Author: Pam Kocke

NOLA mom of identical triplets. Talent Acquisition at Automattic. Enjoy reading and photography and sewing and bookbinding.

What we did in July

I feel like July was another busy month. I definitely drove a lot. I mean, I went to three different Buc-ee’ses. (Not sure how to pluralize Buc-ee’s.)

The boys finished up the classroom portion of driver’s ed. Still waiting to schedule their road time with the instructor. In the meantime, we took them to drive around a few times. Only sort of harrowing. And at the end, they were only sort of mad at me for laughing so much.

There was the fourth of July (nothing exciting, the boys were at a sleepover, I watched fireworks through the bathroom window), then the boys went to the beach for a week with Grandee and Larry and I spent some time in Terry’s pool. I also made a bathing suit top real quick. (The Sandpiper from Helen’s Closet)

I drove to Orange Beach for a couple of days at the end and spent some time by the pool before bringing the boys home. We tried fishing but spent more time watching sharks and sting rays and a blue heron.

Then this past weekend, I took the boys on a short trip to Atlanta to see a pro soccer game. (Atlanta United vs Cruz Azul, a team from Mexico.) We had a great time.

We stayed the night in Birmingham on the way there to see Mary Catherine and her people, and it was wonderful. Don’t tell the boys, but it was my favorite part of the trip. So nice to see friends. Of course we got a picture of the boys with Millie, and I got to catch up with Ann Fran. It was all very lovely and for a minute, we all wanted to move to Birmingham.

Then we headed to Atlanta, and went to IKEA on the way into town, then relaxed in the hotel room (it was storming), then the next day, wandered around downtown. We went to the World of Coke, which was entertaining, and the boys gazed longingly at the College Football Hall of Fame, and then I felt terrible for not taking them there instead but it was $30 a person and also, for me, snoozarooni. But Miles got a hoodie, at least.

That evening was the game, which was at the big fancy stadium where hot dogs were $2 and giant refillable sodas were $4. Glorious to this cheapskate. I was rooting for the other team, and they won in a penalty shoot out, which was so nerve wracking it reminded me why I don’t really like sports.

(I guilted them into lots of group pictures, heh.)

And then yesterday we wandered around Georgia Tech, snuck into the stadium, then drove home and that is July!

Other random things: we discovered Miles has a silver spot in his hair; Ziggy is still cute; we did not escape the escape room; the broken door finally got replaced in the vanity, so it’s done!

August means the start of sophomore year of high school! Eep!

15 years, 7 months

They all passed their written driver’s test, so it won’t be too long before they’re, gulp, on the road.

June, in review

June was a busy month! So let’s get to it.

It started with a trip to California for my niece Eleanor’s high school graduation. Just me, not the boys or George.

We went to UCLA (that’s where Ellie is going in the fall) and walked around (after having In and Out for lunch.)

Before the trip, my brother said, “bring hiking shoes.” I said, “do I look like the type of person to own hiking shoes?” so it was in my sneakers that he tried to kill me the next day. We hiked up to Echo Park on an extremely damp and foggy and misty day, on a very narrow trail, and I was 100% convinced that only one of us at most was going to make it down to the bottom in one piece. Thank god I was wrong. I wouldn’t have wanted to mess up Ellie’s graduation week.

I’m not kidding, it was grueling (at least to me, someone who lives in a very flat place) and even my brother said later that he was nervous for me. Sheesh. Here are a bunch of random pics, including none of the view because you couldn’t see anything! But, in spite of that, I felt very accomplished, and it was nice to spend time with my brother. (Don’t tell him I said that.)

I googled this hike to get some info about it, and if I’d read “The majority of the trail is along the side of the mountain with some narrow switchbacks – it may be difficult for those that have trouble with heights” (emphasis mine) then maybe I would have rethought this decision. This is a good post that has pictures of, wow, what it might have looked like had I been able to see anything! It’s fine, it’s fine. Probably best that I couldn’t see how far I would have plummeted to my death.

The rest of the trip was hanging out with family, eating, going to Paper Source, Ellie’s graduation, going back to UCLA, seeing Pawnee City Hall, shopping at Mood, and basically spending a lot of time in electric cars.

I was really excited to give Ellie her graduation gift, a quilt I made for her in UCLA colors. I hope it keeps her warm and cozy while she’s at college. Sniff, sniff. She was just a tiny baby, I can’t believe she’s off to college.

