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!

You're Serious

Michael: Daddy, you're serious?

Daddy: yup

M: Daddy, you serious.

D: yup

M: Mommy, you serious?

Mommy: as a heart attack.

a little later, from the boys' room upstairs

M: Thomas, you serious?

M: Jerry, you serious?

Is he serious too? I think not. Now, where on earth he learned this one is anyone's guess. What a funny kid.

Tiger Pirate or Pirate Tiger?

We had a great day today. We had the opportunity to help out some other people and the kids went along and were most helpful. After dinner and showers we even watched a movie. Even better, I only had to go upstairs once to get them to go to sleep.

And now, for some not so recent pictures. These came up on the screen saver today and I thought they were cute, so I decided to post them.

I seem to have a vast number of pictures that have fun stories that I plan to post, yet somehow never do. Maybe I will make a habit of posting older pictures and stories. Rats, when I do that, it just leaves more recent ones on the wait list and then I get behind again. Be prepared for pictures in no chronological order but with cute or fun or pointless stories to come.

Yeah, that sounds like fun.
This was back in January 2009. Pirate Jerry took Tiger Michal's ears and found himself quite cute and funny. I especially like the orange bowl and camera case he chose to use as accessories.


Oops, seems the tiger forgot to cover his legs. Or maybe his mom is just too much of a slacker to do the snaps after changing a diaper.

Oh dear, I seem to see a problem here. The tiger is studying the antics of the pirate. Looking back, I see where he learned his tricks. Perhaps if I had studied them earlier, Michael would not have learned so much and be creating so much trouble now. Maybe not. Big brothers are supposed to pass all their skills and tricks on to younger brothers.

YIKES! Somebody give that tiger a hair cut! Why on earth do I let my kids get that scraggly ragamuffin hair before I cut it? It looks so cute at the time. Then I see a picture and want to photoshop their hair shorter.

Enough with the nostalgia of 10 months ago. Back to reality and the loads of laundry that need to be done and the groceries to put away and the kitchen to sweep. At least I unloaded the dishwasher earlier.

Michael's Two!

Michale turned two today! I am not exactly sure where all the time went, but it went. I know many moms say that on each birthday, but with each birthday of a kid, I get reminded over and over.

This weekend I have been doing the "at this time two years ago I was...." At lunch on yesterday Lolly mentioned the 1am phone call she got two years ago. If you missed that one, check it out here and relive that exciting day.

CiCi's pizza is one of our family favorites. Can you really beat all you can eat pizza, pasta, and salad, and dessert, and cheap too. Kids 4 and under are free, for crying out loud. Lunch at CiCi's then back home for fun and goodies. Today we had his favorite foods for dinner... Mac N Cheese and Hot Dogs. I even let the hooligans have fruit punch with dinner.

I did manage to get pictures of yesterday and today's fun. I will get those up soon.

Happy Birthday little buddy! We love you bunches and have had so much fun with you for the last two years. We look forward to lots more fun, adventures, loves and hugs. You are one special little boy! You are my favorite 2 year old :)

Funny Words

Kids say some funny things. More often than not they have no idea they are being funny. To tickle your funny bone, here are some of the fun ones around here lately.

Thomas upon hearing and seeing Sound of Music come on TV one night excitedly pointed and said, "Look Mom, it's Mary Poppins!"

Jerry has all kinds of funny almost, but not quite words
swywater is flyswatter
askident or askdident is accident
mint truck is a cement truck

Jerry and Thomas also used to call my sister AaaunTamanda. Drawn out "A" and all run together like that. She misses that. Now I just call her my seeeeeeeeeester.

Michael, among the dog and cow noises, has a new funny. He shakes his little head and says "No doggie, no doggie, no doggie." Sometimes he looks at Daddy and says it and we can't be quite sure if he is saying doggie or daddy. Yesterday, when I went to get him out of bed in the morning, that was the first thing out of his mouth. Today he started doing "no mom," but it didn't last. Or maybe he was doing his best Jamaican accent and saying no mon.

The things they say are so funny and cute. I could even get all sappy and think about how much I will miss the little funnies when they get older. Then I listen to my fabulous husband and the way people laugh at me, like when I tell the kids to get their shoes out of my feet, and realize they will never outgrow it, they just outgrow the cuteness and sweet voices.

Now, if you will please excuse me, I now need to go silence those little sweet voices. Way after bed time and after multiple re-beddings, the words and voices are less than cute.

