The famous keyboard stand & the portraits...the boys & Nana were 9 months old.  

Christmas Catastrophies

Of course, no Christmas would be complete without a few "incidents". In my office/music room, I have a full size keyboard, stand, & bench. Right before Jhett turned 2, he was messing around the keyboard stand & it collapsed on him & cut off the tip of his thumb. We rushed him to the hospital, & they sewed it back on. He has a scar & his nail grows funny, but other than that he had a full recovery. So anyway, on Christmas Eve, right before Nana & PawPaw & the boys arrived from Barnwell, I was going to move the keyboard stand so I could hang up Mama's baby picture between the two portraits of the boys when they were 9 months old. I was thinking about not letting the same thing happen to me that happened to Jhett....but it did. The stand collapsed & caught my thumb at the thickest part next to my palm. The crocodile tears came & came & came. No it was cut off, but it was smashed pretty good. About that time, Nana & PawPaw arrived with the boys. Mama came in & left Daddy & the boys outside cause we had to gather up the kitties to surprise the boys. We put the kitties away, let the boys in, & gave them the note from Santa. In the meantime, I'm trying very hard not to cry, so the boys wouldn't be upset. But the tears kept coming...I was in pain!!! Anyway, the kitties were a hit. I took some Aleve, & then Emily's parents arrived. I couldn't even open my presents which sucked, but we had a good time anyway. When they left, Emily, Nana, & I went to the grocery store, & to get something to eat at Hardee's, but they were already closed, so McDonalds it was!! I was a little out of sorts from the trauma of my thumb, so I couldn't tell the girl at the drive thru if our oder was right, so we all began to laugh hysterically. I assured the girl that we weren't drunk, but she wasn't buying it. Then we sat for 30 minutes waiting on the coffee that they forgot. Mama entertained us by recounting how she was trying to push me in the wheelchair when I was in labor with Jhett. So we laughed some more. The coffee finally came.
We went back home. Everybody ate, & we out cookies & milk out for Santa & reindeer food & sugar out for the reindeer. And waited...& waited....& waited for the boys to go to sleep. They were so excited!!! Around midnight, they were sound asleep, so we began to put out the unwrapped gifts from Santa. When all that was finished, Daddy & Emily went outside to get the trampoline (still in the box) out of the back of my truck. So Daddy is pulling it in at the doorway, & the strap broke....He fell for 5 minutes it seemed...like slow motion. He stumbled backwards over the presents, and hit his back on the coffee table. Got him a big old scrape on his back. And he hit his shoulder on the wooden part of the couch. He just sat there stunned. Once we figured out he wasn't seriously injured, then we all laughed at that big 6 foot 4 man falling over the presents!!!! We left the trampoline at the door!!!!

Jhett's NFL Flag Football Team. October 2005. He's the one kneeling. 

Our family portrait....taken in February of 2004.  

This pic was taken at Nana & PawPaw's in the summer of 2003, when I decided to cut their hair. Not too shabby, huh? 

This is Sterling's "Byrnes School" 5-K Soccer Picture. October 2005.  

Shopping Mission Complete!!!

Whew....all the presents are bought, except for stocking stuffers, but those are done pretty quick. I ran into the in-laws, Betty & Ben at Old Navy. They have Emily a cool surprise, but swore me to secrecy. Now comes the fun part of wrapping them. That's a job in itself. We counted last night how many gifts the boys have & we came up with 33 each. Plus I bought about 5 more each today. Now I know that that sounds a bit excessive, but...the boys don't ask for anything all year long. And on the rare occassion that they do ask for something, all I have to say is "I think about it", & they say OK, and they never mention it again. SOOOOO, at Christmas they usually get eveything they want.
They just passed the law this month that you have to wear your seatbelt, or the cops can pull you over & give you a ticket. Well, I have a new law. The elderly should not be allowed to drive on the streets on holidays. This old coot ran a stop sign, & then honked at me cause I almost hit him. Even gave me the finger. It's dangerous out there. Sterling has been practicing creative ways to "point" with his middle finger. He knows it's not allowed, but he doesn't know what it means. So he shows me every day how he's not sticking it up!!!
He's fascinated with beer also. Now I don't particularly care for beer myself, unless it is 110 degrees outside, then there is nothing like it. Emily has a beer at night sometimes when she's had a stressful day. I prefer sweet & fruity drinks, like Coladas or White Russians. But I digress...Sterling talks about drinking beer all the time. Last night Mom & Dad & Jhett & Sterling went to Anthony's to eat dinner. They walked in, & Sterling tells Nana that they should sit at the bar so they can drink beer. Nana said she didn't think so. Where does he get this stuff.
They will be home tomorrow. We got 2 kittens for them...a black tuxedo named Harley cause she sounds like a Harley Fat Boy when she purrs, and a grey striped tabby named Tiger, cause she has tiger stipes. I'll put pics of them on here when I figure out how. Jhett wanted a parrot. But that's not happening! Santa wrote him a letter telling him he wasn't delivering parrots this year because of the bird flu. Hope he buys it! Going to wrap presents....

Meet the Family

I must begin with my two sons who are my pride and joy. Jhett Brinkley was born on April 10, 1999 in Charlotte, NC after 30.5 hours of labor. More on that later. That makes Jhett 6 now. Sterling was born on November 2, 2000. That makes him 5 now. They are truly amazing children. I know every mother in the world thinks their kids are the best, but mine actually are!!! If I can figure out how to put their pics here, I will later.
On May 29, 2005, I married the woman of my dreams. Emily is my fantasy & my reality. She has the sweetest heart, and she beautiful -- inside & out. I love her!!!
My mother is Alice & my dad is Jerry. They live in Barnwell, SC in a small house that they built when I was 4. My dad is retired from a chemical plant where he worked in a lab for over 25 years. My mom works for the county administrator in human resources for about 17 years now. She wants to retire, but doesn't want to lose her benefits. Knowing her, she will work diligently until she can retire, if she doesn't go to jail first for killing my dad who drives her crazy cause he won't help her around the house. He just lives for the auction. I wonder if she will stand tall? At 5 feet, that will be a little difficult!!
I have a brother who is 29, I think. He worked with Homeland security at Savannah River Plant for about 5 years, then this summer he decided to sell his house, quit his "real" job, & move to Nashville to become a professional drummer. What??? I'll share my opinion on that later!
It is Christmas Eve Eve, so I must stop for now & go finish shopping. Hopefully, I won't get to agitated at all these people. Emily says I don't play well with others, so she doesn't like me to go out by myself. I thought I was the mother!!!