Uninspired

I have been sitting here most of the day trying to come up with something to write... ANYTHING really and I've got NOTHING. A big fat Zero.

It's Monday. And Monday in the worst kind of way. I was up at 5:00 to pick up the house for the cleaning lady. I didn't get Jake up to help me because his idea of picking up is to put the dirty pans in the oven. Grrr... so I just did it. And then I regretted it because secretly I was a little angry that I did it all myself. So when I asked him to do the litter boxes and he gave me flack I sort of snapped on him, a little...

Oh, and our basement flooded AGAIN this weekend. So there are wet kitty litter footprints all over our house that I didn't have time to wipe up....

And our cat is still missing. She has been gone for a little over a week now and we miss her. When we go out side Zack still yells Eeek Ahhh (Squeeker). It breaks my heart every time. I know he is probably doing it because I have been yelling it for a week not because he knows that she's missing but still...

Oh, on Friday we did have a somewhat humorous incident regarding missing cat. I got a phone call about 1:30 from someone who had gotten my flyer (I sent out 61....) he said he thought he had found my cat and then he proceeded to tell me he thought she was dead on the road. So I say thank you and then I try to continue working. I made it to 2:15.

Then I went home, changed clothes, got an old towel and went to the place on the road where he said I could find my cat. I pulled up and was immediately like that's not her. But then I went and gathered said smooshed cat and upon further investigation I couldn't tell. I looked at the pictures on the flyer and at this cat and I was stumped. All that kept running through my head was I don't want to bury someone else's cat.

So... I call Jake and he is short with me because he's at work and then I begin to cry and leave said cat on the side of the road. I drive home a blubbering mess. He calls me back about 5 minutes later and I tell him I just can't tell. So he says he will leave work at 5:00 and come look for himself. So home I go.

I get out the digital camera and I look through all the pictures I have and find all the ones with her and then I study her markings. After about 45 minutes I'm convinced it's my cat. I cry some more and get back in the car to "bring her home." Only, when I get there, I'm not so sure again. I examine the smooshed cat once again and just can't tell so back home I go.

Finally Jake gets off work and I drive over there for the third time. Now said cat is missing. We don't see it. So we both park and we walk up and down the side of the road. We find it, he says yes, it is definitely her. I go to get the towel and by the time I get back he's not so sure. So in the back of his truck she goes and he is off to the rescue league to have them check said smoosed cat for a microchip.

25 minutes later he calls me. This cat is only 1 - 2 years old and has no microchip. So now I have spent all afternoon being distraught about someone else's smooshed cat. I'm relieved but also still very sad. At least if it was her we would have had closure. Now, we keep looking....

Other than that, we are in the process of trying to renovate our dog pen so we can put our escape artists back in it. They learned to jump the fence so we have to buy a jump guard. More money... fantastic. So while we are at it we are also tilling up the pen and planting grass. It has been mostly weeds since we built it.

Oh and speaking of purchases, we now are looking into new shades for Zack's room too. Now that it's light he has began a sleeping boycott. If it is light he will not sleep. This is all fine and dandy during the week when he is up at 6:15 but not nearly so great on the weekends and not nearly so great at night either. He has cut his sleeping by a good one to two hours and his attitude is showing it.

I went to Men@rds to buy some darker shades yesterday and came home defeated when I realized that anything above a one cell shade would have to be special ordered and those things are EXPENSIVE!! Do you think I could get away with hanging blankets on his windows or is that too getto?? Yeah... I thought so too... Uggg!!

Is it Tuesday yet?

Public Service Announcement

Before I write anything for the day I usually go onto my bloglines and read all of the updates. I do this 1) to see what everyone is up to and 2) to possibly get some ideas of what to write about.

Today, I'm going to take a moment to re-iterate something I saw on Kristi's blog this morning. Yesterday she was in a car accident. A minor accident but it reminded her that her daughter had outgrown her car seat and that she had not yet made time to purchase a new one. Luckily, her daughter was not hurt and they immediately purchased her a new car seat. A seat with a 5 point harness up to 65 lbs.

And that, dear friends, is the message of my public service announcement today. There have been some new studies out that have shown that it is NOT as safe to move smaller children up to booster seats as was once thought. Adult seat belts can hurt children under five and even children over five who are small for their age.

