Diet Coke and Mentos - Merry Christmas!

This very messy story started back at Thanksgiving. My very loving sister decided to purchase and wrap Advent gifts for each of the kids. Now, I knew I should have been worried when I heard Grant say, "Dasha, try some of this gum!" The twelve days of Christmas in our home brought gifts that exploded, made rude noises, or required a Hazmat team to clean up afterwards. Obviously, the kids completely loved the gifts and it was a great way to get them to roll out of bed each morning without shaking them or dumping cold water over their cute little faces! However, one of the last gifts was a little tube that fit on top of a Coke bottle and functioned as a little chute for a pack of Mentos. For anyone who has never seen MythBusters or read about exploding Mentos - Coke and Mentos don't mix! So, here's how we spent the day after Christmas, blowing Coke bottles up! (Please note that all of this went on while my sister took Dasha to the zoo. Ha ha! She just thought she was getting the easy job)! :) One day, she's going to have kids and I'm going to get my full revenge! Play dough, permanent markers, and toys that make wickedly loud noised (without an off switch) are going to top my list of gifts!

This is my sister and her little dog, Rosie.

After opening presents at Grandma's, Dasha decided to read everyone The Night Before Christmas.

Well, my time is up. Currently, the boys are in the garage clearing everything out so the contractors (definitely don't look like the YMCA boys) can start building Eric's new office. We've decided to go ahead and add a room to the back of the garage instead of trying to force two Randolph family members to co-habitate. This works great for some families but with the age differences between the kids, it's not going to work for us! Argh!

Happy New Year from the Randolph family!

Merry Christmas from the Randolph Family

Christmas Scavenger Hunt

I know that you'll have to click on the picture to see all of the details and captions but it's well worth it! Our Community Group (aka Sunday School class) participated in a Christmas scavenger hunt. We ended up going as boys vs. girls and to say the least, Woodstock never knew what hit them! From jumping on mattresses at Kohls and Mattress King to wearing Waffle House and Starbucks aprons, we all had a blast. I still believe the girls officially won despite some minor technicalities. Oh well. We had a great time!

Deck the Halls with Medieval Dudes

Decorating for Christmas has been slow going this year! Between my "fragile state" and Eric's traveling, we're taking the decorating one thing at a time! Maybe we'll have some ornaments on the tree before the 25th. However, this is Grant's attempt at putting a holiday touch on things! If you don't have boys, I'm not sure you can relate! Absolutely ANYTHING can be turned into a make-shift battle field. I'm quite used to finding GI Joes in my bathtub, under my desk, or lodged in the stone work around the fire place. My dad has even given Grant some old grenades - yes, real ones - as keepsakes. Unsuspecting visitors get very nervous when they walk into the foyer and see a grenade laying on the table! Oh well. But as for the decorating, I guess the medieval dudes need a good dose of holiday cheer, too! (At least these guys have all of their clothes on and are dressed in their finest clothes unlike some of the Barbies running around at our house)!

Things are progressing pretty routinely with the pregnancy at this point. I'm 23 weeks and beginning to think about the logistics of really adding another little body to this funny farm! Naming this poor baby girl has become something akin to a comedy hour, though. Eric refused to even think of names until we were sure that the sonographer was really sure that we were going to have a girl - he was still hung up on that leg bone being, well, ... you know. Anyway, we had another ultrasound last week and were assured that "The Bean" is definitely a girl so Eric doesn't have an excuse now! While Grant is suggesting names with a strong military flair such as Duke and Shipwreck, Dasha is going for names she is familiar with such as Dora and Hannah (as in Montana). So goes that drama!

We're looking forward to some quiet time over the Christmas break. Eric has been traveling more and more (he's in San Antonio now) and I'm trying to finish out this semester of school and manage a classroom of 30 excited kids without losing my mind!* After this semester, I'll only have about 20 hours left for my doctorate so the light is beginning to shine at the end of the tunnel! However, I'm not quite sure how "The Bean" is going to play into all of this.

