Year 6

If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by. - Elder F. Burton

You know what they say...

Time flies when you're having fun.

And time keeps flying by

faster,

and faster,

and faster...

October 29th -

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.

Together, we've...

laughed,

cried,

worked hard,

played harder,

made memories,

and made babies - beautiful, smart babies.

We are blessed and I look so forward to the rest of our life together.

Before we know it, we'll be saying...
October 29 and we're celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary!

28 Things I've Learned In 28 Years

28 Things I've Learned in 28 Years

1. Life is good.  Life is beautiful.

2. Anger is poisonous.  And so are grudges.

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.
~Mark Twain

3. Surround yourself with positive people and by people who enhance your magnificence.  Positivity will get you a lot farther than negativity.

4. A long talk with someone who loves you; popcorn and Coke; sitting under a covered porch listening to the rain; singing to your favorite songs in the car; These things will magically make your problem a little bit smaller.

5. The depth of a friendship is not determined my the length of time you've known each other.

6. The more water you drink, the better you feel.

7. Having a job that you love and look forward to going to every day is important to your health and well-being. 

8.  Bad things happen to good people.

9.  Happiness is a state of mind.  In every thing you do, you have the choice to find happiness within it.

10.  Someone who sincerely compliments your child feels even better than a compliment to yourself.

11.  The support and love you receive from your family is one of the most cherished blessings given to you from God.

12.This, too, shall pass.

13. When you have the extra money, spend it on trips and activities, not stuff.  When you're old, you won't reminisce about the fancy couch you once had, but instead, you'll think about the fun you had at  Mt. Baldy. 

14.  Parenting has been the most rewarding experience of my life. 

 

15. One kind word of acknowledgement, encouragement, or 'just because', can go a loooong way! When you look for the good in others and tell them what you see, you will lift their spirits, enhance their self-image and make a lasting impression.

16. It's soul-shattering to watch a family you love grow apart.  Family is precious.

17.  Pregnancy affects every piece and function of your body, not just the parts you would expect.

18. Seek out a mentor.

19. A difficult task can eventually become easy if you do it often enough.

20. If it is worth it to you, it is worth it.

21. We are not alone. 

22. Don't take anything personally.  One of my favorite quotes from The Four Agreements - Don't take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

23.  No matter what, some people will think what they want to think, hear what they want to hear, and see what they want to see. 

24. Smiling and laughter is the best medicine. 

25.  Find what you want to live for, and live!  I live for my children. Everything I do, I do for them.

26. I've learned to embrace the moment.  To live in the present.  I've learned to stop dwelling on the past and worrying about the future. 

27.There is always hope. 

28. It sounds so trite, but it really is all about love.

Thanks to all of my friends and family, I had a great 28th birthday.

A special thanks to Makayla who blew out my candles with me, whispered in my ear every day for a week what she bought me for my birthday, and told me where daddy hid my presents. 

 



With Winter, Comes Christmas

We pulled the kids in the wagon tonight as we soaked in this perfect October night.  The stars were shining bright and the leaves were rustling in the unusually warm(er) air.  We took advantage of tonight's weather because sitting there in the back of my mind, I know what's coming...winter.  But, along with winter, comes Christmas.  And, even though I'm not anywhere close to being ready for Christmas, I still thought I'd ask Makayla what she wanted for Christmas. 

When I asked her what she wanted, she immediately answered...

A computer mouse.

It didn't take her more than a second to answer, as if she's always wanted one.

A computer mouse.

I Need A Wipe

The scene: 

I'm rocking Mason in the living room, filling his belly with warm milk.  He's very comfortable.  Makayla is laying on the couch watching Dora The Explorer, trying to wind down from a very fun night with her friends.  I looked down at Mason and thought that his fingers looked dirty.  Noticing that his eyes were rolling in the back of his head, I didn't want to get up.  I asked Makayla if she wanted to do me a favor.  She popped up and excitedly said YES.

Me:  Can you get into Mason's diaper bag and get me a wipe?

Makayla:  Ya!  (but on the way to the diaper bag, she saw a tissue on her table.  She picked it up and handed it to me)

Me:  That's a tissue.  I need a wipe.  I need something wet.

Makayla:  (squints her eyes and nods her head)  Okay.  (she spits on the tissue)  Here you go.

Me:  Hahaha.  No!  That was a good idea, but I need a wipe.  Please get me a wipe.

