Ranting

Slowly but surely, I am getting over being fried from our day at the waterpark. I still can not believe how sunburnt I did get after applying 50 block sunscreen three times! Jack is nursing a good sunburn on his shoulders, which he whines mightly about quite often.

We are still in the middle of drama in the Jackaroo house. Laura's mother is enjoying playing with all of our emotions, but especially Laura's, by not making a decision whether Laura can stay here. I have a feeling that she will drag it out until the night before Laura was scheduled to go back and putting all of us through the wringer. Laura is so torn up inside because she really does want to stay here and go to the same school as Jack. But her mother keeps coming up with new reasons why this place is a horrible place. The list is quite long, which includes, she will get fat (her mother tells her she is fat all the time and does not let her eat anything but salads), I will turn into an evil step-monster and eat her while she sleeps, Mississippi is a horrible, humid place that nobody wants to live in, her entire "lifestyle" will change, her father works (doesn't most fathers?), this decision will be a huge mistake that will forever scar Laura in irrevocable ways.

I am so tired of this mess. I really do want Laura to stay. She is a joy to have around. But I am tired of having Laura's mother having control over MY life as she has for the last 6 years. Even my wedding plans to Jim had to be scrapped and we ended up going to Vegas because of her. And here she is again toying with us. It is very similar to the way a cat plays with a mouse - very cruel. Every time we press her for an answer, she comes up with some other BS, the last being she wanted 10 reasons from both Jim and Laura why Laura should stay here. Then there was the time she wanted info on the school and she was going to talk to Laura's teachers to see if they "approve" of the school, even though it is a top-rated private school. Of course they both emailed their reasons off to her two days ago with no response. Jim has tried to call her about 20 times and she does not answer her phone. Again, she holds all the cards and I am sick sick sick of it.

As it stands now, if she says no, we will have to send a very angry Laura back to her mother on Wednesday. At that point, we will probably have to spend thousands of dollars to pursue custody through the court. We have researched and the judge many times takes the wishes of the child at Laura's age into consideration. But it will take time and it will get ugly, not to mention having to cash in our retirement savings.

I know that you should never hate a person, but with Laura's mother, she is at the top of the list if I did hate somebody. I thought that moving 2000 miles away would help, but it is now looking like I need to wait another 6 years until Laura is 18 before she is out of my life. But then I am sure even then, she will find a way to push her nose into my life. Ugh!

Fried

Laura, Jack and I went to the waterpark today. We went with my friend Jennifer and her sons Kyle and Josh. And we picked the day that had the highest UV rating of the year and the hottest with temps over 100. I walked away from the place after five hours a fried lobster, despite the fact that I applied sunscreen three times! Of course, my two naturally tanned and bronze kids did not burn nearly as bad as I did.

Anyway, this year, Jack is finally tall enough to ride some of the bigger slides. He was so scared walking up the steps to the roller coaster slide and was practically begging me not to go on the thing, but I knew he would love it once he got on it. And of course he did. I think his exact expression after splashing down the slide was "That was Totally Awesome!" and we had to do it again.

But it was a fun day for all. But I really don't need to be in the sun again for awhile.

Big News ... Almost Official

It has been quite a couple of weeks around here at the Jackaroo House.

So Laura is here for her usual summer visit. I love having her here because she is such a great stepdaughter and Jack practically worships his Sissy. It also is pretty nice having a built-in babysitter! She fits into the family so well that when she is here, it feels like she has always been here. And when she is not here, it does feel like something is missing.

Well I guess she had been thinking a lot and one day she just said that she might want to stay here and live here! Of course, Jim and I were very cautious as she said that same thing last year, only to go back to her mother's. But this year seemed different and I told her to think about it and see if it is really what she wants to do. Well after about a week of her agonizing over the decision (she even wrote down 50 pro and con things on the advice of somebody), she told her mother that she wanted to stay and go to school here.

Of course, her mother (wicked witch of the west) went into a tirade about how bad this place is for her (we eat bad food like ice cream, she will get fat) and how I am going to turn into the evil step mother. Her mother told her that she is making a bad decision and she will regret it. Of course her mother thinks that this place is a "hostile environment" for Laura to be in. There no mention of the fact that we offer a family unit and stability, something that she doesn't get from her mother.

