The hardest day of my life....

Well it is finished at 9:20 this morning my dad's struggle with this disease ended. He entered the hospital last night with severe breathing issues and a lot of pain and this morning with Tom and his wife Loretta there he took his last breath. I think that when things like this are about to happen God gives us a sixth sense. All week I had a feeling that something bad was about to happen concerning his health then last night Tom called and said they were taking him in. Then a short time later Kim said take a look at some flights just in case. And by 10:00 last evening Kim told me they were giving just a couple of days to live. As I flew to Ohio this morning my one thought was I just need to be there. Just to tell him once more that I love him and that no matter what ups and downs our relationship has had over the years he was and always will be my dad. Unfortunately, I did not make it there in time. As I sat in his hospital room staring into the empty shell that was once my dad all I could remember were the good times. The times that made me laugh, the times that he would hug me and give me one of his overly wet sloppy kisses and tell me he loved me. Those are the things I will miss. His life in many ways will be considered a time of missed opportunities with his children but in an odd sort of way it has made me cherish the moments we did have even more.

So as I lay down to try and get some sleep tonight, I wonder what tomorrow will have in store as we continue the process of laying him to rest. Tonight I will close my eyes and hope that he knows just how much he meant to all of us even though our days together were far to short. So tonight my heart aches and I am sad but as we are promised our God is there to carry us when we are not sure we have the strength to go on. I am blessed to have a wife who has been there all day today and listened to me even when I was not making sense. She has been my rock in the last 24 hours and keeps me going when I just don't want to go on. A daughter who has a soft, kind heart who cried for me and then got busy making a note to send with a balloon into heaven so that Grandpa would know she loved him and that she would miss him. And a sister, brothers and mom who have made me laugh and cry today. No one can have a better support team then I have. God has richly blessed me and for that I am forever thankful.

Santa Claus is coming to....

Well we took the kids to see that round, old elf and no they did not wonder into the bedroom while I was sleeping. No we went off to see Santa at our local library. We were going to take them to the mall to see him but the mall closest to our house requires us to put their bullet proof vests on and I have to wear one of those fanny packs with the zipper pocket in the front. Kristena looked forever for a money belt in XXXL all she could find was one pink fanny pack but that's okay safety first. The downer about the mall is that everyone and their brother is at the mall this time of the year and well they don't all bathe and use deodorant and then they want to cough and hack all over us and the kids. I find it hard to maintain my holiday cheer when the mom with the 17 kids with runny noses keep wiping their boogers on the back of Kristena's pants.

So what was I talking about.... Oh that's right our trip to see Santa Claus. Tyler was extremely excited to go see him, more because Santa was going to arrive on a fire truck than because he got to sit on his lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Kaitlyn was excited to tell him wanted she wanted but she could not remember what she wanted. So as we waited outside for Santa, Tyler decided to make a new friend with the camera man for the library. He was about 50 or so and Tyler told him about Santa and that he was coming to our house and what he wanted for Christmas. And then as we heard the sirens in the distance they could barely contain their excitement. Unfortunately, we had to wait outside for him but luckily we were all bundled up in our....shorts!!!! Gotta love Christmas in Florida.

Once we got inside the children's librarian decided that it would be a great idea to make all of the kids sit down with Santa in the room and listen to two books being read by the assistant librarian. What she failed to do was instruct her young granddaughter to wait until Mimi was finished reading before running circles around the room with snot shooting from her nose and as Mimi read the stories the child interrupted with each page turn with shouts of "MIMI, MIMI". This would have been cute but the child was starting high school (just kidding she was probably only nine). Of course our kids know better Tyler just waited until the room was quiet and whispered to Kristena "I don't like Mrs. Claus, I only like Santa Claus". We don't believe that this will effect what Santa will leave him but you never know what kind of influence the wife has on the husband!

After this the kids finally got the chance to sit on Santa's lap and both got to share with him what the really wanted for Christmas. Tyler wants a rocket ship like the one on Higgly Town Heroes and Kaitlyn wants a camera and a bag to put it in. What we failed to tell Tyler before he sat on Santa's lap was that just because he asked for the rocket ship did not mean that he got it that very night. This realization was a hard one and required him to be removed to the van until he settled down.

Well that is it for now. We will post post Christmas. We are trying to come up with a plan to continue the magic of Santa Claus and we will let you know if we were successful. Merry Christmas everyone and remember we always love cash or gift cards!!! : ) No seriously we do....

And they said it would never happen......

I opened up the comments from my last post and there it was the last thing expected. After smashing my head on my keyboard and being awakened by the EMS team I scrambled back to my chair to confirm what I had seen and it was true my cousin Andrea commented on my blog!!!!!! Somewhere Angels are singing and the devil is getting his coat!!!! It has happened. I would post more but I am so overwhelmed with this moment that the tears are clouding my eyes so much that I can bearly see. To celebrate I am going to eat another piece of chocolate(actually I was going to do that anyway) but so you don't have to go to the old blog here is the proof! And they said that Christmas only comes to the nice, take that Santa.

Alright, where is the outline version...you PROMISED me an outline! Since you are so curious, I will tell you what has me so busy. Friday night I had a Christmas party to attend plus a Martina McBride concert to go to. Saturday I had to prepare for my dinner party that I was having on Sunday evening, plus squeeze a trip to Marion in for a wedding. Sunday, I went to church and then cooked all afternoon for my party at 6:00. I finished the dishes at 10:00 and then fell into bed. Now, this week I have three nights of board meetings for work and then I head to Marion on Thursday evening for the Christmas weekend. Now, you may say that these are special circumstances, however this schedule is really not out of the ordinary for me. Do I hear a boo hoo in the background??? Now, I really have to run, for fear my boss will walk up behind me and find me blogging! :) In all seriousness, I love you and I had a great time visiting...even though I was harassed! :)Andrea

I have sent this to be framed to hang in my office. Stay tuned next time maybe I can finally get the Pope to comment I am on a roll!

Another one so soon....

Now no one pass out but I decided not to wait 30 days before I posted again. I usually don't know about what I will write about until I type the first few sentences but hey if we are luckily it will make sense and have some humor to it. So let's get you up to date with everything that has happened since my last post. I made a whirlwind trip to Ohio. I had the wonderful opportunity to fly to Ohio for a few days to see my dad. He continues to decline and the most visible signs are his declining speech and his loss of hearing. The most startling difference is his dramatic weight loss. He has lost almost 30 pounds by my guess since I has lost saw him almost 6 weeks before. His appetite is not good and he takes a lot medication just to keep him from having seizures. My brothers and sister are doing an amazing job of keeping me informed of his condition and to them I say thank you. There is no time table for when everything will happen but we are thankful for every day he is still here.

On a happier note while I was home I got to spend some time in the evening with my family. Most notably I got to spend a quality evening with my cousins Marsha, Keever, Kelley and Andrea. We sat up and talked and ate some of the Christmas cookies they made until after 12:30 in the morning. I got to see Andrea and Jon's wedding DVD and it made me feel like I was there. This is normally where I would say something sappy about how much I wish we could have been at the wedding... but sadly based on my conversation with Andrea there is a good chance that she will not have the time to read that heart felt sentiment. Andrea is faced with the demands of.......well I am really not sure what she does all night but she sure is busy. Andrea is just so busy doing.....well she never really said what she is busy doing but I am sure it is very important. After all I am the cousin who brings so much joy to her life when she thinks about all of the great times we had together, if she had the time she would surely take a moment and say...well....something....anything. But Andrea you keep on doing.....well you know what it is that keeps you from commenting and remember my blog is here right where it has always been. Don't feel guilty as you are(insert important event or project that is taking up all your time)....that I make Kristena sit at the computer all day constantly refreshing the comments page hoping...praying that you will post. The doctors says once you comment on my blog, the crooked finger she is getting will most likely heal itself but should she ever lose her voice we may never be able to tell what she wants. I hope the other new mom's in the maternity ward won't make fun of her : (

It was great to get to catch up with them and during a very tough weekend I got to just laugh and make jokes. It was like time had stopped and for a second it felt like old times and we were all kids again hanging out at Marsha's house drinking the best sweet tea on the planet. No one loves Christmas like Marsha and no one decorates for the holidays like she does. Everything was so pretty that it almost made the single digit weather worth it(but it sure was cold). The feeling was carried over when I returned back to my grandparents and my grandma and I sat up until 2:00 in the morning talking. I still had a buzz from the sweet tea so I am glad she wanted to talk or I would have had to run circles in the living room until I fell over. So thanks grandma and grandpa for letting me stay there and a special thanks to my mom who for Christmas bought me my ticket and then picked me up at the airport, drove me to Marion and then took me back to the airport on Sunday morning at 4:50 in the morning. That was after she and I watched the Gaither Vocal Band until midnight and then we talked for another hour and then we decided we better go to bed. I told her we could stay up all night for all I cared because I don't mind being the large man on the airplane snoring with my mouth hanging wide open. Sure keeps people out of your row. If I am really in a non-social mood I will forget to put on my deodorant and refuse to turn the cooling vents on until I get a real solid sweat going then I turn them on to blow the stink around. Kristena says its gross but it makes sure I get the arm rest.

