Baving Soup

My sister Mickie invited us to go to her house for a Memorial Day bbq. We packed the kids and put them in their swimsuits and went over there to enjoy the pool and company. Once we arrived Kate runs over to her auntie to show her, her new baving soup (aka bathing suit). The kids were so happy to go swimming I don't think they noticed or even cared how cold the water was. It was great to see them happy and getting along with each other. They had a wonderful time with their aunts, uncles, and Taw along with their cousin Kyle. We had a great day yesterday with the kids and family...... I can't believe that the 4th of July is just around the corner!!!!!

Jake and Kate getting along :)

Jake doing his 1st dive into the deep end! Way to go Bubba ;)

Kate telling her aunt to look at her baving soup!

Memorial Day

Yesterday was Memorial Day and since last year we were not able to do much (since Sean was on bedrest) we decided to go to Dixon where the Sac. Valley National Memorial Cemetary is and also the resting place of my dad. It was great to see all of the branches together and to remember those who have served and have since passed on. Being an Air Force brat I was happy to see how the honored all of the men, women, and families of the military. Near the end they had the 21 gun salute and played Taps, to which is when I lost it. That was the first time since my dad's funeral that I had heard a gun salute and Taps. Afterwards a helicopter flew over us and back and we even had some planes from Travis AFB pass over us. When the ceremony was over we went to pay our respects to my daddy. The kids are still having a hard time with his passing but are getting better. He was a proud man who always had a story of his military days, and if he really liked you he would tell you some from when he served in Vietnam! This Memorial Day was also a special one because of our cousin James who is serving in Iraq with the Army. He will be coming home to Texas in about 5 more weeks. We are so proud of him and can't wait for his return home!

Jake remembering Papa with his Dallas Cowboys hat & Kate being Kate!

The 21 gun salute!

The helicopter, a fan favorite!

Almost here

It's hard to believe that summer is almost here and I am so excited for it!! This summer Sean has most of July off so we have lots of plans for road trips and camping. The kids really want to go to Discovery Kingdom (last time I was there it had only a few rollercoasters and was still Marine World) and we are thinking of surprising them with a trip there. We are also getting for soccer and Kate to start school. She is so excited to go to school with Bubba and her friends, plus she is happy that she knows all the teachers. Most of the teachers I had are still there and were Jake's teachers and they all have known Kate since she was born.
I also booked Sean & I's anniversary vacation for Southern Cal. In case you don't know Sean is a HUGE Halloween fanatic and loves everything about it. He collects halloween figures and makes his own lawn decorations. We celebrated our 10 year anniversary in December but it's so close to christmas we decided to celebrate in October (that is the month we started dating). Sean really wanted to go to Knotts Berry Farm when they turn it into Knotts Scary and to Universal Studios because the parks at night turn into a huge haunted place. Lets just say Sean usually pees his pants from laughing because of my reactions to getting the you know what scared outta of me! As I was booking it he said to get a 2 day pass for Disneyland (my favorite place)!!! As sad as I am that the kids will not be with us (and how much I will miss them) I am so excited to get and spend time with Sean. I am sure that I will have plenty of pictures of us with wet behinds!

Out Numbered

Sean has been talking about getting a new puppy for about a year, well on Saturday he came home with the newest member to the Cookie Clan.

Here is our new puppy Murphy. He is a Chocolate Lab (if you ask Kate he is a strawberry lab.....I don't know where she came up with that one!) and just turned 8 weeks yesterday. He is a sweet dog and gets along with everyone and all the other pets (counting him we have 3 dogs and 2 cats, we are out numbered!) Jake and Kate are in love with him and are helping Sean & I out with him a lot. Guinness and Sulley also get along well with him. Sulley loves to wrestle with him and is a little bit bigger then him but that will change in a few months. Guinness seems to "mother" Murph and takes care of him when he whines. Our cats Stewart & Talladega are keeping ground upstairs but come out once in while to see him. Sean said that this is it for pets and that we are done but as he walked away he said that the foyer would be a perfect place for a big fish tank!! My response was that the driveway would be a perfect place for a new SUV. Let see who wins :)

