Happy Birthday, Jammin' Jessica!

It's a friendship that has spanned almost 25 years, heated arguments, torrential tears, down-right silly memories, brutal honesty and insane amount of laughs (and Williamsburg trips). Ever since we met at the corner of Hemlock and Aspen on the first day of 2nd grade in 1984; I think we've pretty much lived the saying "Chance made us neighbors. Hearts made us best friends".

We've created millions of memories that I hold close to my heart. You helped make me a better person. Miles have separated us but they haven't squelched the friendship. And, although you're not a 'kid' person, you and my daughter have formed an unbelievable bond that truly shows how big your heart actually is.

I'm proud to call you my friend. We've certainly had one wild ride - but I can't wait to make 25 more years of memories. Happy birthday - I love you.

Deep Thoughts Part II, By Julia Haney

It's been a rough week here but we're getting through it. Maybe sometime I'll post about it, but right now the feelings are too raw. Julia is still making us smile. Here are some more of her "Deep Thoughts" (Click here for the first installment):

Julia was never a good sleeper. A few hours of shut-eye and she's ready for adventures. Now, Grammy and Grampy call going to sleep "making Peep-pees". So after a 3 am showdown with Steve, this is what she said to me in the morning:

"Papa was in my room last night. He was mad, said 'get on your bed! time to make peep-pees!' And I made peep-pees before he got mad again."

Our Thoughts: We wish she would just sleep without the showdowns.


It's been a "Cars" movie festival for about 3 months in the Haney house. Over and over and over and over. It's so bad that she handed me the DVD remote and said:

"Mama! This is the Lightning McQueen remote."

Our Thoughts: Lightning McQueen needs a vacation.


Afternoon snack time is one of my favorite times with Julia. We watch Sesame Street and Curious George curled-up on the couch. Somewhere in this hour-and-a-half we have a snack. One day it was Chex Mix Snack Mix. I put some in her bowl and in mine. When I finished, she put her bowl back in my lap and asked:

"Mama? Can I please have milk on my cereal?"

Our Thoughts: YUCK.


Last week we had an ice/snow mix in Virginia. The side of the roads and parking lots now have that brown sandy mix all over them. As we walked into A.C. Moore she kicked the grit around, looked up at me and said:

"Wow. There is peanut butter on the road!"

Our Thoughts: DOUBLE YUCK.


Thanks to Luci, Steve and I are now addicted to the Facebook application "myFarm." We have a ridiculous amount of fun placing trees, planting crops and moving animals. Both of us have chickens corralled in a fenced area off of the coup. Julia loves to watch them. This morning she was watching them and exclaimed:

"Mama! Look! The chickens are in class, dancing!"

Our Thoughts: We're confused. We thought her class was a bunch of turkeys! Ha!