Cars

Chip is out of town at the Telework Summit in Indianapolis, IN for two days.  I made him take our van with him... it's a 3 1/2 hour drive and our little car (which is a maroon Suzuki Grand Vitara like the picture above.... only mine isn't for sale, I just pulled this off of the internet- it's the same year and color though... lol) probably wouldn't have made the journey in one piece. It's almost 13 years old, when you turn on the heater the exhaust fills the car., the is a short in the passenger front headlight, so the headlight won't work, and if you turn left the big red break light comes on in the dash board. We pretty much decided we were done putting money into it and when it dies, it dies. We've had a good long 10 year run with it.  Anyway, Last night I put the two car seats in the little car and made sure Maggie could squish in the middle seat comfortably- so that I could at least drop off/pick the girls up at school, before Chip left.

This morning I stick Dexter in his carseat and he was like "woah, I'm in daddy's car".... and then I stick Miles in the carseat and he starts SCREAMING and crying hysterically... all the while yelling "The car is too small! the car is too small!"

And then it dawned on me.

Miles and Dexter have never ridden in the little car before!  We've always had them in the van. 

It was so funny to see the boys react like that... especially Miles.


It reminded me of when we bought the van:

Maggie was just a few months older than the boys are now when we got it. It took about a month of driving it with her before she calmed down. She used to scream and cry because the van was TOO BIG. (We had a Ford Explorer before that, and she and Alli shared the back seat....)


Anyway, I just thought it was funny how different kids have different perspectives on life. Pretty cute.

Zoom Zoom Deer

Late Wednesday night- like 11:30 or so, I got a phone call from my friend saying that her car was completely broken down and she and her three littles (ages 4,2 &newborn) were stuck about an hour outside of Columbus and would I be able to come and get them.

I'm a late night owl and I was almost at the end of my book on CD (it was really good, btw- I couldn't STOP listening to it) and I like road trips- so I thought, Sure!

A quick trip to the gas station and I was off.

By the time I got to the Highway Patrol office they drove my friend to it was almost 1am. We loaded up the kiddos and took off back to home.

The drive was beautiful- There were so many shooting stars, zero clouds, and great company (I have some pretty spectacular friends). I turned to Cynthia and said "I should probably watch the road and not these stars" (It was a straight highway road, hardly any traffic, etc..... no worries, I wasn't being dangerous)  and just a few minutes later- in slow motion I saw out of the corner of my eye a big ol' deer and BAM. I hit him. Or he hit me.......  I saw his body hit the side of my car, watched his face smear across my driver's side window and then that was it.  I was like "what the what?!" I pulled over to the side of the road.... I needed to know what happened to that deer..... like, was it really hurt and I needed to call someone to put it out of it's misery?... or was it just like "how rude of that car to hit me"... or yeah. I needed to know.

I found out pretty quickly.

I was looking back the way we came and caught a glimpse of a big ol' deer getting hit dead on by a semi truck. Let's just say there wasn't much left of either party.  The semi's whole front end- bumper, lights, grill- was 1/2 gone.  

A few nice guys pulled in behind me and the semi truck- they just happened to be on their way home from volunteer firefighter training.  They had stopped to look at the deer- which they said was an 8 point buck- so a pretty big guy- and see if we needed anything.

They checked out my car and the only damage my van had sustained from hitting a deer at 70mph was a little dear spit on my window and my driver's side mirror was shattered- The mirror itself was dangling by the wires. The volunteer fire fighters put a bungee cord around it (super nice) so it wouldn't flap all the way home.

The "what if's" have been haunting me this week.

What if I hadn't said my prayers that morning and asked for protection. What if that deer was 1 second earlier- it would have gone through my windshield. What if that deer had hurt any of those sweet kids that were in the back of my car. What if, what if, what if.  There could have been a million things that might have happened. The only answer I have come to is this: Heavenly Father protects those who help others, He protects those who are making an effort to follow his commandments, He protects those who ask for his help.  I am not here by simple chance. I am here because Heavenly Father didn't feel I was done with my earthly mission yet. I am here because of guardian angels.

Sure. It was a deer. Cars hit deer a million times a day. (I didn't look up statistics, so don't quote me on that.) It's not a rare thing. But just because it's not a rare thing doesn't mean it wasn't a pure miracle that something worse didn't happen. I'm more than happy to give credit where credit is due.

I am thankful for my Heavenly Father. I am thankful nobody but the deer got hurt, and even then- I am thankful that the deer isn't suffering anymore- he's not in the woods somewhere with broken limbs or torn up flesh- hurting and scared.  I am thankful that everyone made it home safely that night. I am thankful for good Samaritans who saw a need and stopped to help.