While I was gone Kristena decided that it would fun for her and the kids to make a gingerbread train. I personally thought she had lost her mind but my wife is nothing if not determined. She tells me that they were perfect angels during the process. We never did eat the whole thing but
as you can tell from the pictures the kids had a blast. Actually Kaitlyn took it very seriously and as you might guess Tyler was just interested on how to get the icing out of the tube and into his mouth. It sure was great to see them when I got home. Kristena is never afraid to try new things and loves to make things for people. This year before I left on my trip she made a package of homemade goodies for family. By the time I left Ohio most of them were eaten.(especially the cake balls...I love them cake balls) When I came back she made another huge batch of cookies and other homemade goodies for her family and then sent all of her leftovers in for my 50 staff members. By the end of the day the had all but licked the containers clean. My staff is like a group of starving animals. They see someone walk in with food and then they draw straws and send in a scout to find out what it is and if it is for everybody. Sometimes our attorney's send in food for everyone so I know if there is something I want I pick through it and take it before they know it is there. If not they will have mauled it before I can even tell what it was.

Well I am not sure if I will post before Christmas but first let me tell you that the one thing I have already gotten for Christmas is a great family. My wife and kids make the holidays better than I could ever imagine. As my dad gets sicker and sicker it makes you consider what's important and Kim, Tom and I decided that every day is important and that we should live for today and always be sure those who we love know how much we care. So with that Merry Christmas from us where it is Cloudy and 75.(I know a little chilly but we are finding a way to stay warm) But they promise the sun will be back out tomorrow and we will have to bust the shorts out! So to those of you up north we will pray the winter is mild and the warmth of our love for you will keep you warm while you shiver and freeze and bundle up before you go to get your mail : )

Sorry it has been so long.... Part Duex

Well it has been way to long. I checked and it has been over 30 days and here I sit with very little to share. Much like the rest of my family it has been a long few months. My dad as most of you know is in the midst of lung and brain cancer and he does not have a lot of time left. The cancer that is cruelest is the brain cancer. It has taken some of his speech away and is slowly taking his hearing. He is doing as well as can be expected and even though he stills has seizures he seems to be trying to keep his spirits up. Despite his cancer and the difficulty he is having he is still in there and every once in awhile his sense of humor comes out. He has always been a funny guy in his own irreverent way. The other day he was trying to tell me something and his mouth would not move with his thoughts and the words were getting jumbled and he paused and just simply said "oh sh##!" as clear as a bell. Now to some this might be offensive but to me it let me know that he is still in there and despite his current condition he still has some fight left. I am off this week to see him again this weekend to hopefully take him out to get some lobster something he has never tried and well he is trying get some of those "I will do it later" boxes checked off.

Now on to better updates. If you have ever read this blog you know that my son is a little me. He has no idea that he is a little guy and he believes he is an adult. The other morning while I was getting his cereal before I left for work he walked into the living room where Kristena was eating her cereal on the couch and sat down. Then sitting there with a sly little smile on his face he looked at her and said "hey, what you eating baby?" Say what? Now before you think I call my wife baby I do not. We have no idea where he heard this but he thought he was the cutest kid ever. He just sat there and smiled that proud smile as if he had just told the greatest joke ever. My wife and I nearly wet ourselves laughing. He is full of these little gems. Yesterday I checked my voice mail and on it was a message from him and he is screaming at the top of his lungs "Mama is making me lose my mind!" I am sure that it was the other way around but he thinks it is great to tell her that at various points during the day.

Kaitlyn is well... ever the princess. She got her first report card and on it she got straight A's. She is growing so fast that we may have to put Kristena back to work to keep her in clothes. The things that she is learning in First grade have me in awe. They are currently starting basic geometry and last night she had homework on vertices and some other stuff I don't remember. I would check her work before she turns it in and make sure she has the right answers but I took geometry almost 20 years ago and I have had to delete a lot of that information in order to make room for more(some would say I never really learned it but hey they probably don't post to this blog!). Since I last posted we bought Kaitlyn all new "big" girl furniture. She loves it. Mostly because it came with a desk that she can write at. It is perfect for her and hopefully it will hold up until she gets married. Of course she is not allowed to date until she is 40 so we may have to replace the mattress before then. Buying her new furniture meant that Tyler got her old stuff. And with the new baby on the way the room that was Kristena's scraproom is now going to be the baby's room and that meant buying new furniture for what was the kids play area so Kristena had a place to scrapbook. So that is the real reason I have not posted. I am exhausted from building furniture. Back in the old days I would pretend I did not know how to do it and Tom would come down and do all of the hard work but he refused to get on a plane or drive all the way to Florida so Kristena and I (with Kaitlyn and Tyler's help) did it all. I think we did I pretty good job!

Kristena is ready to have the baby and she is doing very well. She has been tired some but has been feeling better than she had there for a while. The next few months will fly by as we get ready for the next little Jones baby. The other day I was thinking about an old friend of mind. He is a pastor in WV and I had not spoken to him in about 5 years. Not because of anything we just lost touch. So I fired off an e-mail. And guess what he is still out there. It is always nice to have someone that no matter how long it has been you kind of just pick up where you left off. You know they are a good friend when one of their e-mails tells you that you must have had a face transplant because your wife is way to pretty to be married to the guy he remembers. I have a couple of friends from college like that. So to Harv and Rod thanks for being those friends that I can always call. And Scooter while I have not known you that long (or I would have fixed that walk better by now) you and I are long lost brothers the only difference is you got the brains and I got the looks!

Good Night All and enjoy the pics!

Halloween with Cinderella and Mickey

Well tonight was trick or treat night here in Florida. So we bundled them up (just kidding it was 75 and we got to wear shorts!). The highlight of Kaitlyn's evening was getting to be all dolled up like a princess. Kristena put her hair in a bun and put some of her make up on her and then fixed her crown on the perfect little head and there stood the prettiest little princess in whole world. As soon as the costume hit her little body her demeanor changed. When Kristena asked her to turn the kitchen lights off on our way out Kaitlyn turned to her and said "A princess does not turn the lights out." She also did not want to be called Kaitlyn just Cinderella. When Tyler said "I want to sit by Kaitlyn". She turned to him and said "Just call me Cinderella." It seems like not to long ago she was a little two year old going around the streets of Marion with her cousin Samuel and now uses all of her money to buy books. Where do the years go.

Tyler decided long before Halloween got here that he was going to be Mickey Mouse. For those of you who don't know Tyler has been in love with Mickey since the first Disney cruise we took earlier this year. Ever since then he can not get enough of the mouse. He has two stuffed Mickey's and a stuffed Minnie and half of the space on our TIVO is filled with episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. So tonight he got to be the mouse. He then got to live out another of his big time dreams he got to sit in a real fire truck. Actually that was the highlight of his entire evening. He too has changed alot over the last year. Last year during trick or treat he was still perfecting walking this year he was telling the people at our church that he liked their trucks and he was a whiz at getting candy at every stop we made.

Well here hope you enjoyed the pictures. They sure are cute. Good night to all.

