Six With Sticks

Our littlest girl is turning 5 next week.  I can’t believe how much sass there is in one little package.  And what a smile.  So much emotion she can pack into that little dimple.

In honor of our youngest princess turning five, I am going to tell the story of Maggie’s birth.

Marcia and I put a contract in on a house and it was accepted.  Between the time that we put the contract in and the time we moved into the house, Marcia became pregnant with Maggie.  She would be the first of our children born in the new house.  And the first of our children that did not get to meet her great grandmothers.

With Maggie, we found out that we were having a little girl.  Once we decided on the name, I heard a lot of Rod Stewart on the radio, “Wake up, Maggie, I think I’ve got something to say to you!”

In the late stages of the pregnancy, all the doctors told us that Maggie had a huge head and was going to be a huge baby.  Up until that point, Noah was our biggest baby at 7 pounds 11 ounces.  But this baby was supposed to be bigger than that.  Uh oh.  Luckily, turns out the docs were wrong.

When we went to the hospital to deliver Maggie, we figured smooth sailing.  We’d been there before.  Done that.  But, when the anesthesiologist gave Marcia some dose of medication, she started to fade away while he was out of the room.  Her blood pressure dropped and she drifted away.  He came in, adjusted something and came back.  But pretty scary.

Everything else went smooth and Maggie was born late in the morning.  And her grandmothers were ready to greet her.

At home, her sisters and brother could not wait to meet her.  When we brought her home, she reminded us of Elizabeth.  We didn’t get a lick of sleep that first night.  I paced around the room, holding Maggie and trying to soothe her.  She liked the sound of my voice, but kept us up all night.

5 years later, and Maggie still has daddy wrapped around her finger.  Nowadays, she loves to sing and dance, and her favorite thing to call her brothers and sisters is Jerkface!  It is so cute when she says it.

She has been talking about her birthday party for months, no years.  So we better plan something fun!

Miracle is a misnomer, and I probably shouldn’t use it.  But that is what this game last night will probably eventually be called.  The Ravens were given no chance by anyone.  Not one sportswriter in America picked the Baltimore Ravens last night to defeat Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, who were on an 11 game winning streak and were given a 9-10 point favor by oddsmakers.

But that is why you play the game.  The game was epic.  At the end of the 1st quarter, 14-14, 21-21 at half, and 28-28 through 3 quarters.  In a game of fantastic plays, which saw the Ravens take a pick 6, the Broncos return a punt for a touchdown, and the Broncos starting the 2nd half with a kickoff return for TD, the game’s biggest play was yet to come.

With 44 seconds on the clock, the Ravens were down 35-28, on their own 30 yd line, and counted out.  Flacco steps up in the pocket and unloads a deep ball, travels 55 yards in the air, before Jacoby Jones catches it and runs into the end zone to tie the game.  (Check out the video)  Amazing.  In the 2nd OT, Corey Graham intercepts Peyton Manning, the greatest quarterback of all time, to set up the winning field goal by a rookie kicker, Justin Tucker.

Was this game a miracle?  I am not sure.  But, I have never been more in awe of a man than I am in Ray Lewis.  He is the spiritual leader of this team.  He has gotten these men to focus, to believe in themselves, and to become a team of destiny.  He is touted as the best defensive player to ever play the game.  I have never seen a man though have such a profound effect on a team or on a city is he has.  He announced his retirement a week and a half ago, and has called this his last ride.  We all hope it doesn’t end.  (Ray’s postgame press conference)

If there is one thing i will miss about my career, it will be to listen to what people say you can’t do, and then go do it.

Marcia and I watched the game with 4 of the kids (Liz and Edie were at friends’ houses).   The elation we all shared was real.  Poundcake – French Fries!  Noah wants to play football.  I am glad we’re able to see Ray’s last ride.  I hope we never forget it.

January 1st.  I think we did more rolling with the punches than ringing in the new year this go around.  Our plan was to be at the beach and celebrate with the family, then polar bear plunge in the morning. 

However, Jack developed a nasty case of bronchitis.  He was having major trouble breathing and couldn’t kick a fever.  We decided it was beyond what we could handle at home, and decided to take him to the emergency room, in Baltimore.  So, on New Year’s Eve, we packed up from the beach and came home, dropping Marcia and Jack off at the Johns Hopkins’ ER on the way.

