Those Eggs Have Already Hatched!

Jayke had a busy Easter.  First he went to his Dad's (AKA his grandparent's) and had Easter with his aunt, cousins, and dad.  They went to an Easter egg hunt and got to see the Easter bunny.  They also got to pet some baby chicks and he got a bunch of candy.

Once Jayke got home, on Easter morning, we went and had breakfast with Jeff.  He had an Easter basket for The Boy and I had given his kids their baskets from me on Friday.  

After that, we went to Dad's house and he met Kim's new puppy.  The puppy loved Jayke, of course and we had to go through the whole, no you aren't getting another dog thing.  We had the annual Easter Egg hunt there as well.  I lost my title as champion egg hunter.  I think they had a plan to dethrone me after years of winning.  I ended up giving all of my eggs to Jayke because he is not a very stellar egg hunter.  We got the usual haul plus some from Dad.  Lots of candy and this year I asked for some healthy snacks too.  Probably shocked the Easter Bunny greatly, I'm surprised he even knew where to look for the healthy stuff!

Finally, we finished up at Oma's and dinner with Uncle Mark.  Jayke had to try out his new soccer ball with Jackson and Uncle Mark before we finally headed home after a jam packed day.  

What Brings Them all Together?

The laser light does!  Even Laynie chases the little red dot like she is a puppy again.  I make sure not to let her chase it too much so as not to give her a heart attack or cause her to throw out a hip.  Josie and Nemo are the two biggest fans of the dot.  Luna acts like she is above chasing that ridiculous red thing, sitting...holding up her one paw like the little Miss Priss that she is but every once in a while she forgets herself and goes after it intensely for a brief moment.  Then...back to her poised perch off to the side... watching the other idiots attempt the impossible task of catching that irresistible speck of light.

Snowball

Jayke's class has two lab rats this year that they are experimenting on...which I am highly against.  Here is the pic he took of one of them.  I had to sign a permission slip for him to touch them in class and noticed there was a some what tricky question on the slip.  You had to write no if you didn't want your child to bring the rat home for a weekend.  I'm pretty sure Jayke and the school tried to slip that one by me.  He even brought me a pencil to sign with so I made him go get me a red ink pen and I wrote a huge NO on the slip that we were not bringing the little critter home to play with the three cats for a weekend.  I'm sure that would have had a traumatizing out one for us all.  Guess I need to start reading what he brings to me and tells me to sign.

Too Much to Overcome

These two poor kids.  All season this is where they have been.  Sitting and watching.  They get to go in for a few mins then he takes them right back out.  Finally today, the final day of the season, they are getting to play.  We lost two players from the team so now he has to let them play and you know what?  They are doing a good job.   Imagine what they could have done had they been given a chance all season???

Jump ahead two weeks...

Below is how we kill time during a five hour break in Marion for a tournament...

This tournament was even more heart breaking then the rest of the season.  Jayke ended up taking himself out and off the team for good.  When he sat all but 2 mins of a game he finally said he was done that if the coach didn't think he was good enough he wasn't going to sit and watch.  I don't blame him.  Normally I would tell him he has to finish what he starts and not give up but his coach gave up on him a long time ago.  He did more harm to him in this season than you can imagine.  I watched his heart break more and more on the bench every game.  We should all just be happy I kept my composure and just walked out before giving that ass a piece of my mind. We can thank Jeff for that since he jumped in his car and drove an hour up there once he heard what was going on.   At eleven years old there are way more important things than just winning.  The damage that was done to Jayke's self confidence will still remain to be seen but I can tell you he was broken on the way home.

He blamed his dad for not being there to work with him and teach him the game.  A lot of anger came out of him and a lot of things directed at the lack of a father he has been.  He won't speak to his dad now.  He said he can't make up for not being there for the past 9 years.  He is right.  He is starting to see the things he is missing by not having a dad around.  And there will only be more to come.

Thanks, UPS!

Here we are at the Pacer game...UPS gave Jeff free tickets.  Club level tickets.  They were really good seats, not in a suite but right behind and above the camera men.  We had no one in front of us and waitress so we didn't have to keep getting up and leaving the game.  I'm not sure if the great seat, no wait for the bathroom, or the VIP parking pass was the best part of this.  We had dinner at The Hardrock and then the game.  I hope UPS does this more often!  Perks of being the Shipping Guru's girlfriend.

