March 18th, 2019: Sleepovers, Sophie’s drumming debut & catching leprechauns!
Friday
The kids had a very looOooong weekend indeed! They had both Thursday and Friday off – as well as today (Monday). Administrative days or something of the kind… At least some of the time on Thursday was used to construct domino chains. And, apparently, Dominick learned the hard way that maybe it is BETTER to NOT ask for mommy’s help with domino chains…..
For me – the weekend only started a couple of hours early on Friday – which was a very welcome unseasonably warm day. We hit just about 70⁰ and it was sunny! So when I got home I made sure everyone went outside (which they had been early too – as evidenced by all the bikes out in the driveway!). Sophie spent some time on the trampoline while the kids helped me with some light yard work – picking up sticks and errant leaves. They rode their bikes again after dinner. Amazing how good both Gracie and Dominick have gotten! Annie is still using the training wheels – but I’m sure they will be coming off soon. The sunshine and vitamin D did all of us some good.
Melani went out in an effort to get some of the Manhattan clam chowder again from Saint Anthony’s church and a couple of Shamrock shakes. Disappointingly she was not successful on either count! Despite being relatively early – the church had already sold out of the clam chowder – and the McDonalds had run out of Shamrock shakes…. Arghhh…
Saturday
Well – I thought Saturday was going to be a very busy day – but it ended up being rather relaxing. I made a mistake on the date for a robotics demonstration. I thought it was first thing in the morning – but realized my mistake late Friday. Dang – I was looking forward to some robotics with the kids! Dominick was supposed to have an archery event for scouts at a local archery range – but that didn’t happen either. My understanding is that the end-of-season final competition still had not wrapped up.
On Saturday morning I published a post and info-graphic detailing my well honed diaper changing avoidance strategies. (You can read the post here: Diaper Changing Avoidance Strategies for New Dads) It was well received by only about half of our readers…. Just the fathers seemingly…
Gracie had her first sleepover on Saturday night for her best friend’s birthday. Gracie made it the entire night – while at least one of the other girls did not. Proud of you Gracie! However – we now believe that Gracie is allergic to cats! When we talked to her she said she felt “itchy”. Hum…. Read on – and you will see just how allergic she must be!
Saturday evening Dominick and Annie, in anticipation of a Saint Patrick’s day appearance, built some leprechaun traps with hopes of ensnaring one of those crafty little creatures.
Sunday
On Sunday Dominick & Annie were disappointed, yet again, that they came close – but had still failed to capture any leprechauns! I keep telling them they are going to need more sophisticated traps utilizing some electronics! It appears our elf Mistletoe had at least something to do with the leprechauns being able to elude capture! Of course, during the leprechauns’ visit – some mischief and mayhem ensued…
After a quick breakfast I ran Dominick and Annie over to religious education first thing in the morning. We then went out (Melani, Sophie and I) to get Gracie at her friend’s house. I sat in the car and Sophie cried the entire time we waited. She continued her crying as we went to church – so I had to take her into the church basement. All said and done she probably cried about 35 minutes for her buddies Giagge & Baba. Good thing I have become more patient as I have gotten older! If you’ve been reading the blog for awhile – I’m sure you know how important Giagge and Baba are to Sophie! (Read the post here: Buddies Vs Friends (Fair-Weather Friends)) I’m not sure why we didn’t have them with us – but we couldn’t really afford to go back to get them. Finally, we were able to go upstairs and join the congregation!
After mass Gracie, Dominick and Annie had some open gym time at the church gym and Melani, Sophie and I got a little quiet time together at the house. I then picked the kids up, we had another short pit stop and then Gracie had scouts and Sophie had her first birthday party to attend! Different cars in different directions.
In the evening we all met up at Melani’s mother’s house for a Saint Patrick’s day dinner fest! In addition to our family, Melani’s mother had some family friends over to the house as well. Sophie was a little shy at first – but then went supernova on the social spectrum! She was everybody’s best friend and the center of attention for most of the evening! Gracie’s rash got progressively worse as the evening went on and was downright uncomfortable as night approached. In addition to the rash Gracie also developed some hives. Seems she is REALLY allergic to cats! We made sure to get her in the tub and did an oatmeal scrub. She felt a lot better after that!
Gracie and Annie continue to challenge us a lot lately and dig at each other – while Dominick has seemingly returned to his VGBD ways (Very Good Boy Dominick!) So Gracie and Annie lost some privileges and made some compulsory contributions to their respective Lenten Rice Bowls over the weekend (See their accomplishments tracking page here: Kids Accomplishments). Dominick was wise and stayed out of the fray. In-fact – where the girls got frequently chastised – Dominick heard me tell him many times over the weekend to “keep doing what you’re doing buddy”. Maybe boys really are easier than girls….
Finally, I would like to mention that The Parenthood Adventures has recently been acknowledged as one of the top 200 parenting blogs on the web by Feedspot. Thank you Anuj! We look forward to moving up the list as we grow our readership!
Sincerely,
