Driving Miss Daisy

We took Grammy out to see the new flowers they planted at the "Health Campus".

On to Second Grade...

School is out!! Someone made the honor roll...although, I had to give him a little grief because two of his A+ grades from last grading period dropped to just an A. He ended up with straight A's. Came home the last day with next year's supply list so I am now chomping at the bit to go buy it all even though they don't even have the school supplies out yet. It's a challenge each year to refrain from going out right away and getting all the stuff on his list. Open house is Aug 11th ...only two months and he is back to school again!

I'd Like to See You In the After Life

My mother is apparently reading a book about a child who died while in the hospital but survived only to tell about heaven and all that he saw there. She, for some reason, felt it necessary to share this story with Jayke who is now obsessed with heaven. He has continuously talked about heaven since getting home from Oma's. He is pretty upset about the whole thing too because he is sure he is going one way and I am going the other. This is upsetting to him because he would like to be able to see me after we are gone. I finally figured this out after answering many questions about heaven and "the place where the devil lives." When he asked me if, "people who go to heaven can see the people who go where the devil lives" I finally knew that he had decided that he was going to heaven and I wasn't. I asked and it was confirmed that, yes, this was exactly what he is thinking. However, he feels if I clean up my language this can all be avoided. I will try to work on that.

I Can Solve Your Problem

Mommy, I sure hope you get a job soon cause I'm sick of looking at you!

I promptly took care of his issue by sending him to his room to contemplate how he chose to express himself, thereby making it so that he no longer had to look at me!! I have a resolution for all his problems!

Seasons Over...Finally!!

Soccer has finally ended for the season! I didn't think it was ever going to end. We had to add 3 1/2 weeks to the season because of the rain and the final tournament game was called in the middle due to a thunderstorm rolling in. We won our first game, lost the second, and tied the last, which was called early. We are going to have to rethink our plan for fall soccer. I'm not happy with the way things have been changed with the club and we will also be old enough to begin travel soccer. In the mean time Jayke has a soccer camp beginning in July with the Ball State womens soccer team as coaches. Same clinic we did over the winter. So far this is the only camp I have him signed up for. He will be going to Georgia for a week to visit his dad and probably swimming at my dad's and his friend, Mason's. All he wants to do it play with his friends so he doesn't care about not going to any camps. He will be busy.

Jayke's April Writing Journal

4/1/11--Last night I played my dsi. I played Mario kart. I got in first place. I always pick the fastest car. It is really fun.
4/4/11--Storms are really scary. Last night when I heard thunder I jumped. I was really scared.
4/8/11--If I was president I would make school one minute less. I would make lunch in there room always. I would make no homework.
4/11/11--When I get home from school I have to go to soccer. I've mist a lot of it. I really like soccer.
4/12/11--The caterpillars are hanging to make a cacoon. I like to watch the catepillars scwerm. The catepillars are 3 and a 1/2cm long. They will be painted ladys.
4/13/11-- I like to read magic tree house books. They are my favorite books. I have one in my desk.
4/15/11--Last night I went to my friends house. We practicest for soccer. My team lost the game.
4/18/11--Insects have 6 legs and some have intinas. We hae some baby catepillars. They are in chrysalis.
4/19/11--What did you do instead of wathing tv? I played with my toys. I read a book. It was my favorite book.
4/20/11--What did you do instead of watching tv? I went to my friends house. We played lots of games. I tried to not watch tv . I couldn't help it.
4/21/11--What did you do instead of watching tv? I rode my bke. I played a board gaem. I almost won. It was really fun.
4/25/11--I am tired of waiting to go to the childrens museum. Next we will be going to Minatrista. It will be really fun.
4/27/11--The best thing about the field trip was peting the animals. I liked peting the bunny best. I didn't pet the hissing cockroach. it was gros. I did pet the trinchla.
4/28/11--My favorit book is Mrs. chicken and the hungry crocodile. It is about the crocdile how wants to cat a chicken. Her name is Mrs. Chicken.
4/29/11--This weekend I'll play with my frind. We will play xbox. It will be fun.

And a letter he wrote to me as an assignment...

Dear Mommy I really want you to take me to kins island. I need to ride rides and play games. I must play games. I couldn't go last year becaue I was to little. I hope I can go this year. I really like kings Island. from Jaykeb.

New Do

Jayke got his hair cut today and the girl actually put a little product in it and styled it. He now says I have to do this for him every morning before school. He asked me at least 6 times if we had gel at home...if not we better go get some on the way! This picture is not the finished product. I don't have a picture of that...he was in too big a hurry to go show his new do off to his friends when we got home and took off before I could get a good shot. Good thing school is almost out cause I'm not getting up early to do his hair!!

Jaykeb's spring school pictures

Hmmmm....

