all our bags are packed, we're ready to go...

We are SO excited to go!!! Now it looks like we need someone to help us with our bags!!!! See you in a week!!! Hugs and Love.

prises

That would be sur-prises. Daddy's tradition when he is away on a trip is to bring home "prises" for the kids. I love that he does this because it keeps them all connected while he is gone - they have hope that he is coming home because they know that he is bringing them something. Usually whe they talk on the phone during the week, he is reminded many times by the kids about his MAIN purpose for being gone. (Trihydro thinks they are sending him out to do REAL work... little do they know!) Soon after Daddy walked through the door last night, Meredith and Michael went to the couch and got ready for their prise. I am sure that as soon as Marky and Maddie get home today they will be sitting in the same spots on the couch with the same closed eyes and outstretched hands.

a good reminder for me

dancing queen

for Ashley

I can't wait to see you on Monday night!! Love, Michael

lunch

Maddie and Meredith made lunch on Tuesday. They did SUCH a good job!!

This week...

*Super Target opened up and we took a field trip
*another week of swimming lessons - Maddie is learning the breast stroke and Marky is learning the crawl
*church
*being picked up by Grandma Oman after swimming lessons one day and getting a treat at Starbucks
*the big girls getting a birthday party invitation
*mommy celebrating a friend's birthday by going to the movie "Mama Mia" and gabbing over chocolate birthday cake and guacamole chips
*health club child care
*sewing doll clothes with Marky and Cassidy
*Patrick calling to say he would be home in an hour
*CUTE $5 shoes!!
*visiting with my mom in my living room
* finding a little brown mouse at the pool
*counting down the days to Florida
*reading "The Snow Globe Family" with Meredith
*rain!
*email from Ashley
*friends
*lunges and squats
*God's word
*sweet kisses from my sweet son
*knowing that God is always with me... no matter what. Psalm 121 "where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and earth".

Cuties!!

Bubble Yum

Earlier this week, I let the 3 girls buy their own packages of bubble gum when we were at Target. For some reason we are very into gum these days. So, we've been talking about gum, chewing gum, blowing lots of bubbles... you get my drift. Meredith is so happy that now she is a "big girl" so she can chew gum. (Interpretation of big girl - 4 years old. ) Michael has asked if he can have gum and has been told numerous times that he can't because he's not a big boy yet. (All 3 sisters as well as his mommy have told him that.) Well, he came downstairs to ask me if he could have gum and he said "I a big boy". Patrick was with me, and he said "no, you're not a big boy yet." Michael said a little louder, "YES - I'm a big boy like YOU, Daddy". After a few exchanges like this, Michael accepted his little boy status and asked Daddy if HE wanted the piece of gum that he had in his hand. Patrick said no, he didn't want it. Michale looked confused (why would you turn it down if you COULD have it?) and then made a conclusion in his sweet little brain. "Gum is for girls, not boys."

A Markle

Meredith - "Look, daddy, it's a markle!" (pointing to a freckle on her arm)

Daddy - "What's a markle"?

Meredith - (exasperated with her less than intelligent daddy) "THIS!" (pointing to her freckle)

Daddy - "Oh, that!" (after mommy explains that she has combined the words freckle and mark)

Meredith - smile

Really great song!!

Just Showed Up

by Sara Groves and Joel Hanson

Spending my time sleep walking
Moving my mouth but not saying a thing
Hoping the changes would take by working their way from the outside in
I was in love with an idea
Preoccupied with how a life should appear
Spending my time at the surface repairing the holes in the shiny veneer

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

Oh the glory of God is man fully alive
Oh the glory of God is man fully alive

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

You can go here to find out more about this great artist.

Did you know?????

When you get stung by a bee, you can put yellow mustard (yes, the hotdog kind!) on it and the mustard will make it stop stinging!! I couldn't believe it, but it worked. My friend Susan said that it worked for her once, and Maddie agreed because...

the poor little thing got stung by a yellow jacket at the pool today on her back. It got her twice! She cried VERY loud at first, but was then very brave. She has a pretty red spot on her back, but the mustard (and the grape popsicle!) helped. When we got home I put some hydrocortisone cream on it. with a cure all band - aid. This is her 4th sting - I can't believe they keep getting her.

By the way, just to make sure Susan was a truth teller :), I googled mustard and bee stings and sure enough... www.tipnut.com
had mustard as a standard for treating the sting.

