pretty plates, pretty cups, pretty bowls. i love um all. i found this Fancy little surprise at TJMaxX a few nights ago. they really are much cuter in real life!!! you must come see!! $7.00 for BOTH of these darling little bird plates. since my eldest is a huge bird lover, i thought, he's the only one who will appreciate how nice these are. nope. got nothing.,"what did you buy those for, mom?"

"um, excuse me. i like pretty. you like birds. so can't we find a common ground here? "sure mom, whatever you say....those are really nice plates (insert fifth grade attitude here :)). i think you should keep them since they also have a cool bird on there. hey mom, did you see that they have birds on them??? that's so awesome. but i still don't think i'd like to eat off them. "

it's ok babe, i just wanted you to see the beauty in them. cheap, cute and bird, which make the boy happy.

i like that.

my dad found uncle darryl new treasure. an IPaD.

i can see it now. he'll be researching. and researching and researching AND.....

until he decides if maybe, just maybe this is the right fit for him.

i razz him a bit about having to take so long in making a major decision. after all, my motto is just do it.worry about how to pick up the pieces later.

but let me tell you, when i have a big decisions that i can't make, i ask him.

NO one and i mean NO ONE (my brothers are a close second) researches things more than this man.

i love that about him.

i love that he's always looking for the best deal.

he's smart like that.

my other fabulous tjmaxx find. all my colors and only had to dish out $4.99 for this baby.



ah, yes, this is a shattered window. and yes, my children were playing baseball in the front yard that morning. and yes, the hub was mowing the lawn/MOLE-VILLE.

so, the front porch saw much that morning.

of course, NO ONE saw THIS happen.

well i can tell you this, i didn't break it while i was doing laundry, ALL DAY on the other side of the house. wwhhheww,lucky for me, i'm off the hook.

thankfully, i didn't even need an excuse. lik full on admitted it. while moving he thought he may have heard/saw a rock go flying but didn't see where it landed.

let me tell you,' mr-i'm-a-really-good-shot' that indeed, you are a great shot.

thankfully it just went thru the first layer so we're good for a bit.

i have to say, it's sorta pretty.

plus, what's the point in changing it at this time of the year?

there will be more mowing and there will definitely be more baseball games.

and who knows, i could just loose control in the laundry room,

throw massive piles at it??

i have moments of weakness.

white paint...

ever since we moved in, almost 3 years ago, i have been meaning to paint the cabinets in this bathroom. not that they were hideous because they weren't. just a little dark for my liking.

i was taking a stroll thru my garage on Tuesday, when out of the corner of my eye i spotted a can of white paint.

it's amazing what a little bit of white paint can do.

well if that wasn't a SIGN that i MUST paint that bathroom NOW!

my friend tammy scolded me for not having a 'before' pic (not really scolded. she's not bossy like that). but i don't so use your imagination.

just let me say, it looks nice.

now if only i can get the hub to spring for a new granite counter top.

and heck, just for kicks and giggles-let's throw in a new faucet and sink.

hee. hee.

random...

the color coordinated closet has taken a turn for the worse.
my bathroom on any given day.
i have magazine issues. i love magazines. after all, doesn't every home NEED 9 issues of Pottery Barn??
i don't even know what to call this cabniet because i have no idea what's in it.

jack hit the JACKPOT!

sam is now tall enough to reach the high ones. a big jump from last year.

max is making a run for it since jack is on his tail!

jackson roon.

in a few hours, the quietness of this moment will be a mere memory. my dear girl, kath, is celebrating 10 years of being married to the love of her life, wub (my name for him. his real name is dale). she has a full day planned for the two of them so i get to have her kiddos for the next 24 hours.

right now, jack and kaiden are having a play date with a classmate so the rest of us (miss hai is at tams) are hanging out watching Tom and Jerry. which i might add is really funny. honestly, can we NOT do away with sponge bob and put T&J back on the airways??? (when saying 'airway' i'm referring to t.v., not radio which i think the word was originally intended for. but whatever.)


i'm once again falling behind on my blogging so i'm here to bring you up to speed. i'm posting the few pics that i have of Easter day. of course, with everyone here, i forgot to take more. oh well, i have my memories.

my sister, lori, http://www.ednieuwenhuisfamily.blogspot.com/ inspires me. on her blog this morning, she posted some pictures of the chaos in her life. granted, having 5 children usually brings a lot of that. anyways, as i was saying, she inspired me to blog about some of the dysfunction in my house. i HATE it when things are out of order.i despise piles! what i do love is having cupboards that i make me smile when i open the door. right now, for whatever reason, i can't seem to pull things together.
this is my life.
as crazy as my life is, i wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China. (really now, what would i do with all that tea!)
so i decided since this blog is intended to show the everyday life that we live,i will post.
the good.
the bad.
and yes, even the ugly.

some day, when my kids look back on these pictures i hope that they will remember that my house was a little messy.
and why you ask?
because if there were no piles,no chaos, that would mean that i am probably spending more time organizing my life and not enough time making memories with them.
so to all of you who struggle with the never ending piles, let go of the guilt. go create those memories while you can.
the piles can wait.

quick post...

since i know that i have a 'few weather followers' i will post a quick note here. (for fear that you may not come back at all).

i'm waiting for a few Easter pics so i'll post when i get them.

in the meantime, yesterday a play date brought my nephews here. since they were "BORED" (um, yes, those words were actually spoken!!!however, they were quickly taken back when i told them i could 'un-bore'!!)

eli and i decided to bake. (thankfully, he didn't ask me to COOK with him!)

bo and max did A LOT of 'ds'ing'.

a few movies.

a big ol' fort.

a football game.

a soccer game.

of course, LeGo.

you can tell, there was NOTHING for them to do. (insert sarcasm here!)

being bored is NOT in my vocabulary.

i painted. shocking news to some of you.

we're off to a movie so i'll show you what i did when i get home. i'm sure you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting!

fhoto fun....

yes, i KNOW that i spelled 'fhoto' (photo) wrong above! whatever.
my computer savvy nephew, Ross so kindly showed me today what i have been missing out on by not using my Picasa features. (Ross, you've opened a can of worms here.)
this is gonna be fun!
notice the pics below.
yup,FLIPPING FHOTO FUN!