11 Questions Part 2

Yesterday I posted the first part of the 11 Questions meme.  Here is part II in which I answer Shasta's questions for me!  She had some great questions!  Here you go...

1. What products do you have in your shower? 

 I have 3 conditioners (one is empty), 1 shampoo, 3 bottles of body soap (1 is empty), 2 pumice stones (never use either one), razor, and a squeegee for shower door (never use it)
It sounds like I should clean out my shower.

2. What one frivolous (not essential to survival) thing would you want with you on a desert island?

A soft fluffy pillow.  Nights would be hell just laying on the sand.

3. What's your favorite throw-together meal?  

This is bad, but my throw together meal is actually calling in an order of fish tacos and queso dip to Baja Fresh and sending my husband out to get it.

4. If you could only visit one restaurant for the rest of your life, which would it be?

Baja Fresh...No - just kidding!  I really don't have a "go to" type of restaurant that I LOVE.  I would have to say The Office which is a restaurant on the beach in Mexico.  I wouldn't choose it for the food, more for the atmosphere - right on the beach, steps from the ocean, feet in the sand.  Aaaahhhh!

5. What color is your favorite pair of shoes?

I am not really a big shoe person.  I would love to say something cool and funky here, but my favorite pair of shoes are probably my black slippers.  I know, boring.

6. Dogs or cats? (Or, "other"?)  

We own a cat.  He's cool.  I have always been more of a dog person.  But I don't plan on owning one until the boys drive me crazy with the request.  (which I am sure will happen in a few years - they LOVE dogs!)

7. Describe a moment, however brief, in the past week when you felt joyful. 

Hmmm...this has been a very hard week, but I actually have many joyful moments to choose from.  The other day at dinner Brady took his cup and kind of suctioned it around his mouth/face and was sucking in - basically making farting noises.  I looked at him with this serious face, but then Parker started laughing and Ryder started laughing - and I am talking full on belly laughs.  Parker couldn't even catch his breath he was laughing so hard.  As bad as it is, I joined them.  It was such a joyful moment that I even had to take a picture - which I am sure reinforced this "bad" behavior even more.  Oops!
                                                  

8. You have an entire day off from responsibilities, but you can't spend any money. What does your free dream day look like?

Oh my gosh - I would lay in a hammock and read books, all day long!   (and it would be sunny and warm)

9. If you had $1 million to give to charity, what cause would you give it to?

That is a tough one.  I have had this conversation with God several times actually.  I always tell him that if he could just help me win the lottery, I would totally give some to charity.  But I haven't been very specific.  Maybe that is my problem.  There are so many good ones out there.  I am sure I would split it up.  There is a great local charity Children's Cancer Association (CCA), they do amazing things.  Also some to UCP of course, and then probably and animal rescue charity of some sort.

10. What is a picture that you wish you had? Either a moment in time that wasn't captured, a picture of a person passed or a place in the world? Anything you would like an image of.

This is such a good but tough question.  It is the last one I answered and took me days to think about.  I feel like I should say something very profound and meaningful.  But I can't think of anything huge.  What I do wish I had a picture of, however, just happened this weekend.  We were outside working in the yard.  Parker was laying on his tummy on mats that we had put in the yard, and Brady was doing various projects "helping" us.  He found a pile of wood scraps from building our deck that he was so excited about.  He grabbed a piece and ran over to Parker, layed down on his tummy right in front of him and held the wood out to him.  He was talking to him and taking Parker's hand and having him touch the wood.  It was the sweetest thing I have seen Brady do with his brother.  I grabbed for my cell phone to get a picture, but I couldn't get it in time.  It was such a sweet moment. 

11. Would you rather have a blanket made of the softest material imaginable with a stone bed or a rough, scratchy blanket with a gloriously soft and cushy bed?

I would for sure want a soft blanket.  It would be so soft and fluffy that I could put it under me as well.  I am a blanket person.


Don't forget to check out my other blog friends who I tagged! 

 Bloggers that I have tagged:

 http://doublethelove16.blogspot.com
http://www.brycemoline.com/
http://aboutthesmallstuff.blogspot.com/
http://www.motherofatoddlerandtriplets.blogspot.com/
http://jumpinforjames.blogspot.com/
http://cjengo.blogspot.com/

11 Random Things

Shasta from Outrageous Fortune tagged me in her 11 Questions post. The meme goes that you say 11 random things about yourself, answer 11 questions, ask 11 questions and then tag 11 other bloggers to answer those questions. I love these type of things.  However, I am new to the blogging world and most all of the blogs I read have already been tagged.  So I am only go to be able to tag a few new ones.  I hope that doesn't cost me something!