Bottom line, God continues to bless our craziness. We've given up on trying to be reasonable and we've surrendered to the fact that God's will might not always be reasonable in our minds but that's where we need to be! So, deck the halls with medieval dudes in tights and whatever else this Season may bring! We hope you all enjoy these days of Advent with your families.

*Keep reading if you want a good laugh about a craft that went awry in my room...
We just finished reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I love this book because I can easily present the "real" Christmas story through the context of this book! Anyway, when the children talk about swaddling clothes on the baby Jesus, they never know what that means. I thought I'd be really crafty and let them make a baby Jesus ornament. I made homemade clay so the kids could shape Jesus' little body. I didn't have any white flour so I used whole wheat. It gave the clay a fleshy color so that was perfect. The kids were to roll the clay into a hot dog shape and then we were going to paint a little face on and swaddle the "baby" in a piece of fleece cloth. Well, the play dough flesh colored hot dogs didn't look like baby Jesus at all!!! Thank goodness my kids didn't really seen to notice but EVERY adult that walked down our hallway had to stop and stare as they watched 30 kids rubbing little hot dog shapes to smooth the clay out. (We'd also stuck paper clips into one end to hang the ornaments with). I'd post a picture of the naked ornaments but I'm afraid Blog Spot might be alerted to adult content!!! :) Don't despair, though. We did get the babies swaddled and they're cute as little buttons now. Whew! Thank goodness for the innocence of children. What a laugh the adults had, though. Next year, back to good old white flour!

Daddy is out of town...

Hey, Joe!
Yeah, Barbie?

Dad is out of town! Know what that means?
Yep!

No bedtimes, no homework, cereal for three meals a day, and.. Oh wait! Mom is still here and ... gotta go!

Does anyone else ever experience this? When Eric heads out of town, you can guarantee that everyone is going to push every conceivable limit that has ever been set forth!

While Eric is living large in Las Vegas, I'll continue to play the role of Drill Sergeant / Jail Warden rolled into one! Oh wait... someone's escaping! AAAHHHH!!!!

P.S. - How do you get gum out of the dog's hair?

P.S.S. - The photo is a shot from Grant's latest video series, "The Adventures of Jack and Jill." No, I'm being serious!

Another air show... no, I'm not kidding!

I know it's hard to believe but Papa, Daddy, and Grant all found another air show to go to! You would think that you'd seen everything after a few years of this drill but they still seem to be intrigued! Papa and Grant (aka Mini Me) love to find the displays they can crawl into and pretend to fight some crazed air battles. It's common knowledge in our family to NEVER asked who won or if they got kicked off any of the displays! There's always an adventure to be had when the 3 Musketeers are around!

Thrashers vs. NY Islanders

Well, in usual Randolph style, Thursday night found us bundled up and sitting at Philips Arena waiting for the Thrashers to win a game. We were in luck this night! We went with some friends from school who are also hopeless hockey fans. The kids always enjoy having friends to play with when Daddy is busy screaming at the players!

It's official...

Harvest Time!

Although it has been over a month since I posted, it's sure not because we're bored! In fact, I'm not sure I even rememeber too much about the last few weeks! It's all a blur. Eric has been doing a LOT more traveling than usual. This is good news for his business considering the current economy but trying news for me! It seems to be hard enough juggling a full time job, finishing my doctorate, being pregnant, and dealing with two little crumbsnatchers. However, when Eric leaves town, Murphy's Law prevails and something blows up (or throws up) and I'm left holding the bag (sometimes literally)!!! Anyway, enought of my whining...

We had a blast this weekend at our annual Burt's Farm trip! Every year for at least the past ten years, we've gone to Dawsonville, Georgia to Burt's Pumpkin Farm. This place is a major tourist attraction but it's worth fighting the crowds to expereince a real hay ride and hunt through zillions of pumpkins to find just the right one - all while smelling cinnamon and cloves drifting from the little farmhouse where they make all sorts of Fall favorites! This year, we actually spent more time in line waiting for the hay ride than we did looking for pumpkins - that's a record! Nonetheless, the kids love the trip and then desert me when it's time to gut the pumpkins and make the magical transformation into jack-o-lanterns!

