Thursday, December 29, 2011

Time Warp

Where does the time go!? I am so thankful that I take the time to jot down notes every few months on what is going on with the Homerhouse. These kids just keep growing so, so fast. It seems like yesterday we were cheering for first smiles, steps and lost teeth. We are moving on to new firsts like middle school, band and sports accomplishments. Looming in my future are first dates and driving lessons. I am NOT ready to have a teenager in my house. Not that Jared isn't a great kid, it's just the marking of a new chapter in our lives. Some days I wish I could slow down time and some days I would like to hit the fast forward button. For better or worse I am glad to be getting all of this written down somewhere. My scrapbooks are about 80% complete and I will, someday, complete the one I have started. Until then my blog will have to be the bridge to then and now. Its just so much easier to sit at the computer for 5 minutes than to pull out all of my scrap booking stuff. I'll save that for when I need something to do when the kids have left home ;). Until then my schedule is packed tight with church, school and sports stuff for the kids. That won't last forever so I will take it while I have it...crazy as it may be.

On reason for the melancholy post is the attached picture. You never notice how quick the time passes with the little everyday things we deal with. We got to see our best friends this Christmas that we haven't seen in a long time. I was amazed with how much everything had changed yet had remained the same. Seeing someone everyday you don't notice the little things...I'm glad I have the pictures to remember them even if I don't see them happening.

The growing weeds: Tommy, Spencer, Mikayla, Tabitha, Jared, Kevin,Kiersten, Ryan

Back a lifetime ago at Joe's Crab Shak...so proud of each of these little urchins and the wonderful young people they are blossoming in to!!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Monday, December 19, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:7

She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.


What a wonderful time of the year. The decorations are up, cookies are made, things are starting to slow down. Time to reflect on the meaning of the season. So many wonderful Christmas memories this year. We kicked off the season with the annual Mt. Bethel concert. The kids usually love this and with Jared in orchestra now he really enjoys seeing all the instruments. I took the opportunity to take photos of the kids for our annual Christmas card as well. What a wonderful afternoon! We decided to treat the kids to Mellow Mushroom (Jared's favorite) afterwards, ahhh...let the season begin!

We also had a wonderful evening with great friends and family at Mamaw & Pap's. What a great chance to see how all the kids have grown, not to mention the size of the family. :D

We missed our annual trip to Bethlehem, we were all really sad about this. Schedules just didn't work with Rob being gone out of the country and the kids coming down with colds. The good news for them being sick was that we had more time at home (swim practice wasn't really conducive for coughing fits) to listen to holiday music and watch Christmas shows. Sometimes God slows ya down when things get really hectic. It was a nice chance to catch our breath in the middle of a normally busy time. We did manage to get Kevin to the eye doctor to replace the glasses that were lost in Orlando. He also got contacts so that is a BIG change for him. Once he figures out that he doesn't need to "come in for a landing" with the contact, it should go smoother. ;)

Tuesday of this week we had Jared's 7/8th grade orchestra concert. He is still principle 2nd Violin (yay!). They played little drummer boy and Baroque Fugue (sp?) Afterwards, we treated the kids to a trip to see Santa and milkshakes for everyone. :) Making memories...

This past weekend was busy with a swim meet but we still snuck in some holiday magic. Driving home from the meet we got to see some lights that we normally wouldn't see. I would still like to drive around an see our neighbors lights and decorations. Maybe this week ?? Running out of time I guess... (oh and at the swim meet, Jared had 6/6 personal best events. He had 3 200's on Saturday which was difficult but he did fantastic. Ryan placed in the top 3 for all 7 of her events.)

We are looking forward to this weekend! Christmas Eve will see Grammy, Pop Pop, Gran, Grandfather and Uncle Ricky at the Homerhouse. We will celebrate Christmas here as well and then off to the Halvorsen's for the annual "Cousin's Christmas". I am quite certain that a trip to Hartwell is in the works. We spent very little time there this summer due to crazy schedules, I would like to just plant myself on the couch, next to the tree and the fire until I grow roots. Just kidding, but that is my favorite spot-with a nice coffee and my new book. I know the kids have plans to go to the movies, help Uncle Ricky in the garage and play outside if the weather cooperates. A trip to Discover Mills is in the cards too I hear. As long as I'm with my peeps, I don't care where we go or what we do.