Back to bloggin....

Well I just checked and, by george(wonder which George, hopefully not George Michael he is weird), it has been more than a month since I have posted a blog. Now the surprising thing is that it just seems like yesterday that I typed that we were having a little girl and then boom here we are a month later. Hardly seems possible. For those of you who don't know or might be checking this blog out as a link from the other members of my family the wife, kids and I just returned from our trip to Ohio. We made the trip because as most of the regulars know my dad has terminal cancer. He is doing treatments to buy him more time and about 2 weeks ago finished his radiation treatment and started his chemo last Thursday. Kristena and I decided that we wanted our kids who are young to know him when he was better than he will be later. So everyday we were there we went over to visit. My dad is a real trooper. He did not ever complain when we were there even though I know we has exhausted and felt horrible. (my wife says I am a baby and cry everytime I stub my toe). The biggest change from a month ago was his face was swollen, he had lost a lot of his hair and he has to use a cane to steady himself. He really has no energy and words come slowly at times and the worst part of that is that he can think normally and then he really struggles to say it. For those of you have met my dad you'll know that talking has never been a problem so this I would say is the most painful side effect of the cancer. The kids handled it very well. Every day Kaitlyn made him a card or picked him something out of the yard. Tyler took him a car because those are his most prized possessions. He always says anytime someone gets hurt "I give them one of my cars and they feel better". I don't know if he ever left one there but his heart was in the right place.(actually he always made sure he had his cars when he left but he did let my dad touch them once)

One of the benefits is that my entire family lives in the same town in Ohio. So when we go to see my dad we get to see everyone. Well I say everyone lives in the same town but for at least the second time my mom has move back to Columbus. ( she usually moves within the same selection of towns) She made the trek all but one day from Columbus to our little town. I would like to believe that she made it for Kristena and I but nope it was to see our kids. We stayed with my grandparents which was very nice because it is better than a hotel. The crazy old guy that runs this hotel charges for water and makes you leave a quarter everytime you flush the toilet but we love him, kids stay free and if you buy the meal plan they even let you eat there. (just kidding grandpa it was only a nickel to flush the toilet and Kristena had a coupon buy one night get the second night free). As my mom had just moved Kristena decided mostly because I told her about my mom's shopping habits(who knew you could buy all of that at United Dairy Farmers) to take her a few items from her stockpile as a house warming gift. When she told me about the idea I thought great idea we will throw in some toilet paper maybe a bottle of shampoo and call it a day. Oh no this box weighed about as much as our van. We were lucky the mountains we had to cross on the way there were small or we would have had to pray for a strong tailwind to get the van over them with the load we were hauling. For the record Marsha we included a 12 pack of toilet paper so you can stop and use the bathroom after your next trip to the Cracker barrel.(watch out for the guy selling the Rolex's on the corner on the way into her neighborhood, I don't think they are real!He offered me a bag of dimes or was it a dime bag)

The real highlight for the kids was the opportunity to play with their cousins Sam and Josh. After Tyler and I made our last trip all Tyler talked about was going back to ma and pa's house to play with Josh and Sam. Kaitlyn and Samuel have always been buds. They remind me a lot of Kelley and I when were kids. Kelley always bossed me around and told me what to do but I would have done anything she said because I thought she was greatest thing since individually wrapped twinkies or those little quarts of ben and jerry's ice cream... man I love me some Ben and Jerry's. (actually I don't remember her ever bossing me around but I remember Jason convincing me to ride our bikes places where Marsha told us not to. And us driving way to fast back from the State Fair one year). Kaitlyn and Sam played like they spend everyday together. I don't remember the two of them ever fighting. Kaitlyn cried a little on the way home because she missed everyone. Her real highlight was Grandma's piano. She learned where middle "C" is and now she wants to take piano lessons. So does Tyler. I just keep telling them to just keep telling great grandma that you really wish you could take piano lessons but mommy and daddy can't afford a piano and they promise to practice real hard and maybe even cry a little maybe grandma will get you one. (just kidding grandma unless you already have one picked out. I baby grand would look best in our living room) Tyler and Josh are so close in age that the think to do the same types of things. Those things are usually the last thing we told them not to do. For example if you told them not to shut the back door to the back porch then two seconds later the door would be shut. Tyler was ready to go back to Ohio as soon as we said we were back in Florida. He still tells everyone who will listen that " we are going back on our trip to Ohio to see ma and pa".

Kristena was not quite as thrilled to go. Not because she does not like my family or because she is pregnant and idea of spending about 15-19 hours in a car sounds about as thrilling as a blueberry and coke enema. No it is just that this time of year in Ohio the chance of seeing the sun is about as likely as seeing a pig with wings delivering pizza's.(don't ask it is late and the pictures are little weird). So as we crossed the Florida border on our way to Ohio we pulled along side the road and had a good cry and said good-bye to the sun. And true to form it rained and was dreary pretty much our entire trip. The sun peaked out one day just long enough to tease us. Then on our way home as the sun began to show itself she and I had to stop and just hold each other as we felt the ice wash from our veins and the sun warmed us. Tears of unspeakable joy. I don't think I have cried like that since Tyler was born or we ran out of pop tarts. Now that is all to say Florida really is the sunshine state. 80 and sunny today feels like fall outside!(don't be haters the snow really is pretty it is just hard to have a good cook out with a foot of snow on the ground)

Well the rest of the weekend was great. I have the best brother and sister in the whole world. Tom is great with the kids and allowed Kaitlyn to use him as jungle gym. Kim is great. My mom always says that we share a brain. That maybe be true because lately I feel like she must gotten custody of it. She always make me laugh. We always take the joke way to far or just to the point where she, Tom, Kristena and I are the only ones laughing. I think we are trying to get my mom to laugh so hard she wets herself. I think we got close to that on our first night there. One time we were all watching Bill Cosby on the tonight show when we lived in a trailer somewhere in the middle of no where. My mom got laughing so hard she literally wet herself. Ever since then I have been trying to replicate that moment. With her age and the fact that her ability to "hold it" is getting weaker I think I have a pretty chance.

We went to Kim's church on Sunday, well it is not really her church. She does not have her own religion were we all go and worship her. She might like that but I wonder what the hymns would be. "How Great She Is", "Because She Lives", "Victory in Kimmy". I wonder if the scientoligists sing hymns. Do they sing something about "There is a crystal where the aliens all come to take us home" I don't know. Maybe before I make fun I should check it out. Maybe Ron and his followers know something I don't. Nay, I think you have to be able to jump from a standing position onto a couch and that would require me to strap rockets to my ankles. Actually their would probably have to be a countdown like when they launch the space shuttle. Now what was I talking about.... Oh that's right my siblings are very cool if you get the chance you should get to know them.

Well I think that is about it. Work for me is busy but good. My responsibilities keep getting expanded which is better than them shrinking. Kristena and baby Lauren(for those of you who don't know we have decided on Lauren) are doing well. This baby gets blamed for a lot of things. Everytime Kristena wants something and I seem reluctant she tells me"But the baby wants.." I am such a great husband that I jump and get it for her. Now if she says the baby wants a new diamond ring then we may need to explain to Lauren the difference between needs and wants before she even gets here. Well I am mispeling eveyting az eyes getin tird. So I better get to bed. I will not make promises about when I will get around to posting again but I will try and do it more often. Until then enjoy a picture or two of the kids. Love to y'all. Sunny and 75 tomorrow. Burr might need a jacket!

Is a boy like me I said!

That was Tyler's reaction to the news as the technician informed us that baby grape is a girl. He was so upset that we finally told him that he was right so that he would quit yelling at everyone. So everyday we mention it to him and he always answers that same way "No baby is a boy like me I said!" . He just laugh and know that come next year he will figure it out. Now Kristena and I were surprised but we shouldn't have been. You see the first clue was that Kristena felt that the baby was a boy. And you see she was been wrong with the other two children and well it is now official her streak is still going. (thankfully we are stopping at three so she will not get the chance to try again.) Kaitlyn's reaction was one of utter joy. She can not wait to share her wisdom with a little sister and she thinks it is great that the girls will outnumber the boys. Kristena and I are quite excited and the doctor was able to confirm the expected due date of early Feb. 2007. Unlike when Tyler was born we won't have to worry about whether the new baby will need a coat to bring her home in because it will most likely be in 90's by then. It sounds like great weather to have but it does get a little tiring after a while.