Sunday Sillies

We have had lots of funnies around here, so I thought I would share and make you smile too.

The sun was shining really bright through the kitchen windows.
"Mommy, turn off the lights," says Jerry.
"That's not the lights, that's the sunshine. We can't turn the sunshine off," I reply.
"We can't turn off the sunshine?!?!" he says as incredulously and shocked as a 3 year old can.

Michael will not sleep with socks on. Not even an option, no socks at all. When you put him in bed, he will stick his feet up in the air until you take off his shoes and socks. Then, once they are off, he will put his feet down and go to sleep.

In the car tonight, and a couple weeks ago, the kids were singing. I was so proud my kids knew the primary song "Follow the Prophet." That is until I couldn't keep my laughter to myself once I realized what they were singing. Instead of "Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet don't go astray. Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, he knows the way," the hooligans were singing "Follow the prophet... don't go away" over and over again. Ah, so funny. Just ask Aunt Amanda about some of her goodies with messing up the lyrics. That one could have you laughing for hours.

We went to see my grandmother for Mother's Day. It is about 3 hours there, and we do it all in one day. We had some fun conversations throughout the trip. Aunt Amanda said she didn't want to drive back home (she is not a fan of driving and never has been). She invited Jerry to come home with her and play and asked Jerry if he wanted to drive her home. We laughed because of all the hooligans, Jerry is the one who would try and drive someone's car well before he reaches the legal driving age. We went on laughing about how he would reach the pedals and all the places he would go. Well, he was a bit tired and fell asleep. He woke up as we were dropping Aunt Amanda off. OK, he didn't really wake up, just sort of came out of unconsciousness enough to respond to her. He sort of rolled his head up, half opened his eyes, and said "I need to drive your car," then his head rolled back down and went back to sleep. Oh, Jerry, what trouble you have in store for us.

Another day, we were near Lolly's work and stopped in to say hi. She came out and said hi and brought animal crackers for the two little hooligans. Jerry asked Lolly to stay and she told him she had to go back to work. "Work?!?!" he says, with his head cocked to the side and his eyebrows raised (you have got to see this kid's facial expressions), almost in disbelief. Lolly offered to trade with him and said he could go to work and she would go home with me. I laughed and told him he would get to play with all the things he isn't allowed to use at home like the stapler, hole punch and scissors. If that doesn't get a 3 year old excited about going to work, I don't know what will. For days now, he has been telling me he needs to go to work and use scissors. I think I need to hide all of ours in the safe, or who knows what he will cut up all in the name of "work."

Finally, tonight's funny. Thomas was doing something in the back seat. I told him to stop and he asked "How did you know it was me?" Tyler said "Because Mommy is a secret agent. She has eyes everywhere, only a lot less funding." Ah, the things I could do with the resources of a secret agent. Perhaps a new career is in my future....

Smile, there is silliness all around. All you have to do is look for it.

Laughter for Lunch

I am sitting here paying bills on the computer and doing the email thing while the hooligans, Jerry and Michael, eat lunch. They have the usual PB and honey sandwich and milk or juice to drink. Yeah, we go all out for meals around here. The little clones are having the best time today, though. They are both laughing hysterically, and both have that deep belly laugh and they laugh with their entire face and body. Jerry says "Michael is so funny," and they both crack up. Then milk starts to dribble out Michael's mouth because he is laughing so hard and the laughter just grows. Jerry also has learned that if you close your eyes at Michael, he will do it back with this funny look on his face. (More on that one to come, with pictures, even.) Who would have thought that eating lunch could be so much fun and make you laugh so much. Moments like this make what I do so much fun and worth all the mess that comes with the job. As often as I want to strangle one or more of them, these moments of spontaneous joy are far more frequent. Life is far from boring around here, and it is also far from miserable. Sure, we have bumps and frustrations and bad days, but who doesn't. I am so lucky to have my insane, happy, healthy, loving little boys. Thanks little hooligans for making me smile.

UPDATE: They are now smearing PB around and Michael is growling at his try. Jerry is even starting to have a hard time breathing from laughing so hard. Add some squeals of laughter and delight to the mix and you have one entertaining lunch.

Hungry?

Sorry folks, no pictures this time.

If you listen to my kids, you would think they are starving and never get fed. If you hang around my house, you soon realize that I am in serious trouble once we hit the teenage years.

