Thankful Tuesday

Well today is thankful Tuesday and I am trying to have a heart of gratitude when I'm feeling rather grumpy and overwhelmed. I think I hate May! September and May suck, teachers pile on way too much and sports seem to overtake our life. This week Luke had a math home link, is behind on learning his multiplication facts, has a book report, Bible memory, is news reporter for the week which requires finding an article and being able to give the who, what, where and why and was responsible for estimation station ( bringing in something the class can estimate ), add spelling and soccer practice tonight. I taught 3 classes at the "YMCA" today, had a dentist appointment and have no idea what is for supper (most likely something not that nutritious which will leave me feeling guilty and questioning why I can't be Supermom.) My house is a disaster and reeks of rotten milk because Jaeger spilled an entire bowl of cereal last week, so that means somewhere in the midst of the chaos today we will also be steam cleaning the carpet. All that is listed does not include the homework and the sports schedule of my youngest two. Oh and because I can handle anything (sarcasm) Jaeger is also special person next week and needs to fill out 8 papers and come in with 800 or so pictures of himself. All of this quite frankly depresses me and I'm ready to scream "Calgon, take me away!" But of course reality sets in and Calgon is not going to do me one bit o' good. Does anyone even buy Calgon? All this being said, I really do want to live a life full of gratitude and think it is important to stop and consider what I am thankful for each day. Well today I am thankful that June is just around the corner and Summer vacation is coming... Praise the Lord!

Live in the Moment

Have you ever heard of the 'someday syndrome'? In the book One Month to Live they go on to talk about our favorite day of the week... "someday" You know how it goes, you say... someday when I retire, then I'll enjoy life.... someday when the kids are older, I'll find time to exercise.... someday when we have more money, we'll take a vacation with the kids... someday when life settles down, I'll volunteer more at church. Someday. One day. When. If. Then it's over. When are we going to wake up and realize this is life? Someday is right now.. every minute that passes is another minute of your life gone by. LIVE IN THE MOMENT!! Stop planning and start doing! Life goes by in the blink of an eye and because of this we need to stop saying SOMEDAY and live in the moment, embracing it with joy. Don't put off your happy life - go live it!

these are a few of my favorite things...

one of my favorite things

Today the sun is shining and the sky above is blue and those are 2 of my favorite things, which led me to post a blog on a few of my favorite things...

*enjoying that first cup of coffee outside on a beautiful summer morning

*my boys, fresh from their baths... cozy in their jammies, wet hair, skin glistening and they smell fresh and yummy!

*lemon-lime ice-cream dessert

*waking up in the morning with my windows open & hearing the birds sing

*having an entire day off with no agenda but my own - pure bliss

*watching the sun set... it never grows old... always so beautiful

*hugs and kisses from my guys

*fresh picked peonies

*the smell of rain, in Spring

My list could go on and on and on but for now i'll stop here. I am reminded of God's many blessings that sometimes go overlooked... but today He reminded me of a few of my favorite things!

Coffee and Soul Cravings

I discovered a "delicious" new book at Family Christian Stores this week and thought I would share it with ya'all. I am a coffee fanatic... seriously addicted, need therapy kind of coffee fanatic. Simply stated... i love it! So of course a devotional with a coffee mug and the title "The Coffee Mom's devotional" is going to catch my eye. It is creative, humorous and best of all REAL, it is real life stuff. It would be a great mother's day gift for any mom, especially those still raising younger kids. It goes on sale May 4 for $10.39 and if you use the 20% off coupon in the flier it would be even cheaper. (coupon starts May 11) I absolutely love this book and it's reminder to "drink in the fullness of God"!

Poptart Tuesday

* our cute little poptart containers

Today is thankful Tuesday and today i am thankful for traditions. I'm sure we all can remember special traditions we had growing up. One of my favorite memories is getting potato soup at the Rainbow Grill with the Scholma family on Friday's. When my Aunt's are in town we still all meet up on a Monday or Friday and take up more than one booth and order our family favorite, over the phone of course! One of the traditions i started with my boys is something we coin "poptart tuesday". It all began when I felt bad that they had to be in the kid zone forever when i worked at the "Y" on tuesdays. I promised that if they were good they could have poptarts after all my classes were done. It wasn't long and members would say things like "there's those poptarts" or "where's my poptart" and soon enough tuesdays became poptart tuesday. I laugh at the fact that not only my family but also all those members know the day as "poptart tuesday". This fall when the boys went to school, they missed having those poptarts (not a everyday kind of treat at our house) so now every tuesday we pack poptarts in their lunches (in the cutest poptart holders... adorable, see pic above) and they get them only on tuesdays so that we can still have our poptart tuesday tradition. So today I am thankful for traditions and the wonderful memories we keep because of them!