Kristena has been quite busy lately with her deals. We had begun to run out of some of our staples (coupon lingo not really sure what that means, I thought staples were the things that hold your papers together). So anyway as I have said in the past that she can shop like nobody's business. Well what I probably have not mentioned is that there is some sort of secret society, well actually anyone can join so it is not real all the secret, where the folks on the message boards share deals and tips on getting better deals with each other.( my brother would tell you that they are committing some sort of criminal act) So the deal of the week this week was on pickles. For those of you who don't know I have a pickle addiction. I am on the verge of joining a 12 step program to deal with the problem but I am not ready. So this week pickles were on sale at our local Publix for BOGO (that is coupon code for Buy one Get one for Free. yep that's right there is separate language that you have to learn it's like Latin). In addition to this great deal Kristena had cut coupons out of the paper for .50 off of one jar. And the store will allow you to us 2 coupon's even though they gave you one of the two for free. That deal would have been good but then she got what is called a "Blinkie"(the coupons that spit out of those machines as you go up and down the racks of groceries) for .55 off of one jar. This brought he price to .69 for one. We now have 20 jars of pickles. I am as happy as a big in slop or pickles however you want to view it. Now before you all think that this is all just about pickles she also got laundry detergent (ALL Small and Mighty) for a buck a bottle. That works out to .03 a load. Now that's a deal. She gets so excited everytime we get another great deal like that most of time we have to run out purchase the items right away.

Kaitlyn is doing great in school. She has been really great as we get closer and closer to the due date. She keeps showing more and more maturity as we cruise close and closer to the end of the first semester of school. She is going to be such a big help to Kristena when the baby gets here. No names for the baby yet but please continue to keep us in your prayers. My dad is finishing his radiation for the brain tumors and will then start chemo for the liver tumors. This will be the real tough part. Pray that he will have peace and the strength to withstand what the next few months will hold. He is concerned that it has spread to his stomach and they are going to run some tests to be sure that is has not. Thanks to all of you who have been sending up prayers for us and him. It is great to have friends and family like all of you. (and if I don't know you and you are checking out my blog for the first time thanks also!) Well Kristena, just came out and told me I need to get to bed so that I can function tomorrow.

Boys are back in town....

Well it has been awhile since I last posted so I thought before the begging becomes too much for me to handle I would drop an update out here. First let me say I am truely a blessed person. I drove last weekend 14.5 hours to Ohio all by myself with a two year old. He was great except once we crossed into Ohio. I excitedly shared with him that we were almost there and that we were in Ohio. Each time I would tell him that he would angerily respond "No we not in Ohio, I said!". Finally, I gave up. Then as we pulled into Marion I called my wife to let her know we were in town and had safely arrived. I explained to her what Tyler had been doing so I thought it would be cute if he repeated it for her. So I said Tyler we are in Ohio now. This time he thoughtfully looked outside the windows and said "Yep, we are in Ohio". That was about the last time I really got a chance to see him sit still for the rest of our trip. From there on he was constantly on the move. He loved playing with his cousins Joshua and Samuel. They instantly became the best of friends! He also loved hanging out with his grandparents and Uncle Tom and Aunt Kim. He, like the other kids, loves Uncle Tom maybe its because Tom is able to fix all the toys that they break or maybe its all that pretty hair.

Tyler and I also got to spend sometime with our counsins Kelly and Sue(Sue's not really my cousin but she has been around so long that she has gained honorary status) Aunt Marsha and Uncle Keever. I had not seen their new addition to their house and all I can say is WOW! Next time I come into town I am bringing a towel and my rubber ducky and hitting their gigantic pool...I mean tub. Tyler could have taken swim lessons in there. Tyler loved Kelley and Sue's dogs. As soon as he hit the door he dropped out of my arms and let the dogs lick him all over the face, neck, arms and anywhere else they wanted. He spent the rest of our short visit chasing them around the house. We now wants mommy and daddy to buy him a puppy.

On Sunday, I got to sing at the Dayspring church. It was fun seeing everyone again. It seems like this church has really changed since I was a kid running in and out of the basement of the old Bennett street building. My cousin Andrea came up from Columbus I would like to think just to hear me sing but I think it was because Marsha was making one of her famous Sunday dinners. Anyway, the facility there is great and it is good to see that it is still growing. After a great lunch at grandma's we went over to see my dad. If you have read my previous entry you know that my dad recently found out that he has brain and liver cancer. For the first time in a long time all of his kids were in the same room and as if that was not emotional enough for him my sister surprised him with a redone picture of his parents. He has no actual pictures of them and his mom passed away almost 20+ years ago. His dad is very sick and with my dad being as sick as he is it was too much for him to handle and he broke down. I don't remember the last time I saw my dad cry or even if I have ever seen him cry but on Sunday he must have teared up about 15 times. Every once in a while he would look around the room and it must have hit him that it might be awhile before we would all be in the same room again. About half way through our visit Tyler was exhausted and he collapsed and slept on my dad for about two hours. That was one moment that I am sure I will never forget. My sister was able to capture a few minutes of it for me and I will always cherish those pictures. Finally, it was time to go and I as I leaned in to tell him goodbye he and I both shared a good cry. I don't know how much time he has left and really only God knows that but we made up for a lot of time over those couple of days.

To give everyone a quick update on my dad he started radiation on the brain tumors on Thursday and he seems to be doing okay. The doctor's are giving him somewhere in the 1-2 year mark provided everything goes the way they think it will. So we are blessed to have the time we have.

We are busy here. Kaitlyn and Kristena seem to have survived Tyler being gone. I truely believed that they missed him I am not sure they even knew I was gone. Tyler slept a ton on his first day home and slept with mommy and daddy his first night home. Kaitlyn got her first interm report card and is getting straight A's. She and my mom have decided to be pen pals. Kaitlyn sent her a card with a picture of my mom she had drawn. The best part of the picture was the hair she gave my mom. It was a big black football helmet. I nearly lost it when I saw it. She did not understand why I was laughing but it was great. She has started brownies and that means girlscout cookies are coming up. I plan on buying her into a great prize!!!

Well that's it for now. Kristena and baby grape are doing really well. The baby is starting to kick hard enough that I can feel it. We go on Thursday to find out if we are adding a boy or girl to the herd. Well I have to run to the store Kristena will shoot me if I go out to lunch again. Good night to all.

He might be....

That seems to be the phrase that keeps playing through my mind. For those of you who don't read my sister Kim's blog it has been a rather eventful week for our family. It started with a call from Kim that my Dad was taken to the ER after having what they thought was a minor stroke. After some tests they let him go home only to have EMS bring him back two days later. This time they were able to identify what is causing the stroke like epsoides and that is brain cancer.(wow that was very hard to type). This concerned the doctor's as it is not common for cancer to form in the brain it often starts somewhere else and then spreads. So they did a CAT scan yesterday which revealed that the cancer most likely started in his liver and is spreading. He won't know where to go from here until after his bioposy on Tuesday. So the phrase started as He might be okay to facing the reality that He might be dying. So as I sit here trying to figure out how to prepare myself for the worst I am also leaning on something that Tom told me tonight that is we don't know anything for sure. There is nothing we can do until we know what we are facing and then we go from there. So the boy inside me wants to believe that my dad will beat this but the man needs to face the worst which is that he may not make it. So I reflect on our past and I try to find a way to cope with this so that I can keep moving. You see, my dad and my realtionship has always been different we went through a long period of time when he and I did not speak and then out of the clear blue sky he called and since then we talk about once a month. Everytime we talk we always never fail to tell each other "I love you". When he called a couple of months ago and came down I told Kristena that I thought he might be sick. While I loved having him and Loretta visit is was something he had very rarely done. As I look back most of my memories center around being angery over his lack of involvement in our lives. So as I face the possibility that I could lose him I begin to regret that time wasted. It seems foolish to have gone for such a long time and not really spoken to each other to realize that there were years lost for reasons to this day I don't remember. So as I looked tonight into Kaitlyn and Tyler's faces and fought back the tears I promised myself that no matter what the kids did or said I never want them to stop talking. Shame on me if allow a moment to pass without stopping long enough to soak in whatever it is they want to take the time to share because before I know it Kaitlyn and Tyler (and the new baby) will have their families and I will be sitting by the phone hoping for just a few moments of their time.

