Prom 2015: Conor & Emily

My Son, the Thespian

For those of you who don't care to see videos of Someone Else's Grandkid, turn back now!



Here is my oldest son Scott in three clips from their high school production of Funny Girl, posted here for family and friends who couldn't attend the show.The still photo in front of the American Flag is of Scott, Kurt (who played Nick Arnstein), and the musical director. There is a photo of Scott and his former kindergarten teacher, who is the beloved and devoted costume director, and the last photo is of Scott and his maternal grandmother.

Christmas Highlights

Christmas Eve was spent at Pap & Mam's house, and we didn't get home until 10:30. Of course, everybody was so hopped up on sugar, excitement, and new toys, so bedtime was extra challenging.

We told them it wasn't going to snow on Christmas, but probably rain instead. This is Clare & Theresa pretending to make mud angels. They kind of look like chalk outlines instead...

This is a short video of Noelle playing with a new toy. It has a revving engine sound, so I put it up on the table to put masking tape over the speaker, so it wouldn't drive us quite so crazy. I left it on the table, and I found her there a few minutes later.

Every time I tried to get her upstairs, she'd frantically cry "No! No! No! Pwaying! Pwaying!"

Once everybody was nestled snug in their beds, I got the stockings stuffed. If we hung them on the wood stove, they'd incinerate, and they don't have hanging loops anyway, so we settle for the couch.

Some of us wouldn't be opening our stockings until later in the day, so those stockings were placed safely out of reach.

The peaceful house on Christmas Eve.


Clare was the first one up on Christmas Day...
Yes, she's wearing the same dress as Christmas Eve. She slept in it. In fact, she's been wearing it for the past three days. The girl's got some Christmas spirit.

Let's see what I got...

Didja get anything good?

Ahhh...nothing like a ring pop first thing in the morning.
Somebody found the candy dish, too.

Guess who was up a little too late and a little too early?
Brian & Conor received mad awesome nerf dart guns. This is all I saw of them for most of the day... I can't tell you how many times I was ambushed by the little creeps.

Of course, no holiday would be complete without this treasured family tradition...

Yes, he really DOES chase them around the house with a naked, dead turkey. See? He's not a Big Mean Daddy ALL of the time!

The Thanksgiving Puppy

On a cold Thanksgiving day, a puppy wandered, lost and
lonely, through the streets of town. As he turned a corner, there in front of him was a busy parking lot, bustling with cars and people doing last-minute shopping before Thanksgiving dinner. "Aha! Here is a place where I will find someone to love me!" the puppy thought. But not one person had time to stop for the poor, lost puppy. People walked right past him, ignored him, and chased him away. He had to dodge shopping carts, cars, and skateboards. Sometimes somebody would stop to pet the puppy or talk to him. But nobody wanted to take the puppy home.

Then a nice lady noticed him. "Maybe she will take me home!" the puppy hoped. But the lady left him outside as she walked into the store. Sadly, the puppy kept sniffing and searching the parking lot for someone to love him. When the nice lady returned to her car with her groceries, she saw some mean kids teasing the puppy. She walked over, chased the kids away, and said, "You poor puppy...have you been here all day? I don't want you to get hurt by a car. Do you want to come home with me?" The puppy wagged his tail happily and hopped into her car. Her children were so surprised and happy when she brought the puppy home, and they all lived happily ever after.

That's pretty much how it happened.

Except for the Big Mean Daddy who wouldn't let them keep the puppy. After two days they found a nice man (we hope) who took the puppy, and the children cried and cried. One of them even locked herself, sobbing, in the bathroom, and walks around clutching a framed picture of the puppy who lived with them for 48 hours.

Sheesh. So much for a good deed.

Thanksgiving pictures

A rare group shot with every one of the cousins!
Standing: Kaitlyn, Megan, Scott, Brian
Seated: Conor, Clare, Noelle, Michael, Anna, Theresa, Bella, Milo, Adele, Sarah, Natalie






...and the men responsible for it all!

Vince, Michael, John, Andy

Our Twin Story

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea for me to write this down, before I forget everything... but please, don't think you have to read it all. It's just someone else's boring pregnancy and birth story.

Brief recap - We married in early July 1990, and by mid-July we were expecting our first child. Heck, we were just kids ourselves (fresh out of college, only 22!) and we were over the moon with excitement. We knew we wanted a large family, but the family joke is that we never exactly pinned down what "large" meant!

Our first four were born in 1991, 1993, 1996 and 1998. They weren't exactly "planned," but they were definitely welcome. We were just going with the flow. After Mister Four, I thought I'd had enough (no sniggering, please) and wanted to consider a tubal ligation. My husband asked if I'd consider Natural Family Planning instead, since sterilization and contraception are contrary to our faith. We learned and practiced NFP since that time, but since then God has opened my heart and enriched our lives with 4 more children that never would have existed if I'd been "fixed." Or rather, "broken," as my husband likes to correct.

