project 365..day 16...

guess what i did today?
give up?
ok, then, i'll tell you.
i washed windows.
granted, my hands are still numb, 5 hours later, but dang, my windows look good.


the hub and mr. max crawled up on the roof and took down christmas lights. although i did have someone tell me to just leave them up until july (since we'll be celebrating Christmas with my sister and fam here) but really now, the neighbors would be talking. i couldn't live with that.

one of the highlights of day 16 was having my 'great'-nephews over. in the next month or so, they will be moving to Australia for 2 years (their folks, ross and taya, work with Family Life...i'll blog about that soon). we treasure these moments, knowing that they will be gone, much too soon! it was good to have little ones in the house again. what wonderfully, sweet kids. oh, we DO love them!!

as i type this, the house is wafting with the smell of fresh baked bread!
do i have it made or what?? he cooks, he cleans (ok, i lied, he doesn't do that), he is charming, he is just an all around great guy.
AND
HE
BAKES
BREAD!
today,i told him how lucky i was to have him.
his comment??
"why yes, honey, you are!!"
wow, and he's humble too.

project 365...day 15...happy birthday day!

A big shout out to my dear niece, bailee and her brother, bo who are celebrating a birthday today!!!! yes, they share the same birthday, only 2 years apart. their brothers also share a birthday (they're twins so that's fairly obvious). so, between 4 kids, they have TWO birthdays.
that is such an amazing tid bit of info.
it's always fascinated me.
anywho...
my dear bo-bo is 12 years old! TWELVE!!!! bo is a barrel of fun! he never stops. which makes me tired thinking about it. for those who don't know my bo are missing out.i'm here to tell you,first hand what a super kid he is. i am honored to be his aunt. i hope he never gets too old to hug his auntie. just the other day he told me he loved me. oh, sweet, sweet little man...i love this boy!
and then there's bailee.
miss bai is 10 today.no more single digits for this young-en. bai is a red-headed ball of spunk and a sweeter little girl will be hard to find. she is kind. she is considerate of others. always thinking of how she can make every ones life better and she has made mine better, just by being in it.i can always count on a hug and a smile from her. she's my 'sidekick' on those days when we're 'boy-trapped'. i just love her to bits.

project 365...day 14...

a busy running-around (trust me, not literally.)everywhere-after-school-day. so thankful for a husband that has a relatively flexible schedule. he picked max up from school, i picked up jack. sam had tutoring. max had a doctors appt. which left a little time for jack and i to 'hang'. i had promised him that together we would build a LeGo house. (he's been asking for weeks) i'm embarrassed to say, i've been putting him off, waiting for the 'perfect' time. well, today was it! wish i would have done it weeks ago...good bonding time. i think he liked it as much as i did. a quick dinner then jack off to basketball. by the way, WHO decided that SEVEN-0-CLOCK, on a SCHOOL night is a good time for second graders to have practice?? just wondering. anyways, lik drew the 'short straw' so he ended up taking jack to practice,which was just fine with me! dark and raining, yup, i'll stay in,thank you very much! sam, max and i played a ROARING game of UNO. (mommy lost ALL three games) oh well,i could care less, to me it was about being with them, hopefully making good, lifelong memories....

day 13....

-cousin taryn & auntie cindy-

-proud uncle rye-

-niece taya-

-auntie traci loving on em-
yes, this is 'technically' day 14 but whatever. yesterday was one of 'those' days. i had bible study here in the morning which,NEVER let's me down. i have an amazing group of 'support' in my life. we laugh together, yesterday did a lot of crying together and mostly, we grow together spiritually. i know that whenever i need something, these 8 girls would be the first people i'd call. i know that, even today, they are in prayer for me and the happenings in my life. i am blessed.
yesterday we had the joy of meeting the newest member of our family. emily. unfortunately, my boys were not real interested which was just fine with auntie cindy and i. more time for us to love on her. she is SO beautiful. i'm sure every one thinks that about their relatives (probably not) but i'm SO serious...she is gorgeous. dark skin, dark hair and perfectly put together. oh, it's nice having a baby around again! and the best thing is....i can pass her off when she cries. don't think i'm being harsh...i've done my time. i loved having my babies but i'm here to tell you, i didn't enjoy them at that age as much as i should have. maybe it was because i had 3 babies in 2 1/2 years. ya, don't even get me started on THAT! now that my boys are older, i wish i could bottle them. i love this age!!! they are funny, wonderful little creatures...

