12 Years Ago Today....

This guy right here and I said "I do".

I think I used this same photo last year! LOL (we don't get our picture taken together too often!)

We had plans today, but had to put them on hold because our youngest took a fall yesterday AND has been sick. We don't know if the sickness is due to the fall, or something completely separate, so say a little prayer for him that he is okay. I'm sure he'll be fine, but he did give us quite a scare -- particularly me! It is so ironic that I posted the "why me?" post yesterday and then my little guy got hurt. I was quite tempted all day to ask "Why Nicholas?", because darn it -- that poor little guy just seems to be a magnet for injuries and difficulties. I just want to keep him in my arms and protect him at all times. But I can't always do it.

Anyway -- back to our Anniversary -- we decided to cook steaks on the grill and celebrate with the kids at home, so I'm sure it will be a lovely day! Hope you are enjoying your Labor Day weekend as well!

Why Me? Why Not...

As I was blog hopping a little yesterday, I happened across this link ~ Nie Recovery.

What I found was the story of a beautiful family suffering through a tragic accident. You can check it out, but basically the happy young couple you will see when you click on the link are now recovering from burns they suffered in a small plane crash. The wife over 80% of her body -- the husband over 30%.

As I was looking at their blog and reading their story, it made me think about how often we are tempted to ask the question "Why me?" when something goes wrong in our lives. I'm guilty of it myself. Whether it's a true tragedy -- like a death or disease -- or just a bump in the road -- like the loss of a job or maybe a car or house repair you weren't expecting -- it's easy to panic initially and think, "Why is this happening to ME?"

The truth is -- we should not be asking why me, but instead -- why NOT me? Bad things happen to good people all the time and while it doesn't always make sense or seem fair, it's the way life goes. Why should any one of us be immune to tragedy? And wouldn't you agree that it is in those darkest hours that we often learn what we are really made of -- and what those around us are made of? It gives us the opportunity to build our strength and our character, if only we are willing to accept and move forward.

I am one who believes God has a plan. As I read through the story of this family, it seems they have tremendous faith and they too, feel God has a plan and things happen for a reason. I am always so inspired by people of faith ~ people who can draw on that faith even when it feels like God has turned His back on them. Everything does happen for a reason -- even though sometimes, it takes us a long time to find out what the reason might be.

Before I had any of my children, I had two miscarriages (and another between my first two kids). One was at 20 weeks of pregnancy and not only was I incredibly sad, I was angry at times. I would see other parents out with their kids -- screaming at them, ignoring them -- and I would think, "Why do those people get to have kids, but not me??" I would cry about it. It wasn't my place to judge anyone -- but I did. The baby I lost at 20 weeks was a little girl and she would have had Downs Syndrome. I often wonder if God took her from us because we wouldn't have been strong enough to handle it. I like to think I would have handled it fine. But who really knows. Now I tell my other kids that she is their own personal angel in Heaven -- a big sister (who we named Allyson Grace) looking out for them, keeping them safe.

I still mourn the children I lost, but I often think about the fact that had things happened differently, the children I DO have right now would not be here -- and I certainly cannot imagine life without them! My miscarriages DID make me learn a lot about myself -- my spouse -- others who have experienced the same thing. They changed me. Each time God had a plan and these things have helped to make me who I am today.

I wish I was in a position to help this family in their suffering -- the only help I can offer is prayers and I hope you will do the same. And let's all continue to remind each other that good things CAN come out of tragedy. If only we believe.

Have a great Labor Day weekend -- God bless!

The Fine Line Between Creativity and Chaos

My daughter LOVES to create. Whether it be an art project, writing stories, building contraptions out of trash (like cardboard and plastic that normally I would throw out), or building clubhouses all over my house out of toys, laundry baskets and small pieces of furniture -- the girl is always thinking of new and inventive ways to use things.

I love the imaginative way her mind works. But can I just tell you that as much as I do not want to crush her creative spirit -- her constant "building" turns my home into complete chaos. Each time I clean up one area -- she has moved on to another and transformed it.

The good thing is, she actually is playing and usually one or both of her brothers plays with her. They have so much fun and I'm glad when they are playing this way instead of asking for computer time, movies or video games for a while. But boy -- it creates a mess.