As for the third little Randolph (a.k.a. "The Bean"), things are going well. We're beginning to wonder if the doctors can go ahead and make a diagnosis of ADHD while still in the womb! In all of our ultrasounds, this little person has been jumping around like a Mexican Jumping Bean! Yikes! We'll get to find out if this new addition is a girl or boy on 10/23. We hope it will uncross it's legs. During the last ultrasound, its legs were tightly crossed. Eric got a little too excited when he thought the leg bone was... well... he thought he had identified a little boy! Gees! Dasha and Grant have had alternating opions about wanting a boy or girl. As for Eric and I, we'll be thrilled with a healthy baby! I'm doing everything I can right now to ensure the health of "The Bean" and myself though my diabetes is NOT cooperating! I've been taking many shots of insulin each day and I can't seem to figure out the rules of this dosing game! What works one day plumets my blood sugar into oblivion and might not have any effect the next day. As a perfectionist, this is not my idea of fun at all! Just give me the rules and I'll be glad to comply! Well, this sure doesn't work that way! At this point, I'm seeing my regular OB, a perinatologist, and an endocrinologist! In the last 15 weeks, I've seen more doctors than I'd care to see in a life time!!! Oh well. Like I said, we'll do whatever we need to do to ensure this little one's health. As for the Pompe's risk, we decided to wait until after the delivery to test for the disease. Eric and I both have perfect peace that this little miracle Bean was a gift from God and we'll accept whatever direction God might lead us in. Most people (especially the medical community) look down on our "uneducated" decision. However, they just don't know how educated we are!!!

Just continue to keep us in your prayers. With Eric's traveling, the kid's active schedules, my frequent doctor's appointments, my job, and my school (full time courses this semester), we're really having to micromanage our resources of time and patience! This is simply the Season we're in right now and I know the next Season might be even more hectic! I'll update with our news of a princess or prince on 10/23 - barring any leg bone disasters in which Eric tries to read the ultrasound himself!

Botox for the Princess

Dasha had her first round of Botox last Friday. Yes, I said BOTOX! Botox is used in CP patient's muscles to help give them more flexibility. Dasha had about nine injections in each hamstring to help her loosen up. So far, so good! And man, her legs look good! :) I did ask the doc to send any Botox extras home in a doggie bag for me but he was stingy! Oh well! Seriously, Dasha has had good results so far with this procedure and we're scheduled to do it again in January if this is a major success. As for this picture, she'd been given a small dose of some type of sedative. Eric said that she was helpless. She was trying to play her GameBoy and couldn't even hold it! I couldn't tell if Eric was getting a kick out of her inebriated state or mortified at her resistance to succumbing to the drugs!

Air Show 2008

Grant, Eric, and Papa spent the last two weekends at Rome's airfield. The first weekend was an "oops" because someone forgot to check the dates. However, there were plenty of opportunities for some specialized tours of airplanes that I'm supposed to be in awe of although I surely don't know why. The second weekend wasn't quite as fun. Many of the exhibits that were supposed to "fly in" were delayed or diverted due to Ike. The boys managed to find plenty of things to keep them busy, though! The girls enjoyed their weekends at home with movies and shopping!

Boys and their toys...

I'd like to tell you that this stand-off ended peacefully but I can't. I've decided that you can give a boy of any age blocks, boxes, bubble wrap, or mud and they can entertain themselves indefinitely (or until there's blood involved)! This is a pretty normal Sunday afternoon scene at our house! The Cobras build a fortress and the Joes try to destroy them. I do have to make a note, though. Sometimes Polly Pocket and her Barbie troops are able to distract the boys and everyone lives happily ever after - or until Barbie loses her head to a grenade! :) That's just a glimpse into our peaceful Sunday afternoons!

