So, team JenSquared didn't win this round of Venatu......that's okay, we've got the next one.
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| Oh, you know.....just some notes and such. |
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
* January 27, 2013
The sky today. I loved how the clouds looked like a painting....swirly and such color variation that it almost felt fake.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
* January 26, 2013
Not even quite six months old, and already, Jake is practicing to be a superhero......
How he got his bib turned around like that is beyond me.
* January 25, 2013
Man cold revisited.
Not feeling well, myself........
and obviously not wanting to take a picture of ME.....I will post a picture of Joe from the day he had the deadly "man cold".....it was January 7th....and lucky for me, he survived. Many are not so lucky.
* January 24, 2013
It was pizza night....
And both older boys were enthralled by little brother, Jake's, Mickey Mouse Club House program.
They would ground me if they knew I took pictures of them watching a "baby show".
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
* January 22, 2013
25 weeks and all over the atlas
Yes......I still use an atlas....shush!
Jake is planning our next geocaching/treasure hunting adventure. He says "What's up", to the Venatu guys. He's on to ya, Dux....watch out!!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
* January 18, 2013
Joe and I went on an adventure.....and we took Jake along for the ride. I belong to a "Mommy's Group" on FB. We are like a July 2012 moms sorority. We all became friends as we were finding out we were pregnant with our July babies. Anyhow......I was notified that there was a treasure hunt of sorts and a "mommy friend" of mine, also named Jennifer....figured out where the artifact= Booty, was located. Problem was, she lives on the other side of the country. She told me that I was 28 miles from it. Somehow, via miracle....I talked Joe in to taking the morning off and going with Jake and I to find it. He actually agreed....and anyone that knows Joe, knows he does NOT take off of work much....EVER. Even when I had the baby, he was not gone more than two days. Workaholic much??
Ugh...anyhow, I got off track again....
We went for it. The artifact was hidden in a rusty old paint can off of a trail at the Caddo Lake Wildlife Refuge. Amazing Jennifer was able to pinpoint EXACTLY where to look. In this whole HUGE country.....and her having never been in this area, she knew JUST where for us to go and search. And we did....we trusted in her directions and went with it. With her direction and using some clues she gave us, Joe and I found the rusty paint can....only problem was another person from another team showed up just after us...and rules state that if both teams are within 22 feet of the artifact when discovered, you have to split the booty.
We had so. much. fun. It was exciting, thrilling, and got our adrenaline pumping. We so needed that rush and challenge. Now I am hooked. I would love to do this again....and with Jennifer we have a great team. Jennifer is a sleuth by nature, I am very precise with directions (maybe it was from being a nurse for years), and Joe.....he is a details person. We made a great trio.
Thanks, Jen, for trusting us to follow your clues and instinct. And thank you, to the Venatu Game....we had a great time.
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| On our way......and I didn't even brush my hair. Adventure don't care..... |
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| This gas pump took fooooooreverrrrrrr |
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| Driving up the driveway to the Caddo Lake Wildlife Refuge |
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| The parking lot we were instructed to park in |
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| Who doesn't treasure hunt/geocach with a 5 month old?? |
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| Walking up the trail..... |
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| My nerves were shot.....some other dude, from another team showed up....and I had fallen, pretty bad, in TWO sink holes. |
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| The "other dude" |
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| The picture clue we had to go off of...match this spot in the 25,000 acre state park and refuge. |
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| The artifact (salt and pepper shakers) were to be hidden in this can....in THIS location. |
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| Joe talking to Jennifer, our sleuth. |
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| Waiting to hear whether or not we would win anything since A) "other dude" was claiming HE found it and that we weren't there when he did .....which is funny because he posted a picture of the paint can and we are in the picture...silly dude. and B) when we found the can, there was nothing in it....there was to be salt and pepper shakers with a phone number we had to call.....and nothing. So we had to replicate the paint can in the exact location as given in the clue photo. We did....and we won....the booty was split 4 ways....Joe and I got $250, Jen (our teammate and sleuth) got $250, the "other dude" got $250 and his teammate and sleuth got $250. Not bad for a morning's work and fun. |
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| Joe, power stancing....just awaiting word about the fate of the game. |
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| On our way home.....WINNERS!! |
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| My battle wounds......legs all bruised and scratched. |
* January 17, 2013
Jake got his first taste of apple juice....and used the bottle himself. He is a breastfed baby that doesn't even get pumped milk, so the use of a bottle is foreign to him. Not only did he ace the use of the bottle alone....but he also LOVED the juice. He screamed when I took it away form him.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
* January 16, 2013
It's a cheesy, silly, cell phone picture.......but this love......those emotions......I'll never have enough in my lifetime.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
* January 15, 2013
This is what 24 weeks looks like....drooly, smoochable, and two sets of cheeks you wanna squeeze......
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
* January 13, 2013
Not sure who is manning this spaceship.....
Not much in life is cooler (or sexier), than a daddy having fun and playing with his kids.
