A Year in Review of the Yerger House

Ho, Ho, Ho, It's Gingerbread House Time!

And it's that time of year again, gingerbread house day is one of the best day's ever! All the kids get to go to the candy store and help pick out at least 20 pounds of candy to decorate houses with. And every year the houses get better patios, ponds, and more houses are made. This year we even had sharks in the pond! Of course a lot of the candy is consumed, and everyone loves that!!!! It is just fun to watch the kids take charge and make their own version of candyland.

Waiting for that snow....

I know everyone says that we won't like it come February, and you really aren't supposed to like it year round, but my kids have my love for the snow and are anxiously awaiting that day when the ground is covered in white and they don't have to dream about sledding and snowboarding, they can run out and do it. By late winter we will be ready for spring and the newness of that season, but for now, we are all waiting for those flakes to fall.

Tristan is 10!

Holy cow, can I really have a child who is 10? Where did the last 10 years go? There was a time I wasn't consumed with math homework, wiping noses, getting up in the middle of the night to calm bad dreams, but that was before I was a MOM! Ten years ago I was experiencing that scared, excited, please let's get this over with nervousness, and we were blessed with Tristan. A non stop talker when it's about anything he loves-animals, sports, Harry Potter-he'll talk your ear off. He's smart as a whip and has a good heart. Happy Birthday Bug! We all love you so much.

The First Snow!

There is really nothing like that first snowflake of the season. And thankfully my kids seem to have the same passion for it as I do. Last Friday night we ran into indoor soccer in the pouring, ice cold rain, and an hour later emerged into the fattest snowflakes that I have ever seen. It was that thick heavy snow that melts on you as it lands. It blizzarded all night long and we had 4 inches by morning. It was enough to sled, throw snowballs, and make a smaller snowman. It was wonderful and wet fun, topped off with hot cocoa and marshmallows, no better way to spend a Saturday morning!

Savannah the Ice Skating Wonder!

She goes to ice skating once a week through her preschool and so far she is loving every second of it. She has had two lessons and I snuck in on her second one to take pictures and watch her. There are only 6 kids in the class with 2 instructors so there is a great ratio, geared towards really teaching them the fundamentals, like how to stand up after you fall-which seems to be about every 45 seconds or so. At any rate, she is having a blast, soon she'll be jumping and spinning I'm sure :)

Halloween Came and Left....

Whether we are in a corn maze, at the Children's Museum, or ready to trick or treat, this is one of our favorite holidays. Maybe because Jaesen makes it so fun by decorating the house to the max, but along with our neighbor, our house was one of the coolest in town! Jaesen actually made a lot of our props this year and can only imagine that next year will be better. Savannah walked for the first time while trick or treating and did wonderful. It was a great holiday, now on the next one.....my birthday of course!

Halloween is almost here and we are running out of time...

I feel like I have been running from one thing to the next and I mean that literally, not figuratively. Between work, school and it's assorted projects, getting the house ready for Halloween and a big party, getting the kids to and from soccer and school and still trying to be 100% settled in our house, my life has felt a bit chaotic lately. Today for example, we are going to a big Halloween party that we have heard stories about, heck I think there are legends about it, and Jaesen still doesn't have his costume. And so I fear I will be going as Morticia Addams while he has to choose something different than Gomez because he waited too long to pull it all together. Not because he has a lot of time in his life either. Work is consuming extra time lately, the other day I got home from my shift around 730 pm to find my mom still here because Jaesen had just pulled in. Good thing I had her cook the kids dinner or it would have been cereal for dinner. I know we are not alone in this thing called life, trying to fit it all in, although sometimes it feels that way. I look around and every one's kids are bathed, fed wonderful meals while mine cry and whine, with dirt stained tear tracks. Is that true? Well.....sometimes. Last week I was so tired that since Savannah looked clean and I didn't feel like giving her a bath I just wiped her face with a washcloth 3 days in a row. There are weeks where we have had cereal for more than just breakfast, but hey if it's good for breakfast, it must be just as good for dinner! So we are under one week away from our Halloween party and I shudder to think of all that has to be done, including 2 school projects for me, the last week of soccer (thank goodness) and just normal life. On the other hand though, this party should be fantastic, if you are here feel free to drop by, just come in costume-it's required! And check back for the pics, they should be great!

