Derby Day

Jayke participated in the Pine Wood Derby today. This is the car that he and Opa built. He was quite proud of it. It must have been a good little car too because he won 1st place in 4 out of the 5 races that he was in. He took second place in the 5th race. You would think that winning 4 out of 5 races would have gotten him something but all he came home with was his little car. Apparently you had to win all 5 races to get a trophy. He was a little bummed about this but says he still had fun.



The races lasted all day. I think they got there at noon and didn't get finished until around 4 o'clock. He was a grouch when they got back to my mom's but I'm not sure if that was because he was tired or disappointed by the fact that I was already there to fetch him.

We tried to watch The Karate Kid this evening but he didn't make it to the end...



....worn out from all that racing. Hope there is no sleep walking tonight. Last night I woke up to the sound of him rustling around in the kitchen. When I got in there he was standing there with his shirt pulled all the way up holding a bag of cheezits. I tried to talk to him but he was clearly asleep. I told him to go to the bathroom and go back to bed. He did. When I went in to make sure he was in bed I found a trail of crackers all the way through the house, including a scattering on the bathroom floor. The empty package was in the trash in his room. I have no idea what that was about. He didn't remember it in the morning. I am just lucky he didn't use the kitchen snack cabinet as his late night toilet!

It's Hard To Get Good Help These Days...

...so I got these people instead!



The big clean up after the ice/snow storm of 2011. There is a couple inches of ice under the snow. Made it difficult to clean up. Several bags of salt and a lot of chopping made it at least possible to get the garage door to close again. The sun and warmer weather did the rest over the next few days.





And yes, I was helping too...someone had to take the pictures!

I really did help do a lot of the chopping, so much that I could barely walk the next day from pulling something in my back. Not sure if that was from my age or lack of physical fitness though...hmmm....

(: SMILE :)

This makes me very happy! This is a Hello Kitty Beanie Baby!!! Who knew? I certainly didn't. I stopped collecting Beanie Babies a while ago but I may have to have these...okay, I do have this one but there are others I may have to have! Why you may ask...I HAVE NO IDEA OTHER THAN IT MAKES ME HAPPY WHEN I LOOK AT IT! I'm going to sit her on my desk at work so I can be happy all day long...lol.

DON'T CALL HER MARY!!

The Boy has recently started asking me to make prank phone calls. I keep trying to explain to him that you pretty much can't make prank phone calls these days, what with caller ID and everything. He doesn't care. He has been making prank phone calls for the past week. He calls Oma,Opa, Meemaw, P'pa, and AJ. When they get on the line he speaks in an Irish accent.(Which sometimes ends up sounding like it has a little pirate in it as well) He is really pretty good at it. We sit here and practice before he dials. His favorite opening line goes like this...

(In an Irish accent) Hello...can I speak to Mary.........Jo? Don't call her Mary. She doesn't like it. There's a Jo on the end, Mary.............Jo.

Then it goes on and on. My other mother doesn't respond if you call her Mary, her name is MaryJo and that is what you have to call her...if you want to be acknowledged.

Those who have received this call can appreciate this post...those who haven't, not so much. I wanted to write about it so 20 years from now, when we have long forgotten about this (if possible) we can read this and recall our little Irish pirate making his not-so-anonymous prank calls.

It's Raining Dippin Dots!!

Holy COLD its crap outside!! Snowmageddon 2011 is here!! At least if you listen to the weather forecasters that is what you will think. They are over the top with the drama and impending doom. Yes, we are having a storm. Yes, we are under an ICESTORM WARNING. No, we are not all gonna die! You might think so if you turn on the news though. I'm over it. So far we have gotten a few inches of sleet. A very light coating of ice is on the trees but it doesn't appear that we are getting much more of that. Snow is on the way next. 1 to 3 inches...nothing out of the ordinary. The wind could be the problem though. We will see what happens.

They must have gotten them all worked up at school for this storm though. I've never seen my kid so anxious about something. He was gathering flashlights, charging all of his electronics, and glued to the tv watching the weather report. He couldn't sit still though and you could almost feel how anxious he was about it. He kept putting his head in his hands and fidgeting around. I tried to down play the whole thing because he was such a wreck over it. Luckily they had Cub Scouts and the pack was going bowling. Opa took him and when he got home the anxiety was gone. I sure hope this isn't something that he is going to have frequently. I know how bad anxiety is I'm hoping that he won't suffer from it like his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother do.

