Does Making Blue and Green Food for the Kids Count as a Hobby?

I recently got in touch with an old friend from high school who asked me, "Do you have any hobbies, or are the kids all-consuming?"

Reaction #1: Hmmm...am I being completely roasted for having no life outside of my children?
Reaction #2: Poor, poor thing...hasn't quite realized the utter joy of giving your body, heart, and soul to your offspring?
Reaction #3: What ARE hobbies, anyway?

So I started thinking about my hobbies. You know, I don't recall ever having any. I read (and still do) and wrote (still do), but I never really looked at those as hobbies; those activities were more along the lines of necessities. I liked to travel (still do, though not as extensively as maybe I would otherwise), I loved working on projects around the house (see note re: travel)...but again, never really thought of these things as hobbies. Hobbies always seemed to be things like trains, painting, model airplanes...things that cost more money than I care to spend on things that do nothing other than sit and look nice.

Aaron's idea is that anything you spend a significant amount of time on, outside of work, is a hobby. Hmm...guess for me that would be balancing the checkbook and paying bills.

Merriam-Webster defines hobby as "a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation ".
Collins Essential English Dictionary defines hobby as "an activity pursued in one's spare time for pleasure or relaxation".
Wikipedia states that a hobby is a "a spare-time recreational pursuit".
Dictionary.com concurs that a hobby is "an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation".

So, based on the idea that a hobby is something done for fun OUTSIDE of one's job, and I often have fun outside of my job- ha ha- I have to have a hobby somewhere...

1) On the weekends, when we have nothing we HAVE to do around the house, what do I choose to do to have fun?
Go to the zoo or some other random location with Aaron and the kids.
2) During the week, after work and if I had no other obligations to concern myself with, what would I most like to do?
Play outside with the kids.
3) Is there anything that I plan around, for, etc?
Traveling with the family, etc.

I am noticing a pattern here. So I guess I DO have a hobby. It just doesn't sound quite as exotic as traveling through foreign lands or as intellectual as collecting numbered prints or as "productive" as decorating my home and yard.

The answer to the original question posed is then, "Yes...and yes".
I can live with that.

All's Quiet on the Upstairs Front

Everyone is still asleep. It is amazing how quiet the house is when no one is moving. As much as I am enjoying it, I couldn't imagine my house sounding like this all the time.
Here is what will happen soon...I will hear the gate creak open. I will look up and see one of the boys, swinging the gate open and closed. If it's Connlaodh, I will go up to get him. If it's Taidhgin, I will ask him to come down. Either way, within minutes I will hear the footsteps of the second brother. Both boys will come down, start breakfast, and quietly play at the table. About ten minutes later, Eibhlin will be at the gate- having closed it already, which means I will need to go up and open it- and she will say, "Good morning!". By the time she gets downstairs, the boys' volume will have gone from 2 to 10 and my day will have begun in earnest- functioning at top volume until bedtime.

I can remember entire Sunday mornings that would sound like this...Aaron would be sleeping and I would be working on assignments for class or on my own classwork. The house would lie dormant, except for whatever limited movements I made in the office. That was a long time ago...and long before I welcomed these amazing creatures into my life.

So for right now, right this moment, I will quietly sip my coffee and appreciate the silence there is for now.

But wait, I hear the gate now...it is big brother. Guess I couldn't expect it to last forever- and definitely wouldn't want it to...

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

So Eibhlin and I were cleaning the junk drawer out yesterday and came across a picture of me from a LONG time ago. I would say that the pic is circa early '95...scary. I was about 30 lbs heavier than I am now, hadn't yet been introduced to tweezers, and was wearing my father's sweats and a too-small white t-shirt. Ouch!
I asked Eibhlin if she knew who the person in the picture was...she shook her head at first and then I could see the light bulb turn on. She stopped shaking her head, scrunched up her nose in absolute distaste and disgust and said, "You was yucky then, Mommy?"

Just a Side Note

Wow. I just reread all my posts and I sound like the worst mother in the world. Hmmm...seems I have been at a loss to do anything besides bitch and moan! So, let's take a break from the norm and show the rosier side of the day...

While at Medieval Times last night, I found myself getting misty-eyed when I was watching the three kids play around with each other. The boys pair up, Eibhlin is the glue that holds them together...it is amazing to watch them play, rough-house, and be concerned about each other.

And, truth be told, I am taking them out to any place of their choice tomorrow as payback for having been MIA all day today...as much as I appreciated the time to work, I missed playing with my babies...

And, as a reminder, bitch is my comfort zone, not my only zone. See ya soon.