The Perfect Fall Day

It seems like we have waited so long for the return of fall. Florida didn't really have a fall, not the kind where you wake up to that crisp morning where you snuggle back down into your bed and dream of someone already turning on your coffee pot so you have something warm to cling to when you do in fact tromp down the stairs. It is something that I have so missed in some of our travels in the Navy and this is our re-introduction back into the autumn. The leaves are turning colors, sprinklers are no longer needed, the kids cling to their short sleeves under their morning sweatshirts, smells of fires are in the air. I love, absolutely love, this time of year. Next to the first snow of the season this is one of my favorites, although I love the 4 seasons with such a passion that when each arrives I am so enamored in it's glory. So for us, it's soccer on it's last legs before the first snow, carving of pumpkins, Halloween (of which there will be soon much more to write as it's Jaesen's favorite holiday), all the smells, the wearing of sweaters and jeans, football and the anticipation of the next season right around the corner. So I raise my hot cup of coffee while I sit in my slippers, enjoying each wonderful color on my trees. Happy Fall!

Do You Just Ever Have "Those" Kind of Days?

I don't know but lately it seems like I have been having a lot of "those" type of days. The kind of days that make you want to crack into that bottle of wine at 7:45 and guzzle like you have been living on a deserted island for a year and been thirsty that whole time. I am starting to wonder if it's not the animals or the kids, but rather....me. I get mad at the animals because I come down in the morning to find dog food scattered all over the kitchen. Why do you ask? Well simply because the dog at the cat food so the cat is trying to eat the dog food. She takes one piece at a time and crunches it up all over the floor, then does it to another piece. And no she doesn't try and clean up her mess. And oddly enough, our dogs will eat just about anything in sight, except for the dog food that the cat has touched. Does she have cooties? And what is worse, the cat food give the dog the worst case of gas imaginable, so bad I am thinking of investing in high quality gas masks for the family. That might quiet the fighting though, so it would be a doubly good idea. This morning the boys were fighting over a stuffed giraffe. They have been fighting over this giraffe for the better part of their lives, they have paid money to each other to reclaim it. This morning I had just had it with the giraffe so I took it and hid it away. That of course launched tears in both boys. Tristan, through tears, tells me, "But Mom, that giraffe is part of my family!" I just looked at him. Now I am all for stuffed animals, heck I used to make mine clothes and houses when I was little, but this was a bit much even for me. I told him in no uncertain terms who his family was and he had better remember it. Then he gave me that same look I had just given him-that look that says you can say whatever you want but I know I am right. Obviously, he has learned from the best. We have gotten the guilt trip now about moving so much and ripping them away from their friends. I want to tell him to snap out of it, but I miss my friends too and I don't feel like being too hypocritical. I wonder if I am doing this Mom thing right though when so many of these days string together. For now I will just go clean up the dog food off the kitchen floor, get the cat some more food, and remember Savannah's goodbye this morning, "I love you much Mommy!"

Happy Anniversary

12 Years, it just seems wrong. How can twelve years just slipped on by? Three kids, two dogs a cat, and more houses and states (and even one other country) lived in than can be counted on one hand, it almost fills up two. I am just happy to have found someone where 12 years feels like a blink of an eye, rather than a dreary, horrible road trip through life. So happy anniversary to my Ba, my shmoopy-I Love You!


I love you LLTTFEAADTTSTIABWACOT!

Baseball and Balloons

Well the summer fun isn't quite over just yet. I took the kids out to Rosenblatt Stadium to see a baseball game before the stadium is no more. Next year the Royals will be playing in a new stadium and the College World Series will be downtown at the new ball park. So we ventured out to a day game in the 100 degree heat to watch some ball and have some fun. And a little food with that wouldn't be so bad. We enjoyed Omaha Steakburgers, cotton candy, snow cones, dippin dots, hot dogs, and of course peanuts! We had a great time. I love the minor league parks, they are so much fun for the kids.