These boys eat. A lot. Often. Strange things.

Michael, for example. Michael seems to have some odd deficiencies in his diet. Namely, rubber, chalk, and wax. The funny little baby will eat shoe soles. He takes his shoes off in the car in order to eat them. At Christmas, he was thrilled with cousin Adam's new bike. He walked right over and started gnawing away. I think we found a new use for used tires. And no, he is not teething. He also loves chalk. We have a bucket of sidewalk chalk in the garage. Any time the door opens, he makes a run for the garage and starts chomping chunks off. Crayons hide very high up in our house too. Not just to keep them off walls or out of the dryer, but to keep them out of diapers. Let's just say it looks like a confetti bomb went off with many diaper changes. He also likes to eat pencils and erasers and wipes. Strange kid.

Jerry must have a paint deficiency. The other night he bit the widow sil and peeled the paint off. What on earth posses this child to do these things? He also scales the pantry shelves. The other day he climbed up to the top shelf, (above my head, mind you) opened up a box of hidden goodies, snuck a cupcake, and hid in the dining room. I heard plastic crinkle and investigated and found the happy boy. He sneaks cookies, granola bars, bread, animal crackers, cheese slices, and anything else he can find (leftover lemon pepper chicken from dinner last night as I type this). He even climbed on top of the fridge (while the sitter was here too) to get cereal. Yesterday, he bit off the end of a banana, peel and all. The other night, while I was upstairs getting Michael's jammas, he scaled the fridge, got a Diet Dr. Pepper of the top shelf, cracked it open, and started drinking it. (at least he took daddy's diet and not mommy's real stuff!) We have to keep the fridge and pantry locked to keep him out. Thomas sneaks treats too, but not as often.

Thomas eats, says he is full, then cries from starvation within an hour. How on earth a child can eat 6 chicken nuggets, veggies, a glass of milk and then want the same thing again so soon after is incredible to me. At dinner last Sunday, he ate 3 tacos, then dessert. It makes me hurt just to think about it. At least he eats a good variety of food. In the strange department, though, he likes BBQ sauce on his broccoli. Where on earth he came up with that one? I think the mac n cheese with ketchup is nasty, but the BBQ broccoli wins, hands down.

We also go through about 6 gallons of milk a week. I think I need to start saving now for groceries when they get older. I am in serious trouble. Maybe we will buy a cow. It has to be cheaper to feed the cow and make our own cheese and milk than to keep buying the insane amounts of dairy products they consume. Now accepting donations for future grocery purchases.

Funny Words

Some funny sayings around here that I don't want to forget.

Thomas says "McDonald's has a play station!"
"Really? What are you talking about?" I ask.
"They have a slide and stuff to climb on... a play station"
NICE! Can we keep that concept for a long time? Probably not.

Jerry was in time out this morning. I hear a commotion coming from the corner.
"Michael... go away... I'm in trouble!"
Apparently Michael was trying to play with him or talk to him.

Jerry likes to watch Muffins.
You probably know them as The Muppets.

If you tell Michael to lay down and go to sleep, he lays down on the floor with his head down and bum up in the air. Then he starts to snore.

If you look at Michael and close your eyes and open them, he does it back, but with a cute look on his face.

Michael and Jerry love candy and sweets. Michael comes running over and opens his mouth up like a bird any time someone has treats. Jerry just does anything he can to get to the treats.

There are plenty more cute things, and more are sure to follow as I think of them.

I think the next post will be about fishing. Just wait, you don't want to miss this one.

Life Lately

Life lately has been one thing after another. In addition to the usual antics around here, we have had the plagues. Rather than tell the whole annoying, boring story, I decided to cut and paste my facebook status and some of the comments the posting generated. Hopefully you all stay away from whatever was around here lately!

March 19: has two sick kids and a Jerry. What a fun day around here.
Rachel Coombs HolmesThe both have the cough, Michael has wheezing and the nose and no sleep (me no sleep either, thanks baby), and Thomas has a stomach bug type thing and a fever and just wants to sleep all day. Too bad I have to pack them all up and drag them to the doctor for Michael. (response to earlier comment)

March 20:entered the puking phase with Thomas this morning. At least Michael slept most of the night and just has a nasty viral cold.
Rachel Shill Beck The best part of your status...the two words "this morning." My kids always begin their puking about 11:45pm and continue all night long. Hang in there, it'll be over soon!
Rachel Coombs Holmes It seems to have been a one time thing. He has just been tired and fever mostly. He was up for 3 hours, then went back to sleep going on 2 1/2 hours now. Better them than me. I can take care of them, nobody around to take care of me.

