fowlerfam

Mega-noise pics

2011-12-29T13:27:00.004-07:00

Here are a couple pics they gave us to take home after the ultrasound yesterday. Isn't his little profile cute? The radiologist that did our exam was incredible. He was the senior radiologist there and did a very thorough job. One shot he got of the baby and he exclaimed "woah! Look at that bicep!" And he was right, you could totally see a muscly bicep on the baby even at 20 weeks. Yep, my sons get their muscly bods from their Dad. I wish that the bicep picture would have been one of the pictures they sent us home with, but it wasn't. But these are still cute!

Guess what it is...

2011-12-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a little video I put together of the kids guessing what the baby's gender would be.

Our ultrasound was today. And what wonderful news. This baby is perfectly healthy. It is a little baby boy (such a surprise to all of us! I was sure my morning sickness woes were because I was carrying another girl). And we also were able to get a look at the baby's mouth, and he has a beautiful upper lip.

I had a dream a few months ago when I was only a couple months along. And in the dream, I saw this little fetus and it was a boy and he had a normal little lip with all this furry white lanugo hair on his upper lip (I think I had been looking at too many Lennart Nilsson picture books).

Above pic from Lennart Nilsson website

I kind of discounted the dream at the time because I had felt so strongly it was a little girl. But I must admit, the lip part of the dream was of comfort to me at the time, and I couldn't help but wish that part would come true.

We are so grateful for health. And I have this odd feeling of being terribly spoiled with how easy we have had it with Alice and will have it with this next baby. As I have said before, Jimmy and Johnny are worth every blood sweat and tear we've shed for them, but I must admit, it sure is nice to look forward to simple things like nursing and no surgeries the first few years with this little one.

I'll post pictures soon. They sent us home with a couple cute profile shots of the little guy. I think we'll call him "Rocky" for now :)

Thank you for all your kind thoughts, words, and prayers. We are so grateful.

We are still here

2011-12-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

I am still alive, I just took a bit of a break from blogging. I guess I haven't even formally announced it on the blog yet, but if you are friends with me on facebook or have talked with me the past few months, you already know the news- we are expecting again! And I have been battling a pretty vicious bout of morning sickness since September, so that is the reason I haven't been in a blogging mood (truthfully I haven't been in the mood for much of anything- building a nervous system and forming a brain and little ears and fingers have seemed to suck the life out of me).

I'm almost 20 weeks and finally feeling a bit better (I envy those ladies that feel better around 12 weeks, or even moreso those ladies that don't get sick at all their entire pregnancy).

We actually have our ultrasound this afternoon. We'll find out the exciting news as to whether this baby is a boy or girl. We will also find out if the baby has a cleft or not. A little nervous about that part. This pregnancy has been very similar to Alice's pregnancy (very sick and nauseous), so I've got a hunch it is a baby girl. Around the lunch table yesterday I asked the boys if they wanted a boy baby or a girl baby. Jimmy wants a girl so that Alice has a playmate. Johnny wants a boy because he doesn't want "too many girls" in this family, but then shortly later changed his mind that he too wants a girl (always wants to do what Jimmy wants to do). We have yet to get a solid answer out of Alice who really only knows how to say "baby" at this point. James will be happy with either a boy or a girl- although he did have a dream once upon a time about 2 little girls in our family, so I think he feels this will be a girl. I have to admit I hope for a girl- it would be nice to not have to get out new baby clothes (Alice's baby clothes are just handy and in a bin in her closer), and then I can keep Alice's room pink and pretty too (I know kind of shallow reasons).

Regarding the possibility of a cleft- I have very similar feelings as to last time. My heart is full and heavy. Ultrasounds are exciting but at the same time kind of scary. I've tried to prepare my heart for either scenario. It will be good to not have to wonder anymore and know for sure- if this baby has a cleft or not. Similar to Alice's pregnancy, I've found myself experiencing a bit of a depression the past couple months leading up to the ultrasound. I think because both of these pregnancies have been so hard and so sick on me physically and then my heart has been so emotional in wondering if there was a cleft or not- it has been hard to stay upbeat and hopeful.