Play List

If Makayla made a CD of her favorite songs, what would be on it?

Makayla's music playlist:

1. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

          This is the very first song she knew.  She loves this song and the other night as we were on our way home from out of town, she was looking out her window up at the stars singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  It was so cute to hear her sweet soft voice singing to the stars.   I think she's going to take after me and have a love for stargazing.

2. Dynamite

           This song is my ringtone and almost every time my phone rings, she'll sing right along with it. 

3. Baby (Justin Bieber)

           Thanks to Makayla's 5 year old cousin, Kyleigh, Makayla has a new found obsession with Justin Bieber...and the poor girl is so confused by him.  If you ask her who Justin Bieber is, she says that he is Ky's boyfriend.  He's not a singer, a star, or a teenage heart throb...but he's Kyleigh's boyfriend.  And, everytime we turn this song on, Makayla will whisper "Don't tell Ky"...!

4. Bad Romance

          A Lady GaGa song!  Every time the song sings -
      Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
         Roma-roma-mamaa!
         Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!

      - She will literally headbang against her carseat.

5. Happy Birthday

          Hands down - a song that makes her radiate.

6. Spongebob Square Pants theme song

          Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Spongebob Squarepants!
         Absorbent and yellow and porous is he. Spongebob Squarepants!
What is it about this song that makes kids go crazy?!

7. ABC's

This is one of the 'proud parent' songs.  She knows how excited it made mommy and daddy when she first learned this song 1.5 years ago, so I think she sings it just to get praise and smiles from us...and that's okay!

8. Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me
It's a silly song I sing to her, that I remember my mom singing to me and playing on the piano when I was a little.  It goes a little something like this...
Shoo, fly, don't bother me,
Shoo, fly, don't bother me,
Shoo, fly, don't bother me,
For I belong to somebody.
I feel, I feel,
I feel like a morning star,
I feel, I feel,
I feel like a morning star.
When I look it up on Wikipedia, it says that the song was most likely written in 1869.
It remained popular over the decades, and was commonly sung by soldiers during the Spanish-American War of 1898, when flies and the yellow fever mosquito were a serious enemy.

9. Sweet Caroline

          For those of you who haven't been able to hear Makayla sing Sweet Caroline, you can watch this video.  She's singing it in her "funny" voice and thinks that she is SOoooo funny! 

*Reminder - stop the blog music at the bottom of the page before you play this video.

    

A Fall Weekend On-Call

Besides spending the weekend on-call for work, what other things did have we done these past couple of days?

We participated in our 1^st 5K!

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital held its first Moving Forward 5K run/walk to encourage healthy living within our community. We were joined together in Edward Madigan State Park on a cool, crisp fall morning. Even though it was chilly, we all had a lot of fun. The atmosphere was pretty with the autumn trees, Mason enjoyed a box of cheerios in the stroller, Makayla enjoyed the scene from daddy’s shoulders, we rooted each other on, and a co-worker attempted to induce labor by walking in the 5K with us.

We had a last minute, impromptu, wiener roast with family. Bonfire, wieners, some yummy slushy whiskey drink (I’ll definitely be getting the recipe for that), and awesome chip dip with corn (I'll definitely be getting the recipe for that, too). Makayla enjoyed baking cookies with Aunt Kathy and Mason devoured a plate of baked beans with Great Grandma Allen.

 We made yet another trip to the pumpkin patch. This time we searched the field for the ‘perfect’ pumpkin. We all picked our pumpkin, plus two pumpkins for Chief and Rascal. 

We had a great weekend with great family and great friends.

By the way, I asked Makayla a question the other day.  It's probably not a question you should ask your child, but I was curious as to what her answer would be.  She's a smart little girl.

I asked Makayla who she loved more - mommy or daddy.

She looked at me with such deep thought, put her hands on my face, and said - I love two of you.

Family Pictures

A family is a gift that lasts forever.

Makayla and Mason -

so many of my smiles begin with you...

 A brother and sister share childhood memories and grown up dreams.

To have a loving relationship with a sister or brother is not simply to have a buddy or confidant, it is to have a soulmate for life. ~ Victoria Secunda

 

Curry Dinner And Patch Number Three

It was a perfect weekend.

The sun was shining.

80 degrees.

Slight breeze.

Windows open.

Time spent with family and friends.

It was perfect.

Saturday night Kevin and I went out with the Curry crew.  All of the Curry cousins got together for the night...and call me strange, but I still kind of have that warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy. 

