May 29, 2013

Wednesday

We left the hotel and headed out. I think we were all starting to get tired of driving. I thought we made more pit stops for fuel and bathroom every 3 hours. But maybe it helped just to get everyone out of the van and move around a little bit.

We did pass a spot in KY, the Vernon exit, that brought back some memories. A few years ago we hit a wicked pothole in our RV coming out of Cincinnati. It broke our hydrolic pump. We took the Vernon exit, went left across the bridge, then the first right off the main rd and pulled over on the side of the road and stopped. There happened to be a CAT dealer/shop to our right. Tom talked to them and they looked at the RV and ordered the parts we needed.

Tom rented a minivan to get the band to Nashville where they were supposed to be to record the vocals for a cd they were working on. The little boys and I stayed at the rv two nights. There were two gas stations close but I never needed to go out. Tom left the big kids in Nashville and came back for us. The part came in but it was the wrong one so we had to wait another day for the right one.

We called up a fan who lived 1/2 hour away in Carrolton, KY. We drove the rental car and met him for pizza that night. The following day the part came in and the guy had it fixed in about 10 minutes.

Anyways, that all happened a few years ago. Now back to the now.

We stopped at our first Tim Horton's of the trip. Donuts and coffee. What could be better than that?

We made it to my mom and dad's south of Buffalo, NY about midnight. My parents had gotten there one day before us, also traveling from FL, and their water pump wasn't working. My dad had just finished installing a new one right before we arrived.

It was a long 13 hour drive and we were tired out again.

May 28, 2013

Tuesday

A little sad, but we knew it was coming, it was time to leave Jack's house. We packed all our stuff back into the van and trailer, then the people, and headed out. We had an easier travel day since we were headed to Murfreesboro, TN, which is south of Nashville and only an 8 hour drive.

We checked into our three hotel rooms and then went to a Mexican restaurant to eat with our nephew Mike and his girlfriend Brittany. Steve Gallagher also joined us. Ben is sponsored by Gallagher Guitars out of Wartrace, TN. It was good to see them and to eat.

After supper we went to Mike and Brittany's to hang out and watch hockey. Brittany's mom was super nice. She played with Jake and Callie and they had a blast. Tom took most of us back to the hotel. A few boys stayed longer to play NHL 12 (video games), and Mike brought them back to the hotel. We were one wore out bunch.

May 27, 2013

Monday

Another relaxing morning swimming and reading, lunch, then off to our gig at AJ's in Destin, FL. Jake was super cute on stage. He started clapping his hands over his head to get the crowd clapping. Callie fell asleep on me and slept for 2 hours so I couldn't move. By the end of the show, we were just all tired and a little touchy. We were all happy to go back to Jack's house, eat some leftovers, and soak in the hot tub before going to bed.

May 26, 2013

Sunday

Some of the family went to church this morning. I stayed home, swam in the pool, read, and relaxed. The time just went too fast.

Our hosts fed us lunch and we left for our gig at Baytowne Wharf. There were a bunch of little shops and some fun things for the kids; a bungy jumping thing, a rock climbing wall, another rope climbing thing, and a zip line. The boys had a blast. There were a ton of people, lots of families, and the kids put on a great show. A minute after we ended there were fireworks. We were on the road about 10:30 PM and picked up pizza from Dominoes.

May 25, 2013

Saturday

We planned to leave this morning at 5 AM and left at 5:30. Not too bad. Tom and Ed forgot the GPS and the FL Sunpass device and poor Kurt forgot his IPad. It was a 13 hour drive. We had no problems. We ate from a cooler and had ice water in a 5 gallon water cooler. We made it to Jack and Candice's at 6:00 PM central time. We went swimming in their awesome pool and they fed us dinner. There were 5 bedrooms and two apartments for us. Everyone slept in a bed.

May 24, 2013

Friday

Today was packing day for our trip. It wasn't too bad. We are traveling in our 15 passenger van towing our trailer. It's the first time traveling like this. We used to travel in an RV but we sold it a few months ago.

