Hallowed Ground

Gorgeous, glorious day last week.  70 degrees in February.  I asked Andrew where he wanted to go - park, zoo, take Daisy for a walk.  He wanted to go see BB.  Andrew was only 2 when BB left us, so he has a special place in his heart for the cemetery.  He loves going there.  Its not hard for him like it is for others.  Thought I'd share our little visit:

It's been almost 5 years ago.  Doesn't seem possible.  Wouldn't you just love to know what she's doing?  I have no doubt we'll find out one day.  In the meantime, we'll have to settle for the little visits we have with her, and Mema and Papa, at their temporary home.

 

Bye Bye Little Red Truck

Many moons ago (7 +years) Aunt Kristi worked her decorating magic and turned baby Andrew's new room into a cute Pottery Barn red truck wonderland.  This theme has worked perfectly for a LONG time.  Still works actually.  Still cute, still fresh.  But you'll never guess what theme he's wanting now.  Yes, you're right - STAR WARS.  Michael is working his magic now, as we speak.  So pix of that will be coming soon.  

Along with preserving the red truck for posterity, digitally, we also preserved another memory from that room - POO!  Now how might one preserve poo, and why would we do that you ask?  Well, I was getting a massage in my bedroom a few weeks after having Andrew (my visiting teacher was a massage therapist, nice perk!) and Bonnie was in changing Andrew's diaper down the hall, when all of a sudden I hear shrieks of laughter and amazement - seems little guy had quite the explosion that shot across to one wall and into BB's hair a bit.  We thought we had it all cleaned up, but one day I spied the tiniest couple of specks of leftover residue and didn't have the heart to wash it off - not just me, nobody in the family wanted me to.  We'll take any reminder of BB we can get.  Todd carefully cut out the small piece of drywall and it will now find a home with all the other sentimental items we hang onto.  

"Half a Tank, You're Walking"

That quote can be attributed to Roy Oscarson, affectionately known as PaPa.  Somewhere along the way when he imparted all his many words of wisdom one of his gems was to never let your tank go below half full, or half empty depending on how you look at it.   Goodness, if you were on half a tank, you may as well just be running out of gas.  Trying to stay on a budget,  its a game for me to see how many days I can go without filling up, but on one of my preparedness blogs was the simple advice to always keep your tank half full.  Of course I envision nuclear war and a huge cloud of radioactive dust I'll be speeding away from, and an empty tank won't help me, will it?  So I think I will follow dear Papa's advice and be prepared like he always was for whatever comes our way.  

Who's Behind the Mask???

So today was the first day of Design 2 and the project was to design a mask.  Not really sure what it is - a mythical creature perhaps?  but I think the boy has talent.  Please keep him in mind for all your mask making, cake decorating or film making needs.  He's a starving college student!

On the 12th Day of January...,,

I realized I had not been very good at my New Year's Resolution of being better at keeping my blog updated.  It wasn't for lack of trying.  Seems there were some tech issues and things weren't saving, pics weren't loading, but for right now looks like we're back up.  

After the mad rush of Christmas most of us moms need a break.  Its no easy feat pulling it off.  I, however, have the good fortune to celebrate not 1, not 2 but 3 wonderful bdays, so the party keeps going.  First up was Michael (Dec.27) who left the teenage years behind,  hence now my blog name is legit and I have truly mothered for 20 years.  We were still celebrating Christmas at that point with Pops and Hunny and Kristi and family all came in  so it made Mook's b-day a fun party.  I followed turning a whopping 45 (yes, you heard that right) on New Year's Day and chose Macaroni Grill for my choice of dining that night.  And a movie, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, with my date,  to end the day.  Finally, Andrew is January 4 and he finally caught up with cousin Ben, turning 7.   Once again, Michael's creative talents came into play creating a cake that would make any 7 year old, Star Wars fan a happy camper.  Andrew chose Darth Sidious and Michael pulled it off.  

For now things have settled down.  So far in January I've taken in a Jackson Pollock exhibition with Michael at the Art Museum, I'm doing my Jillian Michael's Wii Fit dvd every other day (fighting gravity on my aging body),  Andrew and I are keeping on our very unstructured home schooling schedule and we are sooo excited for the return of 24 and American Idol, especially with the frigid weather knocking at our door.  Fun to cozy up at home when its nasty outside.  

The Adventures of Captain X

For anyone who is looking for a quick, short movie starring the Jolly cousins, click here.  Thanks to Michael for keeping the "thittle kids" occupied with cinema magic on New Year's Eve while we partied upstairs with Baby Jack.   Happy New Year to all!!

Yikes - Christmas is Only 3 Weeks Away

I'm in denial!  My son wants a kayak!  Really, in the winter, and where will we put it?  So, racking my brain for something for an almost 20 year old (who is 20 2 days after Christmas so I need double the giftage).  I think what I've come up with is a ski trip to Utah so that he can see his BFF, Spencer Worthington, and do some skiing once his college basketball season is over. 

Madeline happened to spot the Christmas list yesterday where I have what I've purchased written down and tactfully tried to tell me that what she saw for her wasn't really what she wanted.  (A new camera bc hers from 2 years ago is broken and she always takes ours).  Truly, my 2 oldest could forgo all gifts because on their way home from their cousins' home in Wisconsin recently they hit a bit of black ice and had a little tumble down a hill.  They were fine, but the car will need a bit of work.  

The easiest to please and shop for is Andrew, thank goodness, because his birthday is a week after Michael's.   His list is a mile long, but I know he will be extremely disappointed if Santa does not bring him his #1 item - Star Wars light sabers for the Wii.   

I must stop blogging and keep shopping!