TGFT

Technology can be a blessing and a curse.  

Today, as I was scrolling through old text messages, it was a blessing.

wordless wednesday

happy heart day!

I recently sent secret packages out to some of my friends

as a surprise Valentine treat. 

I LOVE sending surprises in the mail ~

how often do you get fun surprises in the mail

over the age of 10??

I had a lot of fun making these simple cards. 

I stamped the heart image,

filled in the heart with red glitter glue,

and punched it out with my Stampin' Up circle scallop punch.

Then, I took red cards,

stitched three random width lines

with red thread on my sewing machine and

attached the heart punchy with a foam square.

I tucked in a heart garland and mailed them off this week.

I hope my friends enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed making them.

This weekend, we held our 3rd Annual Valentine Par-tay! 

And yes, you have to say it like that :)

Here are the cousins enjoying their red velvet

Valentine cupcakes made by Aunt Kim.

How do you spread the love on Valentine's Day?

So Sweet

I know it's February and Christmas was over a month ago, but I have to blog this story so that I never forget. It's a story of love so maybe it is appropo for February....

A few weeks before Christmas, we were all out shopping as a family. I had to run into Joann's for some crafty things, so Mark took the older boys to a department store next door. When he got them inside the store, he asked them what they wanted to get me for Christmas. Evan immediately answered, "A necklace," and Ryan agreed, so they headed for the jewelry counter.

After some deliberation and lots of ooooohhing and ahhhing from every lady in the store, they picked a silver necklace with a silver charm. The charm has three connected ovals, small, medium, and large, with diamond chips in each one [I really need to take a picture of it!]

FOUND ONE....

Mark told me that they decided on this charm because they decided that each oval represented each one of them - is that not the sweetest thing you've ever heard?

On Christmas morning, the boys were excited about their presents, but they insisted that I open my gift from them before they opened anything. The above photo shows Ryan and Evan handing me the box. Needless to say, I opened it with tears in my eyes.

These boys never fail to surprise me ~ not just with gifts but with the amount of unselfish love their precious hearts really do contain. I'll never forget this special gift.

Wordless Wednesday

Life is too short....

.....to get upset over little things
.....to stay mad at someone you love
.....to hold a grudge
.....to not pursue your dreams
.....to not share your intimate thoughts
.....to not tell your loved ones how special they are to you

This seems to be a recurrent thought in my mind lately. It's kind of been "in my face" over the past few months with my mom's cancer diagnosis and one thing after another keeps reiterating these themes.

First, it was Grey's season finale:
"Drink it in. Cause this is it. It might all be gone tommorow..."

Then, my mom went for a follow-up to her oncologist and my dad asked the dreaded question, "How much time do we have?" The doctor told my mom that people with the same kind of cancer she has [colon spread to lung & liver] live on average 22-24 months.

And yesterday, I found out that my college roommate's husband died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on Friday night. He was a year younger than me and left behind his wife, a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter. Please keep Bethany and their family in your prayers as they mourn the loss of a husband, a father, a son, and a brother.

The point I'm trying to make here is this: none of us know when we will pass from this earth. Any one of us could die tomorrow, next week, next month....we never know when it will happen. So, I encourage you to live, laugh, and especially love while you have this precious time with the ones you love.

Enjoy it. Cherish it.
Don't go to bed angry. Forgive. Forget.
Encourage. Participate. Hug. Kiss. Smile.
Laugh at your mistakes. Make amends.
Love your family. Love your friends. Love your enemies.

Life is too short. Make the most of what you have...
How will you spend your time?

Grey's

I finally watched the Grey's Anatomy season finale [trying to catch up on the dvr...]

Tell me you saw it...

It was a complete surprise ending [at least for me ~ maybe I'm just completely oblivious].

I'm not afraid to admit that I bawled my eyes out at the end.

I always check on my boys before I go to bed, but tonight, I wanted to wake them up and tell them I loved them. Mark was already in bed, but I'm glad he wasn't asleep because I definitely would have woken him up. I had to give him a hug and tell him how much I love him.

For those of you non-Grey's watchers, you might be wondering what prompted all this.
At the end of the episode, Meredith was narrating.
Here's what she said:
"Did you say it?
I love you.
I don't ever want to live without you.
You changed my life...
Did you say it?
Make a plan.
Set a goal.
Work toward it.
But every now and then look around.
Drink it in.
Cause this is it.
It might all be gone tommorow."

Live in the moment. Make sure your loved ones know that they are loved.

Let's Rock!

This conversation happened a few days ago between Ryan and myself....

R: I love you, mom. [No one calls me mommy anymore, not even my baby :( When did that happen??]

M: I love you, too, buddy.

R: You don't love me when I'm bad.

I sat down so I was eye level with him and held his face in my hands so he would look at me [he's got shifty eyes :)]

M: Ryan, I love you no matter what. I love you when you're good. I love you when you don't make good choices. It doesn't matter what you do, I'll always love you, no matter what. It makes mommy upset when you don't listen, but I still love you.

{R smiles.}

R: Can you rock me? [We were in Nathan's room which is still a nursery with a rocker]

M: Sure.

R: Can we do this every day?

M: You want me to rock you every day?

R: I know....we can rock every day when we come upstairs.

