Happiness

At the beach.
With Aunt Amanda.
In a big squishy chair.
Does life get much better than this?

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?

Happy Valentine's Day... in September?

I was going back through my posts recently and putting labels on them. It was fun to go back and read through them and laugh at some of the old disasters. I was reading about one day that I remember being a complete nightmare. While I read it I was crying from laughing so hard. It was a nice reminder that eventually I will look back and laugh at many of the disasters and misadventures that I can only endure in the moment.

Not only did I get a good laugh from reading, but I also got a serious kick to the pants reminder of how far behind I get on posting and how many moments I forget. Today's post was sparked by reading a reference to the event in another post, and seeing the picture pop up on the screen saver this afternoon.

I mentioned that I made a fun surprise for everyone for Valentine's Day. I still am not a fan of the holiday, but I do try to make it fun and special for the kids and my fabulous husband. They deserve a special treat now and then.

This year I found a super cute idea to make candy boxes out of cake. Make the cake, cover it to look like a candy box, then fill it with cake balls instead of chocolates. It didn't come out near as neat as Bakerella's but it was still cute. We made red velvet cake balls with cream cheese frosting then covered in white or milk or mint chocolate, chocolate cake with vanilla frosting covered in white or milk chocolate, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting covered in white or milk chocolate, yellow cake with chocolate frosting covered in milk or white chocolate, and yellow cake with vanilla frosting and covered in white or milk chocolate. Doesn't that just make you hungry?
Cute little boys with their goodies they woke up to find at their seats at the table.

The candy boxes with cake balls. One day I will try again. I learned some things that don't work and others that do. Rushing at midnight to get it done does not work. Trying to hide it all and surprise your husband also does not work.

Upcoming posts, more catching up. Man, am I behind!

Cows!

Introducing, Our Herd


Yesterday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. What does this mean, you ask. FREE FOOD!!! All you had to do was dress like a cow and you got a free meal. Just a little bit cow still got you an entree, so you can't lose. Thursday we made our costumes and the kids had a blast making cow faces on paper plates. We used the plates for breakfast and lunch, but at lunch we got these cool cow hats, so we used them at dinner. You read right, we ate out for all 3 meals yesterday, and only paid $0.32 for the entire thing. I know, it was a free meal, but someone, Jerry, decided he wanted fruit instead of fries at lunch, so we had to pay the upcharge. We had lots of fun and entertained ourselves for many hours. Now we have spots ready for next year.
Isn't he the cutest cow you have ever seen?
The other two adorable hooligans, enjoying their third feast of the day.

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.

Birthday Biker Boy

Jerry had a birthday, shout HOORAY!!

OK, so he had a birthday over 3 months ago and I am just now getting around to it. At least he won't be able to say his mother didn't love him and neglected his birthday.

He wanted a Spiderman birthday with red cupcakes. Nice! Easy! Sounds good to me. We did red velvet cupcakes with whipped vanilla frosting. Super easy and super yummy. I want one now, just thinking about it. Then we put Spiderman decorations on top that Tyler was sent on a mission to find while out running errands. Cakes are fun to decorate, but easy is nice too. Aunt Amanda came home for the grand occasion and Sunday dinner was a regular party.

I love the action shot with his cheeks all puffed out! The pictures are still making my hungry for one of those cupcakes.

Michael has one of those looks that I can't decide if he is trying to say "Who, me?" or "I want more, pretty please." He definitely enjoyed it. And the floor even got some cake. The single sock cracks me up every time.

Ah, the loot. Aunt Amanda found a Lightning McQueen flashlight and cell phone for Jerry. The flashlight had (note the past tense here) little caps to put on the end and it put pictures on where you were pointing. He kept taking it apart and eventually lost pieces. Several pieces we later found in the wall, along with some caps. I had McQueen on the roof of the van or the walls for a week after he got them. The phone has been washed several times and still works. He likes to put it in his pocket, but forgets to take it out. Oh well.
And now for the big box. He had to work hard to get this one open. It was a motorcycle from mom and dad. Now he can be just like daddy. Too bad we didn't realize it was a little involved to put together. He ended up waiting a few days for it to be completed.
And on the bike. Yes, my child wears heels to ride the bike. Good news, that isn't the usual attire. It is not uncommon to see him in pants, jacket, Thomas's bike helmet (McQueen, of course), and cowboy boots. He wears all his safety gear, just like daddy. He wants so much to be like daddy, Tyler shared one of his motorcycle decal stickers with Jerry and put it on the bike. Talk about exciting!

Jerry rides his bike everywhere, no kidding! "Jerry, go put this in the recycling," and he rides out into the garage to put it away. He answers the door, comes to dinner, cleans his room, everything on the bike. I think this one was a hit. Even more fun now is Michael loves to ride it. He gets on and makes the "vroom vroom" in his throat. I do believe we have several biker boys in the making. Thank goodness they are learning at an early age to be safe about it, mostly.

