Why I love summer

Summer is amazing! There are so many reasons to love it. These are a few of my favorites.

Days of swimming around in the pool.

A never-ending bowl of fruit salad.

Sticky, drippy watermelon.

Endless Otter-Pops.

Going barefoot all summer long.

The sound of the ice-cream man coming

down the street.

Playing all day in the shade.

Riding bikes until the wee hours of the night.

BBQ'd food every night.

Sprinklers in the green grass.

Lazy afternoon naps.

The smell of the monsoon's coming.

Days of gazing at the sunny, blue sky.

Ice-cream any time of the day.

I love summer and the time I get with my family. The moments I share with my children in the summer are priceless and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. Sometimes I wish summer would never end.

A Priceless Gift

Everyone knows what they are....most of us have had one or two good ones throughout our lives...some of us have had exceptional ones that we will never forget. I feel like I am one of the lucky few who has and always will have mine forever.

As I was reading through my Facebook wall the other day, it occurred to me how many people have at one time or another been a part of my life. Some of them for only a brief time and others for longer times. Some of them were a part of my life before my family began and some of them arrived after it started. Many of them were childhood friends, while others became friends of mine in my adult life. Whenever the time or the place in my life, they have all at some point been a part of it and I have memories of them.

There is, however, one of these people that stands out to me the most. She has been my best friend through my hardest times, happiest times, and easiest times. She has been my best friend when I felt I had no others and when I thought my world may be coming to an end. She has made me laugh, made me cry, and just been there to listen.

I believe that all of our friends are important and help mold who we become, good or bad. I believe that there are some friends out there that we were destined to know. That we chose them and knew them before we ever entered this world, why else would that bond be so strong that it is nearly unbreakable?

For me, in my life, that friend is Amanda. She has literally been my best friend my entire life. Our mom's were and still are best friends and were pregnant with us at the same time. We have had our hearts broken when my mom, brother, and I made the long move from Washington to Arizona, yet we have still maintained a long distance friendship for more than 17 years. In those 17 years we have visited each other about half a dozen times and when we see each other it feels as though no time has passed.

While she may be just my friend, she is more family to me than she may realize. We may not have the same blood running through our veins (then again who knows, I think we tried that "Blood Brothers" thing a few times). She has always been a part of my life and will continue to be.

Friendships are something that should be cherished. I have had friends in my life that I loved so dearly and then circumstances came along and changed who we were or how we acted and we suddenly had nothing in common anymore. To those friends, it is a loss...but we all grow and move on at some point. Then there are those friends that grow right along with you and you never lose that common ground.

There are probably not two people in this world that are more opposite than Amanda and I.

She is blonde and I am brunette.

She is short and I am tall.

She has brown eyes and I have blue.

She has a sister and I have a brother.

She "doesn't like kids" and I love them!! HAHA

She is great at Geography and I am horrible!

She lives in Seattle and the rain and I live in Arizona and the heat.

She is athletic and I am a mess.

She has an extremely BUSY life and mine is fairly mellow (for the most part).

She drives a car and I drive an SUV.

She lives alone and I live in a zoo!! HAHA.

However many differences we may have, at the end of the day, those don't matter at all because we have so many commonalities and we love each other. Our memories don't go away and our fondness for each other and our families is ingrained in us.

I spoke to her just the other day and we talked about relationships, families, friends, cooking, and surviving every day life. I was there to listen to her and she heard me out. It had been months since we had spoken and she said she called just to "hear my voice." It is amazing that in 27 years we have never lost what we started as toddlers. It has just matured and evolved to something better.

To my dear Amanda, I am so grateful to still call you my friend. I miss you so often but always look forward to that next visit or girls weekend. I can't wait to see you next month and hope you know how much you mean to me and how much I love you!!

Love~ Jess

Friendship is not a big thing~ it is a million little things!

1. When you are sad -- I will help you get drunk and plot revenge
against the sorry bastard who made you sad.

2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3. When you smile -- I will know you finally got laid.

