After Christmas But Before New Year's Eve

Well I just realized the last time I posted anything was after our Thanksgiving trip to Disney World. I had every intention of posting during the month of December to try and get my blog back on track. But as you can see, that never happened.

After Thanksgiving became known as the "Big Let Down" for me. I kept comparing everything to Disney and nothing even came close. I was ready to pack up and go back but then there was school, then putting up the Christmas decorations, R2 had basketball games and oh lets not mention the laundry, the piles and piles of laundry. 

And before I knew it, it was Christmas. 2 weeks to relax and just hangout with my family. And that is exactly what I have done. I've slept till almost 8:30 everyday, which for the record never happens, and have snacked way to much. But I have enjoyed every single second of it. 

R1 has been busy with pre-baseball season activities and a few left over football team outings. Santa also brought him an electric guitar for Christmas. He's done very well for a beginner and I see some lessons in his future. 

R2 has been enjoying the great outdoors with his new remote control airplane that Paw-Paw gave him. Last year my dad bought him a remote control helicopter that he flew until either he crashed it and it broke or he flew it so much that it just died, I can't remember. But he had so much fun with it my dad bought him a new one. He has been outside everyday flying it and doing new tricks, like dives and spirals. I'm sure the neighbors didn't mind the few times it got stuck in their tree because I'm sure it's been very entertaining to watch him learn how to fly that plane. 

Now it's New Year's Eve eve and here I sit trying to figure out if we are going over to friends house for a big end of the year bash or if we are just calling it quits and stay home. I haven't left my house in three days and I'm starting to get a bit stir crazy. Maybe a trip to HEB will cure that for me. 

Y'all have a Happy New Year!

Disney 2014

Over the Thanksgiving break we went to Disney World. I do not know who was more excited, me or the boys. 

We have been planning this vacation for over a year and we booked this trip in February. All I can say is that's along time to wait for a vacation especially if you have kids that ask every day when are we going to Disney. 

Anyway we packed up the luggage and off into the friendly skies we flew. We landed in Florida on Monday and I don't ever remember stopping until we got back on the plane on Friday.

It was one of the best vacations we have ever been on. We all had a great time and we can't to go back. 

The opening of Magic Kingdom. I may have even gotten a bit teary eyed, don't judge.

Breakfast with Mickey.

R2 fighting Darth Vader. After this fight he officially became a Jedi.

 

Selfie with a green army man from Toy Story. This was my favorite ride besides Peter Pan.

It was truly magical! The perfect ending to our vacation.

 

HOCO, aka Homecoming, 2014

Well this past Saturday was our HOCO dance. The kids got all dressed up and went out to dinner and then attended a dance at the school. R1 was handsome and his date was beautiful. He was perfect gentleman and opened the door for her, pulled out her chair, paid for her dinner and then they had a blast dancing the night away and hanging out with their friends.

HOCO 2014 Pre Event

Back in the day it was just referred to as homecoming. Complete with big homecoming mums with ribbons and decorative strands of beads and bells on each strand of ribbon, lots of bells. Bells that would make a ton of noise as you walked down the hallways of school. Oh and lets not forget the glitter letters that spelled out your name, your dates name, the year, your school, and your mascot. 

Now days, it's just called HOCO. No mums and no noise. 

Since R1 is now in high school he gets to go the the homecoming dance. Meaning...he has to find a date for homecoming. 

Which he did. (I'm still in denial)

So he asked his date, which I found out two days ago he asked to be his girlfriend, (Yep, still in denial) If she wanted a HOCO mum or flowers and where she wanted to go take pictures and eat dinner before the dance. 
 
And the HOCO gods were shining down on me because she didn't want a mum thus saving me a ton of money in therapy because I wouldn't be able to make a decision on which mum she would like best.  And she said she really didn't want flowers. To which I told R1 there will be flowers and a wrist corsage. And he agreed. 

So now the plans are being made for pictures, dinner, and attending the dance. 