Like Shasta, I'll break mine into two parts. Today I’ll post my 11 Random Things, tag a few of my favorite bloggers and my 11 questions for them. Tomorrow I’ll answer Shasta's questions for me.  (If I can actually get a post out 2 days in a row - that would be quite a feat!)



The Rules

1) Post these rules.
2) Post 11 random things about yourself.
3) Answer the questions set for you in the post of those who tagged you.
4) Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5) Go to their blog (or email them or tweet them) and tell the people you tagged that you’ve tagged them.
6) No stuff in the tagging section about “you are tagged if you are reading this.” You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

Now...

11 Random Things About Me:

1.  I have attended 6 universities and got degrees from 3 of them.
2. My favorite place to be is in my Grandma's kitchen with a cup of coffee as the sun is rising over the mountains.  Dogs are laying around my feet, cinnamon rolls are cooking and all of my family is near.  That is heaven to me.
3.  Both my grandma and my mom are AMAZING cooks.  I suck at it.
4. One of my most dreaded tasks is getting the mail.  In fact, we just got a not-so-nice note in our mailbox reminding us to pick up our mail daily.  I could easily go over a week without checking it. 
5. I am a morning person.  
6. I have a home-made tattoo on my foot made with a razor blade and Indian ink at the wise age of 16.
7. I love to plan parties, but I tend to stress out once they are actually happening in my house.  
8. I used to teach Health and had to teach "how to put on a condom" to 8th graders.  Did you know that there are 16 steps?
9. When I was little I took all of my dolls and stuffed animals (probably close to 100 of them) and brought them out to the living room on Christmas Eve so that they could experience Christmas with us.  
10.  I have always gotten water up my nose whenever I have tried diving or or jumping in water. So I have to plug my nose upon water entry even though it looks very "uncool".
11. I am copying one of Shasta's random fact ideas here - I have 204 emails in my inbox, 83 of them unread - and that is just one of my personal email accounts - don't get me started on work email.  (190 in my inbox there, but only 4 unread)....hmmm...sounds similar to my snail mail box.

Bloggers that I have tagged:

 http://doublethelove16.blogspot.com
http://www.brycemoline.com/
http://aboutthesmallstuff.blogspot.com/
http://www.motherofatoddlerandtriplets.blogspot.com/
http://jumpinforjames.blogspot.com/
http://cjengo.blogspot.com/

And here are your questions!

1. What is your dream vacation spot and why?
2. What was your favorite TV show when you were growing up?
3. If you could be a character in any book or movie who would you be and why?
4. What is the most daring/dangerous thing you have ever done?
5. If you had unlimited funds for one week, how would you spend it?
6. Who influenced you most  when you were a kid?  Who does now?
7. What is your favorite quote?
8. If you had a chance to go back in time for 24 hours where and when would you go?
9. If you could give up one household task, what would it be?
10. What is your best or worse memory from high school?  (you get to choose)
11. What makes you laugh?

Good Friends Make the World Go 'Round...And Make Dinner!

Jimmy's best friend from college is in town from Alaska this week.  Aaron is an amazing person.  He and his wife Kelly have always been so supportive of us as a couple and a family.  They have two sweet daughters of their own and their own hectic life to deal with, but they always check in on us and visit when they can.  They are dear friends. 

They also are the kind of friends who make us so comfortable and not stressed about hosting.  I truly am not worried if the house is not perfectly clean when they are here, I don't worry if I don't have a big home-cooked meal planned.  In fact the last time they visited (about a year ago) we just had pizza and salad! 

I can sum up the kind of person Aaron is by explaining how he arrived at our house yesterday.  He left Anchorage I believe around 12:30 AM (ish).  His flight got in to Portland around 6 AM.  He did not sleep at all on the flight.  So he has gone 24 hours without sleeping.  He gets in to Portland, rents a car, drives around a bit (so as not to impose on us early, which is funny because I have been up since 5), and then calls Jimmy from Fred Meyer.  He wants to know what he can pick up for us.  By this time Jimmy is taking Parker to an ABM appointment, so we just tell Aaron to come on over.  He comes over and the first thing that comes out of his mouth after I hug him is "What can I do?"  Seriously?  If I were him, the first thing out of my mouth would have been, "Where's my bed?"    But no, he didn't want to sleep.  He wanted to help me with the boys.  In fact, he told me that I could go back to sleep and he would watch them.  He is lucky I didn't take him up on that one!

