happy birthday mimi...

we wanted to wish mimi a "happy birthday"...we hope you have a great day mama. we miss you and wish you were here...meridith, anna claire, and jake!

breanna came to town!!!

this is my niece, breanna. she came to og this past weekend to spend the night with bob. i heard she was bribed with a cell phone to get her to come over. she never comes to og to stay unless her mom comes too- she's a major mama's girl! - plus she looks just like her. a lot of people think jake looks like breanna did when she was younger. they do have a lot in common...dirty and loud! :) but i had to take a picture of the two- no telling when jake will get the chance to play with her again.

...and she's gone

mom had an early flight this morning- so she spent the night in monroe last night. these are a few pictures we took at the house last night before she left. we had a nice time while she was home. we didn't get too much time to visit because she was getting things ready for the wedding, but still- it was nice. just got off the phone with her and she's back- safe and sound!

mimi's home

mom flew home from ohio yesterday. it's just a fly-by trip. she fies out sunday morning- just came home for my cousin's wedding on saturday. jake was so excited to see his mimi. this is the first time he's seen her since she left at the first of the year. (his eyes look a little red- allergies were acting up)

jake & parker

these are a few pictures i took of jake and parker yesterday evening. parker is meridith's step-son. jake absolutely loves playing with parker and wants to go see him everyday. parker and jake share their fascination of tractors together. parker was actually the one who introduced jake to "dirt". we don't have much dirt at the house to play with, but jake does haul the gravel around in his tractors and trailers. -but parker has built a miniature dirt track and jake thinks its the bestest thing ever. i've never seen two children so different in age get along so well together. jake is so calm and polite when he plays with parker. there are six years between the two of them- same as me and meridith. we nearly killed each other growing up- no seriously, i'm not kidding. anyway, i thought these were too cute and had to share! :)

2009 farming season has commenced...

well, jason started planting his corn yesterday. i usually don't get out to the field very often (especially when it gets hot), but i like to take pictures of their first day planting and their last day cutting. or i guess i should say i'm not summoned to the field very often- that is until its the dead of summer and i'm being asked to deliver sonic cokes and honey buns. i think it's really going to be a lot more fun this year since jake is a little bigger and will be able to do more with them. he was so excited when i picked him up from weecare. i told him he was going to ride the tractor with tommy ray- but i had to run home and get my camera first. he didn't even get out of the car and didn't move the whole way to the field. he was so excited that he tried to jump out of the car down the turn road before i could get stopped.

daddy's birthday cake

i made a cake for jason's birthday saturday morning. yes, jake and i got up bright and early and headed to the store to get the ingredients. we were very proud of ourselves. this is an orange mandarin cake- jason's favorite. i haven't made one of these since his 2006 birthday and it was a complete disaster. i ended up making it three times that day and it was a major tear fest! part of that was probably due to the fact that i had a week and a half old baby in the next room. i couldn't think straight and kept leaving out ingredients. anyway, i decided i would attempt the impossible and i think it turned out great! i think more oranges ended up in jake's tummy than in the mixing bowl. jake didn't understand why we couldn't go ahead and dig in- daddy wasn't home yet!

oh, this had nothing to do with the cake- but i thought it was too cute so i decided to share it with you. everyday we go through family members with jake and their names. he tells us his name, mimi's name, nana's name and so on. well today, jason was teaching him grandma's name- which is ellen hamby. jake thought about it for a few seconds and then he said it -ellen hamby. -but what he is really saying is elephant candy! it sounds just like elephant candy, i mean he says it so clear and perfect...elephant candy! it is so funny to hear!