Scherer & Sons

And I'll cry....

More than likely ...when this project...no wait..this final chapter in the military part of our lives..the nomadic part of our lives gets closed when the keys to this house gets dropped in our hands (God willing and the creek don't rise..Amen?)...we will have a "home"...Yes it's true...home is where the heart is..and that I have been blessed with some lifelong, dear, and very important people in my life due to the nomadic lifestyle..but for now..I have longed for a "place"...a piece of this planet to call my own...the raise my young'uns...to defend, protect and nurture...to be creative...ya know..to be me..to call ours..

And frankly I am so sick of Sterlite tubs regardless of their endlessly useful nature...shoeboxes and vacuum cleaners are useful too and equally ugly..

But this ...this I hope turns out to be as beautiful to you as it is to me..Of course it's empty now and not slung with toys and furniture and well I don't know jelly stains, bookbags and mail piled high...

Ross going in ...now that we have stuff in the house (like appliances) they have to lock it...and by the way we don't call the color "yellow" it's "vanilla" (Ross is a bit color sensitive occasionally...we have to do the same thing with "pink" v.s "salmon"...and God forbid you use words like "carnation" or "rose"...We think there's supposed to be another lamp on the side of the front door (there were fixtures for them just yesterday..what happened?)

Back Yard...the first on the list of projects...after the TV (of course honey)...and the fans..(because Dear God South Carolina can get hot)..and the fence...(because I am not walking dogs AND getting kids

ready at 4AM)....This is the backyard from the backyard...I am going to try to claim these trees (although they mostly sit right ON the damned property line)..and I am probably going to lose..but I am going to try...

This is right in the front door on the right..Ross seems to think this is going to be an office..but we all know who's going to be here right?? The Ark. That's right my monstrous MDF constructed craft table..painted a favorite celadon ...mmm hmmmm. The Ark. nuff said.
This is right in the front door on the left...formal dining room...although Ross says the light is perfect for a pool table..Although I have never been interested in "formal" dining before the idea of having two tables for parties..or just a nice space to eat and fit more than us five...it's appealing...and I am sure that the words "Rack 'em Up" is what Ross is dreaming of..either way..we have one dining table so       

right now it's not settled. This is the view from the front door into the great room. We have cardboard over the floors to protect them...it's dark I'll show you in a minute....
Kitchen...I didn't like any of their "fancy" tiles..I went with the straight Subway stuff with dark grout to make it pop...it's solid counter top...but not granite..I hate seams..I hope it stands up....I feel pretty confident..we'll see...it's isn't something that can't be changed ever...love the colors..who knew I'd go for cream and taupe...love to replace the silver knobs with pulls.

From the kitchen back towards the front door...love this view..only concern I have is the size of the pantry..they are already clearing ALOT of food...something tells me I am going to need more gorilla .
shelves..Sorry for how washed out this looks..it's standing in the great room looking toward the spare bedroom/bathroom and garage doors....it's right around the corner...

Back through the kitchen from the doorway to the family room...coming soon...gas stove, stainless..ditto the fridge. 

Again I had to use the flash but this is turned to the front door in the family room. Second level...

Up the stairs back down towards the kitchen and eat-in area.
Different angle..same basic picture...
Out the window in the stair landing....it has an arched top...totally throws me off...I mean in planning
for things..This s the entryway for the master suite..bathroom and walk-ins on the left..bedroom on the right..Couldn't get a decent picture of them every which way I tried..and yea I checked... these doors
lock..This is the picture from the walk-over back down towards the great room... my most favorite .
view. Back toward the stairs from the boy's side over the kitchen...
Boy's bathroom... and their bedrooms..they are so funny already diving themselves up...Coop says he wants a room to himself (although they can each have one at this point...) but the little boys have unequivocally stated they are staying together...I give it five hot minutes before Coop is in one of their beds with them.

