Mid-life Crisis

So the boys started soccer.  More on that on another post.  Last Saturday we had to pick up Fletcher's friend for soccer practice.  His family was having a garage sale. Turns out, it was one of those deals where several houses in the neighborhood were having garage sales.  We had some time to kill before practice so the boys wanted to walk around and see what people were selling.  They were especially interested in the large canoe that one house had in the driveway.

Since the boys had their soccer jerseys on, an older gentleman picked up a soccer ball and said, "Does anyone need a soccer ball?"  We were just talking on our drive about the fact that we didn't have a soccer ball yet.  So we walked over to get the ball.  Most of their merchandise was on the driveway.  Kevin happened to notice a Harley in the garage and somewhat jokingly said, "Is the Harley for sale?"
His wife quickly said, "As a matter of fact it is."  I said, "Oh sure...the wife immediately says it is for sale, but what about the husband?"  The man said that it was in fact for sale.  He was "too old" to drive it anymore.  So Kevin asked him a few questions and we said goodbye.  I thought that was pretty much the end of it.

Little did I know that Kevin texted our friend Grant (Tucker's dad) who is a big motorcycle guy and has been for years.  They talked about the specs and the price and all the other motorcycle details. Grant thought this was potentially an excellent deal.  So Kevin contacted Mr. Dave.  Mr. Dave said his brother had the first right of refusal but he would call Kevin if his brother decided he didn't want it.

Sunday afternoon they sealed the deal.  For posterity's sake, I am recording the important details and I hope I get all of them right.

It is a 1995 Harley Davidson Heritage Classic soft tail with 24,000 miles.  SS Super Carb, Vance/Hines long-shot exhaust, HD whitewall tires, 80 spoke chrome wheels, chrome front end, chrome calipers, and high polished rotors.  The guy also included helmets, an extra double seat with backrest, a cover, HD tshirts, HD coffee mugs and a trophy that this bike won at the local Harley dealership.  This man kept this bike in pristine condition.  He told Kevin to get ready for plenty of comments from admirers.  Sure enough, Kevin stopped to get gas and an older gentleman stopped and commented on what a good looking bike he had.

Kevin had a sports bike in college so he has driven a motorcycle before.  This one just has a completely different feel (according to him).

To answer the questions I know you are dying to ask...

Am I freaking out?
Why, yes, yes I am.   Motorcycles can be very dangerous.  Ask any emergency room doctor.  But around here there isn't much traffic especially on the back roads where Kevin wants to ride.  He promised me he would be very safe and always wear a helmet.  I am trying not to worry.   I'm kinda worried he might hit a deer.  That would be weird.

Are the boys excited?
They think it is the coolest thing ever.  Although we have had to lay down the law and throw out various threats to make sure they don't even touch the bike.  I'm afraid it will fall on them.  Fletcher is dying for Kevin to take him to school (which will be incredibly difficult since we carpool with 2 other families and I have as many as 6 kids to drop off on a school morning.)  Right now, Fletcher will get a ride around the neighborhood and that's about it.  Luke will have to wait awhile.

Will I be riding too?
Um no, probably not.  I won't have leather chaps or a rivet studded dog collar necklace either so don't go getting any ideas.  I get kind of claustrophobic with a motorcycle helmet on and if I wear the ones that are more open, then I have to worry about my contacts blowing out in the wind (and bugs in my teeth).

Is this a gateway to other stuff?
Um no.  I told him that this can be his mid-life crisis.  But this is it.  No tattoos, no convertible, no boat, no tricked out F150 and no perky 20 year old.

What will I get for my mid-life crisis?
Well, as I told a friend, I would prefer to think I haven't reached mid-life yet so I am not in crisis mode.  However, when I do, I will let you know.

Our friend Grant said that Kevin will quickly figure out that HD really doesn't stand for "Harley Davidson"....it stands for "Hundred Dollar"  because every time you want something new for the bike, it costs at least a "Hundred Dollar".