When he got home from bowling, (he won, by the way. I think he may turn out to be a pretty good bowler.) he was all about "roasting a weinie in the fireplace!" This was the first time we had the fireplace on in this house. I guess he thought cooking our meals in it sounded like a good plan. Me, not so much. The only thing that got roasted was my hand! Apparently bamboo shiskabob skewers aren't quite long enough for weinie roastin in the fireplace! Moving on.

Next idea was to make snow cones out of the sleet that was coming down outside. It looked like tiny little ice balls...or dippin dots, as in the ice cream they sell at theme parks for an arm and a leg. We set cups outside but by the time he headed for bed we only had about an inch of ice in them and I wasn't scooping any up off the ground. So much for that brainstorm!

A lot of fantastic ideas he had this evening and they kept us entertained and busy. I can hardly wait to be iced in with him for the next couple of days! Who knows what he will come up with next!

Jayke's January Writing Journal

1/3/11--Over Christmas break I got a lot of presents. Santa brot me a aletrick scooter. My scooter goes really fast and I went to my Grandmals house.

1/4/11--I would like to learn to read books. Because some books that I can't read. I can't read some words in my Scooby doo books.

1/5/11--I always feel good when I am sleeping because I won't be tired. I like to sleep in my bed and I like to sleep at night.

1/6/11--If I was invisible I bwould spray paint the car, My mommy would go crazy,

1/7/11--On Friday I went to my Grandmals house. I got to play with my frind Josh to. I got to play with legos with him.

1/10/11--I like the suond of birds. They are funny., It suounds like a squeece toy.

1/11/11--I hope that I can go to my Grandmals house. I'ts realy fun becuase she has a dog. His name is Jackson.

1/14/11--In the snow I like to build a snow man. For the nose I pot a carit. The sno man is done.

1/17/11--If I had a million dollars I would spend it on a life time supliy of bouble gum. I really like gum. I ate it on the first day I got it.

1/18/11--I once got hurt when my friend puched me on the ground. It really hurt bad. I all most broke my arm.

1/20/11--I once got hurt when I fell off my bike. I was riding my bike and then I fell. I all most broke my neck.

1/25/11--If I was a penguin I would flop in the water. I would eat fishes. I would woddle.

1/26/11--I was really scared when I was going into my room and then the phone rang. I jumped. I didn't want to go in my room.

1/27/11--I really like to play with my friend. We like to play with army guys. His name is Hunter.

1/28/11--I really dislike going to my dads house. He drives me nuts. He pushes me.

1/31/11--This weekend I played my xbox kinect. I played kinect advencures. I played kinect animals.

As always this was taken exactly as he wrote it. And he is correct, if he spray paints the car I will go crazy!!

Be Afraid...BE VERY AFRAID...

....cause this cat is NUTS!!! Everyone knows I've had a LOT of cats in my lifetime, but I have NEVER had a cat who acts like this one! She is insane. Its rather entertaining though. Last night Jayke got home late (like almost midnight) from going to the Monster Truck Jam in Indy with Opa. Luna must have missed him because from the moment he walked in the door she wouldn't leave him alone! He was laying on the couch and she was sitting on the floor in front of him and if he would stop talking to her or playig with her she would reach up and smack him in the face. Good thing she doesn't have any claws...he would be a mess. She didn't care that he was tired and needed to go to bed. She was ready to play...he had been gone all day and she missed her boy!

This afternoon Jayke played ball with her for a bout an hour. Our two dogs don't know anything about playing ball. You throw a ball for either of them and they look at you like you are an idiot. You can almost read their thoughts...That was stupid! Why would she throw that, now she has to get up and go get it. Idiot. Trust me, that is what they are thinking. I've lived with them long enough to know.

The cat, on the other hand, is a ball playing fiend. She will chase the ball everytime you throw it. She hasn't learned to bring it back yet but she goes after it and bats it around where it lands. She did this with Jayke all afternoon. After about 20 minutes she was even wagging her tail and panting AND just like most dogs she falls for the fake throw everytime. Jayke would act like he was throwing it and hide it behind his back...she took off after it everytime just to stop short and look around like...Where did it go? Where did it go? After an hour of this they were both worn out! They both had to take a little rest...

Beiber Fever

Jayke's favorite gift he got for his birthday has to be his Ipod Touch(4th generation I might add...makes it better than mine!) He got it from Meemaw and P'pa and has barely set it down since!

Shortly before his birthday he had pretty much taken over my Ipod. I even ended up putting some Justin Beiber on my Ipod for him! GASP!! Beiber...really? (okay, I secretly like a couple of his songs and this is the perfect cover for why I have Beiber on my Ipod :)...)If anyone says I like Justin Beiber I will DENY IT! It had gotten so bad that I couldn't even find my Ipod anymore because he was always taking off with it! We were fighting over it to play Pictureka every night. The battery was always dead and I was starting to worry about him listening to MY music which is not all appropriate for a 7 year old. Problem solved. He got his own Ipod this weekend and I got mine back from his grimy little paws.