Anyway, to make a long story short, it is looking like we will be registering Laura in school tomorrow. She will be going to Jack's school, a private christian academy. She seems very happy with her decision and already has a ton of friends around here. In fact last night, she went to a teen night thing that her friend Lanie goes to. In fact, the only reason I let her go is because I know Lanie's mother is very protective and if she thinks it is okay, then it must be okay for Laura to go. Anyway, I was waiting up until 10:30 for her to be brought home by Lanie's mother and I felt very much like a true parent of a teenager!

Aye Aye Aye! This should be interesting! We are so thrilled!

Since When Did ...

cell phones become so confusing? Our 2 year contract is up soon with what used to be Cingular Wireless and is now At&T for our cell phones. I did like them when they were Cingular, but since AT&T took over, the customer service has gone down the tubes. So we are now looking for a new company, plan, and phones for Jim and I.

And I have to ask, when did it all become so confusing and expensive! Jim's little flip phone is on its last legs by not being able to keep a charge for more than a day and I really like the new smart phones with the all the new features. So I was looking at the Palm Centro at Sprint, which comes in pink (hehe love it) and think it is a good phone with all kinds of bells and many whistles. But while we were looking at Sprint, I saw the new Instinct, which is not that much more than the Palm phone. Now if money were no object, I would own an iphone by now after playing with Jim's sister's phone for like an hour. It is just that $400 price tag that has turned me off. But the new Instinct is way cool and very close to the iphone and have rethunk my position on the whole cell phone thing.

It is all so confusing and overwhelming with so many plans, companies and a gazillion different phones these days. Another thing that makes me old when I say "back in my day, we did not have any cell phones, texting, or email at our fingertips." How did we survive? I ask myself.

Whitewater Rafting Pictures

I finally got the pictures off the water-proof disposable cameras we took with us on the whitewater rafting trip. It was so much fun and I can say that all the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, even if they were terrified at the beginning of the 8-mile journey down the river.

Laura in front Nanhatala Outdoor Center.

Brandt hanging like a monkey wayyyyy over the river. He literally made me ill when I saw him do this.

Me and Brandt in our lovely life vests.

We are all gearing up for some whitewater action.

The boys were with the river guide.

Good picture of Laura and the beautiful scenery.

The Smokey Mountains as the backdrop. Absolutely stunning.

All of our boats together. We had three boats. One was guided by Pastor Stephen, one by a professional river guide. Our boat was lucky enough to be guided by Brandt, who hit me in the head with his paddle. I now tell people not to sit in front of Brandt on a raft.

These last two pictures were taken by the staff at the big finale, which was a class 3 rapid. It was a blast, but I have to admit after hearing the lecture of how to steer into the rapid, I admit I was more than a little nervous going down this thing. But it was so incredibly fun, probably due to the fact that nobody fell out of our raft. When Jack turns 7 (the minimum age to go on the rafts), we plan to go back again. I just know he would have a blast doing the rapids.

Trip Pictures

Here are some of the many many pictures that I took on our Lake Junaluska youth trip. I will post pictures of our whitewater rafting trip later after I get the pictures off the water proof disposable camera.


The beautiful scenery of Lake Junaluska, NC.

More beautiful, breathtaking scenery.

On Friday night they had "Tacky Night". Here are some of our kids in their tacky finest.

Laura, Ashley, and Cindy. Laura made a lot of really good friends while there.

Laura and Ashley.

Laura was called up on stage because she was the "tackiest" from our church. She competed with the other churches, however ended up losing to a guy in a dress.

Mama ducky with her baby duckies on the lake.

There were a few ducks around the lake.

I thought this swan on the lake was so beautiful.

Jim and I. Also known as Mom and Dad to the kids. They started calling us Mom and Dad after a couple of days and I started calling a couple of them as my surrogate daughters.

This building known as Shackford Hall was where all the worships were held. It was built in 1923 and a beautiful building. I loved the huge columns out front.

There is a cross on a hill that is lit up at night. On Saturday night, all the kids walked up the hill to this cross for a worship service. It was quite an experience that I will remember forever. At the end of the service, we sang "Pass It On" and shouted out "Praise God" at the end, which echoed off the mountains several times. It was so cool.