All I can say is R1 is learning early how to make a woman happy. When I asked him what did he want to do for all of the festivities his reply...whatever she wants to do mom is fine with me. Stellar moment right there.

Oh and yes we have gone over the proper etiquette of telling her how pretty she looks, opening the door for her, pulling out her chair and even ordering for her. And in the middle of all of this, he replies that he remembers all of this from second grade when his teacher gave them all a mini lesson on etiquette.

I'm so proud of him. 

2977

September 11, 2001. 

2977 people lost their lives and families were changed forever.

I have not forgotten. We must never forget.

I'm The Co-Pilot

Ummm, this happened yesterday.

And yes we both survived.

First Day 2014

Technically our first day of school was last week. I did remember to take the picture, I even posted it on Facebook, but I never blogged about. FAIL!

R1 is a freshman in high school. I can't believe that I have a child in highschool. Where has the time gone? I swear it feels like I just walked him down the kindergarten hallway and into Mrs. D's classroom.

R2 is a 4th grader. Not feeling that time has gone by yet as he is still at the elementary school but when I look back at pictures from kindergarten or first grade he looks like such a baby.

Shake It Off

This made me laugh out loud.

Oh and yes for the record, this 40 something year old likes the new Taylor Swift song.

Birthdays, baseball, and Summer

Well I didn't really intend on taking such a long break. I looked back to when my last blog post was and it kinda shocked me to see June 4th. And while in my head it sounds like I have a lot to blog about when I go to type it out, it doesn't amount to a whole bunch. It's like the days have been on repeat. Which I think is a good thing, it means we have been enjoying our summer.

We've been enjoying our summer so much I totally forgot to post about R1's and Hubs' birthday.


R1 turned 14 in July. We took him out to dinner and then kicked off his birthday week with a few baseball games. As I took R1 to a FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) bible study this week. It dawned on my that in two weeks he will be a freshman in high school. He will play his first high school football game this Friday and it wasn't that long ago we were walking into the elementary school for his first day of kindergarten. SIGH! I love this child with all of my heart. He has made me laugh out loud, so mad I could string him up by his ears, yet so proud by some of his actions my heart could burst with pride. He is an amazing kid! Happy late birthday R1!

 

 

Hubs also turned 40. Yep the big 4-0! We took him out to dinner as well. And I let him off the hook the week before and the week of by cooking most of the meals. I can assure you this won't continue. I'm not a bad cook but who am I to mess with a good thing when your husband is a fabulous one. Hubs' parents, sister, brother in law, and our niece joined us for dinner. My mother in law brought to the restaurant a birthday cake that was yummy! I would like to tell you that we had it the next day however there were two boys who left the cake in the back of my car.  I also didn't realize it until the next day at noon when Hubs called to tell me. All I can say is the coolwhip icing melted right off the cake and right into the seats of my new car. But that is another post for another day. Happy late 40th birthday Hubs!

 

Happy 40th Hubs!

 

Other than the birthdays, we have been playing summer ball. R1 played in the Summer Freshman baseball league this year. He did great and will hopefully make the team when they have tryouts later in the year, so please keep him in your prayers.

R2 has been reading every day much to his disliking. We have really only slacked off these past two weeks. This summer the boys have attended various campus which kept them busy. R2 even went to watch wrestling with my dad. They saw the WWE Monday Night Raw. Lord help me! I'm still trying to figure out where this love of wrestling came from since neither Hubs nor I watch it. But R2 had a great time with his Paw-Paw and that's all that really matters to me.

We are in the middle of getting ready to go back to school. All four of us start back on August 25th. Supplies have been purchased, clothes have been bought too. The only thing we really need is shoes. But last weekend was Tax Free weekend here in the great state of Texas which roughly translates to stay away from the Mall, any other clothing store, and Target. I tried twice a few years ago to shop on Tax Free Weekend but after fighting the crowds that resembled something close to Christmas time shopping, I decided that saving $8.00 per every $100.00 I spent didn't appeal to me. So this is the main reason we still have shoes to buy. But other than that we are ready. I think.