4. When you are scared -- I will rag on you about it every chance I get.

5. When you are worried -- I will tell you horrible stories about how
much worse it could be until you quit whining.

6. When you are confused -- I will use little words.

7. When you are sick -- Stay the hell away from me until you are well
again. I don't want whatever you have.

8. When you fall -- I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.

9. This is my oath..... I pledge it to the end. "Why?" you may ask;
"because you are my friend".

Summer

I'm dreaming of warm sandy beaches. I'm dreaming of days by the pool. I'm dreaming of fun in the afternoon sun, and week after week of no school.  I'm thinking of swim suits and sprinklers, imagining lemonade stands. I'm lost in a daydream of squirt guns and ice cream and plenty of time on my hands.  I'm picturing baseball and hot dogs, Envisioning games at the park, and how it stays light until late every night, and seems like it never gets dark.  I long to ride skateboards and scooters. I want to wear t-shirts and shorts. I'd go for a hike, or I'd ride on my bike, or play lots of summertime sports.  My revery turns to a yearning to draw on the driveway with chalk. It's really a bummer to daydream of summer while shoveling snow from the walk.
I am so glad that summer is actually here!!  

I could not be happier that summer is finally here.  We are now three weeks in and have accomplished so much!  It started out a little rocky but we have really made the most of it. Right after school ended, Toby's older brother, Terry, was injured in an accident and ended up passing away.  It was a huge tragedy for our family and even worse for Toby's parents.  The first week of summer we had his funeral.  During that time we kept Toby busy with all sorts of projects.  He ripped out the carpet and lanolium and replaced it with wood flooring.  It looks amazing.  On top of that project we decided to redo the kids rooms.  Kiley will be starting Junior High next year and really needs her own room, so we put her in her own room and the boys now share a room and bunk beds.  It turned out really great.  It was a good opportunity to clean out closets, under beds, etc.  Now, Kiley has her own room (which is super cute!) and the boys share.  We also redid our yard.  We tilled up the old yard that our dogs had demolished and added a gravel walkway.  Toby re-seeded and it is now growing so well.  Then in the backyard he filled in gravel, added a fire pit and is putting down railroad ties to seperate the grass from the gravel.  We also cleaned out the shed, which was an interesting task.  Our final project was a new security door and vanity for the bathroom, along with lattice work in the front yard for our honeysuckle to climb up.

Hard to believe it has only been three weeks of summer and we have accomplished all of this.  I think we are now ready to relax and enjoy the rest of our summer.  July is pretty booked with vacations, trips, and other "FUN" things.  Kiley has All-Star games in July as well, so it should be a fun summer.  I am looking forward to it.  Relaxation and enjoyment before the year starts up again and I begin working on my Master's Degree.  

I am most excited for our vacation this summer, a West Coast trip to the Redwood Forest and visiting best friends in Washington.  It should be so much for all of us and the kids will get to see a lot of country.

I am so GRATEFUL for being a teacher, especially in the summer!!  

Mean Moms

Someday when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them, as my Mean ol Mom told me:

I loved you enough . . . to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep. I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.

I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough . . to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it. Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm glad I won them, because in the end you won, too. And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.

To my Mom! I love you more than you will ever know and thanks for being a "Mean" mom. Love~Sis

Spring Break

Well, Spring Break is finally upon us. Hooray!!!

I slept in this morning, well, if eight o'clock counts as sleeping in. In my world, that is sleeping in. Then I got up, had breakfast with my little boys and started cleaning. I got stuff cleaned that I have been putting off for months and finally, my house seems to be back to normal for the most part. While I don't love cleaning house, when I have enough time off, it isn't so bad, not to mention listening to music the whole time is nice too.

After cleaning the house, I showered and decided to catch up on some shows and do the laundry. After to shows, I took the baby to the post office with me and checked the mail. Of course, nothing interesting, all bills or junk it seems.

After returning from the Post Office I decided to play outside with my boys. It was such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist. I sat and talked to them while they played "Light Sabers" and jumped on the trampoline. It was really relaxing and nice to just sit with them. They are such sweet boys and so easy to be around. I love watching them crack each other up at the most silly things. This is what life is all about!

My hubby is in Phoenix for a conference and Kiley is at her dad's until this evening. I don't always get time to just spend special time with the two boys and "mom." It was so nice. Brady slept in my big bed with me last night, since he said he needed to protect me since dad was gone. He is such a little man!

All in all, for my first official day of Spring Break, it was wonderful. I got a lot of necessary and unnecessary stuff accomplished and I still got to relax, spend time with my kids, and enjoy the beautiful weather.

