My son is gone :(

It's a good thing, really. He got to go to Washington DC with his school's orchestra (he plays violin) and choral depts. They're in a competition and while there, the director planned plenty of great sights for them to see. Presidential memorials, War memorials, museums, even a trip to 6 Flags. He's under strict orders to take at least 2 photos at each place he goes. I should have at least 22 when he gets back. I miss him!! He's SOOOOOO far away. He left last night and I restrained myself from calling him but once today. Maybe he'll bless me with a call tomorrow too. It's so hard to believe that he's grown-up enough to go on a trip like this by himself (without us anyway).

We Went Camping!

YAY! And the weather was beautiful! (Well, actually we thought it was hot but that's only because the temps here went from the 60's to the 80's last weekend. Today, back to the upper 60's.) Allan took off work a little early so we got a nice early start on Fri, and had a lovely campfire on Fri and Sat. Jack did really well. I was worried about containing him but he was mostly happy staying near us and going where we went. There was a concrete pad that the picnic table sat on and it was raised a bit, not as high as a step, but probably 2-4 inches. Jack walked around and around and up onto the pad, and off, again and again and again. He fell several times but just kept getting up and going. What a trooper!

When we got there, we noticed our skylight covers (or whatever you call those things) were completely busted, like large chunks of the plastic were missing. So Allan got up on the roof to cover the holes with duct tape and of course, he had company :)


Jack had a great time when we went for a walk. Twice he fell asleep in the stroller! So we left him, 'cause he seemed comfy enough!


And when we were getting dinner so we could have a campfire later, Al sat Jack in one of the chairs hoping he'd sit still for a minute and he sat here (I swear) for 45 mins! He'd wave when we talked to him!

I want a new house.

Not because I don't like the one we live in now. On the contrary, I LOVE this house. It's our home, in every sense of the word. Allan and I bought it and lived here as a newly married couple. All our kids came here after they were born. Since we moved in, we've taken most it down to the studs and re-did everything; drywall, electrical wiring, plumbing, new bathrooms and kitchen, and certainly lots of paint. We've celebrated every occasion and holiday here. We all love this house. It's just that, the kids are getting bigger and more space would be great. I started thinking about this a couple of years ago, thinking if we moved then, it would still feel like home to the bigger kids, even though they wouldn't be in the new house as long before they go off to have their own lives, and they would be comfortable coming home on vacations and holidays. But after this school year, Andrew has only 2 years of high school left. That's not enough time. My parents moved a couple of years after I got married. They've moved a couple of times. They've been in the house they live in for almost 9 years now. And I still feel like a guest when we go there. It's not home. I don't want to do that to my kids. I know there's no guarantee for what the future holds. But I've wanted for the last few years to have a house big enough for the kids to come home for Christmas in 20 years with spouses and babies and it won't be here. I found the perfect house, but someone else bought it first. I'm keeping my eyes on it though.

Tonight Jack came to me in the living room and got my attention, and signed "milk". So I got up and took his little hand and we went into the kitchen and got his cup of milk. Yep, that's what he wanted! So he told me that he wanted a drink! How cool is that?!

Picture catch-up #3 - Miss Braska

As mentioned previously, we were lucky enough to have Miss Braska come visit while her mommy went to the dr. We hung out down in the basement 'cause I had fun laundry to fold (yeah right). Anyway, Jack and Braska found a couple of fun things to play with.
This book looks interesting-

Hmmmm, wonder if this will be fun....

Yep, looks like some nice colors on this part-

Guess who didn't want to be left out of the guitar fun!

Check out these cute pig tails....

Once again, my photo skills are lacking, but that's okay, Braska's mommy gets some really cute ones of the 2 of them together.

Picture catch-up #2 - The Egg Hunt

These pics were taken at an egg hunt at the elementary school. Jack was so funny - he'd pick up an egg and throw it in the air! He had a hard time putting them in the basket 'cause they were so fun!
Hey - here's one!

No Jack - leave the eggs IN the basket!

Now we can count them!

We had fun after the egg hunt too! (Look at his face!)

Even Ty was finding eggs!

Picture catch-up #1 - The Zoo

These are my beautiful nieces who live faaaaaaaar away and we don't get to see very often. This last visit, we took in the world-famous St. Louis Zoo!
Here's Andrew with M, x-SIL (who I still love to pieces), and Michaela with Ty:

Here's Morgan with Jack:

Here's Micheala with Jack (what a crabby face he's making!):

And here's the 6 of them:

My photo taking leaves a lot to be desired, but Tracy sent me some that probably are better! I'll check and fix this later!

Starting at the end.......

I'm so far behind on my blogging it's not even funny. This was supposed to be a blog keeping track of what we do as a family, with a little more emphasis on Jack since he's the reason I started this in the first place. So I decided to list what we've been up to, and possibly elaborate a little more later.

Of course, Sunday was Easter. We celebrated with dh's family the day before, as a couple of them had other family events to attend on Easter. We had a great time. There was an egg hunt for the kids and Jack got to show off all his signs (he's doing "mom" and "dad" now).

The weekend before, we got to visit with the 2 nieces who live out-of-town. Before they got here we went to an egg hunt at the elementary school. Jack had a great time but kept throwing the eggs instead of collecting them! Later that Sat., we all went to dinner at Al's sister's, then went to see my nephew in a play, then kept the girls overnight, and went to the zoo the next day. I have LOTS of zoo pics, and might share them!

The week before that, we got to spend lots of time with Miss Braska and her mommy and sister. We went to the mall one day, and then Braska came over and hung out with me and Jack while her mommy and little sis did stuff by themselves. I have cool pics of that too.

Before that was M's birthday party (4 girls having a sleep-over - I'm still catching up on sleep!) and our trip to Grandma and Grandpa H's house. Holly got a bath and haircut while we were there so she's lookin' good!

Before I get the rest of my pics organized, I'll leave all you lovers of the "Welcome to Holland" poem with a cute shot of Jack sitting where? Right in front of a big tulip display of course! (Personally, I do not like this poem, but I know lots of people who love it, so this is totally for you.)

What a smart boy I have!

I think I mentioned before how Jack's communication is starting to pick up. He's beginning to name or recognize things without prompting and starting to use more signs (learning them and using them). So today, I went to the store with a friend and we were chatting away and I look down at Jack sitting in the cart and he's singing "shoes". So I laugh and say "I didn't say shoes, I said issues........oh my gosh, that was shoes!" and then he pointed and sure enough, we were right by the shoe section! Then at lunch, he told the waitress "milk"! When Allan got home from work, Jack looked over and signed "Daddy" (and we just started working on mommy and daddy on Mon)! And the coup des gras; he was drinking from his cup this evening and when it got empty, he handed it to me and signed "all done"! It was an amazing day!

Also, last weekend, my amazing boy started climbing up on the couch, the recliner, whatever he can get a leg up on. It's exciting, but kind of a pain too. Now I have to pay extra attention to where he is! Of course, he gets off the couch, etc. too, which is sort of funny because he slides himself down. I keep thinking how much I enjoy this boy, and I'm kind of glad he's going a little slower. EVERY little thing he learns (and all the big things) we celebrate in a BIG way! He's sooo much fun!!