I would like to say we had multiple outrageous adventures but the truth is we didn't. We just really stayed home and hung around town. The kids seemed to have activities they needed to be at everyday or close to everyday so that kept us or should I say Hubs busy. But we do have a vacation planned for the near future. We've had it planned (and paid for) since February. It's been so hard waiting for the time to come. I don't know who is more excited, me or the kids.

So since I'm sure I probably won't blog for another month, Peace out!



It's all just a blur

Hello. Yes I realize the last time I blogged was in March. But I think things might be finally starting to calm down a bit that I might be able to get back into this, but I doubt it. Since it's been months and way to much has happened, I'll just start randomly listing things that have been happening around here. I can tell you the past 14 days have been CrAzY NuTs.

R2 had an awesome baseball season.He played third base this year and he killed it! Nothing ever got by him and he made some amazing outs playing this position. He had several assists and his hitting average was great too. My favorite play of the season was his unassisted double play. He caught the ball in the air between third and short and then tagged the runner before he had a chance to tag back up. It was FABULOUS!.

He also passed the STARR test, better known as the stupid standardized testing that the state mandates. I hate this freakin' test for way to many reasons to list here, it could be a post all it's own. But R2 passed and anyone that knows his struggle with dyslexia, this is a huge accomplishment for him. I am so proud of him. So it's on to the next grade. 

R1 is still playing regular season baseball but will begin playing summer ball for the high school. Yep, I said high school. He graduated from 8th grade this year. EEKK!!! I have a child in high school. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this. I've been having high school anxiety for the past week and we just started summer. Oh Lord please help me. Anyway, he's been playing catcher, third base, pitcher, and outfield. Lets just say he's been all over, but mostly he's played catcher. And he's great at it. My favorite play for him this year was he threw a runner out at second. He came up after catching the ball and fired it right at the second baseman. It was AWESOME!

R1 also will be starting summer workouts for football and in August will begin two a day practices. (Another reason for my anxiety) Southeast Texas means 127 degree weather beginning in June and by August it becomes unbearable. But he's really excited, so I'm trying to be excited for him and not let him see the crazy twitching that has begun in my neck because of this. 

I finished the Spring semester with two A's. Why I ever thought taking Philosophy and Statistics in the same semester was a good idea I will never know. I thought I was going to loose my mind at one point. I didn't even think the Blue Bell ice cream would helped. But it's over and done with now and I never ever have to take those dang classes again. I took my last final on Mother's Day and then promptly downloaded three books that I wanted to read and not what I was required to read. I can honestly say I'm on book 5 and I have no intention of stopping till school starts up in August. I have a lot of time to make up for.

I watched a long time friend say good bye to her mother last week. Her mother had cancer for the past eight years of that she was on chemo treatments for six. Her mother was her best friend and it was very difficult process to watch as she and her husband, and their daughters went down this path. I pray God continues to give them peace. 

The BFF's daughter graduated from high school last Friday. What a bittersweet time it was. I have watcher this child grow for the past seven years and have loved her like she is my own. I was so proud of her and high school accomplishment of salutatorian! Her speech brought our entire row to tears. So in a few short months she will be off to college. Insert BIG SIGH!

The BFF's son is on mission work this summer in Georgia. He's been put outside of his comfort zone more than once but I know with God he will continue to grow and this will be a great experience for him.

We have a few fun things planned for summer but other than I'm hoping it's kind of a low key summer. We have a big vacation planned in a few months. And all I can say about it is that it has something to with a mouse and an amusement park. WHOOP! I'm so excited I can hardly wait. 

So now that I'm finally able to breath and things have slowed down just a bit, I might be able to find my way back to blogging. I really miss it and I enjoyed having a place to put my thoughts down. 

Y'all have a great summer and I just might see you soon!