The rest of the week looks promising as well. Tomorrow Kiley and I have some reading to catch up on and we are probably going to swing out to my mom's for a little while to let the kids feed the baby calf and Wednesday I am taking her to the movies with her friend. Toby will be home on Wednesday so we will get to spend a day together too. Then we are off to Phoenix Thursday morning until Sunday afternoon. It should be fun, we are hitting the Renaissance Festival and a Spring Training game.

Well that is about it for my update on life. I am just very grateful to have a few moments to myself for an update on the blog. So much for keeping an updated online "journal??" Oh well, I guess some is better than none!!

The Cowboy Boots

Did you hear about the Texas teach er who was help ing one of her kinder garten students put on his cowboy boots?

He asked for help and she could see why..

Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn't want to go on. By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat.

She almost cried when the little boy said, 'Teacher, they're on the wrong feet.' She looked, and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the right feet..

He then announced, 'These aren't my boots.'

She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, 'Why didn't you say so?' like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him

pull the ill-

fitt ing boots off his little feet. No sooner had they gotten the boots off when he said, 'They're my brother's boots. My mom made me wear 'em..'

Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. But, she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his little feet again.

Helping him into his coat, she asked, 'Now, where are your mittens?'

He said, 'I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots.'

She will be eligible for parole in three years!

AN UPDATE...

WOW!!! Life has been so busy, I just haven't had time to keep my blog going...so thankfully the snowdays came and I can catch up a little!

The events go something like this...

Thanksgiving came and went and was one of the best Thanksgiving's ever! The food was great, the company amazing, and the weekend very relaxing. After Thanksgiving it was back to work for another three weeks of chaos. The three weeks leading up to Christmas Break at an Elementary School are insane. The kids (and teachers) are all ready for break, not to mention the hectic schedules of parties, programs, and crafts that take place in between. During those chaotic weeks, our little family made time over a weekend to go get our Christmas tree. This is our third year of cutting our own tree. We usually head up

around our camping spot in Greenspeak but due to the recent snow we had received, getting up their was near impossible. So, we decided to take another route, one we had traveled plenty. While making our excursion across the terrain...I made a comment that the snow looked pretty deep up ahead, to which my darling husband responds, "It will be fine, this is the Gilmore's going on unchartered territory!" That is for sure, we ended up so stuck in the snow it took over and hour and a half to dig the truck out.

One of the back tire had gone into a bar ditch and the more we tried the worse it got. Finally I made the comment that we should just keep going forward rather than try to back up, as dirt was visable about 50 yards away. So we gave it a shot and out we were. Within another 20 minutes we had the perfect tree and we were heading home. It was an experience to jot down and the kids will remember that one for a while. We will call it the year of Dad and his Unchartered Territory!!

The next weekend, Toby and I were blessed with a "get-away" weekend, thanks to my parents. We went to Phoenix for one of my most dear friends weddings and to finish up some Christmas Shopping. It was so much fun! We got down there on a Friday night and just enjoyed the quiet. The comfortable married couple that we are now, we laid on the bed and watched late night shows,

lame to most, but a great thing for us, there were no interruptions or crying babies. It was nice. The next morning we slept in until around ten o'clock (amazing!!). We got up and headed off to finish our Christmas shopping. Hundreds of dollars later, we were done. After that we went to lunch and then got ready for the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and Heather, of course, looked gorgeous!! After the wedding we headed off and went to dinner together, it isn't very often that we get just "Toby/Jess" time so we took advantage of it. After dinner we walked back to our room and after debating a little about the moral issues of it, we opened the kids "Santa" gift (their Wii) and played it in the hotel room. It was so much fun!! We tried ever sport and played until midnight. It was a great evening and we laughed a lot. I am so grateful to have a husband that is my best friend in the whole world. I enjoy his company so much!!

The next week was Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Toby's family and it was so fun.

The kids all got to play together while the adults visited. Most of Toby's siblings were there, 2 of his brothers and 1 sister. It was nice for him to be surrounded by his family. The kids opened their presents and we feasted on soups in bread bowls and chocolate cheesecake. It was a nice evening. After we got home, the kids were able to open one present (which is always pajamas), they looked so adorable. Then Toby and I surprised them with a kitten. About 6 months ago, their cat disappeared and they were heartbroken. Whether Toby wants to admit it or not, so was he.

