What's Real Today.

Life.  It is too short.  Many people I know are personally going through pretty major loss.

Loved ones.  Job.  Home.  Marriage.

I feel likes sometimes it is hard to look at your day & embrace them moment.

We are always looking ahead to the next thing on the to do list.

check. check. check.

Here is what's real today.  Life.  Plain old wonderful life.


mouse head and internal body parts at my front door...
I don't even like to think that my sweet kitty ATE the missing parts...


laundry.
Only part of the laundry...  this does not include each of my 5 children's rooms or hampers that I know are overflowing (more than likely with the clean clothes they did not put away)


Women Of Faith tickets that still need to be handed out...


towels that need folding... (although I came home from book club and my hubby had them folded and put away :)  No news yet Shelly as to whether he was wearing a shirt or not!)


kitchen that needs tidying...


Funny how that now I finally have a craft room...
it is more of a storage space that I long to visit and never do :(


little boy that is cutting items of interest out of the Oriental Trading Company Magazine...
He also informed me today
 Jack: "Mom, I want to move to California."
me: "why?"
 Jack:  "Because I love Papu."
 me: "But our home is here and what would we do with all our stuff?"
Jack: "We can live in Papu's house."
Me:  "That only works for vacations."
Jack:  questioning stare.

Work this afternoon.
Ortho Appt.
Piano Lessons.
Dinner.
Laundry. (trying to make an effort)

and then the highlight of the day/week/month
my Girl's Night Out with some of my favorite people!

Flashlight Literary Society.

hostess with the mostess... and Sheeba!


yep... it was a repeat with whore pasta... and we loved it!


I LOVE this picture of Jasmine!!!


and Judy :)


and Jen :)


We were missing Janelle tonight, but we cut her some slack because it was her hubby's 40th bday.
She was missed never the less, but we were all in agreement that leaving hubby home on his 40th with 4 little girls not a good idea!  Love you Janelle!


Can I just say that I am coveting Shelly's tan & toned"ness"???


dessert :) O yeah!




can I just mention (without mentioning... my dad reads this you know?) that this photo brought up some very interesting conversation...

not gonna lie. :)  What happens at book club stays at book club.

and for your info Shelly... they are crossed!

And for the record.  Even though I fail miserably most of the time... I try to embrace life, to live in the moment and not race on to the next.... but it is a constant struggle.

Geocaching

Sunday is normally football day around these parts (aka my home)
but this Sunday I found myself out in God's country (Washington State)
geocaching with teen pathfinders...


and


believe it or not I actually really enjoyed myself.


There are a few reasons for this.

1. I {love} my unit 4 girls.
2. It did not rain on us while we were outside.
3. I got some cool pictures, learned how to geocache, AND earned an honor.

footnote for those of you who do not know this...


I was never a Pathfinder as a kid.  I did not grow up "in" the church, and after I was baptized I was past the Pathfinder age...  Now I have been a Counselor for 3+ years and love it.  Love my girls, love the campouts, love the honors.  It is just plain fun.  I am super glad that my kids are getting the chance to learn things that they may otherwise not learn...


Geocaching is one of those things we would likely have never done... and now we will probably be getting a gps so that we can start doing more of it as a family on Sabbath afternoons!


Anyway...
Some shots from the day.




Beautiful Day, Beautiful Gardens. Beautiful Kids.


Life is short.  But Life is Good.  So go out and Live!

{McKenna} turns double digits!

On September 21st my precious McKenna turned 10.


The 10 days before she was born our world was turned upside down literally as the twin towers collapsed, planes crashed, people died, and war began for the USA.  The fear I had to bringing a baby into such an uncertain world was stressful to say the least...  and thus the reason for her middle name..

{HOPE}

From the start this little munchkin has given us just that...
and wow has she ever been a blessing to our family.

Tonight I was looking through lots of old photos and I can see them all like it was just yesterday.

I can't believe that she is already 10 years old, double digits.

Here is a glimpse to the past.... and how we celebrated her big day this year.

Happy Birthday McKenna, We LOVE you!!!

(sorry in advance... I got carried away)

my sweet sweet girl... don't you just want to squeeze her?


life while she was still the baby... and now she is smack dab in the middle of 5!


still the baby of the family at 15 or 16 months...


2 years...

someone stop me... I can't stand it.


the actual 2nd birthday photo...

one of my many sins as a momma... coordinated outfits... daily.

at 3...
wearing emma's hand me down "Joey" jersey from the 2001 Fiesta Bowl...

 Jack just wore Sam's 4T jersey  from the 2001 Fiesta Bowl last night for the duck game ...
stop I say!!!  I can barely stand these precious babes growing up!

cutest duck cheerleader ever.




I TOLD you I got carried away...

But humor me if you will...
I found a few of my fav "sisters" photos...
they are worth their weight in gold... or laughs anyway!


ages... 5, 4, 2, 6 months.  Oh yes it was a busy life...

the start of the "annual sisters beach shot"


I would like to just say how much I LOVE these photos.  Every year I can't get them all looking at the same time, and yet the ones with the crazy faces, smiles, and expressions toward each other are the ones that I cherish the most.  I almost cried when I found this one of Syd tonight!
ages... 6, 4, 2, 1


The first day of kindergarten for McKenna...
Sam- 4th grade, Emma-2st grade, McKenna - Kindergarten, Sydney- 3 and home with mom... and has NO idea that her world is about to be rocked with a baby brother at Christmas...

yes.. I seriously DID have them in coordinating outfits for the first day of school...

Here is a video clip of McKenna practicing for the Christmas Program... Kindergarten.  Mute projectplaylist to hear...


Anyway, I worked everyday last week and my awesome parents were here taking care of my kids... dad had a trip to DC and well it just worked out perfect for them to be here over McKenna's bday!


They made these awesome cupcakes (since I was delinquent)


we ate at Olive Garden to celebrate...


Lastly, I must thank my wonderful mother...

You are the best ever!  I appreciate everything and am so thankful that you could come up and keep things running like a well oiled machine... well maybe not well oiled...;) but running!  I know it is not easy when your daughter is telling you how to do things, but you rocked it and I am thankful for the time together.  I love you.

Also, I would be remiss if I did not brag on my dad for a moment.
Tonight he received an award from the Oregon Restaurant Association, one for Lifetime Achievement.  After 16+ years dad is stepping down from the ORA board (still on the National Restaurant Association Board) He has almost 40 years in the restaurant business and was recognized publicly tonight.  We couldn't be there to support him :( as other plans were already in place (not to mention we have had 2 extra kids since Friday) but we were there in spirit.

This photo is from 7 years ago when he was given the Restaurateur Award. (I was present for this one!)


So Proud of you Dad!  Wish that we could have been there to celebrate the moment with you.  Love you so much!  You are amazing!