The boys weren't very helpful packing. They sat around acting like they had all the time in the world. We wanted the van and trailer packed before they went to bed so we could leave easily at 5 AM. We were finally done at midnight.

May 23, 2013

I walked to Winn-Dixie this morning and bought yogurt, strawberries and 1/2 a watermelon. Nina and I took some of the kids to a friend's house to swim. It was wonderful AND they fed the kids Popsicles!

I know I was busy but can't think what I did. I did some school work with Charlie and chopped up a salad. I finally sewed the buttons on Callie's smocked crab dress. Ben drove us to Schooners. We stopped at Fritz's house and picked up part of our new sound system.

The gig was fun because Billy and Zona were there and they sat with me. There was a fun crowd and the night went by quickly.

We drove by two accidents on the way home (around 1 AM). The 2nd one was a pedestrian hit and killed in the road. :0(

There's much to do tomorrow: planning, packing, cleaning, cleaning out the fridge, laundry. If I'm good can I go swimming again? We are leaving early Saturday morning, 15 of us in the van for a 13 hour ride. That's the first leg of our trip. Adventure!

May 22, 2013

I was ready to walk this morning. I even had my sneakers on when Tom started talking taxes and ruined my morning. I pulled out more boxes and never made it out. The boys started their schoolwork. I made a double batch of granola, ground some wheat berries, made bread, and made my own Larabars.

Ed and I ate a salad, beans, and strawberries and mango. Then we went to church. After church, some of the boys stayed to play basketball. Ed, Nina, Ang, and I went to Winn-Dixie. I bought almond milk and toothpaste. Two people knew me. I'm famous!!

When we got home I finished making chicken salad and baked the bread.

May 21, 2013

I went walking with Joe this morning. I tried to get Tommy to come too but he wouldn't. We did a few chores and then left for Gym Class in Marathon. Ang came with her kids and Connie and Carly came with us too. Joe, Naomi, and Ian came also. The older boys went to the studio. Ang and Joe walked over to Fisherman's Hospital to try to get Joe some financial aid.

Tommy and Shannon went to lessons when we got back. I worked on taxes from about 3 to 7. Then all the kids went to the park to play hockey. I ordered pizzas and made a giant salad. Rob brought donuts so the meal was complete. The boys watched hockey and I retired to my room. I read Charlie 2 books, showered, and went to bed.

May 20, 2013

Worked on our taxes today till we left for our gig. I've read two books on accounting and still wish I knew what I was doing. I need bookkeeping skills.

Had to listen to Tom lecture the whole way home. Blah blah blah. Ugh!!! Good grief!

May 18-19, 2013

Friday May 19

I got early to go with TJ, Ang, Ed, and Nina to Blue Heaven. Had a relaxing morning afternoon. TJ dropped Ed, Nina, and I off at Hogfish for our evening gig. Then he picked up his kids from the sitters, dropped them off at home, and then the rest of the band drove back to Key West. The night ended with a fight in the parking lot. How exciting.

Saturday May 17

I started organizing our files to do our taxes while we are in NY. I rode with Kim up to Salty's for our gig. A few homeschool mom's and kids came. It was a fun evening.

Sunday May 19

The kids led worship today. Tom took Garrett to KW for a roller hockey play-off game. Garrett's team won the championship in overtime. How exciting for him.

After church I worked on the files a little more. Then I took Joe, Tommy, Charlie, Bobby, and Shannon swimming at our friend's house again. When we got home the boys got ready for hockey. Garrett and I went to Winn-Dixie for ice cream fixings and rolls. I made chicken salad with leftover chicken from church. There were a lot of people here: Tom, me, Ed, Joe, Ben, Garrett, Tommy, Charlie, Nina, Naomi, Aaron, Ian, Rob, Bobby, and Shannon. Diana and Toko stopped in to pick up some of their kids. I cleaned up a little, delegated the rest, and withdrew to my room.

May 17, 2013

The days are flying by. I wish things would slow down. We took Joe to a Doctor's appt this morning and Tom did a few jobs on the way home. We did school. We are getting close to a three to four week break. I'm looking forward to that.