Happy Birthday Jerry! We love you bunches and have so much fun watching you grow! Next year I will try to post closer to your birthday. Try being the key word on that one.

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.

Snow

It isn't that often that we get snow in our area; not uncommon, but certainly not a weekly event. Last night it started snowing and it didn't stop until this afternoon. Of course, the kids went nuts and were beside themselves with excitement. After a yummy breakfast of pancakes (thanks Tyler), the kids couldn't stand to wait any longer. We got all bundled up and went out to play. Soon after Jerry went out, he came back in screaming. He learned pretty quick that making snowballs without mittens starts to hurt.
Thomas and Jerry, just dying to go outside and play.
The view out the back door. Of course, I opened the door to take the picture and the wind started blowing inside. And, I was the brainiac who did it all while barefoot. Can we say cold toes?
Our house from the front.
Jerry having tons of fun with his Sponge Bob hat on. Thanks Aunt Amanda, it's a favorite, year round. He also decided that snow is much more fun and snowballs are much less painful to make when you have your mittens on.
Michael's first toy of choice was an umbrella. Nice rain boots. We had to put on 3 pair of socks because they were so big on him, and they were still funny on him.
Spoons make for great digging tools, just ask Michael. You can't even see his cute boots because the snow is so deep on him.
Tyler shoveled the driveway and walkway. As soon as he was done, there was more right where he had finished. He also had a bit of fun launching shovels of snow at us. I certainly got my fair share of snow on the head, and back, and neck, and pants, and anywhere else on my body. He didn't quite follow the rules of a snowball fight. Or did he? All's fair in war?
Michael and I came in first when he decided he didn't want to keep his mittens on. He wasn't such a fan of the mittenless snow either. Thanks Lolly for the super soft and warm mittens and scarf and hat from New Zeland. Too bad our kids have massive heads and the cute Rudolph hat with antlers have yet to fit one of their noggins.
Michael was a bit unhappy about coming inside. He threw himself face down on the floor and pitched a royal fit. We are so proud our baby has learned to throw a top notch fit.
Thomas stayed out the longest and came in the wet-est and red-est. He was so wet he needed help getting out of his clothes. Yes, he looks drunk or stoned. Let's just chalk it up to tired after lots of fun. Why do they always blink and make a funny face when you tell them to smile?
After lots of fun, it was time to take off all the wet clothes and curl up in warm blankets. Of course we had hot chocolate and snow cream to top off the day.

In the end we got around 5-6 inches, the most since 2002. Who knows what else is in store with the wacky NC weather we have.

Yes, I am also quite aware that pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas have yet to make it on the blog. Don't worry, they will show up soon enough.

Halloween

The boys all had a blast this Halloween. After several parties, we finally reached the big night. Pirates are a favorite in our house lately, so Thomas and Jerry paraded around as the cutest pirates in town. Michael was the usual 1 year old bumble bee. Of course, he was the most adorable, fuzziest bumble bee to be seen. We went to Lolly's neighborhood to avoid the massive crowds around our house. This was Jerry's magical year when he discovered that trick-or-treating is fun and easy work. By the end, when someone answered the door, he would start jumping up and down and yelling "Candy!!Candy!!" as only an excited 2 year old can. Of course, his reaction endeared him to the givers and the kids got more goodies. Little kids are definitely what makes the annual sugar fest, part one (we still have Christmas to come), so much fun. All told, we hit 15 houses. From the looks of their bags and the number of times we had to unload their bags into the diaper bag, you would think we had knocked on as many doors as a missionary in a day. Now I am the candy Nazi and the goodies are highly regulated around here, even for the adults. Thanks to those of you who the boys have such a fun time. Also, thank goodness Lolly remembered to take out her camera, otherwise there would be no pictures of pirates and bees. Silly Mommy flaked and left the camera buried in the bottom of the bag. I guess I was to busy with kids to remember a thing like a camera.

Any thoughts on next year's costumes?

Delayed

I know, I know. Still no beach post. You see, there has been a slight problem here. Thankfully, I was able to steal pictures from my aunt. Unfortunately, I am having computer issues. Internet bit it for a while, the screen on the laptop is broken, and other issues. As soon as we fixed one, another problem appeared. I have not forgotten, as my cousin seems to think, I just am not having good luck. I can post text, but pictures are a bit difficult. I will say that we had a blast and can't wait to go back. Nobody came home baked, a little pink in a couple places a time or two, but no lobsters. The boys loved the ocean and family and the sand. I think it took a week to get all the sand cleaned out of the boys, the mom-mobile is another story. Keep checking back, evidence of the fun will appear before too long, as well as stories of helmets and adventures.

