Happiness

...is a Heavenly Father who loves us no matter what
...is having a sweet, wonderful, loving, adorable husband
...hearing squeals of delight from your little girls because you got some Polly Pockets out for them to play with
...having a kitty "sent" to you that is just perfect...adorable and sweet...
...having Tufsey come running when you call his name
...sunshine
...beautiful flowers and HONEYSUCKLE VINES in BLOOM!!
...listening to laughter--especially children's laughter as they swing outside and play
...summer weather for sure
...is LOVE!
And yes, little weird things excite me such as this: today the overflowing trash can got emptied AND the street cleaner/sweeper came by--all in the same day. I love it when the street cleaner comes down the streets. We live on a corner so maybe that contributes to why I like it. It just makes everthing look neater--even though I try to keep it free of debris.

In other news...I just said yesterday that Aliyah wouldn't lose any teeth forever and low and behold she comes to me and says her tooth hurts when eating...it's loose. I came to the realization that I needed a picture of her with all of her baby teeth as those days are soon coming to an end. She's growing up! Maybe I need to say some other interesting thing that won't happen and it will--like I would never be a millionaire--haha!

Catch up

What's the surest way to get it to rain??
You guessed it...wash all of your windows and doors. So, I checked that one off my to-do list and it's raining today. Also in catch up, I got the laundry completed and the house cleaned--yay! I'm happy for the extra day to catch up on stuff. Now, it's time to get the girls to chill out and take a nap...bye for now.

It's Official!!

Funny memories....but anyway this picture was taken after my mom cried a bit once we were all outside. She cried through my entire ceremony, but not at this one really.

It was taken BEFORE I asked Jared to toss his hat in the air...

...and I thought I didn't get it...but this picture shows that I did so I asked him to re-toss...and it LANDED ON THE ROOF OF THE BUILDING. Everyone was laughing. I videoed them with the ladder getting it down.

I also had to take a picture with my parents holding his diploma...

So, yes he did graduate and tomorrow we party some more.
The pictures are with my old falling apart camera (literally) cuz the computer won't recognize my new camera or Josh's Ipod or whatever so the old one camera has to do.

Graduation--Congratulations!!

Just a quick minute to post before we get ready to leave...my brother graduates tonight--YAY. If I were my parents, I would have booked a cruise--lol! I asked them where their regalia was since they should be walking as well--haha. It's just that he's not very books/school oriented--and that's no secret.
So, CONGRATULATIONS Jared!! We'll party tomorrow! I just wish Josh could be there with me to watch--it definitely would be more entertaining.
yay--Class of 2009!!

Giving

I got the joy of watching someone get a large gift the other day. It was so cool! Without naming names or situations...here's what it was...
This isn't the kind of "gift" you see given every day...not for a birthday or holiday. This was a just because I feel you and your family could use this. The person receiving this was in shock I'm pretty sure. A sizable / HUGE gift that is perfect for the family getting it. The coolest was to watch the joy of the giver and the happiness of the receiver. It wasn't like the receiver had any clue that they were going to get such a gift. The other neat thing was to hear the person that got the gift say that their family had prayed for God to provide for them. I'm doubting they would have ever expected what God gave.
I wasn't the person that gave or received the gift, but wow I could feel the joy of the giver and receiver. I felt so happy for them! It truly brought a smile to my face.
In other happenings...it FEELS LIKE SUMMER!!!! I made sure to spend some time in my adirondack chair after work the past two days to get a good dosage of those "sun" vitamins. I'm of the opinion that the sun has incredible health value =). Yes, I know it can cause skin cancer and what not, but talking on a cell phone could cause brain cancer so they say. I still talk on a cell phone, and I'm still gonna enjoy being in the sun =).

WHAT??

What I am missing is school. That was quoted by Aliyah about 2 minutes ago. Did I hear that?? It is May and everyone is starting to get out of school. Granted, we have been finished for a little over two months, but she's MISSING school. I have begun ordering various books that she will need for next year off ebay--we save lots of $$ that way! She is excited because the readers should be coming this week. She wants to start reading them. Tonight, I got out a cursive writing book--she began trying it out.
I will let her do various things like practice and begin learning cursive and she can read her readers all she wishes, but I am NOT starting school up again already. Nope--not until August!
Keirah gets to hear the readers and/or any one of Aliyah's books every night--until she falls asleep. How fun is that?? Aliyah reads out loud and many times by the light of the nightlight to her. Okay, I confess, I read by flashlight as a child--under the covers--lol!!

