Happy Birthday Wesley!

Today is my baby's birthday. He's 20. This is the first time he's been away from home for his birthday. It's probably more traumatic for me than for him. Wesley was actually born on Labor Day, so the nurses had some fun with that one. He's been a pleasure from Day 1 and was the perfect caboose for our little family. I'm really missing him right now, but he's happily serving a mission in Washington, so I'm happy when he's happy. When Wes was in highschool, he wanted some pretty expensive shoes. I can't remember if it was football or basketball season, but he wanted these custom Nikes that he could have personalized. I agreed to pay for the shoes if he would have them personalized with "Mama's Boy" instead of his jersey number. I thought that would get me out of buying the shoes, but Wesley was proud to put "Mama's Boy" on his shoes. So, Happy Birthday to my Mama's Boy!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

If you read my blog expecting a good laugh, well...better move on past this post. If you can believe it, I've got nothing funny to say today. That said, it doesn't mean that what I have to say isn't important, because it is.

I took this picture yesterday (Saturday) afternoon from my backyard. It was actually a double rainbow, but the lighter, fainter rainbow above this one isn't visable in the picture. It was really beautiful and had I thought to run around to the front yard, I could've captured the other end of it. A full rainbow right over my house...which led me to a little bit of introspection and Judy Garland singing:

"Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true."

And so I'm thinking that this song lyric is right! That may seem a little sappy, but honestly, when I was a youngster growing up in a single-parent home it was only a dream that I might have something better than the family life I was experiencing. It wasn't all that bad, but I wished for something better.

I'm NOT thinking that dreams come true without any effort on our part. Quite the opposite. HOWEVER, it is the least little effort on our part that allows a loving Heavenly Father to bless us beyond our dreams. And that is precisely what He has done for me. I'm just writing this to say that I recognize the hand of the Lord in my life and I'm THANKFUL for what he has given me. The skies at my house are not always blue (We have our trials just like everyone else. Okay, maybe DoJo has more trials than most people because he PICKED me...but it's too late to feel sorry for him now!) but I'm grateful for my husband, children, and grandchildren that are part of this dream I call reality. Life is good.

I'm NOT Exaggerating!

Okay, so I've been known to exaggerate a tad, once-in-awhile, in order to make a good story even better. I prefer to think of my tendency to exaggerate as an enhancement, kinda like how super models' pictures are airbrushed to make them look even thinner. EVERYTHING you are about to read is totally true. Really, you can believe me.

I arise early every morning to power walk. It helps me justify the afternoon nap. Occasionally, I take a little 2-mile jaunt that includes passing an over-grown glade area where I'm sure all kinds of wildlife lurk. I like this trek because it has a slight incline and it challenges my cardiovascular system. That means I'm sucking wind by the time I crest the little molehill! One morning last month as I was headed up the hill, I noticed a strange looking cat crossing the road in front of me. It was between 5:30 and 6 am, so the sun was not completely up yet, but it wasn't dark. This cat with an awfully strange gate proceeded to climb a cottonwood tree, and I thought that I'd never seen a cat climb like that before. I was keeping my eye on him/her thinking all the while that this gimpy feral cat was going to jump on my head just as I passed by the tree it was climbing. I never really believed that old wives' tale that "wild animals are just as afraid of you as you are of them." If that were true, bull snakes would be scream when they saw me pass by my snowball bush.

So, just before I get to the tree with the cat, the cat turns to look at me, and WHOA! This was no cat. It was an albino raccoon! I knew this because it didn't have a cat nose and it had rings on its tail (but they were whitish rings!) AND it had beady little pink eyes. I would've taken a picture with my cell phone, but that never works out nicely for me. I usually get a nice picture of my finger. Besides, the coon was staring me down and I was a bit nervous. CREAPY, but cool. It also gave me an adrenaline rush that shaved 4 minutes off my 2-miler.


