What's New - 2006?!?

Santa was extremely generous to the boys (as were all our friends and family - especially the grandparents!) - they even got that train table they were after! Mommy and Daddy even chipped in a few other things to round out the day. The train table was a big hit, except that we did not bolt any of the tracks down, so they pushed the setup all around the table. Once they learn to play with it properly, we will all be in better shape!

Pam got me a wicked cool mug that has a picture of all 3 boys on it - sweet! And in return, I got her travel coffee mugs as well - can you tell that we've had more than one fight about the limited number of coffee mugs in our house?

Every time we dress the kids in their footy-PJs, Pam always comments how she would love a pair for herself - so I got her a pair! Turns out she thought it was a gag-gift. The size I got was way too big one her, but they did fit me - one cycle through the wash, and I think we'll be back in business...

I also got (for us) one of those 2.5 inch memory foam mattress toppers for our bed - I had to wake Pam up at 1030 and drag her out of bed this morning! Apparently that was a hit... Giddy up!

Max is so close to knowing how to read - we've really been spending a lot of time with him going through his letters and sounds and he is really picking it up - I don't think that it'll be long now! Zander has even been lending an ear as we teach, so he knows all of his letters and sounds, too. It is just a matter of time before he picks it up!

Funny Nikolai story: Nikolai has had a habit of constantly talking, and always wanting to get it in the last word - most of the time, it is pretty funny (to me), and this time was no different. Here was the exchange:

I was dying... All 3 of them think they can push our buttons - Zander is the worst by a long shot - we will give you the biggest smile and say, "Puppy!" every time you try to discipline him...

So we had our squadron Christmas party the other night - good times! Right up until the point that I had to dress up like a Sugar-Plum Fairy! YGBSM! It was a fundraiser for the squadron, and my young Lieutenants thought that it would be funny to see their boss dressed up like a Sugar-Plum Fairy... Ridiculous... We also had to play a game called "Chubby Bunny." This is where you put a marshmallow in your mouth and say, "Chubby Bunny." And then another marshmallow, and then another. Until you are up to about 10, and you look like this!

Nikolai still insists on talking when he is not supposed to in school - he has a computer in his room, but he never gets to play with it since that is the first privilege to go when he gets his cards at school - it is still frustrating, but he'll learn! I keep telling Pam, "There is no way that he'll be doing all of this stuff when he is walking down the aisle in 20+ years..." Then again... Who knows?!?

Max has been our house infirm for the last month - he has bounced from medicine to medicine trying to get rid of the junk in his chest and the never-ending booger parade out of his nose! It is tiring, but we know he'll be better eventually! Despite all of his illnesses, he is talking much better - he is saying most of his "S" sounds without us even having to ask him to.

Zander is still the house comedian - every night when we are putting the boys to bed, Zander will run upstairs first so he can hide on us, and then jump out and scare us silly! He loves it...

The snow is all melting during the day, and then re-freezing at night - Pam drove off the road twice this weekend - once I could get out, and the second time we had to get her pulled out... It is a good thing she drove off the left side and not the right - the pond is on the right side!

We hope that all is going great with you and your family as we enter this holiday season! Drop us a line when you get a chance and as always - check out the pictures!

Max was having a blast - lifting up the "World's greatest snowball" over and over... As I was shoveling, I was making mountains of snow, and the kids were having fun climbing to the top and then sliding down - they are so cute!

Nikolai had no desire to go back inside when it was time, but we finally got him to go - because he was ready to play on his new computer! That's right! I ordered the computer on Saturday, and it was here and ready to go by Wednesday - And I keep asking Nikolai, "How many times did the computer freeze up?" And the answer is always the same... NONE! It was the right call getting rid of the old computer (that had been giving us problems for years) - I just wish I did not have to spend a few hundred unplanned bucks right before Christmas...

We have some friends in North Carolina (Hi Mary!) who check out our website every now and then, and she said that her 5 year old son, Ethan, made a smiley-face out of his spaghetti, too - Peas in a pod, and they have never met... Nikolai heard Pam and I talking about it, and decided to up the ante... Mary - it's your floor!

We hope that all is going great with you and your family as we enter this holiday season! Drop us a line when you get a chance and as always - check out the pictures!

What a great last few weeks - I went TDY to Langley AFB (again) and had a good time meeting up with one of my old bosses. But when I got home, I had 9 days off in a row! It was fantastic... And we packed it chock full of good times!

On 20 Nov, my parents came out from CT - I had seen them briefly in August, but they had not seen Pam and the kids since July - and everyone had a blast! The day after they got here, we went to the JCCA's Thanksgiving Feast at Nikolai and Max's school - the kids were so proud to show off their school to 1/2 of their grandparents - (Mike and Diane - you guys are next! Consider this an "open invite!" ) The kids each had a little class prayer/skit to perform for all the friends and family - overall it was a very cute day...

Pam stayed at the school all day to help out in the classroom - she got to see the boys in action close up! She saw how he could be construed as "wiggly" - although he is just an average little boy!

The next day the kids drug us to the Kansas City Zoo! We decided for the first time to leave the stroller at home and see if all 3 kids could tough it out - and they did! Zander was the biggest trooper - he stomped around for ~ 2.5 miles on those stocky little legs of his, and he didn't complain once...

On Thursday, we had Thanksgiving! What a great day... Started with a shot of Bailey's in my coffee, and ended up with the Chiefs kicking the Bronco's butt... Pam absolutely outdid herself on the dinner this year, including the ever-yummy Apple Crisp!

On Friday, it was Nikolai's Fifth Birthday! Happy Birthday Nikolai! I had been working on my old desktop to get it configured for Nikolai so that we could give it to him for his birthday, but we wanted it to be a surprise... We got him a desk that I put together, and when we showed it to him, we told him it was only half of his present - we told him that the other half was the chair! Nikolai looked kind of confused and disappointed and told us, "but I really wanted a soccer ball..." Little did he know...

Pam did the Lee's Summit-day-after-Thanksgiving-murder-shopping trip, while I set the computer up in his room - after dinner and cake, we all went up to his room, and he was shocked! He looked very excited... He got right on it and started playing, and about three minutes later, the computer froze. YGBSM! I was not a happy little monkey. We powered it off, and then turned it back on again - 3 minutes later - same thing... I could not have been more mad! I did everything I could think of over the next 2 days to get the thing to work, with no luck... I even started pulling unused components out of the CPU to see if I could isolate the problem. Then, with the computer completely off and taken apart (while I was about 5 feet away, I might add), I heard a "pop" come from the CPU! Oh crap...

Needless to say, the computer never turned on again - and I still don't know what the problem was. Nikolai was so upset by the whole thing (and by me repeatedly promising that I was going to get the computer to work), that I felt terrible. So terrible that I bought him a new computer for $400. So I went from finding a use for our old computer to buying a new one - not quite what I had in mind, but hopefully this computer lasts him about 10 years...

On Saturday we took my parents out for their anniversary to Macaroni Grill ( I just love that place. And by "place" I mean "wine."), and Sunday we went to church and watched a ton of football. Today (Monday), I had to go in to work and fly a T-38 before driving them to the airport - I managed to arrange my flight plan to fly over my house in full Afterburner - they heard me!

Overall - what a great trip... The kids had so much fun playing with 1/2 of their grandparents that they don't get to see that often, and it was even better because I didn't have to go to work...

Zander would not go near my Dad for the whole trip - anytime that we wanted him to give hugs and kisses before bed, he would just say, "I miss Mommy..." Even if Mommy was 3 feet away from him. And he cam up with a new word - if he gets stuck somewhere, or if someone is tickling him, he will say "Help" - but it will come out as "HEWWWWWWWWPPPP!!!" Everytime he says it, we just die laughing... While we were all playing on the swingset the other day, Zander crawled up the pig-faced wall all by himself! It was pretty impressive, and the look on his face showed his pride...

Zander and his brothers like to play a game of, "Uh-oh! A bear is attacking me!" And they wait for Zander to save the day by coming in and saying, "I shoot it. SHOOT!"

Max has been a sick little boy for the past 2 weeks, to include an ear infection (and he still has tubes), and pneumonia! Our little guy can not catch a break... None of the illnesses have dampened his spirits at all, though. He was the only trooper to help me rake a monster pile of leaves and burn them - Daddy's little helper! And when he was not helping me, he was busy teaching himself how to swing! It is funny - everything that Nikolai does, Max does about 6 months of age before Nikolai did. Maybe we spoiled Nikolai and did everything for him? Nahhh... ;)

Nikolai is so excited about being a 5 year old now - he started telling us that he was the only 4 year old in Kindergarten, and that he really wanted to be 5. He didn't get any cards in school last week, and today, he only got one - Hopefully we've turned the behavioral corner! Hopefully we can just keep his humility somewhere on planet Earth... (He told me the other day, "I've got a Big Brain.")

When Nikolai grows up, he said that he is going to have babies, and Rebecca is going to be their Mommy. Go Nikolai! (Just as a frame of reference - those sweatpants that she is wearing are Max's. And they are a 3T.)

Not a terribly long update, but still longer than they should be! We hope that all is going great with you and your family as we enter this holiday season! Drop us a line when you get a chance and as always - check out the pictures!

I did it! I got an update only a week after the last one! Go me... Maybe this one will be of a more reasonable length than the others... HA!

Last week, Pam held a surprise baby shower for our friends Jen and Donny (Pooh). Everyone was in on it, except for Jen, and she was floored! It really turned out great - Pam did everything with such class - no "keg in a bath-tub" for this party! Everyone had a really good time. Except for Pam. Pam was sitting on a stool, and then she got up for about 1.5", and Jenny thought that she was no longer sitting on the stool, so she took it. Pam thought she was still sitting on the stool, so she sat back with all her weight. And down she went... 1/2 way down, she realized that this was not right and squeezed off an, "Oh Dude!" before impact. She was none worse for the wear, however, just a small bruise to her butt-cheek and her pride...

Our whole fam has a bit of a cold. Sucks! Pam always tells me how whiny I am when I get sick, but I've had to listen to her complain about how "awful" she feels, and how I just "wouldn't understand" how bad this cold is... I told her that I'd remember this, and whine up a storm next time I get sick... Max and Zander are green snot producing machines - Max learned that he has a built in hanky whenever he wants it with his sleeve (wonder where he learned that?) - Pam is not a fan...

Funny Max story - We were driving the kids to school the other day, and we were talking about what each of the kids wanted to be when they were older. Nikolai says that we wants to be a reace-car driver, then an astronaut, and then the President. We asked Max, and he said a pilot, and then Pam asked if he wanted to be a Daddy - Max said yes. Then Pam asked if he wanted to be a Mommy. Max said, "I can't be a Mommy - I don't have curly hair!" So cute...

Zander is really getting good at his words - he tries to pronounce everything very deliberately, and he gets very angry if you do not understand him on the first shot. He keeps his puppy at the ready and makes the funniest licking sounds with puppy. Zander will come running over to you with Puppy, and go "SLURP!" And then he laughs maniacally - and so do we...

Nikolai has been up to his old tricks the last 2 weeks at school - he hasn't been sent home, but he has still gotten no less than 2 cards/day. And they are almost all for talking. I can just see the teacher's frustration, "Nikolai - just SHUT UP!" Every day before school we talk about how he is going to work during work-time and play during play-time, and every day he finds it necessary to get a few cards... Oh well - he'll learn! For every card he gets, he has to run a lap at school - and when he comes home, we have him run 3 laps around our front yard! And if stops running during the punishment, then he has to run an extra lap. He is not such a fan... The other day he was running for 40 minutes straight! Not too shabby for a 4 year old. He is either going to figure out good behavior, or he is going to turn into a triathlete!

Funny Nikolai story - last week at church, the pastor called up the kids for the Children's Sermon. They were talking about the reformation whitin the church, and the pastor made mention to Martin Luther. Nikolai belts out, "I know who that its - He was born in Alabama!" The Pastor has a bit of a chuckle, and then corrects him, "Nikolai, I think you are thinking of Martin Luther King. HA!

I took Nikolai and Max to a football game last week (at the local Div II university - UCM), and they loved it! There was even a 4-ship T-38 flyby (that was late) at the beginning. Max keeps saying, "Daddy - do you remember when we went to the football game, and we saw those four airplanes flyby?" I got them hot-dogs, and even taught them how to say, "D-FENSE!" We were right in front of the cheer-leaders, so they got a big kick out of cheering for the home team...

We had some professional pictures taken of the boys over the summer, and I just realized that the proofs never made them to the website! Some of them are pretty funny - especially considering what we had to go through to get the kids to have big smiles on their faces. [An excerpt from the 3 Jul 06 post - "We went to Georgia Sheron Photography, and it was more of a Zoo than on Tuesday! Nikolai and Zander were well into the picture taking, but Max had other ideas (I don’t want to wear a hat! I don’t want to sit here!) We finally were able to get him to settle down, but I had to jump around like a crazy man just to get them to smile – I will post scanned copies of the pix when we get them – I hope they come out great – They sure cost enough!"]

That about wraps it up for us! We hope that all is going great with you! Drop us a line when you get a chance and as always - check out the pictures!

Try as I may, it seems that I can not get the website updated more than once every 3 weeks! Oh well... Since we have last chatted, I have gotten stuck in Louisville, KY twice, met the Vice President, and dressed like cheese. Been busy times! Here are the stories...

I was going on a cross-country down to Auburn, AL to go watch an Auburn football game - we stopped in Louisville to see Ross, and then our plane broke before we were able to take off! It was a nozzle issue with the afterburner - nothing too serious, but it was enough to keep me there overnight! I went to the Louisville Slugger museum to see how bats were made - I even brought home 3 wooden bats for the boys to beat eachother with... HA! The next day I went to a very cool winery in Southern Indiana - If I ever get based there (UPS, perhaps?), we will definitely live in Southern Indian - gorgeous area...

The following week, we found out that Vice President Dick Cheney was going to come through Whiteman AFB for a troop rally - What that means to us is that we have to clean things that have never been cleaned before... Truly a pain in the butt! The base was spotless... He was going to talk to 5,000 of us in a hangar - they specially built bleachers, A/V equipment, a stage, huge screens, projectors, speakers, light bars - you name it, and we produced it for a 15 minute speech! We stood on the hangar floor (5,000 of us) for 3.5 hours before he spoke. I stood front and center - I could have thrown my cell-phone and pinged him off the forehead during his speech - I chose not to, because I did not want the secret service dudes to kill me - they looked lethal...

The kids are doing great! We went to Nikolai's parent-teacher conference (fun!). His teacher, Mrs. McDowell, really seems to care for the kids - Nikolai is doing much better than he was in the beginning of the year - we certainly are thankful for that! We know that he is a great kid who still is testing his boundaries. She told us that she is putting him into a 1st grade math class since he rips through his Kindergarten math so quickly - Pam and I think that that is part of the reason why he has been acting up - he was just bored! Hopefully he continues to be challenged, and the behavior improves.

