comment...please, pretty please ;)

since i've been super busy i'm stealing my 2nd post of the week.  BUT, since i've been personally involved in both of them, i'm not feeling so bad.  this post was 'stolen'-with permission!-from kathy's blog (here http://wubbenworld.blogspot.com/2010/07/interesting-thought.html)

"So I was having a conversation with some dear friends last night about blogging. A comment was raised, "do you have any idea how many people read a.k.a "stalk" your blog?"....the answer of course was "no"...which then lead to the question, "why don't people ever leave comments after visiting a.k.a "stalking" your blog"~ that way we known you've "visited".



Think of it this way....how would you feel if you had a lengthy conversation with someone only to have them give you a blank stare back in response rather than some sort of verbal acknowledgment that they were at least a tad bit interested in what you just shared with them?


So....those of us in the blogging world look forward to reading what it is you have to say to us!!


Thanks for sharing!


PS....feel free to copy and paste this Lori :)"

THANKS, Kath!

mady & her crazy aunt traci

oh, yea...jack too!

traci's 40th

Happy 40th birthday old lady sister!

We (Kayt and I) went out for dinner with some of Traci's friends for her birthday. 

We had a lot of laughs. 

The owner first brought out a sombrero for her...then a cowboy hat that he had written on. 

And who can ever forget Kathy's story:  "Hmmm~that's wierd. "  "Why is that wierd?"

happy birthday, america!

5th of july at traci's...family, food, fun

oh, how i love this man!!

 supervisory committee of the newest game...stick wacky. don't ask because i have no idea! i've been watching this game for a week and i still can't figure it out! but...they still asked me to play~probably for laughs!!

 mady wacky

ok, mady, we agreed to let your mom play on our team...we know she doesn't have ONE athletic bone in her body so it's really up to us!

 lor, here's the deal~you're supposed to at least TRY to hit the blocks!

bahahaha...you've GOT to be kidding me!!

 q-t-pie sisters~amy & lisa

 eddie & lori

 lori giving mom a trim...then gave kayt a CUT!  turned out adorable!

 tim giving jack a haircut

what's an independence day party without a flag cake?

 maxwell grant likkel

 lisa trying to lift liv high enough so she can plug in the bug zapper.  but what we really need is an 18-yr-old whipper-snapper.  zach was standing by watching and pulled over a footstool and asked us why we didn't just use that.  hysterical!  wanna know the most logical way to accomplish something?  just ask a 7-yr-old ;)

 my adorable brother-in-law, ryan

guys playing a little golf

 sparklers

 fireworks

jack & sam

a little cold, taya?

thoughts for week of july 5, 2010

Be who you are and say what you feel; because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.  ~Dr. Seuss

we're finally all together

THIS IS AN EXACT POST THEFT FROM MY SISTER'S BLOG SO IF YOU READ THIS AND THINK YOU'VE READ IT BEFORE...YEP, YOU PROBABLY HAVE. 

I STOLE THIS....BECAUSE I CAN! ;)  AND BECAUSE SHE SAID EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO SAY.  AND SHE'S WILLING TO STAY UP 'TIL 12:30AM AND POST, AND I'M NOT.  SO...HERE'S MY HER POST.

OH, AND SKIP THE PART ABOUT TURNING 40...I'VE SORTA ALREADY HAD THAT BIRTHDAY :)

6 days.


doing 'nothing' but hanging with the fam/and the other part of the fam.

NOT that it was too cold to do anything but nothing (did that make sense?).

cough. cough.

although, it's AMAZING to me how busy 12 kids can keep themselves.

oh, SO good is my life right now.

a few days back, we were all sitting around, out in our field (nope, NOT sitting on the new patio we put in. go figure.) chatting.

it was one of those moments that i wished i could 'bottle'. you know what i'm saying? wishing you could stop time. that was one of those moments.

all of my siblings (lori/ed ,tim/lisa and brady) were there.

we could see all of our kids (kayt, jake,olivia,ben,mady,bo, bailee,eli,zach,sam,max and jack) playing nicely with each other.

the sun was out.

we had no where to go.

no big plans, planned.

i was content and feeling EXTREMELY blessed.

once every 4 years is NOT ok.

