Jerry and I

I thought this picture of us was pretty good. I never put pictures of just Jerry and I on my blog. I mean, really, who wants to see pictures of us? The kids are a whole lot cuter. But, I liked this picture and thought I'd share. Besides, when I print my blog out in book form, I'll be glad to have this picture, huh? Did you know you can print out your blog in a book? I was so excited to find that out!

Happy Birthday Nanny!

O.k. So, this post is really late. Nanny's birthday is the 6th, but I just didn't get it done then. So, here it is. We had a little breakfast for her at Guadalajara and the whole family (almost) came. We had breakfast and lemon meringue pie. She turned 82, I think. I never do get it quite right.

This is the whole family. Bruce had to leave early.

Sheridan's kids and my kids with Nanny. Bruce brought Brock and Harley, but he had to go to Brock's ballgame, so he left before we took pictures. We had a good time.

Happy Birthday Baby Samuel

Today is Samuel's birthday. He would have been nine. I'm not sure if your children grow up in heaven or not. I like to think that I'll get to hold him and rock him when I get there, but I'm not sure how that's going to work. We donated some swings to our church in the spring in Samuel's memory. Today, we put up the plaque on the swings and had breakfast with our family. The kids got to swing on Samuel's Swings and we took some pictures. Nine years ago on this day, I wanted my life to end. I was sure that if I didn't die that I would live in misery until I did. Obviously, that's not the case, but it was dark in that time of my life and I couldn't see any light. Someone once told me, "How would you know joy if you didn't know sorrow." and I learned quickly that I had I never known what it was like to hold my dead child that I would have never understood the shear magnitude of holding my live one--how precious they are. Life's lessons are God's lessons and He walks with us through them all. Holley gave me a clinging cross--a cross made of wood that fits in the palm of your hand. It is so true what that cross is all about. The only way to survive sorrow is to cling to the cross.

All the kids--aren't they precious.

Baby Samuel Wyatt Young--December 13, 1999

What a silly boy!

Benjamin was in the silliest mood! He was making faces and saying funny stuff. He had us in stitches!

My Dollar Store Christmas tree

Well, this year was a year of firsts for us--an artificial tree. Never, in 20 years of marriage have Jerry and I had a fake tree. Never in my life have I ever had a fake tree. We always had real ones growing up. But, the time has come, I hate putting lights on a tree and the fake ones come with lights on them. There. That's the whole reason we got a fake tree. This Dollar Store tree is just the beginning of our fake treedom. You see, after Christmas, when trees go on sale, we are going to purchase the mother load of fake trees. We are hoping to find one with LED lights that you can either have all white or change at the push of a button to any color you want. Also, I want a tall one that looks real. Sam's has one for about $500.00. What am I thinking? Is it really worth that? Even half off is $250.00. Dreams, dreams. Anyway, the tree in the picture was $25.00 at Dollar General. It leans forward some and looks very FAKE. But, the decor I put on it is beautiful (thanks to my sister who has taste) and we dressed up this little tree. I'm thinking the whole Charlie Brown story now--all it needed was a little love. Shit. All I need is a big ol', light changin', real looking, 50% off, humongous tree after Christmas. (I just wrote "shit" for the humor of it--if I offended you, I'm sorry. I just thought it was funny:-)) And, alas, the truth is I know it's about Christ's birth and I'm feeling awful selfish....Geez.

More Aquarium

The dolphins were great this past week also. They seemed to want to interact with the kids through the glass. Benjamin was fascinated.
Look at this one biting the other one. Hmmm. It makes you wonder....

This dolphin actually tried to get Marymae's foot when it was on the glass. I guess he thought he would be able to grab it. I don't know, but it surprised Marymae. That's for sure.

They came up to the glass over and over again when the little guys were close to it.

Aquarium Day--a field trip sponsored by US!

One of the things I enjoy most about homeschooling is being able to get out and go whenever we want. Currently, we are studying invertebrates and there is no better place to see invertebrates at their finest than at the aquarium. Of course, we look at everything invertebrate or not. This week we went on Thursday--the weather was wonderful, there was NO ONE there except people who worked there and my kids got the special treatment. Here, Allen is feeding a ant eater cousin some yummy honey.
Scuba diver and Allen after the dive show where they feed the fish. Marymae was scared to death of this guy.

Allen holds a hermit crab at the touch tank. Marymae wants to real bad but can't bring herself to do it.

The turtles were particularly friendly this week. I'm not sure if they were hungry or what, but they came right up to the glass and watched US as if we were the ones on display. It was pretty cool. In fact, I thought they were coming over the side a couple of times.

Don't they look friendly? Marymae and Benjamin thought it was the coolest thing on earth!