Jake's Dream

For many years Jakie has had a dream.
A dream of going to a KU basketball game.
On Sunday, that dream was finally fulfilled.

And to sweeten the dream,

It was just him and his dad.

No brothers, no sister, no mom.

Although, I would like to think it would have been ok

if I had been along.

When Ryan sent this picture to me that day,

I teared up.

I could tell he was just soaking it all in.

They stayed for two hours after the game was over.
He got nearly all of the players' signatures.

Plus pictures with them.
Young.

Johnson.

Jake said he had rap music playing.

Very loudly on those beats.

A little fuzzy.

But this is his favorite player.

Releford.

The same one who signed his ipod touch.

So glad he got to go.

So thankful for a daddy

who takes the time to make his boy feel special.

And to fulfill his boy's small dream.

Older Ones

Going thru what seemed like thousands of pictures.
For Mom and Dad's anniversary.
Was exhausting fun.

I found so many great pictures.
That brought back great memories.
Here's just a few.
I promise.

Jakie waited until he was nearly 15 months old to walk.
But one day he just decided to go.
He picked up his little dog Tracker.
And took off.He was so proud of himself.
From that time on
Tracker always had to go to bed with him.
When Jakie is really laughing,
he still looks just like this.
He was also the roundest of my babies.
So squeezable!

Brookie's first trip to American Girl in Chicago.This is just one of the sweetest pictures of her.
Her hair.
Her little arms.
That already look like they have tiny little muscles.
She's a wiry thing.
So cute!

And one of my favorites of the two of them.They always got along so well.
The past few years,
there has been a little more fighting.
But recently,
it seems they are getting along better again.

Once I got into high school,
my brother and I hardly ever fought.
Probably because I was so mature.
Ha!
Seroiusly, we were really good friends.

So I'm hoping that is how Brookie and Jakie
soon see each other.

This is my brother and I.
On vacation.
Our best family vacation.
The summer before my senior year.
He was going to be a sophmore.My mom says it's one of her favorite pictures of us.

There you have it.
A teeny trip down memory lane.
Thanks for indulging me.

Another

Another birthday.Another year older.Another wii game.Another smile.Another child who now must improvise to show how old they are.

This boy who was a surprise to us.
This boy who is so intelligent.
This boy who plays so well with his little brothers.
This boy who loves to laugh.

This boy.
Whom I love.

Circus, Prom & the ER

That was my weekend in a nutshell.
Circus, Prom and the ER.

The circus was not the best.
A few things were pretty cool.
The rest seemed a little...amateurish.

I asked Ezzie: What was your favorite part?
He said: EVERYTHING!
That made it worth it all.
Pretty sure Jobie liked the cotton candy best.
Lara looked beautiful for prom.
Friday morning I thought about a corsage for her.
Frantic, panic.
I called our local florist.
So nice to live in a small town.
Where people know you.
He said it would be no problem to get one.
Panic gone.

The corsage was perfect.
Really beautiful girl.With a gorgeous dress.
This is her "I'm so hot, I can't stand myself" pose.
Texting with fancy, fake nails proved to be difficult.And frustrating.
Then they were off.
The trip to the ER was courtesy of Jake.
He got home from an arena football game.
At about 10:30 in the evening or so.
Said his ear started hurting him at half-time.

Ryan and Brookelynn were gone in Oklahoma.
Lara's at prom.
The little boys were in bed.
So, I do what any girl would do.
And call my daddy and mommy.
They come over.
I take Jake to the crazy, busy ER.
Two hours later, we were back home.

We skip Sunday school in the morning.
But go to the church service.
Jakie has a little speaking part in the children's chior.
He did great!
And looked sooo cute!
Ear infection and all.

Whew!
I think I need a Monday morning nap.

Jakie's Surprise

Friday we had a surprise birthday party for Jake.
Brookie kept him busy downstairs playing wii.
While I got everything ready upstairs.
Three friends snuck into the house.
Then I called Jake upstairs.
He was dogpiled by his friends at the top of the stairs.
(Yes, we are still working on construction)
He is slightly claustrophobic.
He did not really appreciate that at all.
His friend on the right is a Nebraska fan.
Can you imagine?
He put a Nebraska sticker on the wrapping paper.
And Nebraska stickers on the KU wall hangings inside the gift.

Clearly, Brookelynn is just enduring this.
She looked at me several times and just rolled her eyes.
She's so mature.
A whole year older than these boys.
But the little boys are having a great time.
After supper, I passed the boys off to Ryan.
He took them to a local arena football game.
Those pops were $4 each!
Half the cost of their tickets.
I hope they enjoyed them.



Celebrating a touchdown.
Ryan must have been excited too, the pic is so blurry.
After the game the boys got to meet the players.
This one just makes me laugh.
I think Jakie looks so cute.
And slightly uncomfortable.
They came back to the house for root beer floats.
Apparently Ryan felt he had spent enough time with them.
So I had the privilege of taking them all home.
Ten year old boys have the strangest conversations.
That's all I will say about that.

Love you, buddy!
It was fun planning this for you.

Double Digits

Hard to believe
this boy was born with a head of black hair.
Harder still to believe that was 10 years ago.

Happy birthday, Jakie!
We love your smile.
We love your obsessions (most of the time).
WE LOVE YOU!

Fingerprint Friday

I love friendships between boys.
They are different from those between girls.
There's no strings attached, it seems.
Just acceptance.
Just rough and tumble playing.
Just go, go, go.
There is something special about the way boys play.

Jake has two best friends.
They spend quite a bit of time together.
It's been fun to watch them.
I'm hoping they will be there for each other.
For years to come.
Ecclesiates 4:10
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up,
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

A Boy and His Hair

He would have gone to school like this.

And it probably would have been fine.

I've seen lots of kids at school

with hair that looked nappier than that.

Don't misunderstand.

He goes to school pretty much every day

without combing his hair.

But this time it was a little too much for me.

He considers it torture to have his hair combed.

Or cut.

Remember this?

He looks so cute after the cut, doesn't he?

He badly needs a haircut.

Badly.

I told him I was going to take him

to the gal that cuts my hair.

You would have thought

I was making him paint his nails pink.

But it hasn't happened yet.

I keep putting it off.

No reason.

Other than I'm good at putting things off.

I wonder how long he would let it get.

If he had a choice.

Which he doesn't.

Cuz I'm the parent.

Envelope Monster

< This is Jake

(not normally in a tux)

This is Jake's monster >

(not to scale)

Jake got a new notebook and decided to start creating monsters. Not your average monsters...but, perhaps, your every day monsters. Monsters inspired by normal, every day ... things. Things like trees, books and, of course, envelopes (as shown).

It's sort of become Jake's own "daily monster." In the coming weeks, Jake will post -- with commentary, of course -- concepts of his every day monsters.