We had a great morning of catching up and watching the boys play.  Then I sent him and Jimmy off to lunch at Red Robin.  They also were going to run to the grocery store because Aaron wanted to cook us dinner and needed to get some supplies.   Ummm....ok.  I got not problem with that.  Seems a little backwards, having your house guest cook for you, but carry on friend!  I did try to put up a fight, but I knew I wasn't going to win that one.   So now, not only am I going to get dinner cooked for me, but now I don't even have to go to the grocery store, which is one of my most dreaded tasks. 

They got back from the store, Aaron takes over in the kitchen, and Jimmy takes over with the boys, so I decide to go get a pedicure!  Sweet!  I haven't had one in a VERY long time (since before spring break) so it was a special treat. 

Aaron asked what time the boys would all be down and I told him 7:30 at the latest.  And at 7:32 we were being served dinner out on the patio.  It was like a 5 star restaurant.  We had candles, good wine, and a great chicken parmesan dinner.  It was spectacular!!  All of this and Aaron was now going on over 36 hours without sleep.  And did I mention that he also made a huge batch of spaghetti sauce for us to freeze?  And he made us a wonderful jerk chicken lunch the next day, AND he made us homemade meatball sub sandwiches for dinner that night.  AND he brought dessert and wine - two of my favorite things.  Clearly I hated to see him go, but sadly he has to go to his hotel for the week because his training is there and is intensive.  We are hoping to actually be able to take him out to dinner one night this week though so we haven't seen the last of him yet.



                                            

This is a good friend.  He is so generous.  He entertained the boys, went shopping for us, cooked for the boys, cooked for us, and shared stories with us.  We are lucky to have such good people in our lives.  It seems like whenever we start to get to the point of breaking from stress or pressure, along comes a good friend who lifts our spirits and helps us keep on keeping on. 

Thank you, Aaron, for being that good friend.  We love you!

Happy Mother's Day

(As usual, I started writing this a few days ago and didn't finish until just now.  So it is a litttle late.)

It's Mother's Day and I sit here in the silence with my cup of coffee and I remember not long ago how I thought I might never celebrate this day with children of my own.  It is interesting how something that was so devastating at one point in our life can almost be forgotten as time goes on.  I make a point to remind myself often of the journey we took to get our little boys and how lucky we truly are that we have them.  They are, without a doubt, three little miracles.  And I could talk about that for an entire post.

However, today I want to dedicate my post to my mom.  I am going to step away from my "mom" role and play the "daughter" role today.

I had a great childhood!  It was always filled with fun.  My mom decorated our house for every holiday, which I am sure is why I currently have an entire garage of holiday decorations myself.  (much to my husband's dismay)  We always had a sit down family dinner at the kitchen table.  On very "special" occasions, like when maybe dad was out of town, we could use the TV trays and eat in the living room.  But there was always a home-cooked meal.  There was nothing from a box, and nothing that came out of a can.  And although I loved most of her meals, I did bring my little purse to the table one time and filled it with some veggies that I didn't want to eat.  I am pretty sure she found me out though.  We always said our prayers before eating, and we asked to be excused when we were done.  If we watched TV at night, we did it as a family and I remember getting bowls of ice cream as a treat. 

We went on vacations every summer, which were really just camping trips or to visit relatives, but we LOVED it.  We always drove, and my mom would pack up the cooler with sandwiches and drinks for the road.  We would stop at rest areas and picnic along the way. 

We moved 4 times before I was a freshman in high school and my mom always handled it with grace and strength.  She never had her family close by for help - she and my dad just did it all on their own...and they were young!  I look back and think at my age now she would have already had my brother graduate from high school, my sister in high school and me in that lovely time called junior high.  I am in awe at how she did it all so well completely on her own (with help from my dad of course). 

I have looked back as an adult often and been so thankful for the mom that she was to me as a young girl.  She was strict with rules (which I was not thrilled with at the time), she wanted to meet all of my friends and boyfriends, I had a very early curfew and was terrified to break it (as many of my friends will atest to), and she called whenever I said I was going to stay the night somewhere.  She cared about my academics, my extra curricular activities, my social life, and my spiritual life.  We went to church every Sunday and I was raised with a lot of faith, for which I will be eternally grateful.  That is really what has gotten me through life.

You would think that the role she played in my young life would be the most important piece of her motherhood.  And by no means will I ever down play that.  However, the role that she plays in my life as an adult is even more important.  She, not only is my mom, but she is Grandma to my 3 boys. 

