Ok I know I have not been a very good “blogger” lately. I have been reading instead of blogging, shame on me, I know. I don’t really have anything in particular to share just some random snippets of stories, facts, etc. so here goes!
Kaden loves to blow kisses! Last night he was sitting on my bed blowing me kisses. I would reach my hand out and say “got, it!” he thought it was hilarious! We did this for about 20 minutes!
On Saturday he got his hair cut at Sports Clips with Daddy. Surprisingly they were cheaper than the Kiddy Cuts Place! He didn’t like sitting on the booster though so Daddy wore the smock while a shirtless Kaden sat on his lap with a sucker to ease the pain. The lady doing the cutting has a 20 month old so she was really good with him. Daddy’s hands got a bit sticky covered in sucker drool and then, of course, hair clippings. Anyway he got a nice summer cut that styles nicely just like Daddy’s. I will post a picture soon, he looks so cute!
Wii…code for throw you shoulder out! Aunt Sissy invested in this dream machine of a video game system yesterday. We had fun playing it, though I am pretty terrible at most of the games. I can’t imagine how entertaining it would be to video us playing it. My shoulder had been bothering me for a while but I can barely lift my arm this morning. Sad I know! Kaden, of course, wanted in on the fun, so we managed to distract him with a DVD remote that looked very similar to our controllers. He was so cute swinging his arm around at the tv! Don’t worry no damage was done to the tv.
Nemo?...Nemo?...NEMO! this is the most common word heard around dour house these days. I love the movie, I really do but watching the last 30 minutes 4 times and the whole movie 3 times is a bit much for a week! Side note… Aunt Allison DVR’d the last 30 minutes not realizing that we had the full movie. It was just easier to start it from there rather than dig out the dvd but after seeing the end so many times, we were forced to drag out the dvd so we could watch a different part. D was amazed how much more sense the movie makes when you see the beginning!
On Saturday Kaden and Zach finally got to have a play date. It had definitely been too long. They are so cute together. I can’t believe how big they are. They did a great job of helping each other up and down the slide. Kaden loves to help people up he grabs on and grunts like he is using all of his strength. When he helps mommy and daddy up he will sometimes grab our hair and ears, it is actually a very effective manner of getting us to get going. ;)
I found out on Saturday that Kaden now knows how to put his finger to his lips and say…sssshhh! It is so cute! He is also getting quite good at patting and then throwing his hands in the air to “blast off” just like the Little Einstein’s.
My favorite thing though is he loves to pray at meals. He will reach for our hands, scrunch up his shoulder and waits for the end when he shouts “Amen!”
Well that’s all I have for now! I will try to keep up better in the future!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Jury Duty
Tuesday I had the fortunate opportunity of serving on Jury duty. What a waste of time and tax payer money that is! First of all I had to walk approximately 10 blocks to reach the building where we were supposed to meet. Much further than anticipated, a fact not realized by me which in turn made me decide to wear my cute flats versus my less cute but more comfortable flats...aka Grandma shoes. By the time I reached my destination I was freezing, because oh, yeah there were also 60 mph freezing cold winds...btw I also didn't bring a jacket and toes are freezing through my less comfortable but cute open-toed flats. I am scanned in, make my name tag and take a seat next to a very nice lady. The only unfortunate thing was that she had an actual mustache..not just a few random hairs but an actual thick full mustache that would make Jon jealous. Oh, and the fact that I managed to choose the uncomfortable section of chairs. I didn't want the man.. er.. lady next to me to be offended so I couldn't get up now. Anyway after reading over/skimming my duties as a juror on the hand laminated card, we were treated to a movie. A 15 minute long video about how lucky we were to be here, blah, blah blah. Now this being my first time to serve I am actually kind of excited at the prospect of being on a jury..silly me. After the conclusion of the video, the lady in charge proceeds to tell us how to get on and off the buses and where the free parking is...wait if we are already here isn't this now useless information??
They then quickly tell us to make sure we have read carefully our duties as a juror and then they whisk the laminated cards away from us as if they really had no intention of us reading it at all. Suddenly I am afraid that I may be agreeing to something I hadn't intended, like promising to vote for Hillary or something terrible like that! but it was too late, the card was gone!
Now the fun and exciting part starts called waiting for people with feeble excuses to try and get out of duty. This line was seemingly never ending. At last the last feeble attempt was granted and those of us without a valid excuse were left behind to "face the music" so to speak.
