Life is Nuts

Life is insane, as usual.

My fabulous husband went back to work Monday. Hooray for rejoining the ranks of the employed. On the down side, I am back to being the only adult around during the day. No more leaving the kids home while I go run errands. He also showed the kids the woods and creek behind the house. It is now common to have missing children, only to holler out the back door and wait for three little, very dirty hooligans to come trooping back up from the creek.

Thomas is doing well in school. He loves to read and reads to all of us often. Shocker, the kid needed glasses. One of these days we will get a picture up.

Jerry is Jerry. Less than a year until he is in school and we are all looking forward to the day.

Michael is no longer a baby. He looks so much like Jerry even I get them mixed up sometimes.

I am still teaching music and loving it. I am also doing well with Pampered Chef and loving that too. It is nice to get paid to have fun.

Currently I have two little hooligans in the back yard, still wearing their feety pajamas. Neither one wants to get dressed. I am quite enjoying the hysterical laughter coming through the open door. Love this weather! Wait, kids outside, laughter, this can't be good. Yikes, gotta run!

Biker Boys

Saturday we all went out for a little mini adventure.

My fabulous husband rides a motorcycle. It is his fun and stress relief. I call him the flying bumblebee because his bike is yellow and he wears a yellow jacket and black pants. He says he is the stunt driver for the Fire Department. Lest you worry about him, he wears safety gear from head to toe.

One of his fun things with the bike is an online biker forum. Not your Hell's Angels or other bad image kind of group. A bunch of middle age careful riders who have fun going out to dinner or chasing pictures. A fun game they play is called TAG. He does the NC tag, but there are other states and even a US tag. Someone posts a picture of their bike at a random location. They don't give much by way of details. The object is to get a picture of your bike in the same location. Then you have to be the first one to post your picture, and you are not allowed to use a previously taken picture. If you are first, you get to post your bike at a new location within 24 hours. My fabulous husband has caught several in the past and we have fun hunting them down from the couch to see if he can go chase it. We call them the Arm Chair Tag Getters. Sometimes someone gets it posted first and you get bruced, but it is still fun.

Anyway, now that you know the game, you can understand the fun. Remember that motorcycle Jerry got for his birthday? Well, here it is again.

My fabulous husband got the tag Saturday morning and we were trying to come up with a new fun one to post for the next chaser to get. He had wanted to get a picture at this location, so I suggested packing up the hooligans and taking then along for the ride and a fun picture.


Cute? Yeah, I think so too.
Jerry with his helmet, or hemet as he says, or haaaaaa as Michael says, and his gloves. It is not unusual to find him riding the bike around the house with a jacket, cowboy boots, mittens, and some sort of head gear. At least he wears all his gear to protect from those rug burns.

The whole crew on the side of the road.

Isn't he cute on the bike too? He's another mitten and cowboy boot kid. Maybe he will get his own bike for his birthday next week.

And then the camera died.

Sorry Thomas. We love you, but the batteries didn't hold out for you. You're too big for the little bike anyway. Maybe we can get a picture of him on his bike next to daddy on the big bike.

We all had fun, which is what the tags are all about.

Random unrelated bit of information that is slightly related... This is the baseball team I sing for. The kids were quite upset we didn't get to go see a game this time. Sorry kids, season is over.

What fun family adventures have you taken recently?

Lighten Up

I know you are totally jealous of me. You should be. Now, to enlighten you as to why you are jealous of me, yet again.

I have under-counter lighting. My kitchen is so bright and happy and cheerful. My counters are clean, for now. My stove top is clean, for now. The hooligans are smiling and oh so excited to be in a picture. Everything is put away and neat. At least so far as you can see. There is a reason the picture is of part of my kitchen and not the entire kitchen. Must keep disasters out of sight. If I don't post it, it must not exist.

Yes, my husband is fabulous. He is crafty. He is handy.

I think I will keep him.

I will loan him out, for a fee.

Now wipe that drool off your chin and come visit us in my nice, bright, lit-up kitchen. I'm baking, again. Molten lava cakes and chocolate cookies with mini Reese's Pieces. Yummy.

Please pardon the Chick-fil-A sandwich wrapper in the background. Today was yet another free food day. Wear your team logo and get a free sandwich. Two rounds in the restaurant and one round of drive-thru window. Free CFA, we're so there.

Nice Night

Tonight was wonderful around here. We were able to go to the temple this evening, which we are now able to do the first Saturday of the month. Hooray, we are finally regulars! We are so glad they decided to try adding this time to the schedule since it works perfect for our insane life. Our sitters are great, and tonight we had three. I can only imagine the fun the kids had with so many fun people around this evening. Thanks guys!