No, we're not kidding!

Say, "Hello," to the next Randolph! We're completely surprised but thrilled! We're about 10 weeks along and still in shock! Just when we think we have life figured out, God reminds us that He's still in charge!

"Look at their pom poms, daddy!"

What could strike terror in the heart of any strong father? This statement, "Daddy, look at those girls' pom poms!" We just won't even go there!!!

Anyway, Dasha had the opportunity to "compete" in the Summer Games at Phillips Arena. She loved it! There were Thrashers characters, Hawks characters, and and general characters (including Dasha and Eric).

All of the participants were rehab (PT, OT, etc.) patients at CHOA. The kids got to work at different stations and participate in crafts, sports events, and character meet and greets. I think Dasha's favorite part was getting her picture made with the Hawks girls, though. She is suddenly into anything (and everything) fashion related. We all know that doesn't mesh with my biological make up so I'm really struggling! If it's not jeans and t-shirts, I'm lost! Anyway, she had a blast and Eric came home only a little shell-shocked about the pom-poms!

Just FYI - The lady in this picture with Dasha is her physical therapist. She has worked with Dasha once or twice a week since the heel cord surgery. This lady has been such a blessing. She operates as mom, therapist (for mom and Dasah), motivation coach, and CP guru! I don't know what we'd do without her!

Well, tomorrow is the kids' first day back at school. Dasha, as usual, is excited to go and just knows that everyone will love her! Grant, as usual, is anxious and wants to know the details of the day as soon as possible. Me, well, the first day is simply crowd control. I really think the county should begin changing our pay scale to reflect combat pay for the first week of school, the week prior to Christmas break, and the last week of school. Oh well! Let the fun begin! (Eric is thrilled that we're all going back so he can have the house to himself again)!

Child of an educator

Being a teacher's child stinks! Every activity has a lesson behind it or some type of learning adventure tacked on! My kids have been traumatized all summer. I figured we'd end the summer with a big bash! We went to Fernbank Science Museum! This month, they have an exhibit about Arctic animals. Once again, I drafted my mom to help with Dasha and even the kids to adults ratio. I figure I have a much better chance at maintaining my sanity with the teams evened up!

First, we did some experiments about how Arctic animals survive in the cold temperatures. Then, we went to the library and checked out lots of books about Arctic animals. Believe it or not, the kids don't gripe too much about my methods!

The kids did have a good time learning about the animals when we got there. Dasha was really thrilled with the dress-up area. Grant was a bit insulted that we wanted him to put the penguin costume on for a laugh. He did put the costume on but I had to promise not to post it here! :)

Grant enjoyed the area with blocks more than anything! There were huge blocks and mats that you could move and build with. He had the entire area to himself for about twenty minutes! He was thrilled. There was a section entitled, "A Walk Through Georgia," that highlights animals from different sections of Georgia. He turned the exhibit into a hunting excursion! What's the saying... You can take a boy out of the country but not the country out of a boy!!!

Dasha is the technology freak in the family! If the exhibit had buttons, monitors, or anything electronic, she was into it! She was amused with the bubbles, too! She had never seen bubble wands this big! She is still learning vocabulary so these kinds of opportunities allow her to ask lots of questions about things and put some visuals with vocabulary from books. After four hours of being a sponge, she was exhausted! Hopefully she'll sleep well tonight!

On the road...AGAIN

Well, Eric is out of town this week so I have done my best to keep the kids entertained! Yesterday, we went to a little shop where you paint pottery. I thought Grant might balk at the idea but he really enjoyed it! In fact, he wants to go back next week and do their camps! As summer draws to an end (1 day left of vacation for me), the kids are getting antsy and ready to get back to school.