Nikolai has made us belly-laugh more than once over the past few weeks. The other day, Pam was in the basement and she saw a big hairy spider - which she killed. Nikolai was playing computer games a few hours later, and when he came upstairs he said, "There was a dead tarantula on the stairs, so I threw him away."

We were driving on a Missouri country road that has the hills that go up and down and up and down. I was having fun with the kids making their bellies drop out on the top of the hills - Nikolai was giggling up a storm while we did this, and he said, "Every time you go over a bump, my penis flips up!" I had to pull over I was laughing so hard...

Max is still loving school! He is doing so wonderful we can hardly believe it. He is always so happy about going to school, except every day he still makes Pam walk him into his class... When he gets home from school, we ask him how his day went and he says, "I played with everybody, and everybody played with me!" He is such a cute kid. He is very diligent about writing his ABCs and his numbers, and he is starting to put 3 and 4 letter words together - sounding them out and such. He'll be reading in no time!

Zander went through the whole alphabet with Pam pointing at every letter and telling her what sounds they made - and who said that TV (Leapfrog videos in particular) were not good for them! He picks things up extremely quickly... Last week was International Zander Day at his school. Zander got to have a whole day all to himself - and he loved it! I think his favorite part was showing off all of his puppies...

Zander loves his puppies - his favorite one is aptly named "Puppy." He will walk puppy over to you, and make an extreme licking sound, "SLURRP!" So funny...

Pam has just finished 2 weeks of babysitting our friend's kid Barrett. The kids surprisingly did not take much issue in her watching him - I thought they were all going to flip! They did very well, however...

As you know, Halloween came and past - we did not have our annual Halloween party this year since the Officer Spouse's Club was having their party on the same night that we would have had ours. Pam got very creative this year, and we went as Macaroni and Cheeze! She wore black sweatpants and a black sweatshirt, and then she glued little elbow-macaroni all over her outfit. She even had a necklace, bracelet, and hair tie all made out of Macaroni! Genius! She gave me a black sweatshirt with about 50 box tops of Velveeta cheeze glued all over the outfit. I then topped it off with a Green Bay Packers Cheezehead! I looked like a champ...

The kids went as Clifford (Zander), a Cow (Max), and a Cowboy (Nikolai). They were adorable! We went to a kids Halloween party for my squadron, and they had a lot of fun - Of course Max and Zander just wanted to drink the punch, which we were afraid that they were going to spill all over their costumes... We all ended up no worse for the wear! On Halloween night we went over to Jen and Donny-Pooh's house to go trick-or-treating. Nikolai and Max were really into it - they knew the more candy they got, the better! Zander was just along for the ride, but he still had a fun time...

Funny side story - whenever Pam goes out with her friends and I have to put the kids to bed solo, I try to dress them in the most ridiculous thing I can possibly put on them - makes us all laugh! Except when Zander pees on his sweater vest...

Another long update! One day our lives will settle down enough to write a little bit every week rather than a dissertation every three... We hope that all is going great with you! Drop us a line when you get a chance and as always - check out the pictures!

3 Weeks snuck by again, eh? Well I have an excuse! I went to Virginia for a week... Not really an excuse, but I was gone for a bit of the time. This time my trip was nothing fun like an NFL football game - I was there for a munitions conference. Real exciting! I did get to swing up to DC for a night to see a friend of mine - too bad I had to wake up at 5 in the morning to drive back to the conference! Oh well...

The kids are all doing great! It looks as if everyone (myself included) has finally shaken off our most recent illnesses... Pam was once again running a pediatric clinic out of the house! Nothing too serious - mostly the perennial runny noses and such...

We could not be happier that the weather has finally turned! It is awesome around here now! The leaves are now changing, and the temps are much more reasonable. Cool nights and warm days... Too bad it is going to get wicked cold and windy soon... At least I won't have to mow the lawn anymore! Speaking of the lawn - I am still in a constant battle with the mole population of Missouri! They are killing me. Or, rather, I am killing them - or doing my best! This Spring I killed 15 moles (that I know about - countless others with poison and such), and so far this Fall I have killed 7. I hope to get it up to 15, and then hopefully they'll get the picture! I still walk around with the pitchfork waiting to see the ground move... I'll admit - I totally look like a psycho - and it seems the neighbors are always driving by as I am walking around my yard with a pitchfork... I told Pam in the Spring that this was going to be all out war against the moles... She didn't believe me...

Nikolai is doing much better in school - he still gets the cards, but there are no real egregious errors anymore. Except for Friday. When he licked somebody. I guess it is pretty tough to remember when I was 4, but I don't think that licking people were the tops on my agenda! He is learning that all behavior has consequence - both good and bad...

Max is still the cutest 3 year old in all the land! He is very polite and appreciative in all aspects of his life! He is a little piggy, however... I guess that since we run him ragged at school, and then with playing outside all the time, he gets really hungry - and his food of choice? Dessert! Go figure... He is a good little Tolmoff... One of Max's friends from school invited him to attend a dance class the other day - Max looked a bit awkward out there with his best dancing shoes on - maybe it was because he was the only boy in the class! He seemed to have fun, though - and now I have good blackmail pictures for when he is older and goes on his first date... HA!

Zander is still Zander - he doesn't mind going to the CDL for preschool as much anymore. When Pam picks him up, he runs right by her and goes to Puppy! Puppy is getting a bit tattered with all the love that Zander gives him - that stuffed puppy doesn't leave his side... HA!

Pam has been watching a friend of ours' Baby while she flies, and he husband is doing his AF Reserve duty - this is a fat little 3 month old - he is very cute and well behaved... We thought that Zander was going to be a disaster having a little baby around, but he actually is tolerating it rather well - thank God! Things could be much worse...

Last weekend we hosted a farewell party for 2 Lieutenants from my office - it was a good time! There was a little 7 year old girl there who thought that it was a lot of fun to kick people in their shins. Good times... Afterwards Pam gave me a kitchen pass, reminded me that I was not 22 anymore and then sent me out on the town with the LTs! Ouch... I hurt my head...

On a sadder note - a friend of mine, Dr. Guy Baldwin passed away in a plane crash last week while performing an airshow in New Mexico. I had flown with this man a few times - he was a big-hearted individual who took care of the A-10 demo team whenever we were at the same airshows. In 2003, when I was going to go to the Paris Airshow with my Dad, he even offered to fly us in his Citation X business jet - free of charge! That is the kind of guy he was. Please keep his wife, Felise, daughter Brittny, and son Hunter in your thoughts and prayers. His early passing was an absolute tragedy, and a huge loss to aviation.

We toast our hearty comrade who has fallen from the sky, and was gently caught by God's own hand to be with him on High.

To dwell among the soaring clouds he's known so well before. From victory roll to tail chase, at heaven's very door.

As we fly among him there, we're sure to head his plea: "Take care my friend, watch your six, and do one more roll for me."

We have been a busy little group of monkeys! Wow – it has been what, 3 weeks? Yup – 3 weeks – just before the start of football season! I was lucky enough to the opening day of the New England Patriots! I was the ground crew coordinating the fly-by from the stadium while the jet flew overhead – it was AWESOME!!! The Pats were not the gracious hosts that the Dodger’s were back in April, however we did get to stay at a kick-ass hotel in downtown Boston. It rocked! When I got home, we checked out the game that we recorded on TV - I even made it on TV! Pretty cool... There were 2 people from Air Combat Command’s Public Affairs office, and they did a story on our flyby – it was awesome. I got to meet up with Liz, Rich, Big Dave, and Karen Carter – not too shabby on the company dime…

Since my office deals with all of the airshows, I get to pick (for the most part) who gets to go to what airshow as ground support (hence me going to the Pats game) – last week, I sent a 22 year old Lieutenant to New York City to be the ground crew for a Yankees/Red Sox game – he called me up [drunk on 42^nd St] and says, “this is the best business trip ever!” He was very surprised when I told him that it was a good trip – but there are trips out there that are even better… HA!

This weekend I went to the Mizzou/Ohio football game – it rocked! Pam lets me go tailgating once a year – we had a good crowd of people with us, so it was a lot of fun… I knew a ROTC cadet from Mizzou last year, but he was commissioned in May, so I did not think that he was going to be around this year, however he gave me a call out of the blue to let me know that he was in town, so we met up with him, too. Turns out that he used to work for the owner of Ozark Airlines – and this guy has a luxury suite at the stadium – Beers and munchies all game courtesy of Joe Maye’s old boss Dr. Wes Stricker... Wes (Ozark Airlines guy) even had 2 seats in the 9^th row on the 50 yard line that he graciously gave to 2 Lieutenants that we were tailgating with… It was pretty funny calling them up from the suite with my extra cold beer in hand… Great time had by all!

The kids are all doing fantastic… School is in full swing, and Pam is getting used to being the soccer-mom chauffer – it is a good thing that gas is down to $1.94/gallon (high in Jul in MO was ~$3.02/gallon), because she is driving a LOT! Max is learning a ton in school – he comes home from school and immediately goes for his magna-doodle and writes all of his ABCs. He even wowed Pam the other day by reeling off 1-10 in Spanish! We weren’t expecting that! The kids were all playing Hulabaloo yesterday (think modern-day mix between twister and musical chairs), and he knew all of his shapes and colors – just this summer we had to tell him where to go on every move, and now he knows right what he’s doing! He should be starting his speech therapy any day now even though he is much more understandable than he was this Spring. He even learned how to ride a big-boy bike (w/ training wheels) in the last month - there is no stopping him! He is such a great kid to be around!

Zander is now going to school! He is in the Child Development Lab at the University of Central Missouri - just like his big brothers were. He was so cute and so excited to go in - right up until he realized that Mommy was not going to be sticking around... HA! So therefore he is not the biggest fan of pre-school. He has missed his last 3 days (he only goes on Tues/Thurs) because he was sick for a week and a half. When he finally got better, Pam brought him to school and he started crying so hard that he harfed all over himself – pretty funny… You’ve got to really hate school to make yourself sick so that you don’t have to go! Pam took him to the doctor and he was wheezing so much that he sounded like an emphysemic old man! The doctor put him on Flovent and hinted at the possibility that he might have asthma – yuck! We will just keep getting him through each illness and hope that he outgrows it… Zander loves his private time with Mommy while his big brothers are in school – when they get home he turns into a crazy kid! He runs Pam ragged between school’s end and bedtime… It is so difficult when most of the time he is just so damned cute!

Nikolai is still adjusting to school – he has gotten sent home a few times for random stuff – nothing like setting a bathroom on fire or anything like that – more just for incessantly chattering when he is not supposed to. Pam and I went to meet with his teacher and the principal to talk about him – we came to the conclusion that he will continue to get better every day, and lucky for us – he has! He is still getting used to wearing his glasses – we got him a second pair because we are positive that the first pair will not last that long – such is life with a glasses-wearing 4 year old! To Nikoai’s credit, he has scratched his second pair of glasses way less than his first pair! We think he is finally putting it together that he can’t run face first into a wall of sandpaper with his glasses on. HA! Nikolai is always optimistic about his school – he never lets his behavior keep him down – every morning he is fired up to have a great day! Nikolai appears to be quite the ladies man as well – he says that he has 6 girlfriends! And he can rattle off the names, too…

For the record - NikolaI is now picking out his own clothes, so they might be a little more ridiculous than normal - today he came downstairs in a pumpkin shirt that is typically only worn on Halloween! You've been warned...

Funny Nikolai story: Last week when Uncle Ron was in town, we didn’t go to church because we were spending time w/ Ron and Chelly – Nikolai told his teacher that we didn’t go to church because we had a lot of football to watch! (Not entirely untrue….) HA!

About 3 weeks ago, the downstairs toilet clogged up. Not completely, but it would take ~5 minutes for the bowl to drain. We plunged. We put in Drain-O. We put in enzymes and bacteria. No luck on anything. Our last resort was getting a toilet snake. I snaked the toilet for a few minutes, and I pulled out a 3 inch conical sea-shell. One of the kids thought that the shells on the back of the toilet needed flushing, and so they did… We asked which one it was, and Nikolai ‘fessed right up! Oh well – it is just prepping us for the “way worse” that will be coming our way over the next 16 years!

I can not believe that it is September already! This year is flying by... Nikolai and Max just finished their first full week of school and they are doing great! Nikolai had a small hiccup on Thursday and had to be sent home early for not behaving, but he bounced right back and on Friday he had a perfect day! He was so proud of himself - "I didn't open my mouth or say a word during quiet time!!!" He is adorable...

Max is loving school - every day he still insists that Pam walk him in - but as soon as he gets to his class, he is off without so much as even turning around... Pretty funny! Max has gotten into telling jokes lately - and he is easily the worst joke teller in the world! So bad, that he makes me laugh every time... "What do you get when you cross [and then you can see him looking around the room] a couch, a banana, and a TV?" "I don't know Max, what?" "A Couch-Banana-TV!" Very funny stuff. And then he also has a new thing where he will ask, "Daddy - what is inside an Orange?" "Daddy - what is inside a bowling ball?" "Daddy - what is inside a rock?" And then he will go on and on - looking around for anything to ask what is inside. He would talk non-stop if given the chance... So cute!

Pam asked one of Max's teachers how he was doing, and the teacher got real close and said, "He is doing great! He always listens, he is very funny, and he is extremely polite! He is a pleasure to be around..." Our kids rock!

Zander starts school this week paving the way for Stage 1 of Pam's empty nest syndrome! He will be gone on Tues/Thurs from 0830-1330 - I'm looking forward to having a spotless house again... HA! Pam took him on Friday to meet the other parents and kids - he is going to have a great time there!

Yesterday we took everyone to the zoo for a reward for their first week of school, and as always - they loved it! All three of the kids even had Pony rides! We brought the double jogging stroller so that we could shuttle around 2 of the boys at any one time. Turns out that they wanted nothing to do with being pushed around - they all just wanted to run! And they did. For 3 hours. After the zoo we got some lunch (Mmmmm.... Red Robin...) and the to home. We thought that Max and Zander could do with a nap, so we laid them down at 4 p.m., and they didn't flinch until 7 p.m. - and even then we had to wake them up! Oops... Fortunately they weren't awake too late...

[Pam Writes] This has been quite a week in the Tolmoff Household! It started on Sunday with Max running a fever about 101 and complaining of a sore throat. Not to mention we had to pull a tiny little tick off of him that was trying to make a home on his belly. Luckily he was fine on Monday only to have a fever return on Tuesday. 102.8 this time. Zander could not be left out of this one and woke up from his nap on Tuesday with a temp of 103.2. Here I am thinking…. GREAT!!! Since we do live in the land of the strange viruses, they rallied back and had no further temps or health issues since! Sweet. Bullet dodged!

