Day ….I dont know what day it is!

The kids slept so great the first night out of exhaustion. Paul we even put in a portacrib. He is the same length as the thing but he slept anyhow. Last night I was not as fortunate. The pic of him in the portacrib is funny, but it’s on my camera which I can’t upload now. Later.

Basically, the two kids finally kicked me out of a full sized bed. I gave up at 6 am and went to watch tv.
Spent the later part of the day with evelyn and Paul and Martys aunt Johnnye it as fun and exhausting. Then, a cousin of Martys called so we hooked up with her for the afternoon. Evelyn played dress up with her!

Long day. Paul is cuddled up with the Cars movie and his grandpa. Evelyn is talking my ear off!

Made it

We made it in 11 hours. Well, that was according to car running time! We had some stops. Like breakfast at Cracker Barrel where Paul had an absolute meltdown (which simply involves rolling on the floor screaming) because he didn’t want to wear shoes.

This is my first post from iPhone and I don’t know how/where photos appear on post, but I will include.

We just drove and the kids played, watched movies and slept. Evelyn got a new dry erase board where she practiced writing her letters and drawing.

Picture of them at the Alabama visitors center.

There’s also a pic of Paul eating his baseball cookie which he loved to lick and say “mmmmmm”

Vacation time!

I am at T minus 2.5 hours until I hit 5:00 and am officially on vacation. I have taken a week off! We have a wedding in Birmingham next Saturday and Evelyn is a flower girl. So we will be going there. Marty’s dad flew in last night to drive with us. He planned to keep Paul because Evelyn wanted to go to school for her bowling field trip, and then he said he would pick her up when she was done. But she passed on that so she could be with PawPaw. It’s funny to see how much both of those kids take to him. The last time they saw him was December and yet they just pick up right where they left off. I can’t wait to get home and hear of their adventures today! I bet Paw Paw is T-I-R-E-D!

The Bride, Jessica, wants the flower girls to curl their hair, which I am thrilled about because I have wanted to play with Evelyn’s hair for a long time! One morning this week, she let me use hot rollers. Took them out, NOTHING! Last night we used these night time rollers, kind of like sponge rollers; put them in when your hair is wet. This morning, slight wave. Beautiful long hair, thick, shiny…..too heavy. Ahhhhh…..so, I think she will let me use the curling iron, but she burned her arm on it once and has never gone near it again. Stay tuned during the week for pictures!

Anyone out there with thick heavy hair that can make me a recommendation???

Other than that, talk to you later. I am (almost) on vacation!

Sweet Home Alabama…..

Months ago Marty approached me with the question “Would you go see Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kid Rock with me?” Well my initial reaction, without a pause was “No.”

Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd, August 9

But I decided to be the good wife and accompany my husband, because I know that I will want to see a productions (i.e.: musical) one day and I will want him to go with me. So I agreed. I really had been dreading it, but secretly was looking forward to just a night out, so I accepted it. However, my mind was a bit skewed when I pictured what would be at this event. I was thinking more “hard rock” people. But in the parking lot, Marty said “there are going to be some redneck …..people here.” And it clicked what I was walking into!

The sitter arrived and we took off. We started a lovely evening at PF Changs for dinner. If you haven’t been, it’s really very good Chinese food. It has a cheaper division, Pei Wei.

Anyhow, after that it was off to the event. Wow…..that’s about it. Not really, there’s more. The show was sold out! On the lawn, where our “seats” were, you could barely find an empty square foot to accommodate us! We spent the first hour hanging on the lower platform watching folks in line get beer, buy tshirts, etc. I said “wonder if I’ll see anyone here I know?” (joking of course) and it was followed by “Hey, there’s Kathy.” I turned around and sure enough, my friend Kathy, who cuts Paul’s hair was at the top of the stairs!!

The 24 oz. beers were, for domestic, $9.50 a pop. Holy cow. And the last time I went to a concert at the Woodlands, show shirts were selling for about $20. These range from $35-50. And the lines were incredible.

But let’s move on to the people watching. There’s really not much at all I can say to describe it that would mean anything. It’s one of those “you have to see it for yourself” situations. But I would like to share these photos with you.

Focus not on Marty....

Please do not focus on Marty in this photo as he is not the intended object. This man danced for a good 30 minutes on the stairs in his self-made jeans. Yes, that is a huge eagle patch on his rump.