Back around towards the stairs..master on the right..the laundry room in front and the fourth bedroom you can barely see on the left..no one wanted this room..although it's the biggest of the three non-master BR upstairs..whatever..if we have the playroom mess hidden in the back better for me..besides the closet in here is huge..
View out the back double doors...

Dusty Corian countertops...with beveled edge to protect those hard skin covered noggins.
Dusty section of wood floors...not the darkest..but dark enough..I would have put this in the entire house if I had a kagillion dollars...

Ok so there it is...almost there guys....y'all whip out your calendars now and start planning when you're gonna visit...k?

Ketchup

Holy Crap!! dearest readers it's almost been a MONTH since I've graced this little place with my drivel.

Mom was here for Easter and so was Uncle Gregg. We had a blast...it was so much fun for the boys to be with family they love so much.Gregg showed up where the average high temp was about 60 if that...into where the average temperature is about 85 high. Needless to say black turtleneck was stowed for the duration. And so, we had a great time...the first order of business was the egg hunt.  Donning the obligatory headgear ...(It's all about the ears people)... Although we coulda gotten mom's in ears with a diaper I doubt she would have pulled off cute like this... And the candy...oooooohhhhh the candy...it was a big jackpot.... We had a cubic butt load of jelly beans and laffy taffy and everything.. and the bunny baskets were awesome... Just an all around good time...
We went to the aquarium with Uncle Gregg.. We love us some aquarium...turtles and jellies and Uncles that could lift us up so we can see... and moms that would help us touch the scary sea monsters...and even if the weather didn't cooperate 100 percent of the time...we were happy to be together yup definitely happy to be together.. And we did take the guests to the beach...a bit windy but it was fuller than it has been for just me and the boys... and we ran...and hollered.. and were glad together.. and we even found a starfish...barely alive... and Coop wanted to take the lil guy home....well that's not an option...so we had to have a long talk about what would happen and what die means...in the end ...we returned him... But it wasn't an easy choice...he was RIGHT there...
Maybe some andy will make us feel better.. And Uncle Gregg read for the boys' classes... I had a different book picked out but I was over chose...they ended up with the very fun jungle book...all the kids loved it...especially the guy in the middle... and all boys were proud that they were related to the main event... I mean duuuuuuude...he can read and everything... AND ....AND he asks a lot of cool questions... and even better...listens to the answers...so cool...it was a very fun time having the fam at Bunny Time...
Speaking of fun we've been dressing up quite a bit... but the act is always the same...
not quite a pirate or archaeologist...
unless Jerry Lewis was playing them...
More like.. Goofballs...
Yea we do goofy really really well...
And the face painting...That got started on accident...
Like "MoOOOOoom...Deacon painted Grady's face"..."oops"...well let's do it right then... then we had to wash it off in about ...ummm 10 seconds...but it caught everyone else's attention...so a cacophony of "MEEEEE TOOOO!!" So I did... then a group shot...my little clown gang...with a Centurion ...a lion pirate...and a ...dishtowel wearing slightly disturbing clown... and it occurred to me about then..." I hope this stuff washes off".....
it did.....
Well now it's quickly coming to the end of the school year...and there's alot of work...and a lot of planning...and hopefully alot of snuggling and sleeping later...and I promise it won't be so long between posts...

and Jesus loves pirates too.

So we've been going to a new church. Pretty evangelical. Very odd for me. Specially if you know me..relatively speaking I am a very "live and let live liberal". Socially and fiscally. But Ross and I now having moved for what we say is the last time have begun a more concerted effort to find a church home. Because we believe it's good for the boys...good for us..just an all around good thing. And even though I'm Catholic, and Ross Methodist, neither of us is inextricably tied to one brand of organized religion. I probably have tighter constraints due to my less than stellar history with churches, but overall we're open.

So back to the story...we've been attending a contemporary evangelical church. The members of which are very very welcoming. And friendly..good group of people...but after a few services I get the impression that Toto a'int in Kansas anymore. Started with the faith healing talk by the missionary guest speaker...then the talk of different types of baptism (the ol' dunk vs sprinkle routine)...then finally..for me anyway...it was the Jolly Roger that made it clear we needed to move on.