We also started homeschooling around the same time we learned NFP (the same couple that taught us NFP also inspired us to homeschool). And although life kept getting crazier and crazier, somehow we made room in our hearts and our home for another (2001). And another (2003).

After six kids, homeschooling the older ones started to get more intense and time-consuming. I thought that our family should have been complete. Or more accurately, I just couldn't take any more and was ready to drive off a bridge. Hey, I never claimed to be a saint! And so the news of #7 didn't make my heart leap with delight. (picture mild catatonia instead) I moped around, cried a lot, thought "Why me, Lord? Can't you bless someone else for a change?"

But He wasn't finished with me yet. At 13 weeks, I felt that I might be leaking amniotic fluid, so the OB fit me in for an unscheduled ultrasound to measure my fluid. And it was then that she uttered those memorable words - "I think there might be more than one baby in there." I remember saying in a shaky voice "Well, do you think you could find out for sure??

She went to find the other OB in the practice to have her come in for a consult, to make sure it wasn't just ultrasound waves reflecting off bone. But she was gone an awfully long time. So I did what came naturally - grabbed the ultrasound wand and started moving it around my belly, trying to see what she saw. After many unsuccessful tries, I realized that I was looking in the wrong place. My tummy might have been poking out already, but my uterus was still way down in my pelvis, behind my pubic bone. So once I figured out where to look, I found them. Both of them. I felt like laughing, but it's hard to keep the ultrasound wand steady when your belly is bouncing up and down with laughter. I had pins and needles all over my body, and I just couldn't take my eyes off those amazing little blobs.

When the OBs returned (catching me red-handed) and confirmed the multiple pregnancy, I kept asking them for a blanket, asking if the air conditioning was turned up too high. One of them said "No, honey...you're in shock." Remember, iIt was the middle of June.

I had never even entertained the idea of twins before that day. This is because I never thought there was the remotest possibility I'd ever have them, and I'm too pragmatic to waste time and energy on the impossible. There are no twins anywhere on our family trees, and back then I thought that's the only way you got them. So I drove home (in a trance of disbelief) with a copy of the ultrasound as proof, and faxed it to my husband. He called me back in a few minutes, hooting and giggling. Giggling! I also phoned my best GF right away, since I was the first person she called 4 years earlier when she learned that she was having twins.

It is improbable and amazing, but finding out there was more than one baby completely turned my attitude around. Instead of despairing, I was elated and so excited. I don't know why this was so, but having twins completely changed everything.

Being in my late 30s, the OBs were naturally overcautious and pessimistic about my chances. They had me psyched up for bedrest and prematurity. But the pregnancy unfolded without complications. They were monozygotic (identical) twins with separate placentas, which to me was the best of combinations. I got to have identical twins (how cool is that?) without the danger of TTTS. They grew well, were each as big as a single baby would have been, and we made it to 38 weeks. I even went shopping on Black Friday, and was Christmas Eve mall shopping two days before the birth (although I moved like my arthritic grandmother). My blood pressure started to climb toward the end, so they scheduled a delivery before my BP could cause complications.

I didn't even think to take any pictures until the third trimester. Here I am at 31, 35 and 38 weeks. In retrospect I can see my face getting heavier and heavier. I guess I was retaining more fluid than I thought. I was also as hot as a blast furnace, day and night, couldn't breathe lying down, and had world-class indigestion for the last trimester. I spent many nights sleeping sitting up in a recliner.

The twins kept changing positions, but toward the end Natalie turned head up and stayed there. The OB told me that if I tried for a vag delivery I had a 50% chance of needing a c-section for the second twin if she didn't turn. The prospect of emergency surgery immediately following labor and delivery was not appealing. I decided to go with the odds and just have the surgery.

They were going to induce me on Dec. 29, 2006, but a few hours after midnight on Christmas, I had a coughing fit which broke my water. Did I mention I had bronchitis? For the previous two weeks I coughed my guts out every time I tried to lie down. I was really becoming a miserable sot, hugely pregnant with twins, hadn't had a night's rest in how long.

There weren't any contractions yet, so we putzed around the house and tried to rest until daylight. We live 22 miles from the hospital. The L&D nurses knew we'd be in around 7:00, and they reserved an operating room for 9:00. I think having my belly shaved was the weirdest part of the preparations. Once I was on the table, the bronchitis started bothering me something terrible. I hacked away like crazy whenever I tried to lie down. Finally the anesthesiologist gave me an albuterol inhaler. After a few puffs, no more coughing.

The babies were extracted at 9:15 and 9:17 a.m. on December 26, 2006. Our original due date was January 11, 2007, and I was really hoping to hang on to have the New Year's Babies. Our newspaper gives lots of prizes for the Baby New Year. And I could have had double prizes!!! But noooOOOooo.... Noelle was closer to the exit, so she became The First Noelle. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz. Natalie was 6 lbs 13 oz.

