eternally chaotic

Christmas this year introduced a new member to our family named Red.  And NO to those of you thinking the unthinkable – the family head count remains at a solid seven, including the dog.  This little persons name, after much enthusiastically and somewhat fanatical debate among existing family members was determined to be “Red”.  Red the Christmas Elf.  He would only be around for a few weeks out of the year, didn’t eat much and pretty much remained stationary throughout the day – at some point during the day, when our eyes were cast elsewhere, he would just vanish until the next morning.  Red had some specific rules about being touched or bothered as well – certainly the kids were to strictly forbidden to touch him and to leave him alone lest he lose his observational and somewhat magical powers granted by the spirit that is Christmas.  Red’s job was to cast a watchful eye upon his family, take score of the good versus bad and report back to some higher power a recommendation as to which list each household member might befit.  Somehow during his strictly “observational” process he would always find a way to cause mischief and leave a mess.

Two nights before Christmas however, Red left something additional in each of the stockings of the Children of the Corn.  A gold dipped envelope containing a silver inked letter from The Man himself.  Now was the time of reckoning.  The time of knowing.  Was it the good list or the bad.  What did Santa think?  What did he know?  When we opened our weary eyes the next morning would they sparkle and shine from majestic reflection of silver and gold or be dim from broken hope and disappointment.

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The kids are back in school, summer is at its height and the daily scheduled grind has taken hold.  Thank goodness for the break brought by Labor Day.  We had not ambitious plans and wanted nothing other than to spend some time with the kids and enjoy our time off.  There was plenty to do however that we talked about through the summer but just couldn’t fit in so we planned to take full advantage of our few days of free time and get in some activities with the CoTC.  Specifically we wanted to see the DragonCon Parade, Atlanta Aquarium and Stone Mountain Laser Show.

DragonCon was back in town and while I would have preferred to have purchased tickets and gone sightseeing at the actual show, it was cost prohibitive to take all the kids – even if the cost was right there was no way I was taking them to wait for tickets in the six hour line that literally wrapped around the block.  The parade was a good second and something I had never seen as well.  The kids loved it.  We found a nice spot to watch above the road and behind some glass that we were able to squeeze in to – certainly better than being at ground level with four munchkins that couldn’t see over a shrubbery.  The costumes were pretty awesome and all of us had our favorites.  Jacob took the only pictures with his camera and the rest of us just soaked it in.

Next up was a walk to the Atlanta Aquarium.  We had been planning to take the kids here all summer but just couldn’t find the time to do it.  Labor Day probably wasn’t the wisest choice in timing though as it was packed wall to wall with people.  Crazy.  Oh well, tickets had been purchased already online so at the very least we were able to bypass the ridiculously long entry line and head straight in.  Having been many times in the past we were hoping to see some of the new exhibits that had been added such as the dolphins but they were not open unless you purchased another ticket specifically to view them.  We instead took our time strolling from room to room and soaking up the sites.  Many times just sitting in front of a particular wall and watching everything swim around.  We managed to time our trip to the main viewing room of the large tank in time for the feeding of the massive whale sharks.  The biologist would drop buckets of krill onto the surface and the whales would basically inhale massive amounts of water and filter it through their gills each eating twenty pounds or so of these obviously delicious morsels per bite.

We did not end up going to Stone Mountain as it started raining early in the evening.  With the laser light show changing this year to something new and supposedly now in a type of 3-D where it looks like they are inside of the mountain we were bummed and will hopefully get to check it out before the season ends.

All in all a great weekend with the family.  Lots of time away from the house but also plenty of time at home to just take it easy and chill.

The South: The heat and humidity can become annoyingly unbearable in the summer, temperatures rising way over 100 degrees.  To stay cool and enjoy our summer vacation we have decided to spend lots of much needed time in the cold refreshing waters.  Mommies and Daddies get to relax and kiddos are able to release wild energies that are built up and have a blast in the process.

