The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Jeff's grandfather, Daddy Boy, just celebrated his 97th birthday on May 8th. This man is amazing! If I knew how he stayed looking so young I'd bottle it up and make millions.

The first time I heard Jeff mention him I thought "Who would have such a crazy name as Daddy Boy?" Well now its just so second nature to call him that that I forget what his real name is....Wilton Fairless Hale.

Daddy Boy is like a walking encyclopedia and newspaper all wrapped up. He has probably read thousands of books (wonder where Jeff got that trait from?) and just knows about anything past and current.

Back when he found out we were expecting Isaac he started researching names for us and came up with Samb...yeah, I can see that now...Samb Lamb. Isaac is so grateful for his name!

Here's to many more birthdays Daddy Boy!

Pi Day 2009 - The One to Remember

We celebrated Pi Day 2009 at Jeff's school, Murrieta Valley High on March 13. The school did this in memory of Jeff. The students set up booths of fun things to do like Pie Throwing, Musical Chairs, Pi Memorization, etc. The obvious favorite hands-down was the Pie Throwing, where $3 bought you a paper plate filled with whipped cream and you could pick which teacher or administrator you'd like to tag. The "lamb" artwork for the stage was taken from a candy jar that Jeff's mom, Pinki, painted for us. I would always send candy to Jeff's students after all the holidays. Lord knows we didn't need to eat it! And they loved it!

Here is Isaac patiently waiting for Dean Nielsen to show up so he could get him with some whipped cream.

I was able to toss a few dozen keychains to the general population of students while they waited for their turn at throwing pies. These keychains I had made specifically for Jeff's students and colleages as a keepsake. They seemed to be well received.

Isaac finally got his turn at Dean, who by the way, never signed up to do this part of the event. Thanks Dean for making my son's day! You're a great sport!

The school surprised us with not only a wonderful gift of a wheelbarrow full of plants, potting soil, shovel, gloves, and a shade tree but with the proceeds of the event! They covered our mortgage for the following month. Thank you all for all your hard work and support. You guys rock!

Happy Easter!

Look what we found in an Easter basket this year! It's Dexter! Cody and Dexter were able to join us for Easter this year as well as Mike and Shannon Stowe, Janee and her kids, and Peggy. We had a blast. Nothing like trying to take on a new role of cook when you really don't know how to pull it off. The secret? Just fake it and pretend you know what you are doing! It seemed to work pretty well. No one starved or complained about the food. Yay!


This year we did our egg hunt Mondello-style...that is adults as well as kids hunt for eggs. Everyone got 2 eggs with their names on them and then had to find 12 more eggs. We also added 3 golden eggs to the mix. The lucky winners of the golden eggs were Maxwell ($5), Hope ($10), and Cody ($20). It was a little challenging hiding the eggs seeing how we had to use the front yard. Not too many bushes but lots of pots, bricks, the Pack Rat, and trailer to hide them around. Peggy did a great job of hiding all 176 eggs!

The best part about doing this was that Mike and Shannon hadn't egg hunted in about 40 years! Mike's orange carrot was under the corner of the Pack Rat storage container between him and Alex in this photo. Shannon had to ask Charlotte for help in finding her eggs. She was actually standing over one when she asked. Hee hee!

Alex got an additional "egg" of sorts. He decided to climb out my patio door (a 4 foot drop because the patio decking was being replaced), tripped, and hit his forehead on a brick. I had to call and let Michelle know that he might look a little battered. Nothing like an goose egg to make photos look great!

The Ugly Toe Saga

Okay, let's start off by saying that I am probably one of the most oblivious mothers out there. Ever since Maxwell could put his toe in his mouth there it was. He never needed a pacifier, he had his toe. He has been chewing on this particular toe since he was about 1 or so and developed a callous on it. The nail never grew quite right because he never let it. So after a while we decided to call it "the ugly toe". One day last summer I was having a pedicure and he was sitting there chewing on his ugly toe as he does and I made a comment about it to the nail girl. She takes one look at it and tells me that it is not a callous, as Jeff and I thought, but it was a wart. I about died! Here I am thinking it was a callous for 3 years now and it never dawned on me that it was a wart. Can we say "Eeewww!?!"

So in August we head off to the dermatologist. She looks and it and confirms that (1) I'm a complete moron, (2) it is definitely one of the biggest toe warts she has seen on a child and (3) she is very surprised that Max did not have warts in his mouth from chewing on it. Yuck!!!! So treatment begins. First we tried the simple stuff...some ointment twice a day. Nothing. Then we try something stronger...super strength Compound W stuff. Nothing. Next we try trimming off the top layer of wart. Nothing except a little blood. Now she takes off her kid gloves and brings out the big freeze ray gun. Nothing. Well that is except Maxwell screaming his head off. Poor guy! And the best (or worst) part from freezing it? It spread! Now we have three little warts and one humongous ugly toe wart with a valley in it. Each side of it could do battle now!

We at least had some comic relief in the office while waiting. I think the ointments made Maxwell's head grow or the freeze ray gun did. Either way I laugh hysterically whenever I see this photo. Reminds me of The Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man". This magnifying glass made going to the dermatologist bearable.

So after Jeff passed and so did our insurance, I decided to save money and try a home remedy. Duct tape. Let me tell you...this stuff fixes everything! Besides the fact that you can make wallets, push-up bras, prom dresses and tuxedos out of this wonderful product...it also removes warts! Yes! It's true! After a week of suffocating the wart and it's little friends that decided to pop up on other toes and fingers, the wart is gone! Yay! The ugly toe is now called "Mr. Clean". Thankfully the wart did not spread to Maxwell's mouth. That could have been fatal.

February 8, 2009

Today we lost Jeff unexpectedly to Jesus. We will greatly miss him, his humor, his laugh, his quietness, his wisdom and most of all his love.

He was our life. I am forever indebted to his friend and mentor, Mike Stowe, for witnessing to Jeff the love of Christ and hope of heaven. I only found out the day before his service that he had accepted Christ. Knowing this has made everything bearable and I feel that I can now carry on knowing I will see him again.

Reflecting on the past 20 years with him has been both joyful and tearful. I have now been given the responsibility to continue his legacy, his dreams for the boys and his memory. I only hope and pray that God will give me the strength and ability to do that.

We miss you so much and can't wait to meet up with you again!

Happy Birthday Boys!

This year the boys wanted to have a bowling party for their birthdays. Max turned 5 and Isaac turned 8. They both had a lot of fun planning their party. We had Lyzz Casillas make the cupcake birthday cake for us. She did an awesome job! The kids loved it and we only had a couple left over.

Here is Maxwell trying to navigate which way he is going to "toss" the ball. Thankfully the bumpers were up and the ball bounced side-to-side all the way down.

Every kid at the party received a trophy specific to them. Isaac's was "Most Dangerous Bowler" and Maxwell was "Most Gutter Balls". Isaac was true to form. He first almost took out Tyler when he fell over him with the ball and almost whapped Hollis in the head when he was falling. I am amazed that I don't end up in the hospital more with him.

All the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to the boys. This is the last photo we have of Jeff. I am so happy that he was able to attend their birthday party. It gave the boys great joy in knowing that Daddy made it to their party.

Kidspace Children's Museum

In January, we went to the Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena. This is a fun little museum for the kids to see. Lots of hands-on activities, climbing and running around. This is the entry way to the museum and Max just looks in awe of it. Its a really cool kaleidescope.

The week we went, they had brought in some snow for the kids to play with. Luckily we were able to dig out the gloves and beanies for the kids to play in it and stay warm.

Watch out, Max! Grandma Pinki is going to bean you with a snow ball!