day 12...part two..

yes, i do realize that i posting twice today. i'm making up for the lame-o post yesterday. who would've known....an unexpected treat would show up in my mailbox! WAY back when,when i used to scrapbook with PAPER,i had a certain group of gals that i would 'scrap' with.
miss sandy was one of my most favorite people to hang with.
she is ridiculously talented (in a good way!). her mind works like no other! and her books, oh, if you could see her books!!!
pure magic people!
maybe i'll have her be a 'guest' on my blog and have her post a few samples!
any who, today, as i trudged my way, in the rain, out to my mailbox, WAY to the end of my driveway, i was dreading the 'Tuesday mail'. (am i the only one that gets all the crappy mail on Tuesdays??)
what a surprise, what a joy, what an unexpected diversion from my somewhat depressing day, when i discovered that i had received some REAL mail!! a personal, and super cute to boot card,from miss sandy!! a note telling me that she is one of my famous 'blog stalkers'(which by the way, i love to hear)and encouraging me to KEEP up with the project 365, cheering me on from the sidelines of her home.
oh, that just did my heart good.
not only did she bring joy to my world today but she also reminded me that those personal little notes, that we all 'intend' to send, need to be sent! bless you dear sandy. you made my day!!!

day 12....

ok, if we're going to be spending every day together, let's get to know each other.
seriously. let's do that.
don't be shy.
alright then, i'll go first.

i am the third children. there are 4 of us in all.
i have one older sister.
i have one older brother.
i am an older sister to a 'little brother'.
i have one sweet, little grandma, who we call gram. my mom's mom.
my dad is a retired school teacher.
my mom is a soon to be retired store owner.
my husband is a gem.
most/all of my extended family lives out of state. most in michigan.
i attended college for one year. plenty for me.
i have been a waitress.
i only ever wanted to be a full-time mom.
which i thankfully am.
i love to paint. walls, not on paper.
i obsess over new ways to decorate my house.
my children are the most witty, wonderful balls of energy on the planet.
my house is often messy, but usually not dirty.
i am almost NEVER caught up on laundry.
my closet is ridiculously organized.
i love to read.
i have 3 sons. i love boys!
i'm not very disciplined.
i love a good quote.
i love bread.
i have an unbelievable group of girlfriends.
i am a child of God.
i am undeserving of most of what i have.
i am energetic.
i am sometimes lazy.
i am fun.
i am sometimes boring.
i love to blog.
i'm a horrible spellre.
i have guilt.
i am blessed.
i am forgiven.
i have eternal life.
i serve Jesus.
i am not ashamed of that.
i need to stop writing because in the end, there is no end to my thoughts....

i've shared.
you share.

day 11....

11 days in.
nothing.
i got nothing....
tomorrow is gearing up to be a much more eventful day.
yup, check back in tomorrow....

christmas pics 2009,,,just a sneak..more to come...

sweet baby boys....



heaven forbid, we don't inclue our RAT,opps,i mean cat in the picture. welcome joe, you strange animal.


looks like we have it all put together, doesn't it? think again, there was a whole lot of leg pintching and all sorts of other threats that are lurking about. :)


*me,snuggling with my chillin's*

day ten....

Sundays. love um. look forward to them. wish they would come more than once a week. i love seeing my friends. i love worshiping with God's people. i love learning something new from His word. i love wearing my fancy clothes. ok, what that means is i love wearing a dress shirt with my jeans instead of a hoodie. i love hanging out at my in-laws with the 'crazy clan'. i love having no guilt over all the cookies and Captain Crunch desert Milly makes (and i consume!). i love coming home at 1:00pm and to have nothing to do but read, or blog or my favorite, NAP. i love that rye is home all day, backing me on any kid 'issue' that may arise. i love that we don't need to go 'do' anything. i love that my boys spend the afternoon playing outside. this afternoon, the boys spend about 2 hours outside, in the 'sand' box. daddy even let them put on the water!!! there was even a short game of football. rye and i sat by the window, thanking God for Unity among them. i love that God made a day of rest. a day to ponder...


mud, sunday afternoon boy-bliss.