Back in the saddle again!

We have had a few technical difficulties, which has prevented me from posting a blog recently. We are now back in full gear! Some updates and thoughts since the last blog posting.

1. Claire will be turning two in just a couple weeks. It just seems like yesterday that she was a baby and suddenly she is a kid! She completely understands what we are telling her--and she now often asks, "why?" She especially likes to pull that when she is doing something that she should not. Since she was a baby, she has always wanted to be part of the action, so when we ask Drew if he wants to do something, she will say, "me too!" Her vocabulary is expanding each and every day. She also enjoys making animal sounds and can roar and make monkey sounds (and scratches like one when she makes the sound). She now can go down the stairs standing up--which scares me--sometimes she agrees to hold our hands and other times she just gets mad and says, "no!" She has been a tough nugget in even the earliest part of my pregnancy with her and we don't expect that to change.

2. Drew--oh yes, Mr. Drew. He has a couple opportunities in the last month to hang out with his best preschool pal, Sam. We went to the Splash Pad near our house a few weeks ago--it is a mini water park area at one of the local parks (a great place to take the kids on a hot day and it is free!) and just yesterday, they got to visit each other at COSI's Farm Days. Each year, COSI has a week long event in which they bring in farming equipment and have activities relating to the farm. Drew had fun playing with Sam, milking a fake cow and riding on the mini John Deere tractors. Unfortunately, Drew and Sam will be attending different elementary schools in the fall, but I hope they will still get a chance to hang out with each other. Drew will be starting kindergarten at the end of next month. Given his outgoing personality, he should not have a problem making new friends. The kid can talk (no wonder Claire is picking so many new words up!) and he is very curious about the world around him. He is also dog crazy--he loves dogs. He is particularly fond of his relatively new stuffed animal named Chocolate Coconut (he bought it at Target with his birthday money). He also loves to pet any dog that he comes in contact with--he is always very good about asking the owner before he pets it.

3. My dad came to visit last week and the kids enjoyed spending time with him. Drew enjoyed drawing pictures with him, talking (of course) and watching WALL-E together. He delivered the beautiful framed picture of my grandma and my great aunt Marion when they were little girls. It was the one thing that my grandma specifically told my dad that I was to receive. Since I was a little girl, I always loved the picture and I am honored to have it in our house. But to be honest, I would rather that it was still in my grandparents house and that they were both still here with us.

4. I am excited that I have two Tastefully Simple party lined up for this month. I am crossing my fingers that I will be able to book a couple more parties at these parties. I need to momentum to keep moving along with the business. It has been a slow process, but I knew that going into it. The most exciting thing that I find is that people love the products and have fun at the parties--which is part of the reason I got into this in the first place!

5. We are very excited for our friends, Amy and Jim. They are getting married in Hawaii in September! Amy has been one of my best friends for a long time (and we have been through a lot together) and I am thrilled that she is so darn happy!

6. Finally, the world had to say good-bye to Michael Jackson. It was shocking to hear of his passing. I think he may have been one of the most misunderstood people in the world--even I was often perplexed by his actions. However, his music shaped my childhood and even when it was not cool to like his music, I still did. I listened to my Thriller record over and over again as a kid and I still know every word of each song by heart. I even had two posters of Michael Jackson hanging on my bedroom walls. My best friend from Oregon, Louanne and I would watch the "Making of Thriller" (they had it on laser disc, which was a precursor to the DVD) when I would sleep over at her house. His music is responsible for a lot of great memories when I was growing up. I was deeply moved by his memorial service and will always feel the void that is now left. While he will be discussed for months, if not years to come, I wish for him and his family some sort of peace.