Young Love

These are my grandparents. I never knew them to be in love; they divorced before I was born.

They tell me grandma only has a few days left. With heavy hearts we were through her old pictures we came across this one.

I love seeing them both so young, happy, carefree and in love. I like to think that when grandma gets to heaven grandpa will be there waiting for her and they will magically go right back to this very moment.






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Giddy up!

The kids started riding lessons yesterday :)




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The girl who loved to flip.

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Hunter lost his first tooth and could not be more pleased about it.






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Count your blessings

So, this is how my weekend started out...




I was going through the intersection Ave B & 32nd and an older model Jeep cherokee turned left right in front of me. There was nothing I could do but slam on my brakes. Everything was normal and fine--then in the blink of an eye everything was wrong. We hit and (nice guy) sped off toward Mexico. A girl came back to the scene about 10 minutes later to make sure we were ok. She said she tried to follow him to get his license plate number but she gave up when he passed 80 mph.

But let's focus on the good part. My sweet son, Hunter was sitting in the backseat and both of us were able to walk away without a single scratch. Not a bump or a bruise.

I am thankful beyond measure for the angel who was watching over us at that very moment. Because of you...


I get to see this face in the morning, answer his million and one questions and pick up his dirty socks.





And how about this little domestic diva and her smile that makes my heart warm up.



I also get to give this guy a big kiss when he comes home from work.




And of course check To make sure they are still breathing at night even though they are 8 and 5 years old.



I am blessed.





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Sunday spa day

And now I have bubble gum pink toes.


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If I had a nickel

If I had a nickel for every time this poor little guy has asked me about the complexities of death, dying and spirits since we saw The Lion King this weekend I would have well over $2 by now.


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Rain

I was with Emma at ballet
when the storm hit. All the little ballerinas couldn't concentrate on plies or tendus with all the raindrops hitting the roof so the whole class went to the door to check out the storm.




When we got home the kids went on a nature walk and found some treasures.

A bug...



Hunter looks like he's up to something good...



Comparing their finds...



According to Emma this is a new leaf species...


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Dove hunters

I was told Hunter was a good bird dog.


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Something cute about Tommy

Tommy left today for a work trip overseas. He'll be gone for two weeks.

Although we're going to miss him terribly, what can we do, it's his job, and in this economy we are so grateful that he has one!!!

Now, you might not know this, but even though Tommy has a carreer based in technology, the boy doesn't "do" texting or have a facebook page. I guess he's not into social technology if that makes any sense? Anyway, this morning he sent me a text--wowzers! He only does this when he travels to and can't get a hold of me. He wanted to let me know he was getting ready to take off and when he was landing. And that he missed me already (cute thing #1) and then at the end he writes his name. "Tommy" Just in case I didn't know it was from him. I don't know why, but I find that so adorable.

Even though I know he will never see this...

Tommy, I love the way you text. Love, Jill :)




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All smiles

My date for the day was pretty happy to still be on vacation after we dropped Emma off at school.




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First day of school

Off she goes to third grade :)



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My grandpa, Bud Cook

My heart feels heavy at the thought of losing my grandpa. After visiting him this weekend I can see that his days here on earth are numbered.



I am so thankful I was able to spend time with him, kiss his cheeks and hold his hand.



He shared stories with me that will never forget. One in particular was when he was sixteen years old his little brother (age 9) accidentally died while swinging from a tree outside their home. He told me, with tears streaming down his cheeks, how that event changed his life forever and that he named his first born son, my father, after his beloved brother.



The greatest gift he gave me was when it was time for us to leave. He winked at me and said Goodbye darlin'.



If there is such a thing, I swear I felt my heart smile and I took it as his way of telling me it was all going to be okay.



I love you, Grandpa!

Matching tattoos

(Grandpa (on right) with his buddy from the Coast Guard)

(This bumper sticker on my grandpa's truck made me laugh.)

(Dixie, My dad, Bud, Maxine, Harold, Mike)

(Bud holding Hunter, Zach holding Jordan)
April 2007

Meet Alice

Alice in Wonderland

and here's her sidekick, bodyguard and brother

the

rodeo clown

Sidenote: There is a special story behind Emma's costume. This dress belonged to me as a little girl and was my absolute favorite to wear to church. My mom is a "saver" of her children's favorite things (thanks, Mom) and she brought this dress over to my house about 6 months ago. Emma saw it, proclaimed it an "Alice in Wonderland dress" and decided that was what she would be for Halloween. I love easy costumes :)

Deep Thoughts by Emma

Last night Emma was on fire with the random comments to our bedtime stories. I worked really hard at not laughing at them because she didn't intend for them to be funny.

The Berenstain Bears' New Pup reads,

"Oh" said Sister...I want that one! He is so cute."

"That one is a she," said Farmer Ben.

"How can you tell?" asked Brother.

"There are ways," said Farmer Ben.