I was driving to the grocery store tonight and I was listening to my Gaither Vocal Band CD and the words to this song overwhelmed me. The song is called "Through": "When I saw what lay before me. Lord I cried what will you do. I thought He would just remove it but he gently led me through." As I cried in my car I cling to the words in that last phrase that even though I wish God would heal my dad and just remove the entire situation I know that somehow he will lead me, my dad, Kim, Tom, Justin and our families through this.

So as you go to sleep tonight make sure those around you know how much you love them. We are never promised tomorrow but we have this moment. I hope that each of you knows how special you are to me. Don't let petty things keep you from loving those around you. So if there is someone that you have not spoken to because of something that happened a long time ago call them this week because at the end of the day it does not matter who is right or who is wrong what matters is that we love each other.

Ode to a good brother.....

A few months ago my sister Kim whose blog is linked on this page wrote about our less famous brother Tom. I promised near his birthday that I would give you some info about Tom and well I realized that I never posted my blog about Tom. Things got so hectic that I let the moment pass. So here we go this blog is devoted to my long haired, grumpy, always there when I need him brother Tom.(not Thomas, Tommy, TJ he is just Tom). Oh and before I forget mom it is K-R-I-S-T-E-N-A she is your only daughter in law (that we know of) if you can not remember how to spell it just call her Mrs. Huffeldink : ).

So where to begin perhaps I should begin with an apology to Tom. It seems though I find it highly unlikely that when we were kids I never let the poor child speak. My family contends that when questions were asked of Tom I would never let him answer(those of you who know me must find this very hard to believe). I believe that this may be the reason to this day that often times when he is asked a question there is an uncomfortable silence as he waits for me to answer. I picture him sitting at a drive thru and clerks asking if he would like fries with his order and him just sitting there waiting to here my voice call out "no, he does not want fries with that I however I will take his fries." So Tom I am giving you permission to answer the phone, talk to the pizza guy and sorry for never letting the world hear all of those thoughts you wanted to share. Never mistake his silence for not having something to say. As I have learned so much later in life there is a lot of wisdom behind that pony tail and I wish I had let him share it with me sooner.

Some time ago I was a senior in highschool(to some of you it will seem like yesterday according to my wife I rode a dinosaur to school and did my homework on a stone tablet) but on to the tale. Towards the end of the year I found myself in a very public and very embarrassing situation. I was out of school for the better part of two weeks and my situation was quite the point of discussion. But no one was allowed to say anything bad about me. You see my brother would not let that happen. As the story was told to me a young man decided one day to use my situation to improve his social status (it seems he thought by trashing me people would overlook his obvious body odor) however it seems that Tom got wind of some of the things that he was whispering in the hall and shared with him how his health might be impacted by him opening his mouth to speak about me again. You see while some people would make fun of Tom when we were kids because he was quiet and not nearly as social as I was there was one thing that they would not do and that was cross him. You see while I would talk my way out of the situation Tom found that knocking you into another world worked so much more effectively. Now I don't condone violence and I don't like to talk about that summer very often but when I needed him most there he was. I never been a great big brother to Tom we ran at opposite ends of the social spectrum but at the end of the day he was there for me when I was at my lowest. One of biggest regrets in my life is that I did not step up and defend him a little more often, so Tom if I did not say it then thanks for protecting me when I could not do it for myself.

Ever wonder how kids decide who they like and who they don't like? I have. All of the young kids in my family have at one point or another not really cared for my mom. It has nothing to do with her. My theory is that the kids wonder why she is always wearing that brown football helmet(just kidding mom). But the one thing that can be said for certain is that all of the kids in the family love Tom. They often perfer him to their parents.... sometimes. They think he is the best thing since sliced bread and individually wrapped twinkies. When he comes in the room there is the moment where they all wonder who he is but they can always get him to smile which is somewhat of a miracle at times and before you know it he is down on the floor playing with them and then they are following him everywhere. I personally think the reason they prefer him is that he bribes them by making them fantastic gifts. So far he has made my kids three awesome pieces. A highchair and crib for Kaitlyn and a wagon for Tyler. Tyler loves to ride in the wagon and on occasion tries to sleep in the crib. Kaitlyn moved the highchair into our kitchen for a while and fed her dolls at the table. We had to move it out when Tyler kept trying to sit in it. He acts like it is such a chore to make them but underneath all that complaining there is an Uncle who would give his life for those kids. Tyler and I are making a trip to Ohio in a couple of weeks and Tyler can not wait to play cars with Uncle Tom. I think Tyler is hoping Tom will whittle him a car out of a toothpick which if it can be done Tom can do it.

I could go on and on about Tom. Tom is someone that I can always count on. When Kristena and Kaitlyn moved into my apartment at Easton I knew I could ask Tom to help. He drove all the way down to Columbus on a Saturday and carried all of that furniture down a flight of stairs and then unloaded it in a blizzard. When our computer hard drive crashed Tom sat on the phone for 4 hours and helped me install the new drive, reinstall all of the new software and made sure that when I turned it on it did not blow up on me. If it is one thing that I know for sure in my life it is that no matter where I am or what kind of situation I am in I can always pick up that phone and call Tom and hear him say "What do you want?". Love ya Tom!

Growing Old Gracefully.....

Ever hear that phrase used. Usually you say that as it relates to someone who is about my mom's age you know 80 or so. But as I have crossed into my mid-thirties I realize that this is simply a lie. At least in my case. It would seem that I am aging like lettuce ages gracefully in the frig over the span of a week. For those of you have not seen it then you did not have the opportunity to open the frig in our house when I was a kid. But onto my point. It would seem that as I have begun the aging process some strange things have begun to happen. It all started with the grey hair. Now on some grey is distinguished. My uncle Keever looks great with grey hair. I however have not been so blessed. I just look like someone who time has not been kind to. Then the other day I learned an important lesson that grey hair has different rules than regular hair especially as it relates to your eye brows(?). This became apparent the other day as I glanced at myself in the mirror while washing my hands at work. It would seem that most eye hair lays nice and flat unless it is grey. Once it turns grey it begins to form its own pattern. The pattern that my grey hair had decided to form was that of horns above each eye. How long they had been that way I did not know but my eyes had horns!!!! As soon as I got home I waited for my loving wife to share with me that my eyes had horns but not a word. It would seem that she looked at me everyday and did not notice the horns above each of my eyes. So that night as she laid in bed I did what any strong manly man would do and I tweezed the grey right out of my eye brows and gave them a wonderful arched look. I now look a little like Vestal Goodman without the teased hair. If I ever decided to relive the moment when I dressed as Mimi from the Drew Carey Show for Halloween I would be half way there. Kristena did not notice the horns were gone but if one of my tweezed hairs would have wrapped itself around her tooth brush I'll bet that would have made her take notice.

The next horrible thing that happens at least to me is the addition of ear hair. Now I must say that this is the last place I thought I would sprout a hair. And it is not like it is just one hair that I can pluck and never worry about it again. Oh no, no it seems to be more of a recurring issue. The worse part of it is that is actually impossible to pluck them with out crying because it feels like it is connected to the hair that has mysteriously sprouted up on my toes. So if I try and pluck an ear hair it causes my leg to jerk up the air. Which would be fine if I was flexible but I am not and I pull a hamstring everytime I try and yank one of those bad boys out. I saw the other day that Mark Lowry used Nair on his ears something that I may need to try. So if you ever call the house and Kristena tells you that I am Naring my ears don't laugh it is probably true. After all of that I tried to look on the bright side if I ever go bald I'll just let it and my back hair really grow out and create a really weird comb over. The problem is that all of the hair in my ears and on my back is turning grey to so I won't make me look any younger. I guess I should have paid more attention to my great uncles at our family reunions and realized that one day there I to would go. Hang one second I need to pick my ear wax out with one of my car key's.......Ahh now that's better. Nothing like scratching a whole in your ear drum with your car keys to make the time pass.