I know a lot of parents who move smaller children up thinking the age restriction is all they need to follow or they move the younger child up sooner because they throw a fit and want to be like their older sibling. Please don't do this. The booster seat we got for Zack allows him to be in a five point harness until he is 65 lbs. I plan to leave him in that seat until he is 65 lbs. (Which at this rate might be next year!! LOL)

I also plan to reposition his seat this weekend to tether him into the car. I have not done this and noticed when I got into a friend's car this weekend she had her seats tethered in. That is one more safety measure that I need to take to protect my son. After watching the video's below I realized that one inconvenience for me is NOT worth risking his life.

If you have the time, watch the videos below (possibly with some Kleenex). Seriously what's a little crying and fit throwing about being in a "baby" seat when you are trying to save your child's life?

This has been the end of your public service announcement. We will return you to your regularly scheduled programing next week.

5 Year Old Kyle Miller


3 Year Old Isabelle

Making Dinner

Last night we made dinner and ate as a family. Let me clarify, we made something that didn't come out of a box OR a frozen bag. We cooked people!! I'm gitty all over just thinking about it.

I was reading a blog yesterday and I came upon this GREAT recipe for Parmesan Crusted Pork Tenderloin Chops.

I'll put the recipe here, but I HIGHLY suggest you pop on over there because she has pictures to go with the recipe and everything is easier with pictures.

2 pork tenderloins (they usually come two to a package)
We just used precut pork loins. They were on sale and it made it so we didn't have to do the pounding of the meat because they were already only about 1/2 inch thick
2 large eggs
5 ounces Parmesan cheese (We bought the pre-shredded stuff because I couldn't' find a block of Parmesan at the store)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
2 teaspoons Garlic powder
Olive oil (We used vegetable oil)

Combine the flour, salt, pepper and cheese in one bowl and mix well

Whisk eggs in another bowl

Get out a non-stick frying pan and put the oil in the bottom and then heat it to medium high.

Then bread the pork putting it in the egg and making sure it is coated and then in the cheese mixture and then into a non-stick frying pan.

Heat about 5 -7 minutes on each side until golden brown and the serve. It is VERY nummy... and good... AND.... it DIDN'T come from a box!! Aren't you proud??

Eeek!!

Two weeks ago we de-binkied my son. Things have been going really well. He asks for it once and awhile and we just tell him it is all gone.

However, last night we had our usual babysitter, who hadn't been there in two weeks, and we forgot to tell her about the whole binkie thing. So he asked, and she found the spare one under the changing table and gave it to him.

SO... my question to any of you who have ever been through this, how long will the screaming last this evening?

He asked for it over and over again this morning (we took it away as soon as we got home) and we just told him all gone. He seemed ok with that but I'm not sure he's going to be so ok with it when it comes to bed time tonight.

Should I hunker down for another two hour screaming fest? I'm not sure my ears can handle it. Please tell me one of you had this happen and it was no big deal..... please..... :-)

Counting My Blessings...

This weekend a man that Jake's sister graduated with, a man that Jake used to run around with was murdered. When I saw his picture on the news my heart just sank. That all too easily could have been Jake.

This man had a three year old and no matter what he had done to anyone he did NOT deserve to but gunned down in the street. And gunned down not just by anyone but by someone we know.

That's right. Remember back in October of 2006 when Jon and Jane broke into our safe and stole our checks and then decided to go on a random spending spree??

If you've forgotten you can read Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four to get caught up.... (You might want to take a coffee and a bagel... it's a long read)

So on Sunday morning I got on the Internet to see who was charged with the murder of this man and I felt like I had been hit over the head when I saw Jane's name come up. That's right, the woman who was IN MY HOUSE, is now charged with murder.

All I could think was oh my G*d that could have been us....

No matter where you are in your life and no matter what you think of the situation that fact of the matter is that a young man lost his life this weekend. A family lost a son and a brother and a little boy lost his daddy. It could have been us, and I'm counting my blessings that Jake was able to get his act together when he was but at the same time my heart is hurting for the family who wasn't so lucky.

Is it too quiet??

What do you get when you leave my husband and my son alone too long with some sidewalk chalk??

{{This picture has been moved to Zack's Personal Site}}

War Paint Mom... DUH!!!

I forget... do I have one child or two? :-)

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow...

(Said as we were leaving the driveway this morning)

Bye Bye daddies....

Bye Bye Puppies...

I ove ooo....

mmmmmmmhhhhhh.... (hand to mouth blowing kiss...)

