Time For Bed

Look where I found Joshie poo the other night. While I slaved away over a hot stove to put food in his belly, he was just "sooo tired" from working "all day" that he fell asleep on the couch. Just kidding! I was lounging on the couch too, and he really does work hard all day. He's allowed some down time, I suppose! I like how his hand is poised over the keyboard like he tried to keep going but his eyes just wouldn't stay open.

But then I couldn't leave it alone. I ran over and starting shaking him yelling "fire, fire"! Just kidding again! I gave him a nice little kiss on the check and told him it was time for bed.

I do feel sorry for him sometimes, but thank goodness someone can live with me.

Hey Guys, Whatcha Doing?

"Just hanging around!"

Here Comes Trouble

Joseph's newest trick is scooting! He scoots all over the place now. There is no where he won't go; in fact, he prefers to go where he shouldn't go! He was scooting around in the kitchen while I was doing dishes so I thought it'd be great to give him this little play station on the legs of the chair.

Man, I was sure patting myself on the back thinking "what a great idea!" when I realized all he was interested in was the velcro straps. Then it was only a matter of minutes before he had the toy almost all the way unstrapped. So much for that...

It kept him entertained for awhile so overall, mission accomplished! The next best thing: measuring cups, mixing bowls, and cardboard boxes!

Snowbird, Utah

Joseph took his first plane ride! We went to a little ski village just outside of Salt Lake City for another company picnic. This one was a lot different from the Oklahoma one last weekend. It was at a ski resort for one thing and not a camp ground, and everyone was so much nicer. We had a GREAT time!

We took a tram ride to the top of the mountain - about 11,000 feet - and checked out the views. It was beautiful but enforced how little I care about skiing. Josh and I both, actually. That stuff is for the birds - literally. However, the scenery was so inspirational that I couldn't stop snapping pictures.

Everything had an extra special clarity to it up there. The air was so crisp and clean! It was nice and cool and felt awesome compared to the hot and humid south.

On top of the mountain I found this cute little spit bubble. Joseph wanted to hit the slopes but we told him he had to wait at least a year. Silly baby. I mean come on, they don't make skis for under one year.

Good grief it was beautiful! I wish we had scenery like that here in Plano. We have some pretty meadows, I suppose. Not quite the same...

Look! Snow! They had a late snow season and some slopes were actually still open for business. It was old snow, though...kind of hard and slushy like what we get here. But still snow! Joseph wanted to build a snow man but we forgot his mittens.

This cute little guy was scampering around. It's a real-live chipmunk! I tried to protect him from an obnoxious kid who was throwing snowballs at him - five seconds after our tram operator said not to throw snowballs and rocks off the mountain. I really wanted to chunk a snowball at that stupid kid.

Like I said, the scenery was great and I fell in love with the trees. So I took a lot of pictures of the trees. The aspen trees were awesome with their flaking white bark. And the pines were a vibrant green and smell sooo good!

There was a BBQ competition being hosted at the resort so there were tents with crafts and jewelry and clothes and all that jazz. And BBQ. There were bands that played all day and into the night and lucky for us it was right outside of our room. Also lucky for us, they quit playing in time for bed. We enjoyed listening to the music while we walked around. Does anyone else think it's funny that there was a BBQ competition in Utah? They need to come on down to Texas and we can show them a thing or two!

We had a yummy dinner Friday then brunch on Saturday and walked around all day after that. And walked and walked and walked. We stopped somewhere in there for a nap for sleepless little Joseph. He had a hard time Friday night - which in turn means that my and Josh's night was hard - and so a nice nap for Joseph on Saturday was a welcomed by us all.

Joseph did great on the plane. I was really really really really really nervous about it - I don't like to fly in the first place then with a six month old it was a double whammy. We fed him on takeoff and landing to help pop his ears. The pressure only seemed to bother him once but he drank and everything was fine. He was NOT the poor crying baby on the plane that everyone shoots the evil eye. I still don't want to do it again anytime soon, but at least we know he can fly. Joseph got his wings and saw a mountain for the first time on the same trip!

Here's Joseph...

It's Another First!

Happy First Father's Day Joshiepoo! Josh loves being a daddy and he is so good at it too. I was amazed at how natural it came to him from the very start. Joseph has no idea how good he has it with Josh for a dad, and it will only get better each year! If Joseph becomes even half the man Josh is, it will be more than enough. Oh well, enough gushing...I could go on and on.

We celebrated with some good ol relaxation. We hung out around the house and then decided to go check out the PGA Tour Superstore. The reason, though, that we went to a store that we otherwise wouldn't have been interested in is that Josh got golf lessons for father's day from Joseph and I! I'm pretty excited to learn also. Everyone at Josh's office plays so he had been talking about learning - and since the lessons are already paid for there is no turning back! Muuahahaha!

He is sitting next to me as we speak reading "Golf for Dummies." I am pretty excited about it all and I just hope I don't suck at it. And I hope I can get a cute pink golf bag. ;)

Happy Father's Day ya'll!

Lake Murray

We went to Lake Murray for the Lindsey, Oklahoma field office's company picnic. Josh and some other folks went to represent the Dallas office. And next weekend we are going to Utah for their picnic! We are really excited to get away to some cool mountain air. I love a good lake cabin but DANG it was hot this weekend.

