waTCH out DYRdeK

today we took a break
from our mad dash to get everything ready
to sell our casa to hit up the
charlottesville skate park.
hutch always notes the fire station, baseball field, and skate park
whenever we are out running errands.
after we saw signs of skaters out
of winter hibernation today and 'shredding' as the kids call it,
hutch was sold on taking his mad scooter skills to the park.
so much so that after naptime he got in the car, sat in the car seat,
and waited patiently for fifteen minutes as we got ready to go.
the kid loved it, made some skater friends,
and proved that for better or for worse, he has no fear.
there was a small ramp alex let him go down by himself,
so we mainly watched him do that a billion times.
when alex put him in bed tonight, we did the usual 'i love you's',
and turned around to walk out.
as he was leaving hutch said 'daddy?'
'yeah buddy?'
'i went down ramp by self.'

before, scoping out the scene



















after, showing off his dirty hands from a fall



















his biggest fan,
who literally screamed with delight when he rode past
(while wearing her stylish bebe and alice gnome hat)






























and the evidence of it all:

latest and greatest

the happenings of late:
*alex had knee surgery last week.
he's doing well and was outfitted with
a cane and vicodin,
prompting many impersonations of dr. house.
even more fortunate for us, the cane is adjustable,
making it hutch-height. since h is at the age where
he acts like he's taking vicodin, it's like we have
two dr. houses scampering around.

*sweet, sweet elsa is scooting around like an inchworm
slowly but surely, and is constantly luminous with
bright smiles and babbles. and she has a rat tail to compliment her
mohawk. she is so yummy it's tempting to just eat her up. but i won't.

*hutch is officially making embarrassing proclamations in public.
one of the less humiliating ones involves a shirt alex has with
a long-haired, goateed johnny damon on the front. hutch is convinced it's a picture of me and
talks about daddy's 'shirt wif mama on it.' loudly, since he is a loud talker.
it probably goes without saying alex wears this shirt more often now.

*we're two weeks away from putting our house on the market, finishing the
million projects that have been 3/4 of the way done for almost two years now.
i'll have to post some before/after pictures. i will really miss this cozy little house and the cozy, hip town of charlottesville.

*this brings me to the final big bullet for the day. as most of you know,
we have prayed and prayed and prayed some more about where we will be moving this summer.
while we are sad to not be closer to family and friends,
God has given us equal parts excitement and peace about where we are headed next:



























missoula, montana.
we head there next month to find a house and move in mid-july.
we are so happy to be moving to a place where we can hunker down
and plant some roots.
and now for a shameless plug:
we want visitors! missoula is less than
three hours from yellowstone and glacier national park,
a day's drive from vancouver.
consider this an open invitation for you and your family to have
a home base in big sky country.
so please. come stay awhile.

hIGh

teXAS oUR TEXas

a little over a week ago
our family headed to the
lone star state for a little r&r.
i think trips to see either sets of family in texas or kansas
just get sweeter and sweeter as the kids get older
and close bonds are formed.
the weather was exquisite in lake jackson
for the entire week, allowing hutch to wear his favorite outfit (which is none at all)
every day. we could be outside all day with the excpetion of naps and bedtime,
and feasted on wine, mojitos, my dad's smoked ribs and fresh seafood from my favorite place
on the beach that reopened post-hurricane ike, complete with the wooden sailor
alex feared ike had castaway forever. (for you surfside fans, kitty's purple cow also opened, and you can read about it on my folks site..the link is on the right)
eva, the wonderful woman who helps care for my grandmommy,
even made us some of her famous mole and allowed me to be her apprentice.
she calls me mija. come on people, how does it get any better?
sadly, my camera batteries died prior to my brother and tara coming,
which is a shame, because they are so wonderful and
so wonderful with their godchildren.
hutch is so closeknit to his mcmomma and ada and loved all of the time with them.
what made me happiest was the bond he feels with his great-grandmommy.
she was the first thing he wanted to see post-nap and spent a lot of time
carefully selecting leaves, grass, and flowers to bring to her room. it was very special
to witness.
it i make this all sound dramatically dreamy and magical, it was. any time the family, food and the beach can be in constant rotation, i am there. it makes me so excited to go to kansas city in june as well.
we were welcomed back to charlottesville with snow, but as i sit here typing it's already 70 outside, the windows and doors are open, and birds are chirping, so there you go. spring is coming.

birthday boy pictures

this is really for the grandparents...

six months

my baby enjoys all things baby:

eating, sleeping, playing, sitting.

she thinks her big brother is pretty great,

and has thighs so fabulous

she now wears the same size diaper

as hutch.

she's a happy little thing

who gives big smiles freely

oh how time does fly