TJ and Ang had a gig at Blue Heaven tonight, so I watched the kids. They both took naps at the same time. That's never happened to me before. I needed it too. I had a lot of veggies to cut up.

Spent a lot of time in the kitchen today. I'm tired of standing. Rob came up for hockey. We ate supper at 9. That's the norm when we are home. I did the dishes about 11 and Garrett dried for me.

May 15, 2013

I walked this morning. I went down to the end of Ave H to see where Denise lives and I think I found it. :0)

Mrs. Catana helped to get us a Dr. appointment for Joe. I called and they are squeezing him in tomorrow morning. I am thankful and hopeful.

Spent the afternoon doing school and food prep. I'm planning to do science and art during the summer, oh, and the beach too! Bahia Honda State Park is about 10 minutes from our house and I want to go more often. We still need to find a second kayak.

Went to church in the evening. The boys stayed to play basketball with Doug. Kim, Tom, and I stopped at Walgreens. We bought stuff for Joe to check his sugar, chocolate, and a fan for Tommy's bed.

Kim hung out at our house for a while. I had to make two beds in the bunk room and Joe made one. I strongly dislike making bunk beds. Single beds on the floor would be so much easier.

I got to talk to a friend on the phone before I went to bed. Thank you Irene! Hugs :0)

May 14, 2013

Tuesday

I went down to the hot tub this morning. I was in for just a few minutes when Angelica came in and said Joe was having a seizure in bed. Tom told me to stay there and he went up and helped Joe. It has been 2 months and 1 week since his last seizure. He wasn't feeling well last night at our gig and had a headache when he went to bed.

That threw the morning off a bit. We rushed off to gym class at 12:30. Had a relaxing visit with some moms. Hurried home to get Tommy to his guitar lesson on time. Ate some lunch, leftover salad and soup (at 3:30). I went over math with Garrett and Tommy and started to think about supper. They did history and vocab on their own.

The boys left for the park to play hockey and I left for Winn-Dixie. I decided to make spaghetti for supper. I saw Sahara's grandfather, Ron, in the parking lot and got to chat for a few minutes. I haven't seen them in while and it was nice to visit.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig. I carried 9 bags up the stairs in one trip! Then had to make it fit in the fridge. There's never enough room. I made the spaghetti, chopped the salad, and cut up two small watermelons and two cantaloupes which they devoured as soon as they walked in the door. Rob was here for hockey, supper, and coffee.

The big kids went to the studio. I did dishes and shooed the rest to bed.

May 13, 2013

Monday

I walked to Walgreens this morning. We did chores and school. I made leek and potato soup and a salad and ate them on the way to Sloppy's.

On the way home we stopped at Rob's to catch the end of the Boston hockey game and ate ice cream and popcicles.

May 10 & 11, 2013

I spent Friday sewing while the boys did their schoolwork. I hemmed my dress, took in Angelica's dress, added straps to Naomi's and fixed her zipper, and altered Ben's vest.

The band played at Sunset Grill and I took the little boys to movie night at church.

Saturday

Today was Tom's birthday. I got him a new watch, with Kim and Doug's help, just like the one I got him when we got married. I gave it to him first thing in the morning.

We packed all our dress-up clothes (and swimsuits) in the trailer and headed out to Casa Marina for the Mel Fisher Investment Party. Nina took pictures of us all dressed up but I haven't seen them yet.

They were finishing the stage when we got there, and we got to watch the decorations go up, everything silver and sparkly. The flowers on the tables were gorgeous.

The kids swam in one of two pools. It was on the ocean with the beach right next to us with hammocks hanging from palm trees. Rob showed up with lots of fudge from Kilwin's, and I ate way too much. Jake and Charlie were super cute in their knickers, suspenders, and newsboy hats. Callie wore a pretty silver poofy dress in which she had a great time playing in the sand.

