Valentine's Day Math....

In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing.
Mignon McLaughlin

And, a couple Valentine funnies from our house: Creighton has always been inFURIATED if we ever ask him if he has a girlfriend or if he likes so and so, etc. So, the other day we were talking about Valentine's Day coming up. He said he made his Valentine box at school and wrote on it "I, and then a heart, Drea. Twice" It was SO cute. I couldn't believe he told me about that and he was so serious! Then I asked him about Drea and he said she is "tiny with blonde hair". Hmmm. So,my son is going for the cute little tiny girl with blonde hair. Wish I could have recorded our conversation--it was way cute!

And, my husband, the romantic... :) Got up this morning...told me goodbye somewhere around 5am, I kinda fell back asleep, but woke up when I heard the hot tub lid slam shut. A few minutes later he appears back in our room and says this "Happy Valentine's Day. I didn't get you anything." Oh my gosh it was so funny--brought a smile to my face. Because that's how he rolls. Upfront and matter of fact. Heck, I thought it was special that he even bothered to tell me Happy Valentine's Day! And then letting me know that he didn't get me anything was a nice courtesy as well. At least I didn't have to sit at work all day and wonder if I was going to get flowers :) And, I did smile everytime I thought about it. It was just so Greg like. Too funny! (And for the record he did take me out for a nice dinner last Saturday night:)

Happy Valentine's Day.

so far.....

with regards to the storm.....
1 - winter pool cover, no longer on top of the pool.
2 - front door wide open (north facing door nonetheless) when the kids got home from school. creating snow drifts going down the hall and up the steps. yes, it's carpeted.
3 - no water. something went wrong with the well pump and we have no water. No flushing toilets or showers at our house. never mind that i took the day off tomorrow and planned to hang out with the kids and get all the laundry done and everyones bedding washed in order to free up some extra weekend time :)
4 - Greg needed a watch battery for a tool he needs to check the electrical to the well pump. So he is currently out in this horrible storm going to wal mart for a battery.

None of this is good news. And that's all I got right now :)

Brody Boyd Shooting Camp

Creighton soaked up EVERY.SINGLE.THING Brody taught him. He hung onto his words like none other. He came home every day so EXCITED about what he learned and now has a newly inspired interest in basketball. Which means...either Greg or I has to take him to the Y to shoot EVERY night that he doesn't have baseball :) Love it!

just loaded christmas pics :)

Birthday Girl!

Puke Boy

So...we got puke at our house. And, we have our only home volleyball tournament this Sunday. I can't be sick. And, I can't have Colby sick. Praying for health around here.....

Cowards do that!

Like this quote.....I'm probably alone, but parts of it struck a chord with me. And it might have a little something to do with the fact that I think the Rocky movies are the greatest of all time :)

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But, it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!" Rocky Balboa

I just ran across this today. I like it, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE every single Rocky movie--we watch them all the time!!!!

Attitude Check

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes. Swindoll~


My attitude has been changing lately. I'm letting things go. Things that aren't important--things that will never matter in the long run. Things that normally I would stress about, frett over--I'm letting them go. Things that 10 years from now, I don't want to regret wasting my time with. Gone.....just go.....away. Keeping a close eye on where I am investing my time. It's hard work. But, I feel it. Feel the freedom of being released from the grips of things that will never matter in 5 years, 10 years, or more importantly...eternity.

Will my daughter ever remember what she got for Christmas in 2010? No, but will she remember the year her mom worked so hard at developing her and her young friends into ball players and the bonding experience that comes along with it. Will she remember hanging out in the barn with her dad getting her pitching arm back in shape or playing with the kittens. Probably...more than likely.....indeed. Will my son ever remember the electronics that he had when he was 8 years old...probably not. But will he remember sitting at the dining room table every night playing board games with his mom and dad or last Saturday's 'dad and me' night at the Harlem Globetrotters game, laughing and laughing. Good chance of it.

When I look at where I want to be, where I want to spend my time, who I want to be with....it's with these kids and my husband. And right now I just can't soak up enough of them. Years of my time being spread so thin has made me miss out on a lot of things by just 'going through the motions' but not really 'being there'. But now, as I am slowly emerging out of that way of life, I am far more appreciative of the value of my time, where it needs to be spent and the importance of giving my time to my favorite people versus 'things'.

Needless to say....my plate is still very full. But as I examine the elements on my plate, its looking a whole lot more like it should.

I'm right where I want to be. And, it's so good.

Colby is turning 12!