It's interesting that with Jimmy's pregnancy, we had not even an inkling to think there would be something wrong or different with our baby the whole pregnancy. It was a pretty easy pregnancy to say the least. I think I experienced a bit of a depression after he was born as I was immersing myself in learning what a cleft was. Then with Johnny, we were told our chances were very, very low that our second baby too would have a cleft. It was an easy pregnancy as well and although I felt nauseous, it was nothing compared to my next 2 pregnancies. And I felt like I had a lot of hope with Johnny, and I honestly thought there would not be a cleft- even going into his ultrasound, the ultrasound tech told me "oh, I'm sure it was just a fluke with your first son, and this baby is going to be just fine". She got pretty quiet a few minutes later as she was scanning his face. After we found out the news with Johnny, I experienced a depression the last 1/2 of the pregnancy. With Alice, it was the 2 months leading up to the ultrasound. After the ultrasound, I was honestly on cloud 9 for the next 4 months. I know the emotions I experience during my pregnancies has nothing to compare with those mothers that deal with miscarriage and still born babies. And my heart goes out to them and all the emotions they must go through in carrying their child.

James and my heart have been full of hope and have prayed countless prayers from the beginning that this baby will have a connected little lip and palate. However, when we began to start trying again for this baby, we knew what our chances were and so we've also tried to prepare our hearts and minds and our children for another cleft-affected child. We offered up countless prayers and please to God above with little Johnny too when he was in my womb, yet he still came to us with his special little widesmile. Alice's pregnancy was also surrounded by constant prayers- and she was born without a cleft. And so I guess I have trouble thinking that our prayers influenced the outcome of whether there was a cleft or not with each of our kids. I do strongly believe though that in both cases, our prayers helped prepare ourselves, our hearts, and our outlook and attitude. I think God always has the same hope for us as we do, but sometimes his plan can be a little different than ours despite our prayers.

Things have been so easy with Alice- no extra doctor and surgeon appointments. Ah, the joy and ease of breastfeeding. No speech or occupational or feeding therapy. Life has been so simple. I can't help but wish and hope so badly that we can enjoy this simplicity and ease again. However,I love all of my kids the same. And all of them are worth it. Worth every single part- including the easy parts and the hard parts.

Jimmy's big month

2011-09-08T18:55:00.000-06:00

Jimmy started 1st grade. He actually started it over a month ago (August 1st, can you believe how early it starts out here?!) He enjoys his school and teacher a lot. He's making new friends. He tells me just about every day that "I get girls to chase me" when I ask him what he did during recess.

Here's a pic on his second day. Yes, not only am I a mother that fails to post cute pics of her child's first day of school in a timely manner, I am also a mother that failed to take pictures on the very first day. The camera did finally come out a day late, so technically these are pictures of his "day 2 of grade 1":

Another big thing that happened this past month was that on the 15th of August, he lost his first tooth! He was eating a piece of watermelon at dinner, and out popped one of his front tooth on the bottom. A couple days later, the other one popped out. He sure feels "cool" with his missing teeth down there now.

Johnny was really funny and wanted to buy the tooth off of Jimmy right off the bat. He was offering Jimmy a whole dollar, and for a while, Jimmy was going to sell it to him. Then he realized he wouldn't be able to stick it under his pillow and experience the "tooth fairy" without the tooth, so he opted out of the deal in the end. Johnny kept on threatening to take it from under his brother's pillow, that rascal!

Some more funny

2011-09-08T13:22:00.000-06:00

Johnny: "Hey Dad"

Dad: "What John"

Johnny: "Is there a Daddy's room with Daddy toys at your work?"

-overheard at dinner on April 4, 2011

So funny to imagine what goes on in little chidren's heads. Johnny thinking Daddy was playing with toys all day long. James' WISHES he was playing with toys all day long. Wouldn't that be the life of a hardworking man!

Little late in posting. I had this written down on a sticky note to jot down in my journal/blog for the past 5 months. Johnny you can thank me later :)

Dinner Table Funnies

2011-08-07T23:03:00.000-06:00

Tonight at family dinner, we started telling riddles to each other.

Jimmy and Johnny loved it. Even Alice was having fun watching even though she didn't have much of a clue what we were talking about, she just knew somepin' was funny.