Always his Head

Jayke, Connor, His friend ?, Mason, and Alec

Jayke got invited to go skiing with Mason a few days ago.  I was a little worried about letting him go since he never has been and also based on my limited and unpleasant experience skiing.  I've been once.  Once is all I needed to determine it wasn't for me.  Turns out Jayke is just like his momma!  He had the exact same experience.  He fell down the entire mountain.  Only difference is he hit his head really hard.  Hard enough for the parent he was with to text me to see if he could take Tylenol.  It never fails, every time he goes any where he either hits his head or just gets a headache that sidelines him.  Poor kid.  

At least Bob and Angie got a few pics of him on skis since it will probably be a once in a lifetime thing!

After the great fall down the mountain, Angie took Jayke, her son, and his friend to the tubes.  This was much more enjoyable for him.  I'm glad he got to go so that he can say he has been and know whether or not he wants to do it again.  He just has no dare devil in him.  Probably why we haven't had to spend any time in the er yet.  I wish he had a little more in him...not er levels but just a little bit.

Perfect North Slopes

Your Face Looks Cold...Let me Lay on It!

Josie's feet

Josie.  How she has changed the dynamic in our house is amazing.  Even Laynie is running around thinking she is a pup again!  Josie is always busy attacking someone, throwing her toys around, or just lounging around like below...

She must have felt I looked cold and needed to warm my face!

She also enjoys watching movies with Jeff and me...

Luna enjoys her.  She likes to lay with her, play with her, and especially loves bathing her.

Nemo seems a little unsure of her purpose here.  He plays with her but mostly just watches.  He is particularly patient with her when she wakes him up by jumping on his head.  He nicely tries to push her away instead of smacking her like he does Luna.

Josie doesn't discriminate.  She will even jump on Laynie's head and give her a quick bath before tumbling off.

First GREAT Valentine's Day...Maybe Ever...

I've always HATED Valentine's Day.  Probably because I never had someone I truly considered my "Valentine" but this year, that all changed.  I was really looking forward to this day mostly because I had such a great gift to give to Jeff.  I had been working on it for weeks and oddly, had managed to keep it a secret.  Normally I would be too excited and ruin the surprise but not this year.  Turns out I wasn't the only one with a surprise to give.

A ring of the doorbell brought the roses in the picture above while I was busy doing my usual Saturday ADD cleaning.  That would be when I start one thing and get distracted by something in another room and never truly get anything finished.  That's how I roll these days in my advanced age. 

I love getting flowers.  LOVE it!!!  Funny that no one ever sends them to me, no one until now that is.

Later that evening Jeff showed up with more goodies.  He and I have an ongoing "fight" about who loves who more and who can come up with the most creative way to say/prove it.  He bought me the sign in the picture above to remind me that he SUPPOSEDLY loves me more (he is wrong...as usual btw) he also got me a book that he had to fill in what he loves about me.  This was both sweet and humorous...much like our relationship.

My gift to him had a theme.  I gave him one of the below jars (filled with his favorite candy) each day starting on the Monday before Valentine's Day leading up to the grand finale...

The Jar's Contents and notes

Sour Patch Kids --"You're my candy crush"

Gummy SweetHearts--"You have my heart"

Hershey's Kisses--"Kisses for you"

Sweet Tarts

Gummy Sour Worms--"Hooked on you"

....and the final jar, which I gave him on Valentine's Day was 365 love notes (reasons I love you, lyrics, quotes, remember whens and anything else I could think of) one for each day over the next year.  Some what similar to his book he gave me only on a grander scale (because I like to go over board).  He loved it, of course, but maybe not as much as I loved making it and giving it to him. I also gave him a colts t-shirt and a new blanket (card with the blanket read "It's cold, lets cuddle!")  I'm betting he cheats and reads more than one note a day, which is why I actually put over 400 notes in the jar...that and because I mis-counted.

 We went to Fuji for dinner so I could have scallops and back home to watch a movie.  

I did the same thing for Jayke...jars of treats, a new Nike t-shirt and a Hershey's I Love You chocolate.

