Florida Trip Installment 6 -- the End of the Road

So we hightailed it out of St. Petersburg immediately after our 7-11 Thanksgiving Dinner. But not before Jeremiah had one more comment... As Auntie Marge tucked us into our minivan to send us on our way, Jeremiah said, "Auntie Marge I just have one more question for you. Why do you keep your house so hot???" SERIOUSLY funny!

We weren't driving that great that night. We were both very tired and couldn't take very long turns at driving. We only made it barely to Georgia before we stopped for the night in a Holiday Inn. We just cleaned up and went to bed. Early the next morning we both were awake so we dressed the kids while they were half-asleep and loaded them into the car to return to the road. That day...it was NOT a good experience... the kids were done being in the car and were a little sick of each other. We kept having these odd experiences: gas pumps down, credit card machines down, clocks set to the wrong time.... My mom started educating me on how the world was probably coming to an end...something about electromagnet pulses, the economy, and Barack Obama being elected President. I was actually starting to get a little creeped out... it was Black Friday. Maybe the rapid influx of purchases was creating a sonic electromagnet boom that was going to knock out all communication. We'd be stuck 700 miles from our loved ones, unable to purchase gas or a hotel or food, with no ability to contact them. Every apocalyptic movie I have ever seen was running through my head: we'd be walking to Franklin... carrying the children on our backs (crap! why'd I let people talk me into leaving my stroller at home and renting one at Disney?!?!?) we'd have to kill rodents along the way to feed ourselves and drink our own pee (AHHHHHHHH how many times could you drink it before it wasn't sterile anymore?) I was seriously starting to lose my mind. It was just about this time that the noise from the backseat reached an all-time high and the children started lunging out of their seatbelts at one another. We pulled off at the next exit and PRAISE BE TO GOD there was a McDonald's WITH A PLAYLAND!

Since the car was becoming such a pigsty, I didn't make anyone find their shoes in order to go into McDonald's only Noah had his on. Well even this stop wasn't without drama: the "Cash Only" written on a piece of paper and stuck at one of the registers revitalized the end of the world worries, I took Hannah to the bathroom and as she was sitting on the toilet she didn't lean forward enough and she started peeing all over her pants and training pants. Well thank goodness I decided not to fight her when she wanted to drag her pjs into McDonald's with her. I just put her pj pants on her. I thought... I have to remember to put training pants on her before we start driving again [famous last words...okay thoughts]. We hung at the playland for about 30 minutes letting the kids burn some steam off.

Then we returned to the car and headed out on the road about 30 to 40 minutes later, Hannah said, "Momma I peed," and I realized.... yep you guessed it.... I forgot to put the training pants on her. So we got off, stripped her down, removed the liner from her car seat, put training pants on her....while this was going on I told Noah and Elijah (who had to pee too) to go in to use the bathroom with Oma. I said get your shoes on...the look on Noah's face said it all. I said to him, "You left your shoes at the playland didn't you?" Yep he did... those were the only shoes he had with him, and he left them at a playland, and we were NOT driving back 40 minutes to get them. C'est la vie.

What else happened on that fateful trip??? I don't really recall.... but here was the final frontier of insanity. Somewhere in Kentucky, Hannah's little will gave up. She just started crying and wailing about being in the car (in retrospect it was poor planning to drive only 4 hours the first day and 16 the second). We switched drivers so I could lie across the back and be near Hannah. She fell asleep but every now and then she would wake slightly and start crying again. It was heartbreaking and pitiful. As we neared Chicago, we had the finish line in sight, but we got a little cocky. Wanda (our GPS...mom named her Wanda "so we don't have to wonder while we Wanda") told us to go through Chicago. Mom said, "Wouldn't it be better to go around Chicago?" I was too tired and worn out to form many thoughts and could not come up with a decision. I said, "Whatever you think." But then somehow we ended up going through the iPass lane of the toll booth (we don't have an iPass!), and I started freaking out. In the confusion, we started listening to Wanda again...she was desperately trying to get us back on the route she felt was best. Long story short, we ended up in Chicago (not on the freeway traveling THROUGH Chicago), but IN the actual city at about 10 p.m. on a Friday night. Yippee! Finally Wanda forced us back onto the way through Chicago; we'd added about 30 minutes to our time and every cell in my body was literally SCREAMING to be home. The texts were flying back and forth: dad to me; me to Cori (who was at mom & dad's house); John to me; Gorski (who was secretly awaiting my return at my house) to me; I was getting whiplash!

