It's Over Finally!!!

Well if you've been checking out the blog you'll notice not much has happened since March. That's not true, we've had a ton going on and that is one of the reasons the blog has not had much attention. I'll really try to update soon with what we've been up to. The biggest thing for me though has been training and actually doing Ride The Rockies. It was a lot of time training and riding all spring, okay when I was on sabbatical, but very difficult once I was back to work. Well we accomplished our goal of completing the ride. Fast Eddie, Kyle, and I are pictured here at the finish line after 380 miles in 6 days, 3 mountain passes (Independence Pass over 12,000 feet). We pretty much stayed together the whole time and the only time we were seperated dad crashed (was run over) on the way down Independence pass. His yearly bike accident was less severe than last year, but he was pretty lucky to escape with only a badly scraped up knee. A riding medic who was an ER doc watched him go down and bandaged him up and he rode the rest of the way in. His bike needed a new derailure but the guys at the bike doctor tent (our local shop) gave him a great deal and did the work for free. We also have to mention mom who took the week off of work and drove our own personal SAG vehicle encouraging and feeding us along the way. She also got us hotels every night but Aspen, so we didn't have to be in our tents. YEAH!!! Very sore butts, and hours upon hours in the saddle (6 hours and 53 minutes on Day 2) were some of the rough parts but for the most part it was a lot of fun and it was great seeing Sonya the kids, grandma Hommes, Papa and Grandma VanStelle, and Auntie Dana waiting for us at the finish line. Will we do it again, probably not next year, but when Uncle Kev wants to do it we'll probably have to make another run at it. If you want more details on the ride, I'll post some of the specifics and stats on my other blog. Also stay tuned for what has been keeping the rest of the Hommes family busy this spring and early summer.

Pinewood Derby Fun

Well we've reached that pivotal point in every boys life where it is time to build a pinewood derby race car. All the pioneer boys and girls 1st grade and up build cars at church. It is really cool because 2 weeks before the races they have a craft night where all the woodworking guys from the church bring fancy saws, sanders, and tools to help the kids build the cars they want to build. Unfortunately, we weren't there for craft night and last week Wednesday we were handed a block of wood, and told the race was the following Wednesday. We went to work right away building a "fast, cool" car (these were Connor's only requests). Connor was a little aprehensive about the power tools, but he eventually figured out the palm sander and was doing great with that. He also loved the spray painting, I'm sure our car had the most paint out of every car there. During the building we had a small mishap with brother Dylan, he kept taking sand paper and (I thought) pretending to rub it on his chest and yell "I'm shaving, I'm shaving" Well turns out he wasn't pretending and that night at dinner he is in tears going crazy because he basically sanded all the skin off of his chest. I felt so bad, and wanted to laugh so hard all at the same time. He survived, and I don't think that will be a mistake he makes again.

Well last night at the races they do 3 heats where all the cars get to race once in each heat. That's it, no elimination, no winners or losers except for in the individual races. Connor's car got 2nd place in it's first heat, and 1st place in the next two heats. Each time a heat finished they would say "Connor Hommes has won the race." He was so excited and I have to admit it was a lot easier than trying to get excited about 3rd or 4th place, which is what I was gearing up for. It was tons of fun. Check out the pictures.

Last Wednesday

Well, last Wednesday our phone rings and the caller ID says Cherry Creek #5. That's Connor's school, whenever this happens it is always one of those heart skips a beat things. Did Connor get hurt, is he sick, in trouble, forget something? He's sometimes forgotten library books or left his lunch etc. This time I answered and it was the school social worker. (Not good) Basically, on Tuesday Connor had written the message to the left on the bathroom wall. A kid from another class came and told his teacher about it on Wednesday. When confronted Connor claimed that he didn't write it and that there are a lot of Connors and Parkers at the school. When told he had to go to the principals office he "refused" (his words). Once he finally arrived the principal and vice principal were doing classroom observation so he ended up in the school social workers office. At this point he began to cooperate, I think out of fear, and explained the whole story to her and helped her dial our phone number so she could call and explain what had happened to me. He then had to go and try to erase the note off the wall, which didn't work, and then had to write a apology to Mr. Tony the school maintenance man who would have to repaint the bathroom wall where Connor had written his note. He was then sent back to class for the remainder of the day (15 minutes) where he was probably living in fear of when his parents came to pick him up. I got off the phone and explained what had happened to Son, she never does really good with news that our kids have gotten in trouble, I think it makes her feel like a failure mom. She was obviously upset and we talked about what his punishment should be and that I wouldn't talk about it with him until we got home so it could be a 3 way conversation. When I got to school Connor played like nothing had happened, but when we got home and started the conversation he started bawling immediately. I mean graffiti the bathroom, get caught, clean it up, write a letter to the janitor, get a phone call home, heck of an emotional roller coaster for a 1st grader. Funniest part of the whole deal was later that night when we were talking about it, Son says I can't believe he had to go to the principal's office. And she asks me if I ever had to go to the principal's office. Uh, yeah. I asked if she had, and she has never been to the principal's office in all her years of school. I explained to her how these things happen, they will happen again, and she is not a failure mom because her kids (Dylan's trip to the preschool principal's office is a whole nother story) go to the principal's office. In Connor's defense he was sick, and tired, and was being held inside during recess for something he didn't do when this whole thing happened. He's been an angel at school ever since, (I think he wants his wii privileges back). At some point though I am going to have to have a conversation with him about, when you write on public property don't sign your name. :)

