Lest we forget: January 28th, 1986

It was on this day, 24 years ago, that 73 seconds after lift off, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all on board.
To this day, we mourn the loss of seven courageous and brilliant lives:
Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe.
They were pioneers who wanted to reach for the stars......
Ronald Reagan summed it up best:
"We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God'.

Godspeed, Crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger, your memory and dream are still alive.

There are boys...and then there are Boys with Brothers!

I told the boys to put away their clean clothes and to pick up their room. Now, under direct whip and chair, they can complete this job in under thirty minutes. However, within an hour, there was a terrible thud. The silence grew. I rushed upstairs with the call of, "What was that?"
"Nothing," was the chorused reply.
I charged up the stairs and swung into the twins' room. No boys. Just a broken table and chair.
I called for the boys and from under beds and out of closets they came. Shame and fear written on their guilty faces.
"How did this happen?"
I was immediately assaulted by three different versions and three different culprits. There was finger pointing, denial and anger.
After examining the debris field I came to the conclusion that they table had died in a bunk bed related incident. I think they were jumping from the upper bunk to the table.
Why? Why would three boys do this?
Were they trying to ride the ceiling fan, again?
Were the launching stuffed animals from the fan?
I try not to ask why too many times. I stopped asking after they all hung out of a second story window with hard hats on. When they put Conner in the dryer. When they crawled out on to the back porch roof.
I have had to rescue Conner from the washing machine (with James cheerfully sitting on the shut lid). I had to rescue Conner from the freezer, and that one scared me. I put a lock on the freezer after that.
And also after that, the boys stole the key and we were locked out of our food for three days until one of them "found" the keys. Which was a miracle seeing as they were hidden in his sock drawer.
Now, those with only one son will wonder why my boys do these things. But there is a difference between a boy and a boy with brothers.
We did get the remains of the table into the hallway. We will see if Pop-pop will be able to fix it.
Total time on putting away the clothes and cleaning the room: 4 hours 45 minutes. A new record.
I am not raising sons, I am raising Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Twins are Seven!!!!!!!

Well, the twins are seven! It is hard to comprehend. While they still want hugs when they fall. I still kiss them good night. I find mittens and fix zippers. But, as I look at them, running, playing and working at school, I realize that they are pursuing independence. The "I an do it, Mama!" has gone to ab unspoken realization, that they just do what ever it is they need, they don't have to show me or prove anything.
It hurts in a small way, but on another front, I cheer these victories. These were my preemies, my way early boys who were expected to have lengthy difficulties.
That is hard to imagine them as less than the normal little boys they are. I watch the mock gun battle with cap guns. I see them digging a whole to the center of the earth, running through a pasture with a magnet to find metal.
They are my happy, wonderful boys. They have grown away from the handicaps of their birth and merely go through what every active boy struggles with: being nice to their sister, sharing, finishing their dinner.
Happy birthday my beautiful boys!

Thanksgiving.....dirt dessert

Yummy, what does everyone want on Thanksgiving? Dirt dessert!
Caitlyn was in charge of dessert this year. She made her famous brownies with the peanut butter chips in them. She also made fabulous dirt dessert cups. These, for those who aren't in the know, are cute cups that look like flower pots. They are complete with flowers and worms. In reality it is crushed cookies, chocolate pudding and some more of the cookies. Add a gummy worm and top with a fake flower. Not only are they yummy, they are so pretty, too!

Before dinner we all had a feisty game of basket-ball. It was everyone against Steve and William. Steve simply stood by the lowered hoop and stuck the ball in. William had the ball taken away one to many times and got his uber-intense look and was like mad man. Tears from Caitlyn, Conner and Will for miscellaneous fouls. James stripped down to his shirt and continued to play after everyone left.

We snacked, we ate, we snacked, we had dinner, and we had dessert. We were miserable, but oh so happy. We enjoyed watching the new Star Trek movie together (ok, new Kirk is way easy on the eyes).
After the kids were home and in bed, Steve had his traditional leftover plate while I stared at him like he was insane.
On Friday the kids helped us decorate. With their superb help we got it ALL up! All of the outdoor lights, two trees and multiple swags.

Saturday was generally a lazy day. The kids helped me take the dogs for a walk at the walking park to get to know Mom's dogs better. I am happy to report that the alphas appear to be reaching a middle ground and we are hopeful for full integration in December!

On Sunday, it SNOWED! Cool, huh!
It hasn't snowed this early since the year of the sick pony:
http://chaosmayhemandtrouble.blogspot.com/2007/11/cold-winter-storm-plus-sick-pony-equals.html

So, winter finally rolls in and we are excited for Christmas!

And how was your day?

Thanksgiving...........

We had a fun Thanksgiving at Mom's house. The kids played a very heated game of basketball and Will dressed for the occasion. He wore a white button down shirt, dress pants and a vest.

The following is thanks to Dean Koontz, "Santa's Evil Twin"


"Well, now Thanksgiving is safely past,
more turkey eaten this year than last,
more stuffing stuffed, more yams jammed
into out mouths, and using both hands,
coleslaw in slews, biscuits by twos,
all of us too fat to fit in our shoes."

Yup, that is how I feel, sitting on the couch wanting to explode!

Volleyball

Oh wow! The improvement in the girls is undeniable. When they first started, most of the girls couldn't serve or get the ball returned. With just a two week span, the girls have gotten a calm and serious demeanor.
They are doing great! Caitlyn served all five that were allotted to her! And smoked them all. She scored the winning points for her team's second game.
Even better, it is fun to watch the girls encourage each other. This is a team sport with the emphasis TEAM!

Go Hitters!

Fine Jewlery

Today Conner came up to me and said, "Look, it matches. It's for you!"

He then handed me a fine necklace made of hand dyed pasta noodles and strung on the finest twine. True to his word, the colors matched nicely with my blue shirt.

So, everywhere I went today, I sported my fine necklace of blue and green pasta.

Take that, Tiffany's!