Picture of all the kids during a worship service. I think there were about 250 teenagers from all over the southeast.

The kids during worship.

Jim and Brandt during worship.

Our kids during a talk back time after worship one night.

Laura and Lanie on our last day wearing their "Love Wins" t-shirt.

I can't tell you how much this past weekend affected me. Not only was it a spiritual experience, but I loved seeing how our kids bonded with each other and the other kids. I loved how I bonded with the kids and was able to help them work through some of the stuff they are dealing with. There were a couple of girls who live in a group home for girls. They have been shuffled from foster home to foster home. Jim and I got close to Brandi, a girl who has been in the foster care system since she was 8 years old when her mother ran off. She started the weekend off as a very angry young girl who did not want to join in anything. She is a very wounded 14-year-old girl. But as the weekend went on, that tough exterior started to dissolve and I actually saw her smile a few times and stand up and dance to the silly songs. My heart broke for her and when we got back last night, I realized that all the other kids had nice homes and families to go home to, but those two girls had a group home with no loving family. Jim and I have vowed to try to get her to come over for dinner sometime or just to hang out.

I know that we were there as chaperons to try to keep boys from the girls and keep them safe, but we both went away with an amazing spiritual experience that we will never forget.

We're Back

We got back last night from our trip to Lake Junaluska, NC church youth trip. I would advice not to spend 24 hours of driving with 15 teenagers. It can be dangerous to your health ... seriously. All that teenage drama - Oh my gosh. I feel completely physically and emotionally drained from those things called teenagers. I have decided that Jack will never turn into one of those things.

Our trip started out early early Wednesday morning by meeting at the church at 4 am to pack up kids, bags, and lots of junk food. We drove through to Bryson City, NC where we spent the night at this motel that was tucked up into the mountains. It was incredibly beautiful and breathtaking. The next morning we all got up early to go whitewater rafting, which was such a blast. The kids had so much fun, however there was much complaining about the cold river water.

After the rafting trip, we all piled back into the vans and drove to Lake Junaluska for the youth retreat. It was an amazing experience for all involved. Some of the kids were able to bring a lot of emotional baggage out and I am amazed at what kids today have to go through. It sure is a far cry from when I was their age. I do believe that all the kids got closer to God and hopefully they will take the high they are feeling right now and keep it with them forever.

But I just have to say that if I have to deal with one more teenage girl drama with massive tears, I am going to poke my eyes out! Good grief, what is it with teenage girls and drama? It is like they thrive on a daily dose of drama! I was thanking God all weekend that Jack is a boy. Laura was not as bad as some of the girls, but even she shed some tears over drama. I have worked with the children's (Jack's age) ministry for the past couple of years and even though that age can completely exhaust you, there is nothing like the youth teenage ministry to drain you of every possible ounce of energy and sanity.

But all in all it was a very successful trip. I will be posting lots and lots of pictures later. Right now, we need to get back in our van and drive another two hours to go to Aunt Ann's and Grammy's house to get Jack. I did pretty good in the not-missing-Jack department until last night when I talked to him on the phone and almost felt like crying. I am very ready to see my Jackaroo today and kiss and hug him all over and be very thankful that he is NOT a teenager yet.

And We Are Off

Well we are off tomorrow morning at 4 am to chaperone a church youth group to Lake Junaluska in North Carolina. We are taking 15 teenagers, Laura being one of them and 6 of us adults. It should be a fun trip. We are going whitewater rafting on Thursday morning and then on to Lake Junaluska for the weekend. There will be a big youth rally there with kids from all over the southeast and I am hoping that Laura gets to meet a lot of new friends and have a great time.

We dropped Jack off tonight to spend the next 6 days with Aunt Ann and Grammy C. I know he is going to have a great time there, but I admit that it was hard saying goodbye to my baby for 6 whole days, the longest I have ever spent away from him. Wahhhh! But he will have fun fishing, picking blueberries, getting eggs out of the hen house, and playing with his Grammy and Aunt. And I sent him up there with a ton of cars, trucks, games, books, and even his golf clubs (he said he needed to practice his golf!?!). And I know he will be completely spoiled also.