As the lady in charge called name after name we all tried to decide what section was better or worse to be sitting in. Turns out it didn't matter...we played a game of musical chairs for about the next 30 minutes while various groups moved to this section or that. At last I was called and moved to chair number 39. We were all instructed to write on our piece of paper the court, the number, the judge and the time to return. My group was of course instructed to return at one. Perfect giving me just enough time to do... well nothing. We were released about filling out our page long survey on our hobbies and tv shows, I should have put finding people guilty as my hobby but instead went with scrap booking.
After a short break and some lunch I returned to the 4th floor of an even further away building, where once again I manage to find the most uncomfortable spot to sit for 30 minutes while we waited for everyone to arrive. After our 3 roll call of the day we are all lined up in order 7 at a time. Literally it was a 5 step walk from the first bailiff who lined us up to the second bailiff who carefully instructed us where to sit. Seriously I think i may have been the youngest person there, if we can't find a seat and stay in order for 10 steps do they really want us on the jury?
now the truly terrible....interesting part began. The lawyers took turns giving us various information about how to be a good little juror. Including telling us things such as, if a person decides not to testify we can't assume they are guilty...uh ok....and also did we have a problem judging people, etc. this went on to include various demonstration and several inconclusive questioning sessions by the lawyers to various prospective jurors. Here was one memorable conversation
L: "it says here that you have strong feelings about people who are convicted of crimes. If chosen could you overcome these feelings?
PJ: Well probably?
L: I need a definite yes or no.
PJ: Yes, I think I could.
Does anyone else have an issue with this? ridiculous! If you are going to bother to write this statement and aren't planning on using it as a means of getting out of serving, why bother! Also you just totally changed your own moral values on the spot?? Strange...
My favorite part though was when the first lawyer spoke, during the first hour, she pretty much said that if you weren't in the first 32 you probably wouldn't even get to you. That didn't, however, change the fact that we all had to sit there the whole time.
Good thing I had the sleeping bailiff to watch, the obvious meth head to study and, last but not least, the guy next to me shaking his leg so violently that I was getting motion sick all keeping me awake.
When finally we got a break, we had to wait another 40 minutes, then parade back in to the room to hear our names not be called. then we all marched across the street to turn in our forms and receive our huge checks and certificates saying that we had indeed been a vitally important part of the legal system for the day. I decided to donate my $6 as that was not near enough for me to bother cashing.
another 10 block hike back to my car in my cute but uncomfortable for long distance walking flats and I am finally done at 4:45 pm.
Let's review
8 hours
1 sore butt
2 sore calves
2 sore feet
equals $6 to charity...
well at least someone benefited from the experience!
They then quickly tell us to make sure we have read carefully our duties as a juror and then they whisk the laminated cards away from us as if they really had no intention of us reading it at all. Suddenly I am afraid that I may be agreeing to something I hadn't intended, like promising to vote for Hillary or something terrible like that! but it was too late, the card was gone!
Now the fun and exciting part starts called waiting for people with feeble excuses to try and get out of duty. This line was seemingly never ending. At last the last feeble attempt was granted and those of us without a valid excuse were left behind to "face the music" so to speak.
As the lady in charge called name after name we all tried to decide what section was better or worse to be sitting in. Turns out it didn't matter...we played a game of musical chairs for about the next 30 minutes while various groups moved to this section or that. At last I was called and moved to chair number 39. We were all instructed to write on our piece of paper the court, the number, the judge and the time to return. My group was of course instructed to return at one. Perfect giving me just enough time to do... well nothing. We were released about filling out our page long survey on our hobbies and tv shows, I should have put finding people guilty as my hobby but instead went with scrap booking.
After a short break and some lunch I returned to the 4th floor of an even further away building, where once again I manage to find the most uncomfortable spot to sit for 30 minutes while we waited for everyone to arrive. After our 3 roll call of the day we are all lined up in order 7 at a time. Literally it was a 5 step walk from the first bailiff who lined us up to the second bailiff who carefully instructed us where to sit. Seriously I think i may have been the youngest person there, if we can't find a seat and stay in order for 10 steps do they really want us on the jury?
now the truly terrible....interesting part began. The lawyers took turns giving us various information about how to be a good little juror. Including telling us things such as, if a person decides not to testify we can't assume they are guilty...uh ok....and also did we have a problem judging people, etc. this went on to include various demonstration and several inconclusive questioning sessions by the lawyers to various prospective jurors. Here was one memorable conversation
L: "it says here that you have strong feelings about people who are convicted of crimes. If chosen could you overcome these feelings?
PJ: Well probably?
L: I need a definite yes or no.
PJ: Yes, I think I could.
