Love At Home?

Jack tries my patience every day. I vacuum the carpet, he smashes in some goldfish. I make him dinner and he launches a spoonful into my hair. I try to kiss him and he takes a swing at me.

I would love to say that our home is always filled with joy and happiness....a house of order and peace....but that would be a lie :) I really can't complain too much. Jack has really been an easy kid so far and Jay is home most of the time to help me. However, as Jack has gotten a little older and a little more independent, we are butting heads more often. What do I do? What happens when he screams at the top of his lungs and starts pinching my face and pulling my hair? What should I do when I ask him not to color on the table and he looks at me and smiles and slowly draws a huge line of crayon across it? I'm not sure what to do so I will do what I usually do when I have a hard time with someone. I will try and list his good qualities as a reminder of why I love him so much.

1. He has a GREAT fake laugh. Any time he wants someone to laugh with him (whether something is funny or not) he gets this huge grin and makes this really great guttural chuckle.

2. He has the cutest run I have ever seen. One arm stays kind of straight and the other pumps while his legs go as fast as they can.

3. He loves to sing. He calls it "ninging". He will point to your mouth and say "Ning!!"

4. He says "yuv you" and smacks his lips together when he is ready to go to bed.

5. He makes friends with everyone. The other day an old man was at the park sitting on a bench. Jack hoisted himself up next to him and put his arm around the old man. I am pretty sure we are going to have to have the talk about strangers soon.

6. He loves to swim....even when he is shivering and his lips are blue.

7. He barks every time he sees a dog.

8. He fixes things. The other day he was playing with the electric screwdriver. He was pretending to unscrew our vent. After a few minutes of pretending I checked on him and he had successfully unscrewed 3 of the 6 screws holding up our vent. He was so proud....I was horrified...and Jay was about to call the president to brag about our skilled child.


9. He loves Jay so much and wants to do everything just like him. He is Jay's mini me.

10. He has such a sweet and tender little heart.

There! I think it worked! Now when he gets up from his nap I can be a calm and loving mother :)

Jack is 2!!!

On Saturday, Jack turned TWO!!! Can you believe it? Soon he will be kissing girls and going to college. Well, let's face it, he already kisses girls....and boys for that matter.

We had a great birthday party for him with lots of our friends. Jack was thrilled to be the center of attention and played his part as the gracious host beautifully.


Jack got some really great presents from his friends. He loves his birthday and can't wait to do it again. I'm glad he doesn't understand how long a year is :)


After the party, Jay and I gave him his present. A very cool tricycle. Jack and his friend Demetrius helped Jay put it together. Jack was actually sad when it was all together. I guess he was having more fun with the screwdrivers and male bonding.



But, he decided his bike is pretty sweet.

Luckily working for a bakery has a few perks :) Jack got a beautiful and delicious cake! We sang happy birthday and he blew out the candle all by himself. He is so grown up! Enjoy the video!

I Need A Gun

There are a few things that I have on my Christmas list each year. New boots, a horse and a gun. In that order. Recently I have discovered that the gun is not just a want, but a need. I am not a gun control freak. In fact, I was born with a Cabela's catalog in my hand and feel that if you know what you are doing, they can be quite useful. Now for the reasons I need a gun....

1. The birds here start at 3:45 am. Not kidding. They chirp, they sing, they do mating calls, they basically make me use a lot more swear words than I like to admit. I don't like birds anyway. I think they are creepy. I think they are too fast, and I think they are show-offs (I'm a little sensitive about not being able to fly) I especially don't like them at 4 am. Here enters the gun. Just a few shots should scare them away and allow me a little more sleep. Am I wrong?
(******Note: If Virginia would cut down some trees, that would certainly help also. Then they would have to live somewhere else....but I digress...)

2. If we lived in a tiny town like Salmon, ID., I wouldn't feel as much necessity for a gun. However, we live in the outskirts of DC in a miniature ghetto. This morning 5 police officers broke down the door to the apartment across the hallway....guns out and ready. They brought out our neighbor in handcuffs in his underwear. While we found this a mite amusing, I realize our neighbors are nothing like Mr. Rogers. So, a gun for a little protection may not be the worst idea. I feel like my candlesticks would be ok for hand to hand combat, but a gun would be better for the scare factor.

3. Lastly, if the world ever does come to an end and the grocery stores are empty and everyone is looting, I would like to feel that I could keep my family meat-stocked in the wild :) Turkey and pheasant mostly....thus helping the bird overpopulation.

And there you have it. So, if any of you know Santa....or a Cabela's rep....you know what to tell them :)

My Mom

My mom came to visit last week for 10 days. It was fabulous! This is the longest I've ever been away from my mom and I was really glad to see her. Unfortunately our weather was not great while she was here so we didn't get to do as much as I wanted, but we still had a great time. She got to see gorgeous Virginia in the spring and also got a taste of the city life. I don't think it is something she ever wants :)

Jack quickly attached himself to her and they became best buds.


We went to a cute little farm where Jack showed his Gram his love for animals. He also almost climbed all the way through the fence to get in with the lambs. Pretty sure that isn't allowed :)

Jay took Jack for the afternoon so my mom and I could go to Mount Vernon alone. It was lovely. George Washington really got a sweet spot on the Potomac. I think I should live there.


We went to a great little town called Occoquan. It is a super cute little town on the river full of shops and restaurants. It reminded me of Breckinridge, CO....made me a little homesick for CO :(

We had a great time with you mom! Hope you get to come back soon!

One Down!

Congratulations to my hot Jay!! One year of his master's program done today! We are so proud of him and so excited to get to spend some time together! No more papers!! Jay starts summer school in 2 weeks so he doesn't get much of a break, but we'll take what we can get :) You rock, babe. Enjoy your mini vacation!

Arbor Day

So, I have a confession. I don't think Arbor Day should be celebrated in Virginia. Really, I do love trees, but planting more? I think Arbor Day is great in states like New Mexico, or Utah or Arizona....you know, places that lack trees. But Virginia? Absolutely not. Too many trees here. Seriously, if I see someone planting a tree here on the 30th I'm going to have to get physical. It's just stupid. Send your tree money to a state that needs it or use it to transplant some of the stinking trees here to other places.

Jay just informed me that our blog is boring. There are too many pictures of Jack and most people don't really care about our kid that much. While this is true, they are all the pictures I have at the moment so you get another post on the Jackster. Hopefully my creative mind will think up something interesting, but for now, you get what you get :)

We spent Easter with Jami and Scott. They put on a mean Easter egg hunt and dinner, so please expect us again next year :)


Jack wasn't much into the collecting of eggs as he was eating everything out of the egg he found before searching for another one. At one point his mouth was so full of chocolate it wouldn't close.


Jack has decided that he is too cool to let me pick out his clothes. This is what he came up with the other day....


Once again, Jack wishing that he had a little brother.

Jack has mad skills catching. Jay has been working with him on distance. He rocks.