Hi, Hello, How's It Going

Hi there. I'm RRMAMA and I used to blog here. I was very consistent about blogging when I first started. And I even managed to keep it up over the years. However I have become consistently inconsistent since I decided I wanted to go back to school.

Yep, me a college student again. So something had to give with all the homework that needed to be done, and you guessed it, blogging was the victim.

Oh don't get me wrong, I still love to write and put my thoughts down here but with working and running a household and all of the boys activities and then my school work, it just became increasing difficult. So as you can see it's been a month since I last wrote. A ton of stuff has been going on too. When something happens I think that will make a great blog post but that's as far as it goes.

But as of right now I manage to complete my dreaded Philosophy class that I absolutely hated right down to the very end. I even shocked myself when I realized I completed the course with an A. GO ME!

Then Spring Break happened and I just needed some down time from reading and writing. And now my next class has started, Statistics, good Lord help me. I have no idea what I was thinking taking those two classes in the same semester.

But the most exciting thing going on right now is, IT'S BASEBALL SEASON! Yes it's my favorite time of the year and the boys have been practicing for weeks and R2 has already started his season, R1 has opening day on Saturday.

All is right with my world again now we are playing baseball. Now if I could just get through this Statistics class.

Marriage

I was reading an article on a blog the other day about marriage.

And this quote jumped off the page at me.

“Don’t look at someone else’s marriage and let it define yours.  The grass isn’t always greener on the other side and your marriage is as unique as your DNA.  What you do may not work for other people, but you’re not married to other people.  Make the choices and live the life that is right for the two of you and let go of your preconceived notions of what marriage is supposed to look like. Trust me, you’ll be so much happier that way.”

This statement could not be more true. It even brought me back to a time years ago when a friend judge my marriage. At the time Hubs was a coach and was gone a lot. And when I say a lot I mean Thursday nights, Friday nights, and Saturday mornings. She made the comment one night when we were all out eating dinner that she didn’t know how I did it with a child and my husband being gone so much and no help from him. She said she didn’t know how she would manage being by herself on the weekends.

At that point in our marriage, Hubs’ coaching wasn’t an issue, it worked for us. I didn’t mind him being gone. I looked at it as one on one time with my child. We had what I called date night on Friday nights. We would go to dinner and then to Toys R Us for him to pick out a treasure or two provided he behaved at dinner. Then as he got a little bit older, we would attend the games Hubs was coaching and more often than not our child was down on the field helping his daddy.

It worked like that for us for years. Then came along our second baby and Hubs and I talked about him retiring from coaching.

What I’m trying to say is marriage is work and it is constantly changing. You have to find what works best for the both of you. But with your hard work comes great big rewards and a happy life.

Put a fork in me I'm done

Hubs and I have been so busy the past two weeks we can't even see straight. Here is a list of things we have done beginning two Fridays ago and in no particular order:

Cook dinner snack and breakfast for 42 teenagers for Hot Hearts weekend. - Done
2 basketball games - Done
4 basketball practices -Done
2 baseball tryouts - Done
6 baseball practices - Done
2 baseball lessons - Done
3 trips to HEB - Done
Work day from 10am-3pm for children's department at church  - Done
Write a paper for my Philosophy class - Done
Take mid term for my Philosophy class (which I made a 93 on- GO ME!) - Done
One trip to the orthodontist - Done
And laundry just about every day - Done
As children's department director deal with the following:
      Budget expense issues - Done
      Moving two classes to a new location in another building - Done
      The ceiling collapsing in on one classroom due to a water leak - Done
      Revising our supervision plan due to a fight on the bus - Done

So as you see the past few days have been very busy but I have completed each task. And now that those tasks are done, so am I.

The Worst Winter Weather Night For Picking Up A New Car

I mentioned in my previous post that last Thursday, Hubs deemed that night the worst winter driving day ever. It also just happens to be the day I picked up my new car.