Things Heard Round Our House This Weekend...

"You are looking at the new co-manager of Random Mobile Home Park."

Yes, Jake got a promotion. A pretty big one actually. He is now the co-manager of the mobile home park which comes with a whole new set of duties and hopefully (cross your fingers) a whole new set of pay too!! :-) YEAH for JAKE!!

"No, No, NO!! DON'T dig in the litter box. That's icky!!"

The basement flooded last week so the litter boxes had to be moved upstairs. I forget how much I HATE having them in our living space until they are back again.

"Can we just fill in the basement with dirt? Really... never venture down there again? I think it would be easier."

After the water receded I had to scrub the floor in the basement. Here is your exercise for the day. Take a bucket and fill it with water. Now dump in some kitty litter and mix until it is a nice pasty consistency. Now spread it on your floor in a nice thick goopy wet paste. Next take a mop and a bucket and try to clean said mess. THAT is what I did yesterday. Happy to get the litter boxes back to the basement. Not so happy to clean it first....

And So it Begins...

Right now downtown Des Moines is beginning to take on water.

It is coming up from the storm drains right now and is already knee to waist high for about a block. Later this afternoon they expect the river to leave it's banks and create additional flooding.

The news is saying this could be as bad as the Floods of '93. I live on the OTHER side of this river... hmmm....

If I'm not here for a couple of days assuming I'm staying dry on my side of the lake.... :-)

Huh... what??

I'm sorry... you will have to speak louder. I can't quite hear you. I think I am temporarily deaf from all of the screaming.

Here is my advice to all of you. If your child ever has the displeasure to contract hand, foot and mouth disease promptly pack them up and ship them off to Grandma's for a couple of days. No really... TRUST ME!!

Here is my last night in a nutshell.

5:27 pm: Arrive at daycare and notice that he is crying in his room

5:28 pm: Notice that the little dear only took a 20 minute nap, briefly consider if it would be possible to pawn him off on someone this evening. Decide against it and suck it up for the long night ahead.

5:32 pm: Get him into the car seat and decide that I'm going to try to get him to take a small nap on the way to get him some ice cream to make his mouth feel better

5:33 pm: The screaming continues. I try to give him a binkie but it is the blue binkie NOT the green binkie and it just will not due. He hands it back to me and continues to scream.

5:35 pm: Decide there is NO way I can go to get him anything as I will not be able to hear in the drive through. Turn around and take him home.

5:37 pm: The screaming ceases for 2.5 seconds until he sees daddy and melts down again at the injustice of being inside and not outside

5:38 pm: Daddy takes him outside, the screaming stops. THANK GOD...

5:40 pm: Oh wait, it was just a fluke. The sand box is not behaving it's self and the screaming begins again in earnest. I take this as my opportunity to escape to acquire the ice cream

6:17 pm: Arrive back home, Zack is no longer screaming and is instead sitting on the couch waiting for daddy to get 101 Dalmatians started so he can watch PUPPIEEEEEEES!!

6:24 pm: Apparently french fries and PUPPIEEEEEESS (yes.. it must be said with much enthusiasm) make everything better

{This Picture Has Been Moved to Zack's Site}

6:27 pm: Oh yes, and Ice Cream... mussent forget the ice cream

{This Picture Has Been Moved to Zack's Site}

7:02 pm: The calm is short lived so daddy takes him upstairs to bed. The screaming begins.

7:05 pm: It is quiet, they are reading a book

7:07 pm: He puts him in his crib and the screaming begins in earnest. If I didn't know better I would think someone was trying to kill him.

7:15 pm: I head upstairs to try to calm him down. He stops crying when I get in the room but doesn't want to lay down. I read him a book trying to get him to calm down and sit in my lap. He squirms and wriggles so I put him back in his crib. The screaming starts again.

7:22 pm: Mommy.... mommy... (I think that is playing dirty)

7:30 pm: I go back up to check on my screaming child. I try to give him his binkie but the blisters on his tongue make it impossible for him to suck on it so he just screams and cries. I hold him, rock him, try walking with him, nothing works

7:38 pm: I decide to load him in the car and drive him around until he falls asleep before I pull all my hair out

7:39 pm: I step outside and the screaming stops immediately. His head pops up off my shoulder and he points to the field. "Moo...." (Well I'm glad to see he hasn't lost sense of the important things in life)

7:39 1/2 pm: I get him in the car seat and the screaming begins again

7:42 pm: The screaming has stopped. I can still hear the whimpers from the back seat but his eyes are closed.

