Jack Funnies

1) Last week Jack was in trouble for what began with him spraying water in Drew's face and refusing to give up the offending toy without first testing me and the limits. He was sent to his room...things escalated and he started yelling "I hate you mommy" and "You're the worst mommy I ever had". Andy came home after about 10 mins of him yelling. He went up to talk to him and Jack told Andy that he was in trouble b/c of and only b/c of the water incident. Andy suggested that he was also in trouble for yelling mean things at mommy. He said he didn't say those mean things. Andy questioned again and he again said he didn't say them. Andy suggested that either he was lying or mommy was lying. Andy asked him one last time, "Who do you think is lying?" Jack pondered for a minute and answered, "I think I'm lying."

2) In the morning it's often chilly in the house b/c we leave the windows open...we have no A/C. Jack was sitting around in his undies prior to getting dressed for the day. Suddenly, he got goosebumps. He yelped, "I'm cold! I have the chicken prickles!"

3) Yesterday Andy sent Jack downstairs to wait for him and asked him to count to 100. (Jack has absolutely no patience.). So, Andy overhears him counting at one point and he is around the number 30. About 5 seconds later Jack yells, "I'm done Daddy. I counted to 100." Andy said, "No, you didn't. You were just on 30. You must've said 29-30-100". Jack emphatically replied, "No I didn't! I said 30-31-32-33-100."

Life is never dull with Jack!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Oh, and today marks 14 years for us! I love you Andy!

Catching up...Part 2

So, it's been over 3 months since we blogged. But, we have a good reason. We moved!

I took this picture of Andy's truck from behind while I was driving...somewhere in Utah.

IHOP in Provo, Utah

Scenery on the prettiest day of driving. Loved that day 3...whitewater rafters, streams, mountains, green... glorious!

My 35th b-day the day after moving in...notice the boxes! Note to self: no more b-day celebrations in jammies sans-makeup-Yikes.

On June 9th Madi finished 1st grade and that very day we drove out of town to our new duty station in Colorado! Along the way EVERYONE was sick. Let me try to paint a picture of the desparity between the two cars...Andy and Jack are cruising along in his comfy, roomy truck complete with satellite radio. Jack is watching movies on a portable movie player and intermittently sleeping. Andy is listening to satellite radio and enjoying a peaceful car. I, on the other hand, am driving with Drew (the boy has a set of lungs when he is frustrated), Madilyn (who was running a 104 fever and needed meds every 4 hrs) and Sadie, our 14 yr old Beagle who blessed the van approx. every 30 minutes with stinky toots. I guess driving cross-country made her a little anxious. (Side note: Madilyn was basically Drew's personal assistant amidst her illness. She was an angel and I couldn't have made it all that way without her attention to Drew.) Anway, our car was very loud and smelly! My only saving grace from the madness was my little pink ipod. It was nice to be able to turn up the volume in the one earphone I had in...just enough to drown out the fussing. Just another "normal" PCS move to file away and laugh about later. All joking aside, the PCS trip went about as smoothly as it could. The day after arriving in town we accepted our household goods and began the task of unpacking and getting settled. We're almost done hanging up the pictures as I write.

Madilyn stopped biting her nails...so it was off to the salon for a mani and pedi to celebrate!

She learned to ride her bike without training wheels right before we moved from California. We got her a new, bigger bike, but she is struggling a bit with the hills in our neighborhood.

Jack climbing on the rocks in The Garden of the Gods.

Drew posing by a rock in TGotG. He is such a ham for the camera.

...at the Olympic Training Center...practicing for her medal ceremony in 2020!

Feeding the giraffes at the zoo!

About as close as you'll ever get to a grizzly and live to tell about it...just how thick is that glass?

Drew is now obsessed with the Jeep! Colorado is a great place to live when you LOVE jeeps.

Jack skated (sitting down) with the big boys at the YMCA skate park last week. The big boys would skate by and say "What's up little dude?"

Jack...what a cutie!

