Cleaning "UP"

SPOILER ALERT: This blog contains information about a certain movie and its major plot points. If you haven't yet seen this movie... Why NOT??????

As you probably know, one of Noah's most favorite movies EVER is UP.

He loves to imagine that he's actually Carl Fredrickson and that he lives in the Up house. He reenacts every scene imaginable from the movie. For example, the other day I came out of my laundry room to find the coat closet open and the cord to my vacuum cleaner unwound and stretched into the living room. Intrigued, I dared to follow the electrical cord until I found the plug. Noah was pulling with all his might on the "rope to the Up house!" He was pretending that he was good ol' Carl and that he had to pull on the garden hose to keep the house from falling off the big air ship. Outstanding. My vacuum cord remained unwound and all over the place for the next week or so. Until I put it away and got an ear-full about it! It's not surprising to see Noah with his 3D glasses on and using his "walking stick" whenever he's playing around the house. I just have to be well versed and on top of whichever scene he is playing at the moment. And I do pretty well... Until the other day....

Just after breakfast I heard a HUGE commotion coming from Noah's bedroom upstairs. This actually is common... but this time there were loud thumps and a few booms and bangs. I didn't even guess... I just ran up the stairs. By the time I got there, this is what I found in his room:



Can you spot Abbie in this picture?



Yeah... You know that scene toward the end of the movie where Carl figures out that if he throws all the furniture and his belongings OUT of the house, it will fly again? Well, that's what Noah was doing. Quite fervently! He even threw his bookshelf:



What did I do? What did I say? I just laughed... and took a few pictures. What can you do? I did tell him that I didn't want him to do that every day though. Let's be clear. Then my little Carl said, "Yeah... this is just a silly mess. But I will clean it up before I go to bed, O-Tay?"

I promised that I would help. :)

Grandpa

Happy Memorial Day. :)

Today I've been thinking a lot about my Grandpa Gardner. My grandpa passed away a few weeks before Easter in 2003. I believe that he was 93, but I'm not sure (help, Mom!). At the end of his days, he was quite frail and sometimes didn't recognize some of the people that he's always loved so much. But I like to remember my grandpa from when I was a little girl. This picture above was taken in the late 80's and I LOVE to see how strong and vibrant he still was then. I also love to see just how much my grandma adores him in this picture.

When I was a little girl running through his house, his garden, and his basement study, he would sometimes catch me and pick me up on his hip. He used to call me his little "imagination maker" and said how much I reminded him of my mom at that age. A thought that meant little to me then, but means the world to me now. He had a big black leather office chair that could spin faster then anything, and we would whirl around in that thing until we were sick. But he never minded.... the spinning OR the sickness.

My grandpa is buried in Star Valley, Wyoming. The morning after his funeral, the whole family made the drive up there to bury him near his family's history and near my great-great-grandfather. But I woke up very sick and could not make the trip. I haven't seen my grandpa's grave yet, but Kevin has promised me that he will take me there someday. And I want Noah to come and help me bring him flowers. I like to think that maybe Grandpa and Noah have met already somehow.

So this Memorial Day, I remember you Grandpa. Miss you and love you dearly. :)

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Little Squirt

This is what we've been up to lately....

Black

My sister and her husband lost a special member of their family last Saturday. If you have ever been lucky enough to love a dog like your own child, you know what I'm talking about.

Sweet Black left on Saturday, and she will always be loved. :) I so wish that I could be there give Jake, Jaime, Savannah, and Mr. Zach hugs all around. But instead, I will post a tribute to one of the most amazing little four-legged girls to ever live. I met Black in the summer of 2006 at Jake's family ranch. I fell in love with her eyes. She immediately rolled over and let me rub her belly for a good ten minutes. It was then that Jakeman came up and told me that Black liked to roll around in the steer pasture. He said it with a big grin... Yeah, I washed my hands. But not before loving on Black for a few more minutes.

I know that Black came into Jake's life when he needed her the most, just like he came into my sister's life when she needed him the most. :) Black is resting now at the family ranch and Jake and Jaime planted flowers over her.

We will miss you, girl. May you never find the edges of the flowery meadows wherever you are.

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Oh, how they grow...

My very first Mother's Day with Noah was so magical... My arms were, at last, full of sweet sweet beautiful baby. At last, I felt like I wanted to take home a flower or a cookie (I don't remember which one was offered that year!). Recently I read a beautiful blog entry by an adoptive mother whose little baby boy came to them just a few weeks before this last Mother's Day. I loved reading her thoughts about her Mother's Day this year. She wrote about how her husband has honored her on Mother's Day every year, even though they had not yet been blessed with children. She says...

"... It's not my 1st Mother's Day. It's just the 1st Mother's Day that I can breathe."

I so understand that.

Looking back over my last four Mother's Days, I just can't BELIEVE how fast my little boy has grown! See for yourself. :)

2007 - 3 months old...



2008 - 1 year old...



2009 - 2 years old...



2010 - 3 years old...



Can't wait to see what next year will bring.... Besides the bowl of Lucky Charms in bed on Sunday morning! Awesome. :)

Love,

Noah's Mommy
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