I will probably never have a "fancy", well-decorated house. My house is very lived in and I'm usually okay with that. But there are plenty of times when I think, "Why in the world do I bother?" with the picking up, the cleaning -- it usually feels so pointless. Then I remind myself that there will come a day when I won't have Legos and Littlest Pet Shop toys underfoot. When my laundry basket will be just that -- a basket for folded clothes, not the wall or roof of a clubhouse. And I am 100% certain I will miss it.

I haven't taken many "clubhouse" photos, but I had to share some of her other handiwork.

This first photo, she informed me is a character she created named "Evil Professor Bunny Hat" but he goes by "Bunny Hat".

The second photo is a Halloween decoration she created yesterday. She used some of my Stickles (glitter) to create a web -- it actually looks quite cool!

And this is one of many stories she has written -- my scan is horrible, but I just had to share the story because it cracks me up. She doesn't always like my help to spell the words, so allow me to type her words -- and then translate where necessary!

The Dog and the Cat -- by Rachel

Wuse there wre a cat. She wuse aloone. (Once there was a cat. She was alone.)

Then a dog came and sall the cat. (Then a dog came and saw the cat.)

The cat likes the dog. The dog likes the cat.

But thene tay rilis that tay wre ole 5. (But then they realized they were only 5.)

But then thae wre 19! (But then they were 19!)

Then the dog ask her for a date to dinr. (a date to dinner, of course!)

Then the dog ask this hr to mere him. (Then the dog asked this her to marry him.)

The End.

I think I can live with some clutter and chaos if it means encouraging a creative mind like this one!

Have a good week!

Brain Power -- and the lack thereof...

The other day the kids and I were driving home after I picked them up from school. Some guy driving in front of me decided quite abruptly that he needed to turn left, so he slammed on his brakes causing me to do the same. It completely startled the kids.

My daughter pipes up from the back seat -- "Whoa Mom! That was crazy! And why didn't the airbag deploy??"

Deploy??? When did my six-year old learn the word "deploy"??? It didn't even sound normal coming out of her mouth.

When I questioned her on where she learned the word -- it should have been no surprise it came from a cartoon. There is a short on the Monsters, Inc. DVD that is called "Mike's New Car". It's quite funny and we've watched it numerous times. They say something about the airbag deploying and apparently, she retained that little tidbit of information.

Little things like this always remind me how much information our kids brains are soaking in all the time. My oldest son in particular seems to have bionic ears and can hear things we are SURE he can't possibly hear -- but somehow, he does and he remembers everything.

I'm almost envious of the kids. My brain, feels like it has gone to mush some days. My memory for certain things is good, but I have become horrible with names and I also don't retain a lot of details from books and movies. Things I know I learned in school escape me quite often too, like certain things about history and geography -- those types of things. It can be frustrating, but I suppose it's my own fault.

I am also COMPLETELY convinced that with each child you give birth to, you deliver part of your brain cells as well. Every time I've added a child to the household, my brain seems to have become foggier and foggier. (And certainly it can't have anything to do with me getting older, right????)

While we're on the subject of smarts...I just have to share the exciting news from our household this week. My 4th grader was invited to join the TAG program at school (which stands for "talented and gifted").

We are SO proud of him!!! This is a child who when he started pre-school had some issues with focusing, fine motor skills and a few other things. They suggested he had attention deficit and his pre-school teacher encouraged me to hold him back and told me he would always struggle if I didn't. It was a very hard decision for me, but I ended up deciding to send him on to kindergarten.

At the time, I wasn't 100% sure I did the right thing and he did end up having some struggles in kindergarten. It was probably when he was about six weeks into 1st grade that it all seemed to click and he was right where he needed to be academically. From that point on he has really excelled. He has worked so hard and I am really so proud of him. I hope you don't mind me sharing my excitement!

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday! Enjoy the weekend!

Gone Baby Gone

My husband and I finally got around to watching this movie last night. I had wanted to see it for a while, but wasn't quite prepared for how it made me feel. It was such a wonderful film. But I was sad -- almost depressed after I watched it. The characters in the film are so real -- and the scruples it addresses -- wow! It really makes you think. It makes you want to hold your children very tightly and never let them out of your sight.

The book The Kite Runner had a similar effect on me. I LOVED the book. It is so well written and just a powerful story. But I was very emotionally "drained" after I read it.