7:44 pm: I put him in bed and fall defeated onto the couch

8:22 pm: He begins to cough... oh sh*t, oh sh*t please don't let him wake up, no such luck. It begins with a mild whimper

8:24 pm: The screaming is back again along with the flailing. I take him downstairs and try to give him baby ambesol on his tongue. It doesn't work.

8:26 pm: I try starting the puppies movie, he's still screaming, he wants no part of it

8:34 pm: I put him back in bed, not knowing what else to do with him

8:43 pm: Can't stand to hear him cry, not knowing if he's just overly tired or in pain, take him downstairs

8:44 pm: Screaming

8:50 pm: More Screaming....

8:58 pm: Oh yeah... still crying.....

9:08 pm: "HEATHER...." "WHAT?" "Why don't you take him in the car again?" He stops to listen and is suddenly overwhelmed with how tired he is. His eyes begin to droop and I sit as still as possible trying not to move so he won't start again.

9:12 pm: His eyes droop for the last time. I find the foot rest on the recliner, put it up and sit motionless hoping, please dear god don't let him start again....

9:28 pm: Finally find the courage to move and I take him up and put him in his bed

On the upside I think we have taken away the binkie? After all we've already survived the first two hour night of crying right?? :-)

New Look

On Friday I will celebrate the 3 year anniversary of this blog. In three years I have written 508 posts (509 when I press publish) and my blog has ALWAYS looked the same.

I have changed the wording a little from time to time but for the most part, same colors, same layout... BORING.

So in honor of the three year blog-o-versary the great and wonderful Calliope has given me a new look and a gorgeous new header.

To say I'm excited is a bit of an understatement. I'm THRILLED beyond belief to have this new look.

And if you too would like your very own header or re-design pop on over and give her a shout out and I'm sure she could do a wonderful job with your blog too!!

Mid Year Review...

Ear Tubes... check

Bronchilitus.... check

Strep Throat.... check

Tonsillitis... check

Trip to the Emergency room... check

Conjunctivitis... check

And new this weekend, making it debut appearance....

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Is it December yet?

Bloglines

Bloglines... Bloglines... how do I love thee... let me count the ways....

Do any of you use this? I just started yesterday and I tell you, it is revolutionizing my blog following. Instead of having all of my blogs in my favorites and having to visit each one separately to see if they've updated I just go to my bloglines. If anyone has new content it tells me and I click and link and boyola, I'm at that blog.

Right now, after two days of work, I have all 66 of my blogs in there. Yes, you read that right, I read 66 blogs. Whew... no wonder I only get to most people's like once a week. But now... now, no longer. Now I don't have to visit 60 blogs just to have the page load and see that the same content is there that was there 2 days ago. Now I can just click on my bloglines account and see in a mater of moments who has updated and who has not. Visit the few blogs that are updated and move on with my day.

This could become a problem. I've gained so much time now that I'm not trying to visit all of those blogs I might have time to read just a few more. Any you can recommend?? ;-)

Recipe Suggestions

In reference to my post below I need suggestions...

What do you make at your house for dinner? Something that takes less than an hour (preferably half and hour) and will feed 3 people. We get home at about 5:30 - 5:45 and the latest I can usually hold Zack off from eating is 6:30. Especially because depending on what kind of day he has had sometimes he is in bed at 7:00.

Here's what to keep in mind... I am the PICKIEST person on the planet.

Ok... go....

Work Out Woes

As many of you know I started working out about a month or so ago. And lately it has been going.... well... so... so....

As much as I really don't care about the weight issue it is hard not to become a little discouraged when the scale has not shown even one pound of improvement. In fact it seems that my weight has fluctuated between the same 5 pounds. Base weight, five pounds up, back to base weight. Never dipping BELOW the line.

However, that is not my most serious hurdle at this point. My problem now becomes that I'm TIRED!! REALLY TIRED!! So I need some advice from you work out goo roos. What am I doing wrong?

When I started working out my appetite changed. I'm eating less but not necessarily better. If I eat veggies and salads I feel like I'm starving and I tend to splurge so I have generally just been eating less of things that I like. (Which is not much... think eats like a three year old) Is it possible that I'm not eating enough calories? I would guess in a typical day when I bring my lunch and breakfast I probably only eat 1,500 calories.