Finally we arrived at our home at about 11:30 p.m....I was rudely assaulted by snow and freezing cold the second I stepped out of the van. I carried a sleeping child in and found my house completely transformed...John had spent his entire holiday cleaning the house, carpets and all.... Sarah had baked a cake and cookies... it was an amazing welcome home. But best of all, we were HOME, and we were out of the car.

End of trip story.

Florida Trip Installment 4 -- Just Beachy

For me the absolutely best thing about warm weather, Florida, summer is basking in the sun.... we got A LOT of that during this trip. Our very first day in St. Petersburg was the warmest day of the week. I think we got up to 75 degrees that day. It was sunny without a cloud in the clear blue sky and GORGEOUS!

After breakfast and a few errands, we stumbled upon this great little place called The Caddy Shack. It was this little beachfront restaurant. If you paid $5 to park in their lot, you could spend the whole day hanging out at their beach property. If you patronized their establishment you got your $5 from parking off your bill. They even offered complimentary beach chairs to lounge on. It was a tiny slice of heaven.

We spent that clear, beautiful, amazing day with our feet dug into the sand and the sun beating down on us. Oma buried the kids in the sand up to their necks. Jeremiah took a VERY keen liking to the surf and ventured out far enough to make even the pretty brave momma nervous. Noah (who had SWORN he was not going in the water because he didn't want to get eaten by a shark) quickly threw his worries aside and dove into the surf. The kids collected shells and played in the sand and swam and swam and swam. We had an INCREDIBLE day!

Finally we sampled the Caddy Shack's cuisine....it was palatable...but the funny part was after our meal.... I hadn't really paid much mind to the seagulls flying about. (After the fact, I realized they were circling us like vultures around a carcass.) We had hardly finished our meal. In fact, in true Kastner fashion the kids had merely finished phase 1 of their meal and were taking their typical Kastner break to run about, do some Ninja moves, and spread the mess of their eating around a bit...when all of a sudden the seagulls started dive bombing our table! I swear! I was scared one of my children would be picked up and carried away. I had just said, "Are you guys done with this stuff?" before the attack began so then I quickly changed it to, "Well now you are done with this because you're not eating it after those germy birds picked at it. It was hysterical! (and maybe a little frightening).

We wanted to do some shopping along the little shoppy/boardwalk area. My Aunt didn't want to come along so we left her sitting in the car to "people watch." We weren't in this cool little surf shop but 15 minutes when my mom said, "Auntie Marge is on the loose!" She took off to go track her down as she was marching up and down the streets. By the time my mom reached her, Auntie Marge was fit to be tied! She was scolding my mom and saying, "You've been gone so long! I got tired of waiting!" (seriously and truly we weren't gone more than 20 minutes TOPS).... then she got angry with my mom because we weren't in the store she thought we should have gone in. We quickly returned to our vans (we were in two separate ones) and started the trip back to her house. All the way my Aunt scolded my mom for leaving her so long, driving too fast, not turning wide enough, going in the wrong store, EVERYTHING.... my poor mother was about to pull her hair out.

So as we left the Treasure Island area, Noah had to pee, and we were running out of gas. We stopped to fill up and let Noah empty out.... My mom walked Noah into the gas station to go to the bathroom. It was an older gas station with the bathroom access outside of the building, so the man handed my mother a key...attached to the key (so that no one would walk off with it) was an empty water bottle. Noah's eyes grew wide at the sight of it. So they left the station and traveled around the building to the bathroom. Noah started telling my mom, "I don't have to go anymore. I don't have to go anymore." They arrived at the door to the bathroom, and my mom pulled it open and thought, "No way! He is NOT going to pee in there." It was filthy with rusty pipes and a horrible toilet. Noah said, "They have a toilet!" and proceeded to take care of his business in that disgusting place. It seems he thought they didn't have a bathroom so he was going to have to pee in that tiny empty water bottle... we about peed our pants laughing.