Take the time

I don't know about you but I get so caught up in perfection. I am a total perfectionist and it gets me into alot of trouble. Every now and then however, something will jump out at me and grab my attention and shake my shoulders as if to say "WAKE UP" ~ this week, my wake-up call came via written words...

Relationships are more important than a perfect house!
Relationships are more important than that to-do list!

I'm always cleaning striving for that "perfect" house ( funny mine is always a disaster, no matter how hard I try ) and I am forever a slave to that to-do list that is never ending. Yes, these things need to get done and I can't ignore responsibilities but I would be wise to realize that people and your relationships with them matter soo much more. I can stop cleaning long enough to go on that bike ride or snuggle and read those books. I can play Old Maid or connect four. I can sit on the deck with my hubby or take my grandma out to lunch. I can call that friend I've been meaning to connect with. At the end of my life it will be the precious time I spent with those I love that matters... not the clean kitchen or organized underwear drawer for pete's sake. So I guess if I'm going to be a slave to that to-do list maybe I should add as my #1 to-do... spend quality time with someone you love today!
I'm going to add that to my to-do list, how about you? Now, let's all go love on someone!

Fun, Fabulous Finds

So I've decided to post fun, fabulous finds when i come across them. My finds might be frivilous and fun or practical must haves. It may be a fabulous new dessert or a great new restaurant. Maybe I'll post them on the first friday of every month or maybe every friday... then i could call it fabulous find friday or something incredibly nerdy like that. My first fun and fabulous find is the camera strap above; i absolutely love photography and also fell in love with this strap. This one is the cha cha carnival strap by cotton candy by natalie. There were lots of other fun designs and colors but i loved this one. I am so excited too because Marc ordered it for my birthday ( such a sweetie he is ) and i can't wait to get it and sling it over my shoulder! I stumbled across these on another blog and somehow found where to order them. If you are interested try going to cottoncandybynatalie.blogspot.com to somehow link up to the site where she sells them. Such a fun, fabulous find!

Thankful Tuesday

Today I am thankful for Marc's job... in such a shaky economy, every week is somewhat unnerving. So despite a major cut in pay, I am thankful he is working and that we can pay the bills. A friend of mine gave me a slip of paper that I taped to my bathroom mirror, it says...

Be at peace. Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life; rather look to them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose very own you are, will lead you safely through all things, and when you cannot stand it, God will carry you in His arms.
Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting father who cares for you today, will take care of you everyday!
~St. Francis de Sales

Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory

OH MY STARS... We quite literally could declare our house Willy Wonka's new chocolate factory! there is candy everywhere... chocolate bunnies, jellybeans, reeses' p.b. cups, hershey kisses in pink, blue and green. Candy, candy and more candy. The Easter bunny surely did visit our house and then there are grandma's and nana's who also had egg hunts where even more candy was discovered. This has not proven to be good for mom's diet ... the scale was not nice to me this morning. Oh well... a little chocolate overload never killed anyone i guess!

my adorable boys all dressed in pink - love it!

such sweetness

i think this is such a cute picture; all 3 of them blew on their pinwheels at the same time and i happened to catch this shot at just the right moment. The sticks of the pinwheels are filled with yet more candy... we will be on a sugar high for weeks, maybe even months!

Easter Sunday

He has risen - Hallelujah !

8 is great

Today our Jack Ryan turned 8 years old... I cannnot believe this little guy is 8 already!
I asked Jack why 8 was great and he replied...
"because i am one year older and i am growing taller and i will get stronger!"
I shook my head in agreement... it was a very boy thing to say and he was right he will get taller and he will get stronger no matter how hard his mommy tries to keep him little!

Happy Birthday Jack ... mommy and daddy love you lots!!

8 unique things to know about Jack:

1. His most favorite color in the whole world is BLUE and has been since he was 2.

2. He is most likely the most competetive child you will ever meet. He played candyland with me one time and was behind while playing and therefore quit and has never played candyland with me again.

3. He has a bunny named "grody" that he has had since he was a baby that he slept with every night up until this year.... an indication that our baby was growing up!

