Kindergarten.......

Its official....He is growing up. Izaia started kindegarten this year....He went from looking pretty happy on the front steps to looking a little insecure going into the building....Its been a month now and he is loving every minute of it......

Izaia and the Girls Next Door....

Much to our objections, summer is almost over....Izaia w/ Courtney and Jordan...Gotta get a pic of the crew b4 they move this weekend.....

Jason and Izaia at the park........

A LONG DAY AT THE LAKE.........

Gavin and Chase passed out on Justin's lap after a long day......

Making Icees.......Yummy!!!

I just saw Mom do this.....how hard can it be??

Izaia and some of the cousins having a good time in the water
Kevin and his boat with probably a little more help than he needed!!
Tucker showing us his tubing skills


I guess this is how they do it in Wyoming!!!!

Retreating from the great crawdad hunt
Izaia standing by the rocks that were once covered with water when i was Izaia's age
Trying to catch a fish....kinda tough to do when Uncle Justin doesn't put REAL bait on the hook!!

Looking for crawdads.......kind of!!!!

OUR TRIP TO THE LAKE......

The 3 Musketeers.....

BTW....I will try to get new pics up soon.....

HAVE YOU EVER JUST WANTED TO CRAWL IN A HOLE>>>>>

Okay......so let me tell you about one of the most embarrassing 30 minutes of this year.....It was a gorgeous spring Sunday evening when Izaia and I decided to take our lovely dog for a walk. It started out peaceful enough, we were walking south down our street, Izaia asking questions, me answering...pretty average stuff. We had been walking for about 5 minutes, when all of a sudden a huge pit bull came charging from who knows where....what would you do? Run the other way? Perhaps find the nearest stick? Well my solution was to scoop up Izaia and leave Max to fend for himmself. (Keep in mind he is a 6 pound shi-poo) We quickly ascertained that this pit bull was not as mean as he looked, but Zai was a little freaked out and, well, Max was not exactly fending for himmself. So I reeled him in by the leash. All I could think of when I was doing this was he was literally pit bull bait on the end of a fishing pole....yes people, we were now fishing for pit bull. So I get Max reeled in, Zai decided he could walk and off we go again. The pit was keeping with us, so I was carrying Max.

Izaia- "Why are you holding Max, Mommy"
Me- "Cuz that other dog won't leave him alone"
Zai- "Why won't he leave him alone?"
Me- "Cuz he wants to eat him."
Zai- "But I love Max!! I don't want him to get eaten!"
Me- "That is why I am holding him!"
Zai- "Big ugly puppy eating dog......"

On with our "walk"...........I'm still holding Max, we've walked approximately 5 blocks and the pit is still w/ us. He would run ahead, but always come back so Izaia could pat him on the head and call him big ugly puppy eating dog. People were driving down the street, giving me dirty looks as they passed, surely assuming this was MY ferocious pit bull w/ no leash on. All of a sudden across the street was a nice looking family...Mom, Dad, toddlers and babies. And a dog. The pit caught sight of them. Across the street he charged. It looked like a doggy bomb was about to hit...Mom and Dad screaming, scooping up screaming babies and toddlers...running to the house as quickly as possible. Of course the pit was only interested in the dog in their yard, but who knew?
Pit Bull Problem......SOLVED.
So now that we are over half way home I can finally put down Max and WALK him. On we go.....
So now we are about parallel to our house one street over. A little boy was playing in his front yard as his parents watched on from the porch.

Zai- "You wanna pet my dog?"
The litlle boy says nothing....
Zai catches sight of our cat, Kiki Leo.
Zai- "Hey! Thats MY cat!!"
Me- "Lets keep going Izaia."
Little boy- "Thats YOUR cat?! Why do people keep saying he is wild and crazy and kills raccoons and possums and stuff?!! That cat is crazy!!"
Me- "Thats not our cat.....LETS GO Izaia!"
Zai- "But Mommy, that IS our cat....thats Kiki Leo!"

As I am about to drag Izaia off, I look down and Max is taking a number 2 right in the front lawn, and i saw the oh so familiar disapproving look from the Dad of the house....great. I have nothing to clean it up w/. I mumbled sorry and took off. As I was walking away I had to wonder if the disapproving look was b/c of the mess my dog just made or the fact I let my crazy cat run the neighborhood......I guess I will never know the answer to that question.
On w/ our walk........
A couple blocks later there were some little girls playing outside. Izaia was, of course, talking to them. At this point I just wanted to get home so I was walking about 10 feet ahead of him, hopefully persuading him to move on. The next house to the little girls had 3 adults sitting outside about my age. I was past them but as Izaia was passing I heard them say something to him about how cute he was. Now....one would think he would say thank you, I know or something like that but oh nooooo.....not my son. He looked at them and said, and I quote, "you make me sick." Now, I don't know where he got that from, or what prompted it, but I practically got from where I was to him in one giant leap. I grabbed him and told him to apologize, but he refused. So I tightened my grip on his arm and insisted he apologize again, yet to no avail. Well...something must have began to hurt a little cuz finally thru cries came a very meek "I'm sorry!" I looked at the three adults trying not to laugh and said my apologies as well. Off we went once again, only this time w/ a screaming and crying 5 year old behind me who I was not in the least bit feeling sorry for. Finally home at last. Peace and quiet even, since Izaia earned himmself nothing but time out, bath and early bed time.

Have we walked the dog since then? Yes....but you better believe that we took an entirely different path.......

