To laugh often, to win the affection of children,

to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty,

to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded!

~ Emerson

Super Summer Sandwich

I found this delicious jalepeno and cheddar focacia at the grocery store a while back and it talked fancy to me, so I bought it without really any idea how I would use it with dinner. But what I threw together that night wound up being our all-time favorite sammy!
* Slice the bread horizontally, then into sandwich sized pieces.
* Marinate chicken breasts in Italian vinaigrette for a few hours, then grill it.
In the meantime... roast a half head of garlic {just cut the head in half horizontally to expose the cloves, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and wrap in foil. Bake at 350* for about 10-20 minutes until the cloves are completely soft and slip out of the skin}.
* Put the hot, roasted garlic in a dish and crushed it with about a tablespoon of tomato paste {I buy the Mutti brand in the tube for things like this when I just need a little bit}.
* Once this cools, mix the tomato and garlic with about 1/3 cup mayo {Kel, you could use softened cream cheese}
* Now grab your chicken off the BBQ before it burns. I don't really like one huge chunk of chicken on my sandwich, so I cut them on the diagonal into 1/2" thick slices.
* Next, put a slice of cheese on the bottom pieces of bread, I used provolone because I had it, but I think Jack or Havarti would be good. Broil quickly just to melt cheese, then....
Assemble the goodness. Bread, garlic spread, chicken slices, fresh tomato and presto, you're done! I make home fries and a little side salad to go with it, so yummy. A very summery dinner so get to it before your barbecue freezes over in a few weeks.
~ The bread was from the Safeway bakery, and it is spicy, so I use the ends for the kids' sandwiches, it's usually completely jalepeno-free:)

Dawson's Ditties

{March 2011 - August 2011}

Tickle torture:)

Ella had a half-day, so we had been playing board games while the twins napped. Even though it was freezing outside, the sun pouring in through the front windows was calling to me...I grabbed a pillow off the couch and laid on the floor to soak up some rays. My sweet Dawson went and grabbed my favorite blankie and another pillow and was laying next to me in a nano second. He snuggled up next to me and said "ahhhh, this is the life..."

Dawson asked me to "say 'ahh' so I can see the stalagmite in yer mouth." I think it's a stalagtite when it's on the ceiling of a cave, but still, our uvula does kind of look like that:)

Dawson told Ella "did you know Mommy is a nurse cuz she has a telescope and has milk in her boobies for babies." I sure wasted a lot of time and money in school if those are the only prerequisites.

This is very inappropriate but cracked me up. We were outside playing and it was super windy. A huge gust came by and Dawson shouted across the yard to his brothers "guys, you better hang on to yer peeeniiis!"

I hear this a lot from Dawson, as he squints one eye and  holds up his thumb and pointer finger about an inch apart, as if he's showing me how big a bug is...."you can't be a mommy if yer only this small!"

Dawson still substitutes "Y" for "L" in certain words. He says "Ella" perfectly etc, but here are my favorite substitutions:
Ella named her doll Lucky = Dawson calls her baby "Yucky"
When he shows me how to do something he says "watch and yearn."
And if someone is eating a treat they are a "yucky dog!"

If Dawson sees a fly he tells me to get the "fly spanker" instead of fly swatter:)

"Mom, do the milk pipes in yer boobies still work?"

Dawson: "Mom, when you eat food does it go down yer 'sophagus and then to yer boobies?
Me: "No, I wish!"
Ella: "Does it go down your esophagus and then to your buns?"
Me: "Unfortunately, yes."

This is the end of Dawson's bedtime routine with me, word for word, every night, exactly the same ~ and I don't want to forget....
D: "Can I hug you by holding you?"
Mom: "Yes please!"
*Then he stands up, gets to the edge of his bed and runs at me with his arms open wide saying "Mommmyyy!" while I say "Daaawson!" as he jumps into my arms.
D: "Can you rock me like a baby?"
Mom: "I'd love to."
D: Can you move my rocking chair back in my room so you can rock me like a baby when I used to cry?"
Mom: "I'll talk to Dad about it, but I can still rock you in my arms..."
As he sees the shadow on the wall of us rocking back and forth, he says "we look like a jar that's tipping over!"
D: (whisper) "Can you lay me carefully down like a baby."
Mom: (whisper) "yes...I love you"
D: "No, I love you!"
Mom: "Sleep tight."
D: "You sleep tight too Mommy (or more recently, sometimes he calls me Mrs. China Pants. Long story, don't even ask) I love you...please leave the door open a crack."
The End

"I want to buy one more Mommy just like you so I can hug 2 at the same time."