We took two more trips to the beach during our Florida experience. The next one was at sunset the evening we returned from Orlando. It was amazing, beautiful, incredible and memorable. Noah wanted to see the sunset on the beach. We looked up when the sun would set in St. Petersburg from Orlando, and then we HIGHTAILED it out of there to get to the beach in time. We arrived just as the sun was setting into the water. It was amazing, and we got TONS of great pictures. I love moments like that. Where you can just sit there and marvel over the God we serve Who made that water and this beach and that sun that's setting into that water. And He didn't care just enough to give us the sun for warmth and the water for sustenance.... He cared enough to make those things beautiful as well. So that we could not only appreciate the benefits of them, but we could also be blessed by the beauty of them too.

Sunset on the Beach

Our final day at the beach was on Thanksgiving Day. I do feel a bit as if I missed Thanksgiving this year, but I wouldn't trade my nontraditional Thanksgiving for anything in the world. The weather was a bit cooler that day.... 65 I think. But on the beach it felt much warmer. The kids even swam in water so cold I felt like I couldn't even let it wash over my feet! We paid a RIDICULOUS amount of money for some sand toys, and they just built sand castles and used sand molds and ran in and out of the surf filling buckets of water....it was HEAVENLY!

For Thanksgiving "dinner" we patronized the only establishment open in that little beach town: 7-11. My mom & Aunt drove over and came back with a few salads, some Lunchables, two bags of chips, some cookies, and some sodas. It was the best food I'd ever tasted ;) That Thanksgiving Day and it's sand, sun, surf, and convenience store food will go down in my memory as one of my best!

Florida Trip Installment 5 -- Recovering from Disney World

So Wednesday we just slept in at the Hyatt... repacked our bags... took a shower... just lollygagging around and taking our time until I realized it was 11:40 (check out was noon), and I hadn't gotten in the shower yet...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Then the mania began: I hopped in the shower all the time barking packing orders at the kids. It was craziness, but we got out of there by 11:54!

We went to the van, and as I was loading the stuff in the car, my mom was playing Simon Says with the kids. Then she let each of them take a turn being Simon. When it was Jeremiah's turn to be Simon, he said, "Simon says push each other." Before my mother could scream, "No!" Noah pushed Elijah down into the grass. Elijah stood up, and he was covered in red ants! Yep! No lie! So there I was in the middle of packing the van, and I had to stop to strip Elijah's clothes off and brush all the ants off of him. Then I had to rifle through the neatly packed suitcases to find new clothes for him and go into the Hyatt to get a plastic bag to confine the rest of the ants to his clothing instead of giving them free reign in our minivan.

So phew onto the next escapade. We went to pick up Jeff and headed over to have lunch at Olive Garden. When we got there, and I tried to get Hannah out of the van I realized she was barefoot. I searched the car to no avail and could not find her shoes that "Buzz Lightyear gave her." I had a very bad feeling they were gone-gone. I found the number for the Hyatt we had just checked out of. I called, and the lady at the front desk put me on hold and went out into the parking lot. Sure enough right next to where our van was parked she found our Disney shoes. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I carried Hannah into Olive Garden barefoot. The Olive Garden experience wasn't too bad, although the Kastner children aren't really the type of children who do well in a sit-down restaurant. We had a really nice waiter...in fact at the end of our meal, the kids ran up to him and hugged him for being such a good waiter :) 

Hugging the Olive Garden Waiter

We left Olive Garden and headed back to the Hyatt to get Hannah's shoes. I had been at a nearby Walgreen's the night before and had found TONS of Disney souvenirs for MUCH cheaper than you'd get them at Disney World. So we headed over to that Walgreen's. I went in and did my shopping; then my mom went after me (so that we didn't have to take the kids in). While my mom was shopping there was a little excitement, an older couple parked in the parking lot called 911. An ambulance and fire engine came and took the woman away. My mom ended up kinda irritated because I paid 3 for $12 on some small towels and 2 for $15 on these HUGE ones. The cashier screwed up and charged my mom $15 each for the puny ones. <sorry mom>

We headed back to Jeff's to check out his place and pick up my laundry. He googled when the sun would be setting in St. Petersburg, and we hightailed it out of there to get to the beach by sunset. Even hitting rush hour traffic along the way, we got there in time. Yippee!