Nothing like a good scare to help you remember who really runs the show. :)

COSI

After a messy peanut butter explosion- I decided the boys needed some extra stimulation..... so I took them to COSI (Science Museum) and I ended up getting a membership. :)

I haven't renewed our membership since it expired when the boys were a few months old. I didn't think I would be using it much with such little people and Alli and Maggie in school..... but now that the boys love to explore and discover every single nook and cranny I figured it was about time to renew that membership. So far we've been there twice in a week, so I'm thinking it'll pay off.

 Both times we've been there the boys are obsessed with these squirrel carts. I mean, who can blame them- they are squirrels. They must have gotten that from their mother.

 While Miles had fun playing in the water, Dexter had the most fun riding that scooter around and around the water area.

 ... and in this play house, guess what was the first thing both boys tried- that would be the sinks. They were both super disappointed when the sinks actually didn't have running water. Well- Dexter was so disappointed that he was screaming. But whatever...

 They spent a lot of time at the train tables.


And where were the girls during the boys' explore time? Not at school- nope they had the day off- so the girls were able to hang out in the big kid space. :)

 Maggie got to paint and Alli was doing experiments. They loved it!

 They boys LOVED playing in the helicopter.  I thought this picture of Mr. Miles was so sweet. :)

 I can't believe how big my Alli is getting. It's so weird to think in less than 2 months she'll be a 10 year old. When did my little baby grow up?  *sigh*

........ ohh, and if Chip and I ever die before these boys get out of the stroller stage, this picture is why Dexter always goes in FRONT and Miles goes in back.  Dexter pulls hair and gets mad when he's in the back. Miles is pretty chill where ever he's sitting, unless of course his hair is getting yanked out.





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The boys had a blast both times I've taken them. I have a feeling we'll be spending a whole lot of time at COSI this winter- who wants to join us?

Pa visit- part 3

 Well, I finally got here. (high five to me!) the last post on our PA trip that we took.... um... a month ago. Shame on me. Ugg. I seriously need to get blog more. You should hear all the blog posts I make in my head- they are amazing. Spiritually uplifting, hilarious, endearing, etc..... man, they are awesome. Too bad I'm not actually writing them.

Okay- onto the post. (loaded with 26 pictures. Sorry about that.)

This ^ is normal happy Dexter.

 This ^ is Dexter a few seconds later- hiding his neck when I tell him that I'm going to tickle him. I can just hear his funny little giggle just looking at this picture.

 During General conference breaks we decided to have rides on the riding lawn mower.  Everyone took turns. Miles and Dexter were unsure at first, but once it got going- they were addicts.

 I love this picture- I was inside with the boys, Chip was recording the tractor rides- and I got to capture all of these smiles. Seriously- there is nothing better than family. They are awesome!

 Here are some Kohrman boys. :)

 Afterwards the kiddos got some auntie time and roasted smores.  This was the boys' first time around a campfire. They loved the treats!

 Love this picture of Alli. She is thinking some sort of wicked thought or about to tickle someone.

 Dexter having a little downtime. In the wheelchair.

 Sarah, Brian, Patsy, and I talking about the good ol' times.

 When Patsy went in the hospital Alli and Maggie drew him get well cards (and even put in poison control stickers)- they arrived while we were there visiting.  Patsy liked reading the cards :)

 So after the kiddos went to bed, Nunnums brought out some fun stuff from storage. Like Brian's favorite blankie- his beloved blanket who he dubbed as being a girl, because blankie didn't have a penis. Seems like good child logic to me.

Blankie finally had to be retired due to excessive love.  It was so funny hearing stories of Brian's obsessive attachment to blankie. As you can see from the above pictures, blankie was literally loved to death.

 We also got some gems from Molly- Books that she had written. She was going to be famous. 
They books were high quality hard back nuggets of pure gold. (the letters were written in puffy paint.)

 Brian and Sarah had to catch a red-eye flight. We were sad to see them go :(

The girls had one last toenail painting secession with Patsy. 
They made sure his toes were super lovely. :)

 It was really fun seeing Gramma Louise again. :) She's such a neat lady. I love her humor and her sweet smiles.

 Dexter (orange shirt) and Miles (green shirt) also love Gramma. She let them play on her bed and hide stuff her in bedside commode (unused).

 Here's all 4 of the kiddos with Gramma.