4. Jack is the pickiest eater but amazingly enough loves broccoli... go figure

5. Jack is very, very affectionate, he even refers to himself as our best snuggler especially if we say he is our pickiest eater he will remind us that yes, but he is the best snuggler... that you are babe!

5. Jack runs on sugar... it is his gasoline.

6. Jack has a nose full of the cutest freckles, just like his mom and his cute little nose crinkles when he smiles.

7. Jack is very athletic and excels at all sports. He really loves hockey and soccer

8. Jack has often referred to himself as Blue ( just call me blue, mom ) or Jack attack or Jack snack attack. Sooo funny!

8 adorable reasons we love our Jack Ryan!!

Love Notes

So remember in my blog description that I tell you I will be blogging about my everyday, ordinary life but that sometimes that ordinary life becomes extraordinary when blessed with miracles fresh from God? Well, this was one of those moments...............
Marc is not always the most romantic guy but every now and then he gets bit by the romantic bug and does something really sweet - something that will make me feel really loved. Leaving me little notes in drawers was one of those moments. I loved the notes so much I left them where I found them so that I could smile every time I saw them. The "You are sexy" note is in a bathroom drawer. Well: Jack saw the note and asked Luke what it said and then the 3 boys decided to leave me their own notes (see below)
Oh my gosh - my heart felt like it might burst, my eyes welled with tears... it was the sweetest thing I ever came home to. Ordinary life that just became EXTRAORDINARY!

Ummm.... this is not from Marc.... rather it is from Jack.... quite hilarious... loved it!

This one is from Luke.... I am telling you, I have the best boys in the whole world!

and this one is from my Jaeger Jay... You mom are my "cutest" : ) now I thought this was adorable because he "sounded" out cutest but oh no... come to find out he had asked daddy to spell cutest and this was what daddy gave him! (Marc never was a good speller... like the time he wrote to me that something was very "sweat" of me instead of "sweet" of me. ha ha... this made me laugh even harder.

One extra note here... this one was the first one I found left on the kitchen table. The first one that made me tear up. Sometimes as a mom we think all we do goes unnoticed or we think that all the good we do gets erased in that one moment that we lose our temper.... but apparently our kids do notice and they do love us ( flaws and all )

I love my everyday, very ordinary life but WOW when you come home to love notes...well that is when life truly becomes extraordinary, magical. Yesterday I was given a little miracle, fresh from God, delivered by my boys!

Jellybeans and Jesus

Red is for the blood He gave

Green is for the grass He made

Yellow is for the sun so bright

Orange is for the edge of night

Black is for the sins we made

White is for the grace He gave

Purple is for His hour of sorrow

Pink is for our new tomorrow

A handful of jellybeans, colorful and sweet... a yummy little Easter treat!

Chocolate Easter Bunnies

I will be on an Easter theme all week but this might be my favorite post. I saw this on another blog and laughed my own butt off. Again, the craziest things strike my funny bone. Anyways, hope this makes you laugh as hard as I did! P..S.. . don't forget to go out and get your own chocolate Easter bunnies for those Easter baskets!

EASTER EGGS

Yesterday was the first day of spring break and Jaedyn and Reese had a sleepover at our house last night. It was cold, dreary and wet outside so to brighten and cheer our day we decided to decorate Easter eggs! We invited Jessi, Gracie and Grant and Nana and Papa too. (the only one missing was the ever adorable Kyle Kenzie, who came later) The kiddo's had so much fun coloring their eggs... they were bright, cheery, colorful and really, really fun!

Here they are... colorful, bright, pretty little Easter eggs on display - Happy Easter!

DOUBLE DIGITS

Today Luke turned 10...double digits!! I cannot fathom that my baby is seriously ten years old. I almost feel like I cannot breathe because those 10 years flew by at lightning speed and I realize the next ten will probably fly by even faster and then he's 20... I wish I had a pause button, some way to slow life down... I look back at these photos and wish I had lived in the moment more and wonder how I can live more in the moment now! I do not want life to pass me by because I love this little guy ( who really isn't so little anymore ) and I want to treasure every moment I am blessed to have with him!


P.S. scroll down to the bottom of the screen and play the "let them be little" song by lonestar on my playlist as you look through this post and for all you mama's out there... don't get too teary eyed!