March 22: just cleaned dirt and lots of pollen off Michael's fingers and face and mouth and TEETH. He had fun playing on the window sill.

March 22: banishes all bugs and viruses from the premises. You are trespassing... LEAVE NOW!!!
Dare Wyrick Peed don't forget to hang garlic over the doorway! ;) Hope everyone is feeling better soon.

March 23: went to the doctor today. Check my page for the verdict.
Rachel Coombs Holmes Nevermind, new facebook won't let me post on my own wall. After our 1 1/2 hour visit to the doctor we have 3 children and 6 ears attached to said children. Also, there is one ear missing a tube.

Problem: 4 infected ears (two of which are draining), 3 viral infections with fevers and occasional vomiting attached as well as various sore body parts... Read More, 1 sinus infection. There should be a "2" something. Nevermind, we'll just skip the "2" in this count.
Solution: 2 kids on Omnicef, 1 kid on Amoxicillin, two kids on ear drops The missing tube kid gets antibiotic and drops, one Rx for each ear. 10 days and we should be back to normal. I think I have forgotten what normal is like around here. I can't wait to see how they all react to the antibiotics, lucky me!

Kristen Jarrell Barnett Sheesh. Hope the antibiotics kick in soon. Go eat a piece a chocolate. :)
Rachel Coombs Holmes I ate 3 twinkies and I'm drinking a Dr Pepper! Shhhhh, don't tell anyone.
Alida Lee Mmm twinkies!

March 24: had crappy not sleep last night and is already having one of those days. Great!

March 24: cannot do this anymore. Kids for sale. I'll pay you.
Malinda Coombs I think I still have my kids 4 sale sign.....need it?
Allyn Sandridge having a bad day?

March 24: was sick and left rehearsal early, only to be greeted by children sleeping on the floor after one puked on the freshly cleaned bed.

March 25: wonders why Jerry pooped in Michael's bed first thing this morning. Is it only Wednesday?

March 25: still has a disaster on the wall, even after 30 min scrubbing and 1.5 Magic Erasers. If I color the wall with white crayon will it cover the mess?
Alida Lee Just put a frame around it and call it "art".
Lindsey Dean Brogli perfect place to hang a huge photo of the family...

Rachel Coombs Holmes at 2:11pm March 25

I could put a life size picture and it would cover it, but they would break anything I put there. Jerry is a destruction crew all in one little body. To make it better, I scrubbed through the drywall in a couple places. And, it's their new room. I'm crossing my fingers Tyler doesn't notice, yeah right!

March 26: can't believe we now get to add pink eye to the list.

March 27:wishes her big boy Thomas a Happy 6th Birthday! Now stop growing up.

March 28: needs to decorate a cake for tomorrow's birthday dinner. And laundry, and mop, and bathtubs, and get kids ready for church tomorrow, and plan music....

March 30: might be rid of the 7 plagues around here. After another round of pink eye the end might be in sight. Don't say it too loud, though, sometimes the man in charge has a twisted sense of humor.

3 more days of antibiotics, then their little systems should be back to normal again soon. Thank goodness for pull-ups! Almost there!!! (response to previous comments.)

OK, so I can laugh a little bit now. Thanks for the comments and encouragement. We all survived this far. Hopefully we can stay healthy and keep improving.

Room for Improvement

Monday was a nightmare. Tuesday and Wednesday have not been much better. At least they haven't been worse.

Let's see.... Tuesday. Morning student had to reschedule, no biggie. Jerry was his usual make me crazy 3 year old self. Michael has an ear infection. My children were hooligans while I was trying to teach. I never made it to the gym. Jerry flooded the upstairs bathroom.