I know that my posts have been few and far between the last few months and for those of you still sticking around for those few posts, thank you and I apologize. I do have plans to get back to my daily ramblings about life with Jack and the rest of the family. And posting lots of pics for ya'll. So until Monday, just pray for us that we do not lose our sanity with 15 teenagers!

VBS 2008 Recap

Our church had the annual vacation bible school last week. I volunteered to be one of the "Discovery" leaders in the science room. It was really fun watching the kids do the experiments each night and see their eyes light up when the experiment actually worked. This year ran a lot smoother than last year and I think all those involved had a ton of fun each night.

I, however, put my foot in my mouth one night. There was a boy named Grant who was five years old, who was THE worst kid in VBS this year. Every year, there is that one kid who you wished never signed up. Last year it was a boy named Dawson and to this day, I still have bad memories everytime I hear the name Dawson. Anyway, this year Grant was a very disrespectful, disruptful little boy. He did not want to do what all the other kids were doing and when he was challeneged, he would look at you in the eyes and just defy and dare you to do something. One night, he went behind the door and started to kick the wall so hard that I thought he was going to kick a hole through the wall.

Grant's parents do not go to our church, so I really did not know him nor his parents very well. I was in the hallway when a woman walked up to me that I did not know and start talking about how wild Grant is and well I opened up my mouth and stuck my foot in big time. I told her that he was the worst child this year at VBS and she stood there open-mouthed and told me that he was hers. Of course, I felt horrible about telling her this and tried to apologize to her. But she just walked away not wanting to hear my apology. The next day I got a phone call from a friend telling me that Grant's mother cried the rest of the night because of what I told her and she "didn't expect that kind of attitude at a church."

The next night, I tried again to apologize, but again she did not want anything to do with me nor my apology. I felt bad, but the truth was her child WAS the worst kid and she needs to know what kind of kid she has. I keep thinking that if somebody told me that Jack was acting badly, I would be the first one to apologize and not act like that person did a personal assault to me and my child. Anyway, I guess life lesson learned - I need to learn when to open my mouth up about other people's children.

I will post pictures probably tomorrow when I have a bit more time. And tell ya'll about our upcoming trip to North Carolina with 19 teenagers! Fun times!

Today I Wanna Be

Jack is always telling me what he wants to do when he "grows up". Everytime I hear him say that, I always think of the Toys R Us jingle "I wanna be a toys r us kid". Anyway, for the longest time the boy wanted to be a "race car driver". Seriously everyday, about a hundred times a day, he would say I wanna be a race car driver just like my cousin Chad. (Thanks Chad!). I always told him he had to go to college first, so after awhile, he would add the little caveat to his dream - "after college" and then he would ask me again "when is college". I would again go through all the schools he has to finish before becoming that race car driver (preschool, elementary, junior high, high, and then college).

Well in recent weeks, Jack's fascination has moved from race car driving (thank goodness) to being a rock star (oh geesh). And I have the Disney channel to thank for this latest obsession because of their non-ending promotion of the movie Camp Rock. He will go around the house strumming his imaginary guitar and say "I am a Rocking Star Mom!". Even at church he will stand up during the kid's song worship and pretend to play the guitar. At this point I am really not sure which is the worst idea - race car driver or rock star. But of course, everything is "after college".

So yesterday, he went to the doctor to have his hand checked out, which by the way is looking really good. I am no longer feeling faint when I have to change the bandage. The doctor thinks it is going to heal up very nicely with probably no surgery (yahoo!). But we have to give it another couple of weeks to make sure. So that was good news.

Anyway, while at the doctor's, I guess he had the sudden inspiration that doctors were as cool as race car drivers and rock stars because he now says he wants to be a doctor, which is something I can live with a lot easier than the previous two career choices. There is just the little matter of how to pay for med school is all.

I just think it is so great to be young and have your entire future ahead of you and a blank slate as to what you are going to do with that future.

In other happenings, our Vacation Bible School started last night. After last year's first night chaos, I was fully prepared for that same chaos. However, it ran so smoothly and I think the kids enjoyed it very well. This year, I am helping out in the science "discovery" room where we are doing science experiments to demonstate God's love. It is really fun to see the expressions on their faces when doing the experiments. My friend Nichol, who is a pediatrician, is my "lab partner" and she even brought lab coats for us to wear. All very cool. I will take the camera and get some pictures of the church all decorated. We have been working hard getting ready for this. We were at the church until 10:00 on Friday night and then again on Sunday night. But I think it is going to be a successful VBS this year.