Florida Trip Installment 3 -- Disney World!

So we hightailed it out of my Aunt's scary residence in the armpit of Satan very quickly Monday night. We arrived in Orlando at about 8 o' clock and preceded to immediately shower and bathe off the filth of our trip and last night's sleeping quarters. Now I'd like to take a quick rabbit trail here to explain how much this trip was blessed by God... first of all for the Kastners it was completely funded by Oma so that was great, but then after Oma decided to fund this amazing trip God just kept blessing and blessing her by lowering the price more and more. First of all, when we started planning this trip, gas prices were around $4.00 per gallon. We did not pay more than $1.89 per gallon once on the trip. I think our lowest price found was about $1.59! Next, we were able to get 3 of the 5 of our paid admissions into Disney World free because of our amazing friend Jeff, and mom had a gift card from her anniversary party...the entire cost of getting us into Disney $54! My mom used free hotel certificates, and we stayed in the Hyatt in Orlando for two nights... her entire bill $12.00 for the movie we rented. It was really truly amazing.... so Monday night we arrived back in the lap of luxury....staying at the Hyatt which is located directly across the street from Universal Studios. Tuesday we arose early and left for the Magic Kingdom. We seriously almost closed the place out....me, my mother, and four children at Disney from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. EXHAUSTING, exhilarating, memorable, amazing!

We hit tons of rides....(a few notables)

1. very first ride was Lilo and Stitch's something or other.... my mom took Elijah, Jeremiah, and Noah.... I stayed off with Hannah because she was too short. Well it seemed to take FOREVER before they were done, and when they finally came off, Elijah was HYSTERICAL and almost inconsolable.... apparently that ride is a little scary

2. teacups....they just aren't what they were when you were little.... I really and truly thought I would vomit on that ride

3. someone and someone's race car ride.... Noah and Jeremiah ADORED the chance to drive on this ride....

4. Space Mountain.... OHMIGOSH! why didn't someone warn me???? I HATED this ride. Thought I would but was busy showing my support and love for my 9 year old. I had this pained terrified look on my face most of the time, but then I kept thinking, "Crap what if this is one of those rides where they snap your picture during it?" So I kept trying to make my face look normal... wasn't working. At some point I thought, "Wow! I'm going to be that person who pukes and spews their vomit all over everyone behind her!" But thankfully I didn't. Noah did not really enjoy it either. He was pretty proud that he made it through but NOT at all interested in going again. Throughout the whole ride I could hear him saying, "I'm scared. I'm scared." After the ride he said, "Mom, you know what I did on that ride?" I said, "What?" He said, "When I was scared, I just prayed and told Jesus, 'I'm scared. I'm scared'." Very precious.

5. It's a Small World was as amazing as I always remembered.

6. Buzz Lightyear's ride was actually my favorite. Noah wanted to ride it again, but Jeremiah and Elijah did not. So Oma took Noah and Hannah for a second turn. When they came off the ride, my mom called to tell me Hannah had lost her shoe on the ride. She said I should come meet them at the front. As I walked up, I could see my mom talking to a security guard or something. I thought the security guard was giving instructions as to when we could come back and see if the shoe had been found. I was thinking, "Please, it is a little $9 Walmart tennis shoe. We will live without it." You know what that security guard was doing??? She was writing Hannah a coupon for a free pair of shoes in the gift store. We walked over there and picked out a pink and purple pair of Crocs (real, live, name-brand Crocs) with Mickey Mouse shaped holes....the price tag was $39 or something.... Hannah got them for FREE because, as she kept telling the gift shop employee, "Buzz Lightyear stole my shoe." It was then that I realized I have been missing out on a HUGE source of revenue....I could be using this blond haired adorable little money maker to hustle thousands out of people.... (I didn't say it would be a legal or moral money maker).... people were running around saying, "Don't worry Princess. We'll get you new shoes." And she just played them like a fiddle, "Buzz Lightyear stole my shoe!" (said with beautiful ruby lips appropriately pouted). She was unbelievable.