It was very entertaining to watch the boy’s play with Jacob’s new flippers.  Isaac spent most of the day using them as paddles on his hands while riding his tube.  Jacob tried them for a short period and decided today wasn’t the day to learn (water guns were way more exciting).  Israel or should I say “Scuba Steve”, (lol) swam around the pool like a wild shark amusing us girls (Piper, Violet & I)

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We couldn’t be there to tell you in person but we wanted to make sure that you got the message.  Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa.  There aren’t any good songs for an anniversary like there are for birthdays so we took the easy route.  All the munchkins send their love and wish you the best on your special day.

We took two videos.  Piper was upset at the end of the first because she didn’t get to blow out the candles.  After she calmed down we took another for fun.  Enjoy!!!

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Upon request the now 6 year old princess Piper wanted to celebrate her special day with a Breakfast Brunch for family and friend.  Pancakes were a must, and as we have learned they are a large part of every up and coming princess’ diet.  The pancakes as were liberal helpings of syrup, scrambled eggs, bacon, yogurt and fruit.  A morning feast if you ask the cook.  There was even an option to build your very own BLTs, complete with bread and mayo for those party goers so inclined.

After breakfast was consumed and we all had full bellies it was time to make things official.  Once we stopped singing Piper made her wish and tried and tried to blow out the candles.  Must have been some wish….

She didn’t want to waste any time getting to the gifts (and a few of her guests had to leave early) so we skipped the cake and headed for the treasure.  Plus I think everyone’s bellies were still full from pancakes and BLTs.  She had been telling everyone that all she wanted for her birthday was Pet Shop, My Little Pony and Zu-Zu Pet toys.  Well they certainly listened and delivered and Piper was overly excited and thankful.  After each gift she ran across the room and gave hugs and kisses and thank yous to everyone.  Another thing that she had been asking for was “girlie” games for her Game Boy or one of the other game systems around the house.  Most of what we have (and most of what is out there) is focused either on some generic market or boys – well she wanted girl stuff.  ”Uncle” John delivered along with Carol and I at helping with this fix.  In particular Carol found a copy of a My Little Pony game for the Game Boy, something she had been asking for over and over for the past few months.

Auntie Autumn picked up a hula-hoop as part of her gift.  Piper wasn’t really sure what she was supposed to do with it so Autumn decided to demonstrate for her.  Piper still didn’t give it a go but it was certainly worth the entertainment.

The best part though was when Piper received a Justin Bieber book.  I didn’t even think she knew who he was, let alone cared.  Wow!  Can a dad be wrong or totally oblivious.  Piper turned into a pile of mushy fawning pre-adolescence girl, going on thirteen….I’m not sure I am ready for all that.

Happy Birthday Piper!!!

It only took most of the summer, all of the fall and the early part of winter but we finally made it out to meet the newest member of the family, Hunter Brian Scheckles. Best of all we got to do this over Thanksgiving and were able to see not only Hunter but also Dad and Mom…oh yeah and those other three people as well.  

The trip over from Atlanta to the middle of nowhere was much quicker than expected once we were well out of Atlanta (the leaving Atlanta part took two of the ten hours to travel the required 600 miles).  Carol loaded up my new shiny work laptop as well as our family one (not so shiny or new) and a pile of movies.  She put the movies in and played the sound over the car speakers and until dark I think for the most part I kept my eyes mostly on the road – after dark I am not so sure but we did arrive unscathed.  I did get to see the majority of one of our favorite movies, Phantom of the Opera as well as some of the Love Actually and Avatar.  We had just started National Lampoons Christmas Vacation when we pulled up.

Hunter was adorable to see.  He was still tiny and little but cute and full of coos and slobber.  We got to see him play a bit, mainly by eating his hands or a few different toys, roll over, which we heard was something new, and generally be happy – all the things babies do that are cute…and the absolute best part – well other than getting to see the happiness that Hunter has brought to Brian and Kim –  was being on the visiting end instead of the mommy or daddy end…sorry Sis but it was great to sit back and let you take care of feeding and diapers and all that other “fun” stuff that comes along with the cuteness..especially the morning parts where we got to sleep in…I should stop now while I am ahead.

