all hail the fire pig!

Sometimes I wish that it was required for kids to get permission from their parents before being allowed to grow up. There's always that certain age or stage that a parent will be like, "Oh, I wish they'd stay like this forever!" On the other hand, it's fun to see the progress and accomplishment kids have conquered.

Such is the life of my Fire Pig. Jeff turns 9 years old today and I swear it seems just like yesterday that we were trying to wean him off of his binky.

In true family tradition today was all about our Fire Pig; Scott even took the day off! First up, was breakfast at IHOP (the kids really love that place!) and a stack of red velvet pancakes. After we stuffed ourselves silly, we went home to shake off the food coma creeping in. Jeff played some Destiny with Scott and Ethan, and Vanessa and I just hung out, doing our own thing.

For lunch, we picked up 'Ama (Scott's mom) and headed over to Kneaders. The kids call her 'Ama because when Ryan was little he couldn't pronounce "grandma" properly and stuck with 'Ama; the rest of the Crack Monkeys just followed his lead. It was nice to catch up and hear what's been going on with her, as well as have her and the kids spend some time together.

We also went back to her house where chatted for a bit more (and Jeff climbed her pear tree) before getting back home.

Ryan had a lacrosse game this afternoon, and since it was close to where Jeff wanted to have his birthday dinner (Texas Roadhouse), we forced them all to go to the game, ha. I don't think they'd want to go to another game on their own, but I don't think they had a terrible time either. Ethan even asked a few questions about the game so I don't think it was all that bad.

The day's festivities ended with dinner at Texas Roadhouse (Jeff really wanted some BBQ ribs) and then an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. By then, everyone was still stuffed, so we sang to Jeff and he had a slice.

9 Things I love About Jeff

  1. He still loves to snuggle with me.
  2. He likes to play board games with me.
  3. He makes friends so easily.
  4. He's kind and softhearted.
  5. He's still attached to his dad.
  6. He's witty and sarcastic and some of things he says really cracks me up!
  7. He loves animals, especially our 2 dogs.
  8. He loves his siblings, even though he drives them crazy most of the time.
  9. He loves family time.

eleanor

After Scott's car accident almost 3 years ago (an SUV ran a red light and Scott smashed right into its side, totaling his car), we became a one-car family. For the most part, it wasn't a big deal; Scott got a discounted TRAX/bus pass from work and we lived really close to the bus stop and TRAX station. Some days were harder to maneuver when the kids' activities overlapped or when Scott had some side job consulting, but we managed.

During this time, we started to set aside some money for a new car. We decided we wanted to pay cash for it like we did for the Armada and liked the fact that we didn't have a car payment. We also did research on the different cars we liked, which was a big requirement considering Scott is the research guy and likes to make sure he's making a good decision on something this big.

Today we became a two-car family again. There were a few hang-ups trying to finalize everything, but we finally brought our car home.

Since the kids were little, we've named our cars: our Armada is RC (from the original Transformers), Scott's car before the accident was Jet Fire, our old Grand Caravan was Princess Cheetohs (Ryan was 3 when he named her), and the car we had when we first were married was Scruffy. This time, I got to name her.

Say hello to Eleanor!

Yes, yes. I know Eleanor is a Shelby Mustang GT500 (Gone In 60 Seconds, one of my favorite movies), but since I will never obtain a beautiful piece of machinery like that, I've decided that this car IS my Eleanor; she's the closest to new that we've ever owned (2015) and she really is a beautiful car.

I really am grateful to have a second car.

It definitely makes life just a little bit easier and wouldn't want that?

Ryan's been itching to take her for a spin, but the farthest I've let him drive is down to the end of the street, ha. Yes, I am a mean mom. But, he has Daphne, so he'll be okay.

Although, I'm not looking forward to our new car insurance payment now that we have 3 cars. Yikes!