Bob 1991-2008

Today I had to put to sleep my dog of almost 17 years. Bob, my wire-haired dachshund that I picked out when I was only 24 years old, which was about 3 lifetimes ago. Through a marriage, a divorce, a bad relationship, my single years, meeting Jim and having Jack, Bob was there as always. My faithful friend who stuck with me through it all. He lived in three different states, 6 houses and 3 apartments with me. And today I had to say goodbye to him. In the end he was completely deaf and almost blind, but when he knew that he was getting a treat, he still pranced around like a puppy. I knew this day was coming and I thought I was ready for it, but I still cried like I lost a dear friend. He was my first son before I had Jack and he will be missed.

I love you Bobers.

The Finger Saga Continues

We are still managing with burnt fingers here at the Jackaroo house. The boy is such a trooper. I am completely impressed with him and his pain management. It makes me think I am a total wimp to pain, because if I had the same injury, I would be complaining about the thing all the time. But not Jack, he just goes about his day and doesn't let the fact that he has no use of his left hand get in his way. He even has accomplished the taking his pants off to go potty quite well with the one hand.

The actual injury is looking better than it did on Saturday when I almost lost my lunch. I changed the dressing yesterday and I can see the healing process going on. The human body really is quite amazing. I am actually going to take him over to a nurse friend today to have her look at it and see what she thinks and let her change the dressing for me. It will be nice to have a professional do it rather than me who about faints away. Yeah a medical career was never in the cards for me.

I also have such a great group of friends. It really was quite amazing that I only told one person about the incident and before the night was over, I had like five phone calls from friends wondering how he was doing. I feel very blessed to have such great girlfriends who I know I can count on in times like these.

Oh and the other day at Walmart, the boy did not get a video game system. One big reason was because I just don't want to have one in my house and well he couldn't play anyway. But we did end up getting a couple of games - Hungry Hungry Hippos and Candy Land. We have been having fun playing those and Chutes and Ladders and Sorry. There isn't much else the boy can do besides watch tv and I really don't want him to watch tv all day long. Unfortunately the pool is out for at least two or three weeks, along with the beach, and the waterpark, and playing outside. But he is taking it better than me! It just goes to show you that you can learn something from your kids.

The Boy Has Me Wrapped Around His Finger ...

especially the bad fingers. Today I changed the dressing on Jack's hand. I got out of it yesterday by pushing the job off onto Jim, but since Jim is sleeping today, I had to do the deed. Let me tell you, I am by no stretch of the imagination a nurse. I cut off the bandage as gingerly and gently as I could, but it still hurt a lot, I could tell. When I took a look at the fingers, I literally felt like throwing up and my knees got weak. They are ugly and look horrible, much worse than the day it happened because now all the skin is falling off like the doctor said it would. It is basically a very bad burn. When I had to put the antibiotic ointment on, he yelled and howled. I can just imagine how much it hurts him and I kept telling him not to look at the hand, but to look out the window at the birdies. I just wish I could of looked out the window at the birdies too! Anyway, I could not wrap that hand up faster, both for the boy's sake and mine own. Yuckie! I am thinking I am going to take him to a nurse friend's tomorrow and have her do the daily job of changing the dressing.

So because I have been basically feeling guilty and sorry for the boy because he has no use of the hand, I am going to take him to Walmart and let him pick something out. I asked him if he wanted to get a new movie or toy and he comes up with this: "I know. I have a great idea. Let's get a video game! One that you play on the tv! Isn't that a great idea?" Now I really do not believe in video games at all. I think they are a huge time waster and once they come into the house, the kids don't want to do anything but that. But because the boy has me wrapped around his very badly hurt fingers at the moment, I actually thought seriously about getting some video game something for him for a second there. We'll see. Who knows, I may just be worn down, but then again, he can't really play with just one hand very easily.

As I said before, this mother thing is not easy at all!

Mother of the Year Moment

First off I want to apologize for going two weeks with no post. It has been extremely chaotic around here with juggling schedules and having one car syndrome. We also have had sporadic internet, which has caused me to start to twitch from withdrawals. I admit that I am an internet junkie.