{Smile}

Even though he only let me hold him and rock him for a minute or two, I ate it up.
I know this window of opportunity to snuggle with and love on my boys will not last forever.
I need to take advantage of every single chance I get.

Love is in the Air

In case you haven't noticed, Valentine's Day is quickly approaching.



This weekend.



But I don't want to talk about mushy, romantic love.



I've been thinking about the blessings I have in my life
{besides the obvious - wonderful hubby and three beautiful kids :)}



I started to list in my head all the things about my life that I love right now and I thought I'd share them with you. Might have to turn this into a scrapbook page eventually....



1. I LOVE that I am able to stay home with my children instead of working outside the home.



2. I LOVE that my house backs up to an Amish farm and we get to enjoy their animals at the fence.



3. I LOVE that we have beautiful clear views of both the sunrise and sunset from the back of our house.



4. I LOVE that my boys have a sense of humor.



5. I LOVE that we live on a cul-de-sac and my kids can play in the street.



6. I LOVE writing articles for and putting together my MOPS newsletter.



7. I LOVE that other people love my newsletter ~ it makes me feel good.



8. I LOVE being able to be creative.



9. I LOVE the smell of a fresh box of crayons.



10. I LOVE that my husband polishes my shoes for me without me asking.



11. I LOVE spending time with our families.



12. I LOVE reading other people's blogs.



13. I LOVE finding the humor in my crazy everyday life.



14. I LOVE that Evan loves to draw.



15. I LOVE that Ryan loves school stuff.



16. I LOVE that Nathan loves reading books.



17. I LOVE how God uses verses that seem like they're speaking directly to me. 1 Peter 4:11 is a current favorite...



18. I LOVE how fresh flowers can brighten a room.



19. I LOVE having the windows open and getting fresh air in the house {like right now - in the middle of February!!}



20. I LOVE blogging and getting comments on my blog....so why don't you leave one? :)



I'd love to know what you LOVE about your life right now....what comes to mind? Leave me a comment :)

Happy Birthday to Ryan

I cannot believe my favorite middle guy is 3! today....where does the time go??

We spent the day at the park playing with friends. They were all good and dirty and sweaty by the time we climbed back in the car to head home.

Daddy made dinner - yummy ribs - and then after well-deserved baths, we celebrated with a Dairy Queen ice cream cake - double yummy!

Ryan is such a sweetheart - and he keeps us laughing, too. I love the way he wants to sit with me when he watches t.v. I love the way he says, "I love you, too." I love the way he argues with Evan over who gets to pray at dinnertime. I love the way he plays so hard and then sleeps just as hard. I love the way he always asks for an extra hug and "pish" before bed. I love the way he tries anything once - food and whatever Evan does first :) I love the way he laughs all the time. I love the way he gives his brothers hugs and "pishes." I love the way he runs around with the boys' hamper over his head with only his feet peeking out the bottom [yes, he did that tonight AFTER they were put to bed...ran down the hall, back into his room and dove on his bed, all inside the hamper...YEAH, had a hard time not laughing while threatening him to stay in bed with that one...] I love his independence. I just love this little boy and can't believe how much more he steals my heart each and every day!!

{Can't post pics right now - I'm on the laptop - I'll post some tomorrow}

Ryan Time

I know, I know....last week I was saying that I needed a little "Non-Ryan Time" in my day. And it was true. He was truly driving me nuts!

And vacation wasn't much different. He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 5:45 am E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E day....I'm tired just thinking about it.

He has continued this early rising since we've been home - JOY! - but I've managed to convince him to snuggle up in our bed and go back to sleep. This morning, he let me [I say "let" because he's never been much of a cuddlebug] hold him in my arms and we went back to sleep until 7:30. Even though this boy drives me crazy, I love him to death and this time was precious.

Yes, I know our eyes were closed and we weren't interacting. It doesn't matter. I think we both needed that time together - time when Ryan is just Ryan - not Ryan the younger brother or the older brother [a.k.a. Ryan the stinker]. Time when I hope he realizes his mommy loves him higher than the sky and wouldn't trade him for the world.

P.S. I'll post vacation pictures later this week :)

Can't they just stay this way forever?

Nathan's 18 months old today!! :( I can't believe how fast my little guy is growing up. Definitely have mixed emotions about it. He's SUCH a pleasant little guy - always has been. My fear is that the "terrible 2's" are going to start kicking in...

Lately, he's been trying to do everything [and I mean EVERYTHING] the older two are doing. This includes moonbouncing, hitting baseballs, and especially CLIMBING!! Time to get out the helmet! :) He'll carry around the baseball bat [which is as tall as he is] and the ball - he looks like a frustrated baseball player. He LOVES to put on Evan's baseball hat [which practically fits him - ah, such big noggins my boys have]. Lately, he's been climbing on the little play chair he has to get himself up on our cedar chest coffee table. And I wonder why I've been seeing more gray hairs on my head!!

Mark and I just absolutely LOVE this age and wish he could stay this way forever. Love the way he puckers up his face every time he sees the camera. Love the way he wants to carry his monkey and blanket around the house all of a sudden. Love the way he calls for Evan: "Ev-a..." [Ryan is a little harder to say] Love the way he keeps himself occupied. Love the way he'll disappear and I'll find him EVERY TIME in a corner of his room looking at his books. Love the way he plays peek-a-boo and blows kisses. I could go on and on. Just love him to death!