 Molly with Patsy

 Dexter with Zaikea - he was obsessed with squishing her face around. She's such a good sport. :)

 Jeff and Zaikea with Patsy

 Ruthie and Patsy

 Alli and Patsy

Maggie has a hard time leaving Nunnum and Patsy's house. She cried most of the way home. :(


It was an emotional visit- We had some sad times, we had some super funny times, we had snuggle times, and we had warm and fuzzy times.  I'm so glad we had a good visit with everyone together. 

Until we meet again.

Field Trip

I'm going to take a little break for a minute on our trip to PA- Mostly because those pictures are on the laptop- and the laptop is down stairs and I am upstairs waiting for the kids to fall asleep.... and I am also too lazy to get the laptop from downstairs, plug it in, and write a blog post. Yeah. Lazy. Whatever. Don't judge.

This past Monday my friend volunteered to watch the two little terrors Dexter and Miles so I could chaperone Maggie's field trip to the Apple Farm.

 Maggie was a little bit of a a silly goose and totally forgot to bring a jacket- It was in the low 50's and cold/windy rain. Totally short sleeve weather, right?  I had to stop at home really lightening fast on the way to the farm to pick up a jacket for her- only she misplaced it somewhere so Chip threw down his Ohio State sweatshirt and said "here, let her wear this".... and so she did. She was so excited about wearing dad's over-sized shirt. :) 

I remember as a kid I would BEG to wear my dad's shirts as night shirts..... and then I would play Transformers with Scott.  First. We'd be kids. Then we'd transform into rocks (head/arms/legs tucked into the shirt forming a ball). And finally we'd pop back out as robots.

Man, we were so cool.

Anyway, back on track........

 Maggie with a few of her friends.  I don't think she honestly knows most people's names, just the kids she sits by- as she calls most everyone "friend". All teachers are "teacher".  It works.

The lady with long blonde hair was our tour guide for the morning. She was a stern lady- I guess if you do a gazillion field trips that each have 30-50 kids in it- you learn to get down to the basics.

The lady with the dark green jacket with reddish hair is Mrs. B, Maggie's teacher this year. She is flip flopping on if she's going to retire after this year or not. Her hubs retired last year, so I'm thinking she'll be gone too. :( She really is amazing.

The rest of the adults were parents. I was amazed by how many dads were able to join the field trip. The one dad in the gray sweatshirt was probably a line backer in a past life. When he said "stop running" the kids totally stopped. All of them. Immediately.

Someday I will have that super power.

 As we were walking from one warehouse to another something or other- we passed by this apple that was laying on a crate. Every. Single. Child let out a very loud "EWWWWEEEEEEE!!!!" when they saw it. It was so funny! They were so amazed that so many ants would cover an apple. It was pretty funny. So of course, I had to take a picture.

I learned something new on this field trip. Go figure.
I guess when an apple tree is dying and they have to tear it out- they cannot plant another apple tree in it's place for 5+ years. The reason? Apple trees give off a type of poison in the soil that kills any apple tree that is planted there after it dies. Weird! So instead of planting more apple trees and watching them die year after year- they plant squash and pumpkin patches in the apple tree's place, until the 5 or so years are up.... and then they plant an apple tree once the soil is healthy again.

Hence- the pumpkin patches move around at the apple orchard and won't be in the same place more than a few years in a row.

Random facts. Gotta love um'.

 This guy was bringing apples in to be sorted.

Our guide said that in previous years, the apples would be washed and a thin layer of wax would be put on them.... but now every grocery store has been asking for the apples not to have wax on them- so they don't do that anymore.

Every apple/pumpkin/squash/etc at this apple farm is hand picked. No machinery (pay no attention to the fork lift....lol)

Is it wrong that when she was explaining how they were hand picked and was describing all of the workers in the orchards, I kept thinking of the Hunger Games and wondering if Rue was out there picking fruit too.

Then my mind wandered around thinking which child that was misbehaving at the moment- that  I would put into the hunger games.  lol!! Ohh goodness.

Maggie and her friend Daniel. She knows his name, as he is at her table. Now, Maggie is a very huggable child. She loves hugs. She gives them constantly. Very Very hands on kid...... but Daniel? Man, if I thought Maggie was a hugging child, Daniel is 100x MORE into hugging. It's good to see kids love to love everyone, but man. I've got a bubble.

 While we were at the apple farm, Maggie's bottom front tooth came half way out. I was looking at every parent and I was like "soooo.... who's going  to pull this for me?" and guess what? Nobody did. Losers.

So I had to do the most disgusting thing ever and pull out her tooth. Eweeeee....gross... shudder! Gag.