Birthday Fun

Today was my birthday, and we celebrated with breakfast of homeade cinnamon rolls, and my favorite egg casserole. I spent the morning at the gym while Son and the kids went to Bible Study. It was a lazy afternoon around the house and an amazing dinner that Son made capped off with a bicycle birthday cake. I've been a little bit into cycling lately training for the 380 mile ride the rockies this summer. I think Dylan picked up on this when he made Sonya make me the bike cake. It was a great day and we had tons of fun.

It looks like Dylan is my prom date the way he's posing with me.

Valentines Day

Well I noticed some pictures on my camera and wanted to update the blog about valentines day. We've spent the last few years on Valentines day doing dinner for our kids and trying to make it really special for them. This year though we were celebrating Fast Eddies 60th birthday that night, so we needed to do breakfast. The kids came down and found the kitchen decorated and we had heart shaped red pancakes. It was a ton of fun. And mom and dad actually got to go out on Valentines night.

For my dad's birthday we went to a cool place called Water 2 Wine which is a winery where they make wine, you have a wine tasting where you decide what kind of wine you will make. After we decided we made a batch (5 gallons) of white merlot it will be ready to be bottled as "Fast Eddie's '49 it was a good year" on March 31. After that we went to Joes Crabshack which was amazing. It was a ton of fun.

What is wrong with Maci?

The other day Maci comes into the living room after her nap, this is what she looks like. Well here in Colorado we're known for our dry climate, this year is no exception. Maci must have picked her nose or it just started bleeding while she was sleeping. She must have rubbed it all over her face and she was covered in dried blood. Two days later she came in our room in the morning, same thing only much worse, we didn't take time to get pictures we just cleaned her up. She said "I have the blood" when she saw herself in the mirror that time.

What we've been doing lately

So I've been on sabbatical since the 20th of January. It has been awesome getting to hang out with the family. We've kept pretty busy because Connor has also been off track. He goes to year round school so right now he is in the middle of about 3 1/2 weeks off of school. Here are some pictures of us at the Stock Show and Rodeo. Here is Denver they do a huge stock show every year in January. I don't know if everyone dresses western to go to the stock show but the Hommes' roll in style.

We've had some pretty unseasonal weather the past few weeks. It was 70 one day I think. So in the middle of January and February we've been spending lots of time going to the park, riding bikes, and going to the zoo. Auntie Dana took the day off work and we all went to the zoo. The weather was beautiful and we had tons of fun.

I love this picture, the grass through the glass makes Maci's hair look even more wild than it really is.

This past week Sunday through Thursday we went to the mountains, (Grand Lake) we stayed at Uncle Dan and Aunt Barb's amazing cabin. My Mom and Dad came up Sunday and stayed through Monday which was Dad's 60th birthday. We spent the day sledding and playing games and went out for dinner that night to celebrate. Tuesday was a big day we went skiing and we decided to take the whole family. That's right Maci, we don't have a babysitter up here, we know you're only 2 but you're going skiing. As we left the rental shop to drive to the ski area she kept saying "I want to go back to the cabin" When we got to the parking lot and got her boots on she pretty much cried the whole time, while we walked to the magic carpet, (you stand on it, and it brings you up the small hill next to the bunny hill) while Connor and Dylan rode the magic carpet to make sure they remembered how to ski, and even after Son and the boys went to the bunny hill and I was forcing her onto the magic carpet. At the top she was a little freaked out. I put her between my legs made her stand up and by the time we got to the bottom she was done crying and said. "I go again". Three times down the magic carpet run and she wanted to join Son and the boys on the bunny hill. We rode the lift, which she loved, and she skied down between my legs. She's a little to small to snowplow yet, so I had to hold onto her for speed, but she was balancing and skiing all on her own. Also, the boys did amazing, they are becoming great skiers. In a family of 5 on a two person lift that means someone has to ride alone. Connor was nervous the first time, but after that he didn't even wait for us. He'd fly past on his way down and yell down at us from the lift on the way up. Maci even made a run down the big mountain, between Sonya's legs while I was showing the boys how to hurt yourself in the terrain park. I knocked the wind out of myself pretty good falling off a rail, Dylan laughed and laughed, Connor got mad at him and wanted to make sure I was okay. Sonya wondered how they caught up with us. By the end of the day Connor and Dylan were riding the lift together without us. We really thought at the beginning of the day it was going to be a total disaster, but we didn't leave until the lifts closed. Literally Connor and Dylan got the last lift up just as they closed the gates at 4:00pm. It was an awesome day, and a great time in the mountains

There are more pictures on my facebook if you want to check them out.