildren, this would be our very first male godchild.

So, two weeks ago, I ran into our parish office to get forms for the baptism. I was actually getting multiple forms, because I also have the honor of being godmother to my friend Monica's new baby, Cecilia. There was a crowd in the office that morning, and a few people commented upon how much they enjoy seeing our parade of girls every Sunday. I thanked them for the compliment, and then explained my errand to the secretary.

It took the secretary a few minutes to fill out all of the necessary forms, and as she worked on them she said, "You must be very popular godparents!"

Reflexively, I said, "I guess people just naturally think of us when they have baby girls!" and we all laughed.

As I said it though, I mentally chided myself because Becky was so very, very confident that she was having a boy.

Heh heh heh.

So welcome to little Gianna, such a surprise to her mommy (although not a surprise to her big brother, who insisted all along that he was getting a sister!) It continues to amaze me how very deeply I can be moved by other people's babies. You might think that, having had so many of my own, I'd be totally over the whole miracle-of-life thing, but it's not so. As I looked down on the peaceful, perfect little face of Gianna, I was absolutely overwhelmed with awe and love. What a miracle. What a blessing. What an honor to have some share in this little soul's life. Welcome, little one. May God bless you now, and always.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Valentine's Day is such a different experience when you have kids. I remember our first Valentine's Day as a couple, when Chris and I made elaborate gifts for each other by hand. (He made me a huge card, complete with glitter and hearts that he had cut out of construction paper. I made him a clay model of Champ, the Loch Ness monster of Vermont, and we both made mix tapes for each other, with detailed descriptions of why each song was chosen...) We opened a bottle of Chardonnay (which neither of us liked) and I think we went out to eat, although I can't actually remember. In those days, dinner out was not the rare, amazing treat it is now.

Here we are now, though, with five little girls giggling profusely around us, and the romance level of this holiday has definitely taken a hit.

It's awesome.

The girls began the day so very sweetly. (That is, if you overlook how Lucy woke up and promptly removed her diaper, then with complete unconcern proceeded to urinate all over herself in the kitchen. I am doing everything in my power to supress that memory, and I think it might be working....)

Katie made Chris and I cards with little poems she had composed herself. Beth is planning some sort of one-man play that will no doubt shock and impress us later this evening. Abbie made us pictures with her signature "Abbie! Amy!" captions. (Those are the only words she can write by memory -- I have no answer for why she taught herself to write "Amy" as Abbie does not know a single person with that name. Some things are destined to remain a mystery.)

Lucy promised to keep her diaper on.

Claire, though, stole the show with her awesome cards. I've included her card to Chris here, because I love it. It's an illustration of "How Daddy kills the bad guys," and she included a pull-away paper sword to use as neccessary. (The sword was too big to scan, so you just see the top of it here.)

Later on today, Chris will make an awesome Thai-inspired mussel dish (and hamburgers for the girls) and we will try out the milk chocolate mousse with port-wine ganache topped with vanilla creme fraiche that I attempted. Then we'll put the kids to bed, and Chris and I will probably watch a movie and then hit the hay, as I need to be up by 3:15 tomorrow.

Not exactly the wine-and-roses days of our youth, but so much better because it is so....real. And funny. Chris will probably (as he has every morning since the big snow) roll out of bed as I'm getting dressed tomorrow to warm the car up for me, and my heart will melt more than I ever thought possible that first Valentine's Day, even though I thought then that I was as deeply in love as it gets.

Back then, we had all the time in the world to devote to romance. But we didn't have Valentine's Day cards illustrated with blood and rotting corpses. And we didn't have bracelets painstakingly made out of blue plastic beads. And we didn't have toddlers gravely promising to "keep the diaper on! Because I love you."

I look at the commercials on the t.v. today, with their flowers and jewelry and fancy clothes and night-on-the-towns, and I wouldn't trade a single second of this day for it.

Man, I love my family.