I think there is so much "fluff" and nonsense surrounding us most of the time. Just flipping through the TV channels at any given time will prove it. Of course we all need a little fluff and nonsense sometimes to give our brains a rest. But I for one find it incredibly sad how MUCH stuff is out there that in my opinion is just a complete waste of time. We all have our own ideas of what is a waste of time though I guess. But I much prefer when I watch or read something that really makes me think.

Moving on...

My little guy and I are enjoying lots of time for just the two of us these days. We do miss the other kids while they are at school, but we've managed to have some fun. We've been out to lunch and to the park. We're reading more. We've jumped and played at a bounce house a couple of times (and Mommy pulled some muscles and was reminded of how out of shape she is -- LOL) . We dance, we act silly. And each and every day, I am forced to play the game of Life.

No, that is not some deep metaphor for anything -- I literally have to play SpongeBob Life every single day. If I don't, Nick will keep asking for it over and over and over again until we finally play.

Some days I feel like Squidward (picture #3 -- see what a grump he is?) because truthfully I'm a little sick of this game.



What I am NOT sick of is the pure and complete joy and happiness that it brings my little guy to play this game together. He loves it.

I haven't given a random act of kindness prompt in a while. How about one as I leave you today?? I've given this one before -- but it's one of my favorites. In the next couple of days, surprise someone important to you with a note. Put it in their lunchbox, in their car -- anywhere. Just a short little note to let them know you love them -- that you're proud of them -- that you're thinking of them. A simple little gesture that might just make their day!

Happy Wednesday -- chat with you soon!

Take It or LEAF it...

Other equally dumb choices for my post title included, "Leaf Me Alone", "Leaf It to Beaver" or "Can you beLEAF it?" ... all a perfect 10 on the dumb-o-meter. Any other ideas folks? C'mon...you know you want to play along... maybe I could change my blog name to "I'm So Punny" -- what do you think Alice???

It's one of those nights. Here I sit....the kids are finally in bed, DH is out for a while ~~ even the dog has gone to her nighttime sleeping spot. And as much as I am always just waiting and hoping for times like this -- to do whatever the heck I want to -- darn it I'm tired and can't figure out what in the world to do with myself. I could scrapbook, I could watch a movie of my choice, I could read, I could write (other than on my bloggity blog) -- instead, here I sit making up puns. I really don't want to watch a movie -- and scrapbooking is mildly appealing, but I'm not sure I feel energetic enough to be even remotely creative. And reading -- well, it's an option, but the chances of me making it through one chapter are slim.

((SIGH))

This leaf photo is from a trip to the park with my youngest yesterday. He was quite the ham for my camera, so I was snapping photos like a maniac. Then I saw this pretty, bright-colored leaf and thought it made for a neat photo with the rocks. (And who knew, as I snapped the photo that it would also force a string of really bad puns to spew from my brain??) Anyway -- am I the only one that thinks this little leaf appears to be stuck in the wrong season? It's not Autumn yet. Soon enough -- but not quite yet.

Perhaps the leaf is just a free spirit. Kind of like this crazy kid right here -- at that same park I just mentioned.

Yep...he's crazy. (He gets it from his father of course!)

Okay -- I'm done. You are safe -- no more painfully bad puns - no more scary photos of children with mad scientist smiles.

I think I will in fact, attempt to read a bit of my current book. Here's hoping my eyelids resist the forces of gravity. (And you may think I'm crazy when you see my post time listed as 4pm -- it's truly 11:30pm -- I started to blog earlier and completely gave up. The only thing I had done was upload the leaf photo! So my post is still showing that earlier time -- even though it's actually my bed time!)

Enjoy the weekend!

Sometimes I Wonder

I was going through some of my pictures this morning and came across this photo of a fish at the zoo. It reminded me of myself a lot of the time. Feeling surrounded -- so much to do, just looking for a break in the chaos to catch my breath. Wondering how in the world I will get it all done. (Maybe if I give up blogging??? hee hee...)

Aside from the day-to-day things, lately I've been realizing how little time I spend on focusing on my hopes and goals and how I will achieve them. I do spend a lot of time thinking about how nice it would be to do this or achieve that -- but I spend very little time actually DOING. Is it laziness? Or perhaps guilt for wanting to achieve something for myself? Lack of motivation? Fear? Frustration at the way things are going in my life right now? It's probably a combination of all of it. I think I let it paralyze me sometimes. It's ridiculous.

