Debby

2 Years, 10 Weeks.


You'd think with a name like that she would be sweet and caring.  A homemaker.  Baker of irresistible fruit pies.

Not a slow and persistent, drenching, flood-producing tropical storm.

This past weekend and week it felt as if we were prisoners in our own home, forced to stay inside, at the mercy of Debby.  That really wouldn't sound so bad except that you have to keep in mind that kids don't like to stay inside the entire day, and they start to get stir crazy.  And imagine what that does to their parents!

If only there were some way we could have channeled some of the storm and most of the rain to the western part of the country.  Some parts of Colorado are reeling from pretty intense wildfires right now.

It finally cleared up late Wednesday afternoon, and we were able to once again walk outside to bask in the sun's glow, only to turn back around and head inside due to the 93 degree weather and 75% humidity.

Gotta love summertime in Florida.

Here are the pictures:

Having way too much fun during bath time!

Looking online for a Bible story for bedtime.

Sabbath afternoon Skype session with Lolo and Lala.
We would do Papa and Nana's Skype session the following afternoon.

Cuddling with Mommy.  Won't be too much longer until she won't be able to hold all three at the same time!

Brae and I headed out for a Daddy/Daughter Date Night as the twins get ready for bed.
We went to go see Madagascar 3.

They were good sports about not being able to go.

Sunday morning pancake breakfast.

Taking advantage of the free things Disney has to offer:
On Sunday we went resort hopping and watched the animals in the rain
at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Checking out a few wildebeests and some zebras in the distance.

Craft time with some play doh.

This was Monday's line at the Science Center.  Luckily the Members' line was much shorter!
We were in within 5 minutes of waiting.

We sought some massive potatoes at the oriental market.

Maddy checks out a frozen octopus on Tuesday.

Wednesday we joined up with Jennifer Bergherm and her 5 charges and took all the children to Monkey Joe's indoor bouncy house center.

She wanted to help with cooking supper.

A chef and sous-chef in the making!

This week's Costco run!

Randoms:

And you thought we had a lot of kids!

Dishes of the week:

Eggplant with ravioli in roasted red pepper puree.

Seared tilapia, edamame, shiitake and snow peas, with pearl couscous.

Quotes:

• During 50 gazillion questions before she will let us leave her room at night:

          Brae:  "Why do we have skin? Why does it not break? How did it get all over
                     us?"

          Mommy:  Oh boy "Well, it started when you were in my tummy and then 

                          stretched as you grew."

          Brae:  "How small?"

          Mommy:  "Teeny tiny, like a seed."

          Brae:  "How did you get a seed in your tummy? Did you swallow it?"

          Mommy:  Oh boy  "God put it there."

          Brae:  [incredulous]  "You swallowed God???"

          Mommy:  Oh boy  "No..."

          Brae:  [with a high pitched voice]  "Awkward!"

          And then she went on to a another random question….

• Another one of life's questions:

          Brae:  "Why are there mommies and daddies?"

          Mommy:  [trying to come up with a profound reason]  "Because God made it that
                           way."

          Brae:  "So they could help kids reach stuff, right?"

          Mommy:  [nodding in agreement]  "Yeah..."

          Whew!  Saved again!

• On Thursday we were driving around town running our errands when she asked me the DREADED QUESTION:

       
          Brae:  "Daddy?  How do mommies get babies in their tummies?"

          Me:  [shocked and somewhat taken aback]  "Um...ah....that's a question you need 

                  to ask Mommy later."

          Brae:  "When later?"

          Me:  "Later.  Like when you're an adult."

          Brae:  "Why?"

          Me:  "Because that's an adult question."

          Brae:  "Oh...but I'll forget!"

          Me:  "No you won't."

          Brae:  "Why?"

          Me:  "Because you have a good memory.  You'll remember it later."

          Brae:  "Oh...okay."

          Sheesh!!!

Have a great weekend!

Father's Day Weekend

2 Years, 9 Weeks.

"Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad"

                                                                                --Anne Geddes

I am undoubtedly blessed to share my life with an amazing woman and partner, and three of the most adoring, scrumptious little presents from God.

I am undeserving of this privilege; I am sometimes mystified at how I was chosen for this.

And yet, I am so humbled and grateful for the opportunity.  

With that, here was my whirlwind Father's Day weekend:

VBS program at the Markham Woods Church.