It went something like this.... Coop was in kids church (great program by the way ....nice setup and building..structured with different activities)..and he brought home his project. It was two little spoons glued onto a half paper plate..like a boat..then a straw for a sail...and on the sail...a big smiley face...nice.
So I turned it over to see if his name was one there and I notice on the back of the sail...that there was a Jolly Roger (skull and crossbones)...on the back crossed off...."Coop what happened to your Jolly Roger? " Coop: "They don't like pirates"...
Me: "Who?"
Coop: "The church school...Jesus"
Me: "Jesus doesn't like pirates?"
Coop: "Nuh-uh"
And I left it at that...because I have been struggling with him idolizing pirates...and trying to convince him (after Disney has done such an effective job of indoctrinating otherwise) that pirates weren't exactly great guys to look up to...they hurt people ...they took things that weren't there's..they broke other people's things...but still Jack Sparrow is pretty cool in his eyes....
So after a day or two...I made the decision to try and guide our family elsewhere for church...and thought about this...Jesus hung out with lepers and whores...he ate dinner..socialized...and stayed in their homes or hovels...he engaged with murderers and thieves...
I can't even say that....I have a hard time with folks who text while they drive much less have a disease that will slowly rot your flesh off of your extremities...so ya know..Jesus was a very very open kinda guy...
So I told Coop..
Me: "Ya know baby...doesn't matter what flag your ship flies..pirate or not Jesus would love you. He loves pirates too."   With that smile...it's a done deal.
In other Scherer news...we've been at the circus...the three year old and five year old circus that is..
Surprisingly enough..Deacon was reluctant to perform...in fact pretty morose...(still a big change from the first time where he refused outright and sat with me in the audience)...but sad..and Deacon is a Ha-a-a-a-a-am Y'all. He is a rump shaking loud singing finger twirling hambone....at home. When I asked him what happened he said he wasn't that everyone was there ...he thought it was ust going to be his family (I mean they probably didn't make that clear right?)...they told him " Your mommy or daddy will be here" but forgot to add..."so will everybody else's too"...so Deacon ..(who deals so well with change NOT) was surprised and less than overjoyed...but he still did what he was asked..and for that I am very very proud...at home though look...Horton heard a WHO? Then during Coop's performance...he was so still and so good...he didn't even want to look at me...I got a sneaky grin..(look at the bird's nest in the back of his hair..doesn't his mamma even own a brush??) And Grady...he does great..'cept being overwhelmed by the random and irresistable urge to stand up and dance... And this little cutie pie...he stared at me just like this the.whole.time.
Even after I said.."Where's the circus?"..and "Here comes the LIONS! RAAAWR"...he didn't move a muscle....the.whole.time.
Can't help but get little G in on the act...we wore this set of ears out...he thought Deacon was hilarious...and giggled his butt off everytime Deacon made faces with them on...two peas I tell ya.
Another thing..Ross get landed on by the little boys...every time he gets in the floor...me I have to warn them off cause they try this trick.. No "Hop on Pop" for this chica..they'll "break my bones" as Deacon would say...
So that's what's going on with my circus...
It was nice to see that this week anyway I was not the only one jumping through flaming hoops...eh?