I am a bit of a control freak. I know, you had no idea. It makes me nuts when I don't know where I am going or what we are doing. Change plans on me and I might just blow a gasket. I just don't deal too well with things like this. Not to say I don't like surprises, but when I am expecting one thing, I get thrown for a loop with the change.

My fabulous husband is well aware of my control freakishness. He very much enjoys exploiting it. On the way home we were moving along on cruise control. Um, that was our exit. I know, he says. Then we pass the next exit option. What is going on? He just smiles and keeps throwing out possibilities that aren't really possibilities. No, dear, we aren't getting gas since BJ's closed at 9 and that was 30 minutes ago.

Not until we are almost pulling in front of Cold Stone do I figure out what he has up his sleeve. My fabulous husband surprised me with Cold Stone ice cream on the way home. You can bet I had a coupon too. He even let me get a waffle cone bowl. So yummy. Yup, he knows what makes me happy.

I think I just might keep him. He's pretty good to me.

COLOR

We just got home from a wonderful week at the beach with lots of family and fun, posting to come, of course. Usually Tyler only makes it for a couple days, so he entertains himself while we are gone. With no kids around it is the perfect time for various projects that collect over time. Several years ago he painted some dressers that I got a great deal on, but they were not too pretty to look at. It is one thing for me to sand them with hooligans running around, but quite another to try and paint them. Last year he just worked lots of crazy hours. Sometimes the project is a surprise, others the projects are things I ask him to do. This year the project was a surprise. He took Jerry out to run errands while I was teaching. Yes, my husband is so great he takes kids away for me to teach music lessons. He worked all week and ended up taking more time than anticipated on his surprise project. When we got home today he walked in first with loads of stuff and I was close behind. What a surprise greeted me. MY WALLS ARE PAINTED A COLOR OTHER THAN WHITE!!!! Tyler painted downstairs a beautiful color. The music room is still white, but I like the visual separation of the dining room one color and the music room another. Each time I walk out and see the colors, I can't help but smile. Now aren't you jealous that my husband is so good to me? Not only did he paint the walls, but he used satin finish paint, so it will clean easy and without taking the paint off like the nasty flat stuff that builders use. My house is so fabulous and beautiful and I am beside myself excited about it. Stop in and take a look.

Funny note, the color is called "Holmes Cream." Maybe it is a cream that helps generate perma-grin. And no, he didn't pick the color for the name, he just sort of groaned when he realized the name of the color he picked. We have a habit of doing things like that without meaning to.

Today

Today is Tyler's birthday. He's old.

This morning I was making his lunch and breakfast. He came downstairs and started laughing. I had my shirt on backwards. Painfully, obviously, backwards. It is a shirt from one of my races and has all the sponsors on the back, well, front this morning.

I am making a German Chocolate Cake. It is his favorite. I have never even attempted one. I am not using a box or can frosting. I can't stand coconut.

All the kids are home now. It is summer break. Kids are thrilled, parents not so much.

I made sourdough bread this morning. Right now it is just dough, and it has to rise for 12 hours, then another 12 hours. We'll have yummy warm bread for breakfast tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day.

NOT so impressive

Here I was, basking in the impressiveness of myself as stated by good friends, when karma or something like it came and bit me in the rear. Shall we begin the tale?

I am not a morning person. Don't test this statement, just take it as truth. If you are a testing kind of person, I suggest you do research by contacting those who experience me in the mornings, rather than testing me. Family and friends have plenty of horror stories to share, I am sure. However, as much as I am not a morning person, I am a devoted and caring wife. Need proof? I get up every stinkin' morning, sometimes before the sun is up, even when it is cold or snowing or raining, even after kids were up sick all night, and make lunch and breakfast for my fabulous, hard-working husband. Yes, I am that nice.

I can't quite remember how the conversation started the other night, but it eventually came around to meals over the last few days. Tyler has had some issues getting out the door this week, including a dead battery on his work truck. Usually he is the one who puts all the goodies together on his bacon, egg, and cheese English muffin. Obviously, the truck battery took some time, so I put the sandwich together. Sort of. I forgot the top. OOPS. Turns out he discovered the missing sandwich top when he unwrapped his breakfast as he was about to pull out of the driveway. He says he almost called me to bring the top out, but decided it might be better to just leave me alone. This was probably a smart choice, seeing as I might have just stood at the door and chucked it at him, or maybe just told him in a not so nice way to come in and get it himself if he really wanted it. Yeah, best to just leave that one alone. "Thanks for breakfast, dear. Can't wait to see if breakfast is topless again tomorrow."

Not only did I mess up his breakfast, the day before I forgot to put granola bars in his lunch box. Drinks, check; sandwich, check; water, check; ice packs, check; brownies, check. On the day of the missing muffin top he was sure there would also be missing chewy sweetness, but I at least got that part right.

