Good-bye Dad! I Love You!

My dad passed away tonight. I miss him already! He has been struggling with a cancerous, inoperable, brain tumor for a little over 2 months. And as much as I tried to be prepared, I just wasn't. It still hurts! I am still sad! Until I see him again, I will miss his hugs, his sense of humor, our walks, his total joy over little things, his strong presence, his intelligence...and much much more. Each night when Becky was little we used to say "sleep sweet" before going to bed. So Dad, sleep sweet till I see you again. And give Grandpa and Lili a squeeze for me! I love you, Daddy!

Duct tape

There really is nothing like duct tape!! It doesn't fix everything but it sure fixes a lot! The following picture makes me feel like a white trash mom but oh well:


We bought a nice, brand new, tub of butter and two days after opening it, our littlest one tried to pick it up. It was too heavy for her so the whole tub fell right to the floor and the lid split from one side to the other. And no matter how hard I try, I can't pick the darn thing up from out of the fridge without grabbing it by the lid. My hands don't fit around the tub. So, every time I try to grab it, either the lid falls off, my thumb goes through the crack into the butter, or I drop it. So frustrating! And I have watched my kids do the same things trying to get the ridiculous tub of butter out of the fridge. So, I duct taped it! So far it's holding well. We'll see how long it lasts.

I have been so proud of my son lately! He is doing so well in school and is even starting to read on his own! It's awesome!! He is very happy most of the time now and doesn't have fits of anger as often. He has just been so much fun lately! He makes our lives very happy! Today he came home with a couple new drawings that were very cute...


He is just an amazing little person! I love him!

I talked with my dad today and am pleased to say he is doing well. I love his sense of humor so much!! He made me laugh so many times today. I just love him! I get to go see him soon and I can't wait. I know he is often frustrated with his situation but he is sure in good spirits! I am excited to go see him - and the other members of my family that are there. It will be nice.

Bath Time, Clue and Roller Skates

I will never understand why people are told to give children a bath before bed as something to calm them. They must have really mellow children. Baths do NOT calm my kids. It's play time and they go crazy! Then, it takes them another hour just to calm down from the fun of the bath. Can't figure out where the "calm" part comes in!

My kids' favorite movie lately has been Clue. They have watched it a few times and always laugh at the same parts. It's great! I think that would have been a fun movie to act in! It's very silly!

Saurus has been invited to a birthday party at a roller skating rink and she wants to be able to skate around without holding onto the wall this time. So she has been practicing around the house all week. Now she's got baby son skating with her and on occasion Kinz joins in too. At least they're having fun!

Finally!

Well, it's been what seems like forever, but we finally got our website up and going again! Yay!!

Becky has a bottle cap collection that Richard casually started with her about 4 years ago. We kept finding more and more and I never knew if they were old or new so I started organizing them and taking pictures. Now, we have posted all the bottle cap pictures on our website here and each time there is a new one we will add it. Lots of friends and family have given Becky more bottle caps to add to the collection! She loves them!! She now has over 1000 bottle caps (many duplicates for trading) and over 360 originals. It is a fun collection!

Also, Jared loves to draw - has since he was about 3 - and has just really gone to town with his drawings over the past few years. I can't keep up with them. We have a whole box full at home. I am posting some from all different areas that he has drawn. Lots of family members have asked for copies of his work - sorry it has been so long coming. Jared does all of his drawing free hand and they change all the time. He began with very specific drawings of specific characters and never mixed them on the same piece of paper. If he wanted to draw Finding Nemo characters or Wall-E, each had to have their own piece of paper. Now, he draws characters from his own imagination and mixes everything together. I cannot ask him to draw something specific most of the time. He just draws whatever strikes his fancy at the moment. It is really fun seeing what he comes up with!

Anyway - I'm really excited that the website is up and running again! It has been fun to make!!!