grandma genzink

a post from my sisters blog......


i found this quote handwritten in my grandma genzink's Bible in 2000:
oh, Lord, of the years that are left to me, i give them to your hand; take me, break me, mold me to the pattern that you've planned.

love this lor! i'm going to do a post on gram soon. she is an amazing, amazing lady. i'm off to bed so this will have to wait.....
night all.

That was then, This is now.....

i used to be single...now i'm so thankful i'm NOT!

i used to wear a bikini....never will again.

i used to worry about my wrinkles...now i call them smile lines.

i used to drive a red Honda prelude...now i drive a black Toyota sequoia.

i used to love taking pictures...still do.

i used to think parenting could NOT be THAT hard, now i realize that it's the toughest job on earth.

i used to say i would never drink coffee,now i can't go without.

i always wanted prince charming to come and sweep me away...he did!!

i used to hate it when my sister used to cross 'the line' on our double bed...now i wish we were old spinsters who got to spend every day together!

i used to listen to 'rock' music, now i hate it.

i used to hate weeding flower beds now it's on my top list of 'fun ways to spend a Saturday'.

i used to think i'd get used to my sister being so far away, now i realize that i never will.

i used to think that being married would be 'boring' now i realize it's the greatest adventure and i love being on it with this wonderful man.

i used to hate being so skinny and lanky...now i'd give my left arm to be skinny and lanky.

i used to think i would NEVER lick my fingers to clean my children's faces (gross), now i find myself doing it as we walk into church. (still gross)

i used to think my parents were SO stupid...now i wish i could have those years back to tell them how amazing they really are!!

i used to say i would never raise my voice to my children, now, i sometimes do.

i used to think i could never love my children any more than i did the day they were born, now i realize i love them more and more every day.

i used to think i had a clue how much God loves me, now i know i cannot possibly fathom how much He does.

i told my sister that she'd get hooked on blogging (she said NEVER) and now She's ADDICTED.:)

dad's little present...

rye has officially won the 'Coolest Parent Of The Day' award!
he told the boys that he brought a basketball hoop, in the overhead compartment of the airplane. about an hour later, one of them, actually asked HOW he did it! :) (he stopped at Walmart for those of you that are actually WONDERING how he did it!!)

they have been asking for one of these for months, if not years. summers here so we decided it was finaly time. bless rye, he spent most of Saturday afternoon assembling the blasted thing. it always looks SOOOO easy on the picture on the front of the box!! he did it and the boys were THRILLED! he was even smart enough to get them each their own basketball! (ok, it was MY idea BUT i'm sure he would have thought of it! :))
it was a SLAM-DUNK of a gift! (get it? slam-dunk...as in basketball....sorry, that was lame but i couldn't resist!)

my little protectors....

last week, rye decided to take a last min. trip to Reno with his business partner,billy. big auction there.

i hate it when he leaves. i never sleep well. i hear all sorts of strange things. i swear, if a mouse is running in the field, i hear it. i'm convinced that a murderer is waiting in the wings...just waiting for rye to leave town. (which he does like every 2 years!) anyways, i try to keep my stress levels to myself but somehow, my boys can pick up on it. (could it be the fact the i check, and re-check, and RE-CHECK all the locks??) they were very sweet, making sure they were 'protecting' me.

i don't know if the fact that daddy is out of mom's bed or if they were truly concerned (i'm going to go with THAT ONE) but there is always so MUCH debate as to who gets to sleep in our room.

so, to appease everyone, i let them ALL sleep in our room. we snuggled up, watched a movie and called it a night. i tucked them all in and got caught up on some reading.
while i was sitting there i was OVER-WHELMED at what amazing little people God has entrusted to me.

since they look especially sweet when sleeping, i snapped a few pictures.....sweet, sweet little men if i may say so myself. (of course i can say that, it's MY blog & i'm their mom, it's my JOB to brag! :)

p.s. take note of jack sleeping OFF the wonderfully, cozy bed i made him AND all his fake cell phones,(thanks uncle darryl) keeping him company. :)