John the Birthday Boy

We got back from our Crazy adventure New years 2012 Just in time to celebrate my favorite man's Birthday. 

Thank you John for being born. (Well really thank you Kari for having him)   John you are so amazing and bring so much laughter and happiness to my life. I love your enthusiasm for things that you love. I love your Bold way of saying things. and how you never are afraid to tell anyone the truth.   I am so lucky to be your wife. I love you John Happy Birthday. 

this cake was super yummy and really easy. it was strawberry and chocolate. Knoxx thought he would add his own decorating style to the cake

We were really busy getting my sister ready to go back to Ft hood so we didn't get to celebrate John's Birthday as large as I usually do, but He is 31 and I guess you have to stop having a super hero themed birthday party sometime. 

new years 2012

My sister Valerie moved to Texas this last week.  They got lonely out there driving and called us to come out and join them in their long journey. 

this looks like two sets of twins 

Cute!

So my sisters husband just finished basic training and was assigned to Ft hood. so they decided that after Brandon Christmas leave he would help them drive to Texas. Valerie and her three kids, 2-year-old twin girls and a 8-month-old-boy, were going to come and stay with me for  a few days until their stuff would arrive and they could move in to their new house.   the first two days of driving went well and then just before crossing in to Texas their car broke down. this was Saturday night. I called Valerie Sunday expecting them to be nearing my home in Houston. But they were still in New Mexico. 

 Sunday and Monday Quickly sped by as Brandon and Valerie were forced to go threw plan A, B, C and all the way to Z.  the fact that the car broke down on a holiday weekend left them with even more hurdles to jump.   plan D: get a new part to fix the car.  dealer wont get it in till Thursday.    Plan M: rent a car and drive to Dallas to get the part. Dealership wont be open because of Newyears Plan R; rent a car and drive to Lindsey's car rental place wont accept a debit visa card. 
Valerie called me and told me the news about the last plan failing. and I was already packing my things while I was on the phone. I told her "I am coming to get you" this is something I had wanted to do since sunday but had help out hope that the other plans or combinations of the plans would work.  so with a tooth brush and a change of close for everyone Rocklond, Knoxx and I all set out to clovis, NM  a  10 hr drive from Houston. I left at about 2:30pm and rang in the new year just before reaching lubbock. I wish I had been able to get there a little sooner so I could have celebrated the new year in texas and then crossed the time zone and celebrated it again. but I didn't get in until about 1:30am MST

Monday started off with high hopes now that plan AA was in motion: tow the Jeep behind Tindseys Toyota to Ft hood.  

Once again our plan was ruined as we began hitting more and more hurdles of the day. everything that we needed was in stores that were closed and we were running out of time because Brandon had to be back to Ft hood by 6:00 am Tuesday. 

We spent the day at McDonalds and in the car while Brandon had the stressful job of finding a way to get the jeep to attach to my car. 

the kids were handling everything so well and we were very hopeful that this was going to work and we were going to be able to tow the car. 

We finally were ready to begin pulling the car.  None of us really knew what we were doing add that to three sleep deprived adults two of which also where under immense pressure from moving and being stranded for the last two days. and throw in half of the stores in small freeway town were closed. led us to spend all day on a project that we should have thrown the towel in from the get go. 

Here We are all happy ready to give the beautifully crafted trailer a try. 

Note: DO NOT TOW A CAR BACKWARDS! DO NOT TOW A CAR WITH ALL 4  WHEELS ON THE Ground and DO NOT MOVE OVER A MAJOR HOLIDAY. 

We didn't have a way to attach the hitch to the front of the car so we thought well why not try the back? We had seen cars towed this way but what we hand noticed it that only works if the front two wheels were off the ground on a dolly. I think this plan would have worked if we had been able to find a way to attach it to the front of the car but the frame was just to far back.   Anyways what we got was an epic fail.  the car was basically being dragged behind my car.  

We all felt bad and horrible and helpless. kind of the way I felt after the last election.

I wanted to know what went wrong and how we could have fixed it and so I began Googleing things to learn about towing cars. I came across this little list. http://jalopnik.com/5941155/the-ten-worst-ways-to-tow-a-car/gallery/1    really funny and makes me feel a whole lot better that at least we didn't do any of these. 

