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!

"best couins foreva!" liv & ash march 2009

likkel

just a little something i made for my sister...so much fun to do!!

thanks for asking me to do this-hope you like it ;)

playing 'pioneers' at our house=neighbors pegging our house 'green acres'!! oh, to live in the country...

flash back!!

i found this picture of mady and i when i was cleaning out our coffee/senseo drawer (note the coffee stains around it...no, i was not going for the vintage look). this was from when she was about 2 or 3. so addorable (her, not me...especially not that haircut & color!!)

and i found this one in back of another pic in an old frame-i think it was about 2001. this is exactly why i take pics-my (fading) memory would have never remembered this!

a snow day in march!

what to do on a snow day-the possibilities are endless...a whole day with no school!

well, first we invite our cousins ashley & lily to sleep over the night before so we can stay in our jammies the whole day. then we:

make up our own recipie for breakfast rolls, toast a little bread, present it on a bed of lettuce and call everyone for breakfast.

listen to everyone say how good they were!!

sled down the slide

carry water for the thirsty sledders

play on the swings

surf the web: american girl, webkinz, email...


clean off kayt's car for her


hug lily


beat up our sister


take pics


cozy up by the fire and read a good book


trash the kitchen!

every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man

or so the song goes...

just because jake needed an ego boost (NOT!), he was voted best dressed by the high school girls. great-they do that and now WE have to live with him!

things i did NOT say today

~did you brush your teeth?

~you need a coat-it's freezing out!

~livie-PANS!

~put your backpack AWAY or tomorrow you'll find it on the street

~back off and stop reading my email!

~oh please-give me a break!

~HELLO! (sarcastic emphasis required)

~i have no idea (to the question at 4pm: "what's for dinner?")

~how was your day? (to which the answer from my husband is always: 'busy!!'. of course if he asked me, i'd have to say "nothing"...you know us moms~doing absolutely nothing all day. i think they think the laundry miraculously ends up in the drawers!!) ok, in defense of my husband-he definitely does his share around here to help me out!! love you E!!

~get in bed or i'll have to beat you (you CANNOT laugh when you say this...you have to have a VERY serious face~because they will definitely NOT take you seriously whether you laugh or not...!) oh yea~not recommended to say in front of your in-laws ;)

~NO!-not yet, anyway...do you think it has anything to do w/the fact that i was at the office from 1-6?! (well, ben called me at work to ask if he could enter his '39 clues' cards into the computer-i asked where daddy was..."oops, i forgot he was here-really!". yep, whatever~can you tell who's usually just says yes?...maybe ONCE IN A WHILE b/c i'm blogging or doing some other incredibly important activity-?)

~turn it down!!

~i can't hear it-turn it up just a little

~drive carefully-precious cargo! (hey, if you had 2 teenagers driving out into the big, vicious world out there, you'd probably say it too!!)

~i love you (ok, actually i did but not to ALL of them...yet!!)

my hero

do you have a guy you just couldn't live w/out? here's my guy! he's big, strong and...bald (something i'm growing quite fond of as the years go by). he comes to my rescue, makes me look good and when i put him away he doesn't talk. does it get any better than that?

my life according to mady

what's my favorite thing to do?
scrapbook and take pictures

if i could be with only 1 person, who would it be?
daddy

what's my favorite sport?
do you have a favorite sport?
me: yep
is it like gymnastics or something?
me: nope (for the record: baseball!!)

what's my favorite season and why?
summer because there's a lot of things to take pictures of

who's my favorite kid?
mady ;)

what's my job?
working for daddy

do i like my job?
yes? do you? (yes, mat, i do!)

what do i do during the day while you're at school?
work and shop

where do i like to shop?
let's see, this is a hard one...ann taylor

who's my best friend?
your sister

what makes me happy?
well, if you're crying i can make you laugh...
me

what makes me sad?
lurlene mcdaniel books

if i could go anywhere right now, where would it be?
chicago or michigan or lynden

who do i always miss?
aunt traci and beppe

what makes me proud?
your kids

what's my favorite book?
the bible

why is it that my car always looks like this??!! it drives ed crazy but there are some necessities that a girl needs: diet coke (from a fountain), chapstick, pen, pencil, black sharpie, coupons, gift cards, sunglasses, lotion, money, hairbands, clips, tissues, picture of ed and i, wallets of the kids-including traci's boys, old routing slips from the bank-just in case i need to suddenly check how much money i have in there-actually more like how much i can spend on ebay and etsy w/o ed noticing a huge difference ;\...and that's just the front. but i can't possibly put any of this stuff in the console because it's full: extra-strength excederin, aleeve, pepto-bismol tablets, children's tylenol, pads of paper, more pens, deposit slips, whistle-in case i get sucked into doing recess duty at school, tons of aaa batteries (for the wireless headphones-all 5 pair-wouldn't want those to go dead!!), candy, tissue nippers, brush, emergency medical kit, spray air freshener (smell is a HUGE issue for me!!), band-aids, more hairbands and clips (4 of us girls ya know!), a rubberband, paper clips, napkins, case for the gps, 1 piece of emergency dark chocolate-which i never eat because then i'd have no more for an emergency-ok a little psycho, but at least i admit it...it's the first step! (i'm not even going to get into the back of the truck and the stale 1/2-eaten bagels...). and then there's my friend janice who's car looks like she just bought it-even with 3 kids!! she never leaves anything in it-how is that possible??!! i've read about people like her ;)

well, gotta go-i'm on my way out to get a diet coke...

happy 11th (st. patrick's day green) birthday to our 'babies'

i hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow

and each road leads you where you wanna go

and if you're faced with a choice and you have to choose,

i hope you choose the one that means the most to you

and if one door opens to another door closed

i hope you keep on walking 'till you find the window

and if it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile

i hope you never look back but you never forget

all the ones who love you in the place you live

i hope you always forgive and you never regret

and you help somebody every chance you get

that you'd find God's grace in all your mistakes

and always give more than you take

but more than anything, my wish for you is

that your life becomes all that you want it to

may your dreams stay big, your worries stay small

that you never need to carry more than you can hold

and when you're out there getting where you're getting to

i hope you know somebody loves you and wants the same things too

this is my wish!

~rascal flatts

my friend...

have i ever mentioned just how much i love my friend christine?

we've only known each other for a little over a year but it seems like forever. she knows things about me most people don't (ok, not quite as much as traci-if you say a word, sister, i'll deny all of it...you still hold the key to WAY too many secrets 8\ ) we met each other through our daughters (thanks kayt and cassie!!!!!!) who met at camp and had an instant connection. our extended families would be great friends if they met, too! God has been so gracious to us and i'm so thankful for their family's friendship-it's grounded in faith and, really, what else matters?

anyway~just wanted to let you know that it's not impossible to meet a "soul mate" in your (early!!) 40's. (and, sometimes you get the bonus of a sister-in-law too...love you bren!! ;)

jake was here!

tonight livie opened the dishwasher and said 'WHOA! i guess jake loaded this last'!

typical jake!...i know it's not mady because she'd have them lined in some kind of pattern ;)



(and where is that picture i have of when the twins had to bring 50 spoons to school and he was helping them count them out and they were all lined up 'spooning' each other...he could hardly deal w/the fact that i had to mess them up to put them in a bag...)


help!! i'm being held hostage in a house where i feel like i'm related to NO ONE!