A pity

"Do you know what a great pity is?" said Liam age 3. "A pity is that I have no bike and Maxim and Lex do" tears in his eyes.
Next day problem solved as while olders boys out at school Liam gets to sit on bike in the garden all morning. "not such a great pity any more"

Play date.

Today

Do you like my tights?

Tea and me.

I have come down now from cloud nine (it was very nice up there I would recommend it) and I am back to the hum drum that is life with five kids under six years old.
I am just wondering if anyone knows of a condition caused by "tea overdose"? I never came across a case in my training but I am sure to get it as I must drink the most tea of anyone in the world. Actually that is a challenge if anyone else drinks more tea I want to know how?
I do love tea. I love new teas and experimenting with tea. I also like tea sets and pots and basically anything and everything to do with tea. Tea is my crutch for getting through a day of "mommy mommy mommy" every 3 minutes in a very high pitch voice. Maybe when I am older I will move on to stronger stuff? Um that has just given me an idea.
By the way have you tried Marco Polo tea - fabulous and if you like green tea, which I do, try Tee de Nil.
Pictured above is my survival kit.

James McAvoy

My birthday mystery tour included going to London to see James McAvoy in Three days of Rain by Richard Greenberg at the Apollo. Fantastic performance. And after he came out the stage door to sign autographs. It was such a thrill to see him in person. Note the authentic "man at work sign" behind us.

Birthdays

They say "we live and learn" but mostly we just live and don't learn at all.

Jumping the gun.

Well we all know hand knitting can be a very slow process so I have decided to knit a few sizes bigger in order to make sure they fit the right child when I am finished knitting them. My husband thinks I am looney, gone bananas or something of the sort because last night I finished a beautiful pink sweater see pic. size 3 to 4 years now my only girl is only 5 months!!
Time to take a little break from the needles and so for my birthday tomorrow we are going on a mystery tour .....more later.

A Little Sun

So this morning we had some beautiful sunshine. Eoin lept out of his chair to go out in the garden. He loves to go outside and didn't hesitate to take advantage of the half hour sun. I sat out with a cup of tea and pretended I was in SB! Very nice.

Glendalough

We had a lovely visit from a friend this week and I had the pleasure of being a tourist in my home town. We went on a guided tour of Wicklow, "the garden of Ireland" and at the end to Glendalough. All a lot of fun.

Chocolate is the solution.

I live by the believe that chocolate can and does solve any problem. Luckily my husband knows this and applies the philosophy as needed. Examples of his recently proffered very good solutions are shown above.
Now tonight he is away and I am facing a little problem known to all mothers as" bed time" and so I went to make a large cup of hot chocolate. Second problem the steamer is not working.
Right chocolate biscuits will have to do.
But I gave those away on Thursday.
This has now turned into a chocolate emergency I will have to break into the stash.
Sorry honey can't be helped I need the support as there is a lot of resistance forming against this "bedtime" thing. The fact that the five of them go to bed at roughly the same time every night you think would make it easier. I mean they know it is coming, and there is no way to get out of it but still they try every excuse to delay. Here are those that can physically get out delaying. Two cribs may not be enough for this house.

I love knit night

Every Thursday I go to a knit night here in Blackrock at This is Knit yarn shop. The girls are lovely and you always get to see some really fantastic knitting. I go to steal ideas mainly and ask advice about stuff that is way beyond my current knitting capabilities. This is my way of pushing myself forward in the art. Last night I got some beautiful new wool for a baby project. I had no photo of said baby with me "what kind of a mother.....?"so here is Zoë Anaïs Siegel this morning sporting her new Baby Surprise Jacket in pink of course.

Happy Birthday

This post is for Silly Susan - Happy Birthday. We wish we were there but know you are going to have a great Birthday. Here are the boys and Dana singing Happy Birthday to Susan before bed.

illness

Unfortunately we have had an attack of the vomit bug. This bug only shows up when Dad is on duty. It seems to know when I would like a little quiet time and then acts accordingly. SO I get the call "child x has vomited all over me". Really it has become such that I expect it. No panic enters my voice I just say" I will be right back". Then cancel my order and rush to a taxi. When the vomit bug has boarded ship, it is all hands on deck.
Now as you know the vomit bug travels swiftly through crowded communities thus we are doomed. Five kids under five years old is a lot of vomit.
As a result of these current circumstances I will not be providing a photo today. I will let you use your imagination - large buckets at the end of every bed.
I look forward to time passing and the bug passing with it.

Valentine

These are my 4 valentine cards made by my four sons. I am the luckiest woman alive and I even get to wipe their bums! I never liked this holiday until I became a mom - now any excuse to get out the glitter and glue and go wild. Holidays are made for kids not adults.
Happy Valentine's day and hugs and kisses all the way around.

Feminine or masculine?

This morning Eoin was playing with the screwdriver. Now with four boys I am well aware that the tool box is a favorite toy. But this was a first because instead of trying to unscrew the TV, radio, piano and table he kept picking up a knitted dress with the screwdriver! My assumption now is that he was trying to knit!

Weather

This is the snow we had on Sunday morning. We are only a half a block to the beach so this has never happened before. It did look so beautiful and lasted half a day. It was a very sunny afternoon and unfortunately for the boys we didn't get enough snow to make a snowman.

Birr

My husband is stuck somewhere between Spain and our house in Dublin Ireland. Yes the weather has gotten to us too. The seasonal but unusually severe cold has brought so much ice and snow with it that Dublin airport has all but closed. Jonathan was unaware of this as he has spent the last few days in the African desert. Now although I have no photo to go with this blog on his safe return I will share with you his snaps. I am going to bed now mainly in order to heat up. Goodnight.

Oh my Gosh Snow

The question is how to keep warm. My nose is cold inside the house with the heating on. Ireland just is not prepared for this type of weather. Lex's preschool closed as they are just not able to get the many heaters they have to bring the temp above 11 centigrade. Building must have zero insulation. It seems many buildings here are this way. It is blowing a blizzard outside. I was twelve the last time we had snow in Dublin that stuck. Unfortunately I am not a big fan of snow - well it is more the cold that goes with it and the dark days that are unpleasant. Give me a sunny California day anytime. But here we are and as you can see layers of clothes is the only way to go with baby Zoe staying in her sleeping bag. Next problem is indoor entertainment and Lex has that covered with guitar hero. Hope this cold snap is short lived.

Fab buttons and hand knit socks.

I just finished socks I have been knitting for Jonathan since June! These are very special socks. Anyway how many husbands get hand-knit socks in 2009? I feel like I am a throw back to the 19th century. Take a look - well the full effect is in wearing them you will have to take my word for that.
I just finished the BSJ for Zoë and found the most amazing buttons for it in "This is Knit" in Blackrock each one is a different animal so cute.

Dressing up.

Playing dress up is the favorite game in our house at the moment. This is them getting ready for the show. Lex is count dracula and Maxim humm not sure but I love to eaves drop on their game and here the story. Maxim told Liam the vampires don't go to tiny school much to his relief!