I was on the phone with insurance, a headache in itself, when I heard hysterical laughter and the toilet lid slamming. This could not be good, I knew it. Before I was finished on the phone I could hear Michael screaming from the top of the stairs. By the time I got off the phone and upstairs there was a sight to behold. Michael was soaking wet from head to toe, Jerry had no clothes on, and there was standing water in my bathroom. *Run for the towels* and step on soaking wet carpet. Irritation is a mild word for how I felt at the moment. The rascal had taken a tub toy and scooped water out of the toilet and dumped it on Michael, the bathroom floor, the bedroom floor, and the hallway. As I was trying to contain the mess, Michael walked into the bathroom. Well, he tried to. Grippy feet on pajamas don't help much when an inch of water is covering the floor. Down he went, and none too happy about it either. Eventually everybody got dry clothes on and the disaster got cleaned up. Hey, it could have been worse.

I also went "fishing," but you will have to wait until the next post to hear about that one.

Wednesday brought the pleasure of two more nasty ear infections, Jerry this time. We also had red juice on the floor, banana smashed on the kitchen floor while I was teaching, sneaking food, temper tantrums, very busy bodies, no nape and minimal nap, a motorcycle thrown at Michael by Jerry, and ruined dinner.

Ah, dinner. I had great plans for dinner. We had leftover makings for chicken cream cheese enchiladas that I put together. The oven was pre-heated and ready to go. All I had to do was put the dish in the oven. Then, of course, disaster strikes, in the form of a 3 year old. Jerry decided it was a good idea to flip the lock over to "lock" for the self-clean cycle on the oven. With my oven, I don't know about yours, this is a problem. I tried to turn the oven off for a few minutes and then back on. Nope, the cleaning light kept blinking. Maybe if I just set the temperature it will cook anyway. Wishful thinking. Finally I went up to find the instruction manual. While searching the hooligans went nuts doing who knows what. Poor Tyler was trying to finish his homework, so their antics were less than appreciated. Children were quickly banished to their room to play until dinner was ready. Finally I found the information I was looking for. Not good. In order for the oven to reset after turning off the self clean cycle, it has to cool completely. No time for that, Tyler has class in 45 minutes. I kept trying to turn the oven back on, hoping it would think the temperature was low enough to reset. No such luck. While banished in their room, Jerry threw his motorcycle, a ride on toy, and hit Michael. I give up. Tyler ended up with leftovers and made it out the door for class in time. I even got his lecture notes printed for him. Maybe he will want dinner when he gets home. Yeah, probably not. Another wasted effort and lost attempt at getting something right.

Go ahead, laugh at our misadventures. Smile and say "I am so glad it is her and not me!" Share some story that is worse than this one. Let me laugh at your misfortunes, please. Post on your blog and tell me to go read it.

Eventually we will laugh, but for now I just want to quit. Tomorrow is going to be better. It has to be. I can't take many more of these days. One more and I just might run away and not come back.

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.

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?

Michael in Motion

Michael is growing, so here is some fun stuff for proof. When he is hot, tired, or mad, his hair stands up all over. It cracks me up, so I just had to take a picture one day.I think he is sufficiently mad here. One day he will look back and laugh, but for the moment, not so much. I think I will blow up the picture, make a mask out of it, and hold it up to my face when I am having a bad moment. Then I can be cute and mad, all at the same time.



While getting ready for bed, I decided to take the requested video of Michael walking. Jerry, um, helps him. Yes, my kids are running around in diapers. Sometimes it is just diapers, others is diapers and a shirt. It just makes changes so much easier. Besides, if I could run around nekkid in this heat and humidity, you bet I would. Well, if I had a fabulous body and outrageous self confidence. Oh yeah, and no sense of modesty.




Michael also made videos difficult because as soon as I started trying to record, he came running at me, full tilt. At least you get the idea. I love the way babies walk when they are learning. They look like Frankenstein.

So there you have it. Michael is a wild headed, fluffy headed, walking, moving boy. Who just happens to be the cutest little baby around, if I do say so.

Michael Walker

Michael Walker is now officially a walker. He started walking last week, and he adds a few more steps each day. He is so funny when he smiles and makes a baby run for me. Then, he gets a step or two away and falls forward, absolutely sure that you will catch him.

We seem to be somewhat adjusted to our new routine. We drop Thomas off at school, then we hit the gym. The gym is fabulous and I look forward to my time each day. Best part, besides getting to work out and have time alone, is that the childcare is free. Oh yeah, I make full use of my 2 hours. Maybe I will start taking showers there, just so I can have them uninterrupted by hooligans.

