grateful

My heart is so filled with gratitude for these three guys in my life.

They bring me such joy and happiness.

But all day today, I have thought about a family who no longer has their son to hold and to hug.

Six year old Jacob Wells has had heart problems all his life, and sadly,
 he lost his battle to survive last night.

I do not know this little boy. 

He is a friend of a friend's child, 

but as soon as I heard about his struggle, I started praying for him.

I thought about my boys, about how his family must be feeling, I cried, and I prayed some more.

Tears fall as I write this.

I'm touched by others who have prayed on his behalf.

I don't always understand why Heavenly Father chooses to take the lives of those so young,

but I do think Jacob Wells must have been so special, that the angels needed him on their side.

My heart is aching for his family.

Please, include the Wells and Dinubilo family in your prayers,

especially his parents and twin sister.

And hold your loved ones a little tighter.

Let them know how much you care.

Make that apology.

Send that thank you card.

Try harder to be better to the people in your life, to be more patient and understanding.

We never know when the time will come for those we love to be called Home.

emoooooooootional

Today, I felt like this:

I was out to lunch at El Torrito and my kids were freaking out like mangy lunatics throwing their food and climbing on tables.

I picked up Harper after he refused to stop running around and dumping out the contents of his cup.

He wiggled and screamed, trying mightily to get away from me,

while Landon ripped open Splenda packets and poured them out onto the bench seat.

I could not get out of that restaurant soon enough, so I got ready to pay and realized they pretty much triple charged me, and I'm missing $50 from my wallet.

The first part is okay, because I have my card, but where is that $50?

I remembered leaving my purse on the stroller at the park yesterday,

and I wasn't watching it closely. 

I felt like a complete idiot.

I searched my purse again. 

Nothing.

Finally, I got the kids home, put them down for naps, burst into tears,
and searched like crazy for the money.

Again, nothing.

Fifty dollars may not seem like a big deal to some people,

but my husband's still a student and I'm no longer working. 

Plus, I just got a gym membership which I promised to pay for with my own money each month, 

and that money is g-o-n-e.

I started to think about what kind of 

rotten thief would steal money from a mother of two terrible adorable children?

That's when I started to feel like this:

like throwing myself on the ground and giving up.

After the most dramatic 30 minutes of my life . . . 

I remembered the money was in my camera bag.

And then, I really felt like an idiot.

But a grateful idiot.

So, am I the only one who has lost something, then became completely convinced that it was stolen, only to find it a few minutes later? (this same situation may have happened to me before today... okay, like five times)

summer agenda

I am so excited for Summer this year!

I can hardly wait for

Music in the Park,

trips to the zoo,

dips in the pool,

our trip to San Diego,

our trip to Arizona,

fresh fruit pizzas (now, I'm drooling),

but what's even better than fresh fruit pizza, 

is that we get Anthony to ourselves for two whole months!

*special thanks to Lodi Unified

I'm so excited about that part, I can hardly stand it. :D

*this picture cracks me up

You're never too old for the swings.

Grandma Joyce says swinging is good for your glutes.

She's a pro (and I only wish my glutes were as nice as her's).

What are your plans for Summer 2011?

a lazy sunday

After church and naps and such, we headed over to Aunt Cindy's. She literally lives less than 2 minutes away, but when I'm in her backyard, I feel like I'm on vacation.

It's so relaxing, and she or her sweet husband, Greg are always preparing some delicious dish.

This time, I thought I'd make something for them. 

I made some shrimp pasta that I've been dying to try. Here's the recipe (they used chicken), but it's pretty dang yumazing with shrimp.

 Did I just make that up?

We took the boys on the paddleboat for the first time. 

They absolutely loved it, and Landon has spoken of nothing else since.

bye bye blondie

I am pleased to announce, the brown hair is back!

What did I learn after being a blonde?

They don't have more fun. Why, you ask? They spend more time and money going through the whole bleaching/dying process, leaving less time and money for actual exciting activities.

Nobody takes you seriously. Seriously (see, you believe me now because I'm a brunette).

Dean said, "You're too kind for that blonde hair."
 I thought that was a sweet way of telling me I look like a little meanie.

But for real, I think people do perceive bottled blondes as snobby. Who knew?

My mom said I look cheap.
Heidi said I look white trash.
My husband thought I looked h-o-t-t hott. That should have been all that mattered, so I kept it for him until my roots grew in, which thankfully took less than 2 weeks.

Honestly, with brown hair, I just feel much more me. It was fun being a blondie for two weeks, but next time I'm craving some blonde in my life, I'll go with a few highlights.

spring time- meet our new baby geese!

[mean papa goose]

The best part about living on Quail Lakes is watching new life appear in the Spring. 

Just two days ago, these sweet little geese hatched. 

The funniest part, is two momma geese and two daddy geese follow these babes wherever they go.

It's so sweet to watch.

Okay, maybe it wasn't so sweet when papa goose lunged after me and my camera.

I wasn't ready for that to happen again.

Remember what happened last time?

So, I may have shrieked and run away. 

Hoping nobody saw that...

Anyway, I'm gonna make sure these new baby geese love me and the boys.

We'll be back out there with some bread and crackers real soon.

photo booth

Anthony hates these. 

They seriously freak him out, but ever since I discovered Effects in Photo Booth on our Mac, I have had endless hours of entertainment. I just crack myself up. 

Oh, and incase you forgot what we really look like:

(we're not freaks) okay, maybe we are.