I'd Like To Thank The Academy

Our church has a Chili Cookoff the same night as the Super Bowl every year.  Kevin decided he would compete. We originally thought he could make gumbo and call it "Louisiana Chili".  But time got away from us that weekend so the gumbo was out.  Instead he found a chili recipe that uses roux as a base.  We have some delicious hot garlic sausage that we had shipped here from Louisiana.  We can't find anything around here that even compares to how good it is!  So he used the roux and the hot garlic sausage and made chili.

It was definitely spicy and delicious.  Everyone wanted to try it. 

I was one of the three judges.  I am sure that had nothing to do with him winning.

Nothing at all. 

Yet Another Reason

This is yet another reason why I love my husband. 

Our front landscape beds needed new mulch.  This was to be the Saturday morning project.  After a hearty breakfast at McDonalds, they went to the mulch place and got a truckload of mulch. 

Kevin could have gotten it all spread out in an hour or less.  But because he is such a good dad and because he is so patient, he let the boys "help".  I think most of their mulch ended up in the grass.  They were absolutely filthy.  But they were very proud that they helped Dad with such a difficult task. 

On a related note, doesn't our front yard look so nice and green.  Kevin does it all.  Impressive, yes?

Ours!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!
And to the best daddy two little boys could ever have.
We are so glad you are ours!
We love you!

Something Christmas-y

Our neighbors are making us look bad.  Many of them put up exterior Christmas lights right after Thanksgiving.  We are surrounded by festive lights.  Kinda made our house look like the dark "Bah Humbug" house on the street.  Fletcher asked if we could put up lights too.

I told him that Daddy was in charge of any and all exterior lighting.  Kevin is not much on decorating for Christmas.  I think it isn't the decorating part, it's the "where to store everything the other 11 months of the year" part that he doesn't like. 

But I think he is coming around. 

On Saturday he took the boys to Lowe's.  His words to me as he left were, "We are headed to Lowe's to find something Christmas-y."

I'm not gonna lie. I was a little scared.  I've seen the Christmas-y things they have at Lowe's. 

They returned. They were successful.  I've never seen two little boys more excited about a purchase. 

So now this resides in our front yard:

 No, your eyes aren't deceiving you.  That is Santa...

 On a rocket ship....

With two penguin passengers. 

Apparently Santa is used to the thin air in space and does not need a space helmet. 

Beauty School Dropout

With two little boys, there are lots of things we don't really do around here like watch princess movies or have tea parties. I'm ok with that. However, I was lamenting the fact that we wouldn't be playing "beauty shop" like I did when I was a kid. I remember fixing my mom's hair and sometimes doing her makeup and going to slumber parties where we brushed each other's hair and painted nails. I love having my hair brushed. It is so very relaxing to me. But it is not something you can just ask anybody to do without feeling weird.

Last night after baths, Luke came in and told me he was going to give me a haircut. So he started playing with my hair and pretending to cut it. He was being super gentle and he kept saying, "you are going to look so good." I felt like I was on some Bravo tv show. Ha! He finished and said, "Now you look bootiful!" Well, Fletcher finished his bath and wanted to get in on the action so he got the hairbrush and started brushing my hair. He gave me a hand and foot massage too! I couldn't believe it! I guess we could call it "barber shop". I'd probably play that every day. I had to record it in the blog for posterity's sake so when they are in their teens I have proof that we did this.

The best part was when Kevin came in and Luke asked if he wanted a haircut too. Kevin was happy to play along although he has alot less hair to "cut." Luke went through the whole thing - putting on the cape, making him look down, using the "tickle machine" trimmers, and blowing off the hair on his back and neck. Best line of the night was when Luke finished and told Kevin, "Now you wook wike a pwincess!"

Wonder who he's been hanging out with at preschool.

What To Do On A Saturday

We have this tree in our front yard that hasn't been looking good for quite awhile now. It obviously has some kind of disease. Kevin decided that this past Saturday was the day to take it out. Of course, Fletcher and Luke wanted to help, as did a couple of the neighbor kids.

