An Afternoon at the Nail Salon

Berkeley had been asking for over a year to go get her nails done again at the nail salon.  So, because she had such a great 1st grade year and got Student of the Month I took her.  She was so excited and the little ladies in the salon were cracking up at how happy she was because she never stopped smiling the whole time she was there.  She asked what color I was going to get and I told her I'd let her choose mine again (knowing full well it would be something totally out of my comfort zone).  As you can see, she chose some kind of purple/sparkle concoction with some sort of fancy application on top.  Mine was a very flamboyant sparkly blue number that screamed "look at me".  It was a little flashy and over the top, and I knew I was in trouble when I had 18-25 year old girls coming up to me in the grocery store to ooh and awe over my nails.  I felt a little silly being a middle aged, 36 year old with such loud nails.  It kind of made me feel like those older moms who try a little too hard to be hip and young, but I swallowed my pride and thanked them for their compliments and explained that my 7 yr old picked it out.  They all thought she had great taste!  Needless to say, I'm usually a little more conservative, but it was great fun and we'll definitely do it again!  I'll even let her pick my color again!  Oh, the things we do for our kids!

T-Ball

Tom & Mr. Scotty

Campbell

Oliver finally got to play t-ball this year!  Last year he broke his arm a week before it started so he couldn't play. He had a great time and for  the most part we had beautiful weather for practices and games.  We discovered that his friend Addy was on his team and that was the icing on the cake.  Unfortunately, his team name was "Tyneez" which bummed him out cause he wanted them to be called "Skylander Giants".  At any rate, they had a fun season and we learned that he has a pretty strong throwing arm.  Mr. Scotty worked with him and gave him some helpful pointers and equipment to use and it really helped.  On the first practice the kids were each paired up with a team mate and they had to practice throwing the ball back and forth and catching it.  Well, Oliver had had a bit too much practice and perhaps too many helpful tips and ended up throwing the ball to his team mate who missed and got a bloody nose.  We felt SO bad.  It was a total accident.  He didn't mean to do it and he felt awful.  We teased him that he was already a legend in his league for the first blood shed of the season.

Oh, I almost forgot...we played many baseball games after dinner early in the summer.  The 1st time it was my turn up to bat Tom kind of smirked and said "Oh boy, here we go, mom's up".   I asked him if he thought I was a good baseball player and he very gently told me "not so much."  He didn't have much faith that I'd hit the ball since I'm not really a "natural" athlete.  So, he pitched it to me and I hit it out of the park (our yard isn't huge, but it went over the fence into the neighbor's yard.)  The kids went nuts and I screamed "Home run!" as I began to run the bases.  I was perhaps a little too exuberant in my celebratory dance/run around the bases as I made my way to home base and I accidentally tooted twice!  I was pretty embarrassed, but nobody heard me due to all the commotion.  I thought I'd be honest and admit my moment of weakness since Oliver loves anything having to do with flatulence or any noisy bodily function.  When I told them all that I had tooted as I was running the bases due to my excitement they fell on the ground laughing hysterically.  They thought it was the funniest thing they had ever heard!  Oliver wanted me to hit another homer so I would toot again, and Berk wanted me to hit it into the neighbors yard again so she could trespass onto forbidden territory (oh great, hopefully that's not gonna be an issue in the future).  Anyway, I'm not proud of it and, yes, it was embarrassing, but I'm always one who loves to make fun of myself.  Life is too short to take yourself too seriously all the time and besides, I give myself lots of embarrassing material to work with, so why not?

Oliver's PreK Graduation

Addy

Ms. Suzy & Oliver

Ms. Lori & Oliver

Oliver had a great PreK year.  He had the same amazing teachers that Berkeley had and he thrived.  The year flew by, of course and graduation was here before we knew it.  It felt like we were just at Berk's PreK graduation and couldn't believe this was our 2nd baby already graduating too.  So weird.

He had his first little crush on a little girl named Addy.  Her mom came up to me one day and asked if I was Oliver's mom.  She told me that Addy had a huge crush on Oliver and talked about him all the time.  She told her grandma that "He wears these really cool shirts with lots of buttons and he is super fast and chases me at recess and I can never catch him cause he's so fast." Apparently they also played soccer and hula hoops during recess and they had little crushes on each other and I had no idea.  They ended up being on the same t-ball team and they were both super excited about that!  She came over one day and they wanted to eat microwave popcorn while they watched a movie.  When the popcorn was done I brought the bag and 2 little bowls over to the couch and Oliver insisted that they didn't want bowls...they wanted to eat it out of the bag.  So, they sat there, watching the movie, dipping their little hands into the bag of popcorn just like they would have at a real theater.  It was pretty amusing to watch.