We also caught 2 parades and the fireworks over Cinderella's Castle (that was what Momma came for!). The looks on the faces of my children as those glorious fireworks exploded of Cinderella's royal abode was the most amazing part.

We returned to the Hyatt with our feet sore, completely depleted, exhausted, and completely and thoroughly agreeing that Disney World is Where Dreams Come True.

Florida Trip Installment 2 - Arriving at Auntie Marge's

Okay so I have SO much to blog about still! Our trip was non-stop, not a second to breathe....it was amazing, over-the-top, INTENSE! Every single thing we experienced was "the most"....if it was a funny moment it was HILARIOUS, if it was a scary moment it was TERRIFYING, every single experience was just the most intense it could be.... I wanted so badly to journal or blog about all of the things while they were happening so they were still fresh in my mind, but I literally had NO time to do so. Therefore, here we go...memories a little dimmed by time, but still hopefully fresh enough to record them for posterity.

So.... the whole inspiration for this trip to Florida was my Great Aunt Marge. My mom had not seen her in several years, and I had not seen her for even longer. She (and a company shutdown for the Thanksgiving holiday) was what led my mother to dream up this fantastic vacation. 

During the drive to Florida, my mom had asked me, "Do you think the kids will be scared of Auntie Marge?" 

I had said, "I'm sure initially they will be shy because she is someone new to them, but they will most likely recover quickly and be just fine." 

Well that is kinda how it happened, but in a HILARIOUS fashion.

To put it mildly, my Aunt does not live in the best neighborhood. So after being stuck in several miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic which resulted from the highway being down to one lane after a rollover accident, we arrived in her not so great part of town well after dark (around 8 p.m.)....the drug dealers on the corner had already taken their posts for the night, and things were looking appropriately scary. In order to park, you approach her house from the back alley (which is even scarier than the front of the house). We had parked the car, and my mom and the other children headed for the back of her house while I tried to wake Elijah and get him out of the van. By the time I got to the house, I had heard my mother shout, "Hello" about 7 times.... 

When I got to them, she said, "The back door was open, and she's not answering." 

The house was pitch black, and my mother was letting Noah go in first! I was thinking, What the heck! Anything could be going on in there.... a home invasion, a robbery. She could have had a heart attack, and Noah would have walked in and found her dead body lying on the ground. I grabbed Noah and said, "Get out of there! You are not going in first!"

So I stepped into the pitch black hallway (does everyone know how TERRIFIED I am of the dark? does everyone know that I had to stop watching CSI, Law & Order, and Without a Trace so I would stop seeing chalk drawings and children disappearing everywhere I looked???) So here I am NOT at all brave, walking into her PITCH black house in an unsafe neighborhood.... 

Now I am the one shouting, "Hello... Hello..." I get into the kitchen and out of the pitch black living room she emerges into the light (she has lost a TON of weight and is 87 years old.... to Hannah's credit she did look slightly alarming).... Hannah caught one look of her and started SCREAMING this blood curdling, terrified, high pitched at the top of her lungs SCREAMING.... the boys were just frozen in their tracks with petrified looks on their faces.... I think they were as scared as Hannah, but somehow they knew not to scream.... I swooped Hannah into my arms, and she instantly stopped crying.... I don't think my Aunt caught on to the terror of the moment (did I mention age and isolation have made her a little loopy?) my mother had to leave the room because she was laughing so hysterically.... I was trying to hold it together but not doing so great (although better than my mother). But that was not the end of the hilarity...

So now the lights are on... the frightening moment has passed (although not altogether because when the lights came on the realization of how NOT clean the place was started dawning on me).... We start to enter the living room... Jeremiah is first and I hear him say, "Why is it so hot in here?!?!" Well if you know Jeremiah you know he can be a little "obsessive" so saying it once wasn't good enough. He kept repeating it over and over again... "Why is it so hot in here?!?! Why is it so hot in here?!?!" I was still in the kitchen, and I started to say, "Jeremiah, quiet it can't be that...." right before the word bad escaped my lips I entered the living room and was struck by a wall of heat. "Ohmigosh! Why is it so hot in here?!?!" flew into my mind. I swear on everything holy I am not exaggerating, she had the heat set on at least 85... it was like a sauna in there.