Luke was the only one smart enough to wear protective headgear.

Gotta love a sense of accomplishment on a Saturday morning. (I could mention that it took Kevin about 4 more hours to remove the stump, but I won't.)

Overheard

My sister-in-law Stacie (whose kids are 12 and 10) once told me that when I start the carpool stage with kids I can learn a whole lot if I just turn the radio down and drive and listen. Well, we are just getting into the carpool phase where I take Fletcher and a friend to school or the movies or to a birthday party.

My friend Jen took her son Noah and Fletcher to a birthday party this weekend. Jen called me later with the following "overheard" stories.

They got on the subject of presents and Fletcher started listing off his Christmas wish list. The conversation went a little like this:

Fletcher: I want a jet pack**. (I have no idea where he saw, heard or read about a jet pack and it's capabilities).

Noah: A play one?

Fletcher: No a real one.

Noah: (in a very, very serious tone) Well, you better listen to your mommy and daddy's instructions carefully about how to work it because it could be dangerous.

Then they got on the subject of Sadie and what we do with her when we go on vacation. Since we now have several kids in our neighborhood who are at the right age to dog sit, we just have one of them come over instead of putting Sadie in the kennel.

Fletcher: Sadie tries to climb over the seat when she's in the car on vacation with us.

Mrs. Jen: Sadie goes on vacation with you? I thought Daniel (one of the neighbor kids) came over to take care of her.

Fletcher: Daniel doesn't work for Sadie anymore. Shannon and Ariana do.

Who knew Sadie had peeps on her payroll!


**This was our conversation regarding the jet pack earlier in the week:
Fletcher: Mom, I want a jet pack for Christmas.
Mom: Oh, I don't know. Those things are probably very expensive.
Fletcher: But Mom, when Santa and the elves make them, they're free!
How can I argue with that logic?

It All Adds Up

I typically don't post on the weekends, but today is our anniversary.

1 boy
1 girl
7 months of dating
1 proposal
9 month engagement
1 wedding
890 miles - our move from Houston to Jacksonville, FL right after our wedding
4 cities - Houston, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, here
2 apartments - Portofino, Polos on Park
1 townhouse - Saintsbury
3 houses - Chapelwood Lane, Planters Ridge Drive, our current home
17 sets of memorable neighbors (the Tall people, The Witness Protection people, the Petersons)
5 vehicles - Honda Accord, Ford Bronco, Nissan Maxima, Ford F150, Honda Pilot
5 jobs for me - teacher, computer trainer, financial assistant, ministry assistant, college director, stay at home mom
2 companies for you - St. Joe, Newland
7 title changes, promotions, new business cards for you (I think - I've lost track)
1 dog - Sadie
8 churches - Second, Southside, Chets, Northwoods, TRBC, WCC, SB, FBCW (zoinks!)
3 small groups
2 foreign countries - Mexico, Costa Rica
5 mission trips - Missouri, Mexico, Mississippi, Costa Rica x 2
100 college students
600 pizzas
3000 miles - church van driving (you)
20 FSU football games and tailgate parties
2000 bowls of ice cream (you)
200 online purchases (me)
5 vacations without kids
6 vacations with kids
1 failed in vitro attempt
2 successful adoptions
2 little boys who light up our world
2100 bath nights (you)
40 pediatrician visits (me)
6 visits from Santa
8 birthday parties
4 bike/trike assemblies
5 lost teeth
5 middle of the night throw up clean ups
6 snow days
300 Saturdays "hanging out with Dad"
2 gardens
2 tball teams
1 basketball team
1 Coach Dad
1 pathetic soccer attempt
75 trips to the neighborhood swimming pool
2 trips to the emergency room (Kevin & Luke)
7 Mother's Day celebrations
6 Father's Day celebrations
4 new hobbies (surfing, guitar, electric guitar, blogging)
5000+ airline miles flying to visit family
2 trips to Stone Mountain
1 surprise trip to New York
1 less than stellar trip to the Biltmore
5 visits to Watercolor
1 trip to Baltimore with a rented convertible and amazing fireworks show
4 loving, supportive parents
8 fun brothers and sisters and brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws
10 nieces and nephews
3 great nieces and nephews
3 goodbyes (my grandmother, your grandmother and grandfather)
1 potentially scary health diagnosis
0 major surgeries or health problems
1000 decisions (or indecisions) about landscaping and home decorating
13 home improvement projects
4 craigslist adventures
57 nights away from home (you)
6 girls weekends (me)
50 "intense discussions"
500 dinners out
3000 phone calls
4300 good night kisses
1 commitment to God and each other