On Wednesday, I took Nikolai in for an eye exam. I had noticed during the weekend that he was having trouble reading the small print on the TV screen so I thought we should have it checked out. On Wed, I trucked all the boys to the eye doctors and Nikolai had great fun doing all the tests and seeing his eyeball magnified on a computer screen. When the eye doctor came in, she said that he will need glasses. Unfortunately, Nikolai has inherited my eyesight. I started wearing glasses at about 8-9 yrs old. Nikolai is 4 and she said he is quite nearsighted for his age. SO…. Off we go to try on glasses… Now Nikolai is thinking this is fun while his brother are tired of being there. I tell them to go sit on the floor while we are trying to pick out frames. As we are deciding on a pair… I hear this crumpling noise and when I look to where Max and Zander are sitting, I see that they are ripping apart a plant and it is all over the floor! They are also looking quite pleased with themselves. It’s time to hurry at this point as we are heading for major meltdown! We finally decide on the really flexible frames that can pretty much be folded in half and they won’t break. (My fingers are crossed anyway!) They should be in sometime this week so we will post a picture as soon as we can. Nikolai is telling us that he is going to look sooo handsome in his glasses. I have to agree….he is going to look so cute!

Thursday we were scheduled to take Max into the JCCA for his preschool testing. The appointment was a 3 PM so I let Max nap for a little while. I have to wake him up to go so already we are starting on the wrong foot because Max does not like to be woken up! We get to the school and he is in good spirits and is seemingly excited to be there. As soon as the 2 preschool teachers come to get Max, he starts crying and wants me to come with him. I can’t do this because it is part of the testing to do it without mom or dad in the room. After like 10 minutes of trying to coax him into staying in the room, I finally leave. (Let me mention that in the school it is like 110 degrees and we are all melting!) About 15 minutes later Max reappears with the teachers and he is smiling and happy. He took a few minutes to warm up and then answered their questions with no problems. We leave the school and on the way home, I asked Max what kind of things they asked him. He says, “They asked me what I would do if was thirsty and I said I would drink… but they didn’t ask me what I would do if I was hungry.” We go home and about an hour later I get a call from the school. It was one of the preschool teachers saying they scored his test and spoke with the administration and they think that Max would be extremely bored in the 3 year old preschool and feel he is better suited for the 4 year old program. At this point I think you could have knocked me over with a feather because I never expected that. After Greg and I discussed it, we decided to go for it. SO Nikolai will be in Kindergarten 5 days a week and Max will be in 4 year old preschool 5 days a week. And they should be able to get him the speech therapy they need right out there as well. Lots of changes.. we are still trying to wrap our heads around the idea of having 2 kids in school full time!

Now our focus is on school.. It all starts on Wednesday morning. Nikolai is so excited about starting Kindergarten and Max is excited about going to “big boy school”! Zander is a bit confused because he has to wait a few weeks before he starts his 2 day a week program. Zander is getting more and more vocal every day. His newest thing to say is ,”No Touchy, Touchy Mommy” if I am tickling him. He is so funny…. Always the comedian.

Keep your fingers crossed for all of us in the upcoming weeks. Lots of stuff going on and we are hoping for a smooth transition for everyone. We’ll keep you posted!

[Greg Writes] As for me - I've been living the dream! I was able to go on quite a boondoggle last week. The whole thing started with a trip to Georgia for a conference, and it turned into a 7 day rumpus! The first night, I went with a buddy of mine (the July wedding crasher who went to Leah's wedding with Pam and I in New Jersey) in a T-38 to Louisville, KY. We had a nice night with Ross and Shelly - great hospitality! The next day we jumped back on the plane and three-hopped through Eglin AFB, Patrick AFB (both in FL), and then flew 1000' up the coast from Cocoa Beach to Savannah, GA! It was wicked cool... Geoff had a friend there, so we hung out with him both nights we were there. I caught some sort of a flu-bug, so I felt lousy while we were there... The next day we jumped back in the plane and went to Langley AFB, VA, and then to Stewart ANG base in Newburgh, NY. Funny bit of history - My Dad used to fly C-124's out of Stewart over 35 years ago - and here I am bringing my little jet in... But it gets better - We jumped in a train and hit New York City for a night! We stayed right on Times Square at the Marriot - it kicked some serious ass... I still didn't feel great, so I turned in early, leaving Geoff and STITCH (Mpawrtajlasdjflasdjfasdfhnliafdsg) to do some carousing. I was awoken at 4 a.m. to Geoff projectile vomiting in our hotel room - looks like he caught a bit of the flu-bug, too! The next day, Geoff said he felt much better, so we walked around NYC for a few hours and caught our train back to Newburgh and our awaiting T-38. Then we had 2 of the greatest flights I've ever had! We flew low-level from Newburgh, NY all the way to Niagra Falls and then back to Syracuse! It rocked... I had done it before (pictures here), but Geoff had never seen it. After getting gas in Syracuse, we flew low-level through the Adirondacks, did a touch and go in Burlington, VT, flew over UMass and then landed at Westover ARB. So cool...

After a quick dinner with a friend of mine from survival school 10 years earlier, we jumped in the car and headed for my brother's house. He staged quite the impromptu rumpus! We went to a bar in Watertown, CT called the Red Door, and they had a kick ass band - Ron was in not-so-rare form with his fiance and her friends - it took Geoff a bit of convincing to stay out, but we didn't have to twist his arm too hard... We almost closed the bar, and then jumped in the car and hit my parents house to snooze - it was a pretty long day considering we started in NYC that morning!

I awoke at my parents house and tried my best to fix my Mom's computer - we BS'd for a little bit, and then Terri, Peter, Ashley and Alexis came over for lunch - It was great to see the whole fam on the government dime! We then jumped in the car (again) and headed for Groton, CT to see Carolyn and Rob - they were getting married the next day, but unfortunately we had to bring the jet back on Sunday rather than hitting the wedding - fortunately they were nice enough to let us crash their rehearsal dinner! Rob gave us a nice cruise around Long Island Sound in his boat, and then we parked right at the restaurant - wicked cool. We spent the rest of the night hanging out and chatting. The next morning it was back to Westover to jump in the plane and fly back to MO. Was I tired when I got home! It was great to see the fam, but I had a nice time on my rumpus, too.

It is now Thursday night, and the kid's first day of school was yesterday - they both did great! We have had to spend a little bit of time teaching Nikolai how to tuck his shirt in (something about his Dad never wearing his shirts tucked in...) so that he doesn't get in trouble... Other than that - all is well! We have taken a bunch of pictures of their first day of school - check them out and tell us what you think! Sorry for such a long update...

So I took Nikolai to a little "red neck racing" last week - and he loved it! I am scared... I recognized a guy from work when we went there 2 weeks ago w/ Matty B, so I commented to him that I saw him at the race - he was so excited that he gave me a free-pass! Nikolai got in for free, so the only thing we had to pay for was a $2.00 beer. Mmmm... Beer...

We are now members of a church! We have been going to the First Presbyterian Church of Warrensburg since February, and it is awesome - we finally applied for membership, and they even took us! It is a great group of people - everyone is so nice... Today we will be stood up and formally recognized as members - I am pretty excited! We will let you know how it goes next week...

Sorry for such a short update - I have been very busy at work and stuff, but nothing really worth talking about. More next week! We hope that all is going great with you! Drop us a line when you get a chance, and as always - Check out the pictures!

My Dad is home from his rehab now, and he is doing great! Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers…

So… Very… Tired… We had quite a rumpus last weekend! We imported quite the party from all over the country – Matty B came in from Phoenix, AZ, Ross and Shelly came in from Louisville, KY, and Heidi came in from Omaha, NB with her 2 kids… We had a blast! On Friday we all went to the winery – too bad it was almost 100 degrees! After the winery, we went to La Sous Terre – a cool little fondue restaurant in town. I don’t think they had a/c in the joint – so we were all sweating our butts off! Pam made quite an entrance as she slid down the stairs in full view of the whole restaurant – fortunately the only thing she hurt was her pride… After the movie, we all headed back to our house to watch Eurotrip – still one of my all time favorite movies! After a few games of hockey on the big-screen, it was off to lala land… The next day we had a BBQ with a bunch of people that I work with as well as a bunch of Pam’s friends. After the BBQ, the men went to watch 3/8 mile dirt track racing, and the women watched chick flicks! The races were pretty wild… People really get into their red-neck racing around here! We went off to the bars after the races, and made it home to some buzzed women… It was fantastic! We played a couple of games, and made it to bed around 3 a.m. We had a ton of people camped out at the house all weekend long, and we had so much fun – overall it was a huge success!

Max is doing so well in potty training – he hasn’t worn diapers in almost a month, and he always stays dry! He hasn’t even had a "whoops" during the night. Of course he thinks that this means carte blanche to come downstairs 52 times a night to say, “I have to poop!” He never means it, either…

Nikolai learned to swing ALL BY HIMSELF! We are so proud of all of our kids… They can all do so many things! Nikolai is getting excited for kindergarten, Max for preschool, and Zander for the Child Development Lab – We can’t believe that they will be back in school in 2 weeks! Unbelievable…

Zander is still chatting up a storm, and loves to play with his big brothers! This morning, I took Max and Nikolai outside to play while Pam and Zander slept. When we came inside, they were both still asleep! And it was 11 a.m.! Zander had been asleep for almost 15 hours! When I went to get him, I expected the worst – and I was not disappointed! Poop everywhere… That’s just nasty…

Pam took the kids to Paradise Park and Bowling the past few days! I'll tell you what... The kids are lucky to have a Mom as good as her - She really goes above and beyond to be a great Mommy that will raise the kids right! I LOVE YOU, PAM!

Funny kids story – The kids love to listen to a cd of kids singing Patriotic Music – they are all so cute when they dance around singing how much they love the USA! Team Tolmoff is full of little patriots… Mmmm… Patriots… Football is right around the corner!

The lucky streak continues! Pam and I were able to sneak away for a night to a cool little Bed and Breakfast! It was a first for both of us, and we had a blast! The B&B was the SchoolHouse B&B in Rocheport, MO. It was an old - you guessed it - schoolhouse that was converted into a B&B - very cool! When we got there, it was wicked hot, and we had planned to go wine-tasting, but the temperature precluded that! We went to the "Blufftop Bistro" at the Les Bourgeois Winery, and had a few glasses of vin... Yummy! We then went to the hotel to check in, and then back to the bistro for dinner! We had a great seat overlooking the Missouri river - very romantic... After dinner we went back to the hotel and soaked in our very own heart-shaped hot-tub - Complete with cookie-stealing rubber ducky! He made bath-time so much fun! It was just what we needed after all the hectic travels of the last month... Nothing says "reconnected relationship" like a heart shaped hot-tub!

Where were the kids during all of this? Our neighbor Ginger is the one had this great idea - she offered to watch the kids for a night while we went to Rocheport! Turns out that her Daughter Ashlee watched them for the bulk of time... Thanks Ashlee! The kids had a blast with Ashlee and Ginger, and it was a night that Pam and I will not soon forget!

My Dad is doing good - he is in a rehab right now while they monitor his incisions to ensure they don't get infected, as well as to practice his stretching and physical activites. My mom got a new laptop and wanted to re-configure Dad's network configuration. My Dad suddenly felt well enough to come home and ensure that it didn't get screwed up! It is pretty funny what he decides he feels "up" to.

The kids are all doing great - as always! Max has been wearing big-boy underwear for the last 5 days! We are so proud of him! Zander still tries to follow Max's lead and poops in the potty occasionally, but nothing regular. We think that he will potty-train quite easily when the time comes...

Nikolai is getting very excited to be a kindergartener! We can't believe that school starts in less than a month... Pam is looking forward to it!

My old college roommate, Matty B is coming out this weekend - check back in for tales of the Rumpus...

My father is home and doing wonderful - Thank you for all thoughts, prayers, notes, and phone calls - It means a lot to our family!

Greetings and Salutations! What a whirlwind. When I came home from Connecticut, Pam and the boys stayed behind for another week in Worcester, Mass with her fam. My employer would not give me 3 weeks off in a row – but they would give me a T-38 for the weekend to go to New Jersey for a friend’s wedding! It worked out beautifully… Pam drove down from Mass while I flew into McGuire AFB. When I walked out of the building, I waited for about 90 seconds, and then Pam drove around the corner to pick me up! It was awesome… I flew with a buddy of mine, Geoff, and we even scored him an invite to all of the weekend’s festivities! He was a big hit… Everyone wanted to meet the “Random Pilot Guy!” Pretty funny stuff…

We were very concerned that everything was going so smoothly, that we were afraid something bad was going to happen, but nothing did! Everything worked like clock-work. My jet worked great, and I got home right on time. Pam drove up to CT, dropped off my Mom’s car, and then her dad picked her up and drover back to the boys in Massachusetts – They were happy to have her back! On Tuesday, she got on a plane, with all 3 kids for the flight back to Missouri – They did great! Nikolai sat next to a few random people and was more than happy to talk their ears off! He is such a silly little boy… I met Pam and the kids at the airport, and boy was it good to have everyone home! It was so quiet sitting in this house by myself – I realized how much I missed the fam!

We have had a great week since everyone came home! Lots of fun and games for the Tolmoff crew! Vacations are always fun, but nothing quite beats coming home…

We have some big news to report on the potty-training front! Max is doing SPECTACULAR!!! He wears pull-ups and he will tell Pam and I (about 100 times per day) that he has to go potty. Now, I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but Zander has some sort of weird competition with Max! When Zander saw Max sitting on the potty, Zander insisted that he had to go, too! Pam obliged him by putting him on the potty. Imagine her surprise when she removed our 2 year old, and there was a nice big, steaming, loaf of poop! Zander really wants to compete with Max…

Max is following right in big brother’s footsteps by getting into geography. Pam's parents gave us a USA puzzle, and Max takes it apart and puts it back together about 1000 times daily! We can do nothing but sit in wide-eyed wonderment at how he can do the same thing over and over…

Nikolai is getting so excited about going to kindergarten! We told him that when we all got back to Missouri that we would have to get back on our routine – just to get him used to how things are going to be in kindergarten – He took that to heart! He is very insistent as to when it is time for breakfast, arts and crafts, music and dancing, and story time! He is going to do great in kindergarten!