We also took a trip to Hard Rock Cafe in Atlanta. The kids enjoyed the crazy atmosphere but I'd sure forgotten how ridiculously expensive the food was! Next time, I'll just crank the stereo up, punk my hair, and serve burgers at home. I think we'll get the same effect without breaking the bank!

Oh well. It's off to another day of trying to creatively keep the kids entertained without causing any permanent harm that might require counseling! :) Currently, Grant is entertaining himself by making stop-motion videos of his G.I. Joes in combat mode. I have a feeling that the Joes might be plotting an attack on the Barbie RV! Yikes! Better go check in on the troops!

Go Thrashers!

My kids outgrew story time at the library a few years ago - to my dismay. However, today the Thrasher's macot, Thrash, made a special appearence at story hour. They were more than willing to go and and sit among throngs of toddlers and "endure" three picture books. I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed myself! I think I'm going to keep these pictures hidden from Eric for a while, though. He'll see these and begin acting like Rain Man spouting off how many more day, hours, minutes, and seconds before hockey season begins for the year! For those of you that know Eric well, you can surely hear him sitting at his desk calculating the times! :) Seeing Thrash at the library was a good enough "fix" for the kids' hockey fever and a whole lot cheaper!

Road Trip (Sort Of)

Having Eric work out of the house has been a definite blessing - most times. Some days, however, it feels like we're nothing more than a bunch of sardines crammed into a can trying to be quiet while Daddy is on a conference call! I decided that we (the kids and myself) needed to get out of the house today so Daddy could get some real work done. I enlisted my Mom's help and headed downtown! We went to the GA Aquarium and the new World of Coke. It was a wonderful day to have a mini-vacation while Daddy had some peace and quiet! Although Eric loves being home with us, he'll sure be glad when we all head back to school in two weeks!

Literally climbing the wall!

Tonight was Date Night for Eric and Dasha. The ultimate goal was to find Eric some new tennis shoes so they ended up at Dick's Sporting Goods (big surprise)! They have a rock climbing wall there. Grant has tried it a couple of times but we've never even thought of letting Dasha try it. I guess she showed interest and Eric agreed to let her try to scale the wall. Let's remember that this child didn't walk until about three years ago - hmmm...

Eric shot this video from his cell phone so it's not great but you can see the results. She ended up getting up the wall about six or seven feet and she wanted to stop because of the height - not because of her ability. She never ceases to amaze us.

Independence Day in Birmingham, AL

This year was a bit different! Our good friends, Jason and Emily, are now living in the medical townhomes at UAB after her double lung transplant. We spent the weekend with them and "did" fireworks like never before! We were able to sit comfortably on the sofa, in the air conditioning, with little Faith napping, our kids in their pjs, and watch the fireworks. The kids were able to play Wii while we waited for the magic hour! What luxury! It was wonderful to celebrate the 4th in style with best friends and air conditioning!

Jason and Emily were an important part of our lives during Ansley's short life. Her middle name, Jaye, was for Jason. July 4th would have been her 6th birthday. We know we would have had a major little spit-fire on our hands! God's grace has covered our loss and we were able to enjoy the day as the birth of our Nation and our special little daughter.

With school looming only three weeks away, things have been crazy here. We've been busy buying school supplies and gearing up for 3rd grade! I don't know where the time has gone! Grant and Dasha are both looking forward to the "big day." I can't remember when that joy began escaping me each year! They are both great students, although, Dasha has to work really hard to keep up while Grant breezes through. They are so different!

Dasha will begin Botox treatments in September to help with her sudden growth spurts and muscle tightness. When her muscles tighten up, she has a really hard time walking despite her braces and PT. The Botox will release her muscles enough for her to walk and run comfortably for a couple of months. Surgery seems inevitable but it's useless until she stops growing! Her growth has been exponential since coming to America. Two short years ago when she arrived in the US, she wore a 4T. Now, she can easily wear an 8/10 and sometimes those are way too short (especially if Daddy is on duty)! She's changed so much! I'm sure this year will bring many new changes, too!