Monday, July 31, 2006

Time goes by too fast. Click on each picture to enlarge

Christine on the right. February 28-1997 Ashley below. August 29-1988 I don't have to look at these pictures to remember exactly what they looked like as newborns. Their images have been frozen in my mind. After I took both of these pictures I told myself as I looked at every detail of their face that I would never forget that moment, and that all I would ever have to do is close my eyes to see my beautiful newborns. It brings tears to my eyes. I love them so much.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Spending money wisely

The other day Christine and I went to Michael's craft store to buy some items, (apliques, beads, stickers, fabric) so we could make some accessories for her dolls. Every time we are at a store together buying something for her she compares prices. On this trip we were looking at some iron on applique and she found some she liked. She said she really liked them but that they were expensive. She kept looking and found some very similar iron ons for much less and with more in a package. I have made my girls smart shoppers. When Ashley was younger we would go grocery shopping together, and as I read the items on the list we would choose the items that we needed. She didn't bother to check the prices on anything that she put in the cart. I spent a lot of time explaining to her how to get the most out of her/our money. She does most of her shopping on her own now and she has done really well. Sometimes she will ask me if I think she has spent too much money on something. She tries very hard to shop smart. I learned very quickly when I was pregnant with her that name brands were not something that I would be buying any longer. I wish my mom wouldn't have let me buy name brand clothes when I was a teenager. I think about the money I could have saved. I couldn't live without that $60.00 pair of jeans. She made me use my money to buy clothes that were over a certain amount. I had to get new clothes every year, even though I had tons of clothes from the previous year. My girls do great when it comes to shopping for clothes. They have never felt the need to buy new clothes just because it was the start of a new school year. I buy them what they need. It's so different now with all the stores to choose from. When I was growing up Moses Lake was where I did my clothes shopping. All the stores were specialty stores and they were expensive. Even the mall in Wenatchee was expensive compared to todays prices. Ashley hates clothes shopping. She always tells me to buy them for her and she will try them on at home. I think that happened twice and I said uhhh, no more, she was forced to go. One year we went shopping and we could not find any jeans that fit her well. We spent 6 hours at the mall. She was soooo sick of trying on clothes, but I refused to leave until we found something that fit and looked good. Finally at Old Navy she found some that fit great. My girls have so much more than I had growing up and I never felt like I was dirt poor as a kid. I had two working parents and was an only child and still there were some tough times. When Ashley was younger my income was way below poverty level. There were times I remember having enough extra money to buy cheese. Cheese was expensive so it was great when I could afford to buy it.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Josie and Jennie

Click on each picture to enlarge. I was 6 and my friend Jennie was 15. We had such cute overalls. She lived right next to us and had rabbits, goats, cows and other farm animals. My mom built me the coolest hay fort in our huge red barn. It had one small opening that led down into the fort. It was fully enclosed. I played for hours in my fort. It was like my secret hiding place. I remember going over to Jennie's one day. I was walking up to her door and I saw her in the window. Her and her boyfiend were kissing. I got really nervous and started to leave. She came to the door and said, "Josie come in it's o.k." I loved going over to her house. I think back and wonder how she felt about me coming over all the time. She was so nice to me and I thought she was so pretty. We moved to Soap Lake when I was 8 and she was 17. I haven't seen her since. I would love to see her again.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Tremendously exciting

Christine made a shoe box train for her dolls and stuffed animals. We don't live a tremendously exciting life, ( we do live a busy life) and I wouldn't want to. It's the every day things that make me the happiest. I got excited the other day because my rose bush that has never had one bloom on it since I planted it 4 years ago has several roses blooming. Tremendously exciting is good once in awhile, but it doesn't have to be something that spectacular in order for us to enjoy it, although we all of have some spectacular things we love or would love to do on our lists. Our tremendously exciting lists Josie's tremendously exciting list: sledding at Mt. Baker in the Winter, boating with friends in the summer, sky diving ( just once would be fine with me and Christine said she would go with me, but that would not happen) scuba diving, learning to fly, watching the kids on Christmas morning, roller skating ( I love roller skating) getting a pedicure, latin dance lessons to learn the Salsa, the Rhumba and the Cha Cha, going to a masseuse, working in an orphanage or helping in any way in a third world country. This one will have to go on our supercali.... list, and not because it isn't possible, but because I know once I was there I would want to stay, and I can't really just up and move with the girls. Relatives would not be happy about us moving so far away. You will understand why this goes on our supercali..... list after you read Christine's list. Back to the list; sleeping under the stars, in the sand, on any beach. Having a guy in my life for the last 5 years would have been tremendously exciting. Some would be more exciting than others: I would probably list learning to fly as a little more exciting than getting a pedicure, but getting a pedicure is something that I can do occasionally, twice a year in the summer. Flying lessons are not in the budget, and even if they were the money would go towards something of a little more importance: Ashley's education, groceries. I'm kidding, groceries are always in the budget. Christine's tremendously exciting things to do: going to the waterslides, swimming in the pool, boating, flying to California (she loves to fly) so she can play on the beach every day, going on a ferry, the county fair, and something she hasn't done before (I think maybe 4 people have) but would love to do. She wants to go inside Noah's Ark on Mt. Ararat. I told her years ago that going inside the Ark would be THE ultimate experience. I think the Ark will go on our supercalifragilisticexpialidocious list. I think Mary Poppins would agree. Ashley's list: photographing new scenery, going to rabbit shows, (she wants to go to the ARBA National convention in texas this year, keyword- wants. She hasn't gone to any shows outside of Washington State. Judging rabbit and cavy competitions, a trip to Japan, 4-H special events and redecorating rooms. Nicole's list: her boyfriend, shopping and traveling to far away places.