Has it already been 3 weeks? WOW! We took a trip to the NORTHEAST!!! What a great time… We actually decided to brave the big, bad airports and take our 2, 3, and 4 year olds flying… And they did GREAT! The whole trip could easily be called, “Herding Cats.” The kids were eyes-wide with wonderment at every new thing there was to see, and therefore they were tough to keep focused on whatever the task at hand was. The flights went good except 10 minutes before we landed on the 2^nd flight into Manchester, Zander started screaming – not even a yell or a cry – more just a happy, “Hey – I’m in an enclosed place and my screams are louder!” It was pretty funny…

Our first stop was Pam’s parents house in Worcester, Mass… It was great to see all of the fam that we don’t get to see too often. The first day we were there was Pam’s little brother Mikey’s college graduation party! Pretty funny stuff – hanging with a bunch of college kids is much tougher than I remember it being – those boys can drink! And we even played some beer pong – sad to say that I didn’t win a single game! Those college kids are good… But not too good to pass out before I did! Oh Mikey... You know that college kids can be cruel... And don't forget how you ashamed Jesus! All of the cousins had a full afternoon of playing with eachother - and Angela (my niece) was the ring-leader!

On Father's Day, the kids got me a cute T-shirt and Eternity - Woo-Hoo! I think they have figured out (even at this young age) that I don't wear ties. HA! Carolyn and her fiance Rob stopped by for a few hours with their dog mocha - the kids were infatuated with him! And Pam is on my case more than ever to get a pet...

On Tuesday, 20 Jun we took the kids on a surprise trip to Boston! We drove to see our friends Jeff and Karen – they were great hosts and played very well with the kids. We took the kids on their first train ride! They had such a blast… Nobody ever told them about “Subway etiquette” and not talking to any of the strangers around you, so Nikolai and Max were chatting at anyone who would look at them. “Hi, I’m Nikolai. What’s your name?” Pretty funny.

At the end of the train was the aquarium! The kids had a great time looking at all the fish – we even took them to an IMAX presentation of “The Deep Sea, in 3-D” Watching all the boys try to reach out and grab fish coming out of the screen was pretty funny. What was even funnier was that Max caught one! At least that is what he said. It was quite a hot day, so we got an ice cream, and then took the train back to Jeff and Karen’s where the kids decorated home-made pizzas! Yummy! They were wiped out when we got home – they all went right to bed and slept 12 hours straight…

On Wednesday we went out to UMass! It was a rite of passage taking our 3 kids out to our Alma-Matter – where we met so many years ago… We even brought bread to feed the ducks! We then bought out the campus store, and then went to Antonio’s! Max had an inexplicable fit while we were in Antonio’s, and everyone was looking at us as if to say, “There’s no crying in Antonio’s!” He finally calmed down and agreed that it was the best pizza in the world…

On Wednesday night I went out with Mikey and his friends to the Worcester Tornados baseball game! Lots of fun – and CHEAP! The beer was flowing. I paid for it the next day…

Overall, the party was a huge success! Even though everyone was stuck inside for the whole day, it was still great to see all the friends and family. We even got to see Oskar (Ron’s son), and Ashley and Alexis (Terri and Peter’s daughters). A&A were GREAT with the kids! It gave Pam and I a chance to actually play adult and socialize a bit… The kids were GREAT the whole weekend! No breakdowns at all…

On Sunday we had a big breakfast at the house and all of the immediate family stuck around for the bulk of the day. On Monday, My Mom, Dad, and our family jumped in the car and made attempt #1 to go to the Statue of Liberty, but it was pouring when we got to downtown. So instead we went to the Toys R Us in Times Square! They had a 5 story Ferris Wheel that the kids loved (do it again Mommy!) We got a dirty-water dog from a hot-dog vendor and ate it on the street – the kids were true New Yorkers!

On Tuesday we went to the Beardsley Zoo. Max was quite concerned about the possibility of getting eaten by an alligator, but we managed to get through it without any major problems. We took a bunch of pictures! Wednesday was low key – we just went to the mall to get the kids some clothes for a picture that my Mom wanted to have taken. We went to Georgia Sheron Photography, and it was more of a Zoo than on Tuesday! Nikolai and Zander were well into the picture taking, but Max had other ideas (I don’t want to wear a hat! I don’t want to sit here!) We finally were able to get him to settle down, but I had to jump around like a crazy man just to get them to smile – I will post scanned copies of the pix when we get them – I hope they come out great – They sure cost enough!

On Wednesday afternoon, my Dad took a stress test in preparation for a Bariatric Surgery (Stomach-Staple, and what-not), and he failed. So on Thursday, he was going to go in for a Cardiac Catheter to scope around and see if he had any clogged arteries. All was going well until they could not get the catheter through, since it was so clogged. So we find out that on Friday, he was going to go in for a Triple Bypass Surgery. Ouch. While he was under the knife, they found that artery #4 was also quite clogged, so they bypassed that one as well! I come home for vacation, and my Dad gets a quadruple Bypass. I don’t think I’ll ever get invited again.

Fortunately everything went great, and he is recovering just fine! We are looking forward to him getting back on his feet so my Mom and Him can start enjoying their retired life together!

Even after the long day in NYC, on Friday night, Kris Centrone came up from New Jersey, and we ended up seeing 0230 in t he morning before we made it to bed. Ouch!

The last night we were going to be in town, my brother’s Fiancé’s (Michelle) parents invited our family up to their farm in Northfield, CT. The kids were very excited to go, and boy did they have fun!!! Bob and Doreen were the perfect hosts for the little ones – We started the day off by putting the kids in the bucket of a bull-dozer and driving them around the farm – Max was a little apprehensive, but he got over it quickly… After that they broke out small fishing poles to teach the kids how to cast. Truth be told, we have 2 small fishing poles in our garage, but every time we want to break them out and go fishing, it is too hot or buggy to go fishing. At least now they know how to cast! Dinner was served (Thanks, Baldy!) and then it was time to go on the slip&slide! The boys couldn’t be happier… When we were changing Max’s clothes, we noticed that he was not his usual self – turns out he had a temperature of 102 degrees! We are not quite sure why since he had the tubes put in his ears – he is not supposed to get fevers anymore! He did manage to buck up enough for a ride on a pony around the farm – all the kids took turns riding around, and they had a lot of fun… My brother and Doreen even got to “crimp” a sheep with Kris and I looking on. Looked pretty painful! We put him to work the whole time he was there – he is always a sport whenever he visits – Thanks again, Kris!

I had to come home a week earlier than Pam and the boys since I had to go back to work – Right now I am playing the pseudo-bachelor! We were talking about it – neither of us have ever been home for more than ~1 hour without the kids since we moved in – It sure is quiet! Too bad I had to mow the lawn…

Good times... Good Times! We have a couple of budding Major-Leaguer's in our midst! We broke out the ol' T-ball the other day, and the kids had a BLAST! I never played (formal) baseball as a kid, so I was teaching them the best way that I knew how - looks like we are going to have to have a few sessions with Grandpa Rossi so that they get it right! Pam is particularly fond of the butt-shake that I taught them - she's lucky I didn't teach them to scratch and spit! Don't worry - we have a few movies showing the kids potential as Professional Baseball Players! No - I won't be quitting my job any time soon...

Max had his ear check-up the other day - he is doing great! They said [before he had tubes] that there may have been a bit of permanent hearing loss due to the ear infections that he had, but they retracted that statement! He still has some speech issues that we are going to work w/ a speech therapist to resolve.

Everything else is going great here - sorry for such a short update - I just had a few new pix and movies that I wanted to post to the website...

Giddy up! Last Sunday we went to our first Church Picnic! We are now going to the First Presbyterian Church in Warrensburg. It is a GREAT Church, and the people are all so friendly! There is none of the judgment that comes from typical Churches. It is a really nice place, and the kids love it! The family whose house we went to had 2 little boys (~8 and 10). They had all the toys, and the kids had their way with them! They even had a monstrous tree-fort that Nikolai loved to climb! I would say that I didn't have 14 heart-attacks, but I would be lying!

I am still on my mole-killing adventure! I am up to 14 confirmed kills. Pam didn't believe me when I told her that it was going to be all out war! Slowly but surely the unsightly mounds are disappearing. Hopefully in the fall I can plant grass where they destroyed it...

The kids were extra-funny this week. I called for Zander to tell him that I loved him - "Zander!" "What?" "I LOVE YOU!" "Nikolai!" "What?" "I LOVE YOU!" "Max!" and then Max says, "Max isn't here." It made us laugh! So he said it about 1000 times! Still very cute.

Pam asked Zander, "Do you know who loves you more than anything in the world?" Zander thought about it for a minute, and then said, "Mmmmm... Hope!" (A friend of ours' child). HA!

I had just gotten home from work, and I told the boys, "THE FLIP FLOP MACHINE IS NOW OPEN!!!" [Flip Flops are a game where I lay on my back, and the kids run toward me, and I catch them on my knees and legs and flip and flop them to one side or another] Nikolai went first, laughing all the way. Then came Max, he was giggling so hard, he almost didn't make it. And then Zander huckl-bucked me when I wasn't looking, and he landed awkwardly and he jammed my thumb - I swear I thought I broke it! As I am writhing around on the floor in pain, Nikolai says, "The Flip Flop Machine is now closed." Those kids!

Pam has undertaken a crusade to get really good at geography! There is a fun web-site to play all kinds of state-games - How much do you know? Pam got 48/50 and a 5 mile error on level 6 (Expert)...

Nikolai made it into Kindergarten! He will be attending the JCCA Kindergarten in the Fall. We found out this past week, and we are psyched! Pam had to email the school and ask, and they said, "Yeah - he's in." As if to say - Why are you asking us?!? Woo-Hoo! Warrensburg Public Schools - you can go fly a kite!

Pam had Nicole over with her 2 month old son. While Xavier was out of the car seat, Nikolai thought he would get in!

We are still working on Max to potty-train him. It will be nice to get #2 out of diapers! Those things are expensive. I have decided that when Zander is out of diapers, I am going to take the extra money and buy my own private jet. HA!

The other day the local airport had a "Fly-in" where a whole bunch of airplanes came in for lunch - they had skydivers, remote control airplanes, and even gliders. I took Max and Nikolai, and they loved it! Next time I think I might even take them flying... Woo-Hoo!

The other day, we had run out of milk, and Zander says to Pam, "Milk please, Mommy?" And Pam breaks the bad news to him that we had no milk. Zander got all upset and said, "Milk, Walmart! Milk, Walmart!" Our child is a wee-Walmart shopper...

Funny Nikolai story - We were (as always) going over geography, and Nikolai says, "The Alps in France are very mountainous." And I tell him, "Yes, that is a true statement." In true Nikolai wit and fashion, he says, "No Daddy, that is a true country-ment!" I giggled. Funny stuff!

Ouch. I hurt my neck. I have been nearly laid up for the last 3 days! I felt the "pop" when I was doing pushups, and things went downhill from there. I flew twice that day against my better instinct - I figured I'd just sleep it off, since I was going to be flying 3 times the next day. I made it through 2 flights, and then I gave up - straight to the doctor (Pam's advice). The doctor loaded me up on Motrin and Robaxin (muscle relaxer) and also tried cracking my back w/ no luck... I was back in his office 36 hours later - still not feeling too crisp. He tried cracking my back (Manipulation, as he called it), and it worked! He looked like a little kid who just reeled in a big fish - he was so proud of himself! And I couldn't be happier. I was still sore, but the sharp pain was gone... It is still a "dull-sore" today, but nothing too serious.

Max got his tubes put in on Thursday, and he did great! He had the look of horror when he put it together that Mommy was not going with him, and also when he woke up and Mom was nowhere to be found. It took him ~ 30 minutes to settle down, but after a long nap - he was his usual self! The doctor said it was like popping a water balloon - both ears were filled with fluid! Hopefully his speech improves - he is going back for a speech analysis next month to see what else we can do. We're so happy that he made it through none-worse-for-the-wear. Pam was sitting next to a couple whose child was in for his 2nd surgery to remove cancer. It makes us count our blessings on how healthy our family is!

Nikolai had his Kindergarten testing, and he did great! We don't have a final word yet, but it looks like he will go to K-Garten in the fall at the Christian School. His fate is now in the hands of the administrators (the same people that he kept giving guff to since January) - hopefully they do not hold anything against him! He is very excited at the prospect of Kindergarten...

Zander continues to astound us - he is always the chatterbox who repeats EVERYTHING! Pam called me a "Crapbag", and Max and Zander both started parroting "Crapbag." Nice... Zander is very accident prone! He got his fingers caught in the door (bright red thumb), and is constantly running into things! Just like Mom...

I hate to mow the lawn. Especially when it is 95 degrees out. I just figured I'd mention that...

After the kids went to bed last night, we called eachother's cell phone, put them both on speaker, one on Mute, and then we went across the street to a huge bonfire for our neighbor's birthday party - fun stuff!

Another fun week as always! This past week I went to San Diego for a conference - and I even managed to squeeze in a little Deep Sea Fishing... TWICE! It was awesome... I went out there with a co-worker (Geoff Steeves), and then I met up with 2 other friends of mine - Jeff (from UMass), and John (from Tucson). What a great time... I got off the plane on Tuesday, got a huge breakfast burrito, and then jumped on a boat! How much better could it be?!? While fishing, I caught a large Red Rock fish, and a 20 lb Bonita Tuna! We didn't eat either of them since we were staying in a hotel. The conference was fairly low key, so not too much to report there, but there was a pretty cool group of guys to hang out with. We also got wicked sushi at Onami, and we even went to Moose McGillicuddy's! A fine time, indeed...

While I was away, Pam was taking care of the fam - Nikolai is still into his states! Nothing much changed there in the 4 days I was gone... Max still talks incessantly, and Zander is the Bull-dozer of the crowd! All in all, they are great kids, and I missed them lots while I was gone...

Max gets his tubes put in on Thursday - keep him in your prayers! We are not anticipating any complications, but you never know... He had another double ear infection last week, so we are sure this is the right thing to do.

Nikolai only has 2 more days of school left! Then he gets tested for Kindergarten on Thursday for the Christian School that he is in. I would rather get him into the public school, but their birthday cutoff is no later than 1 Aug. Ridiculous! That means Nikolai would be 18.5 when he graduates high school, and 22.5 when he graduates coullege. I am not so sure the extra year waiting around for kindergarten will be so healthy. Here is the email exchange between myself and the superintendent of the schools...

-----Original Message-----
From: Tolmoff Gregory D Maj 509 OSS/OSO
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 2:00 PM
To: deb.orr@warrensburg.k12.mo.us
Subject: Kindergarten for a 4 year old?