Well with our spirits crushed, stamped,and broken we left the Jeep there in New Mexico.
It was about 5or 6 pm  we drove all night long and arrived in Ft hood around 4 in the morning.

Brandon had a few minutes to shave and change before we dropped him off for his first day post Basic Training.    those little glimmers of light are other solders in their PT clothes and reflective belts. 

In a week filled with trials there was one thing that really came through. Valerie and Brandon were supposed to sign their lease on Monday but they were still stranded in New mexico. they were able to sign over E-mail and so they just needed to pick up their keys to their new house. 

Brandon got an hour off to change after PT and so we picked him up and drove over to the leasing agent.  I waited in the car as they went in.  I was praying and praying that they would come out with them in hand. It really wouldn't have surprised me if they hadn't after all the bad luck I had seen on this trip. 

so I was so relieved to see two Smiling faces as they brought back their KEYS!!!!!

Here they are after looking thru their 4 bedroom house.  here is the link to my sisters blog where there are more pics  http://illguthlife.blogspot.com/2013/01/worth-it.html   they had moved from a two bedroom Apt. 

their stuff wont be there for a few more days so Valerie and the kids all came to Houston with me.  I hadn't changed clothes, showered or brushed by hair or teeth since Monday when I left to go and rescue them. So you can imagine I was happy to be home and get cleaned up.  Valerie was equally as happy  she had packed enough clothes for her and the kids for a three day road trip not a five day disaster.    We spent the rest of the day doing laundry, cleaning out the car and  sneaking naps in between taking care of kids.  

that night John was reading to Rocklond and I was sitting on the floor nursing Knoxx. every few moments  I would hear a loud banging noise It took me about three times to realize it was my head hitting the wall every time I fell asleep. 

Today after everyone got a real nights sleep in a bed.  Valerie packed up her now clean stuff and her kids and went back to Ft. hood in Johns car. 

they will borrow that car for a while until they can go back to New Mexico to fix the Jeep.  she still doesn't have all of her stuff but I lent them a few necessity's and they can buy/borrow the rest from ft hood PX and another place where they let military families borrow items for a few days.

I hope that they can try to find some sense of normal in the next few days and begin to feel the stress levels going down.  I am just glad that I was able to have an opportunity to help my sister.  Most of all I am SO SO SO Happy to Have they Living so Close!!! Although they might never want to set foot in another car once this month is through.  

Christmas 2012

We have has a fantastic holiday season. Christmas was really wonderful. John had the christmas eve and Christmas off. It was so nice not to be rushed Christmas morning.  

here are the gifts. this was the snake button. it didn't have a button and it had an assortment of animals and maybe one snake but Rocklond loves it and has used his whole quarter savings on the little sticky animals inside. 

here is the yellow bus from last Christmas and the new and improved Fire Bus that Rocklond dreamed up for this year. 

I got just a regular yellow school bus and then spray painted it black. It took me a few tries because I didn't know 100% humidity and spray paint doesn't mix. Well actually they do mix,  leaving bubbles all over the project.

the stickers were done twice too because the first batch I printed off of my computer they looked like cheep tape stuck to a black bus. so we used the skull stickers and john painted on the fire.  

 Rocklond looked a little disappointed that there wasn't any real fire involved, but still loves it.

here are my presents. new running shoes, socks and fuel for running. I am training to run the Woodlands marathon in March. 

this is a mix of my presents and Rocklonds. 

and here are some of johns. 

Knoxx got this cute little walker that resembles a toilet a little too much for my tasts, but it is by far the favorite gift.

after our relaxing quiet Christmas we received a surprise for new years   

What am I going to get these kids for Christmas

 What to get these kids for Christmas?

Rocklond told me about January of this year that he wanted a Fire Bus for Christmas.

Then he elaborated “it has flames on it and shoots fire”

“Ok” I said and hoped that he would forget about it by Christmas time.

No luck he still wants a fire bus. About August he added a Snake Button to his Christmas wish list.

When I asked if he could describe the snake button he said “you push a button and a snake comes out, also and egg, sometimes a boat.”   