When I get like this I start to think to myself -- if I were gone tomorrow, what would I have to show for it? Would some of the things that cause me major stress really matter? Would my values and beliefs show through in my children? How would others remember me? Have I done a good job of portraying the things that are really important to me -- faith, kindness, learning, those types of things? Or would I be remembered as someone who never quite had her act together?

Sometimes it's a really big step from thinking - to actually doing. And sometimes, I guess we have to take baby steps to equal the big steps. It's all a matter of wanting badly enough to get the ball rolling -- and then finding a way to make it happen and following through.

Two of my very favorite movies are "Dead Poet's Society" and "The Shawshank Redemption". I think both of them have elements of sadness, but also a wonderful message of hope and belief. It's an overused saying now, but I remember seeing Dead Poet's and coming away with the phrase "carpe diem" (seize the day) resounding in my head. And in Shawshank, there's a line that says, "It's time to get busy living -- or get busy dying." It's a profound thought in its own way.

I hope whatever you are doing today, you are making time for yourself and what is important in your life.

Have a great day!

I Think I Could Spend Hours...

just browsing through the shops at Etsy. I pop over there occasionally to look through the scrapbook items to get ideas for things I can make for myself. I am often tempted to order, but I never actually have. I would love to have more disposable income though, to support others in their creative efforts. Guess I better start playing the lottery!

I seem to be drawn to journaling blocks and tags lately and these shops have caught my eye -- deejann and Elle's Studio.

The home page today featured these little treasures by thecleverkitty -- they totally make me wish I had a little girl to buy them for!

TummyMountain is an artist I found the other day and I fell in love with these darling pieces of art. I wish I had a room to put them in! Are they not the cutest?

I'm sure most of you who visit my blog already visit Etsy, but if you haven't and are looking for inspiration -- you will surely find it there!

Speaking of inspiration -- who is watching the Olympics?? We haven't been watching non-stop at our house, but we've caught quite a bit of swimming and gymnastics, as well as some soccer and water polo. I find the Olympics so inspiring. The dedication that goes into becoming an Olympic athlete is just amazing. I also love the comraderie you witness among teammates and even between various countries. It's nice to see something so positive when we are bombarded with so much negativity all the time.

Finally -- I have to give a shout out to my dear friend Christi. Today is her birthday, so if you get a chance -- go visit her blog and wish her a wonderful day. She deserves it!

Happy Tuesday -- chat with you soon!

And They're Off...

For the first time ever I did not take my kids to school on their very first day -- their dad got to do it. *sniff* My 4th grader and my 1st grader. They were a bundle of nervous excitement this morning. I'm praying they have a great day.

Their poor little brother is quite sad -- he woke up just five minutes before they left and had the most enormous pouty lip as they drove away. I would have snapped a photo if I didn't think it would upset him even more.

Last night, for our final summer vacation excursion we took the kids for ice cream. They had waffle cones that were as big as their heads!

Let the craziness of yet another school year begin!

Have a great week!

Don't Blink

There is so much truth to the phrase "in the blink of an eye"... so many things seem to pass in just that short amount of time, don't they? In the blink of an eye your once small babies are suddenly headed off to school and I'm sure in the blink of an eye they'll be graduating and moving on with their lives. ((Sigh)) It all goes much too fast.

Our summer vacation went away in the blink of an eye. School starts Monday. I have to admit, this past week had several moments where I felt I was very ready for my kids to head back to school. But for the most part -- I'm not ready. Because I'll miss having them here each day. And soon, we'll be back to the complete craziness of school, plus sports, plus scouts, plus this and that, etc. A routine will be good I guess, but the non-routine of summer has been awfully nice.

One sure sign that it's the end of summer is my lack of picture taking the past two days. We went to a splash park with some friends yesterday -- one last hurrah before school starts -- and I didn't take one photo. The kids also had a friend spend the night Thursday and now I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures -- they played the cutest games together. Nearly my entire upstairs was trashed with make believe forts and animal hospitals and stores and offices (so they could go to "work" -- hee hee.) I didn't take one picture of their creativity. I think I was just "pictured out" these last couple of days, if you can believe that!

