Car Dilema

So, if you haven't been fortunate enough to experience a ride in the "Burb" or Ol'Betsy as I like to call her, you might be counting your blessings. It is the commuter catch all, 4 kids ranging in ages from 7 weeks to 12 years, although we rightfully cannot displace any of the messiness towards the newborn, but going back and forth from places on a daily basis has definitely taken it's toll on the vehicle we use to tow our family around.

I would have to say the turning point in the "Burb" was our road trip to Montana, which by the way was one of our best road trips EVER, but pulling a 6000lb trailer over 2000 miles and our family around seemed to sap what little life Ol'Besty had in her. It was also on that trip almost a year ago when we realized out newly repaired windshield had a leak in it, which to date we haven't made the time to go repair. Why, is a whole other story. Now Ol'Betsy rides like a cart on rails, you feel every minute bump, rock or crack in the road, her doors creak and moan and the side steps do show every 170,000 miles she has been driven. Her best speed, where there is little vibration or hum, is between 65 and 70 mph. Not to mention she gets a whopping 9 or 10 miles to the gallon. Filling her up has gone from $70 to a full tank to well over $100 in the two years of ownership. 

Why you ask do we hang on to her for dear life? You know I honestly don't know. We could very easily go out tomorrow and trade her in, but that would mean several things. First off, the quandary of what type of vehicle to replace her with. Then there is the inherent cost of owning a new vehicle. The endless money pit, the immediate deprecation after driving it off the lot - 30% or more, the monthly payment in addition to the gas bill and insurance. The latter I do not mind at all. The first well, does annoy me a little. I do enjoy the idea of having only one car payment and don't like being overly excessive in vehicles. After the excitement of owning a new vehicle wears off will we be back to our old habits of an occasional stop at some fast food drive thru, only to have Elliott throwing his highly nutritious meal all over the back of the vehicle? I don't know. Do I want to know? Not really. So here are some of the positives of Ol'Besty, she's fully paid off. I do not want to own a minivan- one of the three vehicle choices for a family our size. She can be obliterated by the two year old and I will not freak out. Plus, I do believe her humming keeps the baby asleep - it's almost sounds like being in the womb. So for now, unless we have an immediate change of heart, Ol'Betsy is here with us for better or worse. HA HA. 

My Babies!!!

Since the arrival of Erik it has been no stop GO, GO, GO here at the Honeycutt household, it is amazing some days we make it out of the house everyone dressed and ready for the day in time. I tell ya running out of the house at 7:20 in the morning with a groggy two year old and a new born is not as easy as it sounds! Amazingly we have gotten quite good at it. 

Malia is such a great big sister and the biggest helper when it comes to both Erik and Elliott. Elliott has had some funny or not so funny mornings depending on my mood getting out the door. There was the morning he thought he was going to his Dama's house (grandma's) and he had to bring his sleeper and blanket - ok no problem we can swing that! There was the morning where he wanted to be in Erik's carseat and no matter what I told him it wasn't good enough and there was the the morning where he decided to run all over the house saying NO, (he didn't want to leave) and when we finally got him out to the truck he was jumping into the third row of the Burb. Malia and I spent about 5 minutes climbing all over the burb trying to get him into his carseat. Nothing like your early morning workout! Well, enough about the morning routine. 

Malia is in the Highest Honors club at her school for her academic success in Port Susan! We are so proud of her, she has come such a long way academically - the last year or so has been so challenging for her. She has also become the biggest book worm! The series of books she loves to read right now is by Erin Hunter. She will read a book or two every few days. We are so proud of her! If you haven't had a chance to sit and chat with Malia in sometime she has the most amazing sense of humor... She has me laughing over things I normally wouldn't see humor in. I love my bebe!