I had also made brownies this week. Yummy and chewy. I like the insides, he likes the outsides. We make a great brownie eating team. When Tyler got home from work the other day, though, he saw something he wasn't expecting. I had cut around the pan, leaving all the edges for him. What does he see? Half a pan of brownies, sort of, with a ring around them and part of the insides gone. Should have taken a picture of the pan and his face... that was a bit humorous too.

Needless to say, we got a serious laugh out of it all. I cried I laughed so hard. Not only was the entire situation funny, but my wonderful husband didn't plan on telling me about my mistakes with his breakfast and lunch. He must like me or something. Oh well, at least I tried. It's the thought that counts, right? And there were brownies to make it all better.

Gentlemen Prefer Blonds?

Do men really prefer blonds? I think we found the answer in our house. Well, sort of.

Last night I made Blondies. You don't know what blondies are?!?!? Shame on you. They are cookie bars or brownie type yummies made with brown sugar instead of white sugar. Oh, they are so good. I might even post my recipe later, if you ask nicely.

Back to the story. So Tyler asked me what I was cooking this time. I have been in a very munchy sweets garbage food mood lately (no bake cookies, oatmeal cookies, brownies, ice cream). No, I am not pregnant, before you start rumors.

Back to the story, again. Tyler asked what I was baking and I told him "blondies." He asked me again, and again I said "blondies, you like them." To which he replied, "I don't like blondies, I like brunetties!" *GROAN* I then asked if I should make regular brownies next, since he likes brunetties better. Sure, why not. Maybe I'll even put reddish frosting on them for some fake coloring...

I guess we all know now what he prefers, that is if we weren't clear on that before.

BTW, spell check went nuts with this post. For some reason it doesn't like blondies or brunetties. Must be diabetic.

99 Things

We found this on a friend's blog (hey Kory) and Tyler wanted me to post his list, so here goes. Who knows, you might find out something new about him, I did.

Here are the rules:
Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band(only if bebopping on live radio when I was 15 counts)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis( he may have been lunch for me)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (not organized, USMC)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise(Does a Naval Aircraft Carrier count?)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke(badly)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant(turns out she was already engaged)
44. Visited Africa(not much in the way of a vacation)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance-twice
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Redwoods
82. Bought a brand new car-no plan to, ever!!!
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury-maybe next month
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby-not able, thank heavens
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Who wants to play?

You may now pick yourselves up off the floor from the shock of 2 posts in one day and the fact that Tyler is voluntarily posting information about himself. Carry on with you day, just beware of the astonished look on your face that may remain for several hours.

Mondays, UGH

Mondays are no fun. Neither are mornings. Combine the two and you are asking for disaster in my world.

Yesterday started with no hot water. I had to take Jerry to Duke University for a study he was taking part in, so I kind of needed a shower before leaving for carpool. I am not one to enjoy a cold shower or find it invigorating. In the end, I shoved my head under the faucet and had a chilly hair washing session. As a result of the water incident, we ended up a bit behind schedule, only a minute or two, so not too bad. The kids had a pop tart morning for the sake of my sanity. Unfortunately, as we were walking out the door, little Michael dropped his in the garage. I didn't realize the "breakfast" had hit the floor, I stepped on it, and almost fell. Pick up the pieces, send Thomas back inside to grab another and we are out the door and on our way.

Wait, hold that thought, we are out the door, but far from on out way. As I was putting Michael in his seat, I noticed the seat belt was slack. Strange. I pulled on it to tighten it and the entire belt came through the seat. JERRY!!!! The little stinker had unbuckled Michael's seat at some point. Do you know how hard it is to re-buckle a seat with a child buckled in it already? Not easy, at all. Poor Michael got a bit squished in the ordeal.

By now, we are really running late. I told Thomas to hold Michael's pop tart until we got to pick up carpool, then to give it to Michael. As we pulled in the driveway I asked Thomas where the pop tart was. He held up 1/3 of a tart. The pill totally ignored what I said and ate his brother's breakfast. On the way to school Thomas and one of the girls got into it... again. That is another issue that I need to deal with. Those two seem to love to irritate each other. Of course, we can't forget the big sign on the mom mobile that says "please cut me off, drive slow, or do other irritating things, but especially drive slow... the slower the better."

The traffic report says there is a nasty backup on the freeway. Great. Wait, some good news?!?! My fabulous husband called and told me how to get around the mess. It worked and we had no trouble, other than the u-turn due to a missed turn. We also had computer issues, blog issues, and kids not eating dinner issues. Oh yeah, and I totally forgot that I had to take Tyler to class because I had to go to the store while he was gone and needed the mom mobile.

By the end of the day I was about to lose it. So, what do children do when mom is barely hanging on?!?! They push her over the edge, of course.