 

Let me start from the beginning.  Get ready, it’s looong.

Over Christmas break the starter went out in my car. My mechanic, who also happens to work at a Honda dealership, replaced the starter and made a comment about the number of miles on my car. He said that we still had some good miles left on it but that driving back and forth to work every day would begin to take it's toll. (I think it already has, hence having to replace the starter)

So with that information in hand on Martin Luther King Jr. day, we went car shopping. I had an idea of what I wanted. Hubs and I have owned three Honda’s in the course of our marriage. And I kind of wanted another one but I also kind of wanted to try something else. I know Honda’s are great cars and they last. Let me tell you they last. We currently still have two Honda’s and both have 150,000+ miles on them. And my mechanic can work on them at his cost whenever something needed to be done. And because we keep our cars F-O-R-E-V-E-R, I had to think of repairs down the road. Even with all that information, I still wanted something different.

I had my eyes and my heart set on a Nissan Rogue. I’ve had several friends that have owned Nissan’s for years and love them.

So Hubs and I set out to the Nissan dealerships in our area. I liked the features and body design, the 2013 body design. The new 2014 body style of the Nissan Rogue’s did not appeal to me. So it was with this in mind I began to wheel and deal with the sales guys. Yes I said guys. We went to two Nissan dealerships looking for the best price and I began to play them off of each other. I felt like a kid again trying to play my parents against one another to get what I wanted. (Which for the record is never a good thing as a child.)

So when I finally got the price I wanted from one of the dealerships I called my credit union to see about financing the new car. When they couldn’t get my interest rate where I wanted, my loan officer asked me if I had been to the other Nissan dealership in one of the neighboring cities. My reply was, “They have a Nissan over there???” She gave me their phone number and I immediately pulled up their website and began looking at what they had.

Now here is where it gets good. These next events all happened within 30 minutes.

I found the car I wanted and I called the sales guy. I told him to see if they still had the car on the website on their lot. He said he’d check and call me back. He called back in about five minutes and said yes. I said OK I want it and I want walk out price at this. He said walk out, and I repeated myself. He said OK let me check with my manager and I’ll call you back again. Ten minutes later he called back and said OK you’ve got it. Then I asked if they did financing because I didn’t like the interest rate my credit union had to offer. He said yes and I said OK I want my interest rate at this amount. He said OK, I’ll call you back. A few minutes later he calls back and said we got you the interest rate, even more we got you two points lower than you requested. I said OK now I want my monthly notes at this specific amount.  Again he said I’ll call you back. And when he did he said OK we’ve got your walk out, interest rate and monthly payments all set where you want them , now when are you coming to pick up your car.

That’s right I bought a car in 30 minutes! How’s that for wheeling and dealing?

So on the worst driving night of the year, rain, freezing temperatures, and sleet on the way, Hubs and I drove to pick up my new car. A 2013 Nissan Rogue-Special Edition.

 

Great Iceapocalypse of 2014

First let me say that we southerners are not used to this kinda of cold. We also do not have snow plows, deicing machines, snow tires or snow chains for tires. So all you northerners please remember to be kind. Because when it's 112 ° this summer and you are griping about how hot it is, we will kindly invite you into the A/C and serve you a glass of sweet tea. Bless your heart!

Last Friday most schools in our area were canceled due to impending inclement weather. Meaning we had an ice storm on our way. There was a 60% chance of rain and temperatures were expected to drop below freezing and stay there for two days. I can say that my school canceled classes and I was off, while Hubs and the boys had a two hour delay. Let's just say they weren't to happy that I got to stay home. But in my defense I had a paper to write because Thursday night, the worst night in winter weather according to Hubs, I went and picked up my new car. But that is another post of another day. The laundry fairy was also on vacation so I had a ton of laundry to do. So Friday when we woke up to major ice coverage and after I got the boys off to school, I had a productive day. Paper written and laundry completed.

