Arizona Pictures, well, some of them

Baby Jerry playing inside Aunt Becky's cabinets. Isn't he cute in there peeking around the corner. He could stand up inside there too.

Pillow fights with cousins. We had lots of these while we were visiting.

Sleeping at the table. Thomas was trying to put his sandwich in his mouth while his head was doing the sleeping bob. It was a moment right off of America's Funniest Home Videos.

Dog Pile on Aunt Erin and Uncle James. There were lots of those too.

The best Christmas Gift of the year, a book that means so much, but you thought was lost 15 years ago. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Semper Fi, my love!

Aunt Erin helping Thomas feed the ducks. Ducks love ABC cookies from Costco.

Dump Truck photos to come, as well as family pics. There are just too many pictures to post everything. That's a good problem, right?

Home Again

As my brother-in-law so kindly pointed out this morning, I have not updated the Blog since coming home from AZ. He asked if the trip was so traumatic I didn't want to post, but the reality is life after being gone almost a month has kept us all a little distracted from the Blog.

We all survived the trip there on the plane and had a fabulous flight crew that helped us get settled with ALL our stuff. Aunt Becky met us at the airport, but got quite the surprise when she discovered we landed 30 min ahead of schedule. First stop, PETE'S!!! Man, can I just tell you that I have waited almost 3 years to have Pete's again. MMMMMMMM, can't beat a monster burger with onion rings and Pete's sauce, and $1.25 for a 44 oz Dr Pepper.

WE had lots of play time with aunts and uncles and cousins in the time we were visiting. What happens when you play with cousins for a week, adn don't take a nap? You fall asleep eating your dinner. Yes, we had one of the classic eating in your sleep at the table moments. Thinking about it just makes me laugh.

Uncle Doug, Aunt Kristen, and the kids surprised everyone and showed up to join the party. WE had all the siblings and families together for the first time in way too long. With everybody here, why not a round of family pictures. Cousin Sterling (Tyelr's cousin) took a TON of incredible pictures. With all the kids and siblings (big kids) we managed to get some really nice photos. The big kids ran off for some fun in the desert, and everybody came home with all fingers attached, huge grins on their faces, and lots of fun stories.

Christmas Eve we had the wonderful opportunity to have everybody together for a baby blessing. Randon, Bryant and Stephanie's new baby was blessed with all of us there. He is such a little cutie and even had on patent leather shoes. We are so glad we were able to be there and a part of their special day.

Christmas was wild with all the kids, then we did round two when all the extended family came over later. Family is what makes Christmas. Aunt Becky gave the boys humongous Tonka dump trucks. We like to put Jerry in them and push him around. He just laughs and laughs and bounces on his little bum. Pictures of that one are coming soon. Tyler got back a book he thought was lost 15 years ago of his USMC Boot Camp class. That was the hilight of Christmas, seeing how much that meant to him. Thanks to his mom for finding it, all I did was wrap it and give it to him.

Tyler managed to sneak away from work for a few days to come out, but after the fun of Christmas morning, I had to take him back to the airport for the trip home. Little did he know, he was in for a serious adventure. He was supposed to land at RDU just before midnight. I was following his flight online througout the wild game of pictionary at Becky's. Next thing I know, he is headed for Norfolk VA, not RDU. Turns out there was no visiblity and the plane was rerouted. Once in Norfolk, after lots of useless information, the passengers were finally told some of them may go home Wednesday, but Thrusday was most likely. GOtta love holiday travel. In the end, another Marine had maged to rent a car from the counter where an employee had just happened to stay late (2am) and was on his way to Jacksonville (2 hours SE of Raleigh) and offered Tyler a ride. Thank goodness for that lovely haircut he can't seem to get rid of. So, about 18 hours after we left him at the Phoenix airport, he managed to get home.

Later in our adventure we took the kids to the zoo. Thomas knew exactly what he wanted to see when we got there. Aunt Becky asked him what he wanted to look at and she got her answer, "I wanna see the Giraffes and the Lions, and the Tigers, and the Elephants, and the Zebras." OK, so maybe we might want to tone down the animal planet a bit. The kids and Uncle James were feeding the ducks after lunch when they discovered the ducks will eat out of your hand. How much fun is that. We got some great memories and pictures of that experience.