The Boy can now be seen about the house with wires coming out of his head. He yells everything he says and can't hear in return. He also has taken up dancing. His choice location to bust a move is in front of the glass door to the deck. That way he can observe his moves in the reflection. All I can say about this is its a good thing he has started practicing at an early age because he has a long way to go before taking these "moves" out in public!

Thanks P'pa for the Ipod...from BOTH of us!!

Happy 7th Birthday Jayke!

The Boy is seven!! I can't believe it! He can though. He stayed up til midnight on the 22nd to make sure he didn't miss the moment he turned seven. At 12:01 he picked the cat up and said, "Yep! Luna is lighter, I must be stronger now. What size clothes do you think I wear now?"

I told him the same size he wore two minutes ago. I assume since he didn't Hulk out on me at 12:02 I was correct. He doesn't believe me...he is SURE he wears a different size. I guess he is going to have to go find a few more snow shoveling jobs to afford this new LARGER size wardrobe!

Spent the Day with Chuckie

We survived Chuckie Cheese's! I need to have a t-shirt made. Jayke had a great birthday party! He ended up having 11 kids come. A good group of boys from his class showed up. I managed to get the to hold still for this...



How I managed that, I have no idea because from the time these boys all arrived they were wrestling on the floor next to Chuckie's stage. Jayke, apparently was the only one who came out with an injury. A sore finger and someone stepped on his head at one point but it didn't stop the party. Tokens were handed out and they all took off for the games. I didn't see them again until it was time to eat. Pizza and cake.




The cake above is the one I wanted. Dad had Cheryl make it from the picture I sent him. The soccer ball on top is chocolate cake and the rest is white. These cakes look really cool and they taste even better! I've never had a better cake AND I got to bring home all the left overs. That could be a bad thing though.



Jayke got tons of good stuff. I was really surprised at what he got. My dad got him his Ipod touch which he has not put down all evening. He keeps saying, "I can't believe I have my OWN Ipod!" His father got him two Itunes gift cards so he can purchase plenty of apps and music. Now maybe I will be able to use my Ipod again. He had pretty much taken over mine. He hasn't gotten his gift from me yet, the Netbook computer, because it hasn't arrived yet. I did tell him about it though and he is excited to get it. Until then I think I will take him to get a case for his Ipod toomorrow before he destroys it.

I guess I can cross Throw My Child a Party at Chuckie Cheese's off my bucket list. It is definatley the one and only time I will do that! He went to Omas's for the evening and I went for a beer with my friends after!!

THERE IS A TRACKER ON THIS BLOG!!! I SEE WHO VIEWS IT AND WHEN!

I may be making the blog private in the very near future. This will be an inconvenience to those who read as you will now have to log in to view it. That is, you will have to log in if you have been invited by me.

I have a tracker on this blog that shows me who views it, where they are from, and what time they log on to it. I have discovered I have someone looking at it who has no business concerning herself with my life. Therefore I will have to make a move I was hoping to avoid and make this blog private.

I will be sending an email to those I choose to allow to view the blog once I make it private. I'm hoping that the phone call I made earlier to have Jayke's dad take care of this will make it possible to keep the blog as is, if not I will be making the change in the very near future.

Gettin' Old... :(

....but still enjoys a walk in the snow!

Laynie and Simon will both be 13 years old this summer. They are both in pretty good health other than they both have arthritis and we just found out that Laynie's hip is slipping out of the socket. It isn't something that can be repaired...at least not at her age. So, now she takes prednisone which will relieve her pain and once the swelling goes down she won't have any problems for a while. It will continue to reoccur though and we will have to give her a round of prednisone again. Hopefully this will give us a few more years with her.

When this problem first occurred I was afraid that she had had a stoke or a heart attack because of the way she was acting. Jayke was beside himself thinking that she was going to die. I'm not ready to deal with him losing one of his animals.

Simon, on the other hand, just has arthritis in his hind legs which I'm now managing with baby aspirin. I've decided he is going to live forever but always SMELL like he died 5 months ago! The dog has the worst smelling breath ever! I've never smelled anything like it. There is nothing to be done about it though...we just try to stay on the opposite side of the room from him.

I've now had to reset my alarm clock to allow for the dog's morning meds routine. They have no idea how much they should appreciate THAT!

Snow Day!!! God Help Me!

