Aaron's Going Away Party - A

Whelp... Alex's long-time best friend, Aaron, is going into the military and we threw him a surprise going away party. Aaron always makes me laugh... and all of us will miss him terribly.

Aaron's Going Away Party - B

Wishing my dad a happy bday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Hope you have a special day - and MANY more afterwards! We all love you! XXOO!!! Your Darling Daughter

Random pics from this month

Maddie posing under a tree. Jasper trying to coax the other two cats out of the house.

Bugs & Flowers

From nature walks with Silas.

Fun With Billy Boy

We LOVE Mr Billiam. Chrissy sure picked herself a good fella. He's in the service - with less than 2 years to go, I think - but he and Chrissy went to school together and they have the same friends. We have a close-knit family and enjoy spending a LOT of time with those we care about most, so someone who fits in with us is something we all desire. Billy is that person. And he's such a sweetheart!

Hey Mama! Look what I can do!

I don't want to label my children, but I do wonder if Silas will be the child who's into just about every sport and loves every minute of it. The child wants to play everything from football and soccer to golf and, as seen here, skateboarding. I've never seen a 3-year-old who'd rather watch a TV football game than watch a cartoon. He begs to be put into kickboxing class, and even tap dancing class, but right now he's too young. Hopefully, next year he can get into something. Perhaps soccer. Until then, he'll have to practice his skate boarding techniques on the deck. For now, he can flip the board over with his feet and land on it - and he's got the look down pat. By next year he'll be riding the half pipe over at his cousin Wyatt's.

4th July... AKA Fireworks Day

Chrissy's boyfriend, Billy, was in town this week and he spent a rainy evening with us under umbrella's while we all watched the fireworks in Nelsonville, Ohio (or, as we all say it, "Ah-Hi-Ya"). The 4th was never my favorite holiday, probably because I work with indigenous people and I know what the invaders did to their ancestors and all the feel-good falsehoods told to keep us ignorant of our true history. I feel a twinge of sadness this time of year because we're celebrating the invasion and hostile takeover - and continued occupation - of an already settled land. But... I do like fireworks, so... we call refer to this day as Fireworks Day.
And it was fun hanging out with Billy. I kept this year's diatribe to myself.

What were they thinking?

Just this week I saw the return of the idiotic "Chief Smoker Friendly" TV ads on our local television channel, and Jamie Foxx wearing a tshirt during a press junket with an Indian skull. Now folks... what the hell? Come on! Wooden Indians speaking broken English to sell cigs and Mr Foxx showing the world his dead Indian tshirt are such bad taste. You should both be ashamed of yourself.