Halloween/Fall Festival/Costumes...etc.

Yes, I'm making costumes for the boys this year. Yes, I'm certifiable!! I've always made costumes for Ev (of course, that's all of 2 costumes, really) and I felt like Tate would have much to complain about if I never made him costumes...so, I bit the bullet of maternal-future-guilt and decided to dive in. I know, I'm mixing metaphores. It's OK. :)

Ev wanted to be a doctor, so I've made him a labcoat, scrub bottoms and a hat. I'm embroidering the lab coat with "Dr. Colby - Pediatrics" on it. :) He's going to be so cute!! And Tate is going to be a skunk...because he's my little sinker!! :) I'm so gooey these days. I blame it on fall, the beautiful leaves changing into amazing colors, the nip in the air and all of the hot chocolate I'm drinking. I promise...it's JUST hot chocolate. Most days...some evenings it has a little Bailey's in it. :)

Anyway, we're going to our Church's fall festival tonight and I can't wait to see my boys all dressed up. I'll try and post some pictures later...it should be a fun time!!

On Moms and Grandmas...

I talked with my sweet friend Lisa this morning. It has been a tough morning, and she and I have that kind of friendship where honesty is appreciated and encouraged! So, I called her to talk and to catch up. We can go for a while without talking and then just pick up where we left off...I'm always grateful for her; I feel like I can be transparent and that it's OK. She's got 3 of her own kiddos, the youngest is about 3 months old, so she's got her hands busy...and still makes time for me. Anyway, I was commenting on how Ev had been totally spoiled at Grandma's house...She said her mom has this theory that, for every day at Grandma's, 2 days at home are needed in order to recover. So, I've got a long haul!! :)

It's funny, because I adore my mother in law. She's a great grandma, for sure. Very doting, always paying attention to the kids and doesn't care if her house is a disaster. These are things that I want to be as a mom, but it is obvious that it doesn't work exactly the same way...I'm here to teach my kids how to grow up into responsible adults: Grandma's house is for being totally irresponsible! So, that means that I have to teach them that they aren't at the center of the universe, they need to pick up after themselves, and learn to do things like eat right, brush their teeth, be grateful, use appropriate words to express emotions, not hit...

I'm glad for my kiddos to be spoiled. They need that! They need to have time to just run wild and do their own thing...to have fewer rules and all...They also need to be reigned in at home when the time is right...and that's hard. It is NOT fun to re-teach all of the important things: Say please and thank you, put your things where they belong since Mommy isn't the maid, eat dinner with the family at the table and sit on your bottom please, share with your brother, do not growl at me when I ask you to do something, no we can't watch TV all day, and I don't have any M&Ms right now, you have to be quiet since our neighbors are still asleep (townhouses!! ACK!), markers may not be used on the couch, and no you can't eat the telephone Tate, we can't go to the park all day long today since I have a stack of laundry from here to the ceiling, and you have to go poopy in the potty and not a diaper since you're almost 4 now, saying "I don't want to" is not an acceptable answer, and don't slam your door...*sigh*

We'll get there!! And thankfully, with friends like Lisa, I can laugh now, too!! Maybe we can make some fun cookies and get a little distracted from laundry...Laundry can wait...

A Wonderfully Tough Week

Whew! It was a whirlwind, for sure! We left for Dallas on Saturday the 11th, and got in late that night. It was a long trip there, but thankfully, it went without a hitch at all!! No vomit, either!! :) We had Sunday to spend with family, which was wonderful. Time well spent, but it seems that there is never enough time. Then, the busy-ness started! Ethan had several interviews in Texas, and hopefully, a good job offer will come of it. We are so excited for the future and are anxious to know what it holds.

On Sunday night, Ethan and I had dinner with our cool friends, Andy and Shelley. They are a ton of fun...we had good pizza and good laughs...and even got to have a fire outside at their house by the pool. Mmmm...nice. :) Ethan had an interview that lasted all Monday, and then we went to Ft. Worth. We were totally amazed and impressed with the area, the people, the group. It was a fantastic time, and we both really enjoyed it. Wednesday and Thursday and Friday were all equally busy...some things better than others for sure...I don't want to bore anyone with too many details...

BUT, I do want to ask our friends to please pray for us and for the groups that we saw. Pray that we'll end up at the right place for us, for our family, for the group who hires Ethan...that we'll be where we're supposed to be. There are SO many factors...We each are truly excited for what is to come.

And...I DO want to thank our families! We couldn't have done what we did without my sweet Mother-in-law and Father-in-law...they watched the boys for us for what amounted to most of the week! And my parents lent us their car to drive around. My boys are totally spoiled now, which is a fantastic thing. Being spoiled now and again is so important; they can't wait to go back to Grandma's house for more. As soon as we got home he said, "Ok, we'll stay tonight and go back tomorrow, OK?" *sigh* It would be so nice if it were that easy. :) Maybe someday it will be?? Who knows!