Two of the sweetest moments of my birthday a few weeks ago were waking up to Charlie {who was in our bed, yet again} rubbing my face and kissing me. Then later that day after I showered, Dawson was laying on my bathroom floor with his hands behind his head, just relaxing. He asked "what are you doing, Mom?" and I told him I was doing my hair and make-up since I had to go to a doctor's appointment. He said "you don't need to do all that stuff, you look beautiful to me already."

Cry Baby

I've been sort of a mess lately. I feel like my emotions are just right under the surface. Not in a PMS way, or even in a bad way necessarily. And even though I'm the girl that cries at the Pampers commercial {although seriously, you'd have to have a heart of stone not to cry at their new one. You know the one with the premie, and then the older Mom holding a newborn and it says "when they come too early, or years too late..." melts me like butter} this is different. I guess I have had some hurts and emotional decisions lately, but overall, I don't feel sad, just raw, exposed ~ like the layers of my heart are being peeled back. This usually happens to me when I'm heading for change, and even though there is a lot of instability in our life right now, the change I see coming is more in my heart. I feel like God is asking more of me, maybe requiring more of me is a better word. And I hope that's the reason for all the tears! I think I've cried  more this month than in the past 2 years combined! There is a verse that says "to whom much is given, much is required." And I have so much...
They were doing baptisms at church on Sunday; the Christian faith follows Jesus' example ~ coming to a concious point of decision about a relationship with God, and wanting to show an outward expression of the change in your heart. You go under the water {symbolizing the grave} the "old" man, and come up "new", a picture of dying to your old life and starting fresh. So a few people were baptised and it was so sweet, and then this girl, I'd say about 12 years old, went up to be baptised. They prayed with her, she got dunked, and came up beaming and it was really precious. And I just started bawling. It was the weirdest thing, but I'm getting used to it at this point because it keeps happening to me! So I'm crying and crying and I'm sure everyone thought I was her Mom because I was so emotional, only I was in the back so that gave me away as just the crazy, crying lady. I was picturing our kids making that choice someday, hoping they will, hoping I am sufficient to point the way to what matters most. And God just whispered to my heart "you can't give away what you don't have..." And I can't. I can't expect my kids to love Jesus by osmosis, I have to show them. Sure they will make their own decisions at some point, but I am incredibly responsible for this in so many ways. Yet under this wave of emotion and the heaviness of this responsibility, I know I can find peace in the fact that I don't have to muster up perfection. I am so far from that. I truly mean this when I say that I am a complete and utter failure in so many ways, on so many days. But thank the Lord it doesn't depend on me. Yet that is usually where I get stuck, focusing on figuring out how to do it "better" when God has to capture my heart, and draw me toward Him. He always has to remind me that I can't do better on my own. It seems the harder I try, the more I fail, and that's because I am relying on myself to accomplish something supernatural. I read the book unPlanned by Abby Johnson and it was an incredible, I couldn't put it down and read it in one night. And one sentence stuck with me more than anything else she said. "I was living an unexamined life, full  of inconsistencies." That is exactly who I don't want to be, someone who doesn't take a close, honest look inside, someone who is inconsistent in their faith. I can't love well, parent well, be a good wife, a good friend, daughter or sister without His help. So I will keep trying to keep my eyes on Him, although the view is kinda fuzzy through all these tears.

^ "Sympathy is no substitute for Action." ^ David Livingstone, missionary

7 weeks

 20 weeks

I am helping Life Services (our local crisis pregnancy center) with a summer fundraiser. If you feel as passionately about protecting human life as I do, please consider making a donation. I am volunteering at Life Services as well and know first hand what a compassionate, loving, truly caring, non-judgemental, professional organization it is. Just follow this link and just click on the green "donate" button! The fundraiser ends August 26th.

"You created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139: 13-14

They've extended the fundraiser until August 26th, so if you feel led to donate and haven't yet, there's still time!
ThAnK yOu to my generous family and friends, my little fundraising page has raised $756 for LIFE!

Summer Sweetness

Nothing says summer quite like a morning in the strawberry fields.

Picking berries, tractor rides, grilled cheese, Coke and huckleberry pie {with vanilla ice cream} at High Country, then home to make strawberry jam. Ahhhh, summer...

4th Annual Beach Getaway!

We booked an amazing beach house and spent 5 days on the Oregon coast with our family/forever friends. This was our 4th time and the best yet! Here are a LOT  {I mean a lot} of pictures of our fun in the sand and sun! Yes, it was sunny there, I know you probably thought that was a typo if you go to the WA or OR coast much. The weather was perfect, we had the beach almost completely to ourselves which was so awesome, everyone stayed healthy and we didn't lose one of the twins to the ocean {something I had nightmares about for weeks} ~ couldn't ask for much more than that!