We had milkshakes earlier in the afternoon and Jerry didn't finish his. I put it in the freezer and he just got it whenever he wanted. Slight problem, when Jerry opens the fridge or freezer, Michael pulls out anything he sees. So, next thing I know there is a glass bottle of Soy Sauce hitting my floor. No breakage, thank goodness. Put everything back in and repeat several more times. Now we have 3 poopy boys (possible stomach bug coming on, great) to add to the mix. I just love poopy underwear, don't you? All kids clean, time to go to the store. Oh, wait, nevermind. Time to clean ice cream out of little boy HAIR. While I was helping Thomas clean up, the other two played with milkshakes and thought it would be fun to drip onto the floor or in each other's hair. Run over with wipes and we are out the door. Shopping at BJ's with 3 boys, so much fun (no sarcasm here, ever)!!! Potty stop for Jerry at BJ's. Problem, what do I do with the other two hooligans? "Thomas, stand here with Michael while I go help Jerry." Piddle, piddle in the potty, wash hands, out the door.... YES, they are both still standing there waiting for me.

I treated myself to Chick-fil-a and a gigantic Dr Pepper. The we put on a DVD in the mom mobile and headed to pick up daddy from school. I never do this around town, the DVD is for travel only, but desperate times and mommy's sanity called for breaking the rule this time. More disasters once we got home, including sick tummys and lots of laundry. Can't forget cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the bathroom, staying away from the broken bathroom, laundry, and not having a meltdown.

I don't know about you, but Mondays are just not my friend. It has to get better from here. I certainly don't want to know how it can get worse, that's for sure! I hope your Mondays are better than mine was. Off to deal with a nearly as rough Tuesday. LUCKY ME!!!

Photo Tag

Here you go Kory. You tagged me and I am actually doing it. The rules are:
1. Go to your pictures
2. Go to the 6th file folder
3. Select the 6th picture
4. Blog about it
5. Tag 6 peopleHere's the story behind the picture.
Tyler went to the beach with my family for our annual trip. While there he proposed and we were engaged. I am wrapped up in a blanket because I was cold, as usual. I have no idea who took this picture, but it is a fun one to have. We have many happy and fun memories of the Slingshot, our beach house (ok, not ours, but we like to claim it), and look forward to many more.

Tag: Erin, Stephanie, Kristen Holmes, Cousin Beth, Aunt Jean, Kristen (any other Kristen will do), and anybody else who wants to play along. I like this one, and it is easy.

Will you be my Valentine?

Valentine's Day is not a popular holiday around our house. Don't get me wrong, the concept is nice. Who wouldn't appreciate a day to focus on your love and mushy feelings for your special someone? However, what makes it such a ridiculous holiday is what it has become. Since when does the amount of money you spend justify your love. "The more you spend, the more you care" is disgusting. It has become a holiday that only exists for merchants (Christmas is falling into the same category, but that is a different post for a different season). Flowers only sent on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day... don't even bother with the effort. If you need a holiday to do something nice, at least pick our anniversary or something. Don't even waste your time and frustration to elbow your way through all the last minute shoppers to pick out the first card that sounds nice and then slap your name on it. Fine, pick a card, but at least write something meaningful inside. Do you really need Hallmark to tell you what to say? Really, flowers, cards, candies, jewelry, fine dining reservations appear in mass quantities for February 14. May Day is for flowers, cards are for sympathy or thinking of you, and candy is for Halloween.

Now, all these ill feelings for Valentine's Day do not mean the holiday is non-existent in our house. We have both been known to write sweet notes to each other. OK, I have been known to pick out a nice card and write a nice note inside. Once, long ago, I woke up to a huge "Happy Valentine's Day" written on the white board before Tyler left for work. We do nice things for each other, our kids, and other special people. No flowers here. Again, another story for another post (careful what you say when you are dating).

So, what was Valentine's Day like around the nut house today, you might ask? Well, for the past two days I was working on my special Valentine's treat for everybody. Time is worth more than money for things like this. Unfortunately, my super sleuth husband kept finding the pieces of the project. He wasn't out looking for them, just kept finding them. Finally last night I gave him the coolest idea ever. Too bad it didn't turn out right. It may not look right, but it sure tasted good! This morning, the kids woke up to the same super fun treat at their plates. We made french toast and bacon for the family for breakfast and ate together. For dinner we were going to order heart shaped pizzas from Papa John's (our favorite take out pizza that we never order because DiGiorno is so yummy and so much cheaper). Plans changed when I found bigger pizzas for less, so the idea remained, but the appearance changed.

Our Valentine's Day was perfect for us. So in the future, try and put a little more thought and a lot less commercialization into your holiday. We need to show our love every day, not just on Valentine's Day. A day to make an extra special effort is nice, so long as it isn't the only day. And celebrate your dinner out on a random day, trust me. The food is better and the service is better. Take that from a former restaurant employee that hated Valentine's Day from a whole other perspective.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU ALL!!!!