Now on to the Mother of the Year Moment that happened yesterday afternoon. We just got a new (well new to us) treadmill which is in our family room and I have to trip over the thing to get to the kitchen. Something I seriously need! Anyway, Jack loves to "exercise himself" on the thing. I do let him walk on it at the slowest setting and he thinks it is the funnest thing in the world at that moment.

Well yesterday afternoon, Jack was walking on the treadmill and I walked away just to check on the laundry in the laundry room. I remember thinking to myself that I should not have let him alone on the thing, but he was just walking and seemed safe for a minute. It was hardly anytime and I heard a blood curdling scream come from Jack and I went running. I saw him with his hand caught in the track and stuck and he was screaming. I pulled the cord to stop the track and pulled his hand out and there before me was his hand with fingers with no skin left on them! Literally I saw the tendons on his index finger. It had in essence burnt the skin off in a matter of seconds. I thought that he had fallen, but he told me that he put his hand in there on purpose. Boys! Never did I think he would be that stupid as to put his hand in a moving track.

So anyway with him screaming at the top of his lungs, I went into crisis mother mode. I threw some shoes on him and me and ran for the car. As I backed out of the driveway, I called Jim who was in training to give him the message that I was on my way to Keesler AFB emergency room. It was a long 20 minute drive with Jack screaming in back.

Anyway to make a long story short, we made it to the hospital. His fingers are pretty messed up and right now we have change his dressing everyday with antibiotic ointment. He also has to take oral antibiotics and has a pretty strong pain killer for a four-year-old. There wasn't much they could do there. The doctor said just like a burn, the rest of the dead skin will slough off in the next few days and we have to watch how it heals. It maybe that he will need skin grafts or some type of hand surgery if it doesn't heal right. I am praying that it will heal good, but we won't know for a couple of weeks.

And I have to say that he is such a trooper. He hasn't complained once about being one-handed. He has no use of his left hand and he does a really good job working around the problem. He has played with his blocks all day today and totally compensates for the loss of his hand. I know it still hurts because he will look up and just look at me saying "ouuuuuccchhhh". I feel so bad for him and I have run the what ifs over and over in my mind. I didn't need to get the laundry out at that moment, or I should have made him get off the treadmill. I am just glad that it wasn't any worse than it already is. And after an internet search last night, I realized that we are not the only one out there with hand injuries on treadmills. It seems quite common in fact, unfortunately. So just a warning for all of you out there with kids and treadmills. The two do not mix well.

It was funny because I literally had four places to be last night with the Finance committee meeting taking top priority. Never in a million years did I think I would be in the ER with Jack's fingers mangled. Of course I didn't get to any of the places, but stayed home. Lately it seems that I have a hard time living in the moment as Oprah would call it. I am always thinking ahead of what needs to be done and when. I tell you when I saw Jack hurt like that, I was definitely in the moment and every fiber in me was concentrating on getting him to the hospital. Nothing else mattered. If nothing else, maybe this taught me that I do need to be more in the moment, especially when it comes to Jack. Lesson learned.

Girlfriends & Sex & the City

Alright, I can't tell you how much I love Sex and the City. I know it is racy. I know there is a lot of sex. But under all of that, it is a really great show about girlfriends and life and relationships. During my single years of my early 30s, I absolutely adored the show. I could relate to every single one of those women in some way or another. Maybe it was because I was the same age as they were, and single, and close to giving up on finding Mr. Right. But I loved loved loved the show.

Then I did find my Mr. Big, got pregnant, had a baby, got married (yes in that order) and the show went off the air. But tonight, I went with all my new girlfriends I have made here in Mississippi to see my beloved show and it was everything and more that I expected or hoped for. First of all, the group of us 9 girls went out for Mexican, got slightly drunk on Margaritas and went to the theatre. We got there early to get good seats of course, and I have to say that the crowd of women in that theatre was so much fun. Within minutes, I think the entire theatre were great friends and we even invited a few of them to a party next week. Yeah and being slightly drunk didn't hurt any in the socializing area either.

The movie was the greatest. Whoever was a fan of the show, you MUST go see the movie. You will cry, laugh, and hug your girlfriend next to you on the way out. Oh and do not take any husbands, cause they just won't get it. Go with your girlfriends. The best.