Here some of our riddles:

James: A 50's eatery with an owie
Answer: a diner-sore (get it diner-sore, like dinosaur?)

Anna: a Cheese that makes you hungry
Answer: Mun-cheese (get it mun-cheese, like munchies?)

Jimmy: What is a warm dog?
Answer: a hot dog!

James:
What kind of room has no walls?
Answer: a mush-room!

Johnny: What is a rock and a star?
Answer: a rock star!

Jimmy: what is a tree that has a house?
Answer: a tree house

Jimmy and Johnny were using mostly riddles they had learned off of the back of their gogurts, and then simplifying them a bit :) James and I began to get really competitive with one another thinking up hard riddles. I got really tricky and even threw in a little Chinese as a curve ball

Anna: What is erzi (兒子) and guang (光)?
Answer: Sunshine

In the end, I came up with a riddle that James has yet to solve (yes!). It was driving him nuts that he couldn't guess it. Can you?

Anna: What reptile's name is a "poop + out loud"?
Answer: ?

I am so tickled I made up one too hard for my husband to guess it. Jimmy and Johnny loved it that the final riddle involved feces.

PS- You're probably thinking what the heck do pig noses have to do with family riddles? Well nothing really at all. I didn't have a picture of tonight's dinner, so I decided to post some other pictures I had taken last month of us goofing off around the dinner table. Thanks Lisa for the piggie-nose-taping-memory-from-our-childhood-idea. I had forgotten all about that!

Oregon pictures

2011-07-26T22:31:00.000-06:00

Here is a whole sh-pill of pictures from our recent Oregon trip. It was so memorable and we had so much fun seeing everyone! Every single one of us Rampton kids now live in a different state. We have the entire US covered (Washington, Ohio, North Carolina, Utah, Arkansas, Arizona), so it really was a treat to all be back together again.

Here are pictures of the individual families that make up my big family:
North Carolina Ramptons:

Beautiful Becca and Eliza:

The Utah Halversons:

The Ohio Phillips:

8 year old Abby who just got baptized:

The Washington Egberts:

Us Arkansan Fowlers:

(don't you just love Johnny's face above?)

Newlywed Arizona Ramptons:

And last but not least, good ol' Oregon Mom and Dad:

My parents rented a swim park for one evening for all our fam:

We ventured off to the beach:

We had such a fun time at DaVinci days:

Tons of hands on things for the kids to do and touch:

There was a really cool kinetic sculpture parade. Everything was powered by humans (nothing powered by motors)

Our group watching the parade go by:

This guy was so cool. He was on stilts and could even jump rope:

James actually felt short for once in his life:

This guy was a master of hula hooping. He even hula hooped with a huge tractor tire!

We got to see my 102 year old Grandma Bear:

Beautiful as ever:

The cousins all got together, including the quints (the 5 Rampton grandkids born in 2007):

Lots of fun memories made at Tutu and Gumpa's beautiful house:

A delicious dinner out to American Dream Pizza with the family. Here's a picture of the "kid table":

And of course the reception:

The line for the swing (the hottest attraction at the reception):

Chat with Grandma Bear

2011-07-26T21:52:00.000-06:00

Here is a little video of a recent visit I had with my 102 year old Grandma. She turns 103 in about 20 days. Pretty amazing lady. Sweetest little Grandma I could ever have hoped for, and she has the softest skin on her arms I have ever felt (softer than a baby's bum!):

Tall guy

2011-07-26T21:37:00.000-06:00

Earlier today, the boys were looking at a spider in the corner of the hallway. They were all huddled up together and then Johnny got the idea to sit on Jimmy's head. That then morphed into the idea that they could combine forces and produce someone twice their height. Later on, as I am cooking dinner, I hear them giggling in the living room. It was the cutest little sight I grabbed the camera and told them to do it again:

The secret cupboard

2011-07-26T21:27:00.000-06:00

I love going home to Oregon (as you may have noticed from my earlier post). My most favorite part of Oregon is getting to see my parents, stay in their lovely home, and see my children build memories of things they love to do while at Tutu and Gumpa's house.