Snowpocolypse Now

This is the craziest snowstorm I've ever seen. Claire keeps asking, "Are we snowed in yet?" and I eventually realized that what she means is, "Is it physically impossible for us to exit our house yet?"

Close. Really close. The snow in our backyard is level with the deck railing. Chris went out to brush off the air vent, and the snow at some points was over his chest.

The girls had been logging some serious hours outside since the last storm a few days ago, but today it is literally impossible. The wind is so intense that I often can't see outside the windows, and the snow is over the heads of all of the girls. Chris and I spent a good four hours (and Chris spent closer to six) digging out the driveway last Saturday, and now you can't tell that we did it at all. Chris made a foray outside today, but we've decided to wait to shovel until tomorrow when the wind dies down.

So how do you spend a snow day when it's too intense to actually enjoy the snow? If you are us, you watch The Killers DVD for the billionth time (and if you think Chris and I are the ones watching this over and over and over, you don't know our kids.) We read. I Bake. We eat. We eat some more. Copious amounts of hot cocoa are consumed. I knit, Chris tries to play video games, and when the girls start to get to crazy I mobilize them to rearrange multiple rooms in the house.

Chris was thrilled with that last one.

A friend called us yesterday on the spur of the moment and invited us over for lunch, before we were all snowed in again. I am so glad that we accepted the offer as I look out now at the white wasteland around us. It's hard to keep from feeling that the snow will be here forever now, that we will have to dig our way to the pool next summer and that hanging up dripping boots and gloves will become a permanent routine.

It's gorgeous, though. And, despite the frantic level of noise as the girls go a leetle bit stir-crazy, it's so nice and cozy to have us all holed up together, drinking our hot cocoa under warm blankets as the snow continues to swirl outside with no sign of slowing down. So we'll fire up the DVD again, and I'll say a small prayer of thanks that we all (Lucy included, no joke) can enjoy The Killers together.

foreign lands

We discussed possibly getting "The Rosetta Stone" language tapes yesterday. The girls all weighed in on what language they'd like to learn.

"French," said I (sneakily, as I spent 6 years learning french but can only remember about four words.)

"Spanish," said Katie, practical as usual.

"Latin," said Beth, who likes to mix things up.

"I'd like to learn Texas," said Claire.

Fuel for the midnight oil

This weekend, I made a skateboard out of cake for a friend's son's birthday party. However, due to upheavals and various other drama in the bakery, I am working more hours (and the worst hours) this week than ever before and I am tired. Tie-red. Tahred. Taaahed.

So, naturally, I stayed up until midnight making the skateboard the night before working a 4am shift at the bakery. Around 10pm things were getting worrisome, as I was dragging and despairing as the fondant I was trying to color red remained a stubborn dark pink. Katie and Beth were still up, watching as I kneaded the ball of fondant over and over, adding more and more red dye (and drops of blue...and drops of black).

They had been quiet for a while, and I was wondering if the girls were beginning to despair - as I certainly was - that I would ever get it right. Just then, though, Beth leaned over and said, " I sometimes think that you are just about the best cook in the whole world, and I guess I'm pretty lucky that you are my mother."

!!!!

Should one be in need of motivation a statement like that does the trick, to put it simply .

I guess I'm pretty lucky to have daughters like this.


* I'll post of picture of the cake - which turned out pretty well (It wasn't perfect, but I was mostly pleased) if my laptop ever lets me upload the pictures.

My little girl

I was in the older girls' bedroom last night, chatting for a few minutes before kissing them goodnight, when Katie cornered me and said in a furtive whisper, " Something bad happened in school today."

I could tell that she was trying to keep Beth from hearing, so I also lowered my voice and asked her to explain.

She told me that someone in her class wrote "I want to have sex with -----" on a bathroom wall.

I stood for a moment in shock, looking at my sweet little ten year old daughter, and wondering what this world has come to. I took the moment to compose myself so that I could ascertain, as delicately as possible, how much innocence she had been robbed of that day.