Braelyn enjoyed singing up front, even with a huge bird behind her!

Brae and Kohl enjoying the reception afterwards.

With the youngest.

Waiting for the arrival of the Peabody ducks.

Their "home" during the day.

Kohl exploring the play park.

Maddy sits on the spinning bucket chair.

All three hanging on the spinning stick.

Maddy doing her hanging thing.

The boys enjoy the shade.

At the new Turtle Trek exhibit.

At first we thought those were rocks but they ended up being very large turtles.

Seeing the last Shamu show of the day.

Pancake breakfast courtesy of Mommy while...

I was treated to a round of golf in Tarpon Springs by Bruce's parents,  the Bergherms.

Enjoying the neighborhood park in the afternoon.

Using Daddy as a horse!

Twins sharing my lap.

Lunchtime visit to Chuck E Cheese's place.

Riding together, sharing the steering the wheel.   Kohl looks perplexed!

About to conduct a science experiment with water and some food coloring.

This week at Costco!

Meals of the week:

Filet of raw salmon with assortment of flowers and herbs.

Steak 'n Eggs.  A classic.

Garden Vegetables on a bed of Orzo.

Have a great weekend!

A Birthday Surprise [Sort of] And An Ear Cut

2 Years, 8 Weeks


I have a confession to make.

I had been corresponding with a few women via email behind Tangie's back over the past couple of weeks.  And though for most this may seem a tad bit inappropriate, it was the only way for me to plan and carry out my clandestine operation.  Or at least, I thought she would never suspect anything.

So when Saturday evening rolled around I was a little bit nervous.  We were headed to the Zbaraschuk's for a planned dinner with them, along with the Grodack crew.  During nap time I had quietly put together a bag of her clothes and make-up, along with a cooler full of ice and mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktail mixes, for those of you wondering) to kick start the evening activities.  You see, the secret cohort of women were all going to take Tangie out to dinner for her birthday courtesy of yours truly.  Of course, as soon as I gave her the bag of clothes to change into she said she thought something was up.  I guess it doesn't help to tell your 5 year old that there's a surprise party for her mother.  Oh well!

L to R:  Heather C, Corey G, Tangie, Lisa D, Kelli J, and Amy Z.  Thank you ladies for all your help!

So the fathers were left to their own devices and the children whilst the ladies enjoyed a girls' night out to the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant.  They all had a lot of fun, as did we, trying to get the children to cooperate with us in eating their pizzas and popcorn, before heading out to the pool for an evening dip. I am proud to say that we rose to the occasion and survived with flying colors!

The kids (minus Calleigh who was having a moment) in their pajamas, ready to end the evening festivities.

So let's see.  This was another fairly busy week.  Braelyn has been attending Vacation Bible School at the Markham Woods SDA Church in Longwood, with our good friend Jennifer helping chauffeur her back and forth from her house, along with her two boys and the Z's two boys as well, so 5 kids in total!    This brings back the daily routine when she would be in school, although this time she would be finished by 12:30, so we don't get home until past 1 for lunch and naps, which pushes bedtime a little later.  She seems to be enjoying it, coming home with crafts and songs to share with the twins.

Brae getting her bangs trimmed.

Maddy inspects Kohlden's new haircut.

Stickers on the face is so much fun!

Pirate Brae goes to sleep ~ bandana, eye patch and all.

Stickers on the sofa is so much fun!

At the Wekiva playground.  It was a very hot and muggy day.

Speaking of the twins, we had Kohl's bilateral appendage excision to remove the little tag on his right ear scheduled for this Thursday at 8:45 in the morning.  The procedure was performed by the same doctor that had inserted Braelyn's ear tubes at around the same age.  Tangie took him very early in the morning, for all the prep and necessary paperwork, while I stayed with Maddy and took Braelyn to Jennifer's for VBS, before joining Tangie at the surgery center.  We waited in the lobby for about 25 minutes until they called us back to recovery, where he had just woken up.

Last picture of him with the ear tag.

Not a very happy camper!

Maddy wanted Mommy to read to pass the time.