Does anyone else have an issue with this? ridiculous! If you are going to bother to write this statement and aren't planning on using it as a means of getting out of serving, why bother! Also you just totally changed your own moral values on the spot?? Strange...
My favorite part though was when the first lawyer spoke, during the first hour, she pretty much said that if you weren't in the first 32 you probably wouldn't even get to you. That didn't, however, change the fact that we all had to sit there the whole time.
Good thing I had the sleeping bailiff to watch, the obvious meth head to study and, last but not least, the guy next to me shaking his leg so violently that I was getting motion sick all keeping me awake.
When finally we got a break, we had to wait another 40 minutes, then parade back in to the room to hear our names not be called. then we all marched across the street to turn in our forms and receive our huge checks and certificates saying that we had indeed been a vitally important part of the legal system for the day. I decided to donate my $6 as that was not near enough for me to bother cashing.
another 10 block hike back to my car in my cute but uncomfortable for long distance walking flats and I am finally done at 4:45 pm.
Let's review
8 hours
1 sore butt
2 sore calves
2 sore feet
equals $6 to charity...
well at least someone benefited from the experience!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
18 Months of Amazing!
Where did the last year and a half go? I never dreamed it would go so fast! Here are Kaden's latest and greatest feats!
1. Lots of new words including, wader (water), unt more (want more), Hallie, Bubba, out-ide (outside), un ride (I want to ride), Up, Peeze, Ank you, Down, Ear go (here you go)
2. Eating great! loves mac n cheese, ham, turkey dogs, cottage cheese, yogurt, bread, pizza.etc. so nice to finally have him eating.
3. Feeds himself regularly with a spoon. He does a great job too.
4. Likes to "draw". Recently I got him those crayola buddies, greatness. He especially likes to have his hand traced. He seems to favor the blue crayon.
5. Loves to be outside! Running, ridin', it doesn't matter he loves it all!
6. Getting really good at animal noises, names. Perhaps he will be a zoologist. Visited the zoo for the 3rd time.
7. If we are playing and going to run to each other or Jon is going to bounce him on the bed and we are counting to three...he will now count to three or just yell 3! in hopes of hurrying us along!
8. When you ask him a question he will say "ummmm...yeah!" It is so cute!
9. Got to spend lots of time with Grandparents last month! They all hated that as I am sure you can imagine ;)
10. Loves to carry in the mail, he is truly a boy after my own heart.
11. Still loves his bath..most of the time. though he definitely let's us know if the water is too "code".
12. Before he gets in the bath he likes to sit on his "potty". With the lid down though..could be a problem but we will get there.
13. Loves to drink tea. What proper Texan doesn't?
14. Loves to watch Bu (Blue's Clues)
15. Has a new friend named Canon David Adams. Pics to come soon!
16.Loves to be flipped
17. Will point to a chair etc. and say. "sit!"
18. has had more pictures taken of them than can be counted. Thank goodness for digital photography or we would be broke! Enjoy this slide show of 18 months of our little Blessing!
1. Lots of new words including, wader (water), unt more (want more), Hallie, Bubba, out-ide (outside), un ride (I want to ride), Up, Peeze, Ank you, Down, Ear go (here you go)
2. Eating great! loves mac n cheese, ham, turkey dogs, cottage cheese, yogurt, bread, pizza.etc. so nice to finally have him eating.
3. Feeds himself regularly with a spoon. He does a great job too.
4. Likes to "draw". Recently I got him those crayola buddies, greatness. He especially likes to have his hand traced. He seems to favor the blue crayon.
5. Loves to be outside! Running, ridin', it doesn't matter he loves it all!
6. Getting really good at animal noises, names. Perhaps he will be a zoologist. Visited the zoo for the 3rd time.
7. If we are playing and going to run to each other or Jon is going to bounce him on the bed and we are counting to three...he will now count to three or just yell 3! in hopes of hurrying us along!
8. When you ask him a question he will say "ummmm...yeah!" It is so cute!
9. Got to spend lots of time with Grandparents last month! They all hated that as I am sure you can imagine ;)
10. Loves to carry in the mail, he is truly a boy after my own heart.
11. Still loves his bath..most of the time. though he definitely let's us know if the water is too "code".
12. Before he gets in the bath he likes to sit on his "potty". With the lid down though..could be a problem but we will get there.