I lowered my voice even more, and whispered to her, "Do you know what that means?"

Her eyes opened wide, and she said confidently, "Yes, I do."

I took another moment to compose myself. "What does it mean?" I whispered.

"It means," Katie said, her brows lowering in dissaproval, "That she defaced school property!"

I told her that she was absolutely right and then I kissed my little girl goodnight. I am glad to know that, a year ago, she decided on her own to avoid the group that the vandal runs with, because she didn't like how "shallow" (her words) they were getting.

That being said, the time for a certain talk is no longer approaching: it is here. *Sigh*

Cool stuff

I've had this blog for over four years now, believe it or not, so I'm going to go ahead and make the usual blogger plunge: bare my soul for all the internet to see.

Would you like a peep into my psyche? Then watch the video below. It fills me with joy just to know that I am living in a world in which people create things like this.

Growing geeks

Meeting the X-Men (and Spiderman....and Captain America!)
Originally uploaded by moleshollow

Chris was playing Ultimate Alliance on his Xbox as the girls (as they always do) watched and (as they always do, to my glee) commented on his playing. At some point, Claire asked Chris to switch characters, and play as the Hulk. He did so, and Claire then asked if he could switch to Batman.

Beth scornfully turned to her and said, "What are you thinking? Hulk is Marvel, Batman is DC!"

We couldn't be more proud.

It's good to be 5!

Abbie turns 5 today! I will post pictures someday, when my laptop allows me to upload them from my camera. Hopefully it will be in the mood sooner rather than later.

Abbie had a good day, I think. This birthday feels like a real milestone, to us, for some reason. Chris and I are both just finding ourselves...extra grateful, I guess, to have this kid around.

The morning started off very sweetly. The two older girls (on their own, with their own money, and without my prior knowledge) bought birthday gifts for Abbie at the Holiday Shop they have in school. So they begged me to allow Abbie to open them before school. Claire, who doesn't yet have her own money, decided a few days ago to make Abbie a bracelet and she went first, shyly apologizing to Abbie for the homemade gift (which was also way too small) but Abbie gave her a big hug and said, "Oh, I love it, Claire! It's okay that I can't wear it, I'll just like to look at it."

Beth gave Abbie a Christmas-tree shaped etch-a-sketch, which was cool and well appreciated but soon eclipsed by Katie's gift, a talking bear that records your own messages. As the girls were all exclaiming excitedly over Katie's gift, Beth sat by herself and fiddled with the etch-a-sketch. Katie (who had very carefully picked out Abbie's gift, and who I know was secretly hoping to be the giver of the day's best present) saw Beth's face and then started loudly talking about how cool the etch-a-sketch was, drawing everyone's attention back to it.

I was so proud. So proud of all of them.

We ate our cinnamon rolls, and later Chris and I took Abbie and Lucy to Abbie's favorite library (which has a kid-sized town to explore, complete with grocery store, post office and fishing pond). We fired up Abbie's dinner of choice (Spaghetti-O's, Lord help me) and then the Grandparents and returning college hero, Uncle Andy, came over for some (terribly ugly - wait until you see the picture!) cake. Tomorrow we will all go to the aquarium, and Grandma Niccoli will come over to finish off our celebration. Abbie is having a great birthday.

That morning in the kitchen, though, is what I will remember forever. Five girls coming together so happily, so sweetly, so lovingly. We have plenty of mornings full of bickering and spilt milk and nasty attitudes, but it was good to see everyone pull together like that and just enjoy making their sister happy. That is one of Abbie's talents - she draws people to her, and draws out the best in them.

I thank God for the privilege of being her mother. I thank Him for giving us this time with her. I thank Him for the dynamic she brings to this family.

Happy Birthday, Bejabbers. We love you.