* January 12, 2013
That sweet face.....amazing how much of it seems so familiar, yet new at the same time. When I see Jake, I see Ariel.....the next moment, I see Joey....and then I blink and I see Corey's little smoochable lips and nose. Then I close my eyes.....his sounds, his scent, his little fingers grasping me....*sigh*
I wish these moments would last forever......
Friday, January 11, 2013
* january 11, 2013
Feet! I love my kids' feet. Silly feet!
I just wanted ONE good picture...so I took 46 of them. There were a few
"perfect" ones....perfect toes, all lined up "just right" and no one
being silly......I hated it. Instead, these are my favorites.
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| I love Ariel's face in reaction to Joey's feet......gosh, I love these babies! |
This won't be their favorite, I am sure......but it's mine.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
* January 10, 2013
My sweet Joey. He is my child (out of the four), that makes me most aware of my job as a parent. He is like me in some ways, when I was a child. Sensitive, needs to be wanted, insecure, funny, a smile that goes on for miles, and an attention span of a gnat.
My parents divorced when I was a child. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that it wasn't going to affect me, it did. I was sensitive, hurt, confused, anxious, insignificant, and lost. Shortly after, my father remarried. This was particularly difficult for me....and no one understood (or in my eyes, cared). I wasn't upset that he was remarrying, per se.....but rather because I was pushed even farther down on the list of important things...the special that I felt I was, had been erased. I was now....just a 'kid with an attitude problem'. I didn't want to be a problem or burden, I inherently just like to please people. Especially my seemingly unpleaseable parents. Dad was always worried about how step mom felt....and she felt A LOT. Mother was in a deep, dark funk (that she has never escaped from). I was just floating along. As long as I didn't disagree about anything, *feel* any way they couldn't relate to, and kept to myself, all was going to be fine. I just couldn't do it for long...it was a cycle...I would be blamed for things (sometimes accurately), I would get my feelings hurt for disappointing dad, then I would get in trouble for being sensitive and hurt. I HATED it....and I was stuck with it forever. I was a little girl....a daddy's girl, that lost him in that special way. No amount of "fix-it" was out there. We were irreparable.
Even now, I am 36 years old.....much more life has been lived since those days of being twelve. I am a mother myself, and Joe a father. Although I am not happy about my childhood, teen years, or even early adulthood....I won't dwell on those feelings of abandonment, control and selfishness.....I will and have used those experiences in raising my own, tenderhearted children. Joey wants nothing more than to be told he does a good job. Poor kid, he messes up just about everything he attempts.....but bless his heart, he tries....and I really look inside him to see his purpose, his feelings, his love for us...so fierce. Just looking in his eyes, I see me......and I just want to tell him that his life will be just fine. He's momma's boy always...
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
* January 9, 2013
Complete with a nervous tummy, Corey made it to school today with his new glasses on. I was happy to see that when he walked in the door after school, he was still wearing them......this time with a smile and silly faces, that are typical Corey.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
* January 8, 2013
.....whether we like it or not.
Monday, January 7, 2013
* jaNuARy 7, 2013
Messy, sloppy, irresistible six year old.....complete with snaggle teeth, athletic pants, and cowboy boots (on the wrong feet of course).....at the top of my list of awesome.
Corey doesn't get a chance to play outside a whole lot throughout the year. From his heat rashes and asthma in the summer to too much smoke in the air in the winter, it's a rarity for him to be out for any length of time...plus, when we throw in his extensive autoimmune issues and their side effects....that limits his "Great Outdoors" experiences even more. It is nice, on a day like today, where the weather is *just* right and no smoke in the air.....where he can be a six year old......boots on the wrong feet and all.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
* January 6, 2013
This writing has always been dear to my heart. It was read at our wedding, and also hangs in our living room (although an abbreviated version)....sometimes a reminder is needed.....for everyone.
* January 5, 2013
Too much sweetness, that grows entirely too fast. Trying to cherish every moment.....
Friday, January 4, 2013
* January 4, 2013
Graffiti I found today, on the wall, inside Corey's spaceship hideout.....
I love finding/seeing/hearing unprovoked, just because, love displays.....made my day. Even though Ariel is 17 and Corey is 6.....and even though he gets on her last ever lovin' nerve....she still found the time to tell him she loved him.....in her own way.
* January 3, 2013
Jake's new "thing".....making this adorable face (all day long) and saying, "Ooooh". So irresistible!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
* January 2, 2013
My sticky, messy, loud, slobbery, laughing, boogery, lovable, cuddly, smart, witty, and perfectly dirty boys. Jake's 22 week picture.....
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
* Well.....Hellooooo, 2013
2012 was a doozy. In many ways, we are welcoming 2013 with open arms.....and also, a photo diary. Each day this year, I will post a picture.....taken that day. With this crazy love of a family I have, we have no shortage on inspiration. So, here we go......today is a day of fresh beginnings, second chances, and of course....cabbage and black eyed peas.
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