....wonder what he made in school for me this year...

My Son the Comedian

Tonight we went to watch Matthew and Alec play baseball. On the way home Jayke was riding with Matt and Ang. I guess Matt and Jayke were going to watch a movie and there was some discussion about whether or not Jayke could watch it because it may have been rated R. When we met up Ang was cracking up at my kid and the following conversation that was just had in her vehicle...

Matt: I don't know if you can watch this movie because it may be rated R.
Jayke: Well is there a lot of blood in it?
Matt: No, I don't think so.
Jayke: Well is there a lot of killing in it?
Matt: No, I think there is just a lot of cussing.
Jayke: Oh, that's okay then...my MOM is rated R!

Nice.

Dirty Boy

When it has rained for 40 days and 40 nights it is haighly likely that your kid will not come away from the soccer field clean. Tonight was picture night too! I was lucky, my kid was one of the cleaner ones.

Shake Shake Shake!!

We went out for a friend's birthday last Friday night and Ang's hubs took this picture of us. Angi, Mandi, and Me. I did my usual, "I don't wanna go!" but had a blast once we got there. There was karaoke on one side of the bar and dancing on the other. I actually danced for the first time since my wedding (which I can't recall). Now my kid, who overheard me talking about it, is going around telling everyone his mother was out "Shakin it!" Friday night. I think the exact conversation he had with his dad on the phone went something like this...

Jayke--My mother went out the other night and SHE WAS SHAKIN IT! She was shakin it like there was no tomorrow!! Shakin it!!

Jayke's Dad--Thaaat's nice.

Clearly Jayke's Dad was not as amused by the fact that I was "shakin it" as Jaykeb was. I'm actually quite amused by it myself. Everytime that night pops into my head I literally laugh out loud at how ridiculous we must have all looked out there "Shakin it"!

Monsters and Animals

Jayke and I have been busy coloring Easter eggs. After they were colored we decided to get a little creative. Above is my piggy egg I made. Jayke had a hard time helping with this part of the decorating since he is not allowed to use the hot glue gun. He was more like my assistant but he did manage to make a couple of Monster eggs...



All of this crafting was made very difficult by the fact the cat was trying to lay right in the middle of all our supplies and also periodically would take off with a pile of pipe cleaners or ribbons. She was also particularly found of the "Monster hair". I'm surprised those monsters weren't swiped bald!



I think Jayke is a lil confused about the Easter eggs. He thinks they are FOR the Easter Bunny. Kinda like the cookies you put out for Santa. He keeps wanting to make a special basket and a card for the bunny to go with them. I keep trying to explain that they are just Easter decorations. He acts like this is the first time we have colored eggs or the first Easter we have celebrated. Maybe its because we did a lot more with the eggs this year. I usually don't get into the coloring of the eggs too much. Seems pointless when you can just go out and buy the plastic ones and actually get something inside of those. I'm glad we did it this year though, who knows if this will be the last year he believes in the bunny or not and he enjoyed creating our little critters...

We Will Be Back After the War...

It's Wet and Muddy Out...Must be Soccer Time!

It's soccer time again and these two dudes are are serious about their soccer!! LOL. They aren't on the same team which I think may be a good thing since tackling, their favorite activity, is not allowed in soccer.

Jayke played really well. I was impressed. I think the winter clinics really helped. There are two stand-outs on his team and he is one of them. I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom either. He did start to slow down about halfway through the game and I figured it was just tiredness left over from him having the flu last week. Nope. I was wrong. By the time we got home he was running a fever and a couple hours later he was throwing up. Guess he is having a relapse. Poor guy.

I was a very happy mom when he was throwing up. I know that sounds weird but I was. I do not do puke. Period, end of story. I've been lucky that he has not gotten sick very often. Last night I realized I must have put the fear of God in him about puking ANYWHERE but in the toilet. He came out of his room screaming like a maniac, made it to the bathroom, no problem. I was very proud of him. AND very relieved that I didn't have to clean up. I was also a little amused at the screaming...I'm not gonna lie. Screaming on his way to the bathroom and screaming all the way through until he was done. Screaming? Oh well, whatever works for him as long as I don't have to clean anything up.

He is feeling better this afternoon. He had made his sympathy call before I even got out of bed. Got up and called Oma to tell her he was sick. She was over pretty quick with some supplies. He didn't manage to convince her that he needed to go home with her though. Poor kid, now he is stuck here arguing with me all afternoon about the fact that just because he is feeling better does not mean that he can go out to play now. No school, no outside!!

Jayke's Favorite Toy

I am so happy Jayke is all better and going back to school tomorrow...but maybe not as happy as Luna is going to be. He drove her nuts today!!!

Jayke's March Writing Journal

3/2/11--The storm was really scarry. I had to o to tmy moms closet. I couldn't sleep.

