Letters Home

My mom has a whole box full of letters my Grandpa wrote home to his parents during WWII. He was a marine stationed in the South Pacific. I wish we had a box that he wrote to my Grandma but apparently out of all the little scraps of paper Grandma did save (most of them poked in her cookbooks) she did not save the letters Grandpa wrote her. That or they were lost somehow. At least these survived. This is only a picture of a couple of them. In one of the letters he talked about sleeping with rats on top of him. He couldn't say much about the island where he was stationed because the censors wouldn't let them. I did find it funny that in one letter he was talking about how my grandma wasn't much for telling people what she thinks. HA! That may have been the funniest thing I've ever read! If she was ever like that, she certainly got over it!

I may have to make my way through this box now that I have a lot of spare time on my hands.

Gamers

Mason rode the bus home with Jayke again today. They have become best buddies. In the beginning they fought now and then but lately they have been getting along great! They do love their iPods. They didn't play long before they headed out to play with Nolin, down the road.

I decided that since I was babysitting I should peel myself off the couch and attempt to be parental so I cooked spaghetti for dinner. I figured this was a safe choice...what kid doesn't like spaghetti? Even MY kid likes spaghetti and he doesn't like anything! Neither of them would eat it. They don't know what they are missing...I've been cooking spaghetti since I was like five! It is my specialty. I think I was taught so young in the hopes that we would have at least one night a week that we wouldn't have to eat my mom's cooking. Either that or my parents were just lazy. I'm pretty sure I did all my own laundry from about that age as well. I also recall being taught how to make gin and tonics for Opa too. I may need to revisit these memories in another post. I'm pretty sure I'm on to something here. Child labor!

Anyway... since they wouldn't eat the spaghetti I thought I'd try something a little simpler. Grilled cheese. Each of them ate one square (a fourth of a sandwich). I'm going to chalk this up to they were too busy playing to eat and that it has absolutely nothing to do with my cooking abilities. It is a little upsetting though since whenever we are at Mason's house they always eat what Bob makes...or orders. Next time Mason comes over I think I will leave the cooking up to Mc Donald.

The "Fellas"

Jayke and Mason both playing games on their iPods


Jayke had his first sleep over at a friend's house last night! I'm happy to report that we both survived. However, I don't know if it really counts when your mom stays until 2:30 in the morning and is back by 11:00 a.m.!

He stayed with Mason. A few of us were over hanging out with Bob, Mason's dad, and Bob offered to keep him since they didn't get to hang out over spring break at all. Jayke was more than willing, I wasn't that willing, but finally gave in. This morning when I got there Bob was cooking the "Fellas" eggs and toast. They had a good night. Bob slept on the couch and said Jayke woke up at 4a.m. and said my name, he patted him on the back and he went right back to sleep. He didn't want to leave when I went to get him. I'm glad his first overnight was with someone whose parent I'm actually friends with, made me feel a lot better about it.

Top O' The Mornin' To Ya

Happy St. Patty's Day from my little leprechaun!! He will be wearing green to school today even though he has assured me that they are absolutely NOT allowed to pinch each other if not wearing the color of the day. Better safe than sorry!!

R.I.P

I just learned this evening that Bosley died. I don't have any details or even know when for sure he died but he is gone, along with Grumpy, Charlie, Murray (who ran away) and both of the cats (which Mike just put outside and moved away from). That leaves Mike with one dog that we had together, Sophie. Everyone say a prayer for poor Sophie...seems her owner doesn't have a very good track record with keeping pets alive!

The Dancing Giraffe

....is the name of Jayke's most recent masterpiece and I am the lucky owner of this one of a kind creation. It is now framed and hanging in the living room because The Boy not only is a fabulous artist but also knows how to pick colors that match his mother's decor. I may need more walls soon!

The Dancing Giraffe, dancing in the moonlight, by Jaykeb Howell

20 Years!! Wow!!

My 20 year class reunion is this summer. I know, I can't believe it either. I don't look a day over 25...lol! In honor of the big 2 0...I decided to bring back my 80's do! Jayke walked in from school took one look at me and screamed. I think he was in shock at how awesome I look! He is now calling me, "Hair do" which is a huge improvement over my previous name, Pimple!

Table Surfing

Yes, that is my mom's dog ON THE KITCHEN TABLE!! I remember as a kid she knew if I had been in a room by looking at my footprints in the carpet or if something was moved a quarter of an inch on a table. Now...the dog walks on the kitchen table! I don't even know what to say about this, except things have definitely changed. At least Jackson gets to enjoy his child hood without feeling like Big Brother (or as Jayke likes to say, Big Momma) is watching.