This kitten was all his idea, he put the word out to the animal control officers he works with and they got a set of kittens, Toby went and picked one out and gave it to the kids as a surprise. They were so excited!! They named him Murphy...the baby however, just calls him "diddy."

The next morning was Christmas morning and it was such a great Christmas. The kids were surprised with their Wii. Brady got a new bike and a homemade blanket from his sister, along with some books, movies, and some Star Wars shirts. Kiley got a digital camera, clothes, books, and a picture frame. Chase got a rocking horse (dog), a homemade blanket from his sister, some t-shirts, and slippers. I was given a really nice jacket, a necklace and ring from

my kids and some books I have been wanting. Then for Toby, we got him an Antrim, Ireland hoodie that he has wanted for a while and Kiley made him a homemade blanket as well. After gifts I made pumpkin spice scones, sausage, and fruit salad and we played the Wii.

The next stop was Mom and Dad's. We opened gifts there and then watched a hilarious movie and took naps. It was so nice. After naps, we decided to have my mom, dad, and brother play the Wii. Mom got a little aggressive and decided to hit if she wasn't doing well...that is my mom for you, I just love her!! Then while Toby was playing tennis, the tennis racket attachment came off and went straight through one of Mom's lamp shades (a nice one at that). He just turned it around and told her it was fixed, thank goodness Mom has a sense of humor because it was far from fixed!! After visiting at Mom's for the day, we all headed over to my Grandma's for Christmas dinner. My Aunt Karen, cousin, Grandma, and her husband were all their. It was a wonderful evening. All in all, Christmas was a huge success and everyone enjoyed themselves. I love the holiday season.

Five days after Christmas is my birthday. I woke up to my sweet husband and my boys making me breakfast in bed (of course, my little Brady decided to climb in with me and eat his). We then ventured out to pick up Kiley from her dad's house for the day and then went to my Mom's for a lunch of delicious Pasoli (my favorite!!). We visited for a couple hours and then headed home. Toby was so excited, the moment he stepped into the house he made me sit down on the couch and they all gave me my birthday present. It was a Mother's ring, it is so beautiful. I cried, of course, because that is what I do. It was so neat to have all of my babies stones on this ring. It was a wonderful surprise and I was so grateful for it. We then had a wonderful steak dinner,

made by my family, and we relaxed. It was a wonderful day. That weekend, Toby took me out to celebrate my birthday with just the two of us. We went to Red Devil for dinner and then went to see "Did you hear about the Morgans?" It was a great evening and a nice date night with my hubby.

Of course, lets not forget about New Years. We have a family tradition in our family, since their are maniacs on the road on New Years Eve night. I always make a nice Surf and Turf dinner with a dessert and fancy drinks. We make a big bed on the floor in the living room and watch movies until about quarter to midnight. Then we switch on the T.V. and watch the countdown and the ball drop, give each other kisses and go to bed. This year, I made Filet Mignons, Snow crab with drawn butter, steamed sugar snap peas, roasted red potatoes with rosemary,

olive oil, and thyme, mini cherry cheesecakes and sparkling cider with a twist!! We then watched both Transformers movies (the kids got them for Christmas and our family is obsessed with them) and then watched the countdown. It was a great evening and such a fun family tradition. I know the kids look forward to it but so do I. It is a neat way to spend New Years and have fun with the kids.

That should be all that I need to catch up on. We are now over half way through January and coming up on our 7th anniversary. The snow is falling like crazy and we have been out of school since Tuesday.

The snowdays have been a blast. We took the kids sledding on Thursday and it was coming down like crazy. You can barely see our fence now, it is almost completely buried. I love this!! I haven't hated being off work and still getting paid for it either.

I feel very blessed to have the job and family that I do. I am grateful for the time I am able to spend with them and for the moments that I get to see my children grow. They are so wonderful and I love each one of them so much and for such different reasons. They are so unique and individually amazing. I can't imagine a world without my little ones. They are the true meaning of life. I am so happy to have a husband that is my best friend and who continues to make me laugh. He is fun to be around

and such a wonderful father to his children. He is a hard worker and provides a great life for us. It is the beginning of the year that you tend to reflect on the wonderful parts of your life. These are mine, in this order:

1) My family

2) My friends

3)My health

4) My job

5) Everything else in my life (except bills, I can do without those!)

Thanks to all of you who are a part of my life and for helping make it great!!