My side of the family (the Ramptons) had a family reunion planned this summer since last year. We decided to plan the reunion around DaVinci Days, a really cool weekend festival that takes place in Corvallis, Oregon. Well, a few months ago, my baby brother Bobby got engaged to a beautiful, wonderful girl named Jessica, and the Family Reunion we had planned for morphed into an Oregon Reception for their June wedding. It really was perfect as every single one of my siblings and their spouses and all their kids were able to come and we had a blast! Our kids are getting to such a fun age where they really enjoy being with their cousins and make some long-lasting memories.

The night before we flew to Oregon, I asked the kids at dinner what they most were looking forward to in Oregon. Jimmy said "I can't wait to play in the secret room and sleep in the bunkbeds". It really is a fun little playroom my parents have upstairs and it has really turned into the funnest thing for the grandkids to look forward to. This video shows a little glimpse of it:

Dear Oregon,

2011-07-26T15:45:00.000-06:00

I loved seeing you again!

I love your mild temperatures, your bright and deep greens that you flaunt all around. The lush, mossy fairy-like tree branches that crawl across the canvas of your sky. I love your little refreshing breeze that constantly blows across my neck. Bless your little heart Oregon, you let us keep our windows open all vacation long! And with those windows open- I felt so connected to the outdoors, as I heard the birds whistling each morn, the crickets chirping at night. A small rainstorm I would hear come and go with a slight pitter patter on the copper eaves, or the laughter of my children playing and frolicking outside. I was tickled by the fact that I didn't have to tell my kids "quick! close the door! you are letting the ac out!" when they'd open the door to the outside. And no big bugs! How did you get to be so perfect Oregon?

I love the lush, green garden that grows in your rich and fertile valley. What a treat to have fresh picked salad and berries and beans to eat for dinner each night. I loved waking each morning to your beautiful display of bright green black walnut leaves shimmering in the breeze against the beautiful blue azure sky.

What a little piece of heaven you are Oregon. Especially in the middle of the summer for some out of townees from Arkansas (it's 100 degrees here today in Arkansas, with 33% humidity so it feels like 103. In other words we are dripping with sweat, and all I hear outside my closed windows is my a/c unit running all day long). I miss you Or.

Love, sweaty Miss Anna in Ar.

Homemade MTV

2011-07-08T21:21:00.000-06:00

When I was younger, one of my favorite things to do was make music videos. If any of my siblings or friends from my younger years is reading this, feel free to verify and reminisce about those days in the comments section.

When I was younger and would have friends spend the night, we'd get out my family's humongous old video camera, dress in costumes and make our own home made music videos. It was so entertaining!

I guess I haven't really grown out of this "hobby" quite yet HAHA...

Today the kids and I made a music video featuring our very own "Johnny". Each child of mine has a "special song" that I sing just to them, and this is Johnny's...

Pop pops!

2011-07-04T23:36:00.000-06:00

It has been a fun, long 4th of July weekend.

On Saturday, the kids participated in a kid's bike parade down on the square.

They used Sam Walton's old pick-up to lead the bike parade.

Alice was so rosy-cheeked and hot in this heat!

Jimmy and Johnny were both sweaty little dudes by the end...

Then, today (Monday) we lit off a few "tame" fireworks in our driveway with the boys. Jimmy and Johnny had such a ball stomping on 'em whipper snappers and lighting up the sparklers.

Alice all decked out in her red white and blue:

This one cracks me up. Jimmy thought this sparkler smelled so he was plugging his nose:

James concocted up a mixture of fireworks. We thought we were being all hard core.

Then we went and played with some friends tonight, and they had the big guns. Their party was a blast. Literally. They had a whole pick-up truck bed FULL of fireworks- it was quite the show and really cool to watch!

There were lots of friends there and our kids were running up and down the culdesac chasing each other with glow sticks and having scooter races.

The adults had a fun time lighting off some big ones:

The Dads even joined in and had a scooter race. They started down the street at the top of someone's driveway, and as they were wizzing down the road, one of the fireworks in the middle of the road lit up. They all swerved out of the way and I snapped these shots:

Happy 4th of July!

My kids are fly

2011-06-28T22:41:00.000-06:00

Oh the things this old couch has become!

