AHHH...RELAXATION

Well, aside from some shopping with Angie on Sat. we haven't done much at all this weekend, and it has been great...at least for me. We were invited to several pool parties, and J was pretty upset that we didn't end up going to any of those, but after a hard week at work, I just didn't feel like doing all that much. Jaden has been keeping herself pretty entertained around here though, and we are about to go to the movies...surely that counts for something!!!

A fraction of her Barbie empire...and my cell phone in case someone calls her with a better plan...this one is always prepared.

These I wasn't supposed to put on here...at least according to J who doesn't want the "whole world to see", but don't you just remember the days when you just loved eating something so much that it didn't matter if part of it ended up all over your face...that's J and her chocolate strawberries!!!

A little water treat since she had to miss her pool time...she doesn't believe me that summer is just starting and she will get plenty of time in the water!!!

Something new

So we went to play some basketball up at the school playground last weekend, and there was this group of boys up there on their scooters doing tricks on the playground and stairs. Jaden knew one of them...older brother of one of her friends...so she kept watching to see what they were up to. I guess she then decided to see if she had any tricks in her...



Getting her speed up to try a jump...back to our normal outfit, t-shirt, jeans, ponytail...minus the Converse, although they would have probably been more helpful in this situation than the shoes she decided to wear...go figure.

Trying to jump and getting a little air.

Next try...getting more air.

Now she's wondering if I got it...or was I too slow...man she hung out with little Hope for one weekend and is telling me the same stuff!!! Hopefully she will stick to just jumping on the sidewalk...little miss three broken arms is one who should probably skip all stair tricks!!!

Random thoughts...

This is a picture of Jaden with Baby. She was almost the only dog to survive the weekend with us...Joe offered several times to help get rid of Sister, not to worry though, Sister is still alive and well...and back at her own home thankfully. We kept both of them for some friends over the weekend, and it definitely helped us to remember why we don't have dogs of our own!!! Jaden loves Baby and Sister, if you ever hear her talking about them I'm providing this picture to let you know she is talking about dogs...not some bun in my oven!!!

Hope and Sandie surprised us with a visit this weekend as well. I have to show you these pictures because Hope kept telling me I was "too slow" to get a picture of her looking...maybe I was most of the time, but I got one sort of and actually caught her looking one time so thought I'd show just so everyone could see. Don't worry, I won't bore you with all the misses.

Every now and then Jaden wears real honest to goodness cute clothes for me...so I make her sit still so I can take her picture. It helps me remember the days when I used to get to pick out what she wore. Now she tells me "I'm an athlete not a girly girl" and every day I get a pony tail and some Converse tennis shoes with jeans and a t-shirt. Although Joe tells her she has to give up the barbies if she's not a girly girl, and trust me that's not happening anytime soon, so I still hold out hope that she will be a little bit of both. I think she wore this outfit because she just got these adorable flip flops from her soccer coach (made by his wife of course) and she wanted to try them out!!!

Winding down

We are getting there...we're down to the last three weeks of school. They are a busy few weeks, and I am so looking forward to a break from homework. I know that it is important, but this close to the end of the year it is like pulling teeth. Today Jaden told me I could use my imagination and think that she had done her reading homework...Mama don't play that though. If I'm signing that you did it then you are actually gonna do it!!! Her main problem is that she is a procrastinator. I was exactly the same. It's a wonder my mom never killed me for all the stuff I put off that she ended up helping me with...or doing for me...remember all those history questions you stayed up and found the answers to for me. Did I ever say sorry about that or thank you? If not I am saying it loud and clear right now!!! Anyway, she has a chance to do her homework in her after school program and after we get home, but it always seems to get put off until about 8:30...I'm going to have to get better about this next year...I hear 3rd grade is a big jump.

Jaden had her first ever big project that she had to do this year. It was due today...we finished it yesterday. Luckily they did all their own research in class, and she did work really hard getting all the information she needed. The hard part was getting her to actually sit down and put it all together and getting her to try using hand writing that someone else could actually read...that one I'm blaming totally on her daddy!!! I think after all the whining and complaining it turned out pretty good and was something she could be proud of.



Friday was a day away from actual school work, a day for fun...FIELD DAY!!! Jaden had a great time and was so proud of all her ribbons. After all the races in the morning, the afternoon was all about fun and bounce houses and snow cones and playing with friends. Wish we would have had this when I was in school!!!

The end of an era

Whitey was mine and Joe's first vehicle we bought together...12 years ago. We got this truck in what we like to call the "good old days." Our days of living in a one bedroom apartment, sharing a vehicle and waiting tables at Steak and Ale...before the responsibility of raising a child or owning a home or having a 9-5 job!!! Whitey has seen us through years of fun and change and 3 new Honda Accords for me while Joe just kept driving the truck, so finally it is his turn to have something nice. Jaden and I made the final trip in Whitey to Amarillo to make the trade. Not the best experience since there is no longer a working AC in the truck and I had a hard time getting it into park or telling what gear I was in when driving and worrying about it actually making it all the way there without breaking down...we had Corkey on high alert to come get us in one of his tow trucks just in case...but aside from being sweaty and worn out, we made it just fine. Joe of course said he had plenty of faith that Whitey still had what it took to make it!!!



So Joe has now gone from this to a brand spanking new 2009 Toyota Tacoma which he totally deserves after all his time in the mazda up there. I'm pretty sure I've been replaced and he now has a new love of his life!!! Here's hoping this new truck will be as good as the one it's replacing, it definitely has a lot to live up to.

Back to normal...almost

Well, the district has decided now that it really doesn't need to be shut down for a whole week after all...so J will be heading back to school tomorrow. One last day of freedom with Aunt Amanda who has been nice enough to watch J for us the past three days. Hopefully they will get in their movie plans today, because what good is a vacation from school if you don't get to do anything fun of course. Jaden isn't too excited that her unexpected vacation is being cut short, but I'm sure getting to leave school early Fri. for our trip will help her get over it!!!

When Amanda visits we get to have the experience of being dog owners which J loves and wishes for everyday, but I still have the knowledge that eventually we will be a dog free house again. Chica has been very good so far this visit, probably because someone is usually there to keep an eye on her, so it's been good having her around for Jaden. She has finally either gotten over the fact that she came into the family when J and Samantha were toddlers who used to fight over her and try to pull her away from the other or carry her around precariously be the neck or whatever part they could grab hold of or else she doesn't associate the grown up version of Jaden with her tormentor from the past because she doesn't mind cuddling up to her now.

Well, that's about all I have for now...guess we'll be seeing a lot of you in a couple of days!!!

Shut down

Well it's official, our school district has decided to join in the swine flu shutdown. We will be closed all next week, so I am now trying to figure out where exactly J will be during the day. Luckily Amanda is still down here and is going to be able to help out a couple of days which is awesome. At least the kids aren't going to have to make up this week, they are already in school until June 5th and adding a week to the end of that would be really hard on them, so that was our little bit of good news...actually, I'm pretty sure J doesn't see any of it as bad news!!!