This was a real wildlife sighting for me, so once I got back into my neighborhood and back to my walking buddies (Toni, Pollyanna, & Che), I told them about my close encounter. They believed me, so I just assumed that EVERYONE would believe me. NOT! As it turns out, the females in my life believed every word, but the males, well...not so much. Seriously?! Who would make up a story about an albino raccoon? I did think about embellishing the story with a little side note about how the ghost coon jumped out of the tree onto my head and got its claws tangled in my hair and how I had to use some cage fighting moves to put him down. But then, that just seemed unbelievable, so I refrained. I almost felt betrayed in the face of so much skepticism, so I did what anyone else would do...I Googled it and here is what I found.
This coon's eyes are not pink like my coon, but still, I felt that a picture was proof. Albino raccoons exist. Toni's husband, BP, I can't reveal his true identity so as to protect him from ridicule, even sought me out at church to make fun of my close encounter. He told me that while he was driving across the reservation on his way to work he spotted a North American Desert Albino Moose. What BP didn't realize is that I'm a native New Mexican and I know there is no such thing as a desert moose. Albino, maybe, but meese don't dwell in the desert. When my daughter, Amanda (a believer) told her husband, Jeremy, (an unbeliever) that it was real and that I had Googled it, Jeremy's reply was "Duh! If you Google UNICORN I bet you'd find a picture of that too." AAARRRGH! All this skepticism! So, I Googled unicorn and this is what I found:

A deer with one horn growing in the middle of its head. Fox News. It's real! And that makes my Ghost Coon story valid, so there you go male skeptics! I have to add here that my missionary son totally believed every word, but then, I send him money?! Wes said that he imagined that a Ghost Coon sighting was a lot like a BigFoot sighting...only a select few get the opportunity.
Now, for the best part...BP had Toni forward this picture to me, taken over in Aztec in the dumpster at the Senior Center. I think this is BP's way of apologizing for his unmerited skepticism and his outlandish tale about the moose.

Lastly, my friend Marla sent this picture to me today. Yeah, it pretty much looks like an up close picture of a window screen, but if you stare at it long enough, it turns out that there are raccoons behind the screen. It was taken last night, and lo' and behold, one of the raccoons is an albino! Another eyewitness. Marla is not prone to exaggeration. She did, however, suggest that our wildlife encounters may be print worthy...like National Geographic or National Inquirer. I say National Inquirer because I think they pay.

So there it is: MoJo's BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

Next posting: BigFoot Stalks 6th grade Teacher!

Trophy Wife

Some time ago, I read a Dear Abby column about a man of retirement age who was upset that his 59-year-old "trophy wife" wanted to let her hair go grey. Since then, I've been thinking about what a real trophy wife is and I've decided that I am one. DoJo is NOT retiring, and I'm YEARS from 59, but just take a look at me...I AIN'T GONNA LIE TO YOU...I'm hot. Like literally H-O-T! Not hot like high school girls dreamily declare "Edward is sooooo hot!" Not hot like Thigh-Masters or PedEggs. Not even hot like Sean Connery or Clint Eastwood in their golden years. No, I'm just plain ol' hot like my core temperature is 110 degrees Celisus. Hot like back sweat. Hot like a dog with his head out the car window just trying to catch a breeze. Yes, I'm HOT! And I've got a picture to prove it. (See below.)I'm smiling here because when a person gets too hot, a sense of disorientation, confusion, and hallucinations set it, which are all symptoms of heat stroke, a mallady known only to those of us who get

TOO H-O-T!

Isn't DoJo lucky to have a trophy wife? Besides that, take a look at my work...(see below)

I mow on the diagonal twice a month! Who could ask for more than that? However, I will say I'm getting pretty sick of passerbys stopping to ask me if I speak english and how much I charge per hour. Seriously people, get your own trophy wife. I'm all DoJo's!

By the way, Abby's reply to the stupid guy who was worried about his wife's grey hair was "even black cats are grey in the dark." Like duh! Who cares if her hair is gray? Can she mow on the diagonal? Those corners are tough you know!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

When my children were children, I made most of their clothing. I love to sew, but in those days, fabric and patterns were much cheaper (HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THE COST OF A PATTERN LATELY? $13 AND CHANGE FOR TISSUE PAPER?!) and I sewed out of neccessity because we were sorta poor. Nowadays, I sew because I can. It is a joy for me to cut up fabric, sew it back together, and create something unique. My talent-pool is a shallow one, but I can sew and I love having little girls to sew for. (I will say that doing a set-in sleeve on a size two dress was just as tedious as I remembered!) Sew, sew, soooooo, Grammie got busy and made some summer dresses for the girls.

Summer Fun

We spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer. We have a covered patio that functions as our outdoor living/dining room. Since the most of the grandkids live right next door, we see them daily. Here are a few of precious moments from my first week out of school.

Roasted corn-on-the-cob for dinner (thanks to Reed!).

Grandpa DoJo gives Drew his second buzz cut of the summer. Check out that farmer's tan!

When the folks at church complimented Andrew on his haircut, he rubbed his head and said "Grandpa cut my hair."

He's handsome, no matter what haircut he has.

