Usually so free with words...

I couldn't think of a good (enough) title. I love these guys.

Turning four

I won't bore you with a lot of details. Suffice it to say.

This is Bella.
She is four.
She is cute, sassy, determined, funny, loud, and an animal lover (among other things).
She is my third child and I love her.

The end.

McCade "graduates" from kindergarten

For the record. I am not entirely sold on all the "graduations" BUT I'm clearly not opposed to it enough to boycott photo ops.

Here is McCade with his BFF, Luke and Mrs. Boatwright, (I'm a card carrying member of the Mrs. Boatwright fan club.) Anyhoo.
"My name is McCade Matthew Parke and I want to work at SunValley when I grow up."

If only cats really did have 9 lives

This is a story of a kitten. It doesn't end well (as foreshadowed by the title.) But the story must be told.

Grace had been begging and we had been promising a kitty for months. The day finally came when we couldn't hold her off any longer.

Matt took her to the shelter where they found this charming little fellow. He was adopted, brought home, and Grace promptly changed his name to "Lurr Lurr." (Yes, there is a story behind the name; when Matt was a wee lad he had a cat too. He like the way it purred all the time so he named it Lurr Lurr. The kids love Matt's animal stories.) So....Grace was very responsible with the kitty, feeding, watering, giving it a little nip of milk here and there. And Lurr Lurr was a great kitty. No excessive scratching or crying. Bella loved to carry him around like a baby (under his "arms") and he would patiently hang out until she put him down. It seemed to be the perfect match.

When we went to Disneyland and my mom was home with Riggins she backed over him when she was leaving the garage. When she found him she put him in a shoe box and was going to bury him out back but she didn't want to leave Riggins alone in the house. Michelle A. and her son, Alec stopped by. When my mom told Michelle the story and asked if she would stay with Riggins so she could bury the kitty Michelle said, "Alec will do it." So sweet, strapping Alec dug a deep hole and the pet cemetery in the field had another beloved addition.

(An aside here... we have all kinds of friends in our lives; Friends to laugh with, shop with, eat with...etc. But it is important to know which of your friends will bury a body. . . I'm just sayin')

My mom told me on our way home from the airport. She cried. I cried. Grace cried. Bella didn't (surprisingly). McCade told Bella (with all the tact of a 6 year old boy), "Lurr Lurr is dead. Nana ran over him." Grace said, "It's not Nana's fault. It was an accident." I was proud of her. She cried and cried but forgave Nana without a second thought.

One of the most important and hardest lessons in life is that it is uncertain. And short. It's best to show the love and affection we feel with no hesitation. And no regrets.

MWF seeking balance

Sometimes I have a hard time balancing all the things I need to do, have to do, should do... with the things I want to do. Then throw in the things I need to buy, have to buy, should buy.... with the things I want to buy.... On top of that there are the things I need to eat, have to eat... well you can see I am buried in my need for balance. I confessed to my friend, Jill, about a winter coat I bought {$!$} because it was 1/2 off and I needed a new winter coat. She said, "You have to spend money to save money." Then the absurdity made us giggle like little school girls.

Part of the problem is summertime. There seem to be no punctuation marks in my day like there are during the school year. Matt feels the lack of structure and when he gets home from work it makes him grumpy (heat+matt not running after work=grump dogginess). Anyway. What's a girl to do?

We have been doing good with chores. Amazingly well, actually. But somehow this isn't giving me the sense of order I thought it would. I just can't ...quite...put my finger on it. I guess I'll go see if it's hiding in the freezer. Behind the ice cream.

Disneyland

We {heart} Disneyland! So does Matt's brother, Val and his wife, Tami. They are experts and showed us the best way to experience it so we would be assured a great trip last time. As a result we all love it. We had no trip plans on the horizon but a few weeks ago we were dreaming about going...soon. Matt got a sweet deal on rooms, throw in some affordable airfare. DONE! We were on our way.

Here are a few highlights (and "lowlights".) *My mom stayed with Riggins:) *Our Alle-giant flight was two hours late getting us to CA:(*The kids first airplane ride and the escalator @ the airport:) *Bella, "When we gonna blast off?" :) *Finally getting to our sweet hotel room (warm cookies anyone?:) *Tami, "If you thought the escalators were fun..." *Walking on to Pirates & Splash mountain as soon as we got there (Grace, sopping wet, we had to buy her a new shirt.) *Fantasmic *Bella, sound asleep, on Matt's lap *Yummy breakfast *"Hitting" Splash and Pirates every day. *Good times @ the airport.

*Bug's life baby!

*At the Pixar Parade Grace blew Buzz Lightyear a kiss, he pointed at her and drew an air heart. PRICELESS!

Splash Mountain- we love it!

*Bella wasn't tall enough to go on Grizzly River :(even after I folded granola bars in half and stuck them in her shoes) *But she was loving Brother Bear :)

*Lunch at the Blue Bayou:) -Not being by the door (double:) *Magic Morning * Bella's giggle on Thunder Mountain:) *Fast passes *Holding hands with the kids *Bella, (about Tower of Terror) "That ride frrrreaked me out" *Standing in line for Alladin:( *The Alladin show:) * Val carrying Bella around and her kissing him on the cheek all the time. *When we finally got a stroller for Bella, "The mauler." *The kids eating oatmeal and going straight to bed every night *Room service:) *Swimming at the hotel pool (Why do kids love swimming so much?) *Standing on the side of the road waiting for the bus back to the airport:(!

I'd clone him if I could

Maybe I already have...

I really would clone McCade even when he is missing a front tooth and the other one is all snaggly ... and he has a red kool-aid mustache. I'd love a clone of him that I could freeze at each age. Like the age when he said "hephalant" or the age when he said cute things about seeing the jet's breath outside at night.

I'd for sure clone the 6 1/2 year old McCade who loves to surprise me by making my bed a few times a week.

Who doesn't love animals but loves his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Boatwright and obsesses about how tall Mr. Boatwright is.

This little / big McCade who loves his brother so much and keeps his room clean.

I'd sure like a copy of the boy who is so sweet to his mom and sisters but tore the head off his robot when his dad got after him one night. Then he came out with his headless robot and asked me to hot glue his head back on and started doing karate kid breathing so he would be calmer next time.

Since the whole cloning thing isn't going to work out, I'd settle for him to just grow up slower. ALOT slower.