First of all, I was really irritated with the Berenstain's as soon as I read that page...like, really? Emma caught my eye as I turned the page and she had a little twinkle and a smirk on her face. I asked her, "How do you think they can tell, Emma?" knowing that having a little brother she is well-aware of the difference between boys and girls or he's and she's.

She spoke with conviction when she replied, "You just look at their eyes. The girl puppies will have really long eyelashes."

I left it at that.

Next up, Happy Mother's Day, Mami! where Dora and her friends make their mother's gifts for mother's day. Except Benny the bull. He gives his gift to his grandma.

Emma: "Are Benny's parents dead or something? Is that why he gives his his grandma the gift?"

Me: "Oh, geez, I hope they're not dead. Maybe his parents are at work or something."

Emma: "I doubt it. If they were at work he still would have made one for his mom, he would have just given it to her when she came home from work."

Both: Long pause

Emma: "Oh, well. At least he has a place to sleep at night."

Good point.

In my mind I'm going to....Colorado :)

"Are we fishing now, Dad?"

"It's biting my finger!"

stomp rockets...

Christina and I couldn't figure

out why the box said "ages 16 and up"

eating

we like fishing 'round here :)

dolores county library...awesome kid's section

Durango FAIR

hanging out

we're smiling because this is the

BEGINNING of the

11 hour drive home

Cinco de Mayo Princessa

Happy 6th Birthday to my Emma

__________________________

Last weekend we had an

"Almost Sleepover"

where we did all the fun stuff

that comes with a slumber party,

but left out the scary part

(the actual sleeping over).

We started out in the pool

then had some pizza

Changed into pj's

and watched Tinkerbell

on the projector outside.

You couldn't really see the movie

very well at the start,

but they didn't seem to mind.

Then there was

singing and cupcakes

And a little dance party to top off the night.

All the little girls

were happy to go

home with their mommies...

and sleep in their own beds.

The End.

Adventures in Motherhood

Yesterday started out painfully early. Hunter woke me at 4:37 am demanding some ice to freshen up his water from the night before. I was extremely irritated for two reasons: 1) I knew rationalizing was not going to work and 2) I had my alarm set for 5:00 to meet Heather at the park for a run at 5:30. Why is it that 30 minutes in the morning can seem to make or break a day? With a "fresh" water on the rocks I convinced Hunter to go back to bed just in time to throw on my clothes and meet Heather at the park. In fact, we pulled into the parking lot of Smucker Park at exactly the same time :)

But after my run and such an early morning I was tired. Really tired. And in case you didn't know, tired mom + tired kids = long day. We plugged along until we hit the brutal hour of 4:00 pm.


Emma was getting ready for a "tea party". She invited her friends from across the street to come over and decided they should all be "fancy". She came out in this outfit and I thought she looked just darling and had her pose by the front door.





Hunter was in the middle of a temper tantrum about (you guessed it) wanting some ice in his drink. But now we were out of ice. We used the last of it to shut him up earlier. I was pretending to ignore his screams and busy myself with cleaning up the mess we made in the dining room at lunch: edamame and quesadillas.

As I reached down to pick up a handful of fallen edamame shells I almost stepped on a small creature. For a spit second I thought, "Oh my gosh that is the biggest cockroach I've ever seen in my life!" But then I saw it's face and it's tail. It was a mouse. A teeny, teeny, tiny mouse, well, about the size of a large cockroach.

I screamed at the top of my lungs. Ran into the kitchen, then started hysterically laughing at myself for the way I reacted. Now Hunter was curious and confused and quiet (yes!). I decided I wanted to find the mouse. Where did it go? Were there others?

I climbed on top of our dining room table to survey the ground below. Hunter followed me to the king's chair (that's what we call the head of the table). I looked and looked for a couple of minutes with no luck. Then, all of a sudden Hunter calmly said, "He likes it." I followed his gaze to find that little teeny, tiny mouse right in my blind spot, not far from where I almost stepped on him. He was eating one of the fallen edamame shells. And Hunter was right. He liked it.

When I got a closer look, I saw that this little guy was actually kind of cute just munching away on that salty, green shell. The Rescuers and Stuart Little flashed through my mind. I called in Emma and we all got down to get a closer look. The mouse nibbled away and we decided that this little baby mouse was so new that he didn't know to be afraid of humans and run away. I decided that he was so tame I could probably catch him...the last thing I wanted was to leave him there and and by the looks of it, he wasn't going anywhere on his own.

I ran to my closet, grabbed an empty shoebox and ran back to the dining room. That little guy was still in the same spot! I warned the kids to get out of my way and threw the box on top of the mouse and scooped him up with the lid.

I CAUGHT A MOUSE! Here he is:



The kids were entertained for the last stretch before Tommy came home. Just watching, NOT TOUCHING the mouse.

Emma thought the mouse might like some cheese.

He did.

Right here's when they asked,

"Can we keep it, Mom?"

No. I told them Tommy would take the mouse to work tomorrow so he could find his mother in the desert. I was pretty sure it was a desert mouse. Luckily, Emma agreed with me and convinced her brother that the mouse should not be separated from it's mother.

Until the next adventure...