Rough Landing

OK so in light of another fairly turbulent end..which thanks to an amazingly skilled pilot and a series of split second correct decisions and a healthy dollop of luck..
We'll talk about this weekend. Part of the deal with Ross' new job is that the newbie gets the whacko shifts....like graves. And although some folks prefer graves..or don't mind them...when you have small children it is a bit hard because you are on a completely different space time continuum...And Ross doesn't mind graves...and his 21 years of military training have prepared him for such occasions...like trying to sleep at the end of a tarmac where C-130's are landing..without even stirring...
But I feel like we needed to get out...and hopefully let Ross sleep a little..by the way if graves weren't quirky enough..his days off are Sunday from 8 AM (plus the sleep to catch up) to Tuesday (12am).. So even though it was nippy outside..(like 45 degrees) ..I bundled the boys up and took them to the beach...I noticed that D was feeling a little bit punky..but not anything major..maybe a little warm...but he was still lively...

this is Coop going next to the paper factory which is very odiferous..(Grady calls it the "paper towelry")... It WAS a beautiful day...thinking that the sunshine and fresh air would do us all some good... And remembering what Grandma Nancy taught her boys...they all had tobogan hats on...they ran up and down...a few hundred feet And found fossils (what those who don't understand  would probably call seashells)....remember when you thought that glasses were cool??...well that's where Coop is...that and "Do my hair like Harry Potter mom".. Man... the little feller needs a haircut...but if the van is going...He's in...he don't care if we're going to the beach or the town dump...if we're going he's slamming the tennie runners on... Hmmmm yea there's Coop still talking about his fossil...

20 minutes in though and mom was worried about fingers and noses...pretty windy out there... sooooo off we went to run an errand then the park (they have a GREAT one not too far from us..Thanks Ms. Bickie!)...time for a picnic in the car..now I know why my backseat looks like this.."Why deconstruct the PBnJ G? Why?" Then nap and church...then I noticed that Deacon was still and "little" warm...still happy enough to goof a little..
hardehar..get it? They didn't but dang I thought it was funny.. By the way if you have any goblins you need to give a beat down to...this "right cheer" is proper goblin butt whoopin posture... Love this one of these two...but somebody get me some scissors...I gotta cut G's hair...That's when we hit the flock of birds so to speak...

What I didn't know is that this face would soon be very sad...on Saturday we were ina hole...Deacon ran 103.7 all night with both Tylenol and Ibuprofen being cycled every three hours (so that one would be given every six)...no joy...Sunday we're at the docs office.. One ear infection...antibiotics...however, that night...no better....still a ragin fever now with a cough...by Monday... He's a lot like me when he gets sick...don't touch me...don't talk to me...just leave me alone..if I had a front porch I'd crawl under it until I felt better...it's hard for a mom who wants (neeeeeeeeds) to verify he's ok...then G-man falls in the bathtub trying to slide down the backrest..like it's a waterpark...bonks himself right on the eye...small nick and big purple bruise....greeeeeeat.. Luckily I already had a check in well child appointment for all three boys Tuesday morning...so we went..looking beat up and like we'd been on a bender... By this time we're pretty concerned...still big fevers..and his eyes looked pretty bad..and his chin..and well he just looked like he was losing this little battle...he slept through the entire visit...if you KNOW Deacon you know this is about as likely as a zebra doing the electric slide on the Afican Savannah....
turns out..double ear infections..drugs not working...
Got new drugs..cough meds...some sleep...we still look rough... BUT I think we're gonna make it...
I'll stick to ear infections and fevers though...and stay out of planes riding or flying.
So tomorrow I'm staying home...taking care of him and resting so that I don't get sick...that is if he'll let me.