NOT. AT. ALL.

with the craziness of life, time just got away from us. it's not that we don't see each other from time to time OR have the desire to but when one of you lives across the country, every year is just not possible.

thankfully, i have a sister that, like me, doesn't feel like we NEED to chat everyday(uummm, not like THAT happens!) to KNOW that we love each other & no matter how many miles, nothing will change that.

i know that.

that being said, it BITES that they live 3,500 miles away!

good news is, i have another 6 days with them.

tomorrow the weather is SUPPOSED to start getting better so i'm thinking we'll break out the slip-n-slide (blue tarp) or head to t&l's to swim.

tuesday evening we have our family pictures scheduled with the FAMOUS BECKY and then on wednesday, it's off to Caltus Lake water slides for um, water sliding.

thursday it's off to seattle to tour the city.

friday, the mariners game.

saturday morning, the fam heads back to new jersey. :(

oh, yeah and also, i turn 40 on saturday.

i'm ok with that. that just means i'm getting wiser, RIGHT??

surprisingly, the batteries in all three of our cameras are dead (shocking) so tomorrow i'll have to download the BOATLOAD of pictures already taken and share.

until then.....

lynden, day 1

ok-seriously been trying to get pics up for close to a week.  out here in the hicks (aka likkel's homestead) the internet is soooooo slow, i almost feel like i shoud be sitting in a covered wagon!  we're gonna go to ryan's work and high speed them, probably today, so the pics are coming, people. 

the kids are thoroughly enjoying their cousins!  and so are we!  12 little munchkins in all-gotta luv 'em~each with their own personality...2 sets of twins and still all totally different and unique!

uncle tim & aunt lisa's tramp...

hanging out in nj

 sisters

 mom checking her email

 dad making his mom's recipe of banana bread

ben and papa playing chess...he's a great teacher!

happy 40th birthday, trac!

 you know, it's not every day that your baby sister turns 40.  ok, she's only 3 years younger, but i'm so much more mature.

anywhoo...i really wanted to give her something special but wasn't sure what.  then i thought about how much i (and my family) love to look at our blog book.  and...*bing*...the lightbulb went on~she, too, would LOVE a book of her blog! 

 

and...see...i was right! :)

she had seen my book so when she first saw it she thought it was a copy of mine for her to take with her to lynden, but...

 she realized it was of HER blog

and then she cried...and thanked me about a thousand times.

i guess she liked it~yipee!

traci's here!! (june 22, 2010)

i love my sister.  they love my sister.  we all love my sister.

finally...maybe i'll have time to blog in lynden ;)

words of wisdom from a 90-year-old lady

i just LOVE this...it's written by a (then) 90-year old lady named Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio



1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".

26. Always choose life.

27. Forgive everyone everything.

28. What other people think of you is none of your business.

29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

32. Believe in miracles.

33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

34. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

35. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

36. Your children get only one childhood.

37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

38. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

41. The best is yet to come.

42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

43. Yield.

44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

AMEN!

they're here!

welcome to nj, my dear parents!  we're so happy you're here and we can't wait to spend the next 3 weeks with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thought for the week of June 21, 2010

Things don't fill empty places, they just hide them.

ed & jake

love to see kids talking with their parents...especially if it's ours! ;)

jake 'shadowed' {followed} dr. a, a pediatric orthopaedic doctor, in his office today. he saw some really interesting stuff (including a kid who got hit by a car!!)...and LOVED the kids!! in the near future he's going to go into the operating room with him, which will be really neat. he wants to be a doc but hasn't decided exactly what aspect of medicine to go into so he's checking out several avenues...he has a few connections ;) and good thing he has his dad to talk to about this!

wwwhhhaaaa!!!

soooo sad!  i LOVE these shoes.  what happened? i'm sure ben didn't cut them (like he did with our club chairs...) and i DO wear them a lot, so...i gotta go~i'm going online because i NEED another pair.  happy shoes makes happy mama makes happy home!