And then last night we headed out to the Nebraska Balloon and Wine Festival. I saw the word wine and decided that might just be the place for me. So Jack and Savannah decided to come with me, Tristan and Jaesen stayed at home. The kids had fun riding ponies, doing a big bouncy slide and making Indian "hats". I enjoyed tasting wines from all over the region and they aren't too bad either. I wish we hadn't had a delicious dinner though as there were restaurants from all over the area serving up their food. And it looked and smelled delicious. The balloons were great and the kids loved watching them fill up and take off. They kept delaying the sunset portion where the balloons light up, due to the wind though, and so we finally left without getting to see that, but it was a lot of fun and didn't cost much, although if we had eaten there I could see that racking up some cost!

Summer Fun

Well for us the summer has been shortened by the move and the fact that the kids go back to school here earlier than in Florida. All in all though we have tried to do some fun stuff for all of us and the kids. Last Sunday we went tubing, Savannah for the first time. I rode with her on the tube and she had a really good time, but by the end of once around the lake my arms ached from holding her up while holding on. The boys were their typical stuntman selves and loved getting thrown from the tube.

We have been to the zoo too and even though it has been scorching hot here, the kids still had fun. I'll wait to go back to the zoo though until it's a bit on the cooler side.

And then we had our family reunion up in Colorado. The kids played in streams, went fishing, climbed mountains and hung out with cousins, all in all it was a pretty good time.

So to recap, this summer we moved from Florida to Nebraska, unpacked a house, dealt with a house that has caused nothing but problems so far, met new neighbors, discovered fun stuff to do in Nebraska, Jaesen has been fishing many times, we went to Colorado for a week, hung out with my Grandma who lives here, been tubing, to baseball games, gone to the zoo and to waterparks. I would say it's been a busy summer.

Jack Makes it to 7!

Somedays I think it's a miracle that this child has made it to 7. But, he is so funny. The kid who thought his chunky peanut butter had turkey bones in it, the little boy who called Dad, Nondy, for years. The crazy soccer player who scored over 25 goals last season. The child who cut the whole front of his hair off to avoid a haircut (no really he did and ended up entirely buzzed). The boy who is so full of life, to the point of popping out of his skin. You drive us crazy sometimes my son, but we love you oh so much and our lives would just be so calm without you in it. And how boring would that be? Happy Birthday Jack.

