HAPPY, HAPPY DAY MY DEAR, DEAR MAX!!!

9 years. 9 years. 9 YEARS!!!
where did that time go??
i was telling him this morning that i remember like it was YESTERDAY when he was born. i know that sounds cliche' but it's true! 4:30 am on may 6, 2000 we welcomed our SURPRISE. a mere 11 months after his brother. crazy times, i tell you. max is ONE OF A KIND!! not a day goes by that we aren't thankful for this little man! he is wonderfully kind and extremely witty. he has brought such joy into our family. unspeakable joy.
yesterday,i asked what 'treat' he wanted me to bring for his class. he had to think, all the while, i'm mumbling under my breath, "rice crispy bars please! i can hardly mess those up". i think he sensed the desperation in my voice and out of the kindness of his heart, he chose that. (thank you sweet max!)
jack got a hold of the camera and snapped a few shots of us making our masterpieces.
today, unfortunately for him, he had school. what a mean mom i am for making him go on such an IMPORTANT DAY!! luckly, his classmates and teachers made it worth it. they all made him feel "VERY SPECIAL". i brought him DQ for lunch and threw in a Sponge Bob balloon. (which he'd say was the highlight of his day! $3.99 well spent!
after school, we met daddy at Sonic in Ferndale for burgers then on to Target. it's our family tradition that the birthday boy gets to choice the meal of their choice (thankfully, they ALWAYS choose to go OUT! :)) and instead of me, racking my brain, trying to find the PERFECT gift, we give them the cash and let them pick it out themselves! (everyone wins!) the magic gift of the night, was NOT Lego!!! SHOCKING!!!!!!! instead, a Nerf game for the WII. our b'ham trip was followed by fresh strawberry shortcake at home! oh, we LOVE strawberry season!

i LOVE you dear Max and we are SSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad that you joined our family! it was very good of God to 'loan' you to us. what a GIFT you are!!!!

ok, i'm at complete loss for words tonight. it was a great day to CELEBRATE our max, just not a great day for coming up with witty things to write. shucks.
could it be that my mind is already on vacation?? probably. ya, that's the case. i'm off to Scottsdale for 5 days with my girlfriends. i'm leaving the computer at home (some of you almost feel off your chair, didn't you??)
i'll update when i get back.
enjoy the rain.
I WON'T BE!!! (HEE. HEE)
chow.

Hovander Park. Ferndale, Wa.

a few weeks back we hit up the Wiersmsa after church to go on a litle outing with us. it was such a gorgeous day!!! he had some takers!!! i don't have all the pictures yet, need to get those from tam but am adding this post to remind myself to get blogging about it....
a great day, with great friends!!

how does your garden grow?

we did it.
we 'pulled the trigger' and rye finally brought a rototiller from work.
me? a gardener? truth be told, i have NO idea what i am doing!
all i know, i learned from the Home and Garden channel (shocking). in all my excitement,i made the trek to True Vaule and went a tad bit crazy....26 plants and 35 packages of seeds!!! (i bet that would fill up all of our 3 acres!!) we've decided to give each of the kids their own 'green' space. they couldn't be happier. they were out there this afternoon, transplanting WEEDS. "since mom has these in her flower beds, they MUST be good enough to put into ours". i'm not sure what kind of weeds these are...small purple, white and yellow flowers. last year i kept a few,just cuz i thoguht they were so cute. now this year, they have invited all their friends and now we have a whole CITY full of these cute little weeds. :) (i guess i watered and fed them too well!)
again,

i'll keep you updated!

roses are red...and our house will be too....

i love red!
so we have decided to also paint the house that color. since our house is close to 10 years old, it is in desperate need of new paint. my dear dad has once again, dedicated himself to yet, ANOTHER painting project! he says this is a gift to us for letting them live in 'the apartment next door'. (thanks dad!:)) we've had many discussions as to the right shade of red. i put a few samples on the wall. obviously the one of the right, DOESN'T work. my hall wall is this color and for some reason, it works inside the house....NOT OUTSIDE!! the color on the left looked GREAT on someone Else's house but looked far too raspberry on the cedar siding! so, we are going with the good old stand-by, 'Homestead Red'. (if you live in lynden, you know what color i'm talking about! all the Homestead buildings are done in this GREAT shade of red). the grey color that you see is just the primer. yup, one coat of primer than TWO COATS of red!!! then we need to paint all the trim!! we've already spent a week just prepping. another painting project????....dad, you're in too deep to turn back now! :)
i'll keep you posted.