Woke up to the Del Com party line telling me that school had been cancelled due to icy roads. They call at about 5a.m. Not sure why it has to be so early but it is convenient...and they weren't kidding about the ice! I slid all the way into work.

I have no idea what Jayke did all day with my mom but I do know what happened when he got home...



This would be my son with about a dozen pairs of my underwear around his neck. Why? I have no idea. He has been a maniac since he walked in the door.



Next he decided to try on my sweats and shirt. He started putting them on and informed me he was putting on his delux pants...he then pointed out that delux means BIG. Thank you. Please note that he accessorized his delux pants with a pair of his own boxer briefs as a leg warmer.



After the fashion show was over he sauntered back in and said in a very somber voice, "Well...I have to pack my bags and be moving on now. I've had a lot of good times here but now it has to end." I don't know where he comes up with this stuff.

He's still here.

All About the Cake!

One week until Jayke's 7th birthday party at Chuckie Cheese's!! Woohoo!! I know everyone is excited that I am having it there. What everyone needs to remember is it's not about them it is about Jaykeb and he wanted a birthday party at Chuckie Cheese's so that is what he is going to get!

As always I have spent days browsing photos of cakes online trying to decide what it will be this year. My obsessing over the cake began his very first birthday. We had a neighbor, who owns her own bakery, bake the cake. it was an Elmo cake and she even made him his own little tiny cake that he could tear into. I don't have a picture because I've changed computers too many times but trust me it was cute! Cheryl makes the best cakes ever! For birthdays number two and three we were in South Carolina so I had to just buy a cake at the grocery bakery. Spongebob for number 2 and Cars(the movie) was the theme for number 3. It was cute but not like one of Cheryl's. Birthday number 4 was held at Escapades where you have to purchase the cake from them. It was a Scooby Doo cake. Cute but again, not the same. This all brings us to birthday number 5 and the BEST birthday cake any kid has ever had!



I found a picture of what I wanted and Cheryl tweaked it a little and made this baby for The Boy! Loved it! For birthday number 6 I decided I better tone it down a little. That 3tier cake was pretty pricey (Thanks Dad for buying it for him) Cheryl still made the cake so it was great...



Spongebob again. The Boy loves his Spongebob. As you can see the birthday has become all about the cake for me. I have to have something to obsess over and if I let it be whether or not anyone is going to show up I will go crazy...so I focus on the cake. I have found several great pictures of cakes but I think I've let my dad talk me into a simple sheet cake this year. I can tell you I am going with a soccer theme. The Lego cake I found probably would have cost about a hundred dollars but it would have taken a great picture! LOL Here it is (remember I'm NOT getting this one)




The soccer cake that I really wanted was this one...



I'm not really sure I would know how to cut this thing though. I finally decided to send four pictures of cakes I like to my dad and let him talk to Cheryl (she is his neighbor) and now I will just be surprised right along with Jaykeb when the cake gets to the party. I don't have too many more of these birthday parties to get all worked up over so I'm taking full advantage while I still can! The day is coming when he won't want a silly birthday party anymore but I can hope he will still want a cake!

Jayke's Icicle

We were bored the other night so we went out and pulled this off the gutter. There was a bigger one but I couldn't get to it without climbing through the bushes.

For Hire!!

....will work for Legos and Fruit Rollups!! Does a very good job...until he gets tired at which time he will want to come in your house to eat causing a small flood in the entry way. Also will leave a trail of hats, gloves, and boots throughout the house. Sometimes requires an audience to observe how hard and diligently he performs his tasks.

If interested please inquire at THEBOY@snowshovelerextraordinaire.com!!

Lil' Colts Fans

Matt,(far left no jersey) Jayke, Mason, and Alec watching the end of the colts game.

My friends, the Pickerings, always have a bunch of us over to their house for various things...card parties, New Years, Birthdays, etc. This Saturday it was to watch the Colts in the playoffs. Jayke loves going since there are always tons of kids to play with. I think the kids always outnumber the adults. Anyway, this Saturday we went to Walmart to get some snacks to take with us. I had told The Boy we were going to take a cheese, crackers, and summer sausage tray. He likes to be in the know. While in Walmart I put a party platter in the cart which prompted Jayke to ask...Why are you buying that? I said, to put the cheese and crackers in. He very dryly replied, "Boy, you are really taking this cheese and crackers thing seriously aren't you?"

BLINK BLINK

Why, yes! Yes I am taking it seriously. I am going to seriouly purchase some cheese and crackers and throw them in this disposable 80 cent tray and take them over there. Really? I didn't know that the alluminum throw-away tray was all that serious!