Our Trek From Florida to Nebraska

The thought of a move lately fills me with a sensation of dread. Not because I'm coming upon one, but because I just did a move, and I shiver to think of another in my future. Our last day in Florida was almost upon us. We had our U-haul trailer which we thought I would tow with my car-well that didn't happen, too much weight. So we switched out vehicles at 11pm. Not good because Jaesen had to reweigh the empty trailer so we could get reimbursed from the military. So we hook up the boat to my car and all was right with the world, it towed it around the neighborhood just fine. We packed up the U-haul until 2 am when I finally keeled over in the garage with fatigue. Off to bed we went and got up at 7 am to begin the 13 hour drive to Louisiana. Except we forgot to take out the computer desk. So we are kicking it apart and dragging it down the stairs. The screws were still in place though and I ended up with screws through both hands, my new shorts and shirt and blood dripping all over. As we start the drive out of our neighborhood at 10 am, Jaesen says my lights aren't working on the trailer. We troubleshoot for an hour and I finally say we need to get started or we'll never go. I had no brake lights on the trailer and no running lights on my car thanks to U-haul screwing up the electrical wiring in my car. When we pulled into Monroe at midnight (1 am our time) we were on our last legs and thankful for no tickets. The next day Jaesen and his brother spent the whole day trying to fix the wiring, replace tires on the trailer (yes they were bald on the inside-don't even ask!) At one point, there were 4 men outside working on my car and Jaesen's ears just became more and more red as the day wore on. The next day we didn't get our early start as we were waiting on Jaesen to return from the U-Haul dealership with my car in working order. Finally on our way again we were excited when we finally pulled into Joplin, Missouri that night. After getting the animals settled (oh yes, did I neglect to mention in addition to my 3 kids, we had 2 dogs and one cat travelling with us?) we walked across the street to Ruby Tuesday. Once settled, Savannah said she didn't feel good. I took her to the bathroom and found she was burning up with fever. I got her back to the table and held her in my lap. She burped once and proceeded to pull an Exorcist move and violently puke all over her, me, the chair, the floor. And although she kept throwing up on me, she was extremely distraught about getting me dirty. Thank the Lord, there were only 3 other tables in the whole restaurant. I got her back to the hotel and washed her up and got her to bed, then hand washed all our clothes. The next day was the push to Omaha, and I can't tell you how ready we were to get here and not be in a car anymore with kids or animals. When we arrived my Mom was at our house, with food, drinks and more importantly, WINE and MARGARITAS!!!! Both of which I desperately needed. If I could have worn one of those beer hats with the straw coming out of the drinks I would have. All seemed great, we were at least here, no more driving. Then the air conditioning broke on the same day as the movers were here and Jaesen's best friend decided to stay here with his 3 kids. Not sure what he was thinking. David if you are reading this, you are a brave one for sleeping in the basement with 6 kids. Once we got the a/c fixed the disposal quit. Once we got that fixed the brand new washing machine quit. Once we got that fixed, the outdoor faucet snapped and we had the water shut off to our house for almost a full day. To say it has been an adventure would be an understatement. During all that time I have still had to find time for 2 classes and papers. To say that the papers are not my best would be an understatement, I was happy to just get a grade on them. Today was Jaesen's first day at work and things are beginning to calm down which is a nice change. And although we still have stuff to get done, all the boxes are gone except for the ones the kids begged us to keep. Now it's time for a deep breath and the next challenge-Jack's 7th birthday (for this special occasion he decided to shear off the front of his hair so we had to go get him buzzed! But that is another story for another day)

And Savannah is finally Baptized!

Well finally! It's hard to have folks in the military be your kids godparents. Between both of the guys deployments, the freak trip to Haiti for Jaesen (when the original baptism was going to take place) and us moving in two weeks, we finally had a now 3 1/2 year old Savannah Grace baptized by the Chaplain on NAS Jacksonville. In a somewhat somber note, her baptism was moved to an earlier time due to an "angel flight" coming home. A Marine Corps LCPL was killed in action in Afghanistan and was being flown home. His parents were due at church at 9, our baptism started at 830, we made it out of there just in the nick of time. Savannah did great, although like every other child, freaked out with the water being poured on her head. Her godparents (and godsister Brittany) gave her a beautiful little cross which she virtually refuses to remove. She looked like a little princess in her dress and we were just so happy to have the whole ceremony completed. And on a separate note, I do have to say that wow, we sure do clean up nice!

Savannah's New Bike

Well technically we have had the bike for about 2 weeks now, but she does love it so. We went to three different stores to find her the right size bike and it just so happened to be a Hello Kitty bike. She took to it like a duck to water and had no problem figuring out how to work it riding around Walmart with ease, even steering with no help. I have to say it was impressive, the boys both had a bit of a problem figuring it out when they went to big kid bikes from trikes, but not Miss Savannah. So everyday now we are outside watching her go to and fro and fro and to. Unfortunately, she has been watching her older brothers and is flying down driveways now, trying to make the turn to fast leading to a lot of skinned knees. But then again, she is a super tough girl, after all with Tristan and Jack she has to be.

