One Week Until Savannah

I can't remember if I've posted this before or not but Kayla's Girl Scout Troup (which I'm the leader but mostly I think on paper because of all the involved parents) is heading to Savannah in one week! It seems like just yesterday the girls were planning it and deciding what adventures they wanted to go on. The girls (with the help of their parents) have raised enough money to pay for 1/2 of the trip. I think that's pretty amazing.

Our adventure is going to be a ton of fun. We start our day on Friday heading off for the four hour long trip down and then checking into the hotel and unpacking. Then it's off to a dinner and then a ghost story carriage ride. Saturday will be an adventure as we head to Tybee Island's Marine Center to earn a badge, do a dolphin tour and visit the lighthouse. Then back to the hotel for a pizza pool party! Sunday we'll visit the Juliette Gordon-Lowe house (the founder of Girl Scouts) and do some activities and tour the grounds. After our history of Girl Scout lessons we'll be doing some window shopping on market street. Monday morning we'll head to the Andrew Lowe house and the cemetery before eating lunch and heading home.

I of course will miss Phil and the kids. Although I think Phil will miss me a bit more since he'll be home with the boys. And I will miss Alex's first tball game of the season (which I'm sure they'll win as they are the Pirates who don't do anything. :) ). So meanwhile I'll sit with Kayla and count down the days until we leave.

Seeing Me Off Even in His Sleep

Yesterday morning Logan was seeing me off even in his sleep. Around 5:30 in the morning we heard Logan say, "Goodbye Mom. Goodbye Mom." I guess he knew that he wasn't going to be awake before I left that day.

A New Van

Well having our Kia Sedona fixed was not in the cards for us. Due to the amount of damage (which doesn't look as bad in the photos) under the hood the cost to repair it is too close to the market value of the vehicle. So the Kia Sedona has been deemed totalled. So yesterday I went and cleaned out all the rest of our belongings from the van and put it in the trunk of the car. That night we went out and found a replacement vehicle (With three kids involved in all sorts of activities we need two vehicbles). We ended up with a 2002 Chevy Venture. It has a few more bells and whistles than before but the nice thing is it has a roof rack, which will make long distant trips more bearable because things can go up on top. This also seats 8 instead of 7 and according to the salesman has 16 cup holders. Although to me that means 16 holes we'll have to clean spills out from. It's not as slick body but I think it will be a good fit for us.

An Alexism For Your Wednesday

The upside to having only one vehicle to drive is that I get to see everyone in the morning and drop everyone off at their destinations. So that led to an interesting comment out of the blue from Alex this morning. Alex said, "When I'm Kayla's age I can be her boyfriend." Don't think that's possible but it really shows how much he loves his big sister.

Can I Call A Mulligan On The Week?

I'd like to call a mulligan on the week and go back to Saturday if that's possible? Does it ever seem like no matter what you do you keep getting hit with a string of bad luck? We just spent a decent amount of money fixing my car so that it was truly safe to drive (new brakes, tires and fixing a tie rod issue) on Friday. Money well spent. Well on Sunday on the way home from the Mall (We should have listened to Alex's request to go to the bookstore perhaps he's psychic.) we were in a fender bender with the van. This was just added to the $1200 we spent to make Montana well (money that I'm not complaining about) and that our heat pump is out (thank goodness for the fire place) it just wasn't a good time.

However, I'm choosing to take the positive spin on everything:

1. Montana got ill so we would appreciate and love him more.

2. The heat pump went out so we'd appreciate modern technology and make more use
out of our warm blankets.

3. The car was fixed so that we would have a reliable vehicle to drive after the
van accident on Sunday.

4. We got in an accident on Sunday so that Phil's endoscope would show that he didn't have any major damage to his stomach, no ulcers and no stomach cancer only esophagitis.

Hopefully these events are the last for the rest of the year. Not sure I can continue to put a positive to spin on more large ticket items.

Why You Should Brush Your Teeth

According to Logan: If you brush your teeth you won't die. If you don't brush your teeth you will die.

All for a Shiney Quarter

Did you know that shiney quarters have a lot of purchase power? According to Logan they do. For a shiney quarter he wants Phil to build him a giant Transformer. But he also wants him to build him a flying car with wings out the side. All this for a shiney quarter. :)

We Don't Have Animals

Last night Alex and I had an interesting phone conversation as I laid with him before bed. The conversation went as follows:

Alex: Mom, will you stay with me when Daddy dies?

Me: Yes I will but Daddy isn't going to die for a long time.

Alex: I don't want to die.

Me: You aren't going to die for a long time either. Humans live for a long time. Animals don't live as long.