Here you see Drew contemplating whether he should get into the backyard pool. I fill the kiddie pools with our well water, which is icy-cold even on the hottest summer days.

The girls don't seem to mind. Check out those swim goggles and Kourtney's "princess pose." These kids are goofy, but I love 'em!

HONESTLY? What's not to love about this?

There are lots of things I like about summer, BESIDES not being at work. Lots of free time in the backyard is number one on my list!

Mr. Good Idea

This is my son-in-law, Reed, otherwise known as Mr. Good Idea. (Yeah, he's the one who thought putting an engagement ring in a Frosty was a good idea.) Reed's family gave him the nickname. It's well-earned. His wheels are constantly turning.

This is Jared. Jared has lots of ideas, but I'm not sure they are all good ideas. His idea was to use my new garden cart as a carnival ride for the grandchildren. For a "big" boy, Jared can run pretty fast!

This is Rudy. He thinks he is one of the grandkids. He is one year old, which makes him seven in dog years. He acts like a seven-year-old boy. He's our only granddog, so we love him a lot.

Reed noticed that Jared was tired from running around the yard with the garden cart. That's when he came up with the good idea to hook Rudy up and have him do all the running.

Rudy loved it. The kiddos loved it. Everyone was happy.

Rudy runs faster than Jared...

...and he will lay on the grass with all the cousins.
*No animals or children were injured as a result of Reed's good idea. Whew!

World's Greatest Band Teacher

Pictured here with DoJo is Janet Isham, the World's Greatest Band Teacher. Janet retired this year after 36 years of teaching. DoJo is actually one of her oldest students, since she was doing her student teaching at Kirtland Central High School when he was a senior in 1975. (Yeah, he's THAT OLD, but he doesn't act his age!) Apparently, listening to DoJo on the trumpet was not enough to deter Mrs. Isham from having a great career as a band teacher.
Janet Isham helped me (and countless others in our community) raise my children. Each of my five children started off with Janet in Beginning Band at Grace B. Wilson Elementary School in 5th grade. Apparently, even THAT didn't make her give up. I must admit that I haven't always blessed Janet's name. She insisted on having her students practice every night AT HOME. Let's just say that I felt her pain every night for years!

We LOVE Janet Isham and she will be sorely missed in our schools. Here she is with the Whipple girls. Megan played the tuba, Amanda played the French horn, and Kaitlin played the trumpet. Not pictured are Jared, who played the trombone, and Wesley, another trumpet player. When I told Janet how much I appreciated her helping me raise my kids and thanked her for putting up with Jared (She nagged him about his grades, taking some of the burden from me!), she chimed in that she was happy to put up with each of them, but that it was a blessing that I had spaced my family so that she never had to have two Whipples in the same band at the same time. Then she revealed the secret to her success...Jared actually PREPARED her to deal with Wesley! Thank you again Janet. I couldn't have done it without you! Happy retirement.

I've been busy, okay?!

How embarrassing! I just looked at my blog and saw that my last post was in April. Sorry to all my readers (all three of you!), but I've been sorta busy. When I start sewing, it is hard for me to do anything else. Yes, I sorta get obsessed. I know, it IS hard to imagine me being obsessed. Most people just think I'm possessed. Really, they are almost the same thing, just a few letters difference. But honestly, I have been busy.

First, I finished Amanda's mini-quilt for her April 14th birthday.

Then, I finished Desi's mini-quilt for her April 25th birthday. I asked Desi to pick out her own colors and block patterns. I wanted to surprise her, but when I asked Jared about her favorite colors, I realized that he didn't know what he was talking about. Some things never change!

And last but not least, Megan's mini-quilt received its finishing touches. Her birthday isn't until July 17th, but she has already seen the quilt. Once Megan got wind of the mini-quilt project, she put in her special order. She wanted a long rectangle to go over the headboard of her bed.

Besides these little treasures, I've finished a full-size quilt and a baby quilt. In addition to sewing a lot, I also have this incredible family I enjoy spending time with. Here you see my three oldest children. This picture was taken in early April, just a week or so before Megan (far left) delivered our precious little Clara Jane Stewart on Desi's birthday, April 25th. Amanda is due in early July. She is having another girl, bringing the granddaughter count to 5 and the grandson count stays at 4, for now. As for Jared, well, we are not sure what he is "due-ing" in this pic! Just being Jared, I guess. Gotta love him!

Here's big sister, Olivia, holding her new baby sister Clara.

And a little more recent pic of the little darling. She was full-term and weighed 5 lbs. 13 oz. She is just a Little Bit! I could hold her and rock her and gaze into that sweet angle face all day.