Speaking of great successes, we went to Rolando's first parent teacher conference this last Friday, we are so lucky to be in the school district we are in. His teacher, Ms. Crimin says she is so thankful to have such an amazing student in her class. He didn't skip a single beat transferring from Sand Lake to Cederhome Elementary. He has also made the honor roll and is on his way to becoming the classes Math Man! He loves his math! Rolo is the really the sweetest boy any mom could ever ask for. He is extremely thoughtful and thankful, always saying please, thank you or just asking how your day went. He knows how to put a smile on my face!

My Big E, our newest nickname for Elliott, he is just such a ham now days. He is such a little man, he loves tinkering around with tools - his and his dads both. I tell ya, he is all boy inside and out! The little rough and tumble turt will be outside knee deep in mud (we still have our organic backyard) and loving every single bit of it. He has adjusted so well to having little Erik in his life - the first few weeks, I didn't think he was ever going to come around to actually acknowledging his little brother. Now we have to peel him away from Erik, he loves to kiss his feet and his toes! It is the sweetest moment to watch. 

Speaking of Erik - he has grown so fast! I swear the little stinker is nearing 13lbs or so. All the milestones seem to be zipping right past up one after another. I feel like a robot checking them off, but it is so neat to watch him grow. You almost forget how fast they grow up, but just looking at Elliott, Rolando and Malia, reminds me to enjoy each milestone as they pass. So here they are he is sleeping through the night, he can hold his head up for a few minutes now, turning to look for voices he hears and he has also rolled over one way several times from back to belly, but not from belly to back yet, all the smiling and cooing he does. I LOVE HIS DIMPLE and that little chin! I swear I'll blink and he won't be a baby anymore.

Back at 100%

Well, I think I am 99.9% sure I am back at 100% since having baby... lol... When you come to that realization after giving birth it is such an uplifting feeling. Yesterday, I felt as if I was on top of the world and I knew today was going to be amazing. You know what it? It was!

We woke up without power this morning, but thankfully we have a gas stove - so pancakes it was for breakfast. Elliott LOVES pancakes the size of his head, and Steve or Daddy O makes the BEST pancakes ever. We sort of took our time getting into our rhythm this morning, without power it was next to near impossible to jolt ourselves awake with coffee. Although, right when we were going to make a cup of tea - it's almost as if the God's knew it would not suffice! WALAA! We had power again - so there we were the early birds awake at 7:30am, Steve, Elliott and I having our pancakes and cups of joe. (Elliott has baby coffee - a splash of coffee, creamer and almost a full cup of milk).

As we were getting ready for the rest of the day and we decided to venture out into our garage - the last time we spent a significant amount of time in that space was right before Christmas getting the decorations out, the time before that was back in September - when I tried fruitfully to clean before Jefe and Sally came over to help us paint (I didn't get very far and Steve kept telling me to stop) and the time before that had to have been when we moved. SO needless to say we had a lot of organizing to do! Steve in all his genius - had the garage whipped into shape in no time flat. He had everything organized so quickly and neatly we almost wondered why we hadn't done it sooner! We have a goodwill pile, craigslist pile, garage sale pile, recycle pile and dump pile. Piles galore, but ever so neatly done! It was so amazing seeing our garage, tools in their proper location on the shelves, garden equipment in their rightful homes, all the tools for the lawn hanging on the wall - WOW, I really could go on and on about the garage being clean. 

While all the organizing goodness was taking place I whipped up some Company Casserole and some chocolate chip cookies! YUMMY! With our bellies full and goodies to snack on after dinner we were able to settle down and finish watching NASCAR - I have just recently become a fan of Dale Jr. It was a great race and Dale is running in the top five... ROCKSTAR status! 

After the race Steve and his endless amount of energy went and hung some more curtain rods. Malia and Rolo cleaned their rooms - to spotless perfection! WOHOO! We were extremely productive today. It feels so good to have our on going projects being completed. I believe spring is in the air and we are ready for it! Also, little Erik slept almost all day long in his swing - only getting up to nurse! He must be going through a growth spurt!