3/3/11--I really like to play outside. I can go to my friend Hunter. He is my best friend.

3/4/11--During Dr. Seuss week I made a turtle. His name was Mack. I made a cat in the hat. He looked really funny.

3/8/11--In art I like to paint. I can paint a girffe. It is a yellow and brown one.

3/9/11--My favorite thing about music is you get to play an instrment. You don't get to play one all the time. I don't really like to go to music.

3/10/11--I feel proud when I lose a tooth. I can put it under the my pillow. I will get money from the tooht fairy.

3/11/11--At the animal convo I saw a volf. He was really big. I saw a baboon. He was really funny. I saw a crocidal. It tried to get away from the guy.

3/14/11--I was angry when I coutdn't go out side. I couldn't go outside becuse it was raining. I would get really wet.

3/15/11--The green stegasuaris has a towell with cotten candy. The blue dinosaur has a really big neck. There are a lot of dinosaurs.

3/16/11--For Spring Break I'll go to my friends house. We can play tag. I am really fast.

3/17/11--Iv'e always wondered when it would be summer again. I really love summer. It is the best season. I can go swimming in the summer.

3/18/11--Last week I went to my dads house. We went to a flee market. We got some book and cars.

3/24/11--I felt so proud when I found my cat behind the tv. I looked for her because I had a I feed her. Her name is Luna.

3/30/11--It was so funny when these to boys on the bus fell out of there seat. They really hurt there head. But they wearnt hurt for long.

3/31/11--When I get up in the morning I change my clothes first. Next I get my shous on. Last I wait for the bus.

Got a Hot One

I have a sick boy sitting here with me. Jayke hardly ever gets sick. He is running a fever and has, what sounds like, a cold. I've been lucky with him though. I think he has only gotten sick to his stomach a handful of times in his life. He has never had an ear ache or anything like that. An occasional sore throat but that is about it. He will be missing school again tomorrow because of his fever so I will have company with me again. We played Candy Land today and went and got Blizzards...I'm going to have to come up with something more entertaining tomorrow because now it seems that puppies are sick too...

Off Again

Flat Jaykeb is heading to Georgia! I called Mike the other day to make sure he would do this for him and to give him instructions. Seems he has never heard of this before even though I did this for Jayke when he was 3 years old. We made a Flat Jaykeb and sent him to Kelly in Colorado. She made a great picture book for Jaykeb of all the places she took Flat Jaykeb. She even sent Flat Jaykeb on a cruise with her brother and sister-in-law to Greece, Croatia, Turkey, and Italy. Unfortunately, this time Flat Jaykeb isn't going any where too exciting...just Georgia.

I plan to send the book Kelly did for Jayke in as well. He was looking through it today and laughing at all the places Kelly took him. She was extremely creative I hope what we get back this time is as fun as that was for Jayke.

More Useless Chunks of Plastic...

Decoy swans on my mom's pond. They tried decoy owls last year to try to keep the geese out of their yard. That didn't work so now they have swans. Unfortunately, I was a little slow in snapping this picture. I just missed the two geese who were sitting on the shore right there next to that willow tree. The only ones getting fooled by these hunks of floating plastic are the neighbors. They all got excited thinking they had real swans on their pond!! Really?? I also missed getting a picture of Jim with his home-made pvc bottle rocket launcher shooting missiles at them. I'm glad I'm not their neighbor!!

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!

ZombieBoy

Jaykeb got his new Netbook computer in the mail today. He was so excited I thought he was going to explode! It took a while to get it all set up for him. He practically sat on my shoulder while I did it. I set up an email account for him and he immediately started composing his own messages to everyone. He sent emails to Meemaw, Ppaw, Oma, Opa, AJ, and me. They have been quite comical. He is extremely pleased that everyone is responding within a timely manner!

One of the emails he received was a request to go to brunch tomorrow. It was from Opa. Jayke wrote him back and told him that if he didn't have anything else to do he would attend. He must have needed to check his calendar first. I went through his emails this evening and found that he has already invited everyone to his next birthday party and he confirmed his brunch date for tomorrow. Requested that his Ipod be returned by Oma and wrote to AJ to tell her that her mother shouldn't be mad that she didn't get one of these new Netbooks. He has been busy! Below is the email I received a few minutes ago...

You are the Mommy ever.Can I stay up late. I really want to go to Mason's house.How long is 80 minutis.My computer
is a Samsung.It 's a really good computer. How is Bob.Mason is my best friend.Mattew is my secont best friend.


He is now sitting here reading the blog and being very disgusted with me for telling all of his "social business"! I apologize to everyone in advance for your full inboxes!!

Just Luna

Man Has a New Best Friend

....and thy name is CAT!

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.