We don't have great travelers, so we try to mentally prepare for the worst and then we can be pleasantly surprised:) This is the start to our family vacation...we are still on our road here. Not 30 minutes out of town, not even down town, but on the road where our house is. Todd gave me the "please kill me now" look and I just started cracking up. I always tell him that we have to hold it together or we're really in for it. Attitude is everything, attitude is everything...our little mantra. And honestly, they wound up doing great! The kids had their moments but even I got bored a few times on that long drive!

Only 10 hours to go;)

Off we go! And who would've guessed that the last time we'd see rain all week was on our way out of town!

Some scenery pictures from the road, proof that I have ADD. I should be like someone I know and sleep the whole time the other one is driving....I think the co-pilot should stay awake for conversation, movie and music changes, snack duty etc. Can you tell I'm bitter about that?

Stuck at construction, again... perfect time to take a picture. It's green, so we must be close! And notice the SUNSHINE?!

We drove by this a lot while lost:) We were about 20 seconds from our beach house.... for about 15 minutes.

We made it! After a quick stop at the beach house for a change of clothes, we started off on our 1st trek to the beach!

Mitch approached his 1st ocean experience with typical trepidation. He kept his distance, with one periscope eye always on the look-out. He was very suspicious of the loud, large, splashy, watery area.

On the other hand, Charlie's typical reaction to new things looks like this.

Death grip on Mommy

"Auntie D says it okay, so it must be."

"Hey, maybe this isn't so bad after all..."

The mini Mamas:)

Home away from home

The girls found a crab!

Love this picture, such sweetness between these 2 girls

Only a girl would notice or care, but how cute is it that the Wells boys, the girls, and my 3 boys were all wearing matching outfits?!

The Mamas...

and the Papas

Dawson and his beloved stick

The twins' little beach birthday party

The weather was awesome, but one evening it got super windy down at the beach. So we made our campfire and s'mores back at the house.

Chubby Bunny

Wells Bros with the ladies;)

The ultimate sandbox!

Ella found this stick and limped like an old lady the whole length of Cannon Beach.

Rocky's little nap at Lumberjack's. Seriously, kids {and Todd} can sleep anywhere.

Charlie absolutely LoVeD the water, he was so precious ~ just giggling and cracking up every time a wave got him wet.

Poor Kel, I think this was the 1st time she went down to the water, and a rogue wave came up and splashed her. No one else standing right next to her got wet, that wave had her name on it;)

NJP and Ella, 2 explorers ready for action

I miss my chunky baby boy, he's getting so long and lean as he grows up:(

*SpArKLeRs**

Our firecracker with her sparkler

 our family picture went from this....

to this:)

Rocky protecting his fort

 "My faveret part at the oregon coste was when we did a fire, and sleeping on the top bunk bed. Me and Livey got in trubel." This is an exerpt from Ella's little journal that she had at the coast. Cracks me up. The girls were a bit naughty so had to postpone their "sleepover" {sleeping in the same bed} until the next night. They were just too excited to worry about a silly little thing like sleep.

Okay, this needs a little explanation. So the beach house we stayed at was beautiful. It was a gorgeous Craftsman style house, decorated really tastefully without the overly cheesy beach theme. Well, it was tasteful except for one thing. This weird lamp. Us girls started referring to it as the "pap light" right away. It was just totally out of place to begin with, and it looks exactly like a gyno light. So one night when the kids were all tucked in bed, Richie somehow convinced us to watch a ridiculous show called "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" and when we looked over at him, this is what we saw, unfortunately.

Every time I get a mental image of Richie doing this I start laughing out loud. Between him and Shane's Saturday Night Live skits and re-enactments of Kelli's pregnancy woes, we had a lot of laughs.

Saying goodbye to the beach house

And a final goodbye to the ocean before heading home

A quick detour to get one last treat from the best bakery ever!

{Waves of Grain}

So one of our stops on the way home was my parents' house. When I got Ella out of her seat she was an Oompa-Loompa color. Apparently she got bored and decided she'd rather be orange then boring old skin color. And what the heck is she doing? I'm sure it's sign language for something inappropriate.

We made it home a little after 11pm, I got the kids bathed and made them a bedtime snack while Todd unloaded the car. Poor Charlie couldn't even make it through the quesadilla in his hand before conking out.

That's an Ella-Mitchy snuggle sandwich. So tired....

I'm overly sentimental so I got all melancholy looking at our sandy shoes and cooler drying in the sun the next day. Sigh...so hard to come home from vacation!