Students and Such

The latest and greatest around here is fantastic! Thomas got treasure box a few weeks ago, then he got it again last week. FINALLY!!! Unfortunately, we already blew it this week. He came home from school with a note that he had hit one of his friends.... in the nose.... with his fist. So much for two weeks in a row. We will just have to keep trying. At least we are on the improvement track. Tyler is now registered for classes and starts a math class in January. My little boy is all grown up and going to college. Yeah, whatever, no tears here. Not like he is that little either :) We are so excited that he is starting on his way to the degree he wants so badly. After helping me through, we can't wait to return the favor and cheer him all along the way. The goal is for him to graduate college before Thomas graduates High School. That sounds reasonable. As for the other two, we just can't wait for them to be in school and out of my hair. They are so good and we have lots of fun around the house. Yesterday Jerry came up to me wearing garden gloves. He said "I ride my motorcycle to work, like Daddy. I wear gloves and a hemet." (If you haven't heard the hemet story, give me a call, it is so much funnier when you hear him say it.) Not that Daddy rides his bike to work (tools don't fit in a tank bag so well), but at least Jerry knows to wear all the gear when he rides. Michael is as snuggly and sweet as ever. Right now he is hiding under his pajamas that never made it to the laundry and making cute noises. He waves now and I taught him to blow kisses last week. He also smacks himself on the forehead when you say "Oh no!" He is such a funny little baby. Me... I have a headache, 3 little boys, and lots more performances coming up. Life is good.

One month from tomorrow we leave for the trip. Can you believe it is that time already? Happy thoughts and wishes to everybody this wonderful season. Remember all you are thankful for and all that we are blessed with. Although things may not be perfect or easy, we are truly blessed. Take the time to slow down and focus on what is really important and share where you can. Even a smile can mean the world to someone.

Operatic Family

Another night at the opera. This time Thomas had family there with him. Nope, not the professional opera singer, again. Tyler got to be part of this one. Thomas was one of the town people, and Tyler was a prop moving town person. Also, one of my piano students had the chance to be a town person. I got to watch from the balcony, again. (Huge thanks to Lolly for keeping the little two so I could see the show one night!) I was invited to be in the chorus, but was involved in another opera at the same time and it was too much to do two operas at the same time. Turns out, I should have gone with the Italian opera and turned down the French from the start. Maybe next time...

In case you didn't know

I just have to take a minute and brag. For those of you who don't know, I have a wonderful husband. He puts up with me and all my mess, and doesn't complain. He is very supportive of my music and all the rehearsal and performance time that goes with it. I remember at my graduation recital, as soon as I finished, he jumped to his feet to give me a standing ovation. I couldn't look at him because I was about to cry. He was bursting with pride, and it meant the world to me.

He is a wonderful father. He loves the boys and I love to watch them play together. Thomas loves to help him mow the grass. Even though it takes twice as long, he lets Thomas tag along. Jerry is his little buddy, and Tyler can get Jerry to sit still and snuggle on the couch with him, which nobody else can. He can also make Michael laugh like nobody else. As funny as it sounds, he puts Michael on top of his head, then wiggles his head around on Michael's tummy. Michael laughs and laughs, and Tyler just grins. Tyler may not smile much in pictures, but the boys can make him smile.

He works incredibly hard to provide for our family. Often, he puts his wants aside so that we can have what we want. He teaches the boys by example to be hard workers and to do what they say. He is also very talented. He is able to visualize something, then build it, without any drawings (have you seen our garage storage?). He also is very good at designing and putting his idea into sketches, so I can understand what he is talking about. He is an incredible mechanic and is able to keep our vehicles running. He is a fabulous handyman too. The boys are forever breaking things, and he fixes the disasters. He has a strong desire for education. He supported me through mine, with all it's bumps and bruises along the way. He wants the boys to do well in school too, and will encourage and support them in any way he can. If there is an opportunity for education for any of us, he supports it. He also has an incredible sense of duty, to his family and country and church. Family is his first priority, and he says it often. He fulfills his church callings and honors his priesthood. I don't know anyone who has as much pride in his country. I guess that is part of what makes him such a great Marine.

Tyler is a wonderful husband and father. We are so lucky to have him as part of our family. We love him so much, and look forward to many more learning experiences with him. And no, no picture, because he doesn't like them.

A New Post is in Order

Life around here.... in a word, normal. Here is a quick rundown to get you all up to date on life around the Holmes Home.