equals

12 years of a wild ride with an amazing, godly man. I still can't believe you picked me.

Happy Anniversary, Kevin! I love you!

*I'd love to say I came up with the idea for this post all on my own but I saw it on another blog from a husband to his wife and thought it was a fun idea.

C'mon Get Happy

We are the proud new owners of this:

I use the term "we" very, very loosely.


Perhaps we could become the 21 century version of The Partridge Family with Luke on vocals, Uncle David on ukulele and well... you get the picture.

Doppelganger

I write this blog so family and friends far away can watch our boys grow up. I also write so that our boys can look back and remember their childhood. Sometimes I write random things that I happen to be thinking about. So most things are from my perspective which means Kevin gets left out sometimes.

So I'm trying to remedy that.

I wrote about my supposed "celebrity look alikes" (also known as doppelgangers) last week. Then I realized Fletcher and Luke might read that someday and think, "Hmm. I wonder who Dad looked like?"

So now it is Kevin's turn.

Ready?

Can you guess?

Matt Damon. But not Matt Damon in just any of his movies. Matt Damon in some of his earlier stuff and especially in Saving Private Ryan. There's something about his voice and the military short haircut.

See?

Now you know.

Three Things - Kevin

1. Today is his 39th birthday. Happy Birthday! He reminded me recently (after my birthday) that he's only seen 5 decades while I have seen 6. Really? Still cracking old lady jokes after we've been married almost 12 years? You know my motto: Get him young, train him right!

2. He has two little boys (and a wife) that can't wait for him to come home from work every night. He works so hard to provide for our family. I know his employer values him too, but I don't think they really grasp what a great man he is. While I won't go all Jerry Maguire and say "He completes me", I will say that we make a good team. He is the sanity in our home when momma is feeling a little crazy...

3. I love him more than words can express on a blog. He follows hard after God so he can lead our family.

I could continue my list, but seeing that I have this Three Things theme going, I'll stop with 3.

Don't Lick The Railroad Track

We have a neighbor friend who also has a fancy schmancy camera similar to Kevin's. We've said several times that we should try to get together and swap family photo sessions. You know how it goes. Unless you hire a professional photographer, it is very difficult to get a good family photo. So we found a cool place**. Kevin figured out a good time (right before the sun goes down). And off we went. I won't share all of the pictures because we'll use one for our Christmas card. But here are a few fun ones from the day.

We decided NOT to do the traditional white/khaki, black/denim, white/denim, black/khaki color combos just to see how it would turn out. Unfortunately, when I bought Fletcher's green sweater I just sort of guessed it would match my green sweater. I didn't bother to check until picture day. They don't match. Thank goodness for PhotoShop!

She and Kevin are both still learning so some of the photos are blurry or off center, but I included some of those anyway since they were still cute.

I wish we would have taken more of these with Luke more centered. That's him way up in the air. It is nice to have a really strong dad.

We had fun playing around trying to see what might make a good photo.

Kevin took a series of photos of Luke sitting on the track. Before I realized it or could stop him, Luke leans over and licks the railroad track. See the spit in the photo below? I guess it was shiny and he wondered what it would taste like. Silly boy.