Anyway...there's my brain-drain for the day. :) There's a lot rattling around up in there...and we'll keep you guys posted!!

Everett Takes the Plunge.

This morning on the way to preschool, Ev and I were talking about heaven. He wondered out loud where Jesus lived and if it was close to where the birds were in the sky. I told him that heaven was not in a place where we could see it, but that we often imagine that it's beyond the sky where the birds live. He said he wanted to go to heaven and see Jesus sometime. He wondered if we could get there in a hot air balloon. :) I told him that the way to get to heaven was to ask Jesus to be your savior and forgive you of your sins. That way, when it's your "turn to go" you can go live in heaven with Jesus forever. So, I said, "Would you like to tell Jesus that you want to have him as your savior and live with him forever in heaven?" And he said yes. So, we prayed "the prayer" that went something like this: Dear Lord Jesus, I realize that I am a sinner in need of your grace and forgiveness. Please forgive me and come live in my heart. Make me more and more like you each day. And let me live in heaven with you forever." :) Who knows what a 3 year old understands, or what God thinks of all of that, but it's a starting place for sure. :) I don't think I've ever cried tears of joy like that yet. This is what we've been praying for his whole life: "Lord, may Everett know you at a young age and walk with you all of the days of his life."

Thank you, Lord, for this first step. We pray for more!! :)

Our trip to Ft. Collins (aka: You aren't going to believe me!)

In my last post I mentioned that we were headed out to Ft Collins for an interview. Ethan and I are excited about the opportunity...we won't know more for a few weeks, but we'd be glad if he gets an offer ; but we still have other interviews to go, and we'll know more about what we want later...The interview went really well, and the evening dinner (where I was basically interviewed) was good, too. They took us to Jay's Bistro off of the downtown mall there; a great place and a fun time.

But...let's back up. This is the part you aren't going to believe: The interview was the easiest part of the whole trip. (Oh, and the half day spent with a realtor that the group had set up for us so that we could get a feel for neighborhoods and such...that was easy, too.)

I understand why families these days don't take vacation. I understand why no one flies anywhere with small children. Not only is it just impossible to make it through security (what with taking off four pairs of shoes, taking out the computer, iPhone, DVD player, emptying sippy cups, taking off jackets, folding up strollers and carseats...) but the dirty looks and unhelpful attitude of every other traveler and all of the security people is absolutely mind numbing. Let's just say that there is a serious lack of grace and/or humor in airports. Not to mention the fact that after all of the trouble it takes to get there, everyone on the whole plane expects your 3 and 1 year old to behave like little adults. It's rather crazy. So, that's just the "normal" part of traveling with small children; this happens to parents everywhere who go anywhere on an airplane. Here's the unbelievable part of our tale.

The day we're leaving is Saturday, so we wake up and have eggs and bacon and juice. A fun breakfast for all, and filling, because we knew it was going to be a long day. We pack up our things, get in the car and head to Dulles International Airport in D.C. We expect the drive to take 2 hours, and since it's 10am, and our flight leaves at 2pm, we were doing well!! Until, that is, Everett gets sick. Yes, he threw up eggs and bacon all over himself and the car. We weren't quite sure what was going on; we'd had no indication he felt poorly. No feverat all, and he had a healthy appetite, so we chalked it up to carsickness. So, we pull over to a gas station, strip him down and wash him off with wet wipes. We clean out the car and get a garbage bag for vomit filled clothing and car seat covers. Ev is feeling fantastic, or so he says, and he wants McDonald's for lunch. OK, that sounds great! We're sure it's carsickness and that he's just fine. He has a wonderful appetite, and eats his whole hamburger and all of his fries, so we head out on our merry way to Dulles. We get to Dulles and can't find Frontier Airlines anywhere. We ask someone and they say it's upstairs to the left. Still can't find it, so I go to the United desk and after about 10 minutes of deliberation, they tell me that Frontier flies out of Regan, not Dulles.

WHAT?!

Great. We are idiots on top of it all. Both of us were certain it was Dulles; when we bought our tickets, we'd double checked that since it would be easier to get into and out of with our kids. No matter now...our problem is that we're not going to make our 2pm flight. So, we call Frontier and talk to someone in reservations. The next flight leaves at 6pm, but they don't "do" stand-by anymore so we'll have to, essentially, buy a new ticket. They said, oh so graciously, "We'll waive the $150 change fee per ticket, and just charge you the difference between your old ticket and new ticket. And yes, that's $336.19 per ticket." (Mind you, we have 3 tickets!)

WHAT?!