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Fall and Halloween are now a touch behind us but I still wanted to share a few moments we had together at Jaemore Farms in Alto, GA in early October.  It was a perfect day for picking up pumpkins, taking a hay ride, playing some festival games and generally enjoying the perfect weather.  The games were pretty cool.  Our favorite two were the Apple Sling Shot where Isaac made a bullseye and won a free pumpkin (that got to be my pumpkin) and the duck race where you had to pump a well handle to make the water flow as fast as you could so that your duck would get to the big pond on the other side the fastest – the CoTC loved this and did not want to leave.

It is rare to get snow in Georgia, or well normally it is, but the past few years we have received at least a little, normally after the turn of the new year when winter is in full swing.  This year however we were surprised that the weathermen were actually right for once when it started snowing on Christmas Day.  It didn’t take long before the temperatures plummeted and massive snow flakes started to stick and accumulate.  It was a wet snow to start with, wet enough that Dad and I were able to chase off Autumn, pummeling her with snowball after snowball when she had to leave Christmas night – I guess next time she will stick around

The day after however much of the wetness had dried up and all that was left was a nice power – little icy for skiing but nice nonetheless.  The CoTC could take it no longer though and wrapped themselves in layer upon layer to head out into the arctic cold.  Great times ensued !!!

It was great to have snow and even better to have it on Christmas Day.

Many weeks have passed since Uno was attacked and chewed up. He is now without bandages and stitches, done with the daily vet visits, sporting a slight limp that should go away in the weeks to come and mostly back to his old self chasing anything that moves in the back yard.

The owner of the other dog was never located. The vet tried many times but was never able to make contact. He provided an incorrect name, address and phone number. They found him once on Facebook but he deleted his account after they made contact. After a month of trying to do the right thing and get the dog back to its owner, a requirement in our county to receive assistance from the local animal authorities, the decision was made to have the other dog euthanized. Sadly, and probably avoidably, had the mutt had a proper and responsible owner, it was put to sleep last week by the county.

In all the animal hospital took exceptional care of Uno. They worked around our schedule to see him daily for bandage changes and stitch maintenance. Unfortunately they will have to eat a $3,000 bill for surgery and medications.

Thankfully Uno has recovered well and is no worse for the wear. He even has the cool scars to show off to the ladies – granted he is missing all the other bits to seal the deal at least he can strut his stuff and look cool.

A much anticipated trip to the fair today.  One of my favorite events to look forward to each year growing up.  Granted the fairs in Franklin were a little more focused on 4-H, but there was still fun to be found (and had).  We have been talking about this trip with the kids for the past few weeks and they were all very excited about getting to ride the rides and play games (even Carol but I think she was interested in the naughty food….).  Earlier in the day we took them to the grocery store along with three jars of change we have been collecting all year long – this was our spending money for any and all the goodies the fair could offer – plus it was a good way to show them that saving could add up over time.  Before cashing in the coins we all took turns guessing how much we had.  I asked them to pick a number from one to one hundred – while we were watching the coins drop in and the total go up we had to stop and make new guesses (much to our surprise).  In the end we turned three jars of change into $172.02 (woo-hoo !!!)  and the kids were able to see the coins turned into bills (what is it about $20 bills that even kids find appealing).

Once we arrived the fair was happy to relieve us of much of our hard earned loot.  Tickets run about one dollar each and each ride takes between three and six tickets OR you can purchase a stamp for twenty-five bucks that covers all the rides, kiddie and adult.  We opted for the stamps for the kids and a few extra tickets in case we needed to ride with one of them – seemed like a good deal and the kids certainly took advantage of it by riding everything thing they could, sometimes a few times over.

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