Before the actual holiday we also celebrated at work by making Valentine's boxes and passing out candy and little Valentine's to every one.  We also had a breakfast carry in.  Our department is always the one that comes up with these ideas and gets everyone involved.  We have fun every day.  

Laura, who sits in the cube next to me, made us each personalized Valentine's, mine is below and very fitting.  Wish I had thought of this idea...

She nailed it!  

Goodbye Buddy

R.I.H. Simon. I will miss the clickity clack of your toes on the floor, the persistent staring when you need to go out, your counter surfing for food, and wiggling in front of me for attention. I hope you are chasing squirrels in heaven this evening! Good boy!

We had to have Simon put down today.  He was my first dog that I got on my own and, obviously,  the one I've had the longest.  17 years.  He lived in 5 different homes with me.  Traveled over 1200 miles to South Carolina and back.  Survived a hard year living in Grandma's garage when we didn't have a home of our own.  Was in a pack with many, many other dogs and cats throughout the years.  They came and went but he has always been there.  He has protected me, infuriated me, entertained me, and loved me til the end.  It was a tough decision but the right one.

Jayke and I took it pretty hard last night not hearing him pacing around the house.  Laynie and Nemo have been checking his bed regularly.  Laynie has looked in the closet, one of his favorite spots, and out side.  She didn't want to go into her crate without him.  Jayke is sleeping with his collar.  I pulled up some old pictures to try to help him cope.  This is his first loss.  All I could say was that tomorrow it will feel a little better and the day after that it will feel better than the day before.  He will always miss him but it won't hurt this much after a while.  He seemed to find some comfort in that and the stories I told him from when Simon was a puppy.  Also in knowing that he has no more pain.

Luna

Photo cred goes to Jayke

I Feel Like a Kid Again!

Because we made these for work!!  A Valentine's Day box and our whole department is exchanging Valentine's.  Jeff was the first one to put a Valentine in my box...he insisted!

Farming Kitty

Josie LOVES playing Farm Heroes or Facebooking.  

Hobnob aka HobKnob...

Jayke made the Spelling Bee...again.  He has made it every year except the time he was sick on the day they had the try outs, so to speak.  That was in fourth grade, but he was back this year!  He looks oh so thrilled to be there too.  He did well, unfortunately Hobnob took him down.  He put a K in it...which, I think I would have too.

Later that evening, I took the opportunity to use it in a sentence for him.  Mom told me how after school, he was holding the kitten and said, "Ew, she smells today" as he handed her to my mom.  After a while he came and took her back and said, "She smells better now.  Maybe its me who stinks.  I have worn these socks for four days in a row!"  Um....EW!!!  Turns out I haven't needed to be buying him those expensive socks after all.  He only needed one pair!  I told him later that I didn't hobnob with boys who have stinky feet.  He told me I'm "Sooo mean!"  I hear that often these days.

On another note, we survived another science fair project with very minimal anger, frustration, and yelling.  He investigated which kind of salt would melt ice the fastest.  I believe we got an A again this year.  I haven't seen the final grade yet but that is what he tells me.

Best Sub Eva!

That is what Jayke said about Mr. Matheny who subbed in his class today.  He is the father of Jayke's friend, Braden (in the green jersey) and chose Jayke and Braden, of course, as his special students.  Love this selfie which I found on Jayke's instagram account and promptly stole.  

Thank God the Season is Almost Over!

The team is doing well but I've been more than frustrated with this season and Jayke's lack of playing time.  Today we played Jeff's son's team.  The Central Bearcats.  We are down a man so Jayke actually got to play some today instead of just being subbed in to give other players a 2 minute rest.  I thought that he did really well for a kid whose confidence has been shattered and his play has diminished due to never getting a chance.  If you don't play the kids they will never learn and never improve.  They have to have a chance and this season Jayke has gotten less and less playing time with each game.  If he is yanked out any time he misses a shot he isn't going to take shots anymore.  I watch his body language on the bench and it becomes more and more deflated as the game goes on.  Finally, today, he got to play more in one game than he has all season!   It took Adam breaking his nose for Jayke to get an opportunity to play more.  Was it enough to make up for the damage that has been done this season?  Not hardly.  He played well though and I was proud.

We won by 30 some points.  Jayke scored 3 points but his defense is what I was most proud of (and always is).  Good job, buddy!