The rest of that first night was filled with humor.... the back bedroom (where we were to sleep) had been shut up for God only knows how long and there was dirt and bugs and such all over (please keep in mind....if you've ever been to the Kastner house you know that Jami Kastner is not nearly as OCD as Jami Haugh was.... it is typical to find let's just gently say, "a mess" when you come to visit the Kastners....therefore when I say they house was a mess you can imagine that it was pretty bad.) The roof must have leaked into the living room because there was a huge water stain on the ceiling, and the kids kept looking at it and saying, "What is that on the wall?" I think they were a little scared of it.... It was just creepy and kinda gross and thoroughly HYSTERICAL! When we lay down to sleep that night, I kept trying to tell myself, "Missionaries in the jungle sleep in less than desirable conditions too... if they can, I can." Keep in mind that running through my head was the contrast between sleeping in the lap of luxury the night previous at the Stancils (see Florida Trip Installment 1) and tonight's adventure residing in the armpit of Satan. As we drifted off to sleep, my mother and I intermittently would just start laughing uncontrollably.... we couldn't help ourselves.... it was just TOO funny.

In the middle of the night, I awoke to the sound of a child crying quietly.... I tried to get my bearings... figure out where I was... what that noise was... I finally came to the conclusion that the noise was coming from outside the bedroom window. However, I still sat up to check heads and make sure it wasn't my children making the noise. I wasn't sure what to do.... why was that child crying? did it just sound like it was coming from the vacant lot next door or was it a nearby bedroom? what should I do? I got up from the air mattress I was sleeping on planning to find the phone and dial 911. Every single Law & Order SVU I had ever seen was racing through my head, and my pulse was out of control. All of a sudden I heard a second "child" and then a third.... it was then that I realized I was hearing cats in the vacant lot mewling.... I felt relieved and stupid at the same time. Thank God I didn't call 911.... I can see the headlines now.... Crazy vacationing WI woman calls 911 for stray cats....

What a hysterical, terrifying, filthy, and memorable experience.

Florida Trip Installment 1 -- the Stancils

Okay first a little background..... right after graduating from college, I had my first teaching job at Riverview Christian Academy in Denver, CO. During my second year of teaching there, I lived with a family from our church/school, named the Stancils. Rosalind and Larry had three children: D.J. (13 years old and one of my students)... Gregory (idk... bout 10 I'd guess)... and Jessie (my beautiful little buddy... 5 or 6). I lived in their basement, drove the kids to school each day and was D.J.'s teacher and youth leader. Rosalind is the MOST amazing woman of God you have ever met in your entire life, and I was blessed to live with her and be touched by her zeal for God for an entire year. Well when I left CO to return home to WI, I lost touch with the Stancils. Once Google came along, I started stalking them and trying to track them down. I would search all of their names.... I found they had moved to GA. I found that D.J. was playing semi-pro football (and that he had a decent career in football at West Point). I found a listing for them, but the phone number was unlisted...no e-mail contacts could be found....I couldn't reach them. Randomly over the past few years, I would think to google them again, but nothing ever came of it. Then about 6 months ago due to the amazing and practically perfect networking website, Facebook, I found Jessie Stancil! I was SO excited to reconnect with her and then eventually with her mother. We lamented about how we wished we could get together; however, finances are way too tight for the Kastners, and life is way too busy for the Stancils. The second we started planning this Florida trip, I realized we'd be driving through Atlanta, and I made plans to stop to visit my "brown-skinned side of the family".

So we left WI on Friday night at about 10 p.m. Wanda (my mother's GPS) told us we'd arrive at the Stancils at about 10 a.m. Not so.... Wanda didn't know about the 4 children riding in the back of the vehicle who would have to pee frequently. Nor did she realize that after the first 5 hour stint, the drivers of said vehicle would be way too exhausted to drive anymore than one hour stints the rest of the way.

Well we really arrived at about 3:30 p.m. (I think). Our last conversation with Rosalind went something like this:

Rosalind: Who will be driving?

Jami: I will be driving.