Angelica had a fever and didn't feel well. She did start to feel better after she took some medicine. Callie didn't get to play her piano because it got late and she fell asleep. I'm afraid it wasn't much fun for Angelica, but I'm glad she stayed.

The Newton's performed and Liza too. It was a fun night and we all went home exhausted.

May 9, 2013

Thursday

Another school day and another day of no chores makes for a trashed house. I didn't make it to the beach.

Tom made a bed frame for TJ and Ang. Now their bed is like a fort, up off the floor. I watched Jake and Callie for a while, while TJ and Ang went on errands. I did more beading on my dress.

When the boys went to play hockey, I rode my bike 3 miles to Kim's house. She fed me dinner and I helped her with the hem of her dress and finished the beading on mine. Now tomorrow I have to hem mine.

Tom picked me and my bike up around 10:30 PM. I didn't want to ride home in the dark. I would not like to get my first ticket for riding a bike without lights at night. I've never gotten a ticket and don't want to.

When I got home I found that Ben had loaded and started the dishwasher. He hadn't washed the rest of the dishes so I did those. I read "Sweet Betsy from Pike" to Charlie, it's one of my favorites and called it a day.

May 8, 2013

First thing to do today was to drive to Winn-Dixie for soy and almond milk, and bread. Denise picked me up at noon and we went to Marathon. We walked the old bridge out to Pigeon Key, 3 miles there and back. We had a little picnic lunch on the bridge. We saw some huge tarpon. Denise thought the biggest one might have been 9 feet long. It was a gorgeous day.

Once home I barely had time for a shower and we were off to our gig at Salty's. The food was great. The weather was perfect, and the music was superb! Jake rocked out and sang "I Love Rock n Roll."

I finished Callie's dress yesterday but didn't put up a pic so here it is.
I'm thinking of sneaking off to the beach by myself tomorrow. ( Don't tell anyone).

May 7, 2013

Tuesday

TJ brought up the kids this morning for me to watch. He, Ang, and Nina had a gig at Schooner Wharf from 12 noon to 5 PM. Aaron, Ian, and Ariel were here too.

After breakfast was through, we started to get ready to leave for homeschool PE. I took 4 Doerfel kids, 3 Newtons, and 2 grand kids. I'm so glad Joe went with us to help me keep an eye on everyone. It was also fun to hang out with the other moms.

When we got home the kids were all crazy, in and out the door. Everyone was hungry. We started out with apples and peanut butter and then had spaghetti. When Ben finally got home, he watched all the kids so I could go pick up our produce. Then I had to put it all away.

There was no time to make supper or even make a plan for supper. I cooked some carrots for me and cooked beans for tomorrow. Some of the older kids went to a youth group in Key West. Doug stopped in after Tommy's guitar lesson. He filmed Charlie and me for a video he is making.

Tom, Ben, Garrett, Tommy, and Jake went to the park to play hockey. I sewed the buttons on Callie's white dress. It's done! But still needs two snaps sewn on. Then I started sewing beads on my dress. I'm starting to like it. It needs to be done by Saturday.

I made Tom popcorn. He watched hockey. I read to Tommy and Charlie and went to bed.

May 7th 2013

hey! check out this video from in the studio!
its a song we've been working on and its not done yet but give it a look and listen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XT0TpeU1pU

May 5, 2013

Went to church. The band sure was whooped after two late nights at the Hurricane and had a hard time getting up.

I had a great, relaxing, slow day! I cleaned up my clothes shelf in my closet. It was a mess. Not any more. :0) I cut the liners out of some new camis I bought. I practiced classical guitar. (I haven't done that in about a year). I practiced flute, a little classical and a little jazz.

TJ set up a kiddie pool out on the porch. He watched the kids, including Charlie. They had a blast. Callie loved it. We also have a mist-er out there. I might move my lounge chair up from the screened in porch to poolside. Haha!

TJ, Joe, Ed, Ben, Kurt, and Aaron played hockey in Key West. I actually had time to sit in my chair and read. I made pasta with a vegetable sauce and asparagus for supper. Then I finished off the banana bread that Angelica brought me from Blue Heaven on Friday.