LAAAZY

I don't feel tired, but I just don't feel overly motivated my to-do list. Perfect weather to do it, I am just bein a boring person. There's shows I wanna watch, but I don't want to spend the time I mean waste the time watching them. I'm gonna put on my productive shoes now--I hope!!

Remodel--Again

We are now underway with our porch/breezeway remodel. We are closing it in (building walls) to make it more of a 3 season room. I think I have the tile picked out, however I can still change my mind. The windows are here and one is installed with the idea that the other will be installed today--yay!! Josh has become quite the handyman. Of course, my thoughts are always thinking to what is next on the "project list". We took a break from it for a bit to do other things--like garage sale, landscaping, yardwork, etc...

May is a crazy busy month--I'm pretty sure for everyone!!! My brother graduates this week from HS. My parents are pretty excited--maybe even a little more than he is...he's not really one that is into the books/school thing. He is however looking forward to going to the local community college for some type of automotive courses--they aren't sure which one yet.
Aside from that this week, there is a long weekend which I know everyone is happy about. Josh is working so we will have fun the weekend after hopefully in Chicago and at the lake.
Only 13 days until the local pools open for the summer. We are glad. I hope the weather cooperates and brings us 80++++.

Tufsey "the cat" is doing well. He is sure to like his new digs when complete. He isn't too keen on the noise of the wall building so he runs off to hide by the honeysuckle vine and our neighbor's house. There is this mean cat that we call "Meany Mite" that always fights with him. Tufsey will defend himself, but he doesn't really start fights. Case in point, every day there are 2 robins that come up on the porch and eat pieces of his food from his dish--WITH HIM SITTING THERE! He either does nothing or maybe meows. It's the same robins each time. How do we know? Glad you asked...they have white markings on their heads.

The girls are happy to have nice weather. We have noticed that they are certainly ready for bed and sleep longer due to the extra activity of playing outside A LOT! They swing, jump on the trampoline, play with Tufsey, go on walks etc... I have a really cute pic of them walking in the rain under an umbrella, but it's on my phone.

Well, I have a house to clean and straighten before the weekend is through. I will probably watch a bit of the Survivor finale in between. I was once a faithful viewer, however have lost interest a bit in the past few seasons.

Mowing

Would you believe me if I told you I looked forward to mowing today?? Well, I did because I love the way the yard looks when it is all done. Did I mention the weather was awesome as well. It gave me a chance to get in a little tiny bit of exercise. Hopefully, it is helpful to Josh to not have that chore to do since he has projects in mind.

Now that the garage sale is over and I feel organized and caught up again, it feels awesome!! I'm just waiting for weekends in Chicago and swimming for some summer fun!!!!!

Catching up

...can be hard to do. Thanks to the humid/cloudy/windy/raining evening, I was able to CATCH UP!! With all of the prep and work for the garage sale, the dinners to prepare for people with new babies, gifts for birthdays, weddings, graduation, Mother's Day, etc..., having the garage sale, working in the yard, planting the flowers, re-landscaping, working etc... There was much to catch up on. There were dishes, laundry, dusting, straightening, organizing, vacuuming, bsmnt cleaning, and so on!

The girls and I are going to a Mother/Daughter thing with my mom this Saturday. While we are gone, Josh has plans to start closing in the porch. Did I just hear several Meows of delight from Tufsey?? I think so. He will be so glad to be protected fully from the rain and wind and whatever else he may not like. Finally, our porch won't get all wet and dirty from the rain and wind.

At least with catching up, I feel more back on track. We did take a walk, but not tonight due to weather. Josh and I did Yoga once again. YAY!

We are also looking into re-financing our mortgage. The rate is better this year again and we would like to make it a 10 year now. That would be SUPER! We should get a call tomorrow with some options hopefully. It would be nice to drop it a full point from where it is now.

That's all for now. Tufsey is off on his evening adventures, but I can't imagine where since it is raining/thundering/lightening. I hope he comes home soon. Poor thing looked like a wet rat when he came home last night.