And just when we thought our winter woes were over, there was another storm on the way. So Monday afternoon most schools began canceling classes. This time Hubs and the boys were out and so was I. Tuesday morning we woke up to what looked like snow but was ice. It actually sleeted all day off and on, and while the high never got above freezing we did stay nice and warm. At one point the boys began to get stir crazy and went outside to play basketball only to find the backboard was covered in ice. But that didn't stop them. They were bundled up playing basketball in 29° weather. 

Honestly the winter weather days are not good for me because what do you do when you are home bound, you cook. Hubs made roast with potatoes and carrots for dinner. I made blueberry muffins for breakfast and several other things through out the day. And guess what we were off again yesterday. You know what that means...more cooking.

Well we started to thaw out Wednesday afternoon and I'm sure that everything well be back to normal Thursday. Until Wednesday of next week where we just might get to do this all over again. 

So stay safe and stay warm! 

Happy 9th Birthday!

I can not believe this cute little boy turns nine years old today!

                                     

Where has the time gone? It's amazing how fast time flies by when you in right in the middle of things. Baseball, basketball, school, tutoring, homework, church, and just everyday stuff in general. 

I love this boy with all my heart. My life is so much richer because of him. He is funny, smart,energetic, hardworking, and loving. 

Happy 9th Birthday R2!

 

It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a parent

We all know there are several aspects of parenting that hard. For example when you child wants something and you tell them no and then they pitch a fit, when your child has a cold and there is nothing else you can do for them beside sit with them, or when another child is mean to yours and you have to explain the situation to your child. 

But never in my years of parenting (like they have been soooo many) have even thought I might have to tell my child that one of his teachers has passed away.  Just typing it makes me want to cry all over again. 

Long story short, because it's really to long but more over sad to recount, last week, one of R2's teachers passed away. It was his dyslexia teacher. He spends 45 minutes 5 days a week with her. She was a wonderful teacher and so patient with him and all of her students. But more than that she was a wonderful person, wife, mother, and friend. 

The Monday back from Christmas break she had some health issues and because of those we began to talk with R2 then because her death might result from these issues. So Hubs and I thought it was best to keep informed of certain things. I'm really glad we did because when the news came of her death, he already some idea of her condition and while it was still a shock it wasn't a complete blow to him. 

We talked about it and answered any and all questions he had. 

But what surprised me the most his response after we told him. He just said, mom, I know she's in heaven and I'm going to see her again one day. Oh the wisdom of an eight year old child. 

Stephanie, thank you for loving my child. Thank you for teaching him and helping him to overcome his dyslexia. Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher and friend. There will never be another one like you. You will be missed.

Festival of Lights

I know it's a little late but I never did blog about our day after Christmas adventure. 

For a few years I've been wanting to go to Galveston to go see the Festival of Lights but for one reason or another it has never worked out. So this year I made a point of telling Hubs early in December that during our Christmas break I wanted to go see the lights. He said OK just say when and we would go. So Christmas Eve we were sitting around and I said how about tomorrow we head to Galveston. 

And so we did. We actually made a late afternoon evening of it. We went and ate at Fish Tales. And while the food was good, the prices were not. It was bit expensive for the portions that were even. 

Then we headed over to Moody Gardens for the Festival of Lights. They also have a sled hill for the kids to go down and an ice rink for skating as well. Hubs and I left the skating up to the boys because at this age I think I would be prone to breaking a hip. The boys had a good time but they really enjoyed the sledding. They went like 15 times each. 

Then we finally walked through the entire grounds to see the lights. It was awesome. Huge toy soldiers, angels, butterflies, elves, and my favorite part, the story of the birth of Jesus. All of it in lights. 

 

B-B-B-Buurrrrrrr, It's Cold

Yep, the weatherman was correct, it's cold. Oh I'm not complaining. I'm actually loving it. I don't think the temperature got above 34 all day. My cousin in New York even sent me a text message that said, "How crazy is it that the temps here and there right now are so close?" 