While we waited, I wanted to take a self-photo. Marty obliged.

That's us at Kid Rock.

Next, while standing in line to spend another $19.98 on MillerLite, we were fortunate enough to take this photo. However, we had many opportunities for photos such as this. Apparently this was a very popular outfit that evening. Again, focus not on Marty in the photo.

Popular Outfit when going to Rock & Rebel Tour

We noticed that is was popular as well to half unzip your shorts and tuck them in forming a V-shape on the lower half. Not sure? This shirt made me laugh and I had no problem asking him to pose with me.

No Beat

As this gentleman explained it to me, he is a drummer in a band so the shirt actually has meaning. Ok.

Unfortunately, the photos I took later on didn’t turn out because my iPhone does not photograph well in the dark. There was a favorite of mine, also, where two young men stopped and posed with me, both wearing their beer can made cowboy hats. Yes, their cowboy hats were beer cans sewn together. And as I started to pay more attention, these hats were also a popular fashion at the concert.

As it turns out, I loved the show. Kid Rock played more songs that I knew than didn’t know, so that was a nice surprise. He performs well and is a good entertainer. I would go again. And, Sheryl Crow even stopped in to sing a duet with him . I figured we were fortunate to have that. She is here in town for a concert later this week, so that worked out nice. This was the second night of the Rock & Rebel tour. It opened in Oklahoma City on August 8.

But I will admit that I really had a great time.

Bernie Mac????

I am so sad about Bernie Mac. That’s a funny man. Goes to show you that you can’t just let a cough linger or a cold go on and on and on….just get to the doctor and check it out.

Potty in Space…

On my last post, I created a list of events happening suggestions to help Sherri with her baby book. Ironically enough, the potty in space thing turns out to be more personal than I would have ever thought! Our friend Lisa and her husband are living and working in Russia.

Her husband was the man…the one….the potty repair delivering man, who is responsible for getting the part to Kennedy Space Center before the shuttle took off in order to repair the toilet on the space station. On time.

Read about their adventures here.

In addition, Sherri and Brad are home with their two girls now.

Happy BIRTH Day, August 4, 2008

Happy Birth Day to Kaylin Michelle.

Kaylin

And congratulations to the proud family, Sherri, Brad and big sister Addie

The New Bogan Family

Sherri checked in to be induced Monday morning. Her due date was Aug. 2, so I guess Kaylin was pretty comfortable. She was born just right around noon, although I don’t know the exact time; I forgot to ask. She is 7 lbs. 14 ozs and beautiful. Brads chin and smile. Sherri’s dimples and fingers. 10 cute fingers and 10 adorable toes. Addie is VERY proud; didn’t want to stop holding her. But she did in order to be mischievous with the hospital equipment!

Big Sister

Here’s a few photos of the older cousins welcoming their newest girl to the family (Jack and Paul will just have to hold their own amongst these girls! Shouldn’t be a problem!)

Evelyn and Kaylin

Hallie and Kaylin

In order to help Sherri with that section of the Baby Book, please help me compile her “On the Day you Were Born.” Add things to the comments section that might be noted in her book!

On the Day You Were Born Kaylin:

Tropical Storm Edouard was brewing in the gulf

THe New Kids on the Block made a comeback this year

It’s an Election Year, Obama vs. McCain 2008

The Iraqui War was in progress

Price of a gallon of gas $3.72 average

Price of a gallon of milk $3.29

Price of a postage stamp: $0.42

It is an Olympic year, Summer Olympics, Beijing start 08/08/08

The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs

The Space Station made the news; the toilet was fixed on the day you were born!

THe first photographs of “Brangelina” twins were posted on the internet Aug 4

The tenth annual Teen Choice Awards were on TV and the Jonas Brothers swept up the house!

WHAT ELSE????

PS: No harm from Edouard. We have light rain and an occasional wind.

Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Julie (7/26)

What I thought about and dreaded all week turned out to be a ceremonious, if not humorous, day, for lack of better words. I think if I had gone to the cemetery alone I would have bawled my eyes out, however, when you get the Koch clan together, there’s too much chaos and laughter. No doubt Julie loved loved loved her celebration. Let’s recap. And let’s start with this very descriptive photo to set the mood:

The players: Brendan, Hallie, Jack, Kendall, Nana, Poppa, The Jacksons (that’s us!), Debbie Dodds, Joe and Jac.