Maggie was so happy to get a crispy one dollar bill under her pillow from the tooth fairy.

As we all sat down to eat our lunches, the rain went from cold drizzle to freakishly freezing down pour. We decided the field trip was over.... So we loaded the kids back up in the buses and sent them off back to school.

If you zoom in on the picture of the buses, in the middle bus, front seat is a little red head peaking out waving to you. That would be Mags. :)

It was really fun to be able to go with her on her trip. Love that kid :)

P.s. we now have apples out our ears. Fuji apples, in case you're wondering.

PA Trip part 2

Patsy and Nunnum's house has tons of perfect spots for little boys to drive cars around on. Long windowsills, lots of mossy bricks outside, and a wonderfully long hallway.

The boys are in heaven. Patsy and Nunnums have a big old metal school bus and a nice old tractor that are the boys' favorite cars to drive around. 

 ..... ohh that gazing ball, well, it's a thing of the past. The boys decided that it was too irresistible not touch- and they touched it. Or shall I say tossed it?  Either way, it's gone to gazing ball heaven.

I forgot to mention in my last post that the day we arrived in PA, Chip's sister Molly was in a big nasty car accident. I haven't spoken to her in a week, but we were pretty sure her car got totaled. She was lucky that she wasn't hurt- her little car got sandwiched between two big SUV's. Poor girl. :( We are really thankful that she was safe.

Maggie was our official peanut shucker- she found a bag of peanuts and shelled all of them and kept going around to everyone offering them peanuts. It was pretty cute.  Future flight attendant?

Brian and Sarah are nauseatingly adorable. Always hugging, holding hands, kissing. Puke. hahaha.

The kids were able to help clean up the leaves around the house. Maggie decided a leaf blower was the way to go... she was actually pretty good with it.  Alli just liked jumping in the leaves.

 Miles (orange) and Dexter (greenish-yellow) were helping uncle Brian with the leaves too. Miles had a little shovel and Dexter had a broom. They followed Brian around 'helping' him.

 and how do we cool off after raking leaves? A swim of course.

The propane guy came and filled up the tank. At this point the water was like 68 degrees..... it got a lot warmer later on. We turned up the pool heater clear up and by that night it was like 82-ish in the water. Nice. We all went swimming after the kids went to bed. :)

 Gramma Louise had physical therapy come and help her poor leg. She was smiling in this picture... but  the guy had just started. She wasn't smiling afterward.

 October 5th was Patsy and Nunnum's 36th wedding anniversary. They are still madly in love with each other. Ruthie got a cake from Caravel, Alli made them a lap blanket, we got some electric candles so they could eat their Anniversary steak dinner by candle light, and we got some flowers for them. It was fun celebrating (and delicious too).

 This was taken after a saucy kiss. They were so adorable to watch.

 Alli and Molly snuggles!

 Funny story about this picture. Skip this story if lovey dovey stuff makes you gag....

Okay- so the cake had "mom" and "dad" written on it, right? Well, we decided that Patsy and Nunnums should get to eat their piece of ice cream cake with their names on it. Makes since, right?
Anyway, as Nunnums was about to dig into the "mom" piece, Patsy turned the plate and said something to the effect of "Um no, I get to eat the "mom" piece, cause I always like getting a piece of you"... HAHAHA!

Ohh they are awesome.

 With Patsy and Gramma Louise all laid up they each have a hospital bed, a walker, and wheelchairs. The house is full of hospital stuff. Anyway, the kids found awesome entertainment value from each of these items. Even the hospital potty chairs brought sources of amusement. They make for great hiding places.

Everyone had wheelchair rides and walker races. It's a good thing there were two wheelchairs and two walkers-  no fighting that way.

I asked Nunnums if there was a 'buy 10 hospital items get the 11th one free' punch card that she is getting....

 With all the peanuts around the house- it gave the Kohrman boys a chance to giggle... and when Kohrman boys giggle, they put their heads together and make silly contraptions. Like this. They made squirrel traps with peanuts.  They put peanuts on a string- tied the string to a series of pulleys on trees, and made the string long enough for Patsy to be able to control it from his recliner. It was really funny to tease squirrels.  Those big boys were laughing hysterically.

Entertainment from anything.

Twice a year- on the first full weekend of April and October, our church has General Conference- a chance for our Prophet and other church leaders to address us. This year it was fun to be all together- lounging in the front room watching conference together. (note the squirrel string in the background tree?)

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This concludes part 2......

More to come.

Until Next time... :)