Deb,

My name is Greg Tolmoff, and I am an active-duty Air Force member out at Whiteman AFB. I have a 4 year old son named Nikolai that I am interested in getting into kindergarten this fall. He will turn 5 in November. He is an extremely intelligent young boy, and I believe that he would do great in kindergarten. I understand that Missouri State Law dictates a 1 August birthday cutoff date for entry into the public schools, but I wanted to find out what I could do to get an exception to policy. After this assignment at Whiteman, we are looking to return back to the Northeast (Massachusetts), where we would put Nikolai into the public school system. Massachusetts’ cutoff is 1 December. My wife and I feel that if we held him back from entering kindergarten (until he was almost 6), he would be far ahead of everyone else in his class (thereby possibly being bored and uninterested), and we feel it may affect his overall academic development. What steps could we accomplish to see about getting an exception?

I wanted to let you know that I have already spoken with Nancy Rodgers and she told me that it would be impossible, but I am sure that anything is possible as long as we talk to the correct person. Ginger Cochran is my neighbor, and she is the one who gave me your name as the possibility of being the “correct person.”

Thank you very much for your time and your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

V/R,

Maj Greg Tolmoff

And her Response...

From: Deborah Orr
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 4:34 PM
To: Tolmoff Gregory D Maj 509 OSS/OSO
Subject: RE: Kindergarten for a 4 year old?

Major Tolmoff,

I apologize for the delay in reply. I was out of the office for both meetings and illness during most of last week.

I have reviewed your request. I understand your concern re: your son’s educational experience and respect your interest in doing what is best for him. However, the Missouri guidelines are clearly written and our district abides by these guidelines. We follow our policies and procedures very consistently which I’m sure you understand and I am unable to grant an exception.

There are many fine preschools in our community, several that cultivate an educational environment in addition to appropriate social interactions. I would encourage you to look into those options.

Thank you for your interest in our district and I wish you and your family the best.

Deborah Orr

Just ridiculous! Oh well - the master plan is to see if the Christian School will let him in to Kindergarten this fall, and then transfer him next year. Wish us luck!

We hope that all is going great with you - drop us a line when you get a chance, and as always - check out the pictures!!!

What a week! We had several great activities this week. First off, Nikolai had his Spring Program at school! It was so cute... All of the classes came out and sang songs - Nikolai's song was, "The Lord's Army." He was adorable! They were all wearing cute little military hats - Nikolai had on a little Navy hat - I'm not quite sure why he didn't go with an Air Force hat... Oh well! Since he was in the 4 year old pre-school, his class went first, and then we had to sit through the rest of the songs and skits... Our first of many concerts/performances/recitals!

Sunday was Mother's day, and the kids (Nikolai) made mom a great Mother's Day card - It was huge! We did it on the driveway - in chalk! Pam really liked it... We surprised her with breakfast in bed (toast w/ honey, that the kids (and me) ate most of), coffee, the paper, and a huge vase of flowers! Barely a token of our appreciation for everything that she does for us...

Nikolai is still obsessed with his states/capitals/geography. Yesterday at dinner, he said, "Daddy, can you say the name of a Welsh village with an accent?" WTF? He reads his books no less than 3 hours per day. Pam said, "I can't believe my 4 year old knows more about the states than I do!" I responded with, "If you read state books for 3 hours a day, you'd know what he does!" He goes through all of his phases full force!

Max is now going through the stage where he gets out of bed in the middle of the night and wanders around the house... Not cool! The other morning, I got up, exercised, showered, and went to work - all without seeing Max sound asleep on the couch. Goofy kid! We threatened to lock him in his room if he came out again, and the next 2 nights he stayed in his room all night! He is getting a very sarcastic sense of humor - "Max, did you have fun at the Wiggles?" "NO!" And then he'll let out a long giggle... But more and more, I am finding out that the kids deserve each other!

Zander now has 3 puppies that must go everywhere with him - Puppy, Blue, and New Puppy. Keeping track of one is hard enough, but trying to keep our eye on 3 puppies is a real chore. Zander still does not like to go to sleep - he'll scream bloody murder for ~10 minutes anytime we put him to bed, but then he will sleep soundly all night. And Lord help us if Mommy is not around! He is not such a fan of letting Daddy put him to bed!

Pam and I are doing great - yesterday we did some much needed house cleaning - we (Pam) cleaned out the fridge/freezer and food closet - Nasty! The winner was some bagels that have been in the freezer since we moved here in '03. And don't forget the package of Pork Chops from 4th of July '04! Ick...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ZANDER!!! Well, technically it was yesterday, but we were too busy celebrating yesterday to update the website... We can't believe he is 2! It just blows our mind how fast time is flying - it is already May! Wow...

We celebrated in style yesterday by having a little party for him - well, it started out little, but by the end, there ended up being ~ 30 people at our house! It was a lot of fun - the weather was did not cooperate, so everyone was cooped up inside. It was quite the estrogen-and-kid-fest! There was only one other husband that was here... Ouch! Lots and LOTS of kids! Pam sent Max and Zander downstairs right before the party started so she could keep gathering stuff to bring to the basement - she then heard, "THUMP - WAAAHHH!!!" Zander slipped and cracked his head on a door-jamb - It was quite the goose egg - cut and all! It is a good thing we weren't planning on having professional pictures taken for his 2nd B-day! Oh... Wait a minute! Yes we were - looks like we'll have to re-schedule...

While Pam was dealing w/ the Zander drama, Max saw his opening and dug into the cute baseball cake (and cupcakes). I have to teach the kid that if he is going to tear into cake, he has got to get rid of the tell-tale signs! But as always, the kids loved it... And even though we told everybody, "No Gifts" he still raked in quite a booty.

Before Zander's party, I took Nikolai to a birthday party for 2 twins in his class - and it was at a Roller-Skating Rink! I knew that it was going to be a nightmare from the word go - and I was right! I even donned the ol' skates (no pictures - sorry!) and took Nikolai out and about... Pretty funny stuff! He only really fell about 3 times, but the rest of the time I was right there to rip his arm out of the socket when he started to fall - more to ease the fall than anything else...

As he was in the middle of playing with his friends, with me standing off on the sidelines, Nikolai stopped, called my name, and then gave me the Sign Language for "I Love You" - My heart melted! What a great kid...

On Friday night we went over to a friend's house for a few "cocktails." Last time we went to this guys house (A Brit flying the B-2), I left a crippled heap! It was not too fun... Since I had a lot of work to do around the house, I toned it down a notch this time... But not Pam! She really lit things up! I have not seen her that "medicated" in quite some time... Pretty funny stuff, actually!

Things for me have been great! I am now an Instructor in the T-38 - Woo-hoo! It is funny - it took me about 3 weeks to do my instructor check-out, however if I went to Randolph (where they do the bulk of T-38 Instructor Upgrade) it would have been ~4-5 months! I am much happier I went this route... I had a glitch on my checkride, though - nothing important - I just want to read this in 50 years and get pissed off all over again! Such a nothing thing... But the checkride is complete!

Max is already DONE with school this year! He is such a great kid - last week when I was mowing the lawn, he was supposed to be napping, but I see his head popping up in his window watching me go round and round - we exchanged big waves and sign language - he is so cute!

I have been on an all out Mole-hunt. Our yard is over-run with the little buggers, and as of today, I now have 5 kills! I am now a mole ace! I want to paint 5 moles on the side of my car to let everyone know... Just like they used to do when shooting down Luftwaffe in WWII! The dog that lives across the street from us (Tucker), has a new lease on life as my mole-hunting buddy... She comes bounding over anytime I am outside in hopes that she can get in on the mole-killing action!

I have been playing on a volleyball team the last few months, and we went undefeated all season! Until our last game. The other team was really good... Not saying that we weren't good - we just weren't 9 feet tall!

Our friends Don and Kevin are currently deployed - keep them and their families in your prayers for a safe and expeditious return!

Finally! Some time to update the website more than once a month... Just got back from dropping off 2 buddies at the base - Lamby and B-Luv. They came in for a little Cross-Country from Sheppard - Good dudes! We went out on Friday night to one of the local watering holes - we even got a cab to take us there - Smart thinking on our part! It freaked out our neighbor when she saw a cab driving down the street... We stayed out way too late - but it was fun! We had a good group of dudes that all went out - although the kitchen passes are few and far between - it is nice that we all can occasionally get one together!

Last week we went to a huge Easter Egg Hunt - There were over 600 eggs - I think that Max got about 300 of them! He really figured out the purpose of the hunt early on... All the kids had a great time! Right up until we had to leave. Then they had there standard meltdown... Oh well - the joy of youth!

Nikolai had a great time bending Lamby and B-Luv's ears about geography - Any new people that show up in the house are subject to hours of "What is the capital of Illinois?," Or "What state is shaped like a mitten?" Pretty funny stuff - Thanks for all of the patience, guys!

Max is quite the little gymnast! Here is a little video of Max jumping on a trampoline - he is more coordinated than I am! He really loves his tumbling class - And yesterday we went to a birthday party at a little gym that had trampolines, balance beams, and balls! The kids had a great time...

Zander has grown a new affinity to "Puppy" and "Blue." Puppy is a nasty little stuffed animal that he will not part with - dirty as all get-out! The Easter Bunny brought Blue in hopes that he would cling to Blue instead of Puppy - Now he clings to both of them! Every night we have to search the house for Puppy and Blue...

We have been taking family walks the last few nights - the weather has been great, and now that it is light a little later at night, the kids are loving it! They are so cute... Zander can (for the most part) keep up with his big brothers while they are outside. Something funny Pam and I noted is how the kids run everywhere they go! Wouldn't it be cool if you said, "I am going to get a cup of coffee." And then you sprinted out of the room at top speed? Kids seem to run everywhere...

Zander's hair is wicked long - he has the cutest curls that Pam is reluctant to get rid of - I think they are cute, too - but his hair is unruly... He has developed an un-natural fear of our neighbor Bob when he is mowing the lawn. He gets really upset - even if he is inside, and Bob is across the street - 500 feet away! He gets a pouty look on his face and says, "Bob..." As soon as Bob drives out of view, Zander's face lights up and says, "Bye Bob!" We are not quite sure where he gets his fear, but it is pretty funny. He is still a full-on Mommy's boy - he is always very aware where Pam is - much to my chagrin at times... Oh well - He is our last child, so Pam is more than able to spoil the baby of the family!

Max is going to need to get a tube put in his left ear. We just went to the doctor yesterday, and he said that Max's hearing loss can probably get reversed if we get him tubes now. Max's speech is a bit messed up - we think that it is because of the difficulty hearing that is making his speech unintelligible. He always has a lot to say - we just can't always understand it! He is still our most cooperative child - he tries not to beat up (or get beat up) too often - He still has such an adorable smile whenever he gets sheepish... His eyes still intrigue me - it looks like there are lightning bolts going on in there! Such a cutey... Especially when he wears the Dodger's wig that I got him from LA!

Nikolai is still the self-proclaimed ruler of the roost! We have to continually remind him that he does not make the rules. His behavior has been much better in school lately - we are certainly happy for that! It makes picking him up much less stressful for Pam. He sometimes throws temper tantrums now where you can just see his anger mounting - we just let it run its course, and we try to do it without laughing - He will tell you exactly how he feels, often times it is quite comical, "I am not a happy little boy right now! I never wat to come back to Costco! I don't like eating samples!" Sure you don't... That is why you had 15 of them... HA! As long as we keep him in bounds, we know that he will turn out just fine...

Pam and I have been on the go non-stop! Between my work, her chauffering, the kids school, swimming, gymnastics, church, bible study, stamping, mowing (ick), websites, exercise, etc., it seems like we are constantly going in different directions! It takes quite a bit of effort on both parts to keep us focused on what is really important...

Try as I might, I only seem to be able to update this every few weeks! The last few have been a doozy… For starters, I got to go out to Los Angeles for the opening day at Dodger’s Stadium! It turns out that Tommy Lasorda is good friends with one of the Generals in my chain of Command, and therefore every year gets his very own B-2 flyby for opening day… And that means that I got to go be the Ground Crew to set up the timing with the national anthem – pretty sweet work if you can get it… I flew out with a friend of mine (Geoff, or Zorro) in a T-38 – we stopped in Phoenix for a night and got to see Matty B! After flying a wicked low-level through the mountains outside of Phoenix, off to dinner we went – since we are creatures of habit, we got the good ol’ Antonio’s-esque slice of pizza at Slices – Yum! We even went to a Yankee’s preseason game… Damon looks damned good in pinstripes! Much to Pam’s chagrin…

Then next day we headed to Los Angeles by way of Edward’s Air Force base! The next time you think you have it bad, imagine living here! There we met up with Geoff's brother and sister, as well as John and Valerie from our Tucson days! It was great to see them - they live in the middle of nowhere, so they said it was nice to get a few visitors. After a quick lunch (and a long drive through the desert - part of which I was in a trunk), we we were on our way again - this time with an unrestricted climb! John, Valerie, and Geoff's brother and son were brought to the runway for front row seats of us flying the T-38 to over 450 mph, and then going straight up to 22,000 feet! Very cool - quite an adrenaline rush... From there we took a wicked tour of the sunny, California coast-line, courtesy of our own jet at 1,000 feet - flying is cool! Geoff almost hit a dingo while landing, but we were none worse for the wear… We went to the hotel that they were setting us up in – the Marriot in downtown – sweet! We found a cool little [read: trendy & expensive] Cuban restaurant where I had my very first Mohito. Mohito. It is just a fun word to say… On Saturday, we met up with Geoff's sister and did some of the touristy things, to include Hollywood & Vine! LA is filled with the weirdest people on earth... But for the kid's sake, I did get a picture with Elmo and Cookie Monster, Shrek, and of course - Fat Elvis! You never know who you'll see...

After messing around downtown, we headed to the stadium to make sure that we had our bearings for the next day. We met up with our point of contact, and she proceeded to load us down with Dodger's paraphernalia! Very cool... The next day was game time. We got to the stadium early and wandered around meeting some randoms. Like Steve Garvey. And Tommy Lasorda. Everyone was very nice to us, and more than happy to sign autographs! We went to a suite right before the game and sitting there playing a play-station was Darius Rucker - but you might know him as Hootie, from Hootie and the Blowfish fame. We gave him some B-2 stuff hoping to pry him off his little PSP. IT was tough - but we did it. And Hootie posed (obviously unwillingly) for a few pictures. Hootie was going to be singing the National Anthem, so it was up to us to time the B-2 flyby based on his singing.

Everything was going great until Tommy Lasorda threw out the 1st pitch ~3 minutes early. We got on the radio and screamed for the plane to show up NOW! Hootie was already singing, and we told them to keep the power pushed up, as there was no way possible that they were going to be on time for the end of the National Anthem. 10 seconds before the end, I still didn't see them! And then they showed up. Perfectly. And FAST! They were supposed to flyby at 250 mph, but instead they went zipping by at 440 mph! The crowd went NUTS! We caught it all on video - check it out!