At 11, Marcia called to let me know that she was being discharged.  Woohoo!  We all piled in the car and went to pick her up.  We hurried so that we could get them all home and watch the ball drop together.  Bad news I’m afraid.  They changed plans and decided not to discharge him at the last minute.  Marcia was going to fight it, but it was going to take a few more hours.  So we pulled away to go home.

On the way, we decided to drive by the inner harbor to see the fireworks.  Major traffic issues.  So we saw some of the fireworks as we drove out of town.  At midnight, the 3 girls were awake, Luke and Noah were snoozing. 

When we got home at 12:20, I let the kids have some sparkling cider and ice cream that we bought while Jack went into the hospital.

At around 1:30, Marcia called to have me pick them up.  This time for real.  I left the kids at home this time, and went to get them.  We were all home within an hour, car unpacked from the beach, and everybody put to bed.

Jack is still pretty sick, but we are now able to care for him at home, and we think he is on the mend.

Happy New Year!  Despite the changed plans and everyone not being together for new year’s, I am thankful this morning for all that we have.

Becoming a tradition for the Kennedys.  Get up early on Thanksgiving morning and go for a run.  There were over 1000 runners this year!

Liz and Dad coming to the finish line

There were 5 runners from the Kennedy family this year – me, Liz, Eden, Bobby and Erin. I ran with Elizabeth and Mackenzie Bell, and Erin, Bobby and Eden ran together.  Somehow, Mackenzie was separated from Liz and I (we thought she was way ahead of us, but turns out she was behind).  The other three stuck together beginning to end.

Eden coming into the finish

It was a tough course, toughest we’ve run as a family.  But we all finished!  What a group of little runners we are!  There were lots of families in on the tradition this year – Bells, Wrisks, Millers, Hipszers and Liggetts.  Lots of fun on Thanksgiving morning.

High five Eden! Slap hands!

Liz ended up finishing tops of the 10 and under and Eden finished 4th 8 year old female – Race Results

It has been a tradition since Elizabeth was born that I read to all of the kids on the night before Christmas.  I always read the same version of Twas the Night Before Christmas, by Clement C Moore.  And then we put them to bed.

Well, this year, they have been in anticipation for days leading up to it, and they have found the book and had it out so we don’t have to go hunting for it on Christmas Eve.  But I realized this year that we have 3 little readers in the house now.  And they have been asking for a few years if they can read the book.  I’ve been stubborn and said no.  But this year, I’ve had a change of heart.  And so we took turns …

When I was a kid, I used to read lots of books.  I liked science fiction and fantasy, and read a lot of Piers Anthony, and I liked all of JRR Tolkien’s books.  As I was in GT, I had some friends on the nerdy side, like me.  And they liked these books too.  I remember someone’s birthday party in middle school where we watched a marathon of the animated movies of the Lord of the Rings.

Well, in the last decade, Peter Jackson has released movies of all of the Lord of the Rings’ books.  They are awesome.  Marcia and I bought all of the special edition DVDs and we watch them occasionally, most recently on a late Christmas Eve night.

Two weeks ago, Peter Jackson also released The Hobbit in theatres.  Wow!  We haven’t seen it yet, but I had an idea.  A few weeks ago, I went to my parents house and found my old book on the bookshelf in my old room and we started reading it aloud with the kids at night.  I want to read it with them and then go see it in the theater.

Great idea, right?!  Well, clearly some are interested and some are not.  Jack, Luke and Maggie are too young to be interested, but Noah, Eden and Liz are definitely hooked.  When we read in bed, they curl up next to me and hang on every word.  Noah will close his eyes and for ten minutes I’ll think he’s asleep; then I ask him something and he answers and I realize he is intently listening to every word.  Elizabeth and Eden are taking turns with Marcia and me reading aloud to the rest of the family.  And Liz has even taken the book to bed at night and read ahead a few chapters.