13. Loves to drink tea. What proper Texan doesn't?
14. Loves to watch Bu (Blue's Clues)
15. Has a new friend named Canon David Adams. Pics to come soon!
16.Loves to be flipped
17. Will point to a chair etc. and say. "sit!"
18. has had more pictures taken of them than can be counted. Thank goodness for digital photography or we would be broke! Enjoy this slide show of 18 months of our little Blessing!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Mini Golf
There is nothing quite like a good game of golf, mini golf that is. No need to haul a giant heavy bag on your back or drive a cart just simply stroll through the water falls.
Attempt to take a picture and explore
maybe even dark caves.
Yes, it is generally quite relaxing...unless you decide to take an eighteen month old. Now, Yes, he had a great time lining up his shot...
Or even just chasing the balls.
The problem was he often became an obstacle more difficult to escape than a sand trap.
He wasn't quite sure about the hole that was the final destination for his ball...
Daddy doing a special karate kid style warm up before trying to make his next shot. Notice Kaden observing this strange warm-up with some apprehension....
Oh, and scratch the part about not carrying a heavy bag...after all Tiger needs his juice!
Attempt to take a picture and explore
maybe even dark caves.
Yes, it is generally quite relaxing...unless you decide to take an eighteen month old. Now, Yes, he had a great time lining up his shot...
Or even just chasing the balls.
The problem was he often became an obstacle more difficult to escape than a sand trap.
He wasn't quite sure about the hole that was the final destination for his ball...
Daddy doing a special karate kid style warm up before trying to make his next shot. Notice Kaden observing this strange warm-up with some apprehension....
Oh, and scratch the part about not carrying a heavy bag...after all Tiger needs his juice!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Botanical Gardens
We had another busy weekend but at least we got to stay in town. On Saturday after visiting Daddy at his tournament and a failed attmept at a nap we went to visit the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth. They are very beautiful and made for some great picture opportunities.
I would like to forwarn any parents going with small children that the Japanese Gardens are not stroller friendly. Thank goodness Sissy was there to help wrangle the stroller and Becky was there to help wrangle Kaden. We had a great time and even got to see Uncle Mark which is a rare sight.
Daddy was the tournament all day but we did get to hang out on Sunday, go to Joe T Garcia and play miniature golf. Which if you haven't done it with an 18 month old you haven't lived. More pics of that later!
Anyway enjoy the show of our garden adventure!
I would like to forwarn any parents going with small children that the Japanese Gardens are not stroller friendly. Thank goodness Sissy was there to help wrangle the stroller and Becky was there to help wrangle Kaden. We had a great time and even got to see Uncle Mark which is a rare sight.
Daddy was the tournament all day but we did get to hang out on Sunday, go to Joe T Garcia and play miniature golf. Which if you haven't done it with an 18 month old you haven't lived. More pics of that later!
Anyway enjoy the show of our garden adventure!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Let’s go fly a kite
As a young child I loved flying kites. There is nothing quite like a windy day in west Texas for kite flying. It is truly the perfect way to get a nice rope burn as the 100 mph winds grab your treasured plastic and wood kite and fly it high into the air. Just as the card board spool reaches the end, it was always a challenge to hold the string as you desperately tried to tie the end of the cheap frayed string to your cardboard tube.
None of this fun compared to joy of the wind suddenly dying and having to wind in 80 feet of cheap string as your kite sits delicately balanced atop the neighbor’s roof.
I truly loved flying kits despite the muscle strains and rope burn. So I decided to share this joy with Kaden.
At first he wasn’t so sure about it but then he quickly realized that it was great fun to let go of, the fancier, plastic handle that his had and watch it fly away. Don’t worry we only had it a few feet off of the ground. He would then take off in a full run to try to catch it. He had a great time and we had fun watching him.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April Fools Pranks! *UPDATED*
ok, so this is a rather silly and obscure holiday but a time for some fun.
I can't remember pulling off any truly fabulous April Fool's jokes. This morning I made Jon jump when I told him it was 7 and it was really only 6:30. You should have seen his face....he he! Here are a few my sister and or Jon did or experienced that still make me laugh.
-Her freshman year at college she lived in the dorms. We had community showers, gross right? Well she and her buddies decided to go and steal all of the shower curtains from the floor above them. I bet there were a bunch of smelly girls that day in class.
-My favorite! One of Meg's friends decided it would be funny to get all of his friends with the same joke. He went and bought Old English letters to spell out their last names and he plastered them across their back windshields. Now remember these were all typical Baylor students in their SUV's. Hillarious!
-I would like to start this one by saying...boys are gross. In the dorms at Baylor the doors had vents cut into them. One of the guys unscrewed the outside vent, did his business inside and then screwed it back on. Needless to say the occupant of that room got a rude awakening as the air blew through there all day long.