Tonight would not be complete without a couple kids stories and a few pictures. So let's start with Kaitlyn. She started 1st grade and just finished basketball season. She started the season as probably one of the least experienced and least intense players on the team. By the end of the season she actually went after a few loose balls and made a shot....during warm ups. Now that may not seem like a big deal but compared to where she started this was monumental. She could dribble and shoot and really liked it when the season finished. She can not wait for next season to start. I think one of the highlights of the year was watching her when she was not really all that interested in the game as she danced and sang the songs from Disney's High School Musical. The game was being played all around her and yet there she was twisting around, clapping and just singing along to the music playing in her mind as the other team dribbled by her. When we would ask her about it she would just smile. Nothing makes you smile more than watching your daughter off in her own world while all the time 9 other 6-7 year olds were trying to play a game of basketball. Gotta love her!

Then there is the little man. He has decided that he wants to be the next Food TV chef. The other night I was making Chili(I know 115 degrees in Florida and I am making Chili ask my unborn child why) and he drags one of our kitchen chairs over to the counter and says "I cook with you Dad". I thought that meant he just wanted to watch me cook. Oh no by the time I got done cutting the peppers and onions he needed his own pan with his own utensils and was making onion peel and peppers soup. So everytime after that if I go into the kitchen to make a sandwich he drags his chair over to the counter and says "I need to cook". It is hard to get him to leave the counter after he is done especially if he thinks that Kristena or I are going to start cooking something else.

Well that's all I got tonight sorry it is not much but hey I need to get into the bathroom to pluck my brows, trim my nose hair and try and die my hair (the ones on my chest, back and arms and that is a lot of hair). Getting old ain't easy and it sure isn't pretty. Love to all.

Back to School.....

Well it is that time of year here in Florida and Monday the kids returned to school. To us that meant that Kaitlyn is entering the first grade. She was so excited and I admit it was almost more stressful for us than Kindergarten was. We got up early and Kaitlyn had her requested breakfast of cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins with a glass of orange juice. Sounds a little gross but we told her she could pick. After that she got dressed in her new school clothes and mommy did what any good scrapper would do and had her pose for her going back to school pictures. Taking pictures of Kaitlyn is always about the pose. I don't know if she has watched too much America's Next Top Model or what but she literally poses for every picture. There are the three most common the squat half turn with the full grin. The full standing quarter turn with the full smile and the slight turn with the hand on the hip with full or partial grin depending on whether or not we have said something to embarrass her. I think it must be a recessive Huffeldink gene that only she possess. Although as you can see from the pictures she has started to train her brother on posing.

Once we got to school we walked to her class and of course all the while there is mom behind her snapping pictures of her walking away, sitting at her desk and then like any good parents we assessed the children in her class and tried to determine the good eggs from the bad. Kaitlyn was lucky to have 3 kids she knew from kindergarten. The downside is it appears they be some of the bad eggs. One of her friends from last year is a little trouble maker named Gabby. I first I thought it was short from Gabrielle but then I realized it describes what she does all day long. And that is Gab. Talk, talk, talk, talk, she would talk to the wall if there were not people around her. The limited time I have spent around this little precious child I don't think I have witnessed her take a breath. I believe she may have some sort of gills that allow her to not take a breath but continue to speak. I am calling ABC and getting her on the news. But all and all she appears to have a really good teacher and seems to be doing well. However, tonight she announced that there may be a small problem with one of the boys that sets right next to her in her group. It seems that this little boy may have a slight odor. Kaitlyn announced to Kristena tonight right before she went to bed that the boy who told the lie the other day also stinks. She claims it may be because he pooped in his pants or does not take a shower she does not know but what she does know is he reeks. We were laughing so hard that it was hard to remember to tell her that we should not make fun of people and that maybe there is some reason that he smells that way but really what do you do when she is so serious that she has her very own little pigpen.

My final little story is about something we did a few weeks ago. I was on my blog break and Kristena decided that we had stockpiled too many items that she had gotten for free or for pennies and it was time to donate some of it to a worthy charity. So we found a women's shelter and began gathering our items. Now we did not take any pictures so I will have to describe some of the items to you. First was the hair dye. So she starts pulling out the boxes of hair dye. She says there was seventy boxes of dye in our closet. Enough dye to dye each hair on my body a different color for about the next 100 years. That is a lot of dye and because I love you all I did not post a picture of me shirtless so you can see the hair. Then came the pads (you all know what I mean by pads, you know feminine products). To say we had too many would be an understatement. We loaded about 40 boxes/bags of pads into our box. I realized after we donated them that maybe we should have kept them all so if a hurricane hits we could have slapped them to the outside of the house and stopped any type of flooding from occurring inside. Actually Kristena must have had the same thought because before I could get the box to the van she was rummaging through the box taking some out. Some of the rest of our haul was shampoo and conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and many etc............ There was a lot more but it was a million degrees when I was loading it into the van and I could not inventory it all. When we got to the home the lady brought out a little cart and I asked her if she had another because we had a lot of stuff. I am not sure what she thought as I stared into the box of hair dye and pads but she did wonder if we were with the Girl Scouts. It actually was great to be able to give it to them because as I said Kristena was able to get most of it for free that is because she is che....I mean thrifty. She is so ch...thrifty that the other day when I went to add a dryer sheet to the clothes in the dryer I realized that she took the time to cut all of the sheets in the box in half. That's right she cut them in half. She claims she did this months ago and it was sad that this was the first load of laundry I had done since she did it. Now if you think that is ch.... thrifty she reuses them also. That's right, not only have we cut them in half but she leaves them in the dryer until they disengrate. I guess she knows its time to but a new one when the other one disappears. So claims the max number of loads for a half dryer sheet is 3 loads of laundry. She claims that all of you out there cut your dryer sheets in half I say it may be a slight unusual so please let us know (Kristena only wants you to respond if you agree with her if you don't then don't answer this question). She is defending it by saying they are the Bounce dryer sheets and that they are really expensive and that is why she does it. I think that if you only needed half they would make it half the size. I defend that by reminding her that the other day I walked out of the house with a sock stuck to the inside of pant leg that did not dislodge until I was in a meeting at work. Now that is embarrassing.

Well can't think of anything else that is going on. Kristena is now officially 13 weeks into the pregnancy and things are going pretty well. It has been really hot down here and I am sweating like Rush Limbaugh waiting to clear customs. Anyway we are doing well and hope the same can be said for you and yours. Talk to ya soon!

Here comes the Huffeldinks.....

Well we are back and we had a really good time. I thought I would share with you some of the highlights of our cruise. So to begin I need to start with the title of the blog. We reached the ship early on Sunday afternoon and as we walked on board a member of the crew asks for your family name so that they can announce each family. Now a couple of months ago when we were out to eat and we had to wait I started making up names. For example, if the hostess would ask us for our name instead of saying Jones I would say "Weinerheimer" mostly because it embarrassed Kaitlyn to no end. Well when the lady asked me for our family name to announce over the lobby speakers I could not help myself and told her we were the "Huffeldinks" to which she replied the "Huffel what?" I calmly replied "dink, Huffeldink". So as we boarded the ship the lady said "Everybody welcome aboard the Huffeldink Family." As the crew applauded over our arrival I thought Kaitlyn was going to crawl off the ship and Kristena was going to wet herself as she laughed herself silly all the while I never cracked a smile. Ain't nothing better than causing your children a little embarrassment to get you through the night. I think Tyler was excited to meet the Huffeldinks and had no idea that they were talking about us.