Alex: We don't have animals.

Me: Yes we do. What is Montana?

Alex: A dog.

Me: A dog is an animal.

Alex: No a dog is a dog.

Me: What about the cats?

Alex: Cats are cats.

Me: What about the geckos?

Alex: Geckos are lizards.

Enough said. We don't have animals.

Day of Mourning

It is with great sadness that I must state that our pet iguana, Katara, has passed away. She had not been eating for quite some time and rarely moved around. Many had already thought she had passed for weeks now. She brought joy to our family and the students in Phil's classroom that have watched her and helped take care of her. It really is a miracle that she had lived as long as she did. Katara's previous owners did not take very good care of her and she had some deformities. She almost died several times before we were even able to adopt her. With all of her special and unique features we enjoyed her and treasured her even more. It will be sad this summer not to see her outside enjoying the sun in her large cage, climbing up the sides and up the large limb put in there for her enjoyment. I'm sure also sure that the students will miss seeing her every day in Phil's classroom.

Katara you will be missed but we know that you are no longer in pain. Rest in Peace Sweet Katara.

Sweetness for Valentines Day

With our crazy schedules who knew if we were going to experience much sweetness on Valentines Day but I think that we did. Everyone woke up in a pretty good mood. No one had any major issues during the day. When Phil picked up the boys they were super sweet to each other. Alex gave Logan a piece of candy and said it was because Logan was his Valentine. Logan gave Alex a big heart that said I love you because Alex was his Valentine. Kayla had a great Thai Boxing class and shared some of her chocolates with me.

Phil (with advice from Kayla and the Jeweler) bought me a beautiful diamond necklace with three diamonds that represent the past, present and the future. (On an aside note: Logan told Phil in the morning that they needed to go to the story and get me a heart necklace with sparkles on it. Boy Logan you're going to be a great husband some day. :) ) Phil also straightened up the living room (to me that's gift enough) and gave me a beautiful rose.

Even though we didn't have a romantic dinner (we had homewreckers and cokes from Sams) it was a beautiful romantic day full of sweetness.

The Calm Before the Storm

And so it begins the calm before the storm. What's that you ask? Well we're about to be in the stage of we actually have a house that we live in? Next week starts the beginning of baseball season (yes you read it right baseball) and both boys will be playing. Phil is coaching Alex's team again and this season they'll be the Pirates (we tried to get the Cubs but it was taken and our parents wanted something besides the Tigers). About 1/2 or so of the kids that Phil coached last season will be returning to his team this season. It will be interesting to watch them grow. That means Wednesday night practices and Saturday 8:20 a.m. games. Hope it's not too chilly.

Then Logan will be having his practices and we're not sure when yet. They're still working on picking out teams (I think). But that will likely mean that the first 3 weeks of practice will mean practices twice a week until the first game on March 8th.

Plus Kayla is still doing Thai Boxing twice a week. Then there's religious ed every Tuesday night and Girl Scouts. Don't forget the Girl Scout troop Savannah, GA trip in March plus cookie booth sales.

Did I mention that we have birthday party invites for the next two weekends? Or that Phil's Master Classes start back up in the middle of March and that's two nights a week? I'm not sure we'll see much of our house until maybe May? At least that means we won't be sitting around watching the Boob Tube that much and the kids will be getting some much needed exercise. As for Phil and I - you may have to visit us in the insane asylum when it's all said and done.

Kayla's Martial Arts Class

If you want to see what Kayla does in her marital arts class click on Tomekichi Martial Arts. Be sure to click on past students of the month to see what they have to say about her. Watch some of the videos to see other things they learn as well.

All Dogs Don't Bark

Alex and I were driving to Publix last night and had the following conversation:
Me: Alex, do you like our dogs?

Alex: No.

Me(thinking maybe he meant just one dog): Do you like Montana?

Alex: No, he barks at me.

Me: Do you like Mandy?

Alex: No, she barks at me. We need to get new dogs that don't bark.

Me: All dogs bark.

Alex: No they don't only our dogs bark.

Me: No really all dogs bark.

Alex: No they don't stop joking.

Alex's Direct Line

Yesterday our boys were having some rough days at the school/daycare. So needless to say they lost the use of some toys that they will now need to earn back. Well as the boys and Kayla are driving home from Thai Boxing last night I asked Alex to leave Logan alone. Alex states, "You're a mean old lady." Needless to say he was sent to his room when he got home.

Phil asked Alex where he learned to call me a mean old lady. Alex replied, "Jesus told me." Perhaps in Logan's words, "He's been listening to the devil."