Rosalind: Okay because we live in a gated community, and I have to call in to the guard and tell him your name so he can compare it with your valid driver's license before granting you access.

[Jami & Kathi (to selves) - HOLY CRAP! gated community]

So we finally arrived at the Country Club of the South. Sure enough big security shack blocks the entrance. As soon as we received our security clearance, we drove through the gate and entered a wonderland. Seriously, I have seen big houses... I lived in a pretty nice brand new home... In college I babysat in a VERY affluent community.... but NOTHING in my life had prepared me for this (I promise to post the pictures after I return home). The brick walkways, beautiful paths, and OHMIGOSH look at that HUMONGOUS house! I was seriously and truly awestruck. After we arrived at the Stancils, Rosalind informed us that in their "community" were houses owned by Usher, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston (pre-divorce), and Jeff Foxworthy. Numerous professional athletes resided here, and their son had a picture of himself with Chili (spelling???) from TLC too. So yeah here we are in our beat up old 2001 Chevy Venture stocked to the gills with dirty little travelers weary from their trip, pulling into Georgia's Bel Air... we felt like country bumpkins in the city for the first time.

Well, that short 18-hour period was one of the most amazing times in my recent history. When we arrived, we were greeted by Larry and then Jessie.... as I got to the front door Rosalind took me in her arms, and we both started tearing up... It was just too good to be true. We entered their grand piano room and started a little bit of introductions while Rosalind passed out presents she had bought my children. It was dreamy and amazing. I took a quick shower to wash of the "road," and then the real catching up began. We talked and talked and talked and talked. Ros made tacos for dinner. One of my former students (Rhonda Moore....now Slaughter) who had been a classmate of D.J.'s and was now coincidentally living in Atlanta as well came for dinner and brought her 19-month old son for us to meet. It was amazing. My children were "themselves" flipping on and running and doing tae kwon do moves amongst the grand piano, pool table, foosball table.... I pulled them aside and started lecturing them about how this was not our house, and they could not act the way they acted at home here when Larry yelled at me and told them to let them be kids... (okay let me state that yelling for Larry is a Jami whisper with a HUGE smile on his face but somehow you know that you HAVE to listen to him and obey)... from then on out, Larry chased the children around the house screaming and playing hide and seek and scaring the pee out of them.

When we arrived, Rosalind showed us around our "quarters" for the night. We had the entire upper level to ourselves... Room for Oma (with an attached bathroom)... Room for the boys with an adjoining attached bathroom to room for Jami and Hannah. WOW!

After dinner and before bed, I took a trip to see D.J.'s condo/loft [rooftop of building overlooks gorgeous site of downtown Atlanta and has a hot tub, party room, fitness room] that he had recently purchased and decorated in an impeccable fashion. Before doing this I put the children to bed with strict instructions NOT to leave the bedroom. Well come on... you know the Kastner children. I returned home to learn that Hannah had taken off all her clothes and when Ros tried to redress her a cat fight ensued. She was screaming and kicking Ros and so Elijah said, "I think she wants me to do it." So Ros handed him her pull-up, and Hannah continued screaming and kicking. Elijah proceeded to then pin her to the ground and shout, "I'll hold her. Quick! Just do it!" After that apparently the boys "rocked" Hannah to sleep by jumping on the bed she was lying on. That is just how the Kastners roll. Well, I also found all three boys chasing around the lower level with Larry when I returned home... not surprised are you???

After getting them settled back in bed and making sure most of them were sleeping, I returned back downstairs and spent some quality time catching up with Ros all by myself. It was a little slice of heaven.

The next morning Rosalind made us a BIG breakfast for our send off. As we sat there, Rosalind asked how long had Hannah been wearing glasses. I told her since she was 4 months old. Then I said, in January she has to get bifocals, and we are praying HARD that they work because if they don't then at her next checkup in the spring, they will make her start wearing a patch. Ros immediately stood to her feet and said, "Can I pray for her?"

I said, "Of course." 

