Announcing the arrival of SKYE WALKER

My brother Jeff, and his wife Nellie had their fourth baby girl last week on the 20th.  They named her Skye Walker and she weighed in at a whooping 9lbs. 6oz. and measured 22 1/2 in. long.  She hardly seems like a newborn.  She is absolutely beautiful and we are so excited to have another niece & cousin and Amy is especially pleased to share her birthday month with such a special girl.  We can't wait to see what mark Skye will make on the world.

Happy Birthday Jared!!

Today is our brother-in-law Jared's 29th Birthday!  Before we know it he is going to be an old man, so we thought we would take a minute and give a shout out to Jared on his special day.  I am and always will be the only daughter-in-law since Ryan is the only son.  For now only one of Ryan's sisters is married, so Jared is the only other in-law.  This creates a special bond between the two of us  at family gatherings because if things start to get a little weird (no offense guys) we can relish in the fact that both of us are just along for the crazy ride.  Anyways Jared is a great guy, an A+ husband, a wonderful dad, and a fun Uncle Vince, even if he is a little fishy!  

Reminders from a 9 year old

Reminder #1 Be proud of what you do.

For Valentine's Day each kid in Isac's 4th grade class was suppose to decorate a box at home to put their Valentine's in at the class party.  Not having alot of time to micro-manage everything Isac does, he was turned loose on this project all by himself.  I thought he was quite capable of doing it on his own.  This is what he came up with.  It is about the size of a briefcase or small suitcase, covered in brown shipping paper, regular tape, and my personal favorite-duct tape.  He cut a flap out of the front and fashioned a handle on top out of duct tape.  Then he really jazzed it up by drawing a big heart on the back in pencil that is barely visible and spelled out his name in stickers on the inside of the flap and put 4 heart stickers in various places.  He was and still is so proud of his 'mailbox'.  He made Emily one out of a shoe box and they had fun mailing letters to each other.  The next day I had a hard time letting him go to school with it.  Kids can be so mean and I didn't want him to get teased but I didn't say anything.  So after Ryan took him to school and I saw the box sitting on the kitchen table, forgotten, I wasn't about to rush it up to the school.  Little did I know Isac would realize he left it behind and promptly return for it.   So the briefcase box made it to school and served it's purpose, and came home filled with cards and candy.  And Isac didn't get teased.  When I asked him if anyone said anything about his box he said totally indifferent "Well I didn't exactly get any compliments on it."  Why was I so worried?  Now I don't think I want to throw the thing away....

Reminder #2 Don't worry about what you wear.

Last week Isac came upstairs dressed in this outfit.  I realize it is not that bad but I have this thing about blue and in my mind there are strict rules about how different shades of blue can or cannot go together.  Not wanting to make a big deal about it, since he was dressed I couldn't really complain, I casually got him a different shirt that matched better.  After I handed it to him he looked up at me and said, "Mom, school is not a fashion show.  You don't have to wear stuff that blends all the way from your shirt to your pants down to your shoes."  I couldn't really argue with that.  So I will just be glad that for now he isn't caught up in how he looks and what brands he is wearing and hope that he can stay that way.  

Our Valentine Sweethearts

We had a nice Valentine's Day and hope everyone else did too.  Ryan had school so he wasn't home all day but the kids and I dined on heart shaped pizzas and then made goodies and took them around to friends, single people and elderly in our neighborhood.  Isac and Emily both enjoyed delivering the treats.  It is tradition that Ryan gets us each a personalized chocolate heart from Mrs. Cavanaugh's and this year Emily was so excited about hers.  Shortly after breakfast she pushed a chair over to the counter, got her heart and went to her bedroom and closed the door.  That is always a sign that something suspious is happening so I asked "Emily where are you?"  "No where!"  was her response.  I opened the door and there she was chowing down on her chocolate.  Funny girl, and she was even "nice" enough to share it with Mack.     

I thought I WAS a princess...I had glass slippers!!

As I was putting Emily to bed tonight out of no where she said "Mommy, you not a princess."  

I was curious as to what exactly that meant so I asked "Is JJ a princess?"  (JJ is my older sister Jen, Sam's mom.)  Emily responded with a giggle "Nooo."  Still confused I asked "Is Dawn-Dawn a princess?"  (This is my younger sister Arin who has no kids.)  Emily's face lit up and she said with a little attitude "Yeah!"  At this point I thought I might be on to something so I asked "Is Aunt Cindy a princess?"  (Cindy is also childless.)  This question got the same response, "Yeah!"  That confirmed what she was trying to get across...I have turned into a FRUMPY mom and I guess Jen has too.  Thanks Emily.

Science Fair

Last week Isac participated in the Science Fair at school.  For his project we took swabs of the toilet, trash can, and a few other places around the house and grew bacteria samples from them.  We then tested which household cleaners would kill the germs the best.  Bleach, Lysol, and antibacterial hand soap all worked but regular dish soap did not.  We all had fun and are proud of Isac (and Ryan) for the work he did.  He didn't move on to the District Fair but our friend  Katrina K. did. Her project tested which toilet paper is most absorbent  with Kroger brand suprisingly winning.  I thought we would

share some pictures of the project. These lovely germ samples came from our Toilet and Trash Can...

I've been Triple Tagged

I have been tagged 3 separate times with 3 different tags and I haven't responded to any of them yet.  But I had a minute tonight and thought I would start with the easiest one from my friend Tammy.  The ABC's...

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Ryan & my sisters
C-Cake or Pie: Fresh Peach Pie
D- Day of Choice: Tuesday
E- Essential Item: Being able to take a shower.  I know it's not an "item" but I can't live without it.
F- Favorite Color: Green
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Either...it's sugar right
H- Hometown: Chickasha, Oklahoma
I- Indulgence(s): Reading
J- January or July: July could we get some warm sun...I am tired of snow
K-Kids: Isac, Emily, Mack and does Ryan or my Dad count?
L-Life is incomplete without: Family
M- Marriage Date: December 5, 2002
N- Number of Siblings: 3
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P- Phobias or Fears: I am always afraid someone is under my bed (Michael Meyers) or car.
Q- Quote(s): "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Ghandi
R- Reason To Smile: Ryan is home and all the kids are asleep.
S- Season: Spring, how much longer...
T- Tag Six: I know there are lots of tags going around so if any of you that check my blog want to participate I would love to read your ABC's
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I'm a Democrat and I consider myself more liberal than conservative
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I like meat as long as I don't think about what I'm eating
W- Worst Habit: Not answering the phone.
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds
Y- Your Favorite Food: good BBQ from various hole in the wall restaurants
Z: Zodiac: Aquarius