Friday, July 21, 2006

My two half brothers and my dad. The text is just me rambling on, I'm good at that.

This post is just me rambling on about family, and it will probably be boring to most of you. Christine had never seen my wedding pictures so I got them out the other day for her to look at. First picture is left to right- Michelle with her daughter Nicole standing in front of her. She was married to Scott Keeler years ago. Becky with Catriona (my sister in-laws daughter) in front of her. Ashley is in front of me. Second picture is Kim on the left (she surprised me by flying in from Hawaii to come to my wedding) I was so excited to see her. On the right is Nicki. Kim and Nicki went to school together in Gig Harbor. I first met Nicki when I was 16. Third picture is my dad, my half brother Jim and half brother Keith. They are both older than my mother and I am younger than all of their children. Kara, my niece, always called me Aunt Joe. It would drive me crazy. (you know I love you Kara) The only picture I have of my dad and my two half brothers as adults. My dad passed away four months after my wedding. I rarely see my brothers. We went down to see them three years ago. It was the first time they had seen Christine. I do keep in touch with Keith's (the one on the right) daughter Kara. My mother's sisters, my brothers, and some of my brother's kids still live in Lewiston, Idaho. My good friend Becky (in the first picture on the right with the kids) and her family live in Clarkston, Wa. which is just across the bridge from Lewiston. I think back to when we moved to S.L. when I was 8 years old. My parents wanted a business where they could be home together. They looked at several motels in several towns. Before we moved to S.L. they worked opposite shifts so they didn't get to spend much time together. We would go camping on the weekends and take our horses. When I was 5 years old I rode our horse Pepsi across the meadow. I had never gone faster than a walk. Without any warning he broke into a gallop. I dropped the reins and held onto the horn for dear life, screaming all the way back to the camper. My parents were not worried at all. I wasn't worried about him bucking me off, I was worried about falling off. You would think after that incident I wouldn't want to go any faster than a walk, but just the opposite happened, there was no stopping me. I didn't realize when we moved to S.L. that we would have to be home ALL the time. The motel was our income and someone had to be there at all times. My mom and I got really tired of it. We rarely went anywhere together as a family. I learned quickly that having a motel was a lot of work. I would help my mom clean rooms, do the laundry, mow the grass (which I loved doing because I could tan at the same time) and check people in. The rooms were $14.00 per night for two people. My dad refused to raise the price. We were the cheapest motel in the county. My parents thought about moving to Australia when I was a baby. The company my dad worked for was building a plant there and they wanted him to manage it. My mom was fine with moving until she checked into the location. We would have been out in the boonies, and she was worried about being so far away from town in case of an emergency. I sometimes wonder what my life would be like if we had moved there. I do know that if we had moved I wouldn't have the awesome friends that I have now or my amazing girls. From what my mom has told me, the location in Australia made S.L. look like Bellingham, I guess our house would have been the town. Growing up in S.L. was o.k. I had so much fun with my friends when I was in elementary school, but around 8th grade things started to fall apart. I honestly did not enjoy school and I didn't try at all to do well. In 9th grade all of my friends started moving away and by the end of 9th grade they had all moved. It was frustrating because I wasn't interested in hanging out with the kids that were left in my class. Believe it or not S.L. did have cliques, and I was never a part of that, so I didn't have friends. I was one of 8 kids in my graduating class! There were 5 girls and 3 boys, crazy isn't it. The 4 girls in my class were in their own little world/club. My mom always used to tell me that being alone and lonely was much better than hanging out with the wrong crowd. I'm so glad that my girls have so many friends. It's really important to have friends in high school. From 10th through 12th grade I was definitely going to school just to see my boyfriend. My parents did not like the two boyfriends I had between 10th and 12th grade (one of them being Ashley's dad) and the truth is neither did I. I just didn't want to be alone. It was all about what my mom had told me before, that being alone is better than hanging out with the wrong crowd/guy. If I had chosen not to have a boyfriend I would have been alone, but better off I'm sure. Hindsight is 20/20.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Bellingham fireworks