Now, being a grandma should be easy, right?  You get to come enjoy the kids on your own time.  You can spoil them with toys and good food.  You can give them back when they start crying or when they need discipline.  You should be able to get all the benefits of having children but not all the responsibilities, like paying bills, taking them to the doctor, dealing with their tantrums, buying groceries, making them meals, putting them in time-outs, cleaning up their throw-up, changing dirty diapers, or watching them late at night. 

Well, that is not the kind of grandma my mom gets to be.  She does not get to pick and choose the times she comes over to visit.  She has to come over almost every day because she is the one who takes Parker to most of his appointments (anywhere from 3-7 per week).  She also has to come over on Friday, because she watches the boys one day a week because we can't afford to pay a nanny 5 days a week.  She is retired, and rather than coming to see the boys whenever she has time, she actually has to check our schedule before she makes fun plans with her friends.  When making a doctor appointment for herself, she has to coordinate it around Parker's many doctor appointments.  (which is not easy) 

Rather than spending her retirement money on cruises to the Bahamas, she is spending her money on things for the boys like food, clothes, Thick-it (something we have to put in Parker's formula), and yes, toys!  She has also given us money to pay for therapy for Parker when our insurance has refused. 

My mom is what I like to call Parker's personal chef.  She makes full, delicious meals (spaghetti, roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, curry chicken fettucini, and butternut squash pasta are just some examples) and then she blends them up and freezes them in cubes.  She keeps our freezer stocked and he loves it!  He eats her meals much better than regular baby food (well, who wouldn't?) and has gained weight.  I always joke that he eats better than all of us.  But she doesn't just cook for Parker.  She always brings food for Brady and Ryder as well.  And they LOVED it!

On the off chance that my mom is just coming over for enjoyment (which she will tell you is every time she is here), she still is working.  She is contantly helping with all of the boys whether it is holding Ryder so he can get some attention, or helping Brady go potty, or working with Parker on the floor.  She is constantly doing something.  There is no rest for this woman.  She has cleaned up vomit more times than I can count and changes poopy diapers in a blink of the eye.  And to top it all off, she watches to boys for us at night if we go out.  Now, granted, we don't go out very often at all.  But when we do, it is so nice to have the peace of mind that my mom is with our kids.  And I know it is not easy for her to stay up until 11:00 and then drive 20 minutes home.  She also has watched them overnight when we take a respite night away.

As I mentioned before, she watches them on Fridays which helps our nanny expenses out tremendously.  Well, when I come home on Friday, I always find the laundry done, the kitchen cleaned and the boys happy as ever,  In fact, I will share with you that typically when I come home Parker actually starts to cry.  Oh, you think he is crying tears of joy because he is so happy to see me???  Nope.  He is crying because he knows when I come home, Grandma is leaving.  He hates to see her go.

Which brings me to my final point.   All of the boys truly love her and she works very hard to make sure they each get the right amount of attention.  But, my mom's connection with Parker is something special.   Why does he have this strong connection with her?  It could be her unwavering faith in his abilities.  It could be her eternally happy disposition.  It could be her quiet strength.  It could be that he knows a good cook when he sees one!  Or, it could be that he knows that she is his Grandma and that is enough. 

All 3 of my little miracles are so lucky to have a grandma like my mom.  She is loving, patient, caring, the most giving person I know, and tireless.  I hope that when I grow up I am just like her.  I am blessed to have her.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all of the amazing moms and grandmas out there!

Spring Break Part III - The Journey Home

If you read Part I and Part II, you now know that we had a great time on our vacation.  It was a wild ride there, but a wonderful week full of sun and good memories.  Then there was the travel day back home...yes, that was full of memories.  Good ones?  Not so much.  But at least I can look back as I am writing this and laugh about it now.  I actually cried at the time.

The last day of vacation I always get a little sad.  I think that is normal.  I also like to start packing things up and organizing things the night before we are going to leave, even if we are not leaving until 11:00 the next morning. (shocker)  However, our last night there we actually had a few too many margaritas, and I swear Gerardo was telling the bartender to make them extra strong because we had been drinking these all week long and never got even tipsy.  Well, not so on this night.  I should preface this by saying that my family had all 3 of the boys so for the first time on the vacation I got a little crazy.  I was running around with my friend making movies on her new Ipad.  We even played quarters (yes, with margaritas) for about 15 minutes until we figured out that we would end up on the floor if we continued.  I will spare you the rest of the details, but just know...I didn't get packed that night.  However, Gerardo got a very generous tip!