Kids Triathlon 2010

I just have to say that I couldn't have been a more proud mama than I was today. These two boys gave this race their all. I wasn't thinking that Jack was going to be very competitive about it, he had not talked about it really and was so nonchalant I was wondering if he even realized he was going to be in a race. But when he got into the pool he kicked it into high gear and was amazing. He rode the bike great and ran like a madman. Tristan was more competitive about it all and he did awesome in the pool, passing folks, the bike was his slow part (wouldn't have figured that) and then he did an amazing all out sprint for his run. They both got medals, ice cream, bagels and were so proud of themselves. Meanwhile, to get all the photos, Jaesen and I each ran about a 5K and I did mine with Savannah in my arms for a lot of it. We both were drenched with sweat by the end of the race and needed a break too! Jack came in 11th in his age group and I will have to wait for the race results to be posted online to find out where Tristan fell in his age group because the picture was too blurry to read of his race results. It was an incredible day and we literally all came home and fell asleep! Way to go boys, we are so proud of you!

Halfway Through April

Holy Smokes, where is the year going already? Didn't we just celebrate Christmas? Well we are now halfway through the soccer season and both boys are doing fantastic. Tristan's skills are really coming along and those little legs are getting ahold of that ball with some power now. He typically plays defense and as long as he keeps his eye on that ball, he is pretty much a brick wall back there. Jack has been a scoring power house this year and his kicks can rival his brother's so watch out in the next couple of years. Savannah on the other hand may have the best skill set of any 3 year old I have seen and will probably kick her brother's butts here in a couple of years. Meanwhile, she just runs around dribbling the ball and looking cute. We are also in the full throes of getting ready for the next move, this time to Omaha, Nebraska, corn country. We went out on Spring Break, stayed with my folks and finally found a house, we are hoping to bring the caravan in to our new house by June 19th. Other newsworthy items, Jack has lost two teeth, Savannah thinks she has lost teeth, Merlin protected the house from a snake, Tristan is in full science fair project mode and Jaesen has an order for his custom fishing rod business. So it's pretty busy around here. I am still training for my first triathlon and the boys run a kids triathlon May 2nd, we can' wait!

Jack Lost His First Tooth

I walked in Wednesday morning from work to the excited squeals from Jack, "Mom, Mom, guess what? I lost a tooth!" This poor tooth has been loose for so long I wasn't sure if the kid had actually superglued it in (which I wouldn't put past Jack) but alas whether glued or not, it finally popped out. That poor kid has watched enviously as his brother has racked up the dollars for all his teeth and we had caught him several times just trying to wiggle random teeth in his mouth. It's hard to convince a kid that eventually they will all fall out on their own and he'll be just as gappy and just as rich as his big brother. It was with great pride that he came and told me this morning that the tooth fairy had left him $2. That was weird I thought, as I was pretty sure that the tooth fairy gives a 5 spot for the first tooth. Well that had been deposited already into his little pouch and he had found a random $2 somewhere of which he was pretty excited. I'm not sure whether that means he thinks he got 7 in which case he will be extremely upset when the next tooth yields far less or does he think he really got $2 in which case he will be excited since that is about the standard for a tooth in this house. Guess we'll find out when the next falls out, he's already been seen wiggling the tooth next to the hole.

And Soccer Season Begins Anew.....

Jack had his first game on Saturday and he must have been far too superior to the other kids his age because the other team failed to show up. Actually it was a stupid coach, but might as well let the kid think he psyched out the other players. Actually, if we could just keep him off the ground he would be one of the better players in his whole age group. But that Jack likes his theatrics and puts his whole body into play. So the big treat of his game was actually the donuts we brought for after the game. The kids were ecstatic to be able to choose from 4 types of donuts, even though they only scrimmaged for 30 minutes instead of whole game. You know sometimes it's all about the donuts!

A New Medical Breakthrough.....Frosted Flakes!