Christmas greetings from the Homerhouse!! Stay tuned for Christmas Day pics. :)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

The Homerhouse decided to go on a road trip this year. I got a call from RCI in September that we had a week in space bank that we had to use or we would lose it. We had already paid to keep it in the bank and figured why not try and take a trip down to Orlando. It had been two years since we went as a family. Seeing as I had my hours cut back at work we decided to go as cheap as we could. We cashed in Delta points for gift cards, Coke points for gas cards and hotel points for restaurant coupons. All in all we spent about $400 out of pocket for a 9 day trip for 5. Not bad! Can I get on one of those coupon shows??

The first day we drove in and hit Disney Quest. As we left downtown Disney Rob ran up to customer service to see if we were finished with our no expiration tickets. By my calculation we had used up all of our tickets. Apparently not. We had one day left over so we decided to plan on a water park for Tuesday.

Sunday was Downtown Disney, visit with our Disney Gypsy Staci and dinner at my cousin's. Thank you Nave's for a wonderful dinner and chance to get caught up before #2 arrives! :D

Monday was Harry Potter at Universal, so first things first.

I cannot begin to describe how wonderful Hogwarts and Hogsmeade is. There are no words for Harry Potter fans. The kids loved it and so did I. The boys read the entire series this Fall so they really could take it all in. Ryan has seen all the movies so she enjoyed it as well. I...would move there ;)

Tuesday was the water park and we had the best weather of the week, we picked a good day. I even rode some rides. ;)

Wednesday was back to Universal, but we hit a snag. The HULK ate Kevin's glasses. Poor Bu was so upset. On the bright side he was due for new ones anyways. We did leave a bit early to meet up with Stace again. We enjoyed some Disney Pixie dust and headed home for a quick sleep.

Thursday we were right back at the park for opening. We drive those poor kids like mules. They will be so happy to get back to school after a theme park trip! We scooted out again early to visit one last time with Staci before leaving.

Friday was a LONG day that the parks, open to close and we squeezed as much as we could get into the day. Including, but not limited to, a near dislocation of Ryan's shoulder from a whozshamadoodle on the Dr. Seuss merry go round, an out of body experience for me on the Doctor Doom Fear Fall and a probable broken rib for Rob on Jurassic Park. All in a day's fun!! :D

Saturday we got up bright and early and headed over to Palm Coast to visit with my Aunt and Uncle. We had a blast at the pool, on our nature hunt and just hanging out in the theater of their condo building. I really did not want to leave on Sunday. Traffic was looming before us so we got an early start. It was sad to leave the sunshine state but we know we will be back soon!! :D


Jared in front of his most favoritest eatery-Blondies

Rob's favorite part-Jurassic Park....well it was until he met his demise on the straight down drop.

The Homerhouse 2011

Thursday, November 17, 2011

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!!!
Number ELEVEN :D


Love You Bu,
Mom, Dad, Jared and Ryan

Monday, October 31, 2011

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!


This is quickly becoming one of my favorite pictures of Ryan that I have taken. :)

Jared carving his "hot dog" design that he made.

Ryan and Kevin working hard at their pumpkins

Jared's "hot dog", Kevin's "Traditional" and Ryan's "Kitty"

The boys putting the finishing touches on the outside decorations.

My favorite pic of the three, Ryan as Frankie-Stein, Kevin as a Crypt Ghost and Jared as a MineCraft "Creeper"

Jared's favorite, I guess Creepers are not very social creatures ;)

This was the first year that Jared went off with his friends. Though it was an adjustment for me, I did ok. I knew that he was with a good group of kids (Josh and Hannah) so that made it tolerable. They showed up at our place around 9, wow-they walked all the way from the front of the subdivision! :D
Kevin and Ryan had a great time walking with me, Grammy, Gran and Uncle Ricky. Daddy guy and Grandfather stayed home to hand out candy and to sample the new Pumpkin ale that Rob made. It was great to have the Hartwell Krewe here, even if it was just for a few hours.
I can't believe it's time to put the Thanksgiving stuff out...Christmas will be here before we know it!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

October update minus Halloween


Kell White 10/11 Football is officially over. The team ended the season 4-4 and boy did they play hard! With the exception of two teams that REALLY do not belong in our league (but that's another blog entry) the boys had a great season. Rob really enjoyed coaching and Kevin enjoyed being starting center again this year. Both boys are already looking forward to the 2012 season where Kevin will try out for the Kell 6th grade team. Way to go Kell, Hook 'Em!


