being thankful

today my grammy and i went out for a bit. we went to a few stores and to a rummage sale. i bought some napkins and she bought an embroidered tablecloth and two new cd's. we were talking about things and she mentioned how she wished she could hear.

she said...

"last night i prayed to god that he would make me hear.

and then i said,

no god,

i won't ask you for that.

you are so good to me. i have my sight... if i get close enough.

i am in pretty good health.

i have so much.

so,

i won't ask you for hearing.

just thank you instead."

i told her no one minded if she blasted her new cd's. she said she'll just wait till she gets home to enjoy them.

thank you grammy for reminding me to be thankful for what we have.

i am thankful for you.

this is grammy with her birthday cake on her 82nd birthday. that's a lot of cakes.

baby party

this was one of my favorite things for 2 reasons:

1. they were delicious. i may or may not have stuffed 3 down my throat. homemade chocolate cupcakes with homemade chocolate/coffee icing. does it get any better than that?

2. the babies were all placed in different positions atop the cupcakes... symbolizing the different ways the baby may come out. funny.

p.s. can you see sarah's cute baby bump? it is so much cuter and smaller than mine. oh well. little sisters are the pits.

GUEST BLOGGER!

Hello, it's P-Scrubs. I am guest blogging about the happenings around the house of W. FYI, W stands for women, not our last name. Though I am surrounded by 5 females (maybe even 6) with lots of emotion, tears and melt-downs, I thoroughly enjoy it. Shut up Dave.

I hope my girls grow up to be smart, happy loving people. Here is the one piece of advice I hope they remember - coming from one of the most awesome guys alive...


I try to nourish my flower girls in many ways. Here is a collection of Sunday breakfasts I have made my pregnant wife and family. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And I need to keep little Rex/Bertha happy in his/her womb...

My wife nourishes me too. For example, I have had to travel a lot recently. One morning at the butt-crack of dawn I started my car only to see my awesome wife had left this note for me! She’s the best.

Back in Jan. we went to freezing Indiana to celebrate the New Year.Here's our old house. Wow, that's small (TWSS). Can't believe we lived here.

Grammy made me the best breakfast EVER..... EVER (vw)! Can you tell we like breakfasts in our family? How does she make the bacon like that? It tastes so good.

The S family finally opened up our ‘wing!’ It was so much fun. We got to see this dog do this to that dog. Don't act like you're not impressed.

Not sure if S was staring at the horse in amazement or if her head was just propped up from the gynormo scarf?
I'm not sure what's more amazing, the fact that it was 1 degree (S & L didn’t mind it at all) or the fact that I actually have 4 bars...

SKIPMARK!

The T family were gracious hosts as always, but their dog wasn’t. It molested me. I kind of liked it.

B d-dialed Mark’s dad at 3AM. That was hilarious. To us.

We went for a little stroll down to their lake and saw this weirdness. Can anyone guess what that thing is?


While we were picking up a new TV for the gp-rents I saw Edwtard in this highly thought provoking piece of cinematic magic, so I took a picture of it. What's up caterpilleryebrows? The title made me wonder how to be what? An incredibly bad actor but extremely rich and famous? My wife likes him. Whatever.



I also saw this book at a dollar store and thought of my wife. So hot.

It reminds me of when we first officially started dating. In fact we still celebrate the anniversary of that day. This year we went to dinner and then to her fav place (Anthro) and I really wanted to get her this apron. It would be just like on Anchorman.D’s preschool had “My guy and me.” She made me an awesome tie. I wore it to work the rest of the day. At my home office.
Saturday trip to Queen Creek. All the classic stops: Pork shop - best pork on the planet and this guy’s 'stache is for real. Olive Mill with live jazz, Irish step-dancing.

Mmmm, soda bread and duct tape. A perfect combination. I think I'd rather eat chocolate covered olives.

Well that was fun. I still enjoy reading my wife's blog way better than writing it myself. Later.

peach blossoms are pretty and veggie pickin'

i had heard about this peach blossom festival and knew it would make for a lovely afternoon.


it was quite a hike (for us anyway) to get out to the peach tree orchard, but once we got there it was so pretty.

interesting choice of sock/shoe combo....
S was excited...
i was excited about the peach cinnamon rolls.
daddy was excited....
L wanted an aerial view....
it wouldn't be a family outing without at least one little melt down...
we also hit up the u-pick vegetable garden. the kids loved this.
it was only $1.00 per pound.
S was excited to go home and cook. she's just like her mommy.......hahahaha
more pretty peach blossoms.......

good times with maria...

we had so much fun with our little exchange student. we tried to stay busy, which wasn't hard with 5 little kids!

we took a trip up to the snow. our lovely friends let us come and crash in on them at their cabin. they had hot chili and cornbread ready for us when we arrived. but before we even made it to the door, the kids managed to get their "dry" clothes completely soaked. which was fun when everyone realized they were cold and wet. we figured it out and had a great time.

we even roasted marshmallows by the fire while our clothes dried.
there was always time for a little dress up session....
we went to organ stop pizza. we were the only ones there under 75. but the kids still loved it. i really can't believe how packed that place gets. it is expensive and the food is terrible. oh well, the kids loved the music.
we also had a big bake sale to raise money for haiti. the kids did most of the baking and most of the preparations. they also counted most of the money (it was double checked several times) and there was a lot of change!! they ended up raising $392.47 !!!!
the sale ready to start....
the money jar.....

they were very creative little advertisers! they all had sore throats the next day from all the yelling. we were very proud of their hard work.
one day we decided to go to skateland after school. as soon as we walked in we knew we werein for trouble. that place is a mad house. and it wasn't even crowded. it happened to be christian music night and free admission!, which at first, i thought "oh how nice". i like christian music, this will be fun. the music was nice... but it also brought in some interesting characters. brightly neon colored, eyes closed, hands up, praising characters. which is great and all, but not when my uncoordinated little skaters keep going right in front of them not realizing they have their eyes closed..... recipe for disaster. there were also a lot of good samaritans who were more than willing to carry my crying (dramatic) skaters across the rink to find her parents. i don't think the samaritans realized how many times children can actually fall. it's not a big deal every time.
A+ for effort girls!!! they did have a lot fun. red cheeked sweaty hyped up fun.
one of our favorite times was when maria made us homemade tortillas. yummmmyyy!!!!!
i believe this game involved everyone pretending D was in a wheelchair. they pushed her around in that chair for a long time. D was in heaven.
midnight stopped by to say hello...
maria's favorite thing we did (she said) was making valentine bags. the 2 older girls worked very hard on these. there was a lot of sewing involved and they really did most of it themselves.
they were so proud of the finished product. they both took them to school the next day.
on the last night we went out to Kobe. maria had never been to a teppanyaki restaurant. the kids always love to go there, it is S's favorite. they love to catch the food in their mouths when the chef flings it across the table.


we had a great time with maria and the 2 weeks just flew by!