Speaking of the kids playing "work" -- their "office" happened to be my scrapbook space, which also is my daughter's craft space. It caused me to nearly have several panic attacks (like when I heard my daughter very matter-of-factly tell her friend "Oh yeah -- use WHATEVER you want -- it's all just fine to use!"). They were rifling through my scrapbook stuff and the selfish "I-don't-want-to-share-my-toys" side of me threatened to flair up. LOL Then I saw how much fun they were having -- even my oldest son was playing along a bit -- and my panic was gone. Seriously, I have so much stuff -- why in the world shouldn't I share? They made scrapbook pages and other works of art that again, I SHOULD have taken pictures of. (And Wendy if you're reading this -- I seriously did not mind one bit that the girls were using my stuff! So don't worry! LOL)

As I leave you, I will share a few more summer shots that sum up our summer break quite well -- many trips to the pool and around town, lots of fun with some wonderful friends and of course -- siblings picking on each other, just to make sure Mom doesn't get too bored!

Enjoy your weekend!!!

Wendy Decided to Test Me

The other night we were at our friends' house playing cards and they had 80s music playing on their digital cable. They were having fun making me name the artist (without looking at the TV screen of course) each time a new song came on. In my vast geekiness, I was able to name all but two I think.

My friend Wendy is now on a mission to stump me, which honestly shouldn't be too hard. Sometimes I'm on a roll -- and sometimes I'm not. But she posted an 80s music lyrics quiz on her blog and here's how I did. I scored a 98.5 -- which made me a --





Remembering lyrics was a little bit hard! I can name a song title, but even when I recognized the partial lyrics, sometimes it was a struggle to get the right tune in my head. I missed a few that after the fact I realized I should have known.

If you're a fan -- try it! I'll warn you -- it's long! But it's fun.

So here you go -- yet another post that proves I need to get a life! LOL

I may be back to post again later today -- if not, "see" you soon!

Sharing the Love

Man, I have been a bad blogger lately. Just haven't felt up to it I guess. But today, after much delay -- I am finally going to pay it forward with this lovely award Jeanne gave me about two weeks ago.

Now the rules of such an award...to pass this award on to at least seven blogs you think are deserving... display the logo and link to who gave it to you...and add links to those 7 blogs you have chosen. Finally leave the nominees a message that they received the award.

I am so touched by Jeanne's award and the kind things she wrote about me. It is always hard to pick just a few blogs to share the love with, as I enjoy each of your blogs and am grateful for your friendship. For today though, here are the blogs I have chosen:

Wendy is one of my best friends locally who has only been blogging for a short time. However, you can tell she is really enjoying it. She is so much smarter than me when it comes to computer/technical issues, so imagine my surprise when she has come to me with an occasional blog question, LOL! Her blog always has cute stories and fun pictures of her gorgeous family. I'm glad she is enjoying her blogging adventure!

Alice is another one of my favorite people locally and her blog is always full of humor and fun. Alice is smart, strong and a wonderful mother. Her blog includes plenty of inspiration along the way and posts that make you remember what is really important in life.

Christi and I have never met in person, but I consider her a dear friend. She is SO talented and her blog has lots of creative eye candy. She is an amazing stamper and scrapbooker and she is a good writer to boot. The great pictures she posts of her kids are yet another bonus when you visit her blog!

Mary Jo is another online friend that I wish I could meet in person sometime. She is a midwest girl like myself and I love keeping up with her sweet little family on her blog.

Linda became a friend through scrapbooking, but not only is she a scrapper -- she is an amazing artist. Her paintings and other pieces are just gorgeous. She recently switched to a blog where she will share her lovely art pieces. It is well worth a visit!

Aside from the fact that she is a Packers fan (hee hee), I love my girl Dawn. I mean really -- anyone who has a blog named after my favorite drink has to be fun, right?? She too, likes to share her talented creations with us and she is a wonderful person. I love to visit her blog.

And finally, I simply must award this right back to Jeanne. When I read her blog, I find we are so similar and I wish we lived closer to each other so we could hang out at Barnes & Noble together. And maybe, she would teach me a thing or two about photography, because she always has the most beautiful photos on her blog. She also has a real knack for making your mouth water -- she posts pictures of the most scrumptious looking meals and treats -- I think I gain weight just looking at them! :)

Hope you've all had a wonderful week -- hard to believe it's August already, isn't it?? I'll try to be a better blogger (haven't I said that before?).

Enjoy your weekend!!!