Pause

Just in case you might be interested, I am not ignoring the blog. We are OUTTA HERE! This is beach week with the extended family. Oh, wait, many of you who read the blog will be there with us. I am sure we will come home with all kinds of fun stories and misadventures to share. Be prepared for buried brothers, sand in strange places, attempted drownings, and lots of laughs and fun and sun. Now, everybody cross your fingers that we manage to keep the sun burns to a minimum. Especially since the dermatologist will be on hand to beat me for any burns our little family incur. Ah, I can hear the waves now........

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.

WAHOO!! Christmas 2007

Now for the Christmas post. Go me, I am actually posting when I said I would. Warning, I got carried away, this is a long one, (with lots of pics), but it's Christmas, so get over it ;)

To start, we have pre-Christmas pictures that are just to dang cute to not put on here. Michael has a super soft and oh-so-cute Santa hat (among other cute holiday hats we have collected over the years). In the picture with Tyler you can see his attempts at smiling. He smiles and talks all the time now. Yesterday he was 3 months old. Where has the time gone? He is adorable and we love him to pieces. Both older boys love to hold him and are getting pretty decent at it. With all the not growing issues we had in the beginning, he sure is growing now. We can't wait to see what the doctor says at his next appointment.

Now for the actual Christmas part.

We made the boys wait until we were ready. It was more like until I was ready. I had to unload the pictures from the camera before the fun could begin. Michael was asleep for the beginning of the fun, but he did come join us later.
Thomas was so excited to discover a camera hidden inside the wrappings. We figured if he likes to see pictures so much, and he loves to play with Aunt Amanda's camera (she lets him), why not. So he spent much of the day playing photographer. We had to keep cleaning off the random pictures to make room for more. Really, random, he was taking pictures of the floor while he was walking. He got some really cute CLOSE ups of Michael that we may put up later. You are not mistaken, that is a cookie my kid is eating for breakfast. Hey, it's Christmas for goodness sakes.
Uncle Doug, Aunt Kristen and company sent fun games for the kids and these adorable towels. I love the Jerry face in this one, even though Thomas looks drunk. They ran around in their costumes until I took them away to wash them. I am thrilled to have hooded towels for the boys. We had a baby one, but they are obviously a bit big for those now. Thanks Ohio folks for the fun and useful goodies!
Michael's box was almost as tall as he is. I just thought it was funny.
So, Michael needs to grow up a little bit before his gets lots of use, but he is still a cute little birdie.
The Ohio crew also sent a super soft little dog for Michael. He is little, and adorable, and did I mention soft? Every time I rubbed it on his face he would smile and start talking again. He has already puked on it, but that is proof that he uses it. Tonight he was snuggling and trying to eat it again. We love the little baby size goodies people give us. I don't know where all you guys find them, but don't stop :)
Lolly gave both of the boys books, imagine that. Hmmmm, where did that love of reading come from? Is something like that genetic? Mom has this amazing knack of finding things that are different, fun, and adorable. This time it was a bowling set. There are six pins that are different animals. They make one of three different sounds, and the ball jingles. You can do all kinds of activities, like matching the sounds in pairs, doing "Old MacDonald," and of course bowling. Both boys have had a blast with these. Did you know that bowling has cheerleaders? At our house there are. "YAY JERRY!!!"

This year we tried something new. Tyler and I did not do gifts for each other. Instead, we helped put together boxes for the homeless. Our ward supports this each year and had a large goal of 100 boxes this year. We were able to provide simple necessities to those who might not otherwise have them. They would appreciate a hat and gloves, shampoo, toothbrush, soap, chapstick and other items far more than we would appreciate something that takes up space. We involved the kids, so we were able to teach them as well as help others. It was truly a blessing to all of us to help with this project.

We had the missionaries again. The tradition started while my brother was on his mission. We hoped someone was taking care of him, so we try to take care of ours around here. We try to have the missionaries over for holidays and give them the family experience they probably miss. Of course, after our house, they may not miss the family experience as much. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

Most of you may recall the wonderful Thanksgiving experience one of out missionaries had. He earned the name "Elder Ralph," among others. BTW, he went home December 3, but his legacy lives on. Before they crew got here, they apparently had bets on who would puke first. I have a feeling this story is going to be around for a while. "You're going to the Holmes? Dude, did you hear about the Elder who puked at their house?!?" Needless to say, there was lots of encouragement all around to keep eating more and more. No puking this time, thank goodness. Does that mean I win the bet?

One of our missionaries is a Marine. I will leave the story there and let your imagination run with how much Tyler enjoyed him. The rest of us heard "blah blah blah" or maybe it was the "wah wah wah" of the teacher on Charlie Brown. Whatever. They enjoyed each other, and that is important.