The other day I was in the kitchen, the kids had built a big fort in the living room and were living in it. Pretending it was a spaceship and command center. Then I hear them jumping around. Next thing I know they are in the kitchen drawer grabbing plastic bags. Then they begin to talk about their "parachutes" they are making. I go in to then see them doing this:

Johnny added "wings" to his parachute by holding magazines in his hand. Then he would flap them and try to fly.

After this shot (below), I crashed their party and made a rule they could only do their stunts from the 2 lower levels of the couch (they about tipped the couch over jumping from the top level!).

Talk about stuntmen!

Hobbs

2011-06-28T22:28:00.001-06:00

Today we ventured out by Beaver Lake and visited the Hobbs State Park Visitor's center. We'd never been and I had heard fun things about it. I am in charge of "hosting" a week of fun activities for some fellow moms in my ward/area. Yesterday we did a movie at the library, today was Hobbs State Park, tomorrow a friend is hosting a bubble science fair, Thursday we'll watch a magic show, and Friday we'll have slip n slide and water balloons and sprinklers at our house. The funny thing today though was that nobody showed up except for us to the Hobbs State park. Haha, that's okay- we still had a fun time. I think the problem was that it was stormy mid day, and the visitor's center is way out in the boonies (like 40+ minutes away). So maybe next time I'll try to plan something not so far away.

I didn't bring my camera, so no pictures other than the ones I snapped in my head. The kids really enjoyed it. Alice walks all over now and she gets into everything. Luckily this place was pretty hands on stuff- animal skins, animal teeth, bones, and fossils that the kids could touch. We even had a little private class given by the Ranger and he read us the book "the Lorax", complete with a power point and digital sound effects that he had put together. And then showed us about 25 different animal skins and let the kids play with them. He's this older man, that you can tell just really loves being a ranger. The boys totally recognized him- he is actually the same ranger that took us on this boat ride on Beaver lake last year.

It was so cute when Jimmy saw the Ranger, he says "Mom, Johnny, that man is a Ranger. A Ranger protects the forest and keeps everything safe". I hope the ranger heard him.

This is how my baby brother fell in love

2011-06-23T23:02:00.001-06:00

Go read this:
www.ramptonfam.blogspot.com
Isn't my new Sister-in-law so gorgeous and so fun to read about?

(I stole this pic from your facebook Jess, I hope that's okay!)

She's absolutely beautiful on the inside and out!

The Rampton Boys in my family both sure married hot super-model women, who both have these incredible hearts of gold!

Fireworks in a jar

2011-06-19T22:55:00.021-06:00

Last week we went on an evening family bike ride and on our way home, we saw a handful of fireflies spark up around us. It was so neat. I hadn't seen fireflies since living in DC, and they have to be one of my favorite things! I don't know why, but I didn't see fireflies here last summer. Maybe it is because I wasn't getting out too much around dusk last summer? Maybe because I had a new baby? I don't know, all I know is that the fireflies are in full affect this June!

Last night I took the boys out with mason jars and nets in hand to catch a few. There's a great little glen across the street from us near this fantastic pond where the fireflies gather. It was so fun, and one of those memories I will forever cherish.

The warm night brought about sweaty little heads as the boys ran around the glen, chasing the sparks and screaming with delight when they'd catch one. Then they'd gingerly put the firefly into the glass jar and cap it with a lid and a sigh of relief. They each caught about 5 fireflies.

After 30 minutes of intense firefly catching, the hunt was over and time for bed. We came inside. The boys stripped down and I checked for ticks and into the bath they went. It was way past their bedtime by the time they actually got into bed, but totally worth it.

We had fun.

And they went to bed to quite the show. We put mesh lids on the jars so the bugs could breath and I let them keep the jars in their room that night- It was the coolest thing in the world. With the lights off, these little jars would intermittently light up as the Jimmy and Johnny, full of excitement and awe watched from their bunk bed. It was like capturing fireworks in a jar.

Outback

2011-06-17T16:28:00.001-06:00

Today was a hot day full of sun, and there was lots of fun outback...
It started with a play-dough fair

And then it turned into a picnic

And then it turned into a pool party/sprinkler fest.