My first baby girl is now entering her last year of life before becoming a teenager! Not sure how that can be possible??? She is a beautiful young lady and we are so, so proud of her. She is amazingly smart and such a special girl. And a little sassy too :)

The year she was born I had spent the day shopping for groceries, etc getting ready to be snowed in for a few days as they were predicting up to 18 inches of snow. Shortly after Greg got home from work at 11pm we sat down to watch a movie when I thought, "oh crap, I just peed my pants or my water broke!" After determining that it was time to go have a baby (nearly SIX WEEKS early, mind you), we hit the road at about 1am. The roads were terrible as we made our way to Mercy Hospital. A normally 30 minute trip took an hour and a half! About 12 hours later after a very difficult delivery we had a precious baby girl that rested peacefully in the NICU for the next week. So, so thankful then and even more now, for our firstborn.....Happy Birthday Colbers!

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An end, and a beginning.....

For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
~T.S. Eliot

I Need A Silent Night.....

Not very often is it Amy Grant that speaks to me...but this song hit it right on with me today.....take 4 minutes of your life to listen....to remember that it's not about the hustle and bustle, the gifts or the endless food. And remember, it's all about the Baby Boy....

Nice....

Yes, I found this posted on the side of the fridge this weekend. Think the holiday rush might be getting to me yet?

 

Just cute

Don't think I shared the kitten story yet. Around the first of September or so I told the kids they could each get a kitten from a friend who's cat had kittens and they had to get rid of them. We like to keep plenty of cats around here (ALL outdoors) to keep the mice population under control. And we were down to about 4 cats. So, we ventured out to get TWO kittens. Well, after arriving and trying to make the difficult decision about which two to get, I just said oh what the heck. We'll take them all! So I brought home all six little black kittens. And we LOVE them! They are the sweetest little things!!

Snow Babies

These two had a blast in the snow this weekend. Creighton was out there ALL.WEEKEND.LONG! Colby joined him on Sunday. Here they were strategically planning how they were going to pelt Greg with snow balls when he got home. And yep, they got him!

Gingerbread House

I signed Colby and Kenzie up for the Gingerbread House making class at the Art Center. This is their creation. They did so good and seemed to have fun too! Colby is my 'crafty' one for sure!!

Around the house

Pictures don't do them justice, but here are my three trees this year:
This is the 'kids' tree in the den with all of their homemade and character ornaments:

This is the tree in the dining room. White lights and all silver, clear and white bulbs. (there is a mirror behind it so you can see the reflection which makes it look a little awkwardly shaped in the picture)

The living room tree. All silver and gold with just a few red bulbs and a big red bow.

The mantle. Forgot to take pics when the fireplace is going. Its so cozy! I'm not ready to put my Christmas stuff away even though I put it up the week BEFORE thanksgiving!

Not very good photos but that is because my NEW canon camera is AWFUL!!!! Don't want to jump the hoops to send it in to Canon etc so I just use it and complain about it instead :)

Too funny!

My friend Dan is retiring in just a few short days. We have worked together since 1995. He is preparing for his departure and was sorting some pictures. These are a few that he sent me and I LAUGHED. SO. HARD!

On the phone at work (December 2003)........
and November 2005--Greg sent me 100 roses!!
And March 2002--the day after I got back from Jamaica......
Lots of fun memories! Happy Retirement DAN!!!!!

Just because

a silly looking bird in the back yard.

our pond

a tree on my back porch :)

And A Little Boy Turned 8..........

My little guy turned 8 in November. We rented the clubhouse at Muni for some simulator golf, Wii, etc. We followed that up with a sleepover with his two buddies from school. They stayed up late, did way too much wrestling for me, had their heads stuck together playing Creighton's new iPod touch for hours and then ran through the yard in their shorts and took a swim in the hot tub! They had a ball. However, I'm not up for another sleepover for awhile :)

Because I have a love/hate relationship w/ my camera....

Yes, I do. I thought I would love it, but I hate it. Canon--you blew it on this one!!!!! ARRRGGGHHH! Anyway, I haven't loaded pictures since Homecoming--wasn't that like in September?????? Oops....
Greg, Creighton and Colby walking in the homecoming parade. Apparently, as seen here...Colby was texting along the way :) Shocker!

Creighton showing off his mad soccer skills.....he plays some great defense! It's not his passion, but he likes to play in the fall after baseball and before basketball. So it fit in nicely and what on earth would he do if he wasn't competing in something every season?!?!