Love

Dylan and Cadence had their quiet time together on Wednesday afternoon. They came out together and handed me a sealed envelope and the above note was inside.

Mom
fun
cool
cereadive (creative)
mom you are grat (great)

Made my whole day. And I love that he wrote that I am creative...what a nice compliment. :)

New Tradition

 I saw the idea online of purchasing the above book and keeping it as a keepsake for your child. Every year his/her teacher is to write something and at the end of their education they have a wonderful memory from all the teachers. I thought it was such a great idea and I began the tradition with Dylan this year (I had to play catch up and have his Kindergarten teachers sign also this year :))

Out there things can happen

and frequently do

to people as brainy

and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,

don't worry. Don't stew.

Just go right along.

You'll start happening too.

OH, the places you will go...

Cadence Preschool Graduation

 Cadence had a graduation / end of year celebration. The class sang a bunch of songs they have learned in class and then her teacher gave them a certificate and a goodie bag. :) Her teacher was so great for her 1st school experience. She was very gentle and caring...just what Cadence needs.

I asked Cadence if she was sad about school being done (because she loves going soooo much!) and she said "no, I'm ready for vacation". :)

Feathered Friends

 A friend called me this last week to tell me she knew of someone giving away some chicks. So yesterday we went and picked so up. The are around 2 months old, she wasn't sure of the breed but they have white eggs.

 I let them loose in our coop for just a little bit and then separated them off to one area. Chickens have a pecking order and they will peck at the weaker chickens. Hopefully they will get used to each other quickly and live happily :)

So, now we have 9 chickens!

Love Wins

I just recently finished reading a book called Love Wins by Rob Bell. It was a bit of a controversial book in the church world because of some of his ideas of Hell. It was really challenging to me, some thoughts I agreed with others I didn't and some I'm still on the fence about. There are a few things that I wanted to remember that resonated with my heart and wanted to keep them as a memory...

The gospel that leaves out its cosmic scope will always feel small.
A gospel that has as its chief message avoiding hell or not sinning will never be the full story.
A gospel that repeatedly, narrowly affirms and bolsters the "in-ness" of one group at the expense of the "out-ness" of another group will not be true to the story that includes "all things and people in heaven and on earth."

The cross and resurrection are personal. This cosmic event has everything to do with how every single one of us lives every single day. It is a pattern, a rhythm, a practice, a reality rooted in the elemental realities of creation, extending to the very vitality of our soul.

When we say yes to God, when we open ourselves to Jesus's living, giving act on the cross, we enter in to a way of life. He is the source, the strength, the example and the assurance that this pattern of death and rebirth is the way into the only kind of life that actually sustains and inspires.


It begins with the sure and certain truth that we are loved.
That in spite of whatever has gone horribly wrong deep in our hearts
and has spread to every corner of the world,
in spite of our sins,
failures,
rebellion,
and hard hearts,
in spite of what's been done to us or what we've done,
God has made peace with us.

Done. Complete.

Happy Birthday Mark!

 Happy 35th birthday to Mark!

We celebrated with Mark's family the evening before and a birthday would not be complete without a ice cream cake!

And we celebrated with friends at a local hotel on the evening of his birthday. It was a great time of eating, swimming and hanging out.

Happy Birthday Mark. I love you!!

More vendor space...

 This week I opened up a 2nd vendor resale space. It is at a store called Ilona's Resale and is located close by my other space (7th Ave & Indian School). I'm excited to see how it goes, they have given me good feedback so far with liking my style and since opening on Thursday, I've sold 3 furniture pieces...Hopefully I'll be able to keep up. :)

And I'm still at Qcumberz also. My space has filled with lots of random stuff and is constantly changing. :)

Dylan's Award

 For the month of May Dylan was selected by his homeroom teacher for the Tiger Trait Award. His school hands out tiger traits as a reward/honor system when they see a student go above what is expected, treating someone with kindness, or helping clean up...etc.

I always make a big deal when he comes home with them, which is quite often. :)

He received a certificate and a "dog chain" necklace that has the school name.

 (The assembly's are held in the cafeteria...I love being at a school small enough that K-8 fits in there)

This is him with his principal. :)

Mark and I are very proud of him and the young respectful man he is becoming.

Mothers Day

 Mothers Day was really wonderful! My morning started off with sleeping in (a rare treat!) and then woken by the kids bringing me breakfast in bed. Which Mark of course had prepared...twice. I guess the first time Dylan asked to carry the tray and he accidentally hit the wall when he was coming around the corner and all the food fell on the floor. Oops...thankfully Mark was kind enough and actually made new food instead of scooping up the food real quick :).

 This was my view to the side as I had breakfast. Such cuties!

 Then off to have lunch with my side of the family. We ate out and then headed over to their house for the kids to play and have fun. It is finally warm enough for them to play in the pool so they had a great time...especially once Mark got in and was throwing them around!

And the day ended with having dinner with Mark's mom. Mark prepared dinner for us and we enjoyed our time together.

Happy Mothers Day to us!

Mothers Day Tea

 Cadence had a Mothers Day tea / social at her school last week that myself and the Grandma's were invited to.

 The class sang a bunch of songs that were so cute complete with all the hand motions :)

 They had some refreshments for us and I caught this picture of Cadence taking a bite of her cake. Can she take any bigger of a bite!  So funny. :)

It was fun for us to all be together and be able to celebrate Mother's Day!

From Cadence's eye

 Cadence took a bunch of pictures one afternoon while at Dylan's baseball game. I thought some of them were so cute and she already has a great "eye" at 4 years old! :)

(Isabelle took this one :))

Merry Go Round

 These were taken a few weeks ago and forgot about them until I was just looking through some pictures. Mark had taken the girls on the Merry Go Round at the mall (Dylan didn't want to go...he is too big now :)).

 Cadence loved it and Isabelle wasn't too sure what she thought of it. She was stiff as a board, wouldn't even more her head. The picture below is her trying to look at me as it was going around without moving her head as it turned. Her eyes would press to the side of her eye socket! :) So funny. By the end she let up a little and started to smile.

BBQ & Outdoor Movie

This weekend we had a bunch of our friends & neighbors over for a bbq and outdoor movie. It was a lot of fun! Most didn't know one another and honestly that was one of the things that I really enjoyed about the experience. My neighbors meeting other neighbors and old and new friends meeting one another.

 There were a bunch of kids and they all had such a great time!

We had a simple bbq of hamburgers & hotdogs.

And then treats of ice pops, suckers and popcorn for movie time.

I want to start doing this twice a year (spring & fall) and hopefully I'll get to know more of my neighbors better!