And then the boys started to fight and it all ended with an indoor siesta (which in turn turned into time for mom to finally blog :).

Sprinktime

2011-06-17T16:16:00.001-06:00

I am sprinkler! Hear me roar!

Jimmy was getting some air!:

Johnny was making the funniest faces (that's actually nothing too new):

the onlooker:

Uh oh...

After the sprinkler died down, the boys went back to carting water with their trucks:

And the girl with her bucket:

Alice's eyes

2011-06-17T15:38:00.002-06:00

They remind me of something. Can you guess what it is?

play ball

2011-06-17T15:33:00.000-06:00

Arkansas evenings are beautiful. The other night we went on a family bike ride and I saw tons of fireflies!!! I didn't know Arkansas had fireflies! Was I a hermit last summer or something? Or maybe I just never went out at dusk, since we usually are putting kids to sleep then. Lately, since Jimmy is out of school, we've been letting the kids have more of a summer schedule and enjoy the time post-dinner/pre-bed with bike rides and games out back.

The other evening, it was dreamy, the temps cooled down and we went out for a post-dinner family game of baseball.

I sat on a blanket and read and snapped pictures, Alice rumbled around in the boys' backyard junk, and James taught the kids a thing or two about baseball:
Like how to throw a target pitch:

Like how to have a professional stance when batting:

And then how to have a killer swing:

And then how to jump a fence:

After the catfish

2011-06-12T15:16:00.001-06:00

Boys smelled like fish and ended up here:

Fish ended up here:

Well actually their heads and guts ended up in our garbage can which stunk for days (actually it STILL stinks), but that is a whole 'nother story.

This was a great recipe for baked cajun catfish. We made it fried and baked and I think the consensus was that baked tasted better.

Everyone ATE it up!

Catfish recipes?

2011-06-11T15:07:00.001-06:00

James left around 8 am with the boys and was gone until 3:30! They were doing what they love most- Fishin'! I love it when James does stuff like this. I had a quiet easy morning with Alice, got my kitchen floor mopped, did some shopping, and organizing!

The boys had a blast. It's probably their most favorite thing in the world- to go fishin' with daddy. And they caught some HUGE catfish!!! Anyone know any good catfish recipes? I have no idea how to cook it...

Bobby and Jess

2011-06-09T14:10:00.001-06:00

My baby brother got married last weekend to a beautiful, sweet girl named Jessica. I drove out to Denver with the kids in the van on Thursday and then James flew out on Friday night (it was Walmart Shareholder's week so he couldn't miss work). The drive went smoother than I had anticipated. The kids were awesome. We made one stop in Joplin (took lots of pics, I'll blog more on it later), and then they held out for 6.5 hours until we made it to Abilene, Kansas where we had a pit stop, and then stayed the night in Hays, Kansas.

The following day the kids and I only had a 4 hour drive ahead of us, so we took it easy, and drove a scenic route around Castle rock and then up into Denver. We got to see my Aunt Ninny and her boyfriend and my cousins' kids, Marcus (he's 6'7" and quite the basketball star), James, and Shaelynn.

That night James flew in along with all my other siblings and the whole Rampton clan went and stayed at a hotel. We had quite the party. We had our rooms all by each other and we actually got in trouble around 11:00 because we were all huddled into one room practicing a funny song we'd put together for the reception and the man next door was not happy at all. The front desk called and told us we would need to keep it down (oops!).

The next morning was just beautiful! We went to a luncheon that my parents put together and got to finally meet Jessica in person (she's such a beauty), and Bobby all spiffed up in a tux.

At one time I couldn't see Bobby or Jessica in the room where the banquet was being held, and I looked down the hall, and they were kissing! I snapped a photo of it:

Outside we took some photos. The first one is of my extended family that was present:

The second one is of us being goofy:

I've proudly enlarged my goofy face here in case you didn't notice it in the above shot. I'm pretty good eh?:

After the luncheon, we headed over to the Denver temple.

Bobby and Jessica's sealing was so beautiful. They had memorable words spoken to them by the sealer, and it was a great reminder to me and James of the precious things we were taught when we were married.