The next highlight had to be a Tyler moment. No one was more excited to take the cruise than Tyler. All he has talked about since we booked it was getting on the cruise ship. Several times when we would tell him that we would not be leaving for several days he would break out in tears. But when we arrived and he got to stand next to Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse he gleamed with pride. Then when we had to let the next child in line take their turn with Mickey and Minnie you would have thought his little world had ended. He covered his little eyes and cried "I want Mickey and Minnie" and just sobbed. This continued throughout the cruise. We would watch one of the live shows and at the end of each one they would bring out Mickey and Minnie Mouse and when the curtain closed and he could not see them his little heart would break and he would place a hand over each eye and sob. He just kept saying "I wub (love, for those that don't speak Tyler)Mickey and Minnie". It was so bad that we made him a deal that when he got home that he could watch Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse all day.

The best part of taking a cruise is the food. Really you can literally eat all day every day and get almost anything you could ever imagine. That is not to say everything is great but there are some basic standby's that are fabulous. One of the highlights is that everyday at breakfast and lunch it is a buffett. Now there is always something for everyone on it. For kids there are things like macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, cheese sticks, you know stuff that every child would love. But this buffett had not met Kaitlyn. Each day we wondered through the buffett she would come away with green jello and and some crackers. Not a chicken finger or a corn dog. Just crackers and jello like she was being fed prision food. On the next to last day on the cruise we forced her, that's right, forced her to eat some of the macaroni and cheese. By the way, this is the best mac & cheese we have ever tasted. After taking the first bite she said hey this is not bad. Well yea it was not bad that was what Kristena had been telling her before we even left the dock. The only other thing she would eat was dessert. She would eat anything that was on the dessert table. At breakfast everyday she would eat waffles and enough donuts and muffins to keep her running all day. Then when she went to dinner with us she would load up on what ever she ordered. I guess there is no moral to the story other than never assume that all kids will eat the kids food but they all love dessert.

One on the third day of the cruise we arrived at Disney's private island Castaway Cay. On our last cruise the kids had a blast on the beach but wanted very little to do with the ocean itself. This time could not have been more different. Kaitlyn and Tyler loved every moment. The immediately headed straight for the water. Kaitlyn walked straight in and stayed in for about 3 hours. She now is claiming she can swim but her swimming consists of either hanging on to my arm as she kicks her legs or her moving her arms as she walks through the water. We told her that was not swimming but she is convinced that she can swim. She was so convincing that she now has Tyler believing he to can swim. As he left the ocean he would walk swinging his arms saying "I swimming". Tyler had no fear of the water. He walked out until the water was around his neck and then demanded that I take him further out. I would show you pictures of them in the water but I look like a whale with arms and legs and I will not allow these pictures to see the light of day but you will have to trust me that it was a blast!

On the Disney cruise their are lots of activities once your child is 3 or older but for the little kids there is only one real place to be is a place called Flouder's Reef (after the fish in the Little Mermaid not one of the dishes we had for dinner). The last time we were on the boat Tyler cried everytime we dropped him off. This time much like the beach was a different story. He barely even said good bye. He "wubed" it. When we went to pick him up after his first stay he ran out and looked at Kristena and said "Mama, lady changed my pants!". Who knew getting your diaper changed by a stranger would make his day. I won't know that joy until I am about 40 years older. Every night there after he could not wait to go play with the babies. The last night he got the evening snack which was a juice box and crackers. And he said he wubed it too. He said tonight when he was sitting on the potty that he had fun playing in Flounder's Reef with the babies but next time he wants to play where Kaitlyn played in the Oceaneers Club. He was quite the little man.

The last thing that I will share about Tyler occurred a couple times in various parts of the ship. As everything he did was new to him in a lot of ways his reaction to everything was priceless. A few months ago we were in Old Navy and if you have been there lately you know that they now sell dog toys. Well Tyler thought they were toys for him. So when Kristena told him that they were doggy toys and that he could not have one he got down on all fours and started crawling around Old Navy saying "I puppy now". So on the cruise there were patches of carpet that looked like waves and everytime he would see them he would lay down on top of them and scoot across them and say look "I swim like fishy". Kristena was able to catch him doing it after he decided he was done watching the movie Cars outside of the theater on board.

My last Kaitlyn story came as a wake up call to Kristena and I that she is no longer a little girl that she is growing up. It was something she told us that made us realize the little baby she once was is now being replaced with a much older girl with her own opinions on things. We were sitting on deck with her probably eating because well that is all there is to do sometimes. Eat and then go swimming. Something they tell you not to do when you were younger but on a cruise ship it is not only encouraged but expected. The worse part is that you stuff yourself to the gills with food (especially our server who at dinner insisted through his very thick accent that he bring us practically everything on the menu) and then you want to swim in a bathing suit that is substantially tighter than before you got on the ship. Several times I was pretty sure I needed to get a nice 56DD bra and load these puppies up. If they get any bigger I will need to move them out of the way in order to scratch my ankle. I am sure that some people looked at Kristena and the kids and think it sure would be nice if he shared the food with his wife and kids. But anyway we were eating on the deck and Kaitlyn was dressed in one of her new polo's and I realized that she had buttoned every button all the way to the top (something she has done since she was 2). All she was missing was the taped up glasses and the pocket protector. Kristena and I told her that it would look better if the top button was left open. She kept arguing and we argued back with the old argument that we had been around longer and that we new what we are talking about. Kaitlyn looked at Kristena and said "Mommy, you get to make all the decisions but sometimes I need to make some decisions". Wow, we both thought what a realization. There are some things that she can now decide and it probably is best that we begin to teach her how to make good decisions and she is now capable of doing it all on her own. When do they grow up. It must be at night when I am not watching. Because I watch and I never see it happen.

Well to summarize we had a great time. I am now almost large enough to declare myself my own country. My fingers after all of the food look like little chubby sausages and the kids can fill my belly button with water and take a swim. I have hired a personal trainer at the Y to see if he can beat some of this off of me before I have to add a caution sign on my butt as I climb the stairs at work. Anyway we are now another week closer to the baby arriving and we bought the baby his or her first toy. My bargin shopping wife found it on clearance at Target. So good night and good day to all of you. We wube you all!

The First Pictures of Baby Grape.....

Take a look at that little baby. It is truly a miracle that we can have pictures of our babies before they even can realize what is going on. I wonder if they wish that we would just let them be. I wonder if they think I was sleeping or eating and all these crazy people want to do is take my picture. Then again this baby is part me so he or she was probably combing their hair and waiting for us to snap their picture. As you might imagine we are quite anxious for this baby to get here. We would love to hear your suggestions for names. Actually I thought we could auction the naming rights on e-bay and see if we can raise some tuition money. But I was afraid that someone would want to name the baby after their product and Kristena did not want the baby to be named Nike, Reebok or Magic Mountain.(with our family history regarding weight that would be a bad,bad thing). So any suggestions except Dilbert, Leonard or Butch will be considered. However, we will take monetary incentives to name our child after a relative you dearly love : ).

I guess I did not realize how long it has been since last I posted. To catch everybody up Kaitlyn is starting High School....I mean First Grade in less than two weeks. It is amazing how quickly the summer has gone. We had so many ideas of what we would be able to do this summer but it moved so quickly that we did not get the chance to check many of the boxes. She has become everything that you would hope for a little girl to be and then some. The other day she called me at work(yes she called me at work) and needed to tell me how she was going to redecorate the house starting with mine and Kristena's bedroom. She had it down to the furniture placement color of the walls including sketches by the time I got home. I asked her who was paying for the remodel and she said she would take my credit card and buy what she needed. It has begun already. The other day we went to Old Navy(great nickname for the baby when the get older but probably not appropriate for a new born) and I told her that we were not shopping for her today she said that was fine she did not need my help to shop she could do it by herself. That's our girl.

Then there is the boy. Man oh man can not believe the things that he does. As you can see from the pictures he is getting bigger everyday but it is his new words and sentences that at some point just make me almost cry from laughing so hard. He and I were in the living room the other day I don't know where Kristena and Kaitlyn were I am guessing Kaitlyn was picking out the car that she thinks I am going to by her when she can drive. But Tyler wanted a matchbox car he had left in the van. That's because the kids think the van is a rolling toy box and everytime we get in it they bring a toy that never ever leaves unless Kristena or I bring it in. But anyway, he taps me and says "dad, dad, dad we need to get my car from momma's truck". I was watching something and I said in a minute. So after about 30 seconds later he turns to me and says "I think it would be a good idea that you go get my car now dad." I am getting bossed around by a 2 year old. So when I asked him what he was thinking he said "I don't know". And he shook his head and walked away. that is our boy.