October also saw the first Orchestra concert of 7th grade for Jared. I am proud to say that he is the principle second, which means he is the 1st chair of the 2nd violins. I had to google it to understand that there are two types of violins, 1sts and 2nds. They play different parts like harmony and melody for instance. So, Jared is the "best" of the second violins. We are so proud of him and so happy that he loves to play. Rob and I both wish we had learned an instrument and it looks like Jared picked it up really easy.


Swimming in October was fantastic as well. The kids swam the first weekend at Georgia Tech and had 50/50 personal bests versus right on their times. The next weekend was HUGE for Pinkie as she swam her first 500Fr. I missed it because I was out of town with Jared but I got lots of pictures, texts and email updates from my peeps at the pool. She came in at 8.07.98, just 8 seconds shy of Jared's 500 Fr time. She had Daddy there to lap count and her friend Jack was there to cheer her on.
As I mentioned, Jared and I were out of town. We went to the beautiful mountains of Ashville to Lutheridge Camp with the GLSC FX3 and Confirmation kids. I think we had 42 kids and 16 adults, what a great crowd! We had an absolute blast and I can't wait to go again. We had fun all weekend though I would rather not have participated in the white water rafting. ;) It was cold. It was wet. I have to say it was a bit fun...Jared even got out and jumped off the jumping rock 22 feet into the French Broad River. No thank you!! He did it twice and I froze just watching him get in that water. Here are some pictures from that trip :)

The front entrance. I totally googled this shot. It was dark when we arrived and I was in the middle of a coach bus, not the best opportunity to get a picture. :)

The group on the water. Jared was in the first boat, I was in the last.

1st shot of Jared's boat. He's having a GREAT time!

1st shot of my boat...notice my death grip and grimace?

Pretty nature shot ;)

2nd photo op, Jared with his roller coaster wo-hoo-hoo-hoo face. I can almost hear him :)

I LOVE the look on the counselors face behind Jared, contrast that with the guide behind her ;)

Yeah, still thinking I'm about to die...BUT I didn't cause I am sitting here blogging about it. :D In my nice warm slippers, with a cup of joe. :)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Tri for Tourette 2011 (x 3)

The History:
Last Year Jared decided to do something completely unprecedented in our house, he wanted to do a Triathlon. What?!? Yup, he wanted to swim/bike/run. We have some friends at Chattahoochee Gold that do them and they have kind of lit a fire under everyone to at least Try and complete a Tri. So last year Jared did VERY well, and Kevin was miffed that we didn't sign him up.

So time came around to register for the 2011 Tri and I put both boys in immediately. Ryan on the other hand was on the fence about doing it. Our friends (The Everest's) are still very involved in the Tri world, in fact they were housing their friend and National Iron Kids Tri Champion, Winter Vinecki, at their home for a week. Winter came to Gold practice all week and got to know the kids. I went to see her speak at Bascomb Elementary in Cherokee County and was sincerely impressed. She started doing Tri's with her dad when she was 5 years old. When she was 9 her dad was diagnosed and passed away from Prostate Cancer. She started her own organization, Team Winter, to raise awareness and raise money. Man, I love this kid! She is at over $330,000 in 3 years. I know how hard Friends for LIFE has worked to bring in $280 K in 8 years, this kid has my utmost respect! SO, with that being said, Ryan was now enamored with doing a Triathlon (thanks Winter! ;))


The Race:
Last year we had it SO easy (except for the rain). Register, prepare and line up one child. This year we knew we had a problem. One kid was getting in the water and starting the transition to the bike while then next was getting in the water. Then we had one transitioning to the run, one to the bike and the third getting into the pool. It became increasingly more difficult as we threw more balls in the air, or kids into the race if you will. Jared started off the chaos with the 100 yard swim and I was able to catch a picture of him as he came running up the ramp into the bike transition area~

Next came Kevin up the ramp while Rob was watching for Jared to start on the 2.5 mile bike~

While I was waiting for Ryan to swim, Jared ran behind me from the bike transition to the run~

Last up the ramp was Pinkie and she was on fire in the pool, I think the girl passed 5 kids during that leg of the race! :D

I followed her to the bike transition area and was running along the course to try and make my way to the finish line-Jared should be done soon! Whew! I'm getting my exercise :) I snapped a quick pic of her on the bike as she zoomed past me...