Our exciting news began at 6:00 in the morning on Friday. Jack, woke me up, standing bedside, "Mom, I have a bump on my lip and it really, really hurts." Me being in no real sort of mind to any nursing heroics, "Jack when it gets light out I will look at it until then you need to get back to bed." Apparently he was also hungry because he just mumbled something about grabbing a quick bite before trying to tuck back in. I heard the cereal being poured, the refrigerator being opened and closed and the sounds associated with a kid getting a bowl of cereal. Good I thought and I snuggled back down into the comforter for hopefully another 30 or 40 minutes of sleep. No, that wasn't in the cards. Jack came back about 10 minutes later apparently refreshed from his two bowls of cereal and tucked right back in next to me, his cold toes curling around my warm leg. "Mom" he whispered, "my lip is okay. Did you know you can use frosted flakes?" For what I was thinking. Jack answered my unasked question. "I just pushed a frosted flake onto the bump really hard and it went away. It's all settled now." Then he rolled over to start a twitching cycle which eventually led to me finally getting up to get a cup of coffee. Now everytime I look at the box of cereal in the pantry I will wonder, what else can it cure?

What a Week!

Well the last week has just been "one" of "those" weeks. You know, the kind that you would like to drink to forget, or forget before it happened. It started off innocently enough, just posing as a regular Monday, other than the fact that it was a holiday which always puts a bit of a crimp into my sleep schedule as I am working nights. Fortunately, Jaesen was actually home, and no he actually didn't have to work, I'm not sure how those stars aligned but they did, so he took over the parental duties. Then Jack decided to shave himself. Not bald exactly, but he did shave about half the hair off his arms and legs. We got off lucky since it's winter most people won't see that and he should be all grown out in another week or so. This of course led to another discussion of not touching razors and why we don't shave unless we are professional swimmers, or Mom. This must have displeased him because his behavior took a downward spiral and his brother got caught in the current and swirled down with him. The two of them finally drove us so crazy with the fighting that Jaesen went Marine Corps on Jack and I actually felt like I was back at OCS. I had to catch myself before I started walking on the right side of the hallway with my fists clenched at my sides. He lost all of his stuffed animals and still had problems. It all culminated in a slapping match in my car and I finally lost it. Jaesen grounded them for the whole entire weekend to include no Pinewood Derby race. When he said that my head snapped around, I mean I love doing the whole derby car cub scout race. Tristan naturally burst into tears and Jack sat in stunned disbelief, staring at us like we had suddenly grown extra feet. So in addition to punishing them, we got to punish us, no derby cars which we had worked so hard on, grounded to room which meant that they had to actually be in the same room with each other the whole weekend and we had to be with them the whole weekend too. Not altogether pleasant when they are driving to want to drink the whole entire contents of your wine refrigerator. The bonus, I got a clean car, the house is looking good and they finally started to act civil to each other, well at least for 20 minutes out of every hour. I am so glad this week is over and we can move on, I can only hope that we move up and not down from here because I can't stand to be cooped up indoors with my kids for another week. I learned that we are all a bit better if we all have our own space.......to space, to wine, and to the kids getting along.....okay maybe just the space and the wine.

The Circus is in Town

The Greatest Show on Earth, and it was. The kids had Friday off of school and rather than sit idle I up and bought us tickets to the zoo. I can't even remember the last time I went and only Tristan has ever been before so I figured it would be a great adventure. One of the coolest things that Ringling Bros does now is allow folks to come down onto the main floor before the circus starts and get up close and personal with their performers and animals. We started off by getting our hands tattooed with their trademark phrase. Then we saw stilt walkers, jugglers, clowns, horses, llamas, dogs, trapeze artists, got to try on ringmaster jackets and pretty much have a great time before the show even began. I was torn between 3 things being my favorite. I love the elephants, there were also these great trampoline performers-up to 10 guys on the trampolines at the same time. And I loved the Torres Family dirt bikers. They (all 7 of them) rode their bikes in a metal sphere, it was really cool. Savannah also loved the elephants, Jack's favorite thing was the juggling clowns and Tristan liked the tigers and the dirt bikes. We had a ball and I tried not to think too hard about the fact that I paid $12 for a bag of spun sugar (yes really, $12, I couldn't believe it, but it was good), $9 for a box of stale popcorn and then other assorted snacks and drinks. We had a great time and for a couple of hours were dazzled by the Greatest Show On Earth. Thanks Ringling Bros.