After lots of late nights, fun times, laughs, adventures, hugs, smiles, and good quality time, we headed home. The boys were wonderful on the trip home as well. I was so glad I didn't have "that kid" on the plane. I have to say a little thank you to the kid in front of us on the plane. Thanks for being so horrible that you made my kids look like saints.

After we got home, we had the time adjustment again, adn the adjustment back to real life. We did Christmas again with Lolly and family. Thomas got a train table for his Thomas trains, and he can't wait to help Daddy put it together. Jerry got some great soft Little Tikes cars and sights and senses balls that he loves to chase around the living room. The boys also love to put them in the dump trucks and dump them out and watch where they go. I was the real winner this year. I got the mega duty KitchenAid mixer I have been wanting for years. The timing is great too, since I'm not sure how many more cakes and frostings my little hand mixer can handle.

Yup, Christmas was wonderful to us. WE had the most important things, family and time. We are all so blessed to have great families and the opportunity to spend time with them. We miss everybody terribly now that we aren't with them every day, but we are looking forward to seeing you all again. 2008, AZ again. Lots of love and Hugs to all of you, and may everybody have a wonderful new year!

For some odd reason I can't get pictures to cooperate, so you will just have to check back later and match the pictures to the events. Sorry.

AMANDA!!!

WELCOME HOME AMANDA!!!

Amanda got home yesterday, and we are in AZ. We talked to her from JFK and once she landed in Raleigh. It is so good to have her back, and we can't wait to see her and show her how the boys have grown.

Don't worry, AZ pics are coming soon.

Packing Explosion

This is what it looks like when you are packing for 2 kids and 1 adult. It looks like the laundry threw up on my floor. Add about 4 laundry baskets of folded clothes, a load of towels, a load of sheets and blankets, and bunches of clothes that need to be put on hangers laying around and you can imagine what my spare bedroom looks like. Thank goodness for wonderful Aunt Becky who has a pack-n-play, one carseat, and highchair waiting for us in AZ. Good thing I don't have to carry those in addition to the luggage, backpack, purse, Thomas carry on Lighning McQueen suitcase, double stroller, and Jerry carseat. Just call me pack mule. Last night I was joking with Tyler saying we should take a before and after flight picture, he said no. I think he doesn't want to see what I look like after the trip. WE will all be fine, thanks to the wonderful invention of portable DVD player and Benadryl.

Thanks to those who wished me Happy Birthday. Like I said to Evelyn, I may be getting older, but Tyler is still older than I am. And Becky is still 25, or is she 29 yet? Lolly gave me the coolest shoes for my birthday, adn I wear them jsut about everywhere. Dansko shoes are the best! But dangit, now I want more, they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever had, I think. Check them out for yourself, but be warned of sticker shock. I would compare buying these shoes to buying a car. A friend of mine told me she was sorry I got the shoes, because now I won't wear anything else.

Aunt Amanda comes home while we are gone, and we can't wait to hear all of her adventures and misadventures. We will see you in 3 weeks!

Wow, we land in Phoenix in just over 24 hours. I'm not sure I'm ready for this.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!!

Chaos

Chaos is the word in our house right now. I apologize now for what will be a delay in any new posts. Between my rehearsals and performances all over the place, appointments, story time, and getting ready to be gone for a while, we are going nuts.

Everybody is doing great and the boys are growing like mad. Jerry has 2 complete teeth and 2 more that just broke through. Thomas is beside himself excited about going on the airplane to AZ. Tyler is working crazy long hours, and mom is the usual.

Say a little prayer that I get everything done in the next few days and that we all survive this trip. The goodie bags are ready to be stocked to bribe kids into behaving, and teh DVD player is ready to entertain us all.

Hope everybody has a great Christmas. I will try to post from AZ, but no promises.

Aunt Amanda, we love you and miss you and we will see you in January. Sorry we leave before you get home. (And you could do with an update too)

Little Suggestion

I don't know how many of you actually use the links on the page, but there is one you really need to visit. Check out "Amanda (in Greece)" for some incredible pictures and adventures (and misadventures) of her time in Greece. The pictures are beautiful, and she has this amazing knack of catching fabulous pictures, like the fisherman in the Santorini collection. She was just walking by and thought it would take a good picture. Also, yes, that knockout girl is my sister. Seems her roommate figured out how to make her look like a model. Amanda's a pretty girl, don't get me wrong, but she looks like she belongs in a magazine in some of those pictures. Seems Amanda is all grown up now. When you see her when she gets home, ask her to tell more stories that she didn't post. I think she has enough to keep us all entertained for a week.

