sometimes in life...

Life is a game, play it!

Life is a challenge, meet it!

Life is an opportunity, capture it!

i think that is exactly what josie is doing... living life to the fullest.

sometimes in life we a get a little busy and just don't take enough time in our day to:
run,
leap,
enjoy the sun on our face,
the wind in our hair
and the joy a walk through the neighborhood can bring.

hoping you can take the time to leap, run and enjoy the simple things in life that surround you!

no better place than

i think this picture says it all...

home is where our story begins.
home is where my heart is.
home is where i am the happiest.
home is where my children are themselves.
home is where i feel safe.
home is where our family lives and grows.
home is where the heart is.

some live in Houses large and some small,

we live in a HOME and i am content with it all...

the dust, noise, dirty floors, homework, dishes, laundry and everything else in between.
at the end of the day, week, or sometimes even hour, there is no place I would rather be.

caught in the act

heading in

almost there

ummm yummy pollen on my legs

had his fill, headed home {or to another flower i'm sure}

i just happened to be wandering around the neighborhood with the nikon swinging from my neck {looking like a tourist in a strange country} when i decided to stop and take some shots of the neighbors flowers. wouldn't you know it a friendly little bee stopped in for some pollen and i just happened to get ever so luck to catch him in the act.... i was excited to see him, but even more so when i realized that i not only snapped him several times, but that they were in FOCUS!!! yeah me!

days off {kinda}

hurray- it's FRIDAY!!!!! i am so thankful for the weekend that is upon us. it's been a good, but long week for me and i'm ready for a day or two off.... yeah right! like i get a day off- oh well, it never hurts to want/wish!!! happy friday and upcoming weekend to you!!

thought for the day~

lunch with a movie star {& her friend}

the movie star also known as josie and i went to a small park not far from our house today for a little lunch and some swing time. we brought along "tonya" jo's sidekick for the fun in the sun too. the only problem with bringing such a diva is that she complained about the walk, so we put her in our lunch bag! love you josie jade- thanks for a great lunch!

bear with me once again

so i know this is totally not appropriate to post, but i must- so if you are offended look away now!

so i open up the mailbox today to find this gem sitting in the dark waiting to come out into the sunshine and be read.

my heart filled with instant pride and my eyes {to be honest} got a little wet.

there is nothing better in this world than to know that you have done a pretty good job as a parent, especially when you receive this sort of thing in the mail.

you spend all your time and energy as a parent trying to mold, shape, lead {sometimes follow} and allow your child to become the best person they can be. and it makes you feel pretty darn good when out of the blue you get a note from her teacher saying the things you think in your head {& heart} but don't want to seem arrogant about by saying out loud.

but the more i think about it, it's okay to tell the world and your kid that you are proud {and sometimes not so proud} of them.

so thank you once again for allowing me to brag about a kid of mine!

quotes

the other day jordan had the assignment of finding quotes for her class. the teacher puts the quote up on the board and the kids are to write them down and tell or explain what they learned from it or what they think the quote means.

i have decided that i would do the same here on my blog. i know that sometimes we all get busy and just go through the motions of life and don't take time to stop and ponder the meaning of things big and small.

i hope you take time to stop and ponder for just a moment now and then and enjoy the beauty and love that surrounds you daily.

today.....

In just two days, tomorrow will be yesterday. {author unknown}

may i introduce....

my honey! how cute is this guy? i know- i'm bragging again, but i just think he is a cutie and for once he was smiling and not giving me the evil eye because i had the camera to my eye. anyway, enough of him- he will get a big head if i keep talking about him....

skulls skulls and more skulls

if you know my jessica then you know she is all things skulls. she loves them, as well as pink highlights, black nail polish, crazy hair and rocking out to rock band on the wii. well this weekend they had the skull shack tent in our local bowling alley parking lot and we took her there to get some goods. she got a belt, necklace, flag for her wall and this scary bank. i of course had to take too many pictures of it and do a little photoshoping {because that's how i am}. they are kinda cool yet pretty scary. for jess' birthday she is wanting to paint her room a silver color and go full skull ahead. i'll keep ya updated on that little project! until then enjoy this cool dead guy!

happiness is.....

i did a little harvesting today and made some zucchini bread and chocolate muffins with chocolate chips with zucchini picked fresh from our garden. the two above are my largest yet. i even put their length, girth and pounds on them. i'm such a proud momma! i even compared them to my size 10's {plus who wouldn't want to see the perfection at the ends of my legs? ha- so joking} . i know all these goodies are gonna hit my hips but who can resist the taste not to mention the awesome smell while they are cooking? not me....

dead fly flying {you know kinda like dead man walking}

miss tammy over at sweet blessings has been passing out home remedies and such over her last few post and this one had my name written all over it. we have had a huge {and when i say huge, i mean HUGE} problem with fruit flies. they are very disgusting and extremely annoying. the other day she had mentioned that she too had this problem and said the fix was to place a bowl full of apple cider vinegar with a squirt of dish soap in it and they would swim in and die. well, i have been committing murder all afternoon. the bowl is filling up and i just may need to dig a small landfill to get rid of the "bodies". {haha} the two sitting on the edge in the picture above aren't too sure how their buddies ended up in the sweet smelling stuff {not really but it must be to them}, but something tells me they too will make the jump into the pool of death. so, miss tammy thank you so much for passing along this tidbit of information- it's been really nice to not have to fight them for my food. oh, i almost forgot- i have this bowl sitting on my kitchen window sill and for a time had the window open, i looked up at my screen and saw i bet a hundred stupid fruit flies trying to get in to bath in the bowl.... gross!

ouch

jordan accidentally had her hand in the wrong place when her friend took her shot on the pool table. her finger is a bit sore and puffy, not to mention bruised. hopefully she won't loose her fingernail and that it heals before her first volleyball game this coming thursday!

ever feel like this?

do you ever feel just like this sunflower? by the end of the day? week? hour? month? year? or maybe even minute? i know that even the most "perfect" of us have these very days. the days you just want to end before they really even begin. i sometimes have days like this and i pity my poor girls { i don't mean to be nasty, it just happens} and mark. we {i} don't always want others to see us {me} like this flower, dry, sagging and half dead. the best news is- tomorrow is always a new day. start. beginning.

check this out

okay, so i've know you've seen these before, but i just figured out how to make them into this {hold please while i pat myself on the back}! anyway- pretty awesome if i must say so myself!

spoonful of....

the cereal gods or shall i say captain crunch {with berries} wants you to have a happy day. you know it's good luck when you scoop down into your bowl and bring up a smiley face in your spoon! happy friday all!!!!

now it's official!

i know that the other day i posted that mark was accepted into Oregon State University, but today it was made official- he received his letter of acceptance in the mail. pretty cool if you ask me. now he has an appointment with his advisor on monday {via the internet} and then will be getting his {i would say ducks in a row, but those would be fighting words} beavers in a row to register for his first class and such. i was laughing to myself {which happens often}, great, just what i need another person with homework to do in this house! the thing is he and jordan are on their own- unless it's addition or subtraction {or take aways as they are know around here} i am of no help.... i've got street smarts, not book smarts. :D! i'll keep ya posted on his progress!