hi there. 
it's been awhile. 

so, this week has been a little crazy. 
a little messy. 
a good messy. 

& then there's the quiet.

it waits.
patiently.

for the busy, loud & full of activity-ness of the day to pack it's fun bags for tomorrow...

& sweetly the quiet comes in & takes a seat on my couch. 
because everyone but me is sleeping...
& then,
the quiet & i,
we smile.
& that's a beautiful sound.

aren't these kids cute??! haha!! my sweet & VERY talented friend miss carly was brave enough to take our family's pics. these are just a few; if you click on her little blog thingy on the right--carly tee photography--you can see a few more of us & some more of her awesome creativeness!!

i just wanted to note that the precious hand above belongs to my sweet nephew sam. :)

a perfect morning: peace & quiet, (aka the kids off to school) coffee & my very favorite turquoise bowl filled with my very favorite cereal, special k with berries.
yummmmmm.....

i found this cute little bottle of half&half at the grocery store...& had to have it! not only is the cream good in my coffee, but the bottle will be great for cut flowers! love it!

a hot chocolate party for two... bailee got this darling little tea-set from bev & was just itchin' to use it...& of course, tim can't say no to his bailee-girl, so he was so sweet & sat & had hot chocolate from itty-bitty cups while they talked about stuff. it probably doesn't matter what was talked about when you're sipping hot chocolate.

i decided to bake this past week. i haven't baked in a long time. or at least anything from scratch. this is just a glimpse of my "baking cupboard"...maybe this is why i don't bake very often... i made my nana's sugar cookies--the kind you flatten with a bottom of a glass dipped in sugar...i haven't made these in ages. they are the best, i tell ya. & they lasted only until the next morning. barely.

yum.

a trip to whidbey island with the likkels...
whales right out in front of our cabin...

cool forts...front of eli's fort...

games: star wars monopoly & apple to apples...

playing with hunter...

kids showing us how the macarena is done...

standing in line for uncle ryan's famous pancakes...

a scavenger hunt....

& tons of wet clothes...but a ton of fun had by all!!!

woah! a second blog in a month!! :)
these are pics from our trip up to vancouver with our friends the wiersma's to join in the olympic fever! there were a TON of people, & we did a LOT of walking (my calves are sore today!! i'm SO out of shape!!) & saw a lot of sights. it was a great time & a beautiful day. go USA!! (even tho our kids are all wearing canadian stuff!!)

eli hit a wall & got so tired of walking...he had a meltdown...fortunately, it didn't last long & that cute smile came back.

bo is in the canadian flag hat. he goes so fast! a natural skater!

what cute db boys!

the wiersma's & us. a great day!

well hello, one & all. okay, let's just get it over with. i suck at blogging. i will MAYBE do it 6 times this year. THAT'S the reality. sorry. i have SUCH good intentions, & then-WHAMMO-wacked right out the front door. which i really want to paint a turquoise blue, but the hubby says no. he wants red. no red for me. see how i get distracted? it's amazing how i function at all!!

so i have found a few more treasures...a great old flour sifter--the aqua blue stripes got me. & the fun toy phone...kinda quirky! the little praying hands are really small & so precious & don't you think they'd make a sweet baptism gift, or something? the dominoes & checkers are cool--wooden. & the little flower bowl is royal albert. the bible cards are a hoot, & if they don't sell soon, i may keep them for scrapbooking. which i intend to start up someday again. i keep collecting all of this stuff...like bingo cards, old game boards, scrabble tiles, buttons, old yahtzee score cards, game pieces & dice...i LOVE this stuff, & think, i have to use it all eventually, right? i'm sure someday i will. stop laughing, traci!! :)

the weather: i like the sunshine, but not the whole "gotta-work-in-the-yard" thing that follows that. (i've had this conversation with a couple of you...) i am going to admit right here that i would love a couple of days of snow. (i know, i'm a complete crazy-woman!) i'm just not ready for spring yet!! & i think it's a little too bad for me, 'cuz it's-a-coming!! things are popping up all over the place & my bushes have buds on them, or whatever those thingy's are called, & the birds are chirping their little fool-heads off (which i actually love) & some of the cherry trees are struttin' their stuff showin' off their pink blossoms already! it's crazy. i feel like i live in a dr. seuss upside-down world. everything's a little off in our weather up here in our little corner of the universe. do you like this rambling? this is a result of me having a day off & having nothing to do but stay at home & do fun un-important things. (i'm almost giddy--in a tired sort of way!) things such as: blog, play computer games, scrapbook, read my book, snoop thru other people's blogs, window shop on etsy, & all in my sweats & no bra. heaven, i tell ya!! in heaven there will be no wearing of bras. & we will look FANTASTIC without them! doesn't mean i don't have important things to do like vaccum, dishes, laundry & all that gunk, but that's what saturdays are for, right? & those above-mentioned fun things are actually very important; important to my PEACE OF MIND!! :) (yes, i'm going a little crazy today.)

so happy friday, everyone! enjoy the freakish sunshine & i'll see ya next month or so!! :)