brilliant

“Why is it that, as we grow older, we are so reluctant to change?
It is not so much that new ideas are painful, for they are not.
It is that old ideas are seldom entirely false, but have truth, great truth in them. The justification for conservatism is the desire to preserve the truths and standards of the past; its dangers, of which we are seldom aware,
is that in preserving those values,
we may miss the infinitely greater riches that lie in the future.”
-Dale Turner

it's possible

okay, so i stay up late.
up until recently, the average time i head to bed has been around 2am.
i just have a lot of stuff to get done,
after the kids have gone to bed.

but the last two days,
i was tired.
i decided to go to bed early, around 11pm,
and get up a half an hour earlier, at 6am.

what do you know?
i managed to accomplish everything i needed to in that half an hour...
more than i usually get done between the time the kids go to bed,
and 2am.

clearly this means only one thing.
i am old.

court date...

we have a court date.
may 10th, 2010.
pray we pass.

first chair...

so, i have had these three chairs for years, that a friend's dad made the kids...
i had always intended on painting them,
but never did.

i was trying to avoid all responsibility the other day when it was about 85 degrees out, so i pulled one of the chairs out into the driveway and started painting it.

my kids are way too big for these now,
and we need money :) (not really sure if you heard, but we are adopting :) )
much like a home remodel, adoption costs tend to grow...

so,
if anyone wants the chair,
seventy-five bucks, and it is yours :)

it took approximately seven hours to paint... not that it probably matters to anyone but me, but it IS my blog, so i can say it if i want to. :)

and because we are cool like that...

little boys...

the gun show

and my girls...

me and my boys

happy easter :)

every year i take a photo of the kids when we are on our way out the door for church, on easter morning.
and every year, i look at the photo and laugh.
it is always the worst of the year.
spring hasn't been around long enough to add any color to those pale bodies,
and it is early in the morning.
but every year i continue to take it.
because they are my babies,
and i love them.

and saturday.

saturday was beautiful.
we dyed eggs.





and ate yummy candy.



and put stickers on eggs.



and had friends over for dinner.
at one point i looked outside,
and found the kids playing red rover.
it was so beautiful.
i can't even explain how peaceful it made me feel.
love them.

last tuesday...

last tuesday night i got to hang out with this really cool chicka...
she has a lot going on right now,
but she took the time
to make a four and a half hour drive from her door to mine,
to attend a concert with me.

love her.

she is good.

and she loves people well.

what more could one ask?

ode to seattle

isaiah and hannah got dressed this morning in the same pants...
so they decided to take it a step further...



and then they got the little boys involved...



clearly they are representing.
go mariners :)

looking forward to next week...

world water day :)

Unshaken - charity: water's campaign for Haiti from charity: water on Vimeo.

today is world water day :)
donate here
buy a jerry can pin... or seventeen.

evening at the park...

backyard camp-out

isaiah, hannah, micah, and brody have spent the last three nights sleeping in the backyard.
the temps. have been in the 30's, but with four of them in there, and a ton of covers, they haven't ventured inside before 8:00am on any morning.

i told them, however, that tonight will be the last night...
it is supposed to snow tomorrow night, and into saturday.

they were seriously bummed.

they thought i was being unreasonable to not allow them to sleep out in the snow.

i have weird kids.

first fire of the year..

geesh.

can some one please let me know when this happened?
they are literally changing everyday,
and new haircuts don't help.

in response...

so much heartache is being played out,
and given the public nature
i felt i needed to respond.

we whole heartily, one hundred percent
love our friends.

they are the bravest people
i have ever met,
both of them.

and we support them
completely,
forever.

the end.