After the flyby, the rock-star treatment continued - our money was worthless, and we couldn't have bought a beer even if we wanted to... It is always fun getting a snippet of VIP treatment, even if we are just a couple of schlubbos...

The next day, it was back to Whiteman. We loaded into the plane with cold, pouring rain. 2 enlisted guys were sitting in their truck watching us get soaked, and not offering a hand - Back to Reality! Our first stop on the way back home was my old stomping grounds - Davis Monthan Air Force Base! As I was getting ready to land, I heard, "PUDDY!" on the radio from somebody in an A-10 - Apparently I have a distinctive voice? I was not aware...

On the way back home, we were hauling the mail! At a very high altitude...

We made it back to Missouri none worse for the wear - definitely one of the better boon-doggles we have been on... Good stuff!

We hope that all is going great with you - drop us a line when you get a chance, and as always - check out the pictures!!!

Happy belated St. Patrick's Day! All is going well at the Tolmoff house... We just got back from a night in Iowa where we celebrated Ross and Shelly's wedding! They got married a few month's ago in New Zealand and obviously none of their friends or family were there, so they had the reception in Iowa! I had never done time in Iowa, but it looks just like Missouri, only further North... The town that we stayed in was where Marion Robert Morrison was born! The town was Wintersett, IA, and there was even a famous movie shot here - The Bridges of Madison County. I took a picture of one of the bridges - you don't see this particular bridge in the movie, but I still found it breath-taking...

A funny story from last night - We put the kids down to sleep (all in the same hotel room - not a chance that this was going to be easy!), and Pam and I went next door to the room of a friend of ours. Zander started screaming, so Pam went and got him. About 10 minutes later, there was a ruckus, so I went over to check it out. There was Nikolai, on the toilet, taking a dump, and Max was next to him, face down, in an empty bath-tub! So much for kids sleeping! It was pretty funny - The little getaway was very nice, and a HEARTY congrats (again) go out to Ross and Shelly! We had a great time!

As you may have figured out, WE GOT OUR CAMERA BACK!!! We were so psyched... We went on a picture-taking frenzy! It was pretty funny, but you never know what you've got *sniff* until it's gone!

Funny Max story - The other day, Nikolai asked Max what he was doing - It was obvious to everyone around except Nikolai that Max was not doing anything special, so Max goes, "What do you think I'm doing, baking a cake?!?" We chuckled...

Pam was driving the boys home the other day, and she was about 3 minutes from being home, and Nikolai said, "Mommy - I think I'm going to take a little snooze..." and then he closed his eyes...

When the kids are taking tubbys, it is a constant struggle to keep them from splashing water on the wall, and it iritates me even more than it does Pam. Pam walked in, and of course there was water on the wall. Pam said, "Do you know what Daddy will say when he finds out there is water on the wall?" And Nikolai's response? "Well don't tell Daddy..."

Tomorrow is Max's Birthday! Happy Birthday Max! I can't believe how fast he is growing up... I can still remember the day he was born clearly - I had a great burrito that day. And Dunkin Donuts coffee... Mmmmm... Dunkin Donuts coffee... It almost caused me to miss his birth!

There were a bunch of funny kids stories this past week! First of all, last Sunday we went to Church! We are going to try going to Church every Sunday now - we figure that the kids need to hear/learn about God from other than just us. Max and Zander were in the nursery, but Nikolai sat through the whole service like a champ. At one point, Pam asked Nikolai a question in a soft whisper - Nikolai didn't hear her, so he asked (in a very loud whisper), "WHAT!?!?" Pretty funny...

Nikolai's school is having a fundraiser where they sell cookie dough, so we figured that we would hit up a few of our neighbors to donate. We went down the street to Larry and Judy's house - They are a retired couple who are great with the kids. As soon as we walked in to their house, the kids split up into different directions to get their grubby paws on anything they could touch. Larry saw that they were going to break everything in the house if he did not act quickly! He went downstairs to retrieve some of his grand-kids toys. He came up with a drum, a pair of maracas, and a recorder. The kids face' lit up! They were pretty excited to play with the musical instruments. Watching them in the 3 piece band was pretty cute, although they lacked talent. Lots of really loud noise! I think they get their musical ability from me!

That same night, Pam and I were in the bathroom dealing with Nikolai and Zander, when we walked out into the kitchen. There was young Max, tube of toothpaste in one hand, cap in the other, doing his best to squeeze the contents into his mouth! We couldn't believe it... Fortunately there was hardly an toothpaste left in the tube, so he didn't get any into his mouth... Otherwise we would have had a nice conversation with poison control and maybe even a fun family outing to the ER!

When the kids fart, we make sure they say excuse me. Actually, the quote is, "No Slugs, excuse me." The No Slugs thing comes from my days of flying A-10s. I don't know why, but it just does. So Max is sitting on my lap, and rifles off a machine gun! I look at him quite disapprovingly, and he says, "No Slugs, excuse me. No Slugs, excuse me. No Slugs, excuse me. No Slugs, excuse me." I laughed... Now the funny party was that Nikolai was no where to be found, and he does the same thing a while later. I ask him, "What do you say?" And his reply, "No Slugs, excuse me - A lot of times..." Kids!

Nikolai has been doing better in school - (in his words,) "Today wasn't awesome, but it was pretty good!" I will settle for pretty good behavior any day of the week! The other day he drew a self-potrait. It had jet-black hair, and it was on a paper-plate. It had a tissue in place of his nose - that was to symbolize that he had a runny nose - and underneath the tissue was a HUGE smile! He is adorable...

After the kids got out of the tub, Pam and I had dressed various stuffed animals in their PJs - to include the diapers and skivvies on their bear-butts! The kids got a hearty chuckle out of that...

Zander has turned into a rubber-faced boy! I don't know why, but he has suddenly gotten into contorting his face into some hysterical poses! He can furrow a brow in disbelief better than any other 1 year old I have ever met! Unfortunately he would not do it for me yesterday when I had the camera aimed at him... Zander showed that he can be just as ingenious as his brothers the other day - He was riding around in a shopping cart with Pam and his brothers. Zander worked for a while, and we was finally rewarded with getting his shoe off of his foot. Once he was holding it in his hand, he hit Max with it - They deserve each other!

You will notice that there are some pictures in this update! Does that mean that we got our camera back?!? Not a chance! Word to the wise - if you have a Fuji, and it breaks - just buy a new camera. Their customer service is not so great... It has been 5 weeks since I sent the camera in, and they have still not fixed it - they said that it will be done soon - all for $116! YGBSM! We ended up borrowing an old camera from a friend of ours - It is a 2 MP camera, but it is certainly better than what we have now!

We are still having a BLAST with the kids! They are such a great trio, and every day we give thanks for our happy, healthy family. We hope that all is going great with you! Drop us a line when you get a chance, and as always - Check out the pictures!

Alright - It has been almost 5 weeks without a camera - this is ridiculous... I called them the other day, and they said that it would be $116 to fix the camera. It was a $300 camera, so I told them to go for it. Only 3 more weeks left to wait! I can't believe this... This is the least "documented" that our kids' lives have been!

Last weekend, I went Cross-Country again in a T-38. I was going to try to go to Florida to meet up with Ross and do a little Deep Sea fishing, but the weather would have none of it! We were supposed to fish on Sunday, but it poured all day Saturday, thereby making the seas too rough for fishing on Sunday. Before it started to rain on Saturday, we went and raced go-karts - What a blast! Ross and I used to race go-karts every other weekend when we we were in pilot training. Brought back a bunch of memories - especially leaving Ross in the dust! Fun stuff... The weather was great on Sunday, so we got in our jet and flew to Ft Worth, TX. We met up with some friends of the guy I was flying with (Adam Cuquet), David and Sandy Beard. They are extremely well off business owners who own a condo right on the Texas Motor Speedway. It is pretty cool - I am not into racing, but I easily could be if I had a condo like that! It has a 12'x40' picture window where you can watch the race - stadium seating and all! Not too shabby. They took us out to a nice dinner that night, and then a righteous snooze at the Worthington! Life is good...

The next day we were going to fly a 3-hop home, but we had an aircraft malfunction, so we dropped into Vance AFB, in lovely Enid, OK. Pretty funny stuff - we drove around to waste time, and we ended up in a DMV (Adam had to get a title for his motorcycle from when he was in Pilot Training.) While we were in the waiting room, I flipped through a magazine, and I found an article written about a friend of mine - pretty funny! So I stole the magazine to give to him...

That night we went to Eischen's chicken. Pretty good chicken! It better be - it was an hour long drive to get there! While driving, I played Tetris on my phone, and I got 100 lines! Take that, Pam!

The next day, we finally made it home... The kids were excited to see me - I love coming home to the fam!

This past week was a challenging one in school for Nikolai - he has been doing very well, however Pam got a call on Thursday for her to come pick him up for mis-behaving. Needless to say, he went straight to his room for a long time! He came out humble and repentant, and he had a much better day on Friday!

A few funny stories about the kids - The other day, Pam and I were in the kitchen while the boys were playing in the bedroom - we heard Nikolai say, "Hey Max - let's play a game of Chase and Hurt!" Where does he come up with this stuff? Of course Max was more than willing to play... HA!

Pam got Nikolai a book about the Human Body - It talks about the skeletal system, the respiratory system, the circulatory system, etc. What we didn't know is that it also discussed the reproductive system... Nikolai touched my face (when I needed to shave), and he said, "boys get hair on their face when they go through puberty." What?!? "Okay," I say... "What else happens during puberty?" He proceeds to tell me that boys voices' get deeper, and they grow hair on their legs and their chest... And then he said, "Girls grow breasts, and their hips get wider!" You could have knocked me over with a feather... That shocked me, but not nearly as much as what he said at dinner...

Nikolai says, "Boys have sperm and girls have eggs. When the boy sperm meets up with the girl egg in the woman's body, it makes a baby. After nine months, the baby comes out of the womb between the girl's legs." YGBSM! Pam almost blew her food out across the table! I was trying to be as serious as possible to see if we couldn't put together, A) What he knew, and B) Where he heard all this?!? We talked through it, and sure enough it was all out of this human body book. We went up to his room, and Nikolai had quoted the book almost verbatim! Unbelievable...

Max is simply adorable - he loves to cuddle and play, and he loves attention. Anytime that we are ready to go up or downstairs, he makes sure that he has a "paw" that he can hold onto... I know that someday soon he is not going to want to hold onto our paws anymore, and I am not looking forward to those days, but I will enjoy these times while they last...

Max has started writing out his letters on the magna-doodle! He is not quite as obsessed with the ABC's as Nikolai was, but he does certainly enjoy them! He is taking a stab at reading, although he still has quite a way to go... I have a feeling that he will pick it up all at once - much like Nikolai did! We think that Max may need tubes in his ears. His speech is still not as clear as we think that it should be at his age. It is noticeable since he talks non-stop, and Pam and I can't always understand him. He had several ear infections over the last 1.5 years, so we think that he might have a fluid buildup that is preventing him from hearing perfectly, which in turn affects his speech. It is not terrible, but we just can't always understand him. We have a meeting with an audiologist in a few weeks to see how he's doing - we'll keep you posted!

Zander is still the rhinoceros of the crew - He abuses anyone he can get near - especially Max! Zander loves to antagonize, and he has gotten into making the cutest faces when you call him out on something. He tips his head down, and then looks up through up through his eyelashes, as if to say, "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" He cracks us up every time he does it! This is the point that I would show you some pictures, but alas, we have no camera, so we can't show you anything... :(

Pam and I are doing great - although now we are full-on back into the diet-scene. We were both doing great last summer, and then Jay the Canadian and crew showed up, and sent us all to crap. Yes, we realize it has been 6 months, but now we are fully back on the band-wagon! Summer is rapidly approaching, and I can't wait to get back in my speed-o!

Still no camera, so this may be the least “visual” update of tolmoff.com to date…

Nikolai and Max both had GREAT weeks at school! Therefore, we had a great surprise for their “reward” at the end of the week… Today, we took all of the kids to Paradise Park! It is a little indoor park that is a “creative kids” type place – There was a GIGANTIC ball pit (that adults can play in, too!), cooking, face painting, play grocery store, and all sorts of other things that the kids just had a ball doing. We kept it as a surprise right up to the point where we entered the parking lot – Nikolai saw the sign, and pumped his fists and said, “YES!” They were besides themselves… One of the activities was a story time where a guy was reading a book and showing the pictures to the kids – he was holding the book and trying to read it upside down, and he was not very good at it – It was a cat in the hat book with lots of made-up words that was giving the guy a heckuva time. It was a good thing that Nikolai was right there to correct him every time he messed up – Just what he needed, I’m sure!

We had promised the kids a big surprise if their entire week was a good one. Nikolai knew that it was going to be something big, so he stepped up to the plate and hit a home-run! We hope that we have rounded the corner of school mis-behaving… Tuesday was Valentine’s day, so Nikolai made everyone in his class little Valentine’s cards – he was so proud of himself… Wednesday, Pam was a chaperone with the school to the local animal shelter – She almost came home with a puppy, (“It was sooooo cute,” she kept telling me), and all of the kids had a great time… Thursday and Friday, Nikolai was a bit “cry-ish” – We think it was because he was just a bit tired – nothing disrespectful all week, so we couldn’t be happier!

Last weekend, I went to bed ~ midnight, and I heard Max crying – I figured that it was just a nightmare, so I went up to his room, told him there was nothing to be scared of. I went to bed, and I woke up at 0630 on Saturday to the sound of Pam in the shower – now if there is one thing that I have learned being married to Pam, is that she never takes a shower that early in the morning for no good reason… Turns out that Max was awake all night screaming and crying – unconsolable! Pam took him to the Doctor, and it turned out that he had an ear infection – and it ruptured his ear drum! We felt bad for him… It was so sudden – none of the usual whining or anything… All day Saturday he was a wreck – when he wasn’t sleeping, he was crying non-stop. He took all of his anti-biotics, and by Sunday morning, he was good as new! Very bizarre… But later in the week, one of our friend’s kids had the exact same thing happen to her! Missouri has very odd illnesses.

On Valentine’s day, Pam got me 2 books, “How Well Do You Know Your Husband/Wife.” 100 questions each (What age was your wife when she went on her first date? Who taught your husband how to drive? Etc.) You get 10 points for every answer you got right – I WHOOPED her! She needs remedial study on me… Of course we both lawyered all of our responses that the other didn’t agree with – I was a bit more successful than she was… HA!

Funny Max story: The other day, Pam was with Max, Zander, and Pam’s friend Jenny. Zander pulled his straw out of his drink, and blew water all over the table – Pam had her back to the action, so Jenny stepped in and said, “Zander – don’t pull your straw out of the drink.” Max looked right at Jenny, and said, “Jenny – Don’t talk to Zander like that. He is my brother!” Put her in her place!