I J.U.S.T made it in time to see my Jared cross the finish line, WTG buddy, I am SO proud of you!

I turned around and guess who was coming down the hill? Yup, Kevin on the run!

I had a few minutes to get a shot of Jared Post-Race and make sure he was doing alright, he was so proud of himself, we were sure he beat his time from last year!

Before we knew it, it was time to look for Kevin. We were pretty sure he was hurting. I'm impressed that you can take a football player off the field and throw him right into a Tri, but that kid has moxie man, he did it and looked great too! We found out later that he wiped out on the bike- no injuries-just a slower time. (I LOVE how Jared is waiting for him at the end!!)

I walked over and sat down next to Kevin to give him some congrats, man he looked beat, but I got a great picture of him. "Everything hurts", he said, but he was happy that he did it!

By now we have no sign of the Pinkster. Where is she?!? I started getting worried when lo and behold she comes WALKING down the hill. She and another girl were chatting away like two old ladies walking their dog. We start yelling at her to RUN, that she is in a RACE, to MOVE it...:) all I can say is that she was having a really great time. That's all that matters ;) We waited an immeasurable amount of time for her to finish the run when she finally came around the corner. I was running down the sidewalk with her and so was Jared, that was SO super cool!

A couple quick pictures of her and she was off to the bouncy house in the celebration area. She has already had her post race smoothie and fruit. I can honestly say that she took in the ENTIRE experience.

One last picture of all of them together, at the end of the race. No injuries, no sadness~ Just the smiles of happiness that they accomplished the Tri...together!


The Results:
So after getting the kids home and carb loaded we had a chance to catch up on the day. Jared loved it and would gladly do it again. Kevin had fun and will probably do it again. Ryan had a great time but said she wasn't sure if she would do it again. Give her time-I think she really liked it. :) Results were not yet posted when we went to swimming the next day. Our friends asked how we did since they were at a different Tri in Iowa. Ryan was over the moon about the entire thing saying that she would definitely do it again. See-I told ya ;)

Monday night I finally got the results.
Jared came in 2 minutes under his time from last year. He was 21st out of 24 but I was really impressed that he came in 5th for the swim leg. WTG!

Kevin was 31 out of 34 but I was so stinking happy he finished (so was he!) ;) He came in in the middle of the pack for swim at 16th.

Ryan finished 17th out of 23 and was 3rd in the swim. Had she run up the ramp I am quite certain she would have been first. We just need to work on our transition times (these kids are FAST!) and a bit on the running for Ryan (ahem, that means she has to RUN not WALK next time) hehehe.

Over all it was a great event, the money went to Camp Twitch and Shout which is sponsored by my friend from Relay for Life, Brad Cohen. See how life just intertwines amongst itself?

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Kell White vs. Harrison Blue--Hook 'em!


Yay! It's that time!!! Kevin's football games are here and he has been working SO hard. He will be starting again this year as center. He loved it last season and really wanted to do it again. Apparently at practice he does really well on his snaps and game day is the chance to see what you're made of. Rob unfortunately got word that he would have to miss the first two, maybe three games. A trip to Australia could not be avoided. :( As his second year as a coach he was not happy about it but knew the boys worked hard and cheered them on from the other end of my phone. He stopped by and helped the kids warm up then had to jet...hahaha

Wishing the boys luck

I loved this shot :D

taking the field for offense

Great play, resulted in a TD for Kell. They won the game 22-12!

Some more pictures from the day:

I loved this, think the poor boy was hot? Astro turf is about 10-20 degrees hotter, ick.

What a cute cheerleader ;)

My rotten little monkey urchins :)