Click on each picture to enlarge. It's just not the same if you don't view them larger. Every year we go to the fireworks down at the bay. It was cold this year and of course it's the one year that we brought just one blanket and had shorts on. During the 20 minute show we have just three words that we repeat over and over. Ooooohh....... ahhhhhh....... sweeeeet. We got Ashley a digital camera for graduation so she took some pictures of the fireworks. We have never had a camera that would take pictures of fireworks. As you can see, if you don't hold perfectly still while taking the picture, it will look nothing like fireworks. I took some pictures, but they don't resemble fireworks. I guess I moved just a little. The first two pictures are the ones that I took. You'll just have to use your imagination. The pictures I took of the girls doing fireworks after the big ones didn't turn out at all. I have pictures of the kids doing fireworks every year, except this one. Ashley is entering some of the pictures in the fair.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

The old days. 16 years old (1985) Kim and I at Wild Waves.

Click on picture to enlarge Yeah I know, the picture is really bad. Underdeveloped and a cheap camera. The 100 year old photos of my dad are much better than this one? I think the pictures back then turned out really good considering the lack of technology. It was my first time driving my first car over the mountains to stay with Kim for a week in Gig Harbor. My first car was not fuel efficient. I had to stop halfway and fill up. I didn't know that speed affected your gas mileage, and even if I had known I wouldn't have been any lighter on the pedal. Every chance I got I was cruising at 100+ miles per hour. Oh yeah, don't tell my mom, I promised her I would drive the speed limit, kidding, she knows all about it. It's just one of those things that you tell your parents about when you're older. I didn't get one ticket driving my first car and there were no accidents. It's pretty amazing since I was only 16, and had a car that had way too much power for me. I thought I was a great driver. Looking back it scares me to think that I drove that fast. My parents really shouldn't have let me buy that car, (I begged them until they broke down.) I was an inexperienced driver and a little irresponsible.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Old pictures from my mom's side of the family

Click on pictures to enlarge. They are much easier to see. (1871) Front row- sitting on the far right is my great grandfather (Edward Jacques) with his brothers and sister. The man in the middle front is my great great grandfather. (Adelme Jacques) I love going through old pictures of my family. The picture of the car has my grandmother (she is the one holding on to the car door) and some of my mother's sisters in the 1930's. I'm going to post pictures from my dads side later on.

My mom has told me stories about her growing up poor. In the summer time none of them had shoes to wear. They didn't get new shoes until the school year started and by the time summer came they had outgrown them so they went barefoot. My mom being the youngest had to wear all the hand me downs from her six sisters. She told me about how they took baths and used the same bath water. Sometimes one or two of the sisters would move back home with their husbands and children when there was no work and they needed a place to stay. My grandfather was a carpenter and when he came home from work he was very dirty and smelly. So bathtime went like this. First to bathe was her father, second her mother, the babies and young children, the older sisters and their husbands, and guess who was last, my poor mother because she was the youngest. She said that after the babies had pottied in the tub and after all the men and sisters it was her turn. I told my mom that I would just skip the bath if I had to be even the third one to bathe. I can't imagine what that was like. She would have been cleaner if she hadn't taken a bath at all. Just thinking about putting my head under that water to rinse my hair. Yep, I would just stink. That means she was the 12th one to bathe in the same water. We all have it so good.

My grandmother (on the far left) with her 7 girls. My mom (she is the youngest of 7 girls) is on the far right. Those cat eye glasses my mom is wearing?!?!

My mom's school picture when she was 7 or 8 years old. My mom only has two pictures of herself as a young girl and they were taken around the same time. I wish she had some baby pictures of herself. I don't think I look anything like my mom or dad. Usually there is some resemblence. Well, I guess I do look a little like my dad in his younger pictures. I have his ears!

The picture of the little girl (4 years old taken in 1901) with the black dress on and the white ribbon in her hair is my grandmother Lelia Jacque. Lelia is also the little girl standing on the chair with a white dress on. I love her little black boots.