• Thomas is in an opera
• Michael is trying to crawl
• Jerry is still into everything
• Thomas and Jerry painted my house, including the couch and carpet and themselves with cake decorating color gels (black, red, brown, and other dark colors)
• Thomas digs hole in wall
• Jerry gets stuck on window sill (and I leave him there with his arm stuck through the blinds as an "I told you so")
• Thomas was accepted into East Wake Academy, a charter school around here
• Jerry flooded the kitchen and counters and cabinets
• Aunt Amanda graduated from Meredith, hooray for another Meredith grad
  
• Uncle Bradford graduated from NCSU, we are secretly cheering on the inside
  
• Michael has a tooth
• We all went to Cleveland for cousin Nate's baptism, Uncle Doug's dental school graduation, and Uncle Doug's promotion to Captain in the USAF (Wahoo and huge congrats to both of them, we are all so proud we could pop)
• Thomas and Michael threw up in the car, after Jerry threw up on the carpet earlier in the day, and after Jerry had an exploded diaper in his bed, including on Teddy Bear
  
• Jerry took nose dives across the pavement and ended up with a nasty elbow, twice, once for each elbow on two different occasions
  
• Jerry threw the power source for my keyboard and broke Thomas's toe, and gave him a nasty toenail to boot
• Jerry fell out of bed at the hotel and got rug burns on his head
• Jerry fell out of bed at home and got a big bruise and bump on his head
• Tyler is doing very well at his job and has several clients who request him by name for service calls, even if the job is 3 hours away
• Rachel is keeping everything going while putting together a recital for my students

There ya have it. We're all just plugging along one day at a time. Gee, when I put it that way, life sounds pretty boring. Oh well, I guess I will just have to come up with a way to spice things up in the future. Sorry to bore you with our simple, average lives.

Shameless plug: Come see my piano and voice students do a recital. June 16, 7:00 at the Meredith concert hall in the music building. Call for more info.

Dinner Disasters

We trade Sunday dinner back and forth with my mom. We get a nice dinner each week, and only have to cook and clean up half the time. It is a great system, and we look forward to our dinners. Unfortunately, I have bad luck lately. I know how to cook, and I can pull off a decent mean, thank you very much. I did Thanksgiving and Christmas all by myself (mostly) and they were great. Apparently, I used up all my allotted "good dinner" stars on those meals.

Dinner for Jerry's birthday was, well, a disaster. Besides him being sick, nothing came out right. The biscuits were over cooked, the grits were dry and gritty, the hash brown burned to the bottom of the pan, and I forgot to cook the bacon. Tyler rescued us with scrambled eggs. Jerry was too sick for cake, so that sat out for several days. By the time we got to it, it was dry and not what a red velvet cake should be. Even the frosting messed up, and I decorate cakes for cryin' out loud.

This past week, disaster knocked on the door again. Aunt Susan Jane was coming to join in the fun and I was looking forward to a nice dinner. I planned turkey breast, stuffing, gravy, corn, and brownies for dessert. The turkey didn't thaw, so I called to push dinner back a little while. The stuffing was fine, or so I heard. The gravy was too salty (packaged gravy that came with the turkey, so that one isn't my fault). The corn was fine. The turkey cooked 1/3 of the way, in 2 hours, mind you. Turkey went back in the oven and Tyler saved us with pancakes. Pancakes, stuffing, gravy, and corn. What a Sunday dinner. Oh yeah, and since the turkey went back in the oven, the brownies didn't happen. When we were eating leftovers the other night, part of the turkey STILL wasn't cooked all the way, after 3 hours of cooking.

It seems my kitchen is cursed. Let's cross our fingers that the birthday cake for this weekend turns out right.

Christmas Eve Fun 2007

For now, this will have to do.

We went to Charlotte (Waxhaw) for Christmas Eve to see Gingams at Uncle Clayton and Aunt Libby's house. The weather was incredible and we had lots of fun at the barn. Thomas was more interested in the cats and dogs than the horses and chickens. Jerry loved the horses and sat on a couple. He even sat without help from daddy and stayed up for a few steps. Spanky kept coming up to Jerry to say hi. Michael loved being outside too.Thomas meets Spanky while Jerry watches from a safe distance.