As for sleep I generally go to bed between 9 - 10 and I get up at 5:00 so I'm getting between 7 -8 hours of sleep which I think should be sufficient. Still, every morning when my alarm goes off I have a hell of a time getting out of bed and most days I'm DRAGGING by the time I get home. I am getting discouraged because I thought working out was supposed to make me feel better but I feel worse.

So, there you have it. Any suggestions you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Seeing the Other Side...

As most of you know I attend Al-anon meetings twice a week. I have learned a lot at these meetings and enjoy them immensely. Recently there has been a woman who has attended my Friday night meeting who has really gotten me thinking.

For a couple of years now I have read a great blog about an adoptive/foster parent. She has adopted one child from foster care and also has anywhere from 1 - 5 other foster children at any given time. I love her blog and try to read it every day.

Recently she has been having some issues with the bio mom of two of her foster children. They have been to court a couple of times to try to get to the point of terminating parental rights because the bio mom is not doing what she is supposed to be doing. As I have read her side of the story I have found myself rooting for her, in a sense. I know how much she cares for these kids and I know nothing about the bio mom so I was almost hoping that they would terminate rights so that she could possibly adopt them.

Then I met this woman in my Al-anon meeting. Let's call her A. A has four children who are in foster care. A loves her children very much and becomes very emotional when she talks about them. She has made some mistakes but she is trying to turn her life around and regain custody of her children.

On Monday there was to be a hearing to possibly terminate A's parental rights. Suddenly things are looking a whole lot different to me. I don't know A well enough to know exactly what she has or has not done to regain custody of her children. I know her story, as she has told it to me and a part of me aches for her.

I know she has made mistakes but from where I sit it looks like she is trying. Shouldn't she at least get the chance to be in her children's lives? It breaks my heart to think that there is a possibility that they could terminate her rights and she might never be able to see her children again.

It is amazing to me how your perspective on a situation can be so different when you only hear it from one side. Perhaps in all we do we should take the time to consider that there could always be another side to every story.

What did you drive to work today?

Yesterday as I was pulling into the parking garage I noticed a hearse. I didn't think much about it until I realized that the hearse was pulling into the parking garage with me. (No, I'm really not making this up)

The hearse drove around the parking garage found a spot (well actually two spots since it was a little too long for one) and parked. Then a man got out, gathered his belongings, stepped away from the hearse and took a picture on his camera phone and then was off... I assume to work because it was still parked there when I went home.

All I could think was do you think he lost a bet? Because seriously who looks through the classifieds for a cheep car and decides on THAT? Then , of course, I took a picture for all of you because seriously... were you really going to believe me without proof? I'm not even sure I believe myself....

Makes you want to start snapping your fingers and singing the Adam's Family song... doesn't it? Oh go on admit it.... you know you want to....

What I Did on My Memorial Day Weekend.....

By: Zackary


On Friday night I went to my Grandpa Ted and Grandma Carol's house. When Mommy and Daddy told me where we were going I was SO excited. I kept saying "gam pa, tack tor" the whole way there and then when we pulled into the driveway there was the tractor. It took a little bit of "peese gam pa, tack tor" but he gave in and I got to ride in the tractor and then I even got to drive it a little bit. It was SOO much fun!!

On Saturday I stayed home with Daddy because it was REALLY windy and "ucky" outside and Mommy said that she had to go to lots of different stores and I wouldn't like it. So I played with Daddy and took a nap and I was so excited when I woke up and found these on the coffee table:

Mommy says it's a good thing that I slept for a LONG time because it took her like three episodes of Elmo's World to get them out of the box and she might have said some naughty words in the process. I was SO excited that I played with my "tack tor" for a long time.


After a little while Daddy left and when he came back he went outside so I went outside with him and noticed that he was doing something in the tree in the front yard. I wanted to help but Mommy said I couldn't climb the ladder because I might fall down and bonk my head. So I just watched and boy was I surprised when he finished and I saw my very own swing in the front yard!!
{This picture has been moved to Zack's Site}

I wasn't quite sure about it at first but by the end of the weekend I was asking to "wing" every time we went outside. After we played outside for awhile Mommy & Daddy said it was time to go back inside. I wasn't very happy about this. Mommy says if I could I would live in a tent outside. Ya know, I think she might be right.