Missionaries got stockings from the ward and played with the kids all day. They also talked to their families for hours between them. Mom's car broke down on their way home and I had to go rescue them. Next thing we knew, I was cooking a huge pot of chili to feed everybody. Yup, two meals and lots of fun later the missionaries went home. We all had a blast and hope everybody else did too. Tired mommy, somewhat cleaned kitchen, taken down tree and decorations, and a couple more phone calls to our families, and we finally crashed.

We are so grateful for this Christmas season. It gives us a chance to focus on the birth of Christ and what it means for us. There are also more opportunities to serve others. We have wonderful families that we love and who support us in our doings. This year we really tried to focus on others and to stay away from the commercialism of the season. I think we were successful and the holiday was better for it.

We hope all of you had as much fun as we did. We wish we could all be together with friends and family, but I don't know of a place big enough to hold everyone we would want to be with. We are grateful for the season and the blessings that come with it. We are grateful for all that everyone has done for us. Soon we will see you again, but for now we will have to make do with pictures. We love you and pray for blessings for you!

One last note... CONGRATS TO MY COUSIN!!! We can't wait for July and the chance to meet the baby! Keep us posted.

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.

Let the Holidays Begin

We just completed the whirlwind beginning of the busy holiday season. Grandma and Grandpa came in from Arizona to party with us for a while. Then, a couple days later, Aunt Erin and Uncle James joined the party. We ate ourselves sick and all managed to gain weight, and enjoy it. We visited the NC Art Museum and introduced the foreigners to Southern BBQ and Hushpuppies. They are now big fans, as they should be. Tyler went for Krispy Kreme Thanksgiving morning and we got to eat hot doughnuts for breakfast. We had Thanksgiving at our house, and boy did we have a house full. The missionaries came to join the fun and created some excitement of their own while they were here. One of the Elders ate himself sick, literally. The poor guy got to experience his dinner twice. He won't be hearing the end of that one for a while. After passing out from ingesting loads of food, we started the fun again. Everybody and a few more came to see me sing with the NC Symphony and NC Master Chorale, then we went and gorged on more good food at a local steak house. Good music, good friends, good food... you can't go wrong. On Sunday we had the baby blessing. We were so fortunate to have some of the most special and most important people there with us. Later, we all packed up with way too much stuff for a couple of days, and headed to the beach. We got to spend a couple fabulous days winding down from the excitement of the previous week. Of course we had more good food while we were there. I think everybody really enjoyed the East Coast. We came back home and ate more leftovers, yummy. The next day we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast/lunch and ate ourselves sick again. Uncle James taught Thomas to to call it Food Barrel, but it still tasted the same. Later, everybody packed up and headed back home. We all had so much fun and just enjoyed being together. We are sad everybody couldn't make it, but we know they were here with us in spirit.

We are so grateful for wonderful family and friends. We are so blessed to have so many special people in our lives. I hope you all take a few minutes during this crazy time of year to reflect and focus on our many blessings. You can be sure that you are on our list of blessings.

So Dang Cute!

Just like any good parents, we did Halloween for our kids. I even made the big boys' costumes. Yes, I nominate myself for the Awesome Mom award. We went to the ward party, as usual. Then, on Wednesday, we went to Lolly's house for door knocking. By the end of the night, Jerry was walking up to doors and holding his little pumpkin out and mumbling in Jerry-speak trick-or-treat. Both big boys had lots of fun. Michael stayed at the house with Lolly, but he did rack in a Reese's cup in his car seat. After only four houses, we called it quits with a quite full bucket. It pays to be little and cute!

Michael, the cutest dang penguin on the face of the earth. The costume is so soft, and even has a little tail on the back. Tyler says he is a baby dressed as a penguin pretending to be a pumpkin. Amanda said we should have put smileys on his feet and called him Happy Feet. Silly family. Oh yeah, we like Lolly's costume too :)


Thomas and Jerry as Tom and Jerry. Aren't they the cutest dang cat and mouse you ever saw?!?! Disclaimer: Yes, I know the real Jerry mouse is brown, but do you know how hard it is to find a brown sweat suit? Really, you go try sometime, preferably the day before you need the costumes done. No, I am not a procrastinator, um, yeah right. By the time we took the picture their noses had worn off, but they are still cute with their whiskers. Jerry loved his ears. When Thomas first tried his on, Jerry got upset and wanted to wear some. My boys are nuts, but we love them that way.

The tail. Tyler suggested using a pipe cleaner for Jerry's tail. It turned out to be so funny and cute. Sometimes it would fall out and Jerry would bring it to you to put back in. I think he liked his costume. You can also see the poor kid's infected ear. Go figure, he gets tubes, then a month later has an ear infection and sinus infection. Yup, he's ours.