thanks mom!! (& dad!!)

today an elderly patient came in the office and i said, 'hi, mrs. ______'. she said, 'you can call me ____(her first name)'. i laughed and said thanks, but no thanks, my mom would wash my mouth out with soap.' she was put into a treatment room and i said to one of the girls i work with, 'oh, she's sweet'. 'really??!! she can really be difficult' she responded. ok, whatever, i thought she was nice. when she was checking out and we were kinda gabbing and she said to me, 'you're a sweet girl...and you can tell your mother she did a great job.' 'oh, i will', i told her...and i will!!! she DID do a great job in raising kids who respect authority and have consideration even for those who are difficult. i think all 4 of us pretty much give the ornery (sp?) ones the benefit of the doubt that they're really great people down deep inside and we just need to bring it out. thanks mom & dad for instilling in us to value people-right to the heart! i love you!!!!

FREEZE!

last night was one of those nights. livie, mady & ben laying on our bed just hanging out talking about all kinds of random stuff-"did you know that ____'s related to ___?", "why does my hair do this when it's raining?", "do you think the yankees will make the play-offs this year?", "can you wait 'til you go on our class trip with us to statue of liberty? you'll probably bring your really telephoto lens, huh?" (no response from me because NO! i DON'T want to go there again...we go there EVERYTIME someone comes into town or wants a tour-i love the company and i always have a good time, but if i see another close-up of what's in miss liberty's hand i think i'm going to jump off the island!), "you're probably going to want to lay on the ground and take my class in front of the statue looking up, right?" (oh boy, gotta quit doing stuff like that-they think it's normal ;\!!)...and on and on. but, i wouldn't give it up for anything (don't even TRY to tempt me with dark chocolate because i WON'T...-?...!!!!!). sometimes i picture shelves of all bottles lined up with memories and i can just take one at a time off the shelf and re-live it. sometimes it's accurate and sometimes (more than ever) it's not exactly how it happened, but i smile. and, i treasure these things in my heart.

i do wish i could freeze these moments, but then i realize that if i froze them way back when i started wanting too, i never would have gone forward and had so many more 'freeze!' moments. so, for now, i'm enjoying each day.

my favorite bookmark!

i just wanted to show you my favorite bookmark. i keep it in my Bible so i get to look at it all the time. my nephew, sam, made this for me after the last time i was in lynden. i miss him sooo much!!!

now, if only you could smell the orange strip! (duh, where it says 'smell this' with an arrow!-if you click on the picture you can see it better)

folding sox

my sister gave me this idea...pay the kids 5 cents a pair to match sox. mady's on to this like none of the others. she's probably made about $7-8 so far (2 wks. worth)...let's see, how many pairs of sox is that??!!

oh, but it's SO exhausting! they need a 'break' about every other towel!

but as for payment to help fold the laundry? they get to live here!

that was then, this is now...

i used to be single...now i'm very, very happily married

i used to wear a bikini, uh...not now!

i used to worry about my wrinkles...now i call them smile lines

i used to drive a red chevy vega...now i drive a red chevy suburban

i used to love taking pictures...still do, however, not with the black and silver square camera that you had to hold really tight or it would blur (stop acting like you have no idea what i'm talking about!!)

i would have never TOUCHED a piece of fish to eat...now i always order escargot if it's on the menu

i always wanted prince charming to come and sweep me away...he did!!

i used to hate it when my sister used to cross 'the line' on our double bed...now i (sometimes~when my kids are driving me crazy) wish we were old spinsters who got to spend every day together!

i used to play my loverboy album all the time...now i have one ;)
(ok-truth be told: i thought it was very cool, but my dad spied the front of the album-a guy's bum in red tight leather pants with his fingers crossed over his bumbooski-and he took it and cracked it over his knee...i was horrified! actually, good for him-i'd do the same thing today with our kids!)

i used to hate being so skinny and lanky...hmmm~how do i finish THAT??

i used to think my parents were SO stupid...now i wish i could have those years back to tell them how amazing they really are!!

i told traci i'd never blog...now i'm hooked ;)

is spring really springin?!

got words?

doesn't everyone love a good quote? well i sure do...just check out my house:

on the wall of the (informal) living room (those of you know i never know what to call that room! ;\) "Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"

livie's beanbag

comes out for spring

mady's beanbag

wall by my desk in the kitchen

over our bookcase of photo albums

in our bedroom

"i love you not only for what you are, but for what i am when i am with you. i love you not only for what you have made of yourself but for what you are making of us. i love you for the part of me that you bring out"

on my wall mirror (thanks mom!)

on the boy's door

in the office...for now~currently looking for a home

girl's bathroom

on the girl's mirror: "do you know how beautiful you are?"

over our bed

the laundry room-duh!

in the hallway upstairs

over the sliders in our kitchen eating area: "Never forget who you are, Whom you serve"

and i just have to put a little note in about a girl i found on ebay (here's a link to her ebay store It's Written on the Wall: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Its-Written-on-the-Wall )

she's done a bunch of these and also a few for gifts and she is amazing to work with! check her out!