That says it all, but I will type much more. The kids spent the week in Galveston with Nana and Poppa. they took the kids to each pick a balloon to put on their mothers grave (still sounds weird) for her birthday. Hallie chose a princess balloon, Jack a sports theme and Kendall the smiley face. So where does the dolphin come into play? Jack’s balloon slipped out of his hands. So Debbie rushed to the rescue, scooped him up and took him to local Krogers to pick a new one. When they got back and I saw Debbie step out of her car with a huge grin on her face, I knew it was going to be good. All she said was “I couldn’t resist!” Debbie knew that Julie would have let Jack get exactly what he picked out, so that’s what she did. Plus, she added that when she saw it, she smiled knowing how obtrusive Julie would think it was, but how funny she would also think it is. Therefore, the dolphin it is! And I think it made it perfect!

You know, it really is beautiful out there. Here’s Hallie sitting on the “tree” bench nearby.

She’s getting so tall.

There was a bit of down time while we were waiting, so the kids played with Uncle Joe in the back of his truck. I am actually not 100% on who brought the waterguns, but we had waterguns. Marty taught Paul how to shoot it but he can only shoot it upside down.

And here’s Evelyn playing her harmonica while Lil Joe plays with a water gun.

Then, we all sang Happy Birthday together and Nana brought a cake, so we all indulged. Passers by might have thought we were odd having a full-blown party on the side of the road in the cemetery, but you know we wouldn’t have it any other way. Mom even brought candles so everyone could light one. Which Julie would have thought frustrating and funny at the same time because none of them would stay lit, and we kept relighting…..etc. Hallie then stuck her candle in the ground in front of Julie’s marker, so if you visit, you will see it. Like I said, it was a celebration and no time to be sad. Why would you be sad on someone’s birthday? We shared it with her. Marty bought mom, myself and Sherri a birthday gift in honor of Julie. More on that as Sherri has not received hers yet. But it filled my heart.

And I really want to say Thank You, a really really big Thank You to each person who sent emails, messages, texts, prayers, etc. I don’t even know that I can express how much it means that so many people were thinking of us on that day. I think that thought alone actually lifted me up and out of my funk. So if you ever feel like you are just one person or doubt whether or not to send someone a message of “thinking of you..” don’t ever hesitate because it can lift a person right on up.

For those who were with us in thought all day, I want to share with you a poem which Irma came across last week by Ralph Waldo Emerson and she felt it was Julie to a “T” and she shared it with us.

To Laugh Much And Often;
To Win the Respect Of Intelligent People
And The Affection Of Little Children;
To Earn The Appreciation Of Honest Critics
And Endure the Betrayal Of False Friends;
To Appreciate Beauty, To Find The Best In Others;
To Leave The World A Bit Better,
Whether By a Healthy Child, A Garden Patch
Or a Redeemed Social Condition;
To Know Even One Life Has Breathed Easier
Because You Lived.
This is to Have Succeeded.

Thanks for sharing Irma.

Julie, we love you and miss you.

P.S.: Prayers for Jaymun need to keep on coming. As I read his blog update, it seems that he is feeling better. That child is a true Testament of God. He fights and fights. There are times I wish to have an ounce of his strength.

P.S.S.: Update on the Bogan Baby…..still waiting. Her due date isn’t until August 3, but you know….I guess it could be any day. Stay tuned….

ARE YOU READY

Are you ready to hear from ME?

Update to previous post

It’s 9:50 pm Thursday night. I had a phone call at 9pm from Papa. My little girl is homesick. While I hate that Papa has to make the drive from Galveston to bring her home, I am so happy she is coming home! I miss our daily conversations!

While Evelyn needs to “learn” to be able to be away from home, I think we all need to take baby steps. Four days is what she wanted to do, but I guess it was too much for her.

I am now sitting here waiting with her night time glass of chocolate milk waiting!

NEXT MORNING UPDATE: My girl came home and we snuggled. I couldn’t wait for her to wake up and she was going to tell me all about her few days and every thing they did…..Paul was happy to see her and sat next to her to wait for her to wake up….

Yeah, she woke up and started crying because she wanted to be back at the beach house! So now we are planning a way to get her back there for a few more days with her cousins! Can you even believe?!