Independence

I know this is late but I've been brooding over this post for a few days....maybe it's the nearing completion of Ross' term in service or....maybe it's the fact that I'm a bit Army'd out.....perhaps it's the fact that it's five years later and we still are doing the same thing expecting different results...I don't know...
But I get pretty emotional around the Fourth of July...
There's a quote..
"I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice"-Camus
we have become so polarized within our own country I wonder if we'll ever be able to come to agreement..
And every show that I watch on the current situation in our world I can only focus on one thing...the children.
Will we turn out another generation of contentious polarized zealots? Will they to choose a side and stay there..closed off to any other thoughts?
The founding fathers of this nation put their lives and the lives of their entire families here and abroad in harms way for the freedom to pursue unfettered their own course. They were essentially signing their own death warrants with their decision to declare their independence of Britain. If for one minute the policy makers of today had one hundredth of one percent to lose that they did I think that things would move very differently in Washington.
Imagine looking at your children and making that decision.
I know that I might not have the guts...
And then thinking that persons of my generation and those younger take the privilege of voting so casually...so cavalierly...frankly I'm disgusted. In the last vote in a class of 15  twenty two to  twenty seven year olds...only one other person besides me  voted...the professor.
If you don't vote...you don't get to complain...period. Not only that..it could be your family that gets put into harms way because of the decisions of someone unlike you, that doesn't know you ...or care to perhaps. I don't just mean by  radicals...very very unlikely reality. More likely is  you get into a  wreck with an uninsured driver,  or you can't afford health insurance..or that you have repairs caused by a road that  is crumbling...or students are attending school increasingly detached from the central goal of education in general (not by its own choice mind you..a large and increasingly complex series of factors at work here...all...ALL of them political directly or indirectly)..those are the risks being heightened or lowered by
our government...none of which I remind you have the life stake in it that you or I ..and certainly not our founders did.
Be smart people...and be heard because this is our history to make not theirs.

Just a small piece of the story..

A dedication or epilogue of sorts...
On the early morning of June 19th 2007 I awoke with Deacon and flipped on CNN. I allowed my self about 10-15 minutes of news before the rest of the herd woke up and really because Ross being deployed then...just caused stress.
What I immediately heard was the report of the fire in Charleston, SC. Nine firefighters were killed..nine..firefighters..."oh dear god what about Billy???"... I was thinking as I ran to the phone...and called mom.
She had already started to call but knew that it was really early their time...and we both waited impatiently until  we heard news...both of us thinking.."please  God let no  news be a good thing"....

Billy was not among the lives lost that fateful evening in June...Charleston even though it's a nice size is still small town in its attitude ...everyone knows of a relative or knows someone who was directly connected to this devastating loss

But nine others gave their lives trying to keep their city and its citizens safe...Here is the story of one of the Charleston Nine. Louis Mulkey. I will warn you...grab a tissue...or the box..

On a happier note...They came to see us when we went to the beach last month...Miss Bickie (Vickie)...isn't she cute???

Coop has a real love for the blondies..sorry buddy...this one is taken..by this guy...  Billy is still deeply affected by the tragedy...as anyone would be losing their brothers...emotions just behind his eyes when he speaks of it...Charleston will heal..it will take a long time and lots of knocks along the way but these men will pull through this having learned and doing good from this awful perfect storm of circumstance.

The boys hanging...Billy and "Bickie" have two of the most beautiful daughters...(young women I should say)...so him getting to play with a little boy was a treat..for both of them.. 

Speaking of treats..it was good for us to get to spend a little time with them...they are a great pair...they've been together since they were middle school..I kid not..and Vickie if I had that picture of you two at that dance it would so have gotten posted here....instead of this gorgeous picture.. 

And I thank God that they're here to do a few more of these... together...so from my mouth to God's ears...Keep all the men and women fighting fires under your hand..protect them and keep them safe. Amen.

Fer Kristie..my Northern Kin

Ok so...I know that it's juvenile, and immature...but dammit it's funny...I loved the movie Superbad...high-larious..McLovin? C'mon...that's some funny stuff rite-der now...I d'n't care who yer are.
So in honor of that I'm gonna take you on a Vag Scrap-Tastic Voyage.
I bet Kristie has hers all done in a cute little mini-album. OK maybe not but I wanted to show her what I got done so far...AND I got a couple more behind these...just need a little journaling..

    I love the way this one turned out..and especially since I get to use pink which isn't often...

I so need to update the Scrapworks album.....it's so behind...
Here's one of Derek...my God yall he's so tall! And here to tell you one of the most patient and kind teenagers I have met.

Don't you love this last one..funny stuff...Daniel and the llama definitely had a "connection". Maybe it was just being in the South for a while. I dunno..I 'm just sayin.