Grandchildren are the Lord's way of rewarding you for not killing your children. I've been especially blessed.

Saturday Sampler

It's the 1st Saturday of the month and that means Saturday Sampler at the local quilt shop. Saturday Sampler is the day the I pick up my new block of the month. It is fun! Megan has gone with me the last two months. The quilt shop is like Fabric Wonderland, which Megan deemed as heavenly, so she invited herself to come along with me today.

This is my March block. I've never done Flying Geese (the middle-side blocks with little triangles) before, so this was a learning experience for me. Let's just say, I have a seam ripper and I'm not afraid to use it!

I love Saturday Sampler days because of the feeling there. I see all kinds of people there, acquaintences and people I haven't yet met, and EVERYONE is smiling. Today I was befriended by a lady who promptly took me by the hand and introduced me to her "quilting lady" (a.k.a. lucky gal with a long-arm quilting machine.) Saturday Sampler begins with a little pep talk about the new block and a show-n-tell of new fabrics, books, and sewing toys. They also announce any upcoming classes or events happening in the store. Last month, when the store's 7th anniversary celebration was announced with a special price on fabrics, everyone clapped! Megan laughed. Today, when the upcoming scissor sharpening day was announced, there was a collective "ooooh!" from the quilters and Megan laughed some more. After announcements, the quilters show-n-tell their projects. The ooohs and aaahs continue. It is great fun to see all the neat things people do with fabric and to chit chat with like-minded folks. This is a fun hobby. Even if you don't sew, you've got to experience Saturday Sampler just once.

A Perfect Saturday

Alexis and Kourtney had a "sleepover" at my house Friday night. Grandpa DoJo promised them breakfast at a restaurant. This is one of DoJo's favorite things, breakfast at a restaurant. As for me, well, not so much, but I went along anyway.

Everyone is excited!

DoJo, Kourt, and Lex await their food.

Even Kourtney's nappy-haired baby, RaJessica, made the trip. Her appearance sometimes freaks other people out, so she did some time in DoJo's pocket.

THIS is a kid's meal? Whew! Glad I ordered off the adult menu!

Lexi is always ready to pose for the camera. After breakfast, we went to the local Alco store and bought sunvisors and sticky things. I had to do a drive by in the fabric department while we were there. While looking for straight pins, Lexi asked me if I would teach her to sew "when summer comes." Oh be still, my heart!

The goal with the visor is to pack a lot of sticky things on there, including your middle name. Kourtney is four and needed absolutely no help at all picking out all the letters for her first and middle name. Just look at that sweet face! And to think I get to live next door to this!

AND this!

Later in the afternoon, Jared, Desi, and the boys came out. Since the weather was cooperating, we decided to fly my giant dragon kite.

This is what we looked at for a good portion of the afternoon. It took awhile to get it aloft, but once up, everyone enjoyed a turn at holding the string. Since DoJo and I are way past the running stage of our lives, the job for getting the kite up in the air fell to Jared. If I were better with my camera, we would have video of Jared's antics, but second best, just imagine my big boy running around with a six foot dragon kite behind him only feet from the ground. It was funny.

Mason wants to go where Daddy goes. He sees Daddy running forward while looking backward and decides that must be what you're supposed to do.

Uncle Jared astounds and amazes his nieces with his kite-flying skills.

Lexi takes a turn at the helm, but seriously, the winds up high were so strong that the kiddos had a hard time holding on to the handle. Maybe the size of the kite had something to do with that too.

In spite of the fearful look on his face, Mason really is having a good time.

Grandpa DoJo babysits Brennen while the rest of us stare at the kite. Really, it was amazing. And the sky was sooooo blue!

Olivia is cut from the same cloth as DoJo. If she could've flown her Barbie kite from a recliner, she would have! Hanging out the window of the car is the next best thing.

When kite-flying and running around after Dad gets a little tedious, Mason retires to the sandbox while Jace, Kourtney, and Olivia have some fun on the trampoline.

Nolan takes his turn at the dragon.

After everyone had a turn with the kite, we all retired to the patio. Here you see Jared and Amanda discussing how many hundreds of dollars they should spend on my birthday present.

Megan listens intently, all the while thinking that Jared and Amanda are not planning on a sufficient amount of money. I hope they listen to Meg.

Jeremy ponders how he can sabbotage the whole discussion. Then again, I AM his favorite mother-in-law. In his opinion, NOTHING is too good for me!

Any Saturday spent with my kids and grandchildren is a perfect Saturday. Life is good!