Happy Birthday JOSH!

Tracy's boy turned 18 today. I think she drove to Spokane to end it all... I can't believe he is 18, I met him when he was Brady's age, this sweet little boy kept coming over to my house to play catch and inspect my basement (apparently it was very fascinating). He introduced me to one of the best friends I have ever found.

I got back to cleaning Brady's room this morning and he and I decided that it was time to pack up his Thomas trains (there is no way I'm getting rid of those, my grandchildren will have those to play with as there are probably $1000 worth of trains in there). It broke my heart a little to see my son outgrow his trains, we've had them since he first started to play independently. Today they made space for Lego's and Playmobil.

Then at school we were greeted by the resident squirrel. The park nearby is filthy with squirrels, but this one in particular lives on school grounds and has no tail. We've been watching this squirrel for a couple of years now, and he has a little tuft of fur at the end of his stump, but that's about all there is to it. I always imagined that he got it zapped off while he was running up and down the power poles. Either way, he is interesting and cute, and the fact that he is unique makes us certain that we are tracking the same squirrel from season to season.

And finally, I confirmed that my daughter has monkey arms. Claire gave us this hand-me-down dress last spring, and I've been holding onto it for Natalie to wear this winter since it's a corduroy dress, and it's a size 4 (and Natalie is 3-ish). Today will be the first and last time she will be able to wear it. She could hardly get her arms in the hole, and I had to really strain to button the top button, and then it ended up looking like a baby doll on her, and the sleeves are about 1 1/2 inches too short. How can my 3 year old be wearing size 5 tops already? Brady just went into a 6, and he's 2 years older than her? She's part ape, I tell ya. So this super cute dress will be heading to Amelia. Note to Jen, don't let it sit around too long, or you'll miss your window!