Drew dancing...yes, we know it looks suspiciously like the yoga pose Downward Dog...but hey this is how he grooves.

M, J and D with our California friends T and G!

We spent time this summer unpacking (of course), going to the amazing zoo here in town, the Olympic Training Center, Garden of the Gods, playing with friends on our street, taking swimming lessons, checking out mounds of books at the library, seeing friends from Cali who came out to visit, watching the Olympics (I'm a huge Phelps Phan!) and...Missy and the kids capped it all off with a week in Houston with her folks and family swimming, swimming, swimming.

3-D glasses for the Hannah Montana concert movie at Gee Gee and Granddad's.

...with cousin D!

Mis and the boys...

Madilyn lounging and eating what appears to be a lollipop...while in the pool.

Granddad and Madi grilling hotdogs.

...with all the kids' 2nd cousins. Wish I had thought to snap a pic of Madi, Jack and Drew with Gee Mom. She is 92 now! Wish I had taken a pic of Gee Mom. What was I thinking?

Jack swimming in Gee Gee and Granddad's pool. In a matter of days he was swimming without floaties.

Our bird nest.

Baby birds looking to eat!

The rainbow out back.


5 minutes later when the colors intensified.

We had a family of finches build a nest in our front door wreath in July. They laid three eggs and two days ago the babies left the nest. It was really a fun thing to be able to watch. The kids love science and this was up close and personal. We get GREAT birds here...that is one thing we really missed in California. We have set up feeders in the yard and are really enjoying seeing the birds up so close. We also have foxes that run through our yard routinely. There is a baby snake that has taken up residence in the corner of our garage. I figure he/she can stay as long as he stays away from the door into the house and keeps the mice population at zero. Colorado is full of wildlife!! We have a garden in our yard and have watched strawberries ripen, picked spearmint and eaten it right off the bush, enjoyed seeing hummingbirds feed from the flowers, and used the herbs in our cooking. Our current project is adding lavendar, rosemary and carrots to the mix.

Madi's 1st day.


Jack in front of his school on "Meet the Teacher" day.

As of a week ago, Madilyn is now a 2nd grader and Jack is a Pre-schooler. They are both very happy to be in school. Madilyn has decided to "run" for student council and is signed up for soccer this fall. Jack reports that he didn't make any friends at school yet, but he has had only one day thus far. He is going to play soccer in the fall, too. This will be the first time for both to try soccer. Drew is making great gains. He is now running and trying hard to jump. He is doing so well, in fact, that he no longer qualifies for Physical Therapy. His vocabulary is growing and every now and then I hear him link two words together. He has begun speech therapy again and Colorado is going to fund music therapy for him, as a secondary approach to speech therapy. Drew loves the birds and also enjoys watching the neighbors dogs from our back deck. Jack and Drew are sharing a room now and from the first night here it went great. They really like having each other for conversation and company at night. Madi thinks it's highly unfair that Andy and I share a room, the boys share a room and she has to be all alone. (She tries weekly to get Sadie to stay in bed with her...it usually ends with her in tears b/c Sadie will not sleep in there.) A perspective I never anticipated.

Change of Command Day

Martha came out to see her "little" boy take command!

Andy started his new job on June 25th. The official change of command went great and was quite a polished military ceremony. He has been working around the clock since and loving every minute of it. He has a great team of colleagues and a great squadron. Everyone has told him that this particular job will always resonate as his favorite (when looking back later). I'm so glad he is able to live in the moment enough to enjoy it right now...even in the thick of all the work.

A perk of his job...a hard hat with rank!

Waiting for Daddy to come home from work.

I had planned on doing a triathlon right after moving here, but decided not to because I hadn't kept up on my training as the move grew closer. Plus, the altitude added a whole element that I wasn't willing to test being so ill-prepared. So, it's on the docket for next summer! I've already started my training. I'll be good and ready come next June.

So, that is all for now. Hopefully, I get in a better routine and blog more often.