Thomas loves school and his teachers think he is great. We also found out that he is quite protective of a little, and I mean little, girl in his class. His teacher says that she is very shy and quiet, but when she is with Thomas, she talks up a storm and they tend to get in trouble for talking too much. He waits for her and she waits for him, and he makes sure she is included in anything they do. Yup, we are just a bit proud of him. I guess this means we did something right in the parenting department. Thomas is also doing more operas. He was so good in Butterfly, that he was called back to do another.

Jerry is a riot. He laughs at just about anything and has lots of fun, at least when he isn't having a temper tantrum. Also, he talks, a lot. He was in speech for a while because he wouldn't talk at all. Now, he is non stop. Every day he has more words that he says. He also seems to be developing the memory like a steel trap like Thomas. He hears something once, even in passing, and will tell you about it later. He is also big on possession. Everything belongs to someone. Fortunately, he has not started the "everything is mine" phase. Jerry also loves to sing. At church, he has to have his own hymn book and he sings along. It is so sweet and so cute, half the time I can't sing because I am laughing at him.

Michael is so dang cute. He smiles and laughs and loves. He also is on whole milk now, so that frees me up quite a bit. Still no sleeping though the night, but we are working on that. He also likes to eat. He was really fussy for a few days, until I figured out that he was still hungry. Hooray, a house of three growing boys. Michael loves music too. When I am teaching, he tends to throw fits, but not because he isn't the center of attention. No, my baby throws fits because he isn't the one playing the piano. He loves to play and will bend over backwards in my arms to be able to play.

A favorite activity in out house is to have both pianos going and lots of us singing. I am thrilled that they all love music so much and that it is such a central part of our home. It is such a blessing that all of us appreciate music. Maybe we will be the next Von Trapp or Osmond family, without so many kids. Then again, maybe not.

We are all growing and changing, for the better. We are happy and there are so many good things in out lives right now. Each day, we share what we are thankful for, and there are new things each day. We love our family and friends and are so grateful for them and all they do for us. We are blessed in so many ways.

Disasters Galore

The boys have been a bit busy lately. Where shall I begin?

• Styrofoam blizzard in my dining room. They took my Disney Princess figurines out of the china hutch, and destroyed the molded styrofoam for my snow globes. Lucky for them, they didn't break any actual figurines.
• Jerry likes to take everything out of all the drawers and throw it all over the room.
  
• Jerry drinking 1/2 bottle Milk of Magnesia and the following mess. Thank goodness for spot cleaners, because he left evidence all over
• Digging a hole in the wall, pushing out the plaster patch TWICE, making the hole bigger, making the hole bigger, making the hole bigger again, and spraying sunscreen into the hole. Now we have to cut all the sheetrock out on both sides to prevent mold.
• Depositing toys into the hole in the wall
• Somehow getting the closet door off track
  
• Jerry broke two eggs in the fridge, again
• Jerry climbed up the inside of the fridge and fell out and took a shelf with him
• Thomas ate 20 Jr. Tylenol and spent a day in the ER and got to drink charcoal
• Jerry ate some of the roses for a wedding cake I am working on
• Both big boys tear off the blinds
• Drawer from the dresser now in 4 pieces
• Carvings on the top of the other dresser
• Jerry peed on the kitchen floor
• Toothpaste all over the beds, pillows, carpet, and window (after I had told Thomas to get the toothpaste out of the hallway and put it in the bathroom, yet it managed to end up in their bedroom)
• Scraping paint off the dressers
• Pushing the mattress and box spring off the bed and ripping off the fabric on the bottom of the box spring
• Pulling the mattress off the bed again, and again
• Sliding down the train table top while it is propped up against the bed
• Ripping off or out, still not sure which, the rails for the dresser drawers
  
• "Washing" the train table in their room, along with several stuffed animals, with bath soap crayons.
• "Washing" the train table again the next day
• CD in the VCR, I guess in an attempt to watch a DVD
  
• Jerry dumped water all over the van and himself from his water bottle
  
• Lots of cuts and scrapes from various sources, including running the closet door over toes

There are plenty other disasters, but they all start to run together, and when the next big one comes, I tend to forget some of the previous.
Poor Michael. Not that you can really tell, but he is covered in milk from his bottle. His hair is all wet and sticky and he had little drops of milk on his forehead. Dern if he wasn't cute like that too. While I cleaned up Jerry's overnight Milk of Magnesia mess, I asked Thomas to help Michael with his bottle. Thomas came in and told me Michael squirted the bottle on him. I went in to look and Michael was covered too. Then, later in the day, I discovered my carpet is crunchy from the milk.
The lovely sight that greeted me this morning.
Pudding mix, about 15 boxes, all over my floor and dining room furniture, in my candy making bottles, in my candy molds.
Pudding and water mix squirted all over the bathroom walls. I discovered this lovely mess when I went to the bathroom later.
And, of course, more evidence. Everybody knows pudding mix is a great sink cleaner.