For those of us who will likely never see outside our little bubble we live in, her page is a great adventure from your very own little chair in front of your comuter. Hmmmm, a vacation you can take while in your jammas, sounds good to me.

We miss you Amanda, and can't wait to hear more stories. We hate that we will be gone when you get home, but we will see you soon enough. Love and lots of hugs from all of us. And a few butterfly, birdie, and owl kisses too ;)

Sugar Fest

Halloween, aka sugar fest, has come and gone. Thomas had fun last year, but this year was more than fun. We did the church Halloween party at Lolly's, then the party at church with our friends, then we of course did the usual trick-or-treating. On Tuesday, Halloween, Thomas had more energy and excitement than any of us thought possible (the kid never took a nap during the day). He went to the first house, got his treat, came bouncing down the steps saying "Let's do that again!!" In the beginning Thomas was running ahead of mom and dad and telling us to hurry up and come on while we were telling him to slow down and wait for us. After a few blocks he was the one dragging behind.

I do have to make a proud-parent note as well. He is a very thoughtful fellow, often saying "Baby Jerry needs a treat" and getting a treat to put in Jerry's punkin, which was hanging from his foot in the stroller (should've taken a pic of that one too, it was very cute, thanks Daddy), before getting his own treat. Yes, we taught him well.

One serious advantage of a neighborhood with mostly older kids, everybody thinks the little ones are so cute. I can't tell you how many times we heard "they are the cutest ones all night" or "it's so nice to see a little one having fun" or some other such comment. Lucky for Thomas, those comments usually came with more treats.

Yes, I think I have cute kids (so do Lolly and Aunt Amanda). Thomas the Flower in a Flower Pot (recognize the costume Amanda?) and Jerry the Bumble Bee. I love the face Thomas makes when you tell him to smile. Jerry is just a happy little guy. Yes, he does have 2 arms and feet, they just get a little lost next to daddy's jacket. Nice theme costumes, if I do say so myself.

So, next year is Thomas as a mouse and Jerry as a cat?

Are you Ambidextrous?

Thomas and I were at Lolly's last night for Halloween Costume finishing. Thomas was drawing on the dry erase board on the fridge and having a grand time drawing away and telling us what he was drawing. He was using his right and left hand, which Lolly and I noticed at the same time. Lolly asked Thomas "Are you ambidextrous?" In all seriousness he looked at her and said "No, I'm Thomas." We both cracked up, and Lolly said, "Yes, you are, and I love you!" with a chuckle and a huge grin on her face.

So I ask, are you ambidextrous?

Also, as if there was ever any doubt, Halloween pictures will be up shortly. We have a party tonight to start the sugar high fun.

Deal or No Deal?

Too funny, we couldn't kep it to ourselves.

WE let Thomas watch the beginning of Deal or No Deal this evening. The lovely models were walking out down the stairs. Thomas is watching and out of his cute little mouth comes "oh, wow." I don't know about you, but I think he is a bit too young to be wowing over 26 hot models. Yes, they are knock-outs, but he is 3. Most of them could be his mom, gorgeous moms, but old enough to be his mom. At least he knows pretty women when he sees them.

Not sure where he learned that one, but it sure was cute. Hope you laugh as much as we did.

Chores

Daddy was out cutting the grass. Thomas went and got his fleece winter mittens to go help. He has to wear gloves just like Daddy does. Mommy went to get Thomas's gloves, they are so cute with bugs on them, and Thomas went out to help. Daddy let Thomas help by pushing the mower. He even lowered the handle so Thomas could reach better. Do you think Thomas had a little bit of fun? He was the perfect description of grinning ear to ear. Maybe this should be a new chore for Thomas each week.
And maybe next time mom will think to have the kid wear pants and shoes, instead of shorts and sandals (give me a break, I had no idea Tyler was actually going to let him cut the grass. I thought he would just let him pull weeds.)