Two Christmas Stories by Jayke

Santa looks fat. Santa likes to diliver prezents to people on Christmas. He acts funny. He speaks like my crazy Grampal. I really like Santa Claus. Santa Claus mostly seis Ho Ho Ho all the time. The end.

Christmas is the best season fo the year because you get lots of presents. Sometimes I will make cookies for Santa Claus. I really like the snow because I can make a snowman. On the top of a Chrismas tree there is a star. I like to go on my sled and go down the hill at my house.

Not sure where this hill he speaks of is.

Santa No More

I think this may have been the last year for Santa. At least the last year that The Boy actually believes in him. This morning after he was finished opening his gifts he looked at me and asked if Santa really came or if I put the things in his stocking. I lied of course but I think he knows and is now pretending for my sake. Last night when he was so excited about it and writing letters I thought for sure that he still believed so I don't know what happened between last night and this morning. I had a feeling last night when I put the shelf elf away that it may be the last year for him as well. Sad. It went so fast.

Santa or no Santa, The Boy was happy with his electric scooter and new skate board...plus all the other gifts he got. I think this was also the last year before he starts asking for Ipods and video games. He is getting a Netbook for his birthday from me. My dad won four of them in an online contest so it was perfect timing for Jayke's birthday next month. Now I won't have to share my laptop anymore!!!

Dear Santa...

Merry Christmas!! Here is the letter Jayke wrote to Santa

Letters to Santa

Jayke is so excited for Santa to come that he cleaned the entire living room and his bedroom so that Santa wouldn't have any problem getting in with all his things. He wanted to be sure he could easily locate his stocking and have plenty of room to pile up all his toys. He obviously doesn't know the financial status of his personal Santa. He even wrote him a letter and colored two pictures for him to take. He has put a bowl of candy on top of the pie safe for him...I was trying to convince him that Santa would really like a Diet Coke and some left over pizza but he didn't believe me. We are about to say good bye to Fisbee, the shelf elf, as he will be leaving tonight for the North Pole until next year. After that is off to bed cause Santa doesn't want to be up all night!!

Jayke's December Writing Journal

Dec 1, 2010--I like to read because it will help me read better. And my faverit book is weer wolves don't go to summer camp.
Dec 2, 2010--Cats are very fluffy. Some times they will attac you with ther clawls.
Dec 3, 2010--Dogs are really cute. Some times they will bite.
Dec 4,2010--All by myself I can take the dogs out back.
Dec 5, 2010--I hate to eat lazanya. Lazanya is really yucky.
Dec 13,2010--Yesterday I watched a movie called cloudy with a chanse of meat balls. I really liked it.
Dec 16,2010--At the Christmas program I was in the third row. my mommy couldn't see me.
Dec 17,2010--Dear Santa, nI want a lot of toys. I hope you bring a lot of toys.

Sneeze, Hack, Whiiiiiiiiine!!!,

I'm sick. Double ear infection, sinus infection, etc...therefore, I'm not blogging. Maybe if I ever get my hearing back I will feel like it again. Blech!

Photo Collage

A Year in Status Updates

My Facebook Status update collage...

Fa lalalala...la...la...la...la...

No pictures of The Boy on stage at his Christmas sing again this year. I did manage to get a seat right down in front this year but unfortunately we weren't as lucky with Jayke's placement on stage. Last year he was in the very front row and was even chosen to be one of the six children who got to play the bongos for one number. I, however, was stuck up in the balcony and couldn't get a picture of him. This year I planned ahead and got there plenty early to save a seat for Oma, Opa, Bob, and Alec so that we could all see Mason and Jayke and be sure to get pictures. Turns out I wasted my time. Mason was up first and was stuck standing behind the mucsic teacher so that we could barely see him at all. Couldn't get a good shot.

The first graders traditionally get to perform the frand finale at the program so Jayke was up last. Once again...time wasted getting there early to save seats in the very front. Jayke was 3 rows back and standing behind a very big kid so none of us could see him at all. I was able to get glimpses of him every now and then but they were brief and I definately couldn't get a picture. So...we sat through that entire program and weren't even able to see him.

I took the picture above when we got home just so I would have one in his collar shirt that he HATED! When he put it on I was talking to Mason's dad on the phone and he said, "I know that is Bob!! Ask him if he has one of these STUPID SHIRTS!" I was just trying to put him in something different than what he wore last year...geesh! You would think I asked him to wear a tutu or something the way he carried on. At least I now have an entire year before I have to worry about this again. Darn Christmas program!! I may boycott!

SNOWWWWW!!!

Well, the weather people weren't as incorrect as I figured they would be. We did actually get enough snow for the kids to be able to play in it. Jayke has been out playing with Bea, Hunter, and Nolan. This is Nolan with Jaykeb just getting ready to go back out.