Max got his haircut the other day in preparation for his school pictures – Pam let me take him, even thought I continually threatened to have him shaved bald (I was warned to not bother coming home if I did shave him bald). All this talk about being bald has Max convinced that he is bald! Just like Daddy… And he’ll tell anyone who’ll listen! Check out the picture! Oh, wait a minute, there are no pictures…

Zander has been on a biting spree lately, and we can’t figure out why – Every day, he will walk up to one of his brothers, or to Pam, and bite them – Pam has spanked his butt, yelled at him, sent him to Time-Out – and nothing has seemed to work. Jenny suggested putting soap on his tongue if he does it again, so Pam agreed to try. When she threatened it, Nikolai said, “Mommy, if you put soap on Zander’s tongue, he will never be able to eat again!!!” When she actually did it, she asked Zander if he liked that – Zander smiled and nodded… For the next few minutes, Zander followed her around, asking her for a drink. Pam tried the soap on her tongue, and decided it was too nasty to ever do that again – especially since the kid seemed to like it… Next idea please!

Since the camera is still broken, I'll give you a few fun websites to try your luck at...

We hope that all is going great with you – and we really hope that we get the camera back soon! Having our kid’s lives “un-documented” is completely foreign to us! Drop us a line when you get a chance, and as always, oh… Wait a minute… We have no pictures… L

For starters – the camera broke. We tried to turn it on one day, and it just didn’t work – we have no idea why! We sent it back to the company, and now we wait. The pix that you see below are not the greatest quality, since they were all from a cell-phone camera, and the good ones of the kids are from our camera before it broke… Anyway – onto the Blog! The last few weeks have been fun! For me anyway… I don’t think that Nikolai is having too much fun, but we’ll get into that more later! First of all, I finally got to fishing in Florida! I was wicked psyched… Pam was cool enough to let me head on down to Ft Myers to hang out with Ernie for a weekend where we could finally go Deep Sea Fishing. I got there on Thursday eve, and Ernie picked me up in a 1963 Chevy Nova SuperSport – Awesome car… The only problem was that it was sort of a death trap! There were no seat-belts, no airbags, no power-steering, no power brakes, etc. I haven’t driven in a car without seat-belts in ~20 years! I was very uncomfortable driving around without the belts… I felt like they might have made the death a bit less painful if they just welded daggers in front of my seat, so I would die instantly! Anyway, we picked up the car, and then went to Bikini Joe’s where we played NTN. For those of you who have not played, it is a trivia game where you compete against different people throughout the states on your trivia answering prowess. I crushed Ernie the first two games, and then I decided to get cocky and place a little wager with him – the bet? The bar-tab… Needless to say, I lost. It was only $36, but it was enough to piss me off. I hate losing bets. Maybe even as much as Pam hates me losing bets. HA!

After the NTN, we headed back to the airport to pick up Ernie’s other friends from the airport who would be accompanying us on our Deep Sea fishing journey – Flaherty and Barker. These were two of Ernie’s friends from when he lived in Boston. Good dudes, but I didn’t talk to them too much, since it was now 1130 p.m., and we had to be out the door at 4 a.m. Ouch! I went right to bed, and they stayed up and boozed all night. Thank God I got some snooze, or I would have been a hurting unit! Ernie had "acquired" us a 40 foot, $350,000 RV Bus for our sleeping pleasure while we visited - NICE!

Morning came quick, and we were on the way to Ft Lauderdale to go fish. We got there at 6:25 a.m. for a 6:30 show – not too shabby! We got on our boat – The Marlin My Darlin, and she was a beaut! Way too nice for schlubs like us! The whole reason we decided on this weekend was that it was Jim’s (of Kierstin and Jim – Ernie’s roommates) birthday. As soon as we got on the boat, Kierstin started to hand out Meclizine – a medicine used to combat sea-sickness. I didn’t figure that I would get sick, but to be on the safe-side – I took one.

Now I am not sure if it was the drugs, or the fact that I no longer get motion sick, but I felt like a CHAMP the whole day! And that made one of us… The other 5 people (except for the crew) were all as green as green could be! I felt wicked bad for them, so I did my best to keep their mind off the matters – I was later told it was like I was “holding court for 5 hours.” I laughed – they didn’t. We cruised through the Ft. Lauderdale harbor where, by the way, there is a ton of money. Huge houses, and huge boats. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if ever I was that rich! But I am sure that I would figure it out…

And then the fish came… It wasn’t the interactive fishing that I was use to with the “Fifty idiots hanging off the side of the boat,” but it was still pretty fun. Basically, Cove (our deckhand) would rig up ~8 lines with bait, and he would cast them all out while we trolled, and when a fish would show up, he would set the hook, tell us to get in the chair, and then we would reel it on in! Again – not too interactive, but a lot of fun nonetheless…

Throughout the course of the day, we caught 5 kingfish, 1 shark, 1 Amberjack- and the grand-daddy of them all – one swordfish! The swordfish was mine (technically it was Cove’s, but I reeled him in). We were actually fishing for big sharks at that point, and the fish came on – Since I was the only non sea-sick one awake, it was game on! I got in the chair and reeled like a MoFo! My arm hurt for the next 2 days… Everyone was wicked surprised to see that it was a swordfish – they said that swordfish only eat at night – no exceptions. The Captain said that in his 35 years of fishing, he has never seen or even heard about a swordfish being caught during the day! His amusing quote was, “You had better odds of catching a chicken wearing a snorkel than you did of catching that swordfish!” Funny stuff… We had to throw the swordfish back because it was too small (by ~4 inches – isn’t that always the case?!?)

Anyway – back to shore for us, and everybody could not have been happier. We jumped in the car and headed back to Ft Myers. Everybody was exhausted, and in bed by 9 p.m. It was indeed a long day…

The next day, it was Jim’s birthday party! What a blast… They even had a beer-pong tournament going on! I hadn’t played Beer-pong since pilot training… Turns out I was still pretty good at it! Jim had 80 lbs of Crawfish flown in for his birthday, and we dined heavily on the old mud-bugs. Jim and Kiersten are awesome cooks! Good stuff. I had to fly out at 6:57 a.m. the next morning, so I went to bed at ~10:30 p.m. I had a superbowl party to host the next night!

So here is where the weekend took it’s turn for the worse… The night prior, I had asked Flaherty to give me a ride to the airport since Ernie was boozing up a storm, and therefore probably not going to be in any condition to drive at 5 a.m. He agrees. I borrow Jim’s BMW (with built in Navigation System) for ease of finding the airport. Piece of cake.

The next morning, I am at the car at 5:29 a.m. One minute ahead of schedule. And I can’t figure out how to unlock the doors (literally. It was a cartridge – not a key.) I have to wake up Kiersten – she tells me.

5:42: Flaherty and I spend 15 minutes trying to un-wedge the BMW from the garage, and the car parked directly behind it (There were ~15 people sleeping on Ernie’s floor, and I had no idea who’s car it was to ask them to move it…)

5:57: We are now 27 minutes behind schedule. We get into the road, and then start trying to program the Nav system to take us to the airport. There is a reason why only smart, rich people drive BMWs – It is to figure out the Nav system. It took us 20 minutes to get the Nav System programmed!

5:17: We are now on the road to the airport – 19 miles away – and the gas range was 22 miles. Now, if anything was certain, it was that the gas door was going to be a bitch to get unlocked. And it was – It took us ~ 3 minutes (that we didn’t have) to unlock the gas door…

5:37: I arrive at the airport, 20 minutes before takeoff. I am laughing! I couldn’t believe I was going to make my flight! Until the B%@ch behind the counter said that she couldn’t give me a ticket, since I was inside of 30 minutes… YGBSM!

To make this long story shorter, I ended up having to switch flights, pay $25, and I *still* got in at the same time into Kansas City as I would have had I taken my original flight! Woo-Hoo!

That night – Superbowl party – although I didn’t want to see the Steelers in the Superbowl, I am glad they beat the Seahawks…

So that is it for my weekend – meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice (read:home), Pam was having her own fun… Nikolai has had two “Thumb’s up” days in the last 2 weeks! His behavior is rough. Today he was sent home for hitting – not good. It takes quite a toll on Pam and I that we keep getting poor reports from school on his behavior, especially since he is such a great boy at home! He has been such a great boy lately – very polite, very respectful, says sorry immediately if he does something wrong, quick on transitions, great with his brothers, etc. We have no idea why school is giving him problems. Any suggestions are welcome! The punishment that we decided for him has been to put him in his room until dinner (~6 hours) if he has anp getting poor reports from school on his behavior, especially since he is such a great boy at home! He has been such a great boy lately – very polite, very respectful, says sorry immediately if he does something wrong, quick on transitions, great with his brothers, etc. We have no idea why school is giving him problems. Any suggestions are welcome! The punishment that we decided for him has been to put him in his room until dinner (~6 hours) if he has an outright bad day, and for ~3 hours if it is a so-so day. We read that it takes ~2-3 weeks to change behavior in a 4 year old. However it is now over 3 weeks that we have been dealing with this, so hopefully something happens soon! Keep your fingers crossed for us…

Max is as sweet as Apple Pie – He gets glowing reports from school (as did Nikolai at that age), and he is a barrel of fun! His sense of humor is really blossoming, and his laughter lights up a room! He is a great kid who is a lot of fun to be around… I hope that he sees what is happening to Nikolai and decides that he wants no part of that… Max still goes to the CDL 3 days a week, and I think he likes the extra attention when Nikolai is stuck up in his room! Who can blame him… For all of the kids, we have drastically reduced the amount of TV they watch – They don’t seem to really miss it, and I think that they are way more productive with their days. Of course I am at work, so it affects Pam way more than it affects me [not having the TV on.].

Funny Max story: Pam was going over words with Max the other day, and she was on T. She made up a sentence using only T words, and she said, "Ten Tolmoff Tots Tell Tall Tales." Max looked at her and said, "Penis."

Max and Zander are both in tumbling classes, and they LOVE IT! Max is the family klutz (next to Pam) - always running into stuff... But ironically, the kid has great balance while tumbling! He follows instructions, and he always has a smile on his face... Zander loves the Moms and tots class since he gets good one-on-one time with mommy. Fun Stuff!

Nikolai and Max are also taking swim classes - we know that the kids' brain skills are right where they should be, but we figured that swimming is a perfect way to develop their motor skills. On the first day, they were both a bit apprehensive jumping off of the edge of the pool into the teacher's arms, but by their second class, they were grinning ear-to ear and leaping with reckless abandon! Adorable chitlins, I tell ya!

Today while Nikolai was at school, I dropped Max off, and then spent the morning alone with Zander (Pam was doing height/weight checks at Nikolai’s school for their “Health Day.”). Zander LOVES to be alone with Mommy or Daddy! He carried on conversations and laughed from start to finish! He is a flirt and a ham that makes everybody around him happy. He could possibly be even stronger willed than his big brothers – We are certainly in for a challenge if that is the case!

Where to begin?!? There has been some craziness going on in the old Tolmoff household! First of all, I’ll clue you in to my last weekend. It is a long story, so hang on! Myself, Booger, Bluto, and Roman took a pair of T-38s on a Cross-Country last Friday. The final goal was to head down to Miami, Florida to do a little Blue-Marlin Deep Sea Fishing. First stop – Louisville, KY to meet up with Ross for lunch, and then off to Ft. Smith, Arkansas. While we were at Ft Smith, Bluto (Jason Ellis) got a call from his wife that his kid was sick and was getting admitted to the hospital with breathing troubles. Suck! They took him to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City by ambulance where they gave him steroids, breathing treatments, and an IV. They didn’t think that he was going to be at the hospital for long, so we decided to continue on our Cross Country. As we were flying in formation to Ft Worth, TX, we heard the loudest vibration – not a good sign when you are in an airplane. We had our wingman come up and look over our plane – they said that the liner (on our travel pod) was hanging out of the pod and vibrating profusely against our jet – We slowed down and made our way into Ft Worth unscathed…

That night we hit a couple of the local eating/drinking establishment, and then had a righteous snooze in the Worthington Hotel in downtown Ft Worth. The next morning, Bluto and Roman decided to head back to Whiteman so that Jason could be with his sick kid – not a call I would have disagreed with! So it was up to Booger and I to carry on with our wayward selves… We were going to shoot for a 2-hop from Ft Worth, stop at Eglin for gas, and then Miami, here we come!

We called weather beforehand, and they told us that the ceiling/visibility was going to be 3000’ and 6 miles. After we sky-hooked at 43,000’, we checked weather at Eglin (about 10 minutes before landing.) They told us that it was 200’ and 1 mile visibility! Challenging to say the least… But we did it! And we couldn’t be happier. Now all we had to do was shutdown, get gas, and takeoff for some fishing in Miami! We shutdown, I jumped out of the plane, and I called Command Post to relay our status. Then Booger comes running toward me saying, “Our jet is on fire!” YGBSM! We stood back for a bit, not seeing any flames coming from the jet, but the crew chiefs seemed quite excited about something – to the point where they grabbed the fire-extinguisher and sprayed it. Right into the tailpipe of our airplane! It took a bit to figure out what happened, but it turned out that the crew-chiefs saw a “3-4 inch yellow flame in the tail section of the airplane.” I inquired if they knew that, in the tail section of the plane lie the afterburner, the same section that shoots out a 30 foot blue flame at 2000 degrees?!? I expected to see the white chemical foam of the fire retardant inside the tailpipe, but it was clean! They told me that it was Halon that they had used! Halon is a gas, so I figured that we would just let it dissipate, and we’d be on our way!

A quick call to Maintenance to confirm our suspicions, and that is when they dropped the ball on us – “Halon is corrosive, your jet is grounded until we get down there to look at it.” DAMN! So now we are stuck in Ft Walton Beach, FL, and we need to get to Miami to go get the big Marlin.

We look at buying airplane tickets - $500 each. Not gonna happen. Rent a car? 10.5 hours. Not gonna happen.

So we go out on the ramp, and we are screaming into the air – “HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET TO MIAMI?!?” Just then a C-21 lands (an Air Force Lear Jet). Out walk Two First Lieutenants. We ask them if they would be willing to get us to Miami – They ask if we can get them to Whiteman (to fly the B-2). We reach a mutual agreement. They ask permission from their bosses who agree to get us as far as Tampa, FL, but not all the way to Miami. Oh well – We’ll get to Tampa, rent a car, and be in Miami by sunset.

We call our bosses to tell them our plan, and THEY DENY US! I couldn’t believe it… Something about, “Changing the plan… Can’t justify…” Just crap.