Bumps in the Night

I got home from work tonight around 8:30. By the time I had run upstairs to help Katie and Beth pick out outfits for "70s Day" tomorrow, made lunches and thrown some dishes in the dishwasher, it was 9:30. The girls were all asleep, Chris was playing videogames in the basement and the rest of the house was still and quiet.

I was on my laptop, looking at pictures of my Sister and Brother-in-Law's new house (congrats, guys!) when an eerie feeling came over me. I began to feel goose-prickly, like someone was watching me. Gradually I became aware, out of the corner of my eye, of a figure, all in white approaching with its arms reaching toward me. It was moving slowly, in absolute silence.

I did what was only natural, of course. I jumped and cried out. Abbie's eyes grew wide as she continue to stalk towards me with her arms held out.

"I just wanted a kiss from you," she said.

She got the kiss, and probably a good 5 years off my lifespan as well.

Sorry for the long silence around here. I have pictures of my sister's wedding, some awesome videos of the girls, and some other stuff to share.....but I have been working crazy hours (40 hrs/week is crazy when you are only supposed to be part-time and have an entire other life full of laundry and boo-boos and bubble baths to tend to) and I just haven't had the five minutes to spare. Soon, though. I promise.

Short Rib Sundays

I was about to comment on a favorite blog of mine, when I realized that what I was going to say is really better said here, where all of you (meaning: mom and mom-in-law) can appreciate it.

Working in the bakery has been going really well. I like what I'm doing (decorating cakes, mostly, with some proofing and baking thrown in. It's the hauling boxes in and out of freezers that I can do without.) My manager has been great about trying to accommodate me, scheduling me to only work three days out of the week so that I can be at home as much as possible. The only downside is that usually means I get the Sunday doughnut shift - starting at 4am (and soon to be 3am). I actually like doing the doughnuts, but the hours are a killer for a dyed-in-the-wool nightowl like myself.

Here's the thing, though, that makes it all just dandy. Chris has, for one, been bringing the girls in to see me around my lunch break (which, when you begin work at 4, ends up being around 10am.) I set aside doughnuts for them - which means they get to have as many of the coveted strawberry-frosted as they want (a rare thing, as finding 5 strawberry doughnuts at once is much harder than you would think.)

Also, Chris has been stepping up to the plate for Sunday dinners, making braised short ribs almost every weekend. Braised short ribs, if you don't know, is similar to a roast only.........well, much better. It is truly fall off the fork tender -that's not just an expression, you know! It is an actual phenomena that can be achieved if you have a way with meat. And Chris does. It is comforting, and warm, and aromatic, and delicious. It's the perfect fall/winter meal, and the perfect way to end a day that began elbow-deep in frosting hours before the birds are even thinking of waking up.

I see the effort he is making to help me out where he can. Sundays used to be his sacred, football-watching, lounging-around day, and I know it is a sacrifice to him to give that up. And I'm so grateful that he is willing to; it keeps me from becoming just a tired wife; instead I'm a happy wife, grateful for the chance to be a part of this amazing family.

Short ribs: soul-food in every sense of the term.

Better late than never

Here are some pictures from Halloween! Sorry for the long delay, but this laptop is such a lemon that it will sometimes not let me upload pictures. I finally have them, though, so here you go!
Katie was Hermione, Beth was a vampire, Claire was an Indian princess, Abbie was Red Riding Hood, and Lucy was.....a psychedelic princess/fairy hybrid. Most costumes courtesy of my amazing mother-in-law!
I would like to point out, specifically, the red lining on Beth's vampire cape. Super cool!

As we usually do, we went trick-or-treating with the Lobers in their neighborhood. The kids form a gang of candy-crazed trick or treaters, Vanessa mixes up some of her awesome spiced (and spiked) cider, and fun is had by all!

I learned my lesson, and for Claire's Fall party made cupcakes with less frosting. The kids got a kick out of them, (and actually ate them!) and I got to feel superior for a few minutes as the mother who brought the best treat. :-)