In the morning the temperature will be 19. I can honestly say that I'm glad I will be driving to work with heated seats. 

 
However by the end of the week we will be back to higher temps. 68, really? It's no wonder everyone around here is sick. 

Dear Mother Nature, please either leave the thermostat turned to Antarctica or make up your mind! 

Thank you.

Sunday Night Blues

By the time you are reading this it will be Monday, but right now it's Sunday night and I have a case of the Sunday night blues. 

What I mean by that is I really don't want to go back to school tomorrow. I have thoroughly enjoyed my Christmas break with my family. Staying up way too late, sleeping even later, doing what ever we felt like when ever we felt like. 

And not to mention that in the morning it will be in the twenties. That's right in the twenties. Now don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, I love the cold. I would take the cold any day over the normal 120 ° weather we have in the summer. See I look at it this way, you can always layer up but you can only strip down so far. (Well let me clarify that, I will only strip down so far)

I think we will be all be in a bit of shock when the alarm clock goes off tomorrow morning. So if you don't mind, I am going to enjoy the last few hours of doing nothing by snuggling up with my family and just watching tv. 

Cough Gasp Choke

Well here it is only the second day into the new year and I'm sick. I've actually been sick since before New Year's Eve. Since it seems the flu has been running wild around here I decided not play around even though I didn't have a fever and go to the doctor. Good thing I did because I found out I had an upper respiratory infection and it would have turned into bronchitis. 

So one co-pay and three prescriptions later I left the doctors office and headed straight for HEB. Because one, I needed my meds, and two, were out of things like milk, cereal, and York Peppermint Patties. Don't judge. 

And an hour later several hundred dollars poorer I left my beloved HEB and went home and got straight on the couch and took a two hour nap. 

I seriously I have done a lot of napping during this Christmas break. So much so that even Hubs said something. I hardly ever just sit and do nothing, so he knew I didn't feel good. I hope I can function next week when we all go back to school. 

I hope each of you have a safe and wonderful new year filled with love, family, and friends. 

I'm off to take another dose of cough syrup that will probably knock me out until at least Valentines Day. 

Happy New Year

We rang in the new year with lots of friends, food, and fun. And you know it's never a party until someone loses and eye, well not and eye but almost a hand. 

 We were outside for our first round of fireworks and a friend of ours,Greg, decided he wanted to light up a Roman Candle. So he breaks open a brand new package and walks to the end of the drive way and lights it up. 

The ladies were sitting in chairs by the porch watching the kids and the men produce a display that would have us Ooohhing and Awing for a while. So Greg lights up the Roman Candle and we all watch the first blast go out the front and then the second blast comes out the back and then the thing just exploded in his hand. On the good side he still had all of his fingers intact and we didn't have to rush him off the to the hospital. One the bad side he hand began to swell and he said it felt like his hand was on pins and needles and he couldn't move it. 

Also just so happened that the house were celebrating at belonged to not one but two physician assistants so they had some Silvadene cream. For those of you that don't know, this is a cream that is specifically for severe burns. So they packed that stuff on his hand and wrapped it in a cloth with ice and then gave him a shot of Whiskey. Just kidding he didn't want the shot of Whiskey but he did take a couple of Advil. Needless to say Grey did not participate in midnight fireworks display. And eventually the swelling began to go down and he could move his fingers. And you could see right where the blasted firework exploded in his hand. (No pun intended)

The rest of the night was uneventful as we continued to eat more food than we should have, played a couple of rounds of Telestrations. Which if you've never played I highly recommend it. It's the telephone game we used to play in elementary school with a Pictionary twist. Because how else would you get horse pie out of goat cheese. 

Anyway we all managed to make it to midnight to have the celebratory kiss and champagne toast. And some where around 1:15 my little family said our thank you's and loaded up into the car and went home. Where we proceeded to stay awake till 2AM.

I hope each of you had a safe and fun Happy New Year! Here's to a blessed a 2014!