oh yeah, they've got moves!

Dolly visited the other night and was playing some tunes for us ...

check out the moves in our house!

as promised: birthday, 'nastics, & first day of school!

The weather was beautiful on Sunday. After a day of shopping, we went to Papaw & Totsie's for a birthday dinner, some fun outside, and some extra yummy dessert! Hannah & Cody really enjoyed fishing with Papaw's help:


I'm so glad that Jennie & Ryan were able to join us. Leah was very concerned that "Ryan's mommy doesn't know how to get to this house!" and we had to explain to her that Ryan's mommy spent a LOT of time at Papaw & Totsie while we were growing up :-)


Monday was Leah's make-up class for 'nastics. They award trophies at the end of the classes. Can you tell she's thrilled?!?


And Wednesday was the long awaited first day of school. Hannah & Cody were VERY excited, and Leah and Kaden had to get in on the picture taking action. I must add that Leah & Kaden were both quite put-out because they weren't allowed to get on the bus, too.

Hope that satisfies your picture craving for now!

update coming soon

Give me a break folks. I'm 30 now. That means I'm moving a little bit slower. I have pictures from the birthday weekend plus Hannah & Cody's first day of school, so stay tuned!

catching up

I believe that one of the hardest parts about losing someone you love is watching everyone else continue on with their daily routines as if nothing has changed. That's the circle of life, yes, but it can be so hard. So, Jennie, please know that I am thinking of you and will do all that I can to support you even as we get back to the daily grind and the minutuae of life.

That being said, it's time to play catch-up on the blog. On the 5th, we went to the Annual Night Out Against Crime in Brownsburg.

I must digress in true Jenni fashion to let you know how Hannah described the evening.
H: Miss Amy, are you going to jail tonight?
Miss Amy: What?!?
H: Are you going to jail tonight?
Amy: Um, no, that wasn't part of my plan. Why do you ask that?
H: Well, we're going to jail tonight.
Amy: What are you talking about?!?
H: You know, that thing at the cop place.
And, thank heavens, Miss Amy did know about the thing at the "cop place."

We got our free food, our free smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, our child ID cards, and had a blast with the games and the music. Carrying all of that stuff while trying to haul my camera out for the photo ops made me even more convinced that I need a nice camera strap. Something like this one from Cotton Candy by Natalie, perhaps?

And maybe Dolly will get this one for her birthday .... While I ruminate on camera strap options, here are a couple of pictures from our Night Out.

praying for peace

Sometimes there are no words that can capture the emotions that you are experiencing. Jennie's Dad is in the hospital in Florida and the focus at this time is on keeping him comfortable. As a hospital social worker, one might expect that I would be a little more prepared to support someone during such a time as this. But I'm not. I am overwhelmed by sadness and grief for Jennie and her family. I think that while Jennie and I were younger I only had the opportunity to spend the night with Jennie at her Dad's house on one or two occassions, but I have the fondest memories of that ... how I loved those donuts that he always had, the ones you heat in the microwave .... I wanted to share two of my favorite pictures from our trip to Florida in February. I hope you can see from his smile what a wonderful, loving man he has been. Leah asked me last evening why I was so sad. I told her that Ryan's Papaw was very sick and that he will be joining her Pappy in heaven soon. Leah commented that her Pappy is always in her heart and said that she wants to tell Ryan that his Papaw will always be in his heart and in hers. We can ask for no more than that. Please say a prayer for strength and peace for Jennie and her Dad.

we're going to the zoo zoo zoo

how about you you you

you can come too too too

we're going to the ZOO!

Of course, we have to say Thank You a million times over to Papaw & Totsie for the gift of the Zoo membership. We were thrilled that they accepted Leah's invitation to join us on Sunday.

Here was our day in photos:

We arrived in time to catch the end of a Sea Lion chat/feeding and went into the Oceans exhibit. Cody LOVES the sharks and this was a particularly good time - I think he touched 6 or 7 of them and was thrilled! The penguins were very active because it was feeding time for them as well, and the polar bear was out and about in the water.

Next it was on to the Plains so that we could feed the giraffes. Missed the photo op for Leah and Cody (and wasn't about to find out how much the Zoo charges to purchase copies of the pictures that they snap for you). After feeding the giraffes, we sent Papaw & Totsie for a snack and sat down to watch the elephant bath. That elephant hair is something else!

Papaw & Totsie sure do love us. Their special treat for this trip to the Zoo was tickets to ride the 4-D Sponge Bob ride, which the kids have been begging to do. Leah was so proud of herself because "I didn't even have to raise my hand" to have the motion turned off on her seat.

Our last stop was the Forests and the Koala Bears! I couldn't believe that one of them was actually AWAKE! It was climbing around the tree and then took a little walk around its glass enclosure. Perfect photo opportunity!

Thanks again for joining us, Papaw & Totsie.