Okay, so then I went home, and the day after I got back, George left for his long-awaited trip to the UK. He was going to be gone for two weeks, and little did he know that I had big plans while he was gone. Kiki came to visit and while she was here, we redid his bathroom downstairs. It’s so much better! (Of course I posted a ton more pictures and details here.)

He came home last week, and since then, life has gotten significantly quieter (that’s good.) Oh, I made this (Selwyn by Cashmerette) shirt early in the month, but I haven’t been able to get a good picture of it, so after a few glasses of wine, my friends stuck me in a bathtub to get some.

hee hee

The boys are finishing up driver’s ed today, so expect the July recap to be full of danger and intrigue!

The great bathroom remodel of 2023

The downstairs bathroom is was awful. For 19 years, we’ve lived with hideous peeling wallpaper, an ugly pedestal sink with a faucet that leaks, ugly oak trim, unpatched holes, etc, etc.

George is the primary user of that bathroom, since it’s right by his cave, but it’s also used by anyone who comes over, which is just embarrassing.

So George went to the UK for two weeks, and I decided I was going to renovate it as a surprise.

Kiki came to visit and help. I could not have done it without her.

Some fun befores and afters:

Here’s a video of the whole thing before (and obviously I didn’t go in and straighten it up beforehand.)

Okay that’s enough befores and afters. Here are just a bunch more afters:

Some details:

  • The paint is half sea fog by Behr
  • Almost everything is from Home Depot, really.
  • The vanity (I got a screaming deal on it)
  • The light
  • The hardware
  • The blinds
  • The faucet
  • The mirror is from Amazon, though (I only paid about half this, though)
  • As are the knobs
  • The adorable garbage can and toothbrush cup are from Home Goods
  • The medicine cabinet is from Costco (a few years ago)
  • Shower curtain(s) are from Target (I recut and hemmed the one in front of the shelf)

We also removed one of the shelves from the nook behind the tub so George can hang his clothes there instead of from the shower curtain (the closets in this house leave much to be desired.)

The vanity was definitely the trickiest part. First of all, it was very heavy. Steph and I got it from Home Depot and we needed five teenage boys to help us get it off the truck and into the house. One of the doors was extremely broken (they’re supposed to be sending me a new one.) And then our friend Darrell installed it, which involved removing part of the baseboard which was much harder than expected. Suffice it to say, we will never remove the vanity.

But for the most part, it went smoothly. And I could not be happier with the results.

***

Okay, I wrote most of the post before George came home, but last night he did. I was worried he’d be underwhelmed or not surprised (it’s hard to hide these things when we have cameras inside and outside) but he had no clue and he was very surprised and pleased! Yay!

Fifteen and a half

No, I did not forget to take the monthly picture (but SOMEONE did.) I left early on the 4th to go to California, so George was in charge. So it was taken a day late and since I didn’t bring my laptop with me, it’s being posted five days late. But it’s here and it’s adorable and good luck telling Oliver and Miles apart now if you run into one of them in the street.

(George took the boys with him to work on Monday because the power went out Sunday night, hence the “school gym” locale.)

May, in review

May was a busy month, I think? I dunno. It was a blur.

The first half was uneventful. Started with some quality family time.

I got my hair did.

George’s birthday and Mother’s Day fell on the same day. I made George a Star Trek shirt and I got the hummingbird feeder I asked for. Still haven’t seen a hummingbird yet, though. 😦

And then the next day, I went to Rotterdam for work. It was lovely! I saw one sad bouquet of tulips outside of a grocery store, but lots of windmills. And coworkers. (These pics are in absolutely no order.)

School ended a few days after I got back, but you already know that. I took the boys to get ice cream after.

The next day, I took them to get their Temporary Instruction Permits so they can take Driver’s Ed this summer. (It’s fine, I’m fine.)

And then the next day, Miles and Oliver wanted their heads shaved, so they don’t look like that anymore. And Oliver is definitely taller than me now.

To round out the month, we got a giant pizza for dinner. (I told you it was an exciting month, didn’t I? If not, I meant to.)

And, as usual, Ziggy was extremely cute all month long.

15 years, 5 months

I had a debate with myself on which picture to use. This one, where they’re all smiling a bit and Linus’s eyes are open, or the one I ended up using where Linus is squinting. Big smiles won out.

Oliver has definitely grown in the past month – we were the exact same height when we went for their well visit, and now he’s definitely a bit taller. Or I’ve shrunk some more. One of those.

By the time this month is up, they’ll be done with their freshman year of high school. And maybe Miles will have picked up a brush.