Weekend Recap

It was a very busy weekend here in Jackaroo World. On Saturday, I predicted right, and Jack came home from the boating fishing trip very sunburnt. In fact, he got sick Saturday night by throwing up in the night in his bed around midnight. And then again in the morning. Needless to say, we did not go to church on Sunday. I could just imagine that during children's story time, Jack would heave right in front of the whole church.

However, by the 4 in the afternoon, he was feeling better and I let him go to Allison's birthday party next door. She was turning five and let me just say that it was a huge affair! They rented a huge inflatable water slide for the kids and that turned out to be a huge hit. I wasn't sure if I wanted Jack out in the sun, but he convinced me to let him put his swim trunks on and go play.

I think there were at least 60 or 70 people there with about 30 of them being kids under the age of 6. It was absolute chaos. They also had a show with somebody dressed up as Ork from Dragon Tales and there was lots of singing and dancing. I told Sonia, Allison's mother, that she could host Jack's birthday party next year since she obviously knew how to put on a kickin' kid's party!

Because of all the excitement the previous two days, yesterday was a very low-key day. I didn't want Jack to get any more sun, even though a lot of our friends were going to be spending the day at the pool.

And today, Jack gets to go to work with me. I can't find anybody to watch him for the few hours I have to go work and Jim worked last night, so is sleeping. I had to take him with me last Monday and he did really well while watching movies on the portable dvd player and playing with his cars. Thank goodness I work for a place that lets me do that, cause I can't afford a babysitter, kinda would wipe out the benefits of actually having a job. Ya know.

And I know I promised pictures of the birthday party and well I am lame because I was so worried about Jack being sick that I didn't even think about the camera until way later. I do need to start taking some pics of the boy and post them for ya'll.

Took The Other Option

So I opted out of the fishing/boat trip today. I actually woke up with a scratchy throat and went "uh oh" and decided that I just better stay off the boat today. It has been the most relaxing day I have probably spent in the last four years. Since I really do not feel well, I decided to just not look at my floors with the dust bunnies who now have grandchildren dust bunnies and relax today. I did have to force myself to go to Walmart to get a birthday present for Allison, our neighbor. Her birthday party is tomorrow. She is going to be five and from what I saw of the big preparations going on in their backyard, it is going to be one huge party. I will definitely take pictures. I just hope that Jack doesn't streak through their house like he did last year at her fourth birthday party! Yes, he ran fully naked through their house after he went swimming in the little pool. I always tell people that Allison had a stripper at her fourth birthday party.

Anyway, back to the fishing trip. I do not believe that Jack has ever been this excited about anything in his short life. I think this even tops Disneyworld! He jumped right out of bed this morning at 6:00 am ready for the day of fishing. I heard him yell "hey Uncle Bailey, we're going fishing today!" And he was so cute today when I saw him walk out carrying his little tackle box wearing the hat that he proclaimed was his "fishing hat". He really is growing up so fast. They really have a great day with blue skies and lots of sunshine. Of course, Jim being a Dad and a man, left the sunscreen home, even after I put it out on the counter for him to take with them with explicit instructions to lather Jack up every other hour. I am just hoping that Jim has the good sense to keep the boy under the roof of the Pontoon boat, or the boy is going to be one fried little boy when they get home! But even with that, I am sure Jack is having the time of his life.

Random Happenings

Some recent happenings in the Jackaroo World household:

** Last weekend Jack and I went to a spring festival held by a local church. First of all I just have to say that the church had to make some major bank that weekend because the thing was huge. There was rides, games, booths, crafts, shows, and more going on. Jim was working last weekend so I decided to take Jack and we had a blast. It was a fun Jack and Mommy day, just the two of us. Jack rode a bunch of rides. The funny thing was when he walked right on the little roller coaster all by himself with no fear at all, but when I tried to get him on the Ferris wheel, he said it was too scary. However, we both rode the ferris wheel and all he could say during the whole ride was "wow" and "this is so cool". Jack also got his very first pony ride and although I took pictures with my phone, they turned out really bad or you would see Jack riding the cutest pony of all. After that, we ate all kinds of bad carnival food and enjoyed every last bite. All in all a great day.