Luke,you arrived 11 days overdue on April 2, 1999... mommy had a c-section and the doctor had a heck of a time getting you out, she said you literally were holding on with your fingertips to stay in. I remember thinking I was hallucinating because I swore the doc was standing on the table, straddling me and pulling with all she had to get you out. Come to find out she had seriously done just that. I remember them saying " he peed" and then "it's a boy" and my heart was instantly overwhelmed and the tears came...they put you cheek to cheek with me and I fell in love! You were beautiful with your perfectly round head and chubby little cheeks. I still can't believe that was 10 years ago!

This is my most favorite picture of you all sacked out on daddy's chest... you were precious!

Mommy and her "Luker's" havin' a snuggle, you were such a snuggle bug and so happy!

You are the cutest little man... so easy-going and happy... always with a smile on that face!

Such a serious little look on your face in this pic... but just look at those big baby blues!

I adore this snapshot of you on the dock at grandma and grandpa's cottage. Such a little man you are with your hands in your pockets, cute little toes stickin' out of your flip flops and your signature smile that melts my heart every single time!

There's that smile again... I could just eat you up, kiss you, squeeze you...love ya so much!

Well what can I say, you have been a bruiser from the get go... such a tough guy. You have had your fair share of bumps, bruises, black eyes, stitches and even staples (in your head). You had a broken arm before you were even a year old. You live life with wild abandon and much adventure and mom will always be there to give out those hugs and kisses that seem to make life more bearable!

Here you are skimboarding at Lake Michigan... it is just one of the many things you excel at. Luke, you are so determined and driven and athletic and you have been from the day you were born. You love to skimboard and snowboard and play soccer, hockey and football just to name a few. You could ride a bike with no training wheels by the time you were 3 1/2. I love this picture of you... I can almost envision you as a teenager when I look at this picture, there is just something about it! I love your enthusiasm for life!

Your 1st day of school this year... heading into 3rd grade. You light up the world with that smile and you warm the hearts of everyone you meet... you are such a sweet boy. You have so many friends and all your teachers comment on what a sweet, nice, all around good kid you are! You are so happy and tender-hearted and you love Jesus... I am soo very proud of you!

Here is another picture of you at the cottage... it is another shot I love. It captures the contentment one feels while spending time up there. You love the time we spend up there, fishing, swimming and campfires are just a few of the things you love to do while there. I on the other hand love getting shots like this of YOU!

Here you are 10 years old... and already on your way to being a heartbreaker... so cute!

love your laugh - your dimples - your smile - your freckles- simply ADORABLE you are!

So Shel... swallow hard, let reality set in... but your baby really did turn 10 today...

Happy Birthday Luker's...... Mom and Dad love you!

Quirky little things we love about Luke:

1. love how you stick your tongue out when concentrating... playing sports, playing video games, learning something new, doing homework etc. tongue is always out!

2. love your dimples but especially the one by your eye

3. love how you are always singing... you are up with the birds just singing away... daddy and I cracked up this Christmas when you started belting out Joy to the World and we realized you were singing while on the toilet. So happy you are!

4. love how when you are recounting an event in your day you have to give us a play by play with actual demonstrations of how something occured.

5. love that you are a total morning person but sometimes we do wish we allowed the word Shut-up in our house because this night owl mommy-totally not a morning person sometimes struggles to deal with her son's enthusiasm for life at 6 am! You inherited your morning bird personality from daddy, he's a morning person too but unlike you he is a slow to wake up and quiet morning person... you wake up ready to embrace the day, singing and bouncing off the walls... I don't believe you have ever woke up on the wrong side of the bed!

6. love your easy-going nature, again, just like your daddy!

7. love all your expressions you have said through the years... expressions like: "snap" and "oh shucks" and "oh barnacles" just to name a few

8. love your tender heart.

9. love how driven you are, how determined... you will do whatever it takes to accomplish what you have set out to do!

10. love your wierd need to poke your fingers and toes in the holes of your blankie, or how you run your fingers through the blinds or shower curtain. One would have to see you do this to understand but it is something so unique to you... it makes mom and dad laugh.

10 wonderful but quirky things we love about YOU

Fun in the Sun

O.k., so Jack found this card at Walmart one day when I was card shopping. He said "here mom look at this one" and oh my gosh I laughed out loud in the middle of Walmart and then proceeded to laugh the whole way home. So I decided to post this picture and tell all ya'all heading South to have a great time and please wear your thongs properly!! Oh, and by the way - please bring the warmth and sunshine back with you!