It was so neat to have ALL of my brothers and sisters there, along with my parents. Bobby is the last of us Rampton kids to get married, so he wasn't able to attend any of our sealings, but kind of like the "last shall be first, first shall be last" quote, he got to have every single one of us present at his.

After the sealing, there were pictures out back, and then we headed down to Colorado Springs to a beautiful reception held at Jessica's parents house. The setting was out in the country and absolutely gorgeous!

There was a live DJ and some really fun dancing.

I got my groove on with my husband and even all my sisters went out and boogied! My boys danced a bit too, but for the most part, they were wrestling with each other and their cousin David in the grass HAHA.

We did our Rampton tradition of making up a "corny" song for the wedding couple:

I loved it, at the end of the reception, Bobby and Jessica drove off on a 4-wheeler and there was a huge firework show (thanks to Bobby's friends bringing down fireworks from Wyoming).

Everyone held out sparklers as they drove away. It was really cool.

That night, my heart was so happy for Bobby, but I also have to admit, it felt like the feeling I got as a Junior when my Senior brother and his class graduated. Bittersweet I guess. I knew he was graduating off to big and better things, but my heart ached a teeny bit as I reminisced about the great memories we had shared throughout high school together.

I felt that way with Bobby too. I loved getting to live right by him in Provo for the 2 years that James was in MBA school. He was the funnest uncle in the world to my boys. They just adore Uncle Bobby. I loved calling him up and telling him we had leftovers and he should come eat them or having him drop in late at night to introduce me to his friends or girlfriends. I loved how he'd come over after a break up or when he was wanting advice on girls and we'd just sit and talk. So many funny memories of the hilarious things he'd do to my boys (putting Johnny in the trash can, getting Jimmy to believe in Bigfoot, wrestling and tickle wars). I'll really always treasure those memories.

I am so happy for him and Jessica. She's one lucky girl, and he's one lucky guy. They really lift each other up and I've never seen Bobby so smitten over a girl. Isn't she beautiful?

Kindergarten graduate

2011-06-08T15:19:00.000-06:00

Jimmy had his last day of Kindergarten today.

He is so excited to be a 1st grader!

My sister Meta, gave me this idea of making a paper wall for the doorway for him to break through when he got home from school. Johnny helped me decorate it.

We also decorated the sidewalk and driveway with fun little notes for him to read on his short little walk home from the bus stop.

Last night he and I put together this little gift for his teacher, Mrs. Cox.
He wrote the note all by himself:

It reads: Dear Mrs. Cox, thanks for being the best Kindergarten teacher. I love you. From, James.

One funny thing about starting school this year is that Jimmy decided at school he wanted to be called "James". It all came about during the "meet the teacher" where Mrs. Cox upon first meeting him said, "Hi James". And then I went on to tell her "he actually goes by Jimmy", and then Jimmy spoke up and said "I want you to call me James". So James it was. Everyone just knew him as James at school. In fact, when he had his birthday party, I sent out some invites to a couple of the kids in the class with the heading "Jimmy's birthday", and a bunch of them didn't know who "Jimmy" was. In fact, Jimmy was so embarassed about it. He told me he didn't want anyone to know his "real" name. I got a chuckle out of that especially since Jimmy is actually his nickname and James is his real name.

He's been such a good boy and Mrs. Cox has told me on countless occasions he has been such a pleasure to have in class. He plays well with the other kids, is kind and considerate of others, likes to have fun, and participates well. He has brought a little "behavior folder" home everyday. In the behavior folder, the teacher reports with a color: Green: good day, Yellow: one verbal warning, Red: 10 minute Time out, Blue: 15 minute time out + phone call to parents, Black: Office/discipline note. He has come home with a yellow about 5 times this entire year. Every other single day was a green! Whenever he would come home with a yellow we would sit down and talk about it and see what he could have done differently if the situation arose again. I do have to admit, during these moments, in the back of my head I'm thinking "a yellow really isn't that bad- a verbal warning- he gets those at home all the time!". But Jimmy didn't like getting yellows, and it showed in how hard he would try to avoid those verbal warnings and get green. He really is a good kid at school, and at home (for the most part!) and I'm grateful for that.

Now for the summer to begin!