A List for Tuesday

5 Things That Made July Crazy

1. Dutch turned 4
2. Bo passed away
3. Bailey Family reunion
4. My niece Anneke's baptism
5. Family staying at my house - I have to say I love having a place big enough to accommodate everyone!

What was your July like?

Bo the Wonder Dog

Wednesday morning Bo the Wonder Dog passed away in his sleep. He was part of our family for 5 1/2 years and we're all having a hard time adjusting to him being gone.

We're grateful that he went peacefully and for all the love he gave us while he was alive. What's your favorite memory of Bo?

Dutch's 4th Birthday!

Camera cord is still lost. One of these days there will be a series of all-picture posts!

Yesterday was Dutch's Golden Brithday - he turned 4 on the 4th! When Chris wished Dutch a happy birthday the first thing Dutch said was, "FIREWORKS!" It seems he associates his birthday with fireworks, and rightly so.

We went over to Bah and Honey's house for brunch where Dutch received his first two presents of the day. A remote control Jeep from Uncle Zaque and Aunt Amy, and a pair of water guns from Bah. He loved them both, of course, but the Jeep got it's own song: "I love my Jeep! I love my Jeep!" repeated over and over again.

The water guns were only fun if he was shooting them at you, but not if you were shooting them at him! And when Chris swiped his gun and shot him with it, Dutch was VERY upset. So I guess we're going to have to work on the rules of water gunning.

As his birthday present from us Chris and I took Dutch to the movies to see Madagascar 3. We convinced Grandma Honey to come with us too. For the most part Dutch really loved it. He also loved having a soda and popcorn.

Chris let Dutch pick out his birthday cake and he chose a covered-in-bright-red-frosting Elmo cake. We shared it with Bah, Honey, Uncle Zaque, and Aunt Amy. Grandma Honey gave Dutch a family photo album, and he refused to believe that the baby in the pictures were him.

We topped the evening off with Sandy City's fireworks display. On the way home from watching the fireworks Dutch fell dead asleep and didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning!

I think it's safe to say it was a pretty awesome birthday for our big 4-year-old.

A List for Tuesday

5 Awesome Things That Happened While My Sister Heather and Her Two Girls Visited
(in no particular order)

1. Heather and I were constantly mishearing Dutch and Evie which led to hilarious moments. The best was when we thought Evie had said she broke Dutch's cookie finger.
2. Evie peed on my driveway. No, that's not a typo.
3. We went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point and Dutch kept yelling at Heather, "I'm riding my horsie!"
4. Every time anyone had anything to eat Dane would walk/crawl over and open his mouth like a little bird looking for handouts.
5. Bella took better care of Dane than anyone else ever has. I'm pretty sure he loved having her at his beck and call.

Have a happy Independence Day/Dutch's birthday tomorrow!

All Apologies (Or Not)

I always get annoyed when every time someone posts on their blog they start by apologizing that they don't post more. It's YOUR blog, you don't have to answer to anyone but yourself! With this in mind I realized I haven't blogged a lot lately and that makes me sad. I just feel like there isn't much to talk about. Then I stop and think about it and there is TONS to talk about.

I still can't find my camera cord so this will, once again, be a picture-less post.

• Dane is walking and talking and becoming the definition of toddler. He seems SO small to me to be doing all of these things. I keep telling him to stay a baby. "Mama loves her Baby Dane and wants him to stay her Baby Dane."
• Dutch has been talking up a storm lately. He's so much more verbal than he was even six months ago. Speech therapy and early-intervention pre-school have been the best things for him. I worry about him a lot. I'm afraid that because he'll be the biggest kid in his class when he starts "real" school people with think he's dumb. I don't want him to have any of that kind of negativity put in his head. I don't want him to wonder if they're right. I want him to be happy and healthy and confident.
• Dane loves the sound of his name. He repeats it over and over again. I'm glad he has such an easy name to say!
• Dutch has been trying so hard lately. To be a good big brother; to poop on the potty (no accidents yet!); to do things that make Mama happy. The other day he was yelling at me and being kind of mean and I told him it made me sad. He immediately came over and gave me a hug and told me "'S'okay, Mama. Ohhh. Don't be sad."
• Dane's new favorite game is Touch the Dog. He will watch Bo from across the room and wait for him to fall asleep. Then he crawls/walks over to him and tries to pet him before Bo wakes up and moves. When Dutch was a baby Bo had eternal patience at being crawled all over. Now that he's a crotchety old man Dane is lucky to even pet him!
• Dutch started his summer pre-school this week. He'll go three more weeks after this one. Two in July and one in August. It's fun for him and nice for Dane and I to have some time alone together. It's an all around good time for everyone!

A List for Tuesday

5 Awesome Things About the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (WIFYR) Conference
(in no particular order)

1. It's a great opportunity to meet other writers and learn from them.
2. I get to spend every afternoon with my friend (and critique partner) Jenel.
3. Every once in a while I need additional writing motivation and this definitely offers that.
4. Who knows what will come from the networking I'm doing! Maybe I'll meet someone who will introduce me to someone who will help me get my book published.
5. It's fun to be away from the boys doing my own thing for 3 hours every day!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad

I probably should have ENDED this series of posts today, but instead I am starting them. This week I will write a post to the 3 most important Dad's in my life in honor of Father's Day. Today I will start with my own Daddy.

Probably one of my favorite pictures ever.

My dad is awesome. When I was a kid my dad was constantly coming up with fun things for us to do. Not to mention he made us lunches for school and breakfast every day (cinnamon toast was my favorite). My dad is a lefty and he's amazingly artistic. Every different kind of art he tries he excels in. My dad is the king of cheesy puns and jokes. He has ones that he's used for years, but people always laugh at them (even though I tell them to stop encouraging him).

My dad has always been super-supportive of my writing. He continued to buy me notebooks when I was a kid, even though I had about 50 of them. When Chris started applying to PA schools my dad asked the magic question, "But what are YOU going to do?" that led me to apply to Seton Hill's Writing Popular Fiction program. A decision that definitely changed my life.  

Daddy and I didn't always have the great relationship we have now. For a long time we were sort of stuck in the same relationship we'd had since I was 16. I don't know what changed or exactly when, but now we're very close. I try to call my parents at least once a week and I always love talking to my dad. I miss him when he's not around and I'm glad when he is.

Happy Father's Day to the best dad I could have asked for. I love you!