It felt so good to see people that we don't see near enough but wish we did. 

It felt so good to go to dinner, have some drinks, visit, and laugh.  There was a lot of talk about the past - reminscing with "remember when..." and there was a lot of talk about the future - planning a wedding and friendships with our children. And there was a lot of enjoying the moment - right then and there.

It's good for the soul to come together as family and be happy and laugh and love...It felt good to come together and spend time with each other.  Period.

The great gift of life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you.

  -Kendall Hailey

Also, this weekend we went to yet another pumpkin patch. 

 Rader Family Farm.

This is Makayla NOT wanting to get her picture taken, standing in line for the Jumping Pillow.

 Makayla on the Caterpillar Ride.  In the background you can see the Mountain Slide...

 This is Makayla standing in line for the Mountain Slide with her two friends from daycare.  Two boys that she is head over heels for...

 Sliding down down down the dark tunnel, loving every second of it.

 Jumping off of the cattle chute into a big haystack.  She loved that!

 Playing in a big bin of corn.  I'm sure I enjoyed this more than Makayla because it felt soooo good to walk in that corn against my bare feet.

 A boy and his pumpkins...

 Mason loved examining every inch of the big pumpkins. 

We ended this gorgeous weekend with a bonfire at Grandma and Grandpa Curry's house.  It was the good old fashioned roastin' weiners and marshmallows with the kids running all around playing tag in the night.  It was a beautiful.

We soaked in every minute of this perfect fall weekend.

P.S.  Before we went to Rader Family Farm today, we went to a Halloween store and ate lunch at Carlos O Kellys.  Makayla went from wanting to be a Christmas Tree for Halloween to a kitty cat.  She wanted me and her to be kitties and daddy and Mason to be doggies.  Well, today we picked out her kitty costume and then she decided that she wanted Mason to be a kitty, too...

Well, I'm not too sure Mason would really enjoy dressing up as a kitty, so  we ended up going with a tiger.  Tigers have a little bit more Grrrrr rather than purrrrr to them!

...and Mason LOVED his lunch at Carlos O Kellys.  He downed a bowl of refried beans and ate half of Makayla's quesadilla.  I think it's safe to say that he's a mexican lover just like the rest of his family!



It's Just The Beginning...

Besides getting our hair done by daddy and climbing the stairs up and down, up and down...

What else have we been doing at the beginning of this gorgeous fall season?

Enjoying a rainy, cold night at the Mackinaw Valley Winery -

Laughing with friends,

Drinking good wine,

Snacking on yummy food,

Listening to JammSammich,

and Staying warm on the dance floor.

Walking in the Homecoming Parade with Makayla's Preschool. 

Makayla was very hesitant at throwing candy out to the crowd because she didn't want to share "her" candy.  She eventually gave in and threw a few pieces out, but definitely ate more than what she threw.  We also enjoyed being at the LCHS Homecoming football game.  It was a chilly night, so Mason and I left after half time - after all of the half time festivities.  Makayla and Kevin stayed for the entire game, though. She loves to watch football and LOVES cheer on the Lincoln Railers!

Had a fun time at the Wagon Wheel Pumpkin Farm.

Even though it is only October 4th, we have already made several visits to a few pumpkin patches.  Makayla loves to visit the pumpkin patch!  (Heck, the girl loves everything).  We'll be driving down the road and she'll randomly say "Mommy, I love the pumpkin patch". 

Makayla and Kyleigh stood in line for a good hour and a half to get their faces painted.  They were so excited to get their faces painted like princesses!  All the way home from the pumpkin patch, Makayla kept asking "Daddy, is my princess still on?" 

Makayla making corn salad...

or in her language - torn saa-yed.

...another highlight of the Wagon Wheel - the kids got to ride ponies!

 White pony and blue skies.

Makayla got to ride Freckles - pink glitter all over her and a silver sequenced saddle!

Autumn is my favorite time of year.

It begins with my kids' birthdays, flows into my birthday and wedding anniversary, and ends with Halloween - just for us to get ready for the Thanksgiving and Christmas...

All the meanwhile enjoying all of the beautiful colored leaves, weinee roasts, hayrack rides, pumpkin patches, gourds, jack-o-lanterns, Halloween candy and costumes, haunted houses, all of the fall and Halloween decorations...

I could go on and on and on...

It's my favorite time of year!