Some of the funny "Oliver-isms" from the year include:

One night during bed time prayers he prayed: "Dear Jesus, thank you for this day.  Thank you for our house and our beds.  Thank you for wi-fi..."

As he brought in some flowers that Tom had cut in the yard he came running into the house and exclaimed, "Here's some flowers, Mom!  They were free from the app store!"

One of my favorites was when he learned about how when Ahab was the king of Israel, he prayed to an idol called Baal and it made God angry.  One night Oliver was in bed and he said "Mom, if there was ever a statue of me I would NOT worship it.  I would only worship God.  I might think it was really cool and I would probably like to look at it a little bit, but I definitely wouldn't worship it." 

I can't believe this little character is going to be 6 yrs old and in Kindergarten.  We're proud of you Oliver.  You have such a sweet spirit and a tender heart.  You are a big, strong boy and you will be such a leader in your new school!  Great job...we can't wait to see what the next year holds!

In Loving Memory...

We made the mistake of having Jake cremated & the kids kept asking where he was & I didn't know how to explain cremation, nor did I want to, so I told them that because he was so big, the vet took him to a place where large animals are buried together.  It didn't really seem to satisfy them & they kept wondering why we weren't burying him so I bought a little wooden box that they could paint, decorate & bury just  to give them some closure.  They spent quite a bit of time painting it and each one drew a picture for him and placed it in the box.  Berkeley also made him a nice beaded necklace.  I asked each one of them to write a note to Jake letting him know what he meant to them.  This is what they wrote verbatim:

Dear Jake,

You were so nice and you were so soft.  You were so cute like Sterling.  I hope to see you in heaven when I die.  Whenever somebody would knock on the door, you would just be relaxed and not bark.  I miss you.

Love,

Berkeley

Dear Jake,

I liked you as a dog and I hope I’ll see you in heaven.  I love you.  I miss you and I love you so much.  I liked when I used to pet you and sit by you.  I hope you are gonna feel better when we see you in heaven.  I miss you Jake and I really, really love you.

Love,

Oliver

Dear Jatey,

I miss Jatey (Jakey) and I love him and I kiss him and pet him and hug him.  I really want him to be better.  I really like him.  I love you.

Love,

Finley

Dear Jake,

You were a great member of the family and we will miss you very much.

Cheers,

Tom

Dear Jakers,

I loved cuddling with you.  You had the biggest paws and the softest ears.  Thank you for all the loves, cuddles and special memories you gave us over the years.  You were so kind.  I will miss you very much.

I love you,

Lisa

Dear Jake,

You were my very best friend.  I miss you so much, but I’m glad you are not hurting anymore.  Thank you for being so awesome.  It won’t be the same without you buddy.  I love you.

Love,

Sterling

So, each one of us read what we wrote and folded our note & placed it in his box.  Each of the kids had a heart shaped dog treat and placed  that in there as well since Jake loved his treats.  Berkeley was convinced he'd come down from heaven and dig up the box to get the treats!  Knowing Jake, I wouldn't put it past him!

I choked my way through a special poem called "The Rainbow Bridge"

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.  There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.  There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor.  Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.  The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance.  His bright eyes are intent.  His eager body quivers.  Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. 

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again.  The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

-Author Unknown 

Oliver said a closing prayer and then the kids helped bury the box.  I think it helped...they haven't asked again where he is.  They have asked if mom was going to cry every time she passed his special resting place.  Probably, but it'll be in secret so little eyes can't see. 

About a week after he died Finley got up in the morning and had to go potty.  She always sleeps through the night so she goes tons of potty in the morning...as she was going and going and going she looked up at me with sad little eyes and said "Member Jatey?"  I said "Yes, Fin, I remember Jakey.  He was a nice puppy, wasn't he?"  She nodded her head yes, looked down at her leg and said, "Oh, what's this on my leg?"  She had already moved on in the conversation.  She saw my mom a couple days later and wanted to be picked up.  My mom picked her up and Fin said "Jatey died".  My mom said "I know, he was a good dog."  So, maybe I won't ALWAYS be so good at hiding my tears, but I'll do my best.

Rest In Peace

Jake Winslow