So the next morning my mom came over and helped me pack.  Packing up all of our stuff actually took a long time.  We also had to put the bedroom back together again and move all the furniture back in place.  It really took us all morning.  We had to get our 2 big suitcases packed up quickly because my sweet friends were going to take those back for us - which is even nicer than them bringing them because now they have to go through customs on the way home and it is a pain with a lot of luggage.  Thank you Jenn and Scott!

Then it was time for us to head out.  We decided to take a private taxi rather than deal with the stress of a shuttle with all of our kids and luggage.  Comically, this is where things turned bad.  Both Parker and Ryder decided to cry the whole 45 minute drive to the airport.  They were just as sad to leave Mexico as I was I guess.

We got to the airport and we told the driver we were flying United.  (sucky airline by the way)  So he dropped us off at Terminal One.  Let me explain a bit about the Cabo Airport.  There are 2 terminals, 2 very separate buildings about a half a mile apart.  And there is no nice breeze way that connects them.  You literally have to go back down to the main road and hike along that and to get to the other one.  So, you want to be dropped off at the right terminal, and we always have been.  It is never a problem...until this year.  So we are running late as it is because our cab driver took some crazy route.  We get dropped off, all the luggage unloaded, kids strapped in the stroller, Brady's harness clipped on and we go into the airport to the United line.  We are greeted by a big sign that say something like "If you are flying into California you need to go to the United counter in Terminal 2."   WHAT????  Are you kidding me?  Surely this is a joke.  It is so unbelievable that I go ask an agent.  Yes, we are in the wrong terminal.  Ok, don't panic.  But now, I am stressing.  My wonderful husband says that we can walk over there.  Again, WHAT???  Sure honey, we are going to walk almost a mile along the shoulder of a busy road in the 90 degree sun with all 3 kids and 4 carry on pieces of luggage.  Nope.  This is where I draw the line.  We go back out and I am about to cry already.  A sweet shuttle driver says he will drive us over there just for a tip.  Done!  I give him $5 and he gets us over to the other terminal.

I don't know if all airports in Mexico are like this, but this airport is always crazy!  It is hot - no air conditioning - and the lines are always enormous!  Always.  So we get there and my heart sinks because yes, the lines are crazy and we are so late.  But then a sweet little miracle happens.  We see a new friend that we had met on this trip and she and her daughters wave us up to their spot in line right at the front.  They had already told the people around them that they were holding a spot for us, so no one was mad.   (we saw them in the lobby and they knew we were on their same return flight)  Not only did they save us a spot but Carrie (the mom) took the car seat that I had been carrying on my back and her 4th grade twin daughters took Brady and Parker.  Aaaahhh...I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

I am at the counter now trying to get my boarding passes and surprise, we are having troubles!  I get boarding passes for all 4 of us who need seats, but for some reason they are having trouble printing one for Ryder who ironically doesn't even need a seat!  No joke, I was at the counter for a good 25 minutes and they still didn't get one printed.  They basically did a hand written one so we could get through security and they said they would meet us at the gate with his real one.   Only in Mexico can you get through security with a hand written boarding pass.   hmmmm...

So we got up to the gates and now we only have about 15 minutes before boarding - cutting it way to close for my comfort.  We need to try to get Parker and Ryder to drink their bottles.  And I should say that right about now in "real" life all 3 of the boys would have been napping for at least an hour.  So, they are getting extremely tired.  In fact, Parker fell asleep for a minute trying to drink his bottle.  I also went to the bathroom to change Ryder and see that they have no changing tables anywhere so I had to change him on the floor in the airport.

Everyone is boarding and we are still waiting for that agent to bring us our boarding pass.  He shows up, takes our passports and leaves.  That makes me a little nervous.  Then he comes back with them and a boarding pass for little man.  However, now I see Brady's, which was in his passport, is missing.  The agent swears he didn't lose it, but I see the panic in his eyes.  So he leaves again to try to go find it.  Now everyone is boarded and we are still waiting.  This is my nightmare.  I HATE being the last person on a plane.  Everyone always stares at you like "oh this is why were are delayed" and then there is never any room in the carry on compartments.  But at this point I am just hoping the plane doesn't leave without us.  Finally they printed a new one and rushed us out the door.  Let me explain one more thing about the Cabo airport.  You don't go in a nice short little tunnel to the entrance of the plane.  You go down a ramp out onto the tarmac and you have to walk to your plane outside.  Of course our plane is the farthest one away.  So we hurry along.  Now comes the challenge.  We have to give them the stroller and then get up the stairs to the plane.  I have Ryder on my chest, Brady can walk, Jimmy has Parker but we still have all of our carry-ons to get up the stairs which is difficult when you are carrying kids.  Then we do what feels like the walk of shame.  I put on a phony smile and we make our way to our seats, which someone has already sat in because they thought it was empty.  So he has to move himself and all of his stuff to his real seat.  Sorry sir, but we need to sit together unless you would like to care for one of my kids.