Escaping in My Own Home

I found the perfect way to get a break today- no questions asked. I painted- for 9 hours. One wall in the living room and both entries. I was covered in brown paint ("sauteed mushrooms") and surrounded by tape, ladders, and paintbrushes- it left everyone else no choice but to leave me alone for the day. The kids could walk by and applaud my painting job- "Nice work, Mom", "Oooh, it looks brand new!"- but no one could come too close and Aaron had to watch them all day without my help. Needless to say, I will painting every weekend for the next 16 1/2 years.

On a more playful note, we went to Medieval Times last night to celebrate a belated Happy Father's Day for Aaron...

What Happened to Vacation Meaning Getting a Break?

The kids and I just got back from Myrtle Beach where we spent three days in the sand and sun with my folks and also with Uncle Louie and Aunt Rose. We played in the sand, floated in the lazy river, ate out, played mini golf...and now I need a break from my vacation! Ha!

It is amazing, though, how much fun - and how freaking exhausting- it is to take the kids on vacation. They just wanted to go, go, go no matter how exhausted they were, which meant no naps (and no down time for Mom, Meema, and Gramps- ha ha) for three days.

I do wonder how my parents- my aunt and uncle, too- did it back in the day...I remember the adults being the ones who could go forever and it was me and the rest of the kids who were spent- I guess it is all a matter of perception. And it really must be, too, because I sure do remember those condo rooms being quite a bit bigger than what they felt like with the Three Musketeers running around in them! Ha!


Anyway, you can see all the pics from the trip on the Kodak site, but here are a couple that I can't resist posting...




And what blog would be complete without a little dancing?

The First Week

There is a reason I couldn't be a stay-at-home mom full time-

Ok, so I have mastered the art of taking all three kids to run errands, to the water park, to the store, to the gym, etc. What I haven't quite figured out yet is how to get my floors mopped and my lawn mowed while all three are home and awake...because did I mention that NO ONE takes naps anymore? Ok, that is an exaggeration...Connlaodh takes one every other day, but the other two are damn near nap-free. Which means that my floors will never get cleaned....

I did manage to keep the kitchen sink clean this week. Ha ha. No dishes, white was sparkling- the whole shebang. Next week's goal is to keep the laundry piles below waist high. Ha!

Though I wasn't terribly "productive" this week, I did get some pics of the kids playing in the (long) grass in the backyard...

First Day of Summer Vacation...

Eibhlin spelled her name with confidence:

and Connlaodh made his first attempt at "I Love You":

and Taidhgin...well, I don't have any video of what Taidhgin did today, but let's just say that I couldn't have gotten through the day without his help... :-)

Scottish Festival 2008

We took the kids to the Scottish Festival this past Friday...we go every year and the kids always have a good time. We made it around to the Glengarry (?) Tent to listen to Seamus Stout (one of the regulars at the fest)- the kids all had a great time letting the music move them... ha ha...

Here are Taidhgin and Eibhlin letting loose...

And here is brother bear with a pirouette of his own- ha!

Well, tomorrow is the first official day of summer break...and the start of the first summer home with all three kiddos. Wish me luck!

Trace Adkins - Then They Do

Not much to say about this one...just listen.

Some Moments from the Past Week

Eibhlin had her first Elite Dance Prep Class tonight. She had a new teacher, was the youngest in her class of 8 (the girl older than her was a YEAR older and there were several who were almost 2 years older), was in a different classroom, etc., etc. I thoroughly expected her to stand there in her famous "civil disobedience" pose- arms close in, nails in mouth, grimace on her face. However, she watched and listened, did everything her instructor asked (as much as that little 3 year old body could, anyway) and did it all with a look of determination. She hugged me hard during a break in class, looked me in the eye- with those huge brown eyes- and said, "I am listening real good for you, Mommy. Am I making you happy?" OF COURSE YOU ARE, KITTEN.

Connlaodh, more apt to bite you than kiss you, leaned in to me today, grabbed both my cheeks with those big ol' bear paws, and kissed my nose. Of course he then managed to ruin the moment by throwing his head back, smacking into the wall, and then screaming "DOWN!".....but at least I had that ONE moment with my little grizzly bear. :-)

(Speaking of the younger two, here they are cleaning the house this past Sunday- ha ha)

And Taidhgin...on Sunday I got a glimpse of what life will be like for him in not too many years, i.e. being the "big kid" surrounded by a bunch of babies. We went to a birthday party and he was among the older kids there...and there was a moment when- among the insanity of the toddlers and pre-schoolers throwing water balloons haphazardly and running around like loons- he looked around at the younger kids, looked at me, and then shrugged his shoulders and sighed with a smile. It was like he had sneaked a peek into that big kid world- a world where the kids just a few years younger than you are no longer playmates and have instead become pests.