My entry way has been littered with gloves, boots, and other random articles of cold wet clothing all day! The kids come in and it takes about 10 minutes to remove them from their gear, all the while snow flying every where. My feet were wet several times from stepping in the little puddles left by a random boot here and there. They managed to stay in for an entire 34 minutes before we were stuffing them back in their wet clothes for another romp through all the neighbors yards. About 20 minutes later Jayke was back and we were doing it all over again. So not worth the trouble. I remember my grandpa used to say that when I was a kid and I went out I didn't get cold! I would stay out there forever. Not my kid...he, apparently, has a 20 minute limit. Need to toughen him up a little!

Mason's Birthday

Jaykeb and I went to a party at Chuck E Cheese's for Mason's 6th birthday yesterday. I think I will have Jaykeb's party there this year. Everyone is now forewarned!

Here's the birthday boy with his Daddy!

First Big Snow

We are supposed to be getting our first big snow tonight and all day tomorrow!! We aren't going to get too excited yet. The weather people seem to always get this wrong. Predict 3-5 inches and we get under an inch almost every time. Jayke did a little artwork in anticipation of our potential blizzard.

A Mini Me in the Making

I turned the tree over to Jaykeb this year. I know it's hard to believe but I did. I barely helped him at all. He did a pretty good job! I have tried to explain to him not to hang similar ornaments next to each other and to try not to leave empty spaces. He has the art of "tucking" ornaments down! I was pretty impressed with his tucking abilities. He didn't even have to be told this trick. I think he remembered from last year. He is a mini me in the making! Tree decorator extraordinaire! I was glad to see him grab up his basketball and start practicing spinning it on his finger tip after the tree was done. Don't want too much decorating in his blood if you know what I mean!

Now comes the hard part. I have to refrain from jumping up and rearranging things. Filling in empty spaces. I may not have to though because Luna is doing a fine job of moving things around herself! I give it a day before I have to redo the whole thing.

Jaykeb's November Writing Journal

Jaykeb writes a journal every month in school. Here are November's entries. (Typed exactly as written)

11/1/10-- I'm thankful for my cat lunu. She is a lunutic.
11/2/10--I'm thankful for my turtl. My turtl has bumps on his face he is very cote. His name is fish.
11/3/10--I'm thankful for my littleist dog lany. She is really good but win she gose outside it is so hard to get her back in the house.
11/4/10--I'm thankful for my biggest dog simien. He can run verey fast. He is really big.
11/4/10--I'm thankful for my frind Hunter. He is my best frind. Hunter and me wint back in to the woods. My naber came over to tell my gradma that thairs a wolf den.
11/5/10--I'm thankful for my frind Nolin. He is really fun to play with Nolin is my frind.
11/6/10--I'm thankful for the sun. It makes it hot. I like it becuse it makes it so I can play with my frinds.
11/7/10--I'm thankful for my mommy. She lets me get my lingkin logs out. She lets me play with my frinds.
11/8/10--I'm thankful for my gradma. She helps me stay alive becuse her dog Jackson always tris to bite me.
11/9/10--I'm thankful for Ben. He is my best frind.
11/16/10--I'm thankful for my toy cars.
11/17/10--I'm thanful for Jared. He is kinda crazy. Jared and me like to play tag.
11/18/10--I'm thankful for Eli. He is my bestist frind.
11/19/10--I'm thankful for rabbits. They can run and hop. They can get killed by wolfs thats the bad part.
11/23/10--This is how you make pumpkin pie. I think you have to put a littel water in the pumpkin pie. You have't to cook the pumpkin pie.
11/24/10--If you had a feast what would you have. I would have turkey. I would have puttose.
11/29/10--On thanksgiving I whent to see my daddy and I went to my Gradmals houes.
11/20/10--When I get angry I should scish a scweacky toy. It really helps me.

My favorite is the November 19th entry. I think I will start putting more of his writing assignments on here. Some of them are pretty funny.

Pilgrims

Play Date

Jayke had a play date the other night. Mason, a friend from school, (and I'm friends with his dad) rode the bus home with him. This was a first. They had a blast together, as you can see from the pictures in this post. I know you are all still trying to get past the fact that I let these two rowdy boys jump on my FABULOUS white bed...forget that and try to focus. You can go back and admire my boudoir in a minute.




When I got home from work they were quietly trading silly bands and drawing matching pictures on Jayke's easel. Jayke was very considerate of his friends feelings and wants. He was extremely agreeable and was sharing all his things with his friend. He even let Mason put stickers in his prized Lego sticker book! I was wondering when the pod people came down and replaced my son with this child who was bouncing around my house. Jayke is always a great kid but he usually isn't as agreeable about everything.