I am going to try to shorten this up by saying the flight was crazy.  Neither of the big boys slept and Ryder only slept for maybe a total of 30 minutes.  We got to San Francisco and what was supposed to be a 4-hour layover turned into a 5 1/2 layover.  Brady had a huge blow out in his diaper and I had no extra pants for him so he was running around in just a diaper until our sweet new friend, Carrie, fashioned him a pair of pants out of a sweatshirt!  Yes, you heard me right.  You will have to look at the picture to believe me!  Her and her family were amazing!   Seriously, we could not have made it without them.  At any given time Carrie was holding something of ours (Parker, Ryder or the carseat), one of her sweet girls was keeping Brady entertained, and her mom was walking with Ryder and singing to him.  I love these people!

Poor little Parker looks like a zombie here.

This layover felt like it would never end.  At one point there was talk of canceling our flight because we didn't have an airplane!  I think it was about 9:30 when we finally boarded the plane.  Please keep in mind, none of my kids have slept.  They usually take a good 2-3 hour nap and then are in bed by 7:00!  It is currently 9:30...you get the picture, right?  Let's just say the last leg of the flight was the worst.

We finally landed in Portland and I was so excited to be back in a good airport!  We said goodbye to our wonderful friends and headed out to try to find our ride home.  Don't stop reading here...this is where it gets even more eventful!

Our nanny was supposed to get our Honda Pilot (with the 3 car seats in it) and meet us at the airport.  Her husband was going to follow so that she could go home with him because our car can only fit 2 adults with the 3 kids.  This was a much cheaper option that paying for parking for 7 nights.  And I was even happier that we went this route because it was so late and I would have  hated to have to take a shuttle out to long-term parking at this point.  But wait...I see her pull up in her little Kia.  I frantically look around for the Pilot.  Surely it must be somewhere.  Surely her husband has it...surely.  Nope.  Apparently she left the dome light on in in when she took us to the airport and the battery was obviously dead a week later.  So she pulls up in her little Kia.  She was wise enough to grab the car seats out of our car, but they don't fit well at all in hers.  (and I am a car seat safety fanatic).   So that is what I am stressing about.  But then we realize, there will be no room for all of us in there.  She sweetly says that she will ride in the back, the small hatchback.  Seriously, I would never make her curl up back there, there isn't even room for our luggage back there!

I start running through the baggage claim area looking for our new friends in hopes they could help us with transportation.  I can't find them anywhere.  Then I get a call from Jimmy, "get out here, Ryder is throwing up!"  I had put the boys in the car seats because they were crying and I had hoped that they would fall asleep while we tried to figure this out.  Well, Ryder was crying so hard that he projectile vomited all over the seat, the window and himself.  Lovely.  The other 2 boys are also screaming.  They are all so over-tired it is not even funny.  Poor little bunnies.

Then another little miracle happens.  Jimmy sees the family of one of his students.  This is a student who we both know because she went through my school before heading on to Jimmy's high school.  He also coaches her in track and the family is so nice.  So he awkwardly asks them if they can take him and our luggage home.  Yes, of course they will!!

As we are pulling out of the airport, all 3 boys are still crying so hard I am sure there is going to be another throw up.  I tell Gen "just drive!"  I am out of my seat leaning over holding their hands trying to comfort them.  It is about 1:00 AM.  Finally after about 5 minutes of driving they are all asleep.  We get home about 45 minutes later and unfortunately we have to wake them up again to get inside, change their diaper, get jammies on and into their cribs.  More crying.  We finally get them to bed and they are asleep by about 1:45 AM.

Phew!  I have never been so glad to be home.

This trip home was definitely crazy and hard.  But luckily we had great people helping us again.  We are truly blessed. Would I do this all again after so much craziness??

Look at these faces.  You tell me.

Parker looks so relaxed here, he actually looks like a typical kiddo!

Why, YES, I would!