Lake Murray is beautiful and there is a ton to do. They had a mini golf course, frisbee golf course, a "water park" with slides and a couple of those big water trampolines, pool tables and a few arcade games (the point is to be outdoors though if you ask me), wave runners and other water sports stuff and a lot of nice beaches for swimming. Lake water scares me though...I am a wuss. It scares me to not be able to see the bottom. What scares me even more is the thought of Joseph getting sunburned. We had sunblock but there was no shade at the pool so I opted not to let him have his first pool experience just yet. Call me overly protective but I just couldn't handle the thought of him being exposed to all that nasty UV. Besides Josh was embarrassed by the full length wet suit with turtle neck and hat that I had Joseph in. HA! Just kidding!


Yes, here are some trees. They were nice...lots of katydids and cicadas which are some of my favorite summer sounds, especially to fall asleep to. Funny though, there was a girl there we were visiting with that said "We need a radio or something. Something other than just the sound of bugs!" But that's all part of the camping experience if you ask me!

Here is our sorry little couch in the cabin. Joseph was a hungry hungry hippo.


Here is our sweet baby soaking up the breeze under a shade tree. Did I mention it was HOT?! Our stroller got some great offroading experience this weekend!

Ahh, the happy couple. And hot, sweaty couple. And the couple who decided to leave to go home after dinner on Saturday instead of staying until breakfast on Sunday. It was a good decision and made little Joseph happy. He didn't like the port-a-crib and I didn't like getting up with him alllll night long. Seriously, he woke up off and on all night on Friday night and was wide awake from around 2 until a little after 4. I finally just chucked him in between us and he played while we slept. That is the first time we've slept with him in between us - and thank god the mattress was a typical motel style mattress with a huge slant. Because with Josh on the down side slope Joseph rolled close to him - and he had to worry about him and not me. Oooh, how mean of me!

On the way home, we saw the expanding Winstar Casino and decided that we need to go gamble soon. Any babysitters out there? :) We've been once before but they only had machine games and no "beverages". That had something to do with Indian land but we all know it would behoove them to sell alcohol and have table black jack. So guess what? They now have the traditional table games in addition to the machine games---and they sell beer. Also note worthy on the way home, we got blizzards from Dairy Queen. Woowee, that is some good stuff! Also note worthy on the way home, we passed a trolley driving on the highway. It looked authentic and old - except it ran on gas. Also note worthy on the way home, I took this picture of the rear view mirror. In it you can see Joseph in his little mirror and his sweet daddy. I thought it was neat.

Today is father's day and it's time for me get off the computer and celebrate with Josh. I think we are going to go check out the PGA Golf Tour Superstore. It's longer than two footbal fields and larger than Home Depot. That's big! Talk to you soon! XOXO

Sleep That Flits on Baby's Eyes

The sleep that flits on baby's eyes - does anybody know from where it comes? Yes, there is a rumour that it has its dwelling where, in the fairy village among shadows of the forest dimly lit with glow-worms, there hang two timid buds of enchantment. From there it comes to kiss baby's eyes.
The smile that flickers on baby's lips when he sleeps - does anybody know where it was born? Yes, there is a rumour that a young pale beam of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud, and there the smile was first born in the dream of a dew-washed morning - the smile that flickers on baby's lips when he sleeps.

The sweet, soft freshness that blooms on baby's limbs - does anybody know where it was hidden so long? Yes, when the mother was a young girl it lay pervading her heart in tender and silent mystery of love - the sweet, soft freshness that has bloomed on baby's limbs.

-Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali Poet, no. 61

Joseph Had a Playdate!

Joseph and I got together with a friend, Casey, and her seven month old, Blake. Her friend Tiffany was there also with her one year old little sweetie, Ashlyn. I could have eaten them for lunch with a big ol spoon! They might not have exactly "played" with each other, but they had a good time. And most importantly - the mommies had a good time!

The boys had to sniff each other out like little puppies before they got too close.

But then it was all good and it was too cute to see them all together!

Love this picture - Blake had to give Joseph a pat of approval! I think the boys will be great friends!

Favorite Photo of the Week

Not this one. But it's a hint of whats to come...

Not this one either, although darn cute.

Here we are - my favorite of the week! What a little character he is going to be!

Peek-A-Boo!

Peek a boo, I see you!

The Giving Trees

When we moved here we loved our big oak trees. They line the streets in the whole neighborhood. They were a big plus for choosing this house and we thought we were so lucky to have these well established oaks. The only problem is the trees. Such big beautiful trees quickly became the bane of our existence. These oaks are dropping something year round - either leaves or acorns. And it's not confirmed by a professional (I consider myself "professional") but I think they are choking out our lawn. Our lawn was thick and full when we moved here, and over three years it's thinned out everywhere and died out completely in the corners and other areas. So, I've been on a mission to get these baby's pruned. Let the light through! Sun shine on!

We found World Class Tree Service and had them come on out and do their thing...and we LOVE our trees again!! It's a darn miracle - and why we didn't do it sooner, I don't know. Well, I do know; it's costly, plus there is a fear factor of "what if they mess up?!" But these guys knew what they were doing and were so fun to watch! We watched the whole thing. They balanced on little bitty branches no bigger than my forearm and inched out - without hands - using their body weight to balance them. Haha - wait, they DID have hands, they just couldn't use them to hold on because they were holding chain saws and pole saws! They rigged up big, thick ropes to lower the big branches down and hung their chain saws on the little branches when they didn't need them. I watched one guy climb way up and start cutting while another was working on the lower branches and thought it would be interesting if they cut down all the branches he used to get up there.

Anyhoo, after they were done I felt so much lighter and relieved! It was kinda like after a massage, except with tree trimming. You should try it sometime! LOL! Here's a few pics and it may be hard to tell, but of course I wouldn't be posting without adding some pics in. It's my thang, what can I say. I've got some great Baby Joe shots coming soon! Hope you have a great weekend. We're going to be busy!

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Summer Time and the Living is Easy