The boys took a vote and decide they wanted to go to McDonalds and eat INSIDE for dinner. I agreed and we were off. As soon as we walked in I realized what a huge mistake I had made. They were every where! Climbing on the seats and jumping off. Running around. Laughing like little maniacs. I was unable to respond for a minute. This was my first experience with more than one kid. Two kids together is a whole different ball game! Why didn't someone warn me? My mother probably purposely didn't say anything so she cold enjoy the blog entry that would follow about my horror at how these kids behaved.

I didn't want to be that mom you see (and hear) yelling at her kids across the restaurant as she stood and tried to place their order with the poor cashier who couldn't hear. (Literally, she had to turn her good ear to me every time I spoke) I resorted to flailing my arms wildly at them to try to direct them into their seats. This, I'm sure, made me look like I was suffering from some kind of condition. The boys obviously didn't understand my gesturing because they continued to climb and carry on as if I weren't even there. That is what I'm going with because I'd hate to think that my cherub was purposely ignoring his poor distraught mother!

When I finally made my way to our area of the restaurant (Yes, we had an area because clearly no one was brave enough to sit near us) Jayke decided that he HAD to have his own table. Fine, whatever...as long as he would sit down and put food in his mouth. I was all for it. Anything to turn the noise level down a decibel. Mason and I sat together. I was afraid for a minute he would require his own table as well and I would have to move away to my own booth down the aisle. I think he felt sorry for me and allowed me to join him. They ate their food in like 2 minutes flat and were back to terrorizing the fine patrons of our local Mickey Ds. Once I saw that it was starting again I inhaled my own cheeseburger and got the little angels into the car as fast as I could.

The rest of the evening went pretty well. It was starting to get late, later than I would normally have kids up, but Mason's dad was at a business meeting in Marion so I knew this was going to be the case. Their were starting to be signs of grouchiness but nothing to serious...until...I went to take a 10 minute phone call in my bedroom. The boys were in the living room and they were very quiet. They had the video game they had been playing paused and I didn't hear a thing. I finished up my call and went to see what was going on. Apparently they were having a very quiet fight which included threats of never playing with each other again. Only 20 minutes shy of the end of our night together and it all went awry. Tears were being fought back and the threats were flying. Once again, this is something I have never dealt with. I was busy trying to diffuse the situation when Mason's dad showed up. As soon as he walked in the door all was well again. Whew!! Off the hook! Good thing because I wasn't real sure how I was going to handle that.

All in all, it was a good evening. I feel like it was a learning experience for me, an only child raising an only child. (step-sisters excluded) We will definitely invite Mason back. The next day everything was fine...I'm sure the little disagreement was just a result of them both being tired. I know I was exhausted!

1st Grade

Watch out blog...I learned how to use my scanner! (finally, lol) I may stay up for days posting pictures on here!

My Kid the Rock Star

Today was parent lunch day at school. I was pleased to learn that one of the menu selections was school pizza. Haven't had a school pizza...well, since I was in school! We won't count how many years ago that was. I had really built my hopes up for this little rectangular piece of pie. I remember how pizza days were always my favorite. I liked the school pizza so well that my dad, who was a teacher, even used to buy slabs of them for us to eat on the weekends. I couldn't wait to enjoy my lunch with The Boy.

I got to the shool plenty early...Jayke tends to start to worry if I'm not there waiting for him when I'm supposed to be. The class comes by and each child picks up their parent as they pass through the lobby. This was our first awkward moment as I immediately, and obviously thoughtlessly, reached for and took his hand in line. He looked at me like I was an alien. I let go right away and then there was a moment where we both just looked at each other, not really knowing what to do next. He relunctantly took my hand with this look on his face that told me he was going to do this but ONLY for my benefit.

Our second awkward moment was when I accidentally stepped too far forward in the line and he felt I was cutting the boys in front of us. My bad. I figured I better just let him lead the way the rest of the time so I didn't get in any more trouble. He instructed me the rest of the way on how to take my tray, where the utensils were, and where we were going to sit.