He did great, and Dr. Kosco did a good job with the operation, although he did mention that he was a little surprised at how much more involved it was once he made the incision, due to the cartilage and fat in play.  He decided not to worry about the left ear and made the right ear match it's opposite.  Of course in the beginning Kohl didn't want to have anything to do with the doctor, so they had to give him some happy juice to calm him down, the nurse having to carry him away to the operating room.  When we first saw him in recovery he was very disoriented because of the anesthesia, as expected, and was irate and fussy.  He kept saying, "All done!  All done!"  But it would be another half hour or so before they could discharge us, for observation.  He took some diluted apple juice and insisted his IV insert be removed immediately.

Maddy seemed understandably concerned for her brother, and was probably wondering why he was acting really strange when normally he would be laughing and wanting to play with her.  Tangie took Kohlden home while Maddy and I ran some errands for pain medicine and other things, picking Braelyn up from the church rather than the Bergherms so that we could get home quicker to see how the little guy was doing, apparently doing fine based on the video Tangie took of him, loopy and full of hiccups!

The finished product.  Now I won't be able to tell the twins apart!

Another bit of great news is that our good friends the Grodacks have surprised us with the decision to move a little closer to us, so close in fact, that they are only going to be half a mile away.  That's right, they are under contract to purchase a house right here in our subdivision!  Actually, they're buying a palace that is in the process of being built, which is ironic because Duncan kept making fun of some cousins who are getting their house built, ironically again, in our same subdivision, because of all the cheap houses and foreclosures in the area!  And after commuting 40 minutes each way to one another's homes over the past 5 years, it's funny to think we are going to end up living only 2 stop signs away!  It will be so nice to have them so close; for the kids to play at the clubhouse and pool together, and when I say kids I mean dads.  The only bad thing about getting a bigger house, as I've shared with Corey, is having to clean up a bigger mess!  Oh, but the space!  Welcome to the neighborhood you guys!

You've heard of a mother-in-law suite?  Well, hers is the entire west wing!

Dish of the week:

Medallion of Seared Salmon with Zucchini and Asparagus.

Randoms:

Another sad milestone:  170K miles on the Pathfinder!  And I  like how Tangie took this picture at 60 mph...

Pets of the week:  3 very large grasshoppers from our backyard!

Quotes this week:

• I was driving out to the east part of town to meet Tangie and do a kid swap before I met up with my former boss's husband, and we were driving on the 408 expressway, passing by the Orlando Executive Airport:

          Me:  "Look Brae, there's the airport!"

          Brae:  "But... I don't see any airplanes?"

          Me:  "Oh, they only have small airplanes."

          Brae:  "Why?"

          Me:  "Because it's a small airport.  Big airplanes can't fit in it."

          Brae:  "Only small airplanes?"

          Me:  "Yup."

          Brae:  "For small people?"

          Me:  [trying hard not to laugh]  "Yup."

          Small people.  That was a good one.

• We were having dinner one evening and Braelyn for some reason was taking her sweet time, to the point that the twins were just about to finish their meals and beat her, which is usually the other way around.  She obviously didn't want her mac 'n cheese and was waiting around to see if she could get out of eating it.  Finally I had had enough.

          Me:  [exasperated] "Brae!  Eat your supper!"

          Brae:  "I am!"

          Me:  "You haven't even touched your mac 'n cheese!"

          Brae:  "Yes I have!  See?"

          And then she proceeded to show me how she had touched it.  With her finger.

• Tangie was taking Braelyn to Jennifer's house early Wednesday morning, and she was sporting a bandana and a makeshift eye patch I had made for her when we were playing pirates with the twins the previous evening -- she wanted to show Blake and Zachary her get up.

          Me:  "Uh, Brae.  I don't think you can wear that to Vacation Bible School."

          Brae:  [whiny]  "Why?"

          Me:  "Because it's a church.  And I don't think they allow pirates there."

          Brae:  "But I'm not a pirate.  I'm a ...[pause]...woman!"

          Oh dear.  Already!

• Kohlden, after waking up from surgery:

          Kohl:  "Hey Dad, remember the story of Peter the disciple cutting off the
                      servant's ear in the Garden of Gethsemane?" [reference  John 18:10]
          Me:  "Yeah?"
          Kohl:  "I think I can totally relate to how that servant felt immediately
                     afterwards."

          Me:  "Really, how so?"

          Kohl:  "Oh, I don't know.  Kinda feels like something's missing..."

          Nah.  Not really.

Have a great weekend!