Busy, Busy Bees

The last month has been busy and extremely stressful. Due to the lovely state of California we were on pins and needles most of the last six months especially the last two. Everyone knows what is/was going on and what happened. Some people have asked if Sean's department. is part of the furlough and YES they are but not like the other departments. I will not go in my thoughts and views on that..........I have said it enough and even got into some "arguments" about it.
Jake is doing great in school and has most 4's and a few +3 (4 is like an A, 3 a B, 2 is C, & 1 is D/F). We are so proud of him and his accomplishments. He only has 2 more months of school and then it's summer vacation. He is also hitting a "mild stone" he will be 10 yrs. old in 6 more weeks! I can't believe how time flies! He is so excited that he wants to go out with a BANG (lets hope Jake does not follow suit of his daddy and need surgery?!)
Kate is still Kate. She is ready for soccer to start and ready to go swimming at Auntie Mimi's house. We signed her up for Kindergarten but she is still not wanting to go. It makes me a little nervous but I am being told that she will be fine. Luckily all the teachers at the school know her and know how she can be a handful. Sean is also doing well, he wants to start soccer again but I am nervous. It will be a year next month that he tore his ACL. I know he will be ok and he knows when to stop himself where before he pushed himself to much. I am doing good. I am getting ready for summer and some camping. I am ready for summer and to spend it with the family (Sean has his vacation in July). We are going camping and go to some cities around Nor Cal. I also will be seeing one of my best friends from high school that I have not seen on over 10 years!!! We are ready for some sun, and fun :)

Wins It

Ok I have to share this because it is too funny, and this is another reason why I wish my house was wired just because of moments like this. Last night Kate and I were watching the Academy Awards (she loves to watch award shows because of the singing and dancing). When they announced the best actress winner Kate Winslet, my Kate said "Mommy I won the award!, they said Kate Wins It!" I laughed so hard my drink almost came out of my nose, and she sat there looking at me with a huge smile on her face. I thought that was the cutest thing I ever heard her say. She was so excited clapping, and doing her WOOWOO. The look on her face was priceless, I was going to take a picture but as a true diva she said "no pictures"! Hopefully one day in years to come she will be up on that stage because it really will be her name that was announced as the winner for best actress.

Another Kate Moment......

If you read this blog often you know how my lovely, spunky, darling, and adventurous 4 year old daughter can be (trust me there are far more stories that have not made it on here). So last time Kate found the scissors she cut her bangs, this time she found the hair clippers and this is what happen.

Let's just say how relieved I was when I found her cutting Sean's hair ;) She ended up clipping half of his hair and decided that she was done and she had to go shopping. So she jumped in her Barbie Jeep and left!

Mr. Careful

I thought I would give you an update on Jake and how he has been doing. So far he is doing very well and is still being very careful with his feet. You can see the difference the cones made in his feet, he now has an arch when he did not before. He has another appointment next week and after that he is ready to run and do more activities. Sean started him with kicking the soccer ball, and discovered that Jake has to learn how to kick all over again.

Jake has had NO pain when prior to the surgery walking to and from school his feet would be hurting. He said that he happy that he did the surgery because his is no longer in pain and now he can keep up with his friends...... he is also happy now that he does not have to wear the "ugly shoes" anymore !)

Got Hands in Pocket......

Gonna make you notice! I think that is how the lyrics go to the Pretenders song "Brass In Pocket", but I am not sure. Last week one of my nieces Leah stopped by to use our computer. Kate wanted her to stay but she had to go to work, so as she was leaving Kate was chasing after her running down the street (she was on the sidewalk). This is what happens to you when you have your hands in your hands in your pockets (and your mom tells you not to)........


I felt bad when she fell or as she called it "Ate it", but I think she learned from it and when it was all over and she was cleaned up I had to say "I told you so" and asked her if she would run with her hands in her pocket to which she said no but she was still going to chase after her cousins!

A New Addition

I thought I would introduce a new (well he's been around for a while but was made official last month) member of our family (the Price side) Josh my niece Ashley's husband. He is a wonderful addition to our family and has 2 new cousins who love him to death. He fits in so well with his humor and he has a scar from a sports injury (sound familiar?), plus he treats my niece the way she should be as well! Welcome to our crazy family Josh and we are so happy that you are a part of it!

New Year New Feet!

I thought I would give you a quick up date on Jake's progress. He had another post-op yesterday to get the stitches out and to see how everything was going. The doctor said that everything is looking great and he happy to see how well Jake handled everything. Jake is now walking pigeon toed, which the dr. said is normal because the bones are now where they should be and him walking this way is more comfortable for him but he will walk normal soon. Jake has no pain and is really doing a great job of "taking it easy". He was back to school on Monday and has been doing good at sitting around. I have many spies at his school and they are all keeping an eye on him (thank you :). He told me on New Year's Day that this was the end of his first decade, the beginning of his second, and great way to start the year with new feet!