It was my first section, and I thought it was a piece of cake. I've had natural births, epidurals, painful births after ineffective epidurals, inductions, nubain, morphine...I've even choked down a small bottle of castor oil, straight, to try to get an overdue baby to start moving out. (Hint - it worked, but don't do it unless you're a fan of explosive diarrhea. Or at least mix it with juice.) Honestly, the c-section was one of the best birth experiences I've had. The first day was awful, coming off of the morphine, but I healed very well and I can't say it was that much worse than the others.

We stayed in the hospital 4 days (I faked constipation to score an extra day) and I let the nurses take the babies as much as possible so I could rest. I never did that with the other kids - heck, once I checked myself out 12 hours after delivering so I wouldn't have to be away from my 2yo a minute longer than necessary (you fool) - but I knew once I came home there wouldn't be a moment's peace.

The whole first year is a blur. I can't pinpoint a single memory. Thank God I have pictures. I wasn't very good at tandem breastfeeding and I felt too exposed while doing it, so I nursed them one at a time. Then Natalie decided at 4 months that she didn't like nursing and shunned me completely, taking bottles for the next 6 months. At 10 months, she changed her mind again, and they both continued nursing sporadically until their 2nd birthday.


I do remember feeling overly protective and a little sorry for Natalie. She had jaundice worse than Noelle, so in the early pictures it's easy to tell them apart. Natalie's the orange one. She also was a better sleeper, soothed herself from early on by sucking her fingers, and once she started taking bottles, demanded very little special attention from me. I felt like she was being neglected, because Noelle was (and still is) so terribly fussy and demanding, crying all the time. It was mixed blessing that Natalie quit nursing, because Noelle thought both "nursers" belonged to her anyway. We used to call Natalie the Good Baby and Noelle the Butt Baby, because she was such a pain in the butt. Noelle really got the majority of our attention in those days. So my heart still has a soft spot for my little Natalie, who kept herself happy and asked so little of us.

Not The End.

Autumn Moments

A craft project that went awry...

These were supposed to be orange jack-o-lantern shirts, but the box of dye that was labeled "Sunshine Orange" ended up more sunshine than orange. Oh well, at least now they aren't limited to wearing the shirts only once a year.

Brian, Conor, Clare & Theresa
in authentic Lithuanian costume,
posing with Bishop Kevin Rhodes
of the Diocese of Harrisburg.

Presenting our last-minute, "what do we have that fits?"
2008 Halloween costume creations:

Clare (queen) and Noelle (space cadet)

Theresa (unicorn) and Natalie (clown)

Natalie had to quit after about 5 houses, because this is all she wanted to do every time somebody put candy in her bag:

Sarah as an accident victim, and Dad as John Klemick.

It's time to break out the winter hats, gloves, etc.

Noelle was kind enough to model for us.

Gee, if I were looking for twins, where would I look first?

Here is Noelle, playing puppy fetch with a baby doll. Sarah babysat for a few hours, and this is one of the fun things they did together.

And speaking of Sarah, here's my two biggest babies:

Clare has been doing online reading lessons at Headsprout since March. It cost about a hundred bucks to enroll her, but I justified the expense by admitting that with the twins now toddlers, I just couldn't find the time to give everybody all the time they needed with me every day. Sending them all to school was an option, of course, but I'm not ready to give up on the homeschooling dream yet, and I know this phase with the twins will not last forever. I just have to outlast them....

Anyway, she's been plodding along through the lessons and has completed 65 out of 80 total. And last week, something miraculous happened. . . she discovered that she can actually read things that aren't part of the Headsprout program. Literally overnight she has turned into a raving fanatical bookworm. She has, for the most part, eschewed television and playing and even sleeping. She reads inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs, bright light, low light... I swear, she's going to need glasses by the end of the month.

Overnight, her world paradigm has shifted and so much has opened up to her. I always feel so privileged to witness an everyday miracle like this.

Sarah, 17

Happy 5th Birthday Theresa!

Theresa recently celebrated her 5th birthday!



We welcome Uni to the family



Thus begins the babies' fascination with blowing out candles:

Clare's Salon Party

For Clare's 7th birthday, we took her and 5 friends to a salon to have hair and nails done. The party lasted two hours, but it seemed more like 15 minutes, and it seemed that everybody had fun.

Clare and Theresa were first in the chairs.

Heidi and Anna

Then it was "Nail Time"

Sarah, Grace, Scott and Theresa

Glamming it up - Mary, Clare and Heidi

The Cousins - Addie, Clare, Anna and Theresa

Addie, Clare, Heidi, Anna, Theresa & Mary

Have you ever seen this much glamour in one place?

Amber, Heidi, Mary, Clare and Theresa, Addie, Anna