No way. Now we're in a mess. We don't have an extra grand sitting around to pay for tickets for our family to fly to Colorado. We made several phone calls to family...my parents offered to give us miles so that we could buy one way tickets to Denver...my mom even had American Airlines on the phone ready to push a button and get us there. (THANK YOU, MOM!!!) My sister gave us the same option and was standing by to help us as well. We decide to suck it up and go and pay for our own mistake ... After 3 more calls to Frontier, getting the same answer each time, we decide to buy the new tickets. All of this happened en route to Regan Airport while it's pouring down rain, we're lost in Washington DC, and the windshield wipers decide to quit working. As SOON as I hang up with Frontier after shelling out big bucks for our new tickets, Ev gets sick again. No, I'm not kidding. Well, now what?? We really want ME to go with Ethan to Colorado to the interview, but what about the kids? What if they're really sick? And, what about the new tickets? But Ev is acting just fine, so we chalk it up to carsickness again. I begin to bawl like a baby. We find some neighborhood off of the highway, get Ev out and clean him up again while he throws up again a few times in someone's front yard. (Sorry!!) We're SOOOO lost, but thankfully the iPhone begins to work again and we find our route to the airport... Not only is all of this going on, but I'm in the middle of what seems to be a possible miscarriage. Talk about the worst day ever.

Finally! We get to Regan...we decide to bite the bullet and pay $100 to park close to the airport. I mean, we're out all of this money now, what's $100? We rush in to the ticket counter and the wonderful lady behind the desk asks, "Why did you buy new tickets? You could have flown stand-by." We explain what we'd been told, and she says, "But there's a 2 hour grace period. If you notify us within 2 hours then stand-by is available."

WHAT?!

Are you freaking kidding me? Are you for real?? We just shelled out all of this money and had all of this stress, put my family through the ringer when we didn't even have to? AGH! Can we just have a do-over today?? Please? So, Debbie at the ticket counter calls all of her friends in Customer Relations to get us our money back, but it's Saturday and no one is in. She gives us her card and personal cell phone number and says she'll guarantee getting it fixed for us. So, as this is happening, Ev throws up in the airport twice and Tate has the worlds biggest poop ever. We know that bathroom inside and out now. At this point, Ev is throwing up water, so we assume he's sick, but there's no going back now. Not after what it took to get this far...

We finally make it to security (which I spoke about earlier...) and on to the plane. And we sit on the tarmac for 50 minutes. Yes, the children LOVE that. (Insert roll-eyes here...) We take off and the kids just crash. Thankfully...some respite from the storm!! Sleeping children!! BUT WAIT! What's that?? MY tummy is rumbling.

It was my lucky day. I got to vomit in an airplane. And so did Ethan! Yes, folks, we were ALL sick. And now we were spreading it to the world. I apologize to everyone for this...We really had no idea. No fevers, not feeling bad...But we did take our wipes and clean everything out, so hopefully we spared a few...It was a horrific experience. McDonald's onions on a hamburger will NEVER be eaten by me again, needless to say. I can still feel them in the back of my throat. Gross. I know.

So, now we think we're going to be OK. We go to Advantage Rent a Car to get our cool SUV that we had rented. But WAIT! They say we only have an economy car on our rental info.

WHAT?!

Seriously. Could we please get a break? Oh, that's right. Orbitz had a deal: rent an SUV for an economy price. Oh, our mistake. We gave your SUV to someone else, but how's about this one? Fine. Sure. We don't care anymore. In this hour long process, Tate decides it's his turn and he pukes all over the floor at Advantage. Thankfully, all of the people there were moms, so they totally came to my rescue and lent a hand.

Ok...now we're in the car. Littleton is in sight. Kirsten (Ethan's sister who we were staying with for the night) knows we're sick and wants us anyway. We make it to her house by midnight... or 2 am our time. We're exhausted. I tuck Ev in bed and he just falls out. Tate, however, refuses to sleep unless it's on top of me...Well, at least he's asleep. Me? I got about 2 hours of sleep, but hey, we had made it and survived.

Thankfully, on Sunday, everyone seemed just fine, so we left the boys with Kirsten (who insisted we go no matter how sick the boys were) and drove off to Ft. Collins. I spent my first night away from Tate and missed my boys, but we slept like logs! Ethan interviewed and I spent the day with my cousin Molly. She showed me all around town, and her daughter Claire was a great sport the whole time. What a great day!!! That night we had our dinner with the group and it was good. A fun time and great people for sure. The next day, we drove around with the realtor and then make our way back to Littleton. It's been a good time, except for the fact that now I know I've miscarried. I'm weepy and emotional, but God grants me a strong husband and a sense of calm, thankfully.

The boys have been just fine; no one is sick...until I get there and Tate wakes up from his nap covered in vomit.

NOT AGAIN.

So, we spend the day cleaning up poop and vomit, and get back on the plane the next day. Everyone is FINE. No sickness, no nothing. We make it to our car (which REEKS of old vomit) and clean it all out, change diapers and get going. We stop at Burger King on the way home and everyone is hungry and eats to their fill. About half an hour away from home, Tate decides he didn't like his french fries and vomits yet again. *sigh* We'll never eat fast food again. We pull over, clean him up and make our way home. We finally make it here by 10pm and crash. I mean, we totally crash.

It's good to be home.

And yes, we're getting a refund.

What's the saying, "It's the little things in life..."