She went looking for her anointing oil and returned to the dining room to anoint Hannah's head with oil. Then we laid hands on her and prayed. Hannah remained uncharacteristically still through the entire thing... Praying with Ros was an awesome trip back to 1993. I remembered the zeal of my charismatic leanings, and the beauty of trusting in God for a miraculous healing. After Amen, Ros taught Hannah to say, "Thank you Jesus for healing my eyes!" and told her to walk around throughout the day saying it.

I also had a VERY tender moment with Ros when I was telling her what an inspiring woman of God she is.... then I got to pray for her.... that was great too. I didn't really want to leave, but that was truly only our first stop. So at about 9 a.m. we headed down the drive in redneck fashion (Jami rolled over the grass and then bottomed out at the bottom of the drive.... "I don't care who you are now that is funny!) And we plugged St. Petersburg into Wanda and headed on our way.

Stay tuned for more Florida blogs as time allows.....I have to go wake the troops for Disney World now.

Sadly watching history be made....

 So I think I might be ready to put into words what I am feeling on this sad and historic morning. I watched Barack Obama's victory speech last night with tears in my eyes. How majestic! How amazing! How inspiring! To be watching the first black President of the United States of America be chosen....WOW! That is an incredible experience. Yet through my tears I still found time to YELL at the tv: Liar! Liar! Liar! "This campaign was made possible by the working people who gave their $5 from their hard earned savings..." Oh and I suppose Oprah's millions were nothing? I suppose the millions of dollars from your other rich friends should be overlooked? Whatever! Caught up again in the majesty of the moment I almost choked when I heard him issue what sure sounded like a threat to other nations that America would FIGHT for peace...what the heck??? Now he's a fighter? Where did that come from?

I guess here's where I stand: I respect NOTHING about Barack Obama. I think he is willing to say whatever he thinks people want to hear to get power. When he's in California the people of Pennsylvania are "clinging to their guns and religion" and when he's in Pennsylvania he's talking to the hard working men and women of this country... BLEH! He's a liar. (Which I suppose most politicians are....) He is a chameleon... He is embarrassingly liberal....

But he is going to be my president.... I am thrilled to the gills that America has finally elected a black president. I fully recognize (while others won't) that this is a racist opinion, and I don't care. I am glad to see a black man in the highest office in this country. I desperately WANT to live in a nation where ANYONE can be successful and rise to the top. So I am glad that this president is black; however, that's about the only thing I am glad about on this morning... but the people have spoken. So be it....

So I did what all true cheerleaders do: I made the best of the situation. I pulled my babies into the living room (yes they were still up...I'm sure that makes me a TERRIBLE parent...but Barack Obama's babies were up too) and I sat them in front of the TV and I told them, you are watching history be made... this is an event whose significance you will not be able to fully comprehend for a LONG time, but you need to watch and see this happen because it is a great day in America. It's a day that echos with strains of the truths we hold to be unalienable...."that ALL men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...." This is a great nation we live in...so now let's get to work praying that it stays that way.

May God bless America!

How can it be?

 Today is my baby's 9th birthday, and I'm freaking out man! Seriously how can he be 9 already???? Wasn't just praying that I'd have this baby soon but not on Halloween? Wasn't it just minutes ago that I was riding that big wheel (an affect of a girl who's NEVER done drugs being given a narcotic) in that hospital bed? Wasn't it just a blink ago when they placed his tiny little body in my arms and I got my first glimpse of that gorgeous pout?

I just finished nursing him, teaching him to walk and potty training him. I'm sure I just turned around from tying his shoes for him and spooning mushed bananas into his mouth. It couldn't have been that long ago that we stood before that church dedicating our precious little boy to the Lord. I swear I can see it like yesterday: that time he was just learning to stand up and he chipped his two front teeth on the side of the bathroom, wasn't I just outside the room praying that a sweat test would reveal he didn't have cystic fibrosis, didn't I just take him for that ultra sound which left us praising God it was something called a baker's cyst and not C-A-N-C-E-R....

His life is flying by me today and I cannot for the life of me accept the fact that it has already been 9 years. At the same time, it feels like just a blink, I can't remember what my life was life before this amazing child was given to me.

So today I am reflecting on this sensitive, brilliant, God-loving child I have been blessed with. His life so far has left me gratefully tearful.... I cant' wait to see what the next 9 years will hold.