Well let's see we are having a baby Kristena is 11 weeks along as of the moment I write this. The due date is 2/14/07 and as I said we can not wait. Kristena was relieved to know exactly how far along she was. She is doing much better now and can almost stomach to watch FoodTV again. (hey that would be a great name for a baby!). As for me I have been taking people's houses left and right. I hate that business is that good but I have to think that by me doing my job someone else gets the chance to own a house down the road. We are off on another Disney Cruise on Sunday and all Kaitlyn and Tyler can talk about is getting on the cruise ship again. So pray the weather will be good and the hurricanes stay away until we get back. Hope you enjoyed the pics and look forward to hearing from all of you again. I will try to not disappear again for so long.

"The Fireworks get me....."

Well happy 4th of July to you all. I know the fourth is over but hey what do you want from me. I will give you the big updates from the last week here on the home front. Well let's see.....Kristena is pregnant(oh that's right I already said that).....I am fat(no that's not new news either)......Oh how about my dad and Loretta came to visit. Now that is real news. They got here on Sunday evening. I must say that having them here was great but a little weird. I don't ever remember him ever coming to see me no matter where I lived. But I think Kristena had it right when she said that they were not here to see us but here to see the kids. As a matter of fact they kicked us out of our own house so they could watch the kids for the evening. Actually that was a great help we actually got to get out for a little while and Tyler and Kaitlyn got to get to know dad and Loretta a little better. By the time they left Tyler had already started looking for them everywhere. He believes that his grandparents and great grandparents are at various locations around the city. Kristena's grandparents are sitting at Wendy's somewhere, my grandparents are at a Chuck E. Cheese, my dad and Loretta are at IHOP. He has not realized yet that grandma Jones is at Bob Evans all the time : )

We took the kids all 2.2 of them to the Fourth of July fireworks at a place near us called Moosehaven. I don't know why they called it that but I did not see any meese or moose's as Kristena just corrected me. The closest thing we saw was some people that should have worn more to cover themselves. I understand that it was 90+ degrees but should we not realize the rest of the world must look at whatever we decide to let drop, hang or drag out of our clothes. Anyway this was really nice event they had tons of little booths with stuff that you could buy and leave in your trunk (like my mom) until you attend the next family reunion or have your next garage sale. They also had the typically fair food which looked really good and I learned something new. Cotton candy melts. I did not know that. But it was really hot and I was walking back with Kaitlyn's cotton candy it was getting smaller and smaller until finally what started out as a larger beehive like my grandma use to wear back in the 70's into the something that resembled blue sticky snot. Kaitlyn and Tyler loved it, but as it was melting it dripped all over me. And as learned during the fireworks ants will eat human flesh if it is covered in sticky cotton candy. The ants thought I was a buffet and I have the scars to prove it. Well the fireworks were great Kristena and I really enjoyed them, the kids however had mixed reviews. Let's just say that Kaitlyn is always excited when we talk about going and then cowers during the entire show. The booms always make her run for cover usually right to mommy. Tyler last year loved them but this year was a different story. Before they even started he turned to Kristena and said "Momma, fireworks get me." Even though we assured him that they would not he did not take our word for it. Once the show started he seemed to be okay he laid on Kristena and watched the show. Then about halfway through he covered his eyes and that was the last thing he saw for the rest of the night until we were back in the van. For the hour and half after the show he sat in the stroller and in the van with his hands over his eyes. We could not convince him to put them down. It was so cute. Anyway enjoy the shots for our fourth of July.

*********Pregnancy Food Update***********

Well as I said before my dad and Loretta kicked us out of the house so Kristena and I decided to go out to dinner. We had several choices for the evening but Kristena and baby orange(he or she has grown since my last post) decided on Longhorn steakhouse. Well it all went bad once she looked at the menu. I could tell she was not into it from the moment she opened the menu. I even said why don't we go somewhere else. But we agreed to split a steak and luckily I ordered some fries as an extra side. I say luckily because once the food arrived it was all over. She wanted nothing to do with the food. She said the steak looked and smelled gross(actually see said smelled like poop) and all she would eat was the fries. Once I finished trying to eat all that food we had to cover it with a white napkin like it was a dead body. The waiter was I assumed new something was wrong and asked us if there was something under the napkin that he did want to see. I tried to explain it to him but he seemed to be a bit of a snot so I gave up. So we have added Longhorn to the list of places we cannot eat at. Other than that everything seems to be going right on schedule.

Well that is it for now. We have busy fall planned included what I hope is another Disney cruise, another trip to Texas and mom, Kim, Wayne and their kids coming down for Thanksgiving, and a trip to Disney world. Kristena has offered to let them all stay here but they have decided that they will stay closer to the beach. We are really disappointed but somehow we will overcome our disappointment and make it a great Thanksgiving. So happy July 6th to you all. And my next entry will be my Birthday salute to TOM!!!!!!

Just a few random things.....

Well it has been an interesting week. Kristena is pregnant and the let's say that so far things in the food department have been a little bumpy. Kristena and Baby Grape (as Kaitlyn calls the little unborn genius) have been pretty picky about what sounds good to them. Today's call was for at first for deviled eggs. So while she napped I made deviled eggs. Let's just say that after the first half an egg she was making faces. Half way through the second half it was adios to the deviled eggs. All the rest of the day she claimed she smelled them. She would not even drink the water from the refrigrator dispenser because she thought it would smell or taste like eggs. Luckily she decided that she wanted Olive Garden. However, we had partially spoiled salad and a waitress that thought she was getting paid by the number of times we had to ask for something and she brought it out 45 minutes later. She and the baby did finally get the meal they were looking for and all is well at least for now. However, this child is already high maintanance and Kristena is ready to give birth today. She claims she may already be 9 months along. I have promised not to take a shower before rushing her to the hospital like I did with Tyler. But that is a story for another blog.

Kaitlyn just began basketball. Now this is her first year to play basketball. To say that the first practice or two was somewhat hilarous is an understatement. Imagine her trying to dribble the ball with her legs together down to the knees, then she has her legs apart from the shins to her ankles with her toes pointed in. Then imagine her trying to dribble with her entire arm from the shoulder down. It was sad and funny all at the same time. Kristena was laughing so hard that I thought we were going to have leave the gym. The most horrible part was the faces Kaitlyn was making. You thought we were asking her to drink pee or jamming matchsticks under her toe nails. She was miserable. So after that practice we gave her a chance to say she did not want to play, but she wanted to stick with it. And she is doing okay. She had her first game on Saturday and I am pretty sure no one won. After 32 minutes of basketball I think the finally score was 8-6. There was very little basketball being played. Kaitlyn played half the game and her stat line was 0 pts, 0 rebounds, 0 steals but she played with 100% heart.
Tyler would love to play with kids but after about ten minutes of him at the game and he was banished to the day care at the Y. Which is where he would rather be anyway.

He is growing up so much. Today he walked into the kitchen with his watch - a toy potato masher- over his arm and asked "dada what time is it" looking at the masher. I told him it was ten o'clock and he said "alright, time to go to work, bye,bye" and he ran off. He came back about two minutes later and said "Hi I home". My only guess is he worked about as hard as daddy did on Friday. Anyway my Dad and Loretta came down today. The brought him his birthday gift and he loved the monster truck they bought him. Mommy is not sure about it yet. But Tyler had to have it in bed with him tonight. They will be here for a few days and it will be great for them to have some one on one time with the kids.

Well lots of other stuff is going on but is really not blog worthy at this time. Please say a little prayer for Kristena that she will be able to get her energy back. I worry about her a lot especially while I am at work.

One last thing..... We are watching a documentary on A&E on the "White Nationalist Movement aka Skinheads". What in heavens name do these people think about? They pray on the people that have no where else to go or don't have anyone who loves them. Then they convince them that they are loved and accepted by this theology. What can be done within the confines of the law to stop it?. I am thinking we could start with a little soap and water. It is sickening.