-Another boy in Jon's dorm filled a 20 gallon trash can with water and leaned it against the door...which opened in..you can imagine what happened!
If you have a truly funny joke you have pulled off, please share it here! I do enjoy a good April fool Prank, unless it is done to me! ;)
Yesterday one of Jon's students said her dad came in to wake her up becuase it was 30 minutes past the time that she normally wakes up. She woke up in a panic and jumped in the shower. When she came out she caught sight of another clock. She saw that her dad had tricked her... It was really 4:30 AM! How mean is that??
I can't remember pulling off any truly fabulous April Fool's jokes. This morning I made Jon jump when I told him it was 7 and it was really only 6:30. You should have seen his face....he he! Here are a few my sister and or Jon did or experienced that still make me laugh.
-Her freshman year at college she lived in the dorms. We had community showers, gross right? Well she and her buddies decided to go and steal all of the shower curtains from the floor above them. I bet there were a bunch of smelly girls that day in class.
-My favorite! One of Meg's friends decided it would be funny to get all of his friends with the same joke. He went and bought Old English letters to spell out their last names and he plastered them across their back windshields. Now remember these were all typical Baylor students in their SUV's. Hillarious!
-I would like to start this one by saying...boys are gross. In the dorms at Baylor the doors had vents cut into them. One of the guys unscrewed the outside vent, did his business inside and then screwed it back on. Needless to say the occupant of that room got a rude awakening as the air blew through there all day long.
-Another boy in Jon's dorm filled a 20 gallon trash can with water and leaned it against the door...which opened in..you can imagine what happened!
If you have a truly funny joke you have pulled off, please share it here! I do enjoy a good April fool Prank, unless it is done to me! ;)
Yesterday one of Jon's students said her dad came in to wake her up becuase it was 30 minutes past the time that she normally wakes up. She woke up in a panic and jumped in the shower. When she came out she caught sight of another clock. She saw that her dad had tricked her... It was really 4:30 AM! How mean is that??
Summoned....
When primary voting time rolled around last month I realized that I had not moved my voter registraiton when we moved to Keller and, therefore, was no longer a registered voter. Not wanting to fall down on my civic duties I printed out and sent in the form to change my voter registration to Tarrant County. I received my new card last Friday and was glad to know...well sort of glad I guess...that I was now able to help choose the next President.
Yesterday, 3 days after receiving my registration card, I received a jury summons. Random..yeah right! I have lived here for almost 3 years and now all of a sudden bam! I will be earning my $3 in two weeks as I sit and wait to be chosen for duty. Knowing my luck I will be chosen for an OJ length trial. I will let you know how it goes!
Any advice on a good read to take with me?
Random Tip:
Kaden had a terrible diaper rash last night. Wouldn't sit down and walked like he had been riding a horse kind of rash. We tried Boudreax's first, which worked for a while, but after he had been asleep for 2 hours he woke up screaming. Going with a tip from Grammy, we coated his bum in Cornstarch. Worked like a charm. Went right back to sleep and didn't complain again. This morning the redness had subsided greatly! Way to go Grammy!
Also I can't remember the last weight loss update I gave but it is as follows....I have lost 21 1/2 pounds. I flucuated a little after stopping the detox and my stomach still hasn't completely recovered but I seem to be moving in the right direction now.
Meg is also doing great with a 17 pound loss.
I forgot to ask Jon, will get back to you!
ok, enough random rambling for now!
Yesterday, 3 days after receiving my registration card, I received a jury summons. Random..yeah right! I have lived here for almost 3 years and now all of a sudden bam! I will be earning my $3 in two weeks as I sit and wait to be chosen for duty. Knowing my luck I will be chosen for an OJ length trial. I will let you know how it goes!
Any advice on a good read to take with me?
Random Tip:
Kaden had a terrible diaper rash last night. Wouldn't sit down and walked like he had been riding a horse kind of rash. We tried Boudreax's first, which worked for a while, but after he had been asleep for 2 hours he woke up screaming. Going with a tip from Grammy, we coated his bum in Cornstarch. Worked like a charm. Went right back to sleep and didn't complain again. This morning the redness had subsided greatly! Way to go Grammy!
Also I can't remember the last weight loss update I gave but it is as follows....I have lost 21 1/2 pounds. I flucuated a little after stopping the detox and my stomach still hasn't completely recovered but I seem to be moving in the right direction now.
Meg is also doing great with a 17 pound loss.
I forgot to ask Jon, will get back to you!
ok, enough random rambling for now!
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