Whole

Little Kayleigh's poor broken body is finally whole as she is with Jesus now. I can't begin to imagine her parents' emptiness and grief. Kayleight spent every day of her entire life (almost 11 months) in the NICU. Please pray for the Freeman family. You can visit their blog by clicking on the button on the right of my blog.
It has been such a journey for this family. I have followed them for a little over 6 months now. Kayleigh had defied so many odds so many times in those months that it finally seemed that their would be a happy ending to this story. I'm sad for her family, but glad that she is no longer in pain or wired to any machines. Jesus is holding her now!
Her story is airing on the show "The Doctors" tomorrow, May 13.

Adventures

I could write and write I suppose, but I just haven't had time to squeeze it in lately!!
Tufsey the cat has quite a few adventures and thus loses his collar ALL OF THE TIME!! He has lost his collar 4 times in a matter of like 2 weeks. We found one once, but haven't put it back on. Yesterday, Aliyah got a piece of ribbon--pink--and he is a boy. It is currently tied around his neck--very loosely. Funny thing, that will probably last longer than his collars.

We had a garage sale this weekend and it was quite a success! We sold a TON of stuff with very little left. All of the large items sold--YAY!! I'm glad to have it over!
Josh has plans to start closing in our breezeway I think this week. I'm excited and so is Aliyah. Tufsey will be as well, he just doesn't know it yet =).

May is such a busy month and I tend to think it's that way for everyone. We have several birthdays, Mother's Day, graduation, and several friends having babies this May. I've been visiting the stores quite often to shop for all of these occasions!!! Today, I just bought baby items for two sets of friends that had babies this past week. I think everybody is having a baby this spring or something! One of our friends had a boy and the other had a girl. I'm not as experienced in purchasing boy items since we have girls--lol!

There is so much to do, even though I have been telling myself to chill out on Mother's Day. However, Josh is working so why not get it done and then chill out when he gets home?? We'll see.

Well, this post has been all over the place, but that's all for now. I hear house/yard work calling my name.

I Melted

I am not a snowman, but today my heart melted. Why?? Well, it did get warmer outside, but here's the story....

The girls and I ate at McD's tonight. As I was drinking my free hazelnut cappuccino and waiting for the girls to finish their food, Aliyah said the following: "Mom, I wish I was you". I replied, "really"? She said, "yes, if I were you I would be so lucky". Now of course, the thoughts that flooded into my mind at first were the reasons she wouldn't want to be me. Then, I realized that yes, she would be so lucky to be me. Why you ask? If she were me, she would have the honor and privilege of being married to Josh and having two sweet little girls. Those are two of the greatest things in the world for me!!

Those little words made my day, my weekend, my Mother's day etc... They came out of nowhere, but really straight from her heart. My reply: "Yes, you would be very lucky to be me because you would be married to the most awesome husband that I could ever imagine"!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Sweet profiles

Can you pick out which is Aliyah & which one is Keirah? Yes, I finally got around to posting these. I'm giving these to my mom for mother's day. Mine are in a black frame together facing each other. It was cool--it took him less than five minutes. Clay Rice is quite skilled with the scissors.

We manage to stay busy with re-landscaping the yard, garage sale prep, cleaning, work, and whatever else. Tufsey is doing well and looking great. We have had 2 other cat visitors, so we make sure to put Tufsey's food dish inside the house when he is finished. Otherwise, we find one of the other cats sneaking up and eating his food. He will have a sheltered spot in cold/rainy weather soon as we are getting ready to close in our breezeway to make it more of a three seasons room. It will have a cat door for Tufsey--yay for him! He hopped into the house yesterday when Keirah opened the door. He just kind of looked around and that was it.

Please continue to pray for Kayleigh and her family--the Freemans. This has been a long journey and a rough one particularly now. I believe and have hope that God can and will do a miracle!!

This week has been kind of interesting because I feel like I don't have anything to say. I have been following some blogs so closely and several have had major things going on. It makes me thankful for what I have, but at the same time guilty for taking so many things for granted. I cannot imagine the suffering the Freeman family has been through. It breaks my heart--I think that's why words are few. It seems like there is so little to say/complain about when you read about families going through such. It's strange almost, but I could sit here with tears streaming down my face for a family that I haven't ever met. I feel their pain--not as acutely as they do, but I feel it and I pray for God to uplift them. So, if words are few from me, it doesn't mean I'm not reading your blogs or others...I have been choosing lately to pray more for these families! I'm asking you to pray for them too!

We have 2 sets of friends that are due tomorrow. We don't know what either one is having, but we can't wait to hear!!!

Love to all!!