Jerry sitting on Spanky

All three boys had lots of fun on the tree swing with Lolly. We have decided to sell the house, buy either an RV or a double wide, and park ourselves on the 26 acres of beauty. Tyler is really looking forward to the daily commute.
Tyler spent a good amount of time snuggling with one of the new puppies and trying to convince me that we need one too. Lindy is a couple weeks older than Michael. She is so cute. I don't do dogs, but she is sweet and adorable, I must admit. You can see how teeny she is by the size of Tyler's hand. I started to feel jealous that he snuggled and spent so much time with her. They even took a nap together. Good thing she stayed when we came home, that could have caused quite a few issues.
Not only do I not do dogs, or cats for that matter, but why get a dog when I have kids? Especially when those kids think it is great fun to hide and play in dog cages. Aren't the smiles proof enough? They played for quite some time, even trading cages back and forth. It is so nice to see my kids know how to share.After the drive home, yes we did a day trip, we stopped at Lolly's house for Christmas Eve. Chasing kids, taco soup, and the Christmas story (as wild as ever) and we were headed home. Santa spent time wrapping while Santa's helper talked on the phone.When I say wild, I mean it. This is just one little sample of the Christmas story with my family. Yes, the angel is sticking out of the stable. My sister is the master of getting the angel to stay on top of the stable. This year, we couldn't find a tack to stick the star, so we got creative. Te angel is balanced by her wings in the rafters. Here are some other samples for your enjoyment. Joseph traveled with his "exposed" wife. The wise guys came from the east. They brought gold, frankenstein, and fur. Christmas Adam is the day before Christmas Eve, it says in Genesis that Adam came before Eve. No, not all these came from little kids, most came from the big kids.

Just like we have Christmas Eve before Christmas day, the same goes for posting. For now, you get the fun of Christmas Eve, and tomorrow, if I am having a good day, you will get actual Christmas day.

SLIGHT Change of Plans

Why do I even bother to make plans? Not long ago I made the comment "don't change things on a control freak, they may freak out." Well, I am the control freak, everything possible got changed for me, and I amazingly did not freak out (this time). What on earth could I be referring to... the arrival of Michael. Let me just tell you about our adventure, although adventure is an understatement in the extreme. Warning: This is a long story, sorry. It goes faster when I'm talking rather than typing. It is apparently more fun to watch me tell the story since I seem to get quite animated in my telling.

I was scheduled for a c-section on October 3. Great, fantastic, we can plan everything. Jerry will have his surgery the week before. I will go to my rehearsal on Tuesday and have a baby Wednesday morning. Becky, Tyler's sister, was scheduled to fly in the day before to take care of the kids while I was busy having a baby. Becky would have the car with the boys and Tyler would have the truck to get me. After coming home, I would get to park my non-pregnant self on the couch and watch conference all weekend.

Change of plans. I lost reverse in the truck. What does this mean, you ask? Well, it means Tyler had two weeks to replace the engine and transmission in the truck before I came home. The other important reason for having the truck done, besides more people than seat belts for a few days, is that all three car seats would not fit in the car. Slight problem.

Change of plans. I went to rehearsal Tuesday, as planned. People asked when I was having the baby. I kept telling them I would be at rehearsal the following week and be not pregnant the week after (baby delivery was scheduled the morning after the next rehearsal). One of the singers who is also pregnant wished me good luck, in case she didn't see me before I had the baby. I assured her I would see her again before baby arrival. NOPE. Wednesday night I woke up not feeling so hot, and I had to pee (shocker). I went to the bathroom and it happened. My first thought was there is no way on earth my bladder can hold that much with a baby pushing on it. It kept coming. Now I am sitting here thinking there is no way this is happening. I decide to go back to bed. Bad idea. I got that feeling just as I was about to crawl back in and hope I didn't throw up. Rush back to the bathroom and continue repeating "this is not happening." Being the kind wife that I am, I next made a quick dash to the phone and into the other bathroom so I wouldn't wake up Tyler for no good reason. I call Becky, it's only 10:30 her time, and ask her to tell me my water didn't just break. She starts laughing at me. Not the reaction I had in mind. After more of her laughing at me, assuring me that I am in labor, and her laughing at me more (I think I did some laughing too), I went to wake up Tyler. I had to repeat myself three times before he had a clue what I was saying. Of course, as I am telling him I am making another dash back to the bathroom. Yes, I would be one of those few people who actually gush when their water breaks. And I continued to gush for quite some time. I called mom and asked her to come over. Her drowsy response, classic, "You mean right now?!?!" This was not an excited question, it was a very confused and unbelieving question. Well, come to find out, she thought I meant come get Thomas for breakfast now. After clarifying what I mean, she was on her way over. While we waited, Tyler says "this is probably a dumb question, but, are you sure your water broke?" I answered him with another gush.

Change of plans. Jerry is scheduled to have tubes put in his ears in 5 hours. What can you do? In our case, we pack his stuff, leave mom the instructions and paper work, sign a release authorizing her to do anything to care for the kids, and go to the hospital. The original plan was for mom to take Thomas to breakfast while Jerry was having the actual surgery and recovery, thus mom's confusion at a 1am phone call asking her to come over now.

