February 2026

This month started out with snow again.  Amber held court to teach the geese about music.

Then began Titus birthday week!!!

He finished out the last month completing his CAP drill test to become a Senior Master Sargent. Civil Air Patrol is a major part of Titus' life and I'm so thankful.  He's taken on so many different roles, from leadership within the squadron, and in community service roles outside the squadron working with mentally disabled adults at the "Coffee House" meet up each month. 

He's also studying hard to get his Commercial Drone Pilot license.  He hopes not only to use it in CAP but also as an income source to help pay for his pilot goals.  

Without Titus I don't think have the outdoor or indoor projects would ever have been started, Titus is the project king.  In addition to the yard improvements mentioned last month, he's recently painted the mud room, started repainting the house trim, working on bath cabinets and hanging TVs as part of larger bonus room re-do.  Everyone needs a Titus.  It's hard to accept he is now 17 but I'm very proud of the young man he is growing into.   One more year....no he'll always be my baby boy no matter how old he is.

By request I have been making a variety of special meals for Chez Titus' birthday week.  For breakfast birthday morning I made pancakes, and thanks to the weather and Lance's jury duty being canceled everyone got to partake in them.  For entertainment, Titus has been introducing us all the world of Marvel and must say it's not too bad.

Cardinals Baseball is getting into the groove and Social Media Manager Jared is on top of it!  Right now he's doing "Player of the week" posts, highlighting one player of the team each week till the season starts.  The guys are really geared up and ready to work to have a successful season this year.  Additionally, this month Jared found out he was able to acquire the Historic Durham Bulls Stadium for the filming of his movie "Field of Dreams" on March 22.  Pray for great weather and incredibly smooth and successful film day.

Mid-month Titus and I went away for the weekend for him to attend the NC CAP Wing Conference.  He volunteered to run the AV during the conference sessions (partially he admitted to keep himself engaged by doing while learning).  He made some new connections, and at the awards banquet his squadron won squadron of the year. 

After the banquet there was a formal dance, another mom and I hung back to "chaperone", which was just an excuse to be in the room watching the kids have a great time.  Boys and a few girls were dancing arms over each other in a circle while the girls chose stand a bit apart from their follies.  I love how kind these kids are to everyone.  Personally, I enjoyed a quiet weekend of reading a book while listening to the olympics in the background and taking turns about the 6 floors over the atrium.  I brought the computer planning to be productive but decided on a break instead.  After the conference he decided to sign-up for the National Emergency Services Academy over the summer, where he hopes to improve his EM skills and drone skills.  Since it will be in Indiana we got his TSA-Precheck since flying is the only logical way to get him there.  Thankfully, a friend from his squadron plans to fly with him and they have a pick-up service to take the cadets to Camp Avery.

While we were at the conference Lance and Amber had another date. This time they went out to eat first and then to the rodeo where Lance's friend was on the drill team.

Since it was on Thursday nights (Jared works and Titus has CAP) only Lance attended "Four Lessons and a Dance" this month, where he learned Polka, Cha-Cha and Tango.  He got Plurp and Big Red running smooth, including some fun new fog lights for Plurp.  He also earned a new name at Octane as "The Mechanic" when he showed up on lunch in uniform to do some at bats (he was only one to get a hit off the pitcher that day).

FIAR had a fun and educational trip the Morehead Planetarium and Science Show this month. So nice that Amber has this group of friends to hang with a couple times a month.  Then on Saturday she spent all day with her best friend Kimberly for Kimberly's birthday.

Amber and Thor have really progressed this month.  At her last lesson they actual jumped a small course at a nice steady pace.  Gianna said they did "REALLY REALLY GREAT!".  So thankful that arrangement is working out so well.

January 2026

We started out the New Year a little different this year.  We went to the posh Southpoint Mall to window shop and of course hit the new releases at the Lego Store.  This was only our second time visiting the mall since we moved here and it was just as pleasant.  We found a gem in Macy's (where we parked). Apparently they have a Clearance outlet section there.  We managed to find a dress shirt Titus needed for the formal dance that weekend for prices nearly as good as Goodwill.  He also bought a neat leather jacket for only a few bucks.  While the boys went upstairs to look for ties, Amber and I looked for a dress for her to wear to the formal.  As you can see the boys were in full attendance for the show (and not too happy about how beautiful she looked, means more protection work for them :-)). 

Then we wandered through the rest of the mall, hit the food court for lunch and boys made a dent in the Lego Store inventory.  All-in-all a very pleasant day.

Titus joined the colorguard team for the Civil Air Patrol this month.  He preformed at a couple different NC State basketball games looking rather dapper of course.

January 3rd was the ECD formal or "Candlelight Ball" this year.  Not only did Amber attend for the first time this year, but so did her best friend Kimberly (which of course ment a sleepover as well).  The girls managed a couple of those this month.  

January 6th was a FIAR trip the Chinese Lantern Festival in Cary.  Wow had it expanded since we last went about 10 years ago!  The lights were absolutely beautiful and the performers top notch, the group favorite was the hat jugglers. We also learned everyones "animals":  Chris and Jared are "Rooster", Lance "Sheep", Titus "Ox" and I was a "Pig".

January 10th was lot of socializing for the boys.  Lance met up with his baseball team to hit some baseballs.  Then met up with his brothers at two different friend open-houses that day.

January 11th Titus and I met with a flight instructor at FightGuest to get his Student Pilot Certificate.  We had a great meeting learned a lot and are seriously considering the school as a path to getting his Commercial License.

January 16th Titus and Lance went to their first Hockey game at NC State and had a great time cheering on their friend in the band and watching the game.

January 17th Lance and Titus (nicknamed "Unicorn") went down to BlackOps near Ft. Bragg to play airsoft with their friend Daniel.  Best time I think they've ever had down there.

January 22nd Titus finished up Cyber Patriot Competition for this half of the year, making it to Gold League.  

Janruay 22nd was also my birthday.  I had a very nice week being queen of the entertainment choices (much to boys chagrin).  Chris and I even found a nice new casual Italian restaurant to eat lunch at that day (We'll have to take Jared there for his birthday to try the Calzones).

January 29th we went on a field trip with FIAR to the State Capitol.  Our docent shared different stories from our last visit years ago which was very much enjoyed.  After we had lunch together, Amber and I did a side trip to replace Lance's broken mug from the History Museum's gift shop.

The month finished out with two weekends of snow where the kids got to finally use the sledding hill Titus has spent a lot of time clearing and preparing during the previous weeks with - Dad (lots of moving and burning of debris), Khan (expert disorganizer) and Lance's help.  Titus even carved stairs into side of the hill to make it easier to get back up and Alexander brought his professional tools to take down a couple of the larger trees that required climbing.  

Kimberly came for a sleepover to enjoy the snow the second weekend while the boys went to a Square Dance.  Most ironic was that the caller backed out the morning of the dance and Ms. Emily called Jared to see if he could call the dance.  So Jared cram learned how to call four different square dances and mixed in four ECD dances he knew (no idea how he learns things like that so quick).  They also lost the band, so some regulars of the group stepped up to play.  Amazingly, according to multiple accounts, it was the best dance ever.

Additionally, throughout the month Amber had a modified riding schedule due to weather and her saddle having to be send in for a fix, but we made the best of it doing lots of ground work and managed to keep them moving forward in their skills.

Last big news was Jared being promoted to Assistant Manager at work.  Who knows maybe someday he'll own the store.