So I have been trying to find these Imaginary gifts somewhere. The bus will be yellow school bus painted black with flame decals on the side (no flame shooting abilities)  

The Snake button is going to be tricky. I am thinking a toy capsule vending machine?  I could put miniature plastic snakes in little Capsules (eggs) and make sure there is a big picture of a snake on the front.  I just hope he plays along and he doesn’t say “that isn’t a snake button” because he has said that to some of my other guesses as to what a snake button actually is.

Today I thought it would be fun for him to help pick out a small gift for Knoxx. I asked him what he thought Knoxx would like. He answered “a fishinbot!”  

“Oh I don’t know what that is can you explain that?” I said already dreading the answer

“you know a robot that goes fishing”

Good thing he said that Idea for Knoxx because Knoxx won’t be disappointed when there isn’t an angling robot under our tree.

Oh ya and that dog in the pic is Gretta. Our new German wire haired Pointer.  Thanks to her john’s gift is taken care of.  (obedience training)

bugs,boots,bubbles

We made little insect hats for preschool there were bumble bees and butterfly's. 

it is finally cold enough to wear boots again! Which is my favorite way to hide my ugly leg. 

I think this shirt is winning "best shirt of the year" again this year. although I just bought a yellow dream that might be a contender.

here is my favorite little 7-month-old. (can you see the bubble)   By the way, he weighted in at 20.5 lbs at his 6-month appointment. 

Here is Knoxx showing off his escaping skills.  he has been able to scoot around for about a month and a half now but just in the last two weeks he has gotten faster. He doesn't do a true crawl yet.  I wish he would  I think it would help him from always flopping around on his stomach and spiting up everywhere.  

Rocklond is watering the plants in the front yard. well actually he is watering the Ants in this video but I think originally he was watering plants. He loves for me to turn on the hose and let him water the flowers and bushes in our front yard.  

blogging is hard/halloween 2012

Ok so I will be honest. I don't really like blogging. it sort of stresses me out to get out the camera and download the pictures and then i am expected to say something cute and inspiring about what we are doing in the pictures.  this maybe comes from my recent tour of all of the amazing blogs out there. you know the ones where people write more than a few phrases and their pictures are always in focus and perfect , Momastery,  hownottodresslikeamom.  nieniedialogs (just finished reading Heaven is Here). and my dear sister Valerie  illguthlife where even her husband can write out a mean dialog about his life.
   so I just want to put out a disclaimer that the MAIN reason for this blog is for my family that lives so far away and relies on these pictures as a way of knowing what my children look like in the months between our visits.  I am not a writer. I can't spell without the help of Google who is the only person who can decode my first attempts at spelling a word. and punctuation and such is something that I have to FOCUS so hard to do.  So I am sorry about the primitive shape that my posts might be in but I am trying to keep this easy and fun for me.

So on to the kiddos

starting them off young I guess.  I now log off of Netflix on my tablet so  I don't catch Rocky watching Sponge Bob 24-7

this face is so hilarious.  he Does it all the time and it makes the cuties popping sound. 

here we are carving the Halloween pumpkin that we painted a few weeks ago. 

pretty scary stuff. 

and here are my little trunk-or-treaters  

this was the the costume before it got completely covered in candy and paint. 

I made this stuff for my preschool and then took it down stairs to decorate. 

we put up these bats about three weeks ago. thanks Hillary and Emily for the Idea. 

our pumpkin pizza. the crust is green. 

I ran out to buy a pumpkin to carve for preschool and Walmart was sold out of regular pumpkins so I bought this instead. the kids all watched patiently as I attempted to carve it. but alas I don't think it was hollow. so I just carved  the back of the pumpkin that rocklond and I had done a few days before

we were learning the letter H for Happy Halloween 

and sponge bob and plankton again. 

in this picture you can see johns shorts. he was Patrick. I was a jelly fish because I am always trying to out do the year that I dressed up as a piece of cheese. 

We had a blast trick-or-treating  everyone really liked the whole family theme and It was Extra Special becasue John had work off.   he hasn't come trick-or-treating with us since Rocky was Knoxx's age.