Change of plans again. We take mom's car to the hospital so she had the car with car seats. The security guy asked if I could walk to the delivery floor. Sure, no problem I say. He doesn't exactly believe me since I am doubled over trying not to leak all over the floor. Yes, I know it is a hospital for crying out loud, and I know it happens all the time, but not me. A minute after he cancels the call for a wheelchair, the elevator opens. I was greeted by three nurses and a wheelchair. They looked at me and my now soaked pants and said good thing they were there. Turns out the code that was called in was translated as "lady delivering on the floor right now." After checking in, I got to go hang out in triage and get my IVs going. Because I was previously scheduled for surgery, albeit a week later, my doctor had alerted the OR and anesthesia before I even got to the hospital. I met my nurse, anesthesia doctor, and my doctor. Guess what, my doctor was a change of plans too. The one scheduled to deliver was not the one on call. Oh well. Four hours later my doctor comes in to inform me...

Change of plans. She had fired my anesthesia team because they had kept me waiting for over four hours when I was previously scheduled. Fine, no biggie, I didn't like the original guy anyway. After some painful labor I was given drugs that slow the labor and make the contractions bearable. This is not common practice, but my labor was progressing, and I was still not on my way to surgery. Next thing I know, new nurse (mine had disappeared long ago) and my doctor were packing me up and rolling me out the door. Tyler hardly had time to call and check on mom and Jerry because they got me out so fast. We were finally on our way for delivery.

We went into surgery and because Jerry was going into surgery very soon, but across the street at an outpatient surgery center, my doctor informed the OR that Tyler was keeping his cell phone on during surgery. This just goes to show that cell phones really don't interfere with medical equipment. Lucky for us, he was allowed to keep his phone, since we forgot the camera in the morning chaos. Hooray for camera phones.

There were a few miserable moments and creating more mess for the doctors to clean up (meds and anxiety), but we survived. I have to admit, this was the worst of the three surgeries, but not for any fault of the professionals. I got to see Michael then Tyler went off with him to the nursery. Next he dashed across the street and got to Jerry minutes before his surgery. So Tyler was able to be there when Jerry went in and then for him waking up. Lolly and Thomas even got to go back while he was waking up. Little side note, the staff at the surgery center thought my mom was Jerry's mom. Then the doctor met them and said "you aren't mom" and she told him what happened (he had seen me big and huge just two days earlier). While I was in recovery the nurses let me call and check on the other surgery. Apparently this was highly unusual too because I later heard my nurse telling the new nurse that she had let me call and check on my son and I was doing much better now. The medical staff all around couldn't believe our situation and were all super nice and understanding and accommodating for us. We have great doctors, thank goodness. So in the end, Jerry surgery that was scheduled to be done a week before my delivery ended up happening an hour after mine. Go figure.

I just have to sing Tyler's praises here, since I can. He was cool and calm and collected through the entire mess. He was the one running all around between two people in surgery. He also arranged for people to keep the kids for a couple days. He definitely qualifies for the title of super dad after this one. He is amazing and we are so lucky to have him!

Turns out the hospital was having a huge baby boom when we came in. It was a full moon, which several nurses were joking about. I was the 9th c-section in my OR that night. I had to go to ICU which had been converted to delivery recovery. It took almost 12 hours for me to finally get to my permanent room. The hospital was a busy place that day.

Adventures got more exciting once we got home. Two days after I got home Becky came to the rescue. Man, what a blessing she was. The morning she came in, my incision split. Don't worry, I am fine now, but we have had quite an ordeal over the past month getting it to heal. I'll spare the general public the gory details. Poor Michael wasn't gaining weight and had major jaundice issues. His counts got so high and his weight so low he almost didn't get to leave the hospital, then he almost had to go back. Every day for a week and a half we were going to one doctor or another or to the lab. There was only one day we didn't go, and Thomas looked at Michael, then looked at Lolly and said "that guy forgot to go to the doctor today!" We all got a kick out of that one.

Now, a month later, we are doing fine. Michael has no jaundice issues, eats fine, and is back above birth weight. I am doing well and should be completely healed before too long. We are all getting back into a routine, sort of. And the truck still isn't done. Many many thanks to all of those who helped, drove, rescued, fed, entertained, loved, and prayed for us. We appreciate it all and could not have done any of this without you. Thanks for saving our sanity and putting up with us when we lose it. We love you tons and are lucky to be surrounded by the best people in the world!

Proud Daddy

We have been teaching Thomas to say prayers, and he loves to say them, all the time. It is very apparent that he pays attention to what we say, and retains it. In every prayer he is grateful for and blesses the missionaries, the soldiers, and the Marines. After kids were tucked in last night Tyler pointed out that Thomas says soldiers and Marines and said that makes Tyler a proud Daddy. Once a Marine, always a Marine. At least it is the good stuff Thomas seems to be retaining. The pictures are from Memorial Day when we taught the kids what the special day is all about. We pulled out Tyler's uniforms and let the kids wear pieces of them. Future Marines?