Bucket List time

I've ALWAYS wanted to do a white- water raft trip; in fact it has been one of the things on my "list" to do before I die. BUT... I have been really afraid to do it. I don't know why... mostly because I didn't know how, but I was afraid of the water, of falling out of the raft, of hitting my head on something, of drowning. Well, on Saturday, I DID IT! Patrick and I went on a raft trip down in Buena Vista, CO on the Arkansas River in Brown's Canyon. It was SO much fun. I was really nervous (see above listed fears) as we were getting ready to get on the boat, and as we started out, but as the trip progressed I began to relax and enjoy myself. It helped to have Patrick with me, as well as a lady who sat beside me cracking jokes the whole time, and to top that off a very good guide named Sam. None of my fears came to pass, and even getting wet was welcome as my wet-suit and splash jacket had made me a little bit warm. The lunch that we ate was the best lunch I've ever had. We were pretty hungry as we were working really hard paddling. I was so happy that I finally did this. I told Patrick that I want to go again and again!!
He thought that sounded fine :).

The reason that we were gone from home was that we were celebrating our 5th anniversary. The 2 of us had a very nice time together. We relaxed and talked and ate good food and enjoyed being by ourselves. We were blessed to be able to leave Michael and Meredith with our sweet babysitter and friend Vicki - she is such a gift to our family. We would not have been able to go if it weren't for her. Marky and Maddie were gone for the weekend at their dad's house. So, all of this made our trip possible, and I am so glad. I really need to "get away". We camped at a really great campground called "Chalk Creek Campground". It was clean and had LOTS of amenities such as showers, ice, wood, clean toilets. We want to take the kids back because they would have enjoyed it a lot. It was right on the river and had a nice playground as well.

Both Patrick and I feel so blessed for what we have in our marriage and in our family. It hasn't come without the hard stuff, but our lives are overflowing with good things and we are thankful. On to year 6!!!

Neat Quote

I, who have no sisters or brothers, look with some degree of innocent envy on those who may be said to be born to friends. ~James Boswell

A conversation overheard from the back of the van

Maddie - "Marky, what's a 'Spa Palace' ?"

(we had just driven by a store called that)

Marky - (with MUCH older sister confidence and know-it-all itis in her voice) - "Oh, that's a place
where you can get a lot of spa things done, you know, like Mommy did in California. They treat you like a queen."

I think I might call tomorrow and make an appointment :).

Amazing Bible verses

Colossians 3:1-17 (The Message)

1-2 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.

3-4Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

5-8And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

9-11Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

12-14So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

15-17Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Water Boy

Meredith and VBS

These pictures speak a thousand words. I am slow getting them on the blog, but I have thought OFTEN since that night about how precious Meredith was "performing" and how fitting it is that she is the only one without an orange shirt.

Some days are diamonds

Well... Tuesday was NOT one of those days. It wasn't that anything really bad happened, it was mostly just that a lot of blah stuff happened. So here I was, feeling yucky, and along came these shoes to cheer me up. Can you believe them???? They might be the world's cutest pair of shoes. I just love them and I plan to wear them a lot.

Cute

Last night, Patrick and I took Meredith and Michael on a bike ride. They love riding on the backs of our bikes in their little seats with their helmets (that don't really fit) sitting caddywhampus on their heads. While we were on our ride, Meredith looked up in the sky and saw the moon. She said, "Look Mommy, the moon is following us!" I need cute moments like this in order to balance out the other AAAGGGGHH moments.

Fun Day

Marky and Maddie and I rode that bus today. They asked me what it was like to ride the bus, and I said... let's seee!!!!! SO.... We rode Transport today. It was SO much fun. (note: the little ones were at babysitter Lisa's house, which was the first part of making our day successful and fun). Our first destination was the Mall. So, we walked up the street and caught the #1 bus. We rode that to the mall... did some shopping, then caught the #16 bus to downtown. I asked the girls what they wanted to do and they said "we want to eat outside". I decided that the Rio would be fun. They agreed that it was!!! We ate mexican food outside by the fountain. Then we walked next door to Walrus and had a treat. Next stop... Daisy Sport. I found a cute dress on CLEARANCE there. It is BEEYOOTIFUL!!!!! Our final destination was... drum roll please... The Goodwill. The girls had a BLAST there. I know... not the best shopping spot, but we DID find some cute things and some good deals. From there, we walked back to the bus station and missed the #1 by 4 seconds ( I swear!! - we were hollering at the bus driver, but Transfort obviously doesn't stop for hollering crazy girls) and so we had to wait for another 15 minutes for another #1 bus to roll around. It finally did and after about 30 more minutes on the bus, we made it to south Fort Collins to our stop. We had the BEST day and we might just do it again!!!