This week I have to finish Callie's dress and do some beading on my dress. My dress also needs to be shortened and hemmed.

I don't like how our schedule works in May. I want to finish up school and I need to get stuff ready to do our taxes. Also, I need to get ready for a three week trip the end of May. I don't think I can do all that. We might have to do some schoolwork in June when we get back.

May 4, 2012

I walked to Winn-Dixie this morning for berries. I bought raspberries, blueberries, and apples. I was supposed to buy coffee creamer for Tom's coffee but I forgot it.

I cleaned my bathroom and did the dishes. Chores were done. I rode my bike over to Kim's (3 miles) to help her with the fitting of her dress for the Mel Fisher party on May 11. Her dress is 17th century aristocracy.

After I rode home I made tacos with last nights leftovers. I finally cleaned off my desk and cleaned half my closet. Then it was time to go to the Hurricane.

Kids were argumentative on the ride. I'm trying to teach them to give each other some slack and not jump all over someone for every dumb little thing.

I'm so thankful that I got to go home early (11pm) with Kim and the little boys. We ate some strawberries and whipped cream and some banana bread and went to bed.

May 3, 2013

Friday

TJ woke me up at 8:30 am to watch the kids while they went to play at Blue Heaven. I was going to go but decided not to since I had just gone last week. I also knew that he and Angelica were going to play there again this evening and they would need me to babysit. So it was just easier for everyone if I stayed home.

Bobby went to work with Tom. He is training to do Tom's job. I did school. Ben and Kurt went to the studio.

The Blue Heaven crew came back. They brought me banana bread! :0) Nina took a nap. I think Ed worked on editing the talent show video some more. Then they were all off to their gigs, TJ and Angelica back to Blue Heaven and everyone else to the Hurricane. I got to stay home with the little ones. I finished all the machine sewing on Callie's dress, and did the buttonholes on this dress and the crab dress. Tomorrow sew on buttons and finish the embroidery. And clean out my closet and clean off my desk. I also want to go through my fabric stash. I would like to get rid of half of it. It's been stored in a closet for a year and I haven't touched it. No time for anything these days.

I made tacos for supper out of black beans, onions, a carrot, mushrooms, and spices. I made a giant salad too. There are leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. I also ordered 2 pizzas at 9:30 and I ate only one piece.

May 2, 2013

I talked Ed and Nina into walking with me to CVS. I needed printer paper, shampoo, and a hairbrush. I've bought myself three hairbrushes in the last year, but there is a hairbrush thief that sneaks in during the night. But it was a good walk, 2 miles.

I made banana muffins for everyone, and added chopped mangoes to half the batter. I like mangoes, can you tell?

We did chores. Ben folded laundry. I gathered the skirt of Callie's dress and attached it to the bodice. I also sewed on crocheted lace that Kim made a few years ago.

Cameron's mom picked him up and it rained cats and dogs right when she got there. Parts of Key West were flooded. TJ and Ang's gig at Blue Heaven was cancelled.

We took two vehicles to Schooner. Ed's van had to drop off Jaden, pick up Naomi and Aaron, and meet us at Schooner Wharf. Then Ben took that van to Sahara's fashion show.

The Newton's did the first set for us, with Ed, Kurt, and TJ, and they did a super job! Ben finally showed up and finished out the set. I did embroidery almost the whole time. Callie's dress is almost done.

May 1, 2013

Wednesday

I spent my morning reading. Ed's tooth bled all over 2 pillows. One was brand new. :0( We did some schoolwork and I finally cooked the giant pig that a super-fan gave us as a gift. It cooked for 6 hours. I made rice and Coconut Spicy Black Beans to go with it. I should have cut up some mango but didn't have time. I will do it for lunch tomorrow.

I sewed the bodice of Callie's white embroidered dress. We went to church. Ed and Nina worked on the editing of the talent show DVD while I embroidered Callie's dress. I got my flute out today but never got to practice. Maybe tomorrow. We had two friends come over to spend the night, Jaden and Cameron.