**When I suggested this spot, I thought these railroad tracks were no longer in use. I was quite surprised that they were. Kevin and the other family wanted to stay (and use caution) since we were already there. We had not one, not two, but three trains come by after we finished our pictures on the tracks. The bridge went over the tracks and the boys were looking at the train in the picture below. Had I known it was still a working railroad, I would have never suggested it. I had bad dreams all night on Saturday about trains.

I had put a pack of Smarties candy in my pocket as a bribe for Luke. Yes, I will totally bribe my children with candy if it means getting a good photo. I told Luke he had to smile for a piece of candy. The picture below is his candy smile. So genuine. Doesn't look fake at all, right?
Unfortunately, I was taking the picture and it is a little blurry.

Another One Bites The Dust

Once upon a time a deer went out into the woods to frolick and play and perhaps find some food. A nibble here, a munch there. He was enjoying the cool weather minding his own business.


Then KABLAM!




The End.

The deer went to the processor and the 8 point antlers or rack or horns or whatever you call them came home to our house. Fletcher was beyond thrilled to see Dad's trophy and the accompanying photos. This was Kevin's first deer of the season. Our freezer will have lots of venison in it.

I grew up in Louisiana and I know plenty of people who hunt all sorts of things - deer, ducks, geese, dove, etc. But my dad didn't hunt so I wasn't exposed to it directly (no mounted racks in our living room, in other words). I even went duck hunting once with a guy from college. Miserable, cold, wet, muddy experience for me. Something about hunting just gives me the heebie jeebies. I eat beef and chicken so it's not like I'm a vegetarian or anything. I just can't get past the mental part of venison. Maybe I watched Bambi too much as a child. However, I try to keep my mouth shut because I know Kevin enjoys hunting and I am sure Fletcher and Luke will enjoy it someday too. Maybe those days will have to be spa days for me...

Move Over Iron Chef

Kevin and the boys decided to make salsa this weekend. We are trying to find a good (easy) recipe that tastes like the salsa you get in a Mexican restaurant. The one he tried was good, but not great so the search continues. The good thing is that both boys love chips and salsa so I'm trying to figure out a way to sneak in some other good stuff too.

Tents, Marshmallows and Four Wheelers

We've had lots of "firsts" this weekend. Today is Fletcher's first day of kindergarten. I'll post pictures of that tomorrow.

Friday night, Fletcher and Kevin went camping along with two of his other kindergarten buddies and their dads. Kevin's company has several hundred acres of property nearby with some ponds and trails so they headed out there to spend the night. Here's the campsite.


This is the lake next to the campsite and the canoe.

The man with the plan. (Kevin said it was alot of work. But Fletcher probably said a hundred times that it was so fun and he can't wait to go again.)

Fletcher in front of their tent.

Kevin said more than once that he was very thankful the Bass Pro Shop guy recommended that he buy a five man tent (for future possible trips for the entire family). Set up was super easy. That's a queen size air mattress in there with room for all their stuff.

Fletcher was the only one who caught a fish. One of the other dads took a picture of the actual fish. It was a catch and release although Fletcher wanted to cook it up and eat it.

Fletcher and his two buddies Noah and Tucker playing in the back of Kevin's truck while the dads fixed breakfast.

One of the highlights of the trip for Fletcher was getting to ride the four wheelers. Just in case you are curious, this is not an action shot. They were just playing on it.

Three buddies. Excited about camping for the first time.

They ate like kings. Hotdogs on Friday night with roasted marshmallows and Jiffy Pop Popcorn. Saturday morning, Kevin cooked bacon and eggs.

I wish I would have taken a picture of Kevin's truck before they left. It was filled to the brim with stuff just for one night - fishing equipment, cooking supplies, sleeping bags, clothes, first aid kit (at my request), chairs, food, toys (at Fletcher's request). Kevin said next camping trip will most likely be in our backyard! He is such a great dad!

Snow Day!

Here are a few pictures and a video from our fun Snow Day. Please note that no children were harmed in the making of the video and I did not have a heart attack. But I almost did. Next time, I'll probably make them wear helmets.

For the record -- before the first clip Kevin and I BOTH said to Fletcher, "Catch your brother."