Someone is SUPER Happy!!

Oma got Simon a new bed. Actually I guess it is technically a hand-me-down. Spoiled rotten Jackson didn't want this one! That is fine with Simon! He Loves it! I mean it. The dog doesn't leave this bed...EVER! No sooner had it hit the floor than he was settling his old bones onto it. It came at just the right time because Jayke has decided to sleep in the bottom bunk now, kicking Simon out of his bed. It was pretty funny to see Jayke in the top bunk and SIMON in the bottom.

Oma didn't forget about Laynie either. Apparently King Jackson had two beds that weren't to his liking. Laynie got the other. Unfortunately for Laynie someone else seems to think it was a gift for her...



Laynie does get a turn in the beds occasionally too. As you can see we share in this house...



....and some more sharing...



But in the end...we see who really runs the show around here. The queen is not above kicking an old dog right out of his bed. Lucky for Simon he almost fits in Luna's bed! Almost!

Jayke's February Writing Journal

2/9/11--When it's really cold I stay inside. I play with my cat. My cat's name is Luna.
2/10/11--When I went outside this morning I got on the bus. I had to walk a lot. It wasn't fun.
2/11/11--Last night I played with my ipod. I played zombie cafe. I got a lot of money.
2/14/11--To make a valentine I have to write peoples names on the cards. Next you have to write your name on them. Last you have to give people them.
2/15/11--If I could fly I would go to Africa. I would bring back an elephant. The elephant would smash my house.
2/16/11--Dad and I like to play. I play scare the daddy. It's fun.
2/18/11--On our walk we found a piece of wood. It was really big. I brought it home.
2/21/11--I sometimes get mad when I fall down. It really hurts. I don't like it.
2/23/11--At the beach I collect sea shells. I go swimming. I build a san castle.
2/24/11--For breakfast i like ot eat cierile. I eat coco puffs. I don't like milk with them.

They missed a lot of School in February due to the weather so this was a short journal this month.

What Happened to THIS Boy?

In most of the pictures I take of Jayke these days he looks so old to me. Not this one. I think he looks like hes my little boy again in this picture. Sweet even. Not spouting off some smart comment he got off of Icarly. I tucked him into bed the other night and he said, "Goodnight, I love you Pimple!" Nice. I guess this is what I have to look forward to...the kid pointing out my every flaw. I'm so excited.

MOOOOMMM!!! WE NEED MORE PARTY CHIPS!!

Cracks me up that Jayke calls Tostitos "Party Chips". I had no idea why then it dawned on me. Whenever we go to card parties I usually take a dip or salsa or something with a bag of Tostitos...aka...Party Chips! I asked him if this was why he called them this and he said yep. Mystery solved.

Delta Soccer Clinic

Jayke is in the front row with his foot on a blue soccer ball. Zion is the really blonde kid looking to his left with his foot on a white soccer ball. Mason is next to Zion.

The soccer clinic ended Saturday with a mini tournament. Fun for the kids but man were they worn out afterwards! There were four rotating teams of 3. Winner played winner and they just kept going and going and going.

I am happy to report that Jayke's team had more wins than losses. The last game was against Zion's team. Zion is the coaches son. He is the same age as Jayke but has had a lot more experience playing soccer. Let's just say he is pretty much amazing. He was only playing with this age group to make it an even number. During the game his parents told him he could only shoot with his non-dominant foot and he still single handily won most of his matches. Anyway, at the end of the final game the score was tied at 0 which meant they would have a shoot out...kick off...whatever you want to call it. It came down to Zion and Jayke. Zion missed his shot and Jayke made his so Jayke's team won the final game on his goal! He was more than pumped about this. I've heard him tell several people all about his game winner.

I'm ready for spring soccer to start now. Jayke kicked some pretty awesome goals in this tournament. I can see his improvement and it will only continue. He seems to really like it too.

Awesome 1

See those cool t-shirts? Those are our winter soccer clinic t-shirts. This is the first time we have done a clinic at Delta High School. This is where Jayke will go to high school so it was fun to go play out there. The front of the shirt is cool too but I love that the backs of the shirts say AWESOME 1!! That is Mason sitting on the floor and Jayke on his ball. Waiting for their turn to play.

Tomorrow is the last day for this clinic. We have a tournament. Should be fun. Each team will have a Delta high school student coaching them from the boys high school team. I'm hoping that Jayke and Mason get to play on the same team with Mason's older brother, Monte, as their coach. Regarless of whose team he plays on he will have fun. This has been the best clinic we have done by far. Spring soccer outdoors starts in a month!