A few years ago, I remember a friend telling me that he and his wife read a Harry Potter book to each other, taking turns reading aloud.  I thought it kind of silly at the time, because I had always thought reading a solitary thing, and so many other things Marcia and I liked to do together than read.  But I am really enjoying this.  Not only is it something the whole family is doing together, in the same room and the same focus.  But, we are using oratory skills and listening skills, which once commonplace, are not used as often in today’s society.

I hope we finish before the movie is no longer in theaters.  I am writing this post early in the morning and I hope everyone wants to read when they wake up!

The Kennedy Six on Christmas morning

Christmas has come and gone.  Not a lot of drama this year.  Papa Kennedy was released from the hospital a few days earlier from his kidney stone operation.  He learned in the hospital that he is diabetic and had an atrial fibrillation, which was corrected before he was discharged.  And his diet was the only real topic of conversation of any possible drama at the elder Kennedy household.  The siblings have all decided that mom is an enabler, as she keeps bringing him food with sugar in it.  I hear that a diabetic diet is difficult to understand, and clearly mom and dad are struggling with it.  I can see that dad has no idea what he should eat, and I feel his pain on this.  Bob and marcia seem to understand what he should be eating and want to be helpful, but we will all go away in a few days, and mom and dad will need to be able to fend for themselves.

Coach K on Christmas

Still, despite dad being tired and just released from the hospital, they put on a great holiday for their children and grandchildren.  We all had a great time with each other.  And then the eight of us went to Marcia’s mom’s house and Marcia’s aunt’s house.  I fell asleep on the couch at Marcia’s mom’s house.  I didn’t mean to, and it was awfully rude to do so.  I woke up shortly before we were leaving, and started talking football with Rick.  I really enjoyed talking with Rick and it was just a short visit for me.  I wish I had not been so tired or at least not given into it.  I felt bad, they were expecting lots of guests from his family and from hers, but it was just us, and Bonnie stopped by.  There was lots of leftover food.  Anna Rose left him there to wait to see if his family would post, and came with us to Joan’s.

Jack’s First Christmas

We had a good old time at Joan’s house.  Pop was very interested in Jack and even held him for a while.  The kids are getting older, almost old enough for the bar games in the basement.  Liz and Noah played foosball and pool!

The kids were very well behaved throughout the day.  And they were helpful.  I am so proud of the way they are acting lately.  I love my job as their father.  Such a wonderful time, Christmas is.  And I intend to use my time off from work to dedicate it just to the family.

Helter skelter week.  Spent two days without power.  Had a flooded basement.  Halloween without Marcia, and without the oldest girls.  Okay, I need to stop right there.

This was the most disappointing Halloween I’ve had.  Made me realize that we probably will not have another Halloween when all of our kids trick or treat together.  Marcia had class.  Since we were out of power and the kids hadn’t showered in a few days, Marcia sent Eden and Liz over to the Baecks to trick or treat with them and spend the night.  They had a great time, but I missed them dearly.

I did have my own fun.  I took Noah, Maggie, Luke and Jack trick or treating around the neighborhood.  They were a lumberjack, kitty cat, choo choo (Thomas) and lion, respectively.  It was very cute to see Luke excitedly run up to each door.  He grabbed candy out of the boxes and he said, “Thank you.”  Noah and Maggie had the most fun.  After hitting our neighborhood, we went over to Joan and Greg’s.

When we got home, the younger ones fell asleep, and Noah wanted to wait up for Liz and Eden.  Our power had come back on, and we had them come home instead of spend the night out.  He waited by the front door for nearly an hour.  He wanted to spend Halloween with his sisters.  He said that he had done that every Halloween.  And he wanted to trade candy with them before he went to bed (gluten free and non-peanut candy).

When the girls got home, Eden traded candy with Noah, and we put them all to bed.  It turned out to be a good Halloween, but nothing like previous ones.

So, okay, enough with my Halloween digression.  We go to Walt Disney World tomorrow.  The crazy week has definitely put a damper on our planning.  One day to go, still lots of laundry to do and lots of packing.  It will be a whirlwind.  Since we’re driving, I will need a good night’s sleep tonight.  We count on Marcia to do most of this, and she has an exam tomorrow morning before we leave.  I hope we get everything done in time.  Because we’ve been looking forward to this vacation for many months.