When we entered the cafeteria I thought for a moment I was with a rock star! Little girls screaming his name. Boys waving him to the spot next to them at their table. Jayke just walking as if it were a normal everyday happening. I listened after that to see if any other kids got that kind of reception and no one did. He must be quiet popular. LOL

We found a seat and finally, my little square pizza was in front of me and I was about to take a trip down memory lane. Ha! Man was I disappointed! School pizzas have either gotten way worse than when I was a kid or I have developed much better taste as an adult. I'm going with the latter. The flavor was pretty much the same it's just that I've had so many other kinds to compare it to that now it just wasn't as wonderful. They also apparently care more now about your health and/or weight because the french fries that we used to get with our pizza were now replaced with about two tablespoons of salad. Still had the same ol chocolate milk though and it was just as I remembered. The school chocolate milk is just a little different than what you get at the store...at least I always felt (and still feel) that way.

After lunch Jayke promptly directed me to the trash cans and showed me where to put my tray. I think he enjoyed taking on the roll of teacher. I left him in his classroom diligently working on his vocab worksheets. Tonight he had a friend ride the bus home with him for the first time. Gotta go take them to eat INSIDE McDonalds right now. Maybe I will have a post about his play date tomorrow.

Cub Scout Cake Update

He didn't come home with his own cake but he did come home with a cake. Jayke's cake sold for $7.00...five of which Oma paid (Oma took him because Opa had a meeting) and then she bought him a different cake for $6.00. Soooo...all together she has about $41.00 invested and we ended up with a cake we could have baked for probably $5.00. I know, I know it's not about that. He had fun and the pack made some money. And now we have a big cake just sitting there calling to me...Weennnnnnnnnddddddyyyyyy...come get me! Bad cake.

Do I Hear Ten Dollars?

Here is the cake that Jayke and my mom made for his Cub Scout cake auction tomorrow night. The Boy doesn't want to part with it, of course. We have to make the starting bid of $5 so we may end up with it anyway. I'm not saying it's not worth $5 but everyone will have to bid on their own so I doubt there will be any other bids. Kinda a weird system if you ask me. My mom has spent at least $25 dollars already making the crazy thing! She has declared that she will now make a cake of some sort with the mold for every holiday. All of this was said after a near nervous breakdown and while still wearing green icing on her face.

I'm just glad that Opa takes him to scouts and not me. He will get to deal with the fit that will ensue if that cake doesn't come home with them tomorrow! Sitting quietly, chuckling to myself.

It's like a Catalog!

Thanks to my Aunt Karen, I got my blog printed and made into a book. It's more like a catalog! At least that is how big it is. This is only the first year of entries. I still have three more years to print. The next three won't be nearly this big, as I got a little lax in my blogging since moving back to Indiana. Anyway, my aunt told my mom about the website Blog2print.com where they will transfer everything for you, print it, and ship it to you. I couldn't wait to get mine done. So there it is...on the ottomon with The Boy staring at it. He was in a bad mood and I was forcing him to take pictures with a BOOK!

After he got over his crankiness and I made sure his hands were spotlessly clean I let him browse the book that is ALL about him. Now it is his favorite book, of course. He sits and reads it and cracks up. Sometimes he looks at me and says, I CAN'T beeeeeelieve you wrote that about me!" with disgust in his eyes. Believe it boy! I write it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly stories about potty training! He will appreciate it more when he is like 35. I will point out to him that not too many moms spent that much time, energy, and money on their kids baby books.

I have sat and read much of it myself and I must say it may be the best book I've every read! I laughed, I cried...and then I began to blog...again. So thank you Aunt Karen for motivating me! I will try to keep up with it.




Note to self for future blog book orders...Find a better picture for the cover and leave off the 22 (out of 356) pages of table of contents.

Why? What's Up??

This was posted on my Facebook wall by my niece, AJ, today. LOVE it!!! Love her!!


Wendy Who? Wendy "Wendoline" Willmann...I guess I have to still say Howell Wendy? Cutie Patootie, kids say the darndest things Jaykeb's mommie Wendy? Always wearing sunglasses on her head Wendy? Has the longest Christmas Lists in history Wendy? I left my baby neice on the windowsill Wendy? Use to play Target in the family room Wendy? Crushed hard on Joey Bowman Wendy? If it involves sweating, I think I'll pass Wendy? Snips Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Wendy? Floral designing diva Wendy? Elegant Accents Wendy? Whole family was drunk at my wedding (except AJ) Wendy? Always wanted a zoo in the backyard Wendy? Yeah, why?!? She's my aunt...more like my cousin and I love her mucho and that's what's up!!!

We Went to The Beach

We went to the beach today to remember Nate. It seemed weird to go to the beach and carry on as if life were normal. It was a good thing though. We all were thinking about him, but today they were happy memories not tears and overwhelming heartache like yesterday. Today we laughed again. We wrote his name in the sand and watched the sun light break through the clouds and shine down on us. We knew he was there with us.

Heaven Gained an Angel

Death leaves a heart ache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal.