a bad morning

Justin woke me up at 5:30 this morning to tell me that me had just accidentally run over Tiger while backing out of the driveway. I am so shaken up. I never imagined I would become so attached to an animal this quickly. I'm not a super animal lover but after caring for these kitties I really began to feel like their mother. Isaiah is doing okay with it. It was difficult to watch him try to process everything. He said things like "what if after I hold Fluff I want to hold Tiger again?" and "but we just got these kitties?" A few minutes later I brought Fluff inside for a few minutes and let Isaiah hold her. He looked up at me and said "Mom I guess we'll just have to take turns holding Fluff".

Here's my little buckeroo Gabe in one of his favorite get-ups... what can I say

he's an accessories man!

And here's Zay-a... already 4 and a half but will always be my baby.

Talking to the baby :)

#3 is on the way!!! YEAH!!!

... another hooligan to give me
great writing material!!!

remember when i said showers were over-rated?

this is what gabe did while i dried my hair this afternoon

i found myself doing lamaze

all i wanted to do was not smell when my hard-working hubby came home after being gone all week!

gabe should be very thankful i love him so much

Baby birds!

As if the excitement of two new kittens wasn't enough, we now have several baby birds in a nest on our front porch! Since we moved in, four and a half years ago, birds have been trying to nest near our house. First we found a nest in a wreath i had on the front door. A storm came and knocked the nest onto the floor and the eggs cracked :( This time they nested in the corner of the ceiling of our porch roof. One day I climbed up a saw some eggs and then another day I heard little chirps. I climbed up and saw several little hairless baby birds. The kids have really enjoyed watching this "everyday miracle". I am reminded of the scripture telling us not to worry about the provision of our needs as the Lord is even caring for the birds and fish. How much more would He look out for his sons and daughters? I am thankful for God placing this right under our noses. Take time to enjoy the everyday miracles around you. I need to do it more often, it's amazing.

misc pics

Angel has done so well with the new kittens. Don't get me wrong, she is very curious. But I caught this moment the other day. It was precious!


















This little kitty has my heart.
Isaiah has a heart for Fluff while Tiger is my favorite!
At least the love will be spread evenly!!!


Grandma bought these push pops for the boys in Hilton Head. They loved every lick!!!

Pool pics

Gabe, Jordan, Abby, Zach & Isaiah
Gabe enjoying the "beach access" to the pool


Zach and Isaiah controlling the spraying water














Shannon, Jordan & Isaiah







the sign of a great time!

meet Tiger & Fluff!!!

A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I were delivering Meals-on-Wheels and one lady had a litter of kittens on her front porch. She saw us admiring them when she opened the door and asked if we wanted to take some. They weren't ready to leave their mother yet but the sucker that I am aggreed to come back for two of them. Yesterday we went and picked them out. Tiger is the dark one and Fluff is the white one. Isaiah has been on cloud nine!!! He is doing such a great job taking care of them. Last night a bad storm came through with hail and dangerous winds. The kittens were outside in their basket when the storm came and I ran out there to find them. They were soaking wet. Justin grabbed a towel and cuddled them. He woudln't let anyone else touch them. It was so cute. What a protective little softy!!!

a fun trip to city park

Last week we met Justin at City Park during his lunch break and let the kids do some of the rides. It was nice to see Daddy in the middle of the day and to watch the kids enjoy a special treat.

look at this boy!

Keepin' it real on Father's Day

Well today sucked. Sorry if that's harsh, but to describe it any other way wouldn't be honest. It was a little hard to acknowledge other father's who were still "here". I found myself jealous, feeling like it's just "not fair". I want my kids to still have their grandpa. So they day started off with Justin getting up early and riding out to get a latte and some eggs so I could make his favorite oat scones. I felt pretty slack. After Justin came home I was cleaning up the kitchen, because I had left it a mess the night before. I reached under the sink to get the dishwasher detergent and noticed lots of water. There was a leak and a stench! Then I noticed water coming out from the other side of the island onto the floor. Oh what a nice was to start Father's Day. It felt appropriate this year though. My "jack-of-all-trades" hubby became a plumber for the day and replaced all of the pipes under the kitchen sink. I told him he got a "re-do" on Father's Day. Below is a picture of the card Isaiah made for Justin. I told him how to spell the words and he wrote everything himself! (it says "I love you Daddy") I am so proud of him! He's such an excited learner.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

A small boy is sent to bed by his father...

[Five minutes later]

"Da-ad..."

"What?"

"I'm thirsty. Can you bring me a drink of water?"

"No. You had your chance. Lights out."

[Five minutes later]

"Da-aaaad..."

"WHAT?"

"I'm THIRSTY...Can I have a drink of water??"

"I told you NO! If you ask again I'll have to spank you!!"

[Five minutes later]

"Daaaa-aaaAAAAD..."

"WHAT??!!"

"When you come in to spank me, can you bring me a drink of water?"

this is all Gabe picked out after his bath

Who needs clothes?... it's always about the accessories after all :)

one of my dad's favorite bands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqGM5kBQrBs

Battling nature & conquering our fears... while Dad laughs his ass off !!!

My Mom and I went up to the lake house a couple weeks ago to get it opened for the summer. As usual, there was some evidence of animals that had gotten inside. There's nothing you can do about those little critters when the house is vacant all winter. Well, before we went to the grocery store we checked out the status of the kitchen. My Mom pulled a drawer open and we found this little guy. We both freaked out a litttle, and then realized that we needed to get down to business. After debating about whether or not to call in the neighbor for help, we looked at each other and knew that Dad was surely cheering us on and would think it completely histerical if we couldn't do this on our own. So, my Mom came up with the idea of opening the kitchen window and handing the entire drawer through the window. So that's what we did, and placed it on the front porch. The tiny little guy crawled out of the drawer and immediately went under the deck and back into the kitchen!!! At that point I declared war. We set up a mouse trap under the sink and in the same drawer. I had some cheese from our sandwiches that I used to bait the traps. We left for the store and I was pretty confident this whole mess would be over by the time we got back. When we returned, I checked the traps. No cheese... no mouse either. The little stinker was able to get the cheese and get away!!! So then we put some peanutbutter on the traps and by the next week when my Mom went back up, she caught one... but it wasn't the same mouse! Ugggghhh!!!

Congratulations Hil !!!

My sister has officially been hired as Artie Lange's personal assistant. He is the comedic sidekick on the Howard Stern show. Hil really went after this job after she heard that he was looking for a new assistant. With one look at Hilary's resume, he hadn't even met her and already knew he wanted her for the job. These pictures were taken after her interview with Artie a few weeks ago. Her spunky personality and quick wit will be perfect for the job. She is already making the arrangements for a gig Artie has this weekend. GO HIL! You'll be GREAT!!!

i miss you unbearably dad

things will never be as good as when you were here with us, but we will continue on with the love you have given that is still inside us. thank you for helping make me who i am today. we will keep shining if you will keep watching. one day we will fly with you...

what did he just say?

So Gabe, Isaiah and Zach were playing ring-around-the-rosie on the big air mattress. Isaiah was singing "ashes, ashes, we all fall down!". When they were finished, Gabe proceeded to walk around the house singing "ah sh*t, ah sh*t, fall down!". I wish i had it on tape!