Alright Kristie so now I've shown you mine...you show me yours?

Deep thoughts....

ok ok...more like random musing as I drive, work out, change the four hundredth dirty diaper...
1. There is a deeper message in Dora the Explorer...sure she's a cute little bilingual cartoon  with a head shaped like a football that cavorts with a well heeled monkey that is the Master of the Obvious..but I think she teaches a "big picture" lesson of.."Crap is Never Easy"...
I mean really ...here's a girl just trying to eat some cupcakes at a friends birthday party and she has to cross a reptile infested lake..climb a mountain...deal with wind blown river crossings with a racoon that doesn't speak English...not to mention the mask wearing rodent always trying to jack a girl's shit and all...
So there's gotta be a deeper lesson right?
Right. The lesson is..life can be a real pain in the ass...even the simple things...and it's that way for everyone so get used to it...find a friend and hang onto your crap if you don't want it stolen...

2. Firemen are hot...maybe it's the idea of being rescued by some soot covered sweaty hero type...or perhaps it's the way they run into danger instead of away from it but ....whatever..who cares...they're hot...and although I've never visited a fire station ...they always come out to ask for donations (ok like two or three times a year)...with their cute little suspenders and dark pants and caps on...carrying around that fire boot for money...irr-re-SIStable...I imagine they're hiding the beer bellied "Bubba" back at the station and only send out the "calendar boys" when fund raising time arrives ...but like I said WHO cares? They're hot.

3. Kids have quirks...they grow out of them and develop new ones...and the wonderful thing is they're ALL hilarious...and sometimes if they're not funny you can train your kidlets to enhance them to make them funnier..part of the reason you give birth to the little buggers...trust me...
For example: At about four months Coop used to lift his chin and open and close his mouth like a fish for about fifteen seconds or so before he would try to scoot around...like the record would get stuck when it was switching songs or something...this lasted oh about six weeks...and then gone..
I have a friends whose one year old is going through a  phase of dropping everything on the ground that you hand to him to then pick it up again...it's hilarious..
My 20 month old has decided that picking things up with your mouth after dropping them is much more entertaining than using your hands...and the fact that he doesn't call dogs "dogs" he calls them "Hush"..because that's the only thing I say to them..
AND my two year old still sniffs everything I feed him ...like any day he expects his loving mother to switch the salt for a little arsenic..Quirks.
All of these they get on their own...like this one..this is a common thing in the car..and he's not screaming or anything just mugging..
This is hilarious...and he does odd thing like this..alot
I heard him talking to himself in the mirror the other day...he said...
"I'm leaving now..and I may never be back."...

I am clueless about where he got it from...  

Gotta be something he picked up at school right?

Sure...his parent-als had nothing to do with it...

Riiiiight...honestly I love my little chunky goofballs...for all their dancing, singing..mugging, chatterbox weirdness...more proof that we're a tight knit family.

Conversations with the big guy

Even after working out at least three or four days every week I have only lost five pounds..not to say that clothes aren't fitting a bit better or that things aren't firming up a bit...but no weight loss...so exit the after 8 PM meals and enter the salads...and have decided that portion control and refining what I eat may help the process of dropping the last 15 pounds..or 20 pounds.
Because Ross can still whup me good in any contest ...including weight loss...and that stings.
so..

Today after lunch I take out the pint of Chunky Monkey ice cream that my loving husband bought me day before yesterday...(hmmmmm sabatoge?? ...nooo not intentionally..I don't thiiiiink)
After I have a few bites and share a few bites with the little crumb gobblers running around...I put the pint back into the freezer and comment to Ross..
Me: "That little pint of ice cream will have lasted me three sittings...THAT'S portion control."
Ross: "No THAT's quitting".

Whoo Hooo

For all you regular readers...just thought I'd let you know that we passed 5300 page views since my little internet musing started. I am so proud of you! I am so proud of us! That. is. totally. amazing. Period.