If you can't tell, things around here have been a bit of a nightmare. My house is more destroyed by the day. Any suggestions, other than duct taping them all to the wall? As usual, I hope I will laugh at this later, but for now it is just irritating. Maybe you can get a laugh until I do.

Life in Motion

Michael started crawling tonight. He finally progressed from moving a hand or knee to actual motion. After a couple little tries, he made it half way across the room. Great. As if my life wasn't crazy before, now I have three mobile boys. Maybe I should build a track in my back yard.

Jerry is talking. No longer is he doing his weird talk in the back of his throat thing, he is talking. He also has to say everything twice. Instead of "hot," he says "hot, hot." Same with cold, milk, and his many other words. In a matter of about 6 weeks, he went from saying about 5 words to saying ten times that. Many words he still signs as he says them, which is cute and impressive.

Thomas just finished the opera. Throughout the rehearsals and performances, he ran to the car and ran to his place when it was time. No fear, just pure joy and excitement that was infectious. There will be an entire post on the opera later. As we left today, he asked when we will come back. I seem to have a feeling that we will be spending many more hours in the car and at rehearsals in the future.

I am trying to keep up with myself. Recently I told my good friend that I am turning into her. She is so nice and never says no and always volunteers for everything. As a result, "she meets herself coming and going," as my mom says. When I told her I was becoming her, she told me to stop and turn away from the dark side. We both just laughed and I know she loves doing it and those around her are grateful for all she does. Now, as my kids are starting school and providing me with more opportunities to be involved, my time is becoming full with volunteering and the inability to say no. If you can't find me in the future, chances are I can't either, so just keep trying.

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.

The Insanity of Our House

I have been a bit slow in the posting lately. Not only am I not telling stories of our misadventures, but I am also getting a backlog of tags. So, quick update. Life around here is nuts, to say the least. WE have 3 boys who destroy together and love together. They also throw fits and get sick together. We tend to share everything around here, even those that are less than desirable for sharing. Jerry is having ear issues again, Michael is growing and developing a cute personality, and Thomas got accepted to the Academy we applied to and starts school July 28. Tyler is working lots doing his electrical work, and doing a fine job for himself and the company. Rachel is working lots. The latest and greatest on that front is being the accompanist for a musical. Oh yeah, and throw in teaching and a wedding and that keeps me busy. I now have an office, although not the most conventional office space. My office comes with heat, air, radio, and three carseats in the back. Life should slow down for a week, then pick back up, then slow down again until the fall. I say that now, but we all know that is not likely to stay the case.

So there you have it. The last month or so in a paragraph. That will have to do for now, a grumpy baby calls....

Funny Kids

My kids are nuts. They make me laugh many times a day.

The other day, Jerry was throwing a major temper tantrum. He has mastered the art of the 2 year old tantrum, in case you were wondering. In the middle of his fit, I sarcastically asked him "are you done yet?" He looked at me with his nastiest, grumpiest face and yelled "uh-uh!" Tyler and I just looked at each other and cracked up. At least he was honest. Back to throwing a fit.

Poor Thomas is suffering from the icky nose. He is going around snarfing all day and making me cringe every time. I seem to remember teaching him to blow his nose into a tissue some time ago. Last night, the snuffies woke him up. I asked him what was wrong because he was crying. He wailed some more and told me through the tears that he has "lost his smell." I am sure he will find it soon.

Michael is a little attention mongrel. He fusses until you look at him. If you don't do anything but look at him, he pokes out his bottom lip and gets ready to cry again. Yes, he has a preparation stage to his crying. Once you pick him up, he looks at you and grins his cute, huge, toothless grin. Yup, he got what he wanted and he knows it. Cute little stinker.

I am so lucky to be able to stay home with my kids. Or, as my cousin says, be a close-to-home-mom. How many of these cute and sweet moments would I miss otherwise? I would gladly pass the fits and trauma on to someone else, but those are not as frequent as the good moments. Yup, life is crazy, but fabulous.