** The other night, we went to a neighbor's crawfish boil and brought home a ton of the mudbugs. And my little redneck-in-the-making cracked them open and sucked the heads out like a pro. And nope, not me. I still can't quite get myself to actually "enjoy" eating a mudbug yet.

** Tomorrow we have plans to rent a pontoon boat and take it out in the Biloxi Back Bay. My brother-in-law is coming with us and a lot of fishing will be happening. Of course Jack is way excited and can't wait to use the fishing pole that cousin Chad got him for his birthday. As for me, I couldn't decide if I wanted to spend the day alone in peace and get some work done around the house, or join them on the boat. I just decided that the work will still be there and a day lounging on a boat sounds like fun. But I can guarantee that this girl will not be fishing. Nope a good book, cold drink, and bottle of sunscreen will be my companions tomorrow. I will also be the official photographer, so look for pictures. I know that pictures lately have not been very plentiful and I hope to remedy that soon.

I hope ya'll have a great Memorial Day weekend!

The Last Day

Today was the last day of school for Jack. He graduated from K3 and got a diploma and everything to prove it. The plan was to have a "water day" today for all the kids in K3 and K4 with water slides and jumpy houses. All the kids were told to come to school today wearing swim suites and armed with towels and sunscreen. However, Mother Nature decided to cancel those plans with a massive thunderstorm planned for this morning. I woke to the sound of thunder and a lot of rain and knew that I was going to have one disappointed kid on my hands today. For the past week, all the kids have been about to jump out of their skins with excitement over the water day, only to have it cancelled. I guess it is just the first of many disappointments in their lives.

They did set up the non-water jumpy houses in the gym and had a play day all day and by the time it was all over, the kids forgot about the original plans. When it came time to say goodbye, everybody got a bit teary-eyed. Mrs. Nix gave Jack a huge hug and I could tell she was fighting back the tears while doing so. She was a great teacher and there is a small chance that she might be moving up to teach K4 next year so I am hoping that Jack gets her again next year.

Oh yeah and I am proud to say that my son was one of the few kids in the class that did not have to have a spanking this year. The school does have a spanking policy and if the teacher feels the child needs a spanking, then they are taken into the principal's office and the parents are called in to do the deed. Jack never had to do that this year, even though he had his share of time-outs. There was one little boy, Tanner, who was in the Principal's office more than he was anywhere else. I asked his mother the other day how many times she had to come in for a spanking and she said that she lost count after 10 or so!!! But the thing is, she never felt her son had ever done anything wrong, even when I saw him do some pretty horrible things in front of me. He never listened nor took any direction. To him, rules are not important and I could tell from talking to his Mom that she felt the same way. One time, she asked me how I got Jack to be so good and I just told her that he had plenty of swats on the butt when he was younger and he has boundaries and he knows them. She looked at me like I was talking a foreign language. I think Mrs. Nix had a very long year because of that child.

So now I have to come up with stuff to entertain the boy this summer. I am sure that we will be going to the pool a lot and the water park and the beach. I also plan to take advantage of the area churches vacation bible schools. Along with the one at our church, which I will be helping with, I plan to send him to the one at his school and maybe one other one. It is free and keeps him busy for a couple hours a day for a week. So what are some of the other mother's doing this summer to keep their kids entertained? It sure seems like a full-time job to me.

42 Is The Number This Year

Jack had his four-year-old check up today. He was very worried about getting shots and informed me several times on the way there that he did NOT like shots and did NOT want any shots. And alas he is done with shots until he has to go into kindergarten.

The stats are 42 inches tall and 42 pounds. We started to go to Keesler AFB for our medical since it is totally free because of Jim's 20 years of service and this is the first time Jack had an appointment there. I am very impressed with the level of care. The doctor asked all kinds of questions like can he spell his name (yes he can and the doctor was impressed) and can he stand on one leg and even how much tv he watches a day. Yeah I totally lied on that one and said "hardly ever" because there are some days that the tv is MY sanity saver. I admit that it has been a babysitter from time to time.

I had to laugh because he also asked if Jack bruises easily because to look at his legs, one might come to the conclusion that either he does bruise easily or he is a very abused child. What can I say? He is a boy who plays hard and has about a dozen bruises on him at any given time. But he is a healthy boy and for that I am very grateful.