So we are now “stuck” in Fort Walton Beach, FL (staying at the Sheraton on the beach - not too shabby!). So we decide to go fishing the next day - $45 for 6 hours of Mingo catching and even a 26” AmberJack (caught by Booger)! Pretty cool… Nights were spent at the Howl at the Moon – good times! I even ran into one of the first people I ever worked with from Tucson – She had just moved to Florida 4 days earlier…

On Monday morning, we were ready to leave the hotel and head to the airport to take a commercial flight home. I called our boss to let them know that we were leaving when they said, “You are still in Florida?!?” When I replied yes – they said, “Funny thing – the halon that they used to extinguish your jet was the non-corrosive kind. Your jet has been good to go all weekend, so why don’t you just fly that one home?” YGBSM! I couldn’t believe it – On the never-ending weekend of emotional highs and lows, this one capped them all! We missed a killer weekend in Miami, because somebody didn’t know the difference between halon… SUCK!

I got home uneventfully on Monday, and the kids were more than excited to see me! (Not to mention Pam ;)). We had a lot of fun on Monday night and Tuesday, but Wednesday is when it all went South for Nikolai. He had a bad day in school. Like – a really bad day. Like – he was sent home 1 hour after he got to school for being disruptive! Pam and I couldn’t believe it… He just refused to do anything that anyone wanted him to do, and it showed. Pam mustered all her courage and strength to not yell at him when she picked him up. She brought him straight up to his room, took out all of his books, and locked him in. For 8 hours. Ouch! He cried a bit, and we think he was brutally bored, but when he came out, he was angelic! We sat him down to talk about respect/disrespect. I came up with a sheet that outlined what it meant to be disrespectful, and what we expected of him:

Being Disrespectful Is:

Pushing.

Hitting.

Spitting.

Saying, “No.”

Being disruptive at home or in school.

Laughing or smiling when someone is talking to you.

Clicking your tongue when someone is talking to you.

Not doing what you’re told.

Saying hurtful things (like, “I don’t like you.”)

Not saying “Please” or “Thank You.”

Not making eye contact.

Not saying you’re sorry when you make a mistake.

Not putting away your toys when it is time to clean up.

Shrieking or making otherwise loud noises indoors.

Being Respectful means:

Hugs.

Kisses.

Having good manners.

Doing what you’re told.

Making eye contact.

Saying, “Yes, Mommy.” “Yes, Daddy.” Or “Yes, Ms. Colleen.”

Remember that if you do everything that Mommy, Daddy, and your teachers ask you to do, you will never get yelled at or punished! We never want to discipline you, but we will if you do not listen to us.

Tolmoff boys will be respectful. The more respect you have for others, the more respect will be shown to you.

Whenever you forget about how special it is to be a Tolmoff, and what is expected from you, you will read the following:

“My name is Nikolai, and I am responsible for my actions. I understand that there are consequences for all of my actions – I receive rewards when I have good behavior, and I receive discipline if my behavior is poor. I will try my hardest in everything I do every single day. If I feel that I am getting frustrated, I will take a deep breath and count to 10, before I do or say something disrespectful. I know that I am a lucky and important member of the Tolmoff family, and I will do my best to behave like a good Tolmoff boy knows how to behave.”

He was very polite and very receptive to what we had to say – we thought we had rounded the corner… The next day, he had, “a few problems,” but nothing like the day prior. And Friday, they said he was GREAT! It took quite a bit of gumption on our (read: Pam’s) part, but we did it!

Max has been soaking in everything that Nikolai says or does. I think that he will learn from his big brother’s mistakes, and not make them himself. Zander on the other hand? I think that he is going to be a handful… Zander likes to abuse Max – and Max likes to whine about it to Pam and I. They are all still so adorable, though! We've been playing lots of games lately (instead of watching TV) - The kids love it! Their favorites are HullaBaloo and Dinosaur Bingo. Candyland and Chutes & Ladders are not far behind!

A few funny stories - Pam was playing with Zander's toes and making them talk. This stressed out Max who said, "Mommy, toes can't talk!"

Max had his first day back to the CDL! He was so excited to go in - and not have to worry about being in the shadow of his big brother. Of course when Nikolai walks in to pick him up with Pam, he struts in like he owns the place... HA!

Max went with Pam a few times to Zander's jumpy class - He is really good at jumping up and down on the trampoline! We are going to see about getting him into some kind of little-boy gymnastic class - he can jump so high!

When we tell Nikolai to pee when he doesn't have to, he says, "I'm not very pee-pee-ish!"

Nikolai found a puzzle piece that he had been looking around for days and said, "I'm so excited my head can pop off!"

Trials and tribulations abound! Keep wishing us luck... We need it! We hope that all is going great with you - Drop us a line when you get a chance, and as always - check out the pictures! (There was something funky with the camera that made it have the lines - hopefully it is not broken!)

Good Times! It has been so nice not having to mess with the website every day… I am now “renewed” in keeping it up to date! This past week has been a lot of fun, as always. Nikolai unfortunately was sick on Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday he rallied… He was disappointed because he missed school on Monday – that is the day they go to the library! It will have been 4 weeks before he goes to the library for the 1^st time! (holidays/illness’). He had a little “trouble” at school – not wanting to do what the teachers asked and such. They still (as do we) accredit it to the huge “transition” of going from daycare to an organized school. No sweat, though – he’ll grow out of it!

While Nikolai was sick last week, I took Max and Zander on a “daddy’s day out.” Nothing serious, we just ran some errands and went shopping – they had a lot of fun, and so did I! They were so good all day, but Zander looked like he could fall asleep at a moment’s notice. Since Nikolai was sick, Max and Zander decided on some magnets to make him feel better – if you don’t remember what it was like as a kid playing with magnets for the first time… He loved them! Nikolai has such thoughtful brothers!

Zander is talking more and more everyday! He says so many things that are very easy to understand, and the stuff that will choose to repeat is pretty funny… Nikolai and Max ask him to repeat all sorts of stuff – it is a good thing that they are not a little bit older with a vocabulary of bad words – it would be pretty funny, but certainly not the first words we’d want our 1 year old repeating!

Yesterday I took Nikolai to a birthday party at the community center for someone in his new class – He had so much fun! All the parents were like, “Oh – this is Nikolai? We’ve heard about you – you are the new boy with all the ‘energy.’” Nice. I am not sure what that meant, but I’m sure it wasn’t good… Watching the other kids was interesting, too. Nikolai talked to anyone who would listen about anything under the sun, and the other kids just sat there, looking scared (and a touch lethargic). I’ll take the “energy” any day of the week!

I took all of Nikolai’s school drawings from the last year and put them here. I think they are so cute! I plan on continuing to scan and add to it, so keep checking it out!

Funny Nikolai story – Yesterday Nikolai saw that we were out of paper towels in the kitchen, and he said, “Mommy – we need more kitchen toilet-paper!”

Last night (in the never-ending stream of social events), Pam had a “Girl’s Night Out.” Except it was at our house – All the girls (~20 of them) dressed up in various 80’s attire, and they all watched 16 Candles since there were so many January birthdays. It was tough for Pam since the Patriots were also playing at the same time! And they lost. SUCK! They looked terrible and deserved to lose… Oh well – it looks like we just have to root against Indy!

We finally sold our weight-set! When we first moved to Missouri, it was the, “I’m going to work out every day and get buff,” type of thing. Right… I bought this weightset for almost $500, and I literally never used it. It sat here taunting me… Finally I listed it on ebay. I sent the link to Ernie (from www.ehowa.com) and he linked it to his site – I got over 25,000 hits! And I sold it for $192.50. Woo-hoo! I had no idea what I was going to do with the thing – the guy showed up, took it apart, and hauled it away! Thank God the eyesore is gone…

A friend of mine from when I was growing up got in touch with my mom the other day - It has been over 10 years since I've talked to Dennis, and almost 20 years since I've seen him! Gotta love the internet...

Happy Birthday to Me! I can't believe that I am already 32 years old... My Dad told me years ago that life plodded along until he had kids, and then it started to zip by at light-speed! I couldn't agree more... We have such a great time every day that we never want the day's to end! The kids do anything to play just a little longer, and we read them "just one more book." It is great!

Pam had a nice dinner ready for me when I came home from work - Mmmmm... Salmon... And then she songs about how much Jesus loves him! He also has to wear a cute little uniform - Navy blue pants and a red shirt - with a belt! Nikolai has never worn a belt in his life, so it has been a challenge (with potty time, and all...) So cute! He has been behaving in the "big-boy" school way better than in the Child Development Lab (CDL). We think that he was just getting too bored with "glorified play-time." Now he is way more engaged - not only with the other students, but also with the curriculum.

Max misses his brother terribly when he goes to school - He keeps saying, "Nikolai goes to the JCCA, and I go to the CDL!" I am staggered at how much he can talk now - we are working on phonics with him, as well as how to spell some 3 letter words. Sometimes he will get it, "M-A-X. That's me - Max!" And other times he will be like, "Z-Y-G. Donkey!" He will get there soon - I think that once he catches on, there will be no stopping him!

Zander is even talking up a storm now! We were watching "King of the Hill," where one of the characters name is Bobby. Zander starts going, "Bobby, BOBBY, BOBBY!!!" He will repeat (to the best of his ability) anything that you ask him too. These are all some wicked smart kids!

Every night before we tuck the kids in, we ask them what their favorite things were throughout the day, and they tell us. We write the things down for them on a small calendar in their room - just to get them thinking about what they did during the day. Nikolai will tell us about something he did at school, playing with his brothers, playing with his leap-pad, etc. Max will usually echo whatever Nikolai said, and Zander will always say, BAAAOOOWWWLLLL!!!" They are all so cute!

Well - We are glad that this site has finally come full-circle. Pam and I spent about 30 minute last night going through some old pictures when Niko and Max were little - They are/were so cute! Take a walk down memory lane... Thanks for stopping by! Not a lot of pictures this week - I've been focusing on getting the website back up to speed - but now we can take that time and put it into getting more great pix of the kids! Check out the pictures, and drop us a line when you get a chance!

Happy New Year!!! We are ringing in the new year with some GREAT news! It looks like we are now able to host ALL of our website again! Quite a project, but it looks like we finally have it all figured out. All of Tolmoff.com can now be viewed from the homepage - www.tolmoff.com - We have all the links on the lefthand side of the page. I have been perusing the site lately, and I am more and more happy every day that I did this! Checking out the kids from last year and before is really cool. I hope you like it! It has been a lot of work, but it is certainly a labor of love...

On the Wednesday after Christmas, I took GREAT news! It looks like we are now able to host ALL of our website again! Quite a project, but it looks like we finally have it all figured out. All of Tolmoff.com can now be viewed from the homepage - www.tolmoff.com - We have all the links on the lefthand side of the page. I have been perusing the site lately, and I am more and more happy every day that I did this! Checking out the kids from last year and before is really cool. I hope you like it! It has been a lot of work, but it is certainly a labor of love...

On the Wednesday after Christmas, I took Zander and Max to Zander's jumping class. It is more of a tumbling class for toddlers. Zander was besides himself running around w/ all of the other kids, and Max loved to jump on the trampolines - so cute! We had a great time... Why was Nikolai not there, you ask? Because he harfed all over himself in bed on Tuesday night. I hate seeing sick kids - there is just no way to tell them that they will get better - so sad! On Wednesday morning, Nikolai said, "Today we get to go to the jumpy class!" And then we had to tell him that he couldn't go because he puked all over himself... And Nikolai said (with tears welling up in his eyes), "But it was an accident - I won't do it again!!!" We then had to explain to him about communicable diseases...

We also went for a fun walk down to one of our neighbor's houses - they have a pond in the back yard, and a nice bench-swing in the front yard. Every time we go down there, the kids just want to swing and play a color game (I spy with my little Brown Eye, something that is white....) Everything was fine until we broke the swing... Our boys are getting too big! They felt really bad, and insisted we knocked on the door to apologize...

For New Years, we went to a friend's house for a Toga party! It was a blast - there were a lot of very creative Togas there - but none more creative than ours! We went as Bob the Builder! Pretty funny - lots of good laughs... The highlight of the night - Pam and I were in the bathroom together (just using the restroom - I swear), when soembody started knocking incessantly and yelling for us to get out. I got into the shower (behind the curtain) while a friend of ours came in, and Pam left. As he started to relieve himself, I jumped out and scared the be-JEEZUS out of him! Pretty funny stuff...

A few funny Nikolai stories: 1) We were talking about our favorite things, and Pam asked Nikolai who his favorite talking snowman was (expecting him to say "Frosty"). Nikolai thought about it for a minute and said, "Burl Ives." (He was the talking snowman narrator in "Rudolph"). 2)I asked Nikolai to help Max get their shoes since we were going out, and Nikolai said that he couldn't. When I asked why, he said, "Because I'm dependent on Max." Where does he hear this stuff?!? And finally 3) Nikolai was using a Word-Whammer [basically a 3 letter spell-toy w/ different letters to make up 3 letter words]. He spelled "NOW" and said - "Look Mommy - a bad word - it says 'NO'." Pam responded with, "That is not a bad word Nikolai, it says, 'NOW.'" Well - Nikolai didn't like this one bit, so he turned around, and worked on the Word Whammer for about 20 seconds, and when he turned back around, he proudly displayed, "DAM." Nobody can't say that he doesn't know his bad words!

We took Nikolai (Age 4 yrs, 2 months) to get tested for pre-school today. By Missouri State Law, he is supposed to go to 3 year old Kindergarten this year, 4 year old next year, and Kindergarten the year after (when he is almost 6). Nikolai can full-up read now, so we thought it was silly to have him wasting his time when he could be challenged in the 4 year old class. He tested at 6.6 years. Woo-Hoo! Now if we can only teach him humility, we'd be set... The one question he missed, was of a thermometer with a lot of red on it - the teacher asked Nikolai if it was showing hot or cold, and he did not know. When he was telling me about this afterward, there was a look in his eye as if I had let him down by not teaching him this - pretty funny!

Max will talk non-stop, all the time. Did I say all the time? Well I meant, all the time!!! It is very cute - he still loves for us to read to him, knows his alphabet, knows a lot of songs, and even is dabbling into the spelling game! Max is Buzz-Lightyear when Nikolai and he play Toy Story. They are so cute when they play together! Max loves to watch Dinosaur Planet - every night, "Watch Dinosaur Planet? Watch Dinosaur Planet? Watch Dinosaur Planet? Watch Dinosaur Planet? He is adorable...

Zander has been holding onto quite a cough lately - let's hope that he gets better soon! He is still our cuddlebug who is more and more getting into rough-housing with his brothers - So much fun!!!

Our neighbor just found out that her 17 week granddaughter has transposed heart-ventricles, and that she is going to go in for Open Heart Surgery tomorrow - please keep her in your thoughts and prayers - i

		*What's New???* *2006*

12/26/06