April in review

Okay, seriously, April went by way too fast. What did we doooooo?

Easter! Mom and Larry came over. I made a delicious chocolate cake and other things. And we got a family pic.

I donated blood, and while I ended up with bruising on both arms (my veins aren’t as hearty as you would expect from me) I also got a cool t-shirt.

And then a few days later, I got another flower tattoo. This one was for Kiki. I told her she could pick, and she chose a hibiscus because it reminded her of her mom, as they had them growing at their house when she was growing up.

Artistry by Mecca at Hell or High Water here in New Orleans. I highly recommend her and her shop.

Less fun, the boys kicked a hole in the wall and I covered it with a sheet of whiteboard:

Lots of soccer, but it also ended this month. Yay! There were goals scored by my children, which was nice to see. We went to a tournament in Lafayette. They didn’t totally suck! I made friends with a five year old. It was delightful.

After a real shitshow of a game on the north shore, we had dinner with my cousin Rob and his wife. It was so great to see them! So great.

Ziggy was cute, yet again.

What else? The boys got obsessed with basketball, I made another bunny for a grieving little brother, I got new shoes, I sewed some things, George and I had tacos, I made breakfast pizza for dinner. I started a three month rotation with the tumblr support team, and I’m loving it.

And now it’s May and this month the boys will finish their freshman year, I’m going to Rotterdam, and birthdays will be celebrated. But I won’t have to watch any soccer games!

15 years, 4 months

They don’t look the same size here, but they are all within half an inch and a pound of each other (which you already know from my previous post, of course.)

March recap

March was obviously kind of low-key, because I haven’t felt the need to post anything since the monthly picture.

Today they had their 15 year well visits, and I was excited to see how tall they were. I assumed Oliver and I were the same height, 5’10”.

I was right and wrong. We are the same height, but we are 5’9″.

This has shaken me to my core. I’m actually fine with getting older and shrinking. I am not okay with the idea that I was never 5’10”. So we’re going to go with shrinking. It’s fine.

And Miles and Linus are only half and a quarter inch behind Oliver, and they’re all within a pound in weight, which is wild. I don’t think they’ve ever been this similar since they were born! (I was going to look to see how long they were at birth, and apparently this is not documented anywhere. Not on this blog, not in my medical records, not in any emails. Nowhere. Huh.)

My sister to the rescue: Her nephews were 16.5, 17, and 17 inches long. Which means, yes, they are (relatively) closer in height and weight now than they were at birth. Wild.

And boy, is it true that they just stretch out like taffy at this age. In the past two years, Linus gained almost 9 inches in height but less than a pound in weight. Crazy.

So let’s see, what else happened in May?

Let’s see. Ziggy was cute. No change there.

Oliver and Linus got haircuts. Zzz.

I made a pretty skirt! Oh that’s nice. It’s the Upton skirt by Cashmerette, this floral embroidered mesh came from Joann’s, of all places. I used a pale pink satin for the underlayer. (Thank you Ren for the runway photo from the hotel hallway.)

The most exciting part of the month was going up to Natchitoches for my 30th high school reunion. (Yes, I graduated at the tender age of 7.)

It was so much fun. Really nice to reconnect with friends I haven’t seen in a while. Bittersweet, though, because this is when the boys would be getting their acceptance letters if they’d applied. I mean, obviously I’m glad they’re not leaving me, but it’s hard not to want the same experience I had, when it was so life-changingly wonderful. And the new dorms are very nice.

There was lots of soccer too. A tournament in Baton Rouge where Oliver got the only goal for their team all weekend. Then another game last weekend where Oliver got the only goal. This weekend is another tournament, but I guess you’ll have to wait for the next monthly update to hear about it!

I also made a stuffed bunny for a mom in the neighborhood who lost her baby daughter earlier this year. I felt honored that she trusted me with the task. It came out cute, I think. She was happy, which is the important thing.

The jasmine is blooming, which is the only good thing about spring. Well, and daylight savings time (ending? beginning? I can never remember.) but I need to get a new grill because the one we had fell apart.

I read a good book, I recommend it.

I got to have lunch with a work friend.

The boys ate a lot of saltines.

Stephanie chopped off her hair for St. Baldrick’s. Tragically, I forgot to wear my giant medal.

24 years after graduating from LSU with a friggin general studies degree, I paid off my student loans! Wheeee!

And yeah, that’s about it.

Oh, except starting on April 3, I will be on a new team at work for three months, working on Tumblr support. I’m very excited for the change of scenery!