The lady with the very large hat on (her picture is at the bottom) is my great grandmother Lea Mary Pare. This picture was taken in (1870's). I had her picture on my wall with many others until my mother told me about her. I felt guilty leaving her picture up when she was so cruel. The story is, my mother and her second youngest sister would go over to her house when they were little. Because my mother didn't take after the French side of the family (the way she looked) she was not allowed to go in the house. Jackie, her second youngest sister looked very French so she was spoiled by my great grandmother. They would sit at her kitchen table and drink tea and eat biscuits while my mother was outside in the yard alone. She treated my mother like that until the day she died. Unbelievable! The girls and I decided that she looked a bit like the witch from The Wizard of Oz. So, this picture is no longer on my wall, even though my mother said to leave it up. Her own grandmother treating her like she wasn't one of her own. I was so sad when she told me about her.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Friends that live too far away

Becky's sons. Left to right, Jake, Jordan, Taran and my Christine at the touch tanks down at the harbor. Click on pic to enlarge My very good friend Becky whom I've known since birth has three boys. Jake, the one on the left is her oldest. He is 17. He is such a great kid. I say kid, but he is really a young man. The one on the right is one of his friends. They are showing off their new mohawks. Becky came up last summer with her boys and stayed awhile with us. They were so much fun to have around. We all laughed so much. You just can't help it, her boys were always doing something to make us laugh.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

BABY BUNNIES, SNAKES, PICKING RASPBERRIES AND SWIMMING IN THE POOL. Click on the pics to enlarge

Swimming makes these kids HUNGRY! Christine and her friend Taylor spent their day swimming in the pool and picking raspberries, oh, and the snake. We have plenty of those around. The two wild baby bunnies are one of many ( 9 or 10) babies that Christine's cat Striker has taken from their nest. So far only one has survived. He got three yesterday and I am getting sooooooo mad. The baby bunnies scream when he attacks them. We all go running to save them. He carries them around in his mouth and that means he has punctured the poor things. Right now we have two in a pet taxi. He never kills them he just plays with them in a very mean way. We got a new pool this summer. I wasn't planning on getting a new one. Christine thought that throwing her cat in the pool would be good punishment for catching moles. When he got out he clawed the ring that holds the air that holds the pool up. Arrrggggg. I tried for 3 days to patch, patch and re-patch that pool. I was determined to fix it. I patched 16 holes and there must have been more, but I couldn't find them. So Christine and I went and got a new pool. It is twice as big as our old one. It took a little over 8 hours to fill it. Ouch, the water bill. Setting it up was the easy part. The hard part is keeping the water clean all summer. I drained our old one twice last summer because of the algae. The chemicals wouldn't kill it. I won't be draining the pool this summer. Besides the water bill I can't stand to waste water. There are so many chemicals that you put in and up until now I put just one sanitizer in. There are 4 steps involved if you do it right. Yeah, so when we bought the pool I was looking at the chemicals and all the ones I needed to get. Hello, I'm not willing to, or should I say I can't spend hundreds of dollars on the pool this summer. I'm going to try to get away with just using the sanitizer and shocking the pool once a week. You didn't need a ladder with our old pool. This one came with a ladder because you need it. I told the girls earlier that I had less lawn to mow now. Christine taught Taylor how to dog paddle. She has never taken swimming lessons and Christine was a great teacher. Christine is an excellent swimmer. She spent three summers in a row taking lessons and then last summer she decided she was done with it. I was hoping she might want to join a swim team because she enjoyed it so much. She is so strong and fast. I know we will all enjoy the pool up until the last warm day of the summer.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

"INVISIBLE CHILDREN" THE DOCUMENTARY

A Must see documentary!!!!

Invisible Children

Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, Laren Poole 55 min 8 sec - Apr 7, 2006 www.invisiblechildren.com

Make sure you check out the invisible children web site. Invisiblechildren.com You will find more short videos and pictures. Have your friends and family watch the film. Spread the news and check out some of the many ways you can help. The whole world needs to watch this!

To watch the film click on the link at the bottom of this post. It takes a few seconds to load.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment. Thanks

In the spring of 2003, three young Americans traveled to Africa in search of such as story. What they found was a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them. A story where children are weapons and children are the victims. The "Invisible Children: rough cut film exposes the effects of a 20 year-long war on the children of Northern Uganda. These children live in fear of abduction by rebel soldiers, and are being forced to fight as a part of a violent army. This wonderfully reckless documentary is fast paced, with an MTV beat, and is something truly unique. To see Africa through young eyes is humorous and heart breaking, quick and informative - all in the very same breath. See this film, you will be forever changed.

OK guys, this is one of the best documentaries I have seen in a very long time. The beginning of the film is about the three young men as they are preparing to leave for Africa. It is definitely not a waste of your time! It's about an hour long so maybe you can replace one of those Friday or Saturday night movie rentals with this film. The crisis in Africa has been one of my passions for a very long time. I remember telling my mom when I was just 6 years old that I wanted to adopt a baby from Africa when I grew up. I saved every penny of my allowance for what seemed like years to buy a black baby doll. She was precious to me. I do what I can to help, but I often think about the baby or child that could have been mine.

I give this documentary four stars and two thumbs up!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3166797753930210643&q=invisible+children