Idaho you da pimp

This year, the boys had a full week off for spring break. For all of you out there who can do the math, that amounted to 9 days of freedom, if you factor in the weekends. If you take the reverse logarithm of Pi, it is clear that it was more than enough time for a family vacation. Idaho, land of the potatoes, is where my lover man was raised and so it was the ideal spring break destination. The trip there took about 8 hrs and by hour 7 Millie was in full baby break-down mode. The only thing that calmed her was me singing to her which I think almost put Dave in full daddy break-down mode. But alas, we made it to mama and papa Bake's house. Now in my mind, I pictured a vacation full of trips to Boise, maybe a vistit to the zoo or the World's Center for Birds of Prey, hitting some yummy restraunts, some walks along the canal, what-have you. The boys pictured hours spent traipsing through the fields, making bows and arrows, throwing the tennis ball for the dog, collecting feathers, killing black widows, looking for smakes, and exploring the homestead. All I got was one walk along the canal. But complain I can not. My boys were in heaven, Barbara( my saint of a mother-in-law) fed us like kings, I met some of Dave's relatives, Larry (my wonderful father-in-law) taught me a few cords on the guitar(I am crappy but at a least I have a base), Dave proved once again that he is father of the year with his skills at making weaponry, and I read a great book. Millie was a tad under the weather, but still found it in her to impress us all with her cuteness. Below is the pictorial evidence.

Mimi and Hen when the going was good.

Mugs checking out the scenery.

The HomesteadThe Canal Walk
Boys and truck
Millie and Grandpa
Max enjoying some of Grandma's home cookin'
Proof of Dave's Mad skills
Boys and old house on the homesteadMillie and Grandma
Mill loved this little chair
P.S. the book was called Pillars of the Earth and was fantastic!

Amelia Mae Bake is 1!

Believe it because it is true.

It has been a year since my gal was tucked up all neat-like in my womb. I can barely stand that she is growing up so quickly. Let me just tell you a couple of things about her. She is still my little BFF. She knows tons of animal sounds. She can show us where her nose is and will point to our noses and say "no". She is on the constant belly button search. She is a fantastic crawler but is still far away from the whole walking thing. She will stand for about .125 seconds and always says "WHOA" when she falls. She blows kisses and has left the open-mouthed baby kisses for the more mature squishy-lipped kind:( She loves books and that is usually the first thing she says every morning "boo". She loves dogs and if anyone comes to the door she says "woo woo" and searches for the neighbor dogs. She can do down-dog with no hands. She loves to be chased. She loves her daddy, her brothers, and her grandparents. Anytime she says the boy's names it is in a calling-for-them voice. She loves me to sing to her especially songs that have actions. Anytime she sees Elmo she sings the "La la la la" song. I love her. She has brought so much joy to all of our lives. I could eat her up. Her personality is so great and I love spending everyday playing and snuggling and kissing and singing and giggling and hanging out. She is amazing.

P.S. We had a fun lunch in the park and then a birthday dinner for the gal. Baby girl wouldn't even touch her cake. Too funny.

What to say?

Hello peeps and others. I would just like to say that I have tons to blog about and will do a major catch-up post. But I just want to say something just so it is out there in cyber space. Life is silly and beautiful and tragic and even sometimes a little scary. But I am so blessed to have so many amazing people in my life. I guess what I am trying to say is thank-you. To all of you out there who say the right things and do the right things and show me the way through this crazy twisted maze of life. Some of you don't even know that you are the beacons and the watch towers and the buoys for my soul. But you are. I read your blogs, I listen to your stories and I see your truths. And you are doing life right. I know we all want to do more and be more and see more and what-have-you but if you must know I think you are perfect just the way you are. I am a better person because of all of you. Whether it be through stalking your hilarious or heart-wrenching or ordinary blog or from seeing and talking to you for reals I have caught glimpses of eternity and snippets of truth that make this adventure, I call life, so much more meaningful and interesting. You are amazing mothers and sisters and wives and husbands and brothers and sons and people and you are inspiring. I don't mean to sound sappy or stupid but I am just so glad I am not doing all of this alone. I am glad YOU are alive. All of you.
Love Marnae