Summer is almost here...........

I am so excited that the weather is warming up...Izaia can play outside and I won't be so pasty anymore...Oh the wonders of the sun!! Izaia is doing tennis this year. I decided that an individual sport might be more his style. He has done T-Ball the last couple of years, and he spends more time crying about how he doesn't get a ball all the time than actually playing. Soooo......we will be doing tennis. That should keep us busy with practice once a week and a game every Saturday. I will be taking pictures so you can see the blossoming tennis pro.

I can't believe that this is the last summer before Izaia starts kindegarten!! He will be going to St. Bernards in the fall....It shouldn't be too much of a shock to him since he has been in daycare since the ripe old age of 1. He is excited to start, although I don't know if he has totally grasped the concept of it yet (I don't know if I have grasped the concept of it either!!). He has grown up right before my eyes and I can hardly believe it.....Seems like just yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital!

So that is a quick update in a nutshell....I will continue to post pictures when I have time. Work is getting busier which is definately a good thing. I hope everyone is enjoying our blog. Have a great summer........GO OUTSIDE...ITS GORGEOUS OUT!!

SAY CHEESE!!!!

Izaia and his million dollar smile....See the red on his nose? Thats remnants of the tiger face he drew on himself the night before with PERMANENT marker....Guess we are going to have to break out the BRILLO pad!!!

Its PERSONALITY That Matters....Right?

So.......this is Mr. Max Miles.....Notice the goatee and mohawk!! This dog is "gangster" as my boss puts it. He is our newest temporary family member. My boss and his wife have a daughter with severe allergies and asthma, so guess who volunteered to house the dog for awhile....ME!!! My cousin says I'm a sucker, but he is a really nice dog and Izaia is having tons of fun with him!!

CLICK AND RIP......

So I guess that is the motto for the "Fly Wheel" Izaia would know....he watches way too much t.v., and of course with t.v. comes those great commercials for every toy known to man..........

Seems to be a hitch in the giddy-up of Izaia's bike. There is nothing this 5 year old thinks he can't fix, so we got out our trusty tools and Zai went to work.

Maybe he can figure it out with the expert mechanic knowledge of his good buddy Sam................

FINALLY FIXED!!!!

Take Time

Take time to hold me on your lap,

To joke with me and make me laugh,

Take time, Mommy; this time will go so

fast...

Take time to give me extra hugs,

To teach me a nursery rhyme or song,

Take time, Mommy; I won't be little long...

Take time to tuck me into bed,

To read me that story you know by heart,

Take time Mommy; soon these days will

part...

Take time to exclaim over what I color,

To admire the things I make from clay,

Take time, Mommy; I'm growing up and

away...

Take time to imagine or make-believe,

To play some childish, silly game,

Take time, Mommy; soon it won't be the

same...

Take time to let me help you work,

To teach me the many things you know;

Take time Mommy; enjoy me as I grow..

Can you get any cuter than this???

Izaia......5 Years Old
He is cute and he knows it!!

Meet Sam....the wildman from next door. We are so lucky to have such great neighbors. They just added a baby sister to their family who Izaia LOVES. He seems to think that he needs one too. DON"T WORRY....Its only on HIS wish list!! He has gone so far as to draw pictures of stick mommies with little stick babies in their tummy!! I think daycare is getting suspicious...Just the other day I was asked in a general conversation if I was having more kids.....Its all coming together now.....Thanks honey!!

Cowboy Up!!!!

How is this for cute? L-R, Jayden, Izaia, Chase and an unknown little fellow in the back of the pick-up at Papa Roy's horse sale last fall. See Mom and Dad....Izaia has a little inner cowboy in him after all!! Its among the many things he wants to be when he grows up along with being a barber and basketball player. We'll see how that goes!!

Thats One Big Kitty!!

Kiki Leo...Izaia loves this cat....I, however, could live without him. One thing is for sure, we will NEVER have a mouse in the house.....or a bird, or a squirrel, or anything else that is stupid enough to be caught by this ferocious feline. Come on animal kingdom, the cat has no CLAWS!! He is a killer for sure.

Proof of God's handi-work.....You don't see this in Omaha. This was taken somewhere on the way back to the ranch.

What the HECK!!?? We are not in Omaha anymore Mommy!!!

As some of you know, I am originally a girl from the country, Smalltown, USA.....Hyannis, NE. to be exact. Not much out there but cows, sand, soapweeds (yucca plants for those of you who are less enlightened) and an occasional person or two. Izaia spends a good amount of time out there with his Papa and Grandma and LOVES it!! Gives Mommy a break and exposes him to a lot of things that he normally does not see. On his last trip he saw a baby calf being born his exact words were NASTY, til Papa explained the joys of birth...way to go Dad.......Now if you want to take on the birds and the bees...........

So I guess this is what everyone has been talking about......Welcome to the 21st century Jammie!! This blog is dedicated to anyone who is remotely interested in our life...I figure if nothing else it will keep me busy when I have some downtime at work. If you are looking for cheap thrills...move on...excitement, however, you may actually find here, depending on your tastes and how interested you are in the lives of a 5 year old cutie and his Mommy!! I will try to keep it as updated as possible....we will just have to see how it goes, I didn't even make it through year number 1 in Izaia's photo scrapbook! As you will notice, a few pictures will be "self-portraits" of me and Zai....I'm getting pretty good at it, however this is NOT an example of my fine self-portrait skills ;)