So, after we went inside I was trying to get the door open to the outside when suddenly I discovered that there was this little flap on the door and if I pushed on it I could get to the outside.

(Ha Ha!! Just watch them try to keep me inside NOW!!) I thought that was LOTS of fun and I went in and out of that flap for quite a while until Mommy and Daddy told me that we had to go to Grandma Julie's. I was a little upset to go but then I was really excited when I got to see "ki kat" and "puppieeee" and "orse" and Grandma's barn. Of course Grandma had to watch me pretty closely because I'm not afraid of anything and I would have run into the stall with the horse if I could have.

On Sunday some of my family came over and I got to see Aunt "Innie" (Lindsay) again and some other relatives. Grandma Carol made a cake and she gave me this thing covered in chocolate called a beater. When she first gave it to me I tried to blow on it because it looked like the wand for bubbles. But I quickly discovered that it was MUCH, MUCH better than bubbles!!

{This picture has been moved to Zack's Site}

After we ate dinner I spent the rest of my evening going around to all of the relatives seeing which ones I could con into taking me outside. I convinced my Uncle Tim, my Grandma Carol and my Aunt Sue. It was a lot of fun!!

On Monday I got up and was surprised that I got to spend another day with Mommy & Daddy. We played with my tractors and I took a nap. When I got up Daddy said something about a boat and then he put me in this blue fluffy thing. I was just excited to get to go outside and kept trying to get him to open the door.

{This Picture has been moved to Zack's Site}

Finally he took off the blue fluffy thing and we all got in his truck. It was really fun to ride in Daddy's work truck because I sit up really high and I could see out the front window really well.

{This Picture Has been Moved to Zack's Site}

We drove for a little while and then we all got back out of the truck. Mommy put the blue fluffy thing (she called it a life jacket) back on me and we got in the boat.

{This Picture Has Been Moved to Zack's Site}

It was fun for a little while. I liked to stick my hand in the water but Mommy kept grabbing the back of my life vest saying something about me having no fear and that I was going to fall into the water.

After a little while I was bored and wanted to go home so we got back into the truck to drive home. On the way home we stopped at this place where Daddy talked into this box and then this woman handed us an ice cream cone. I had never had one before and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Mommy had to show me how to stick my tongue out to lick it but I really wanted to hold it myself.



So when we got home mommy took my shirt and pants off and let me have the ice cream cone.

{This Picture Has Been Moved to Zack's Site}

It was kind of messy but I liked it A LOT!!

{This Picture Has Been Moved to Zack's Site}

After I was "aaahh daaa" (all done) Daddy brought the hose up to wash off the back steps. I was pretty sure that he needed my help to do it so Mommy just threw her hands up in the air and took off my diaper and let me help.

{This Picture Has Been Moved to Zack's Site}

I was such a good helper that I even made a little swimming pool for the cats in case they were hot and wanted to cool off.

{This Picture Has Been Moved to Zack's Site}

After I got done playing in the water Mommy & Daddy tried to make me take a nap but I didn't want any part of that. I just played in my crib and talked to the cats for 45 minutes. So then they decided that we were going to go on a walk and they put a hat on my head. Mommy says all my little boy hats are too small so they had to put a big boy hat on.

{This Picture Has Been Moved to Zack's Site}


I didn't mind the hat that much but about half way into the walk I decided my long day was over. I started to cry because I couldn't push the stroller and I continued to wail at the top of my lungs the entire mile back to the car. Daddy said he thought his ear drums were going to explode but I think he exaggerates.



Either way, I was VERY tired and I went to bed at 6:30.



The End.

Parkersburg Tornado

A good friend of mine, Katie, has in-laws that live in the town that you are seeing on all of the news shows. Please head on over to her blog and give her your love would you?? It is going to be a long road ahead for her family and I'm sure they could use all the support they could get.

The color will go away... evetually....

What do you get when you take one newly stained front porch railing (it's amazing how much motivation company coming provides):

Add some dirt from a broken flower pot.. (It was less broken before he started playing with it. Now... it's a lost cause)


And sprinkle in a little bit of Zackary....

{This Picture Has been Moved to Zack's Password Protected Site}

He is now the proud owner of two parallel marks down his face.

And some wonderfully colored hands.

Apparently he thought it would be really fun to go up on the porch and grab two newly stained rails and stick his head in between them to say hi to daddy on the other side. We tried wiping the stain off without much success. So he might just be stripped for awhile!! :-)