No Apologies.

I was talking to a friend about what a busy week it had been for me. It's seems like in my life, it's all or nothing and this week was a lot to deal with! The worst part was that for a couple of days, dirty breakfast and snack dishes accumulated and piled up in the sink. In response to this confession she said, "I admire that you can do that." I really wasn't expecting that kind of response and it caused me to think a bit. Looking back on the week, what we did make time to do instead of dishes was so much more important.

We cuddled, we ate, we played, we read, we talked, we did homework, we gave service, we prayed, we worked together.

There was a lot of, "What can I do to help?" Leon even offered to make dinner 2 nights (Japanese rice bowls and drive through) and it was thoughtfully delicious! Max helped me make signs for 20+ school carnival booths! Sam even helped by taking a long morning nap!

I love that as I shared what is usually not bragworthy...she didn't judge me, but helped me to recall how I spent my time best!

Oh, and check out the fun we had at the school carnival too!

A G

Updating The Resume.

We are happy to add "Cafeteria Worker" to Max's list of job experience, as today he was assigned to handing out the milk.

Max: "Regular or Chocolate?"
Kid #1: "The usual."
Max: "What kind do you want?"
Kid #1: "The usual."
Max: "This one (regular) or This one (chocolate)?"
Kid #1: "Ummm...white."
Max: "Geez."

Max: "Regular or Chocolate?"
Kid #2: "Chocolate and hurry up!"

Max: "Regular or Chocolate?"
Kid #3: "Chocolate, please."
Max: "Here you go."
Kid #3: "Thank you."
Max (Shocked): "Your Welcome!"

Apparently, being the milk helper is HARD WORK! Not only do you have to deal with kids being indecisive, rude, demanding and confused by the obvious, but you have to be patient with them at the same time! Huh! That must be really challenging, ya think?!??! But sometimes, you get a kid that is actually polite and grateful for your hard work...and it's quite shocking!

Any Ideas?

So, as you can see Sam has some teeth. As you can also see, they are not exactly placed ideally or symmetrically for that matter...and I have some serious issues with symmetry, but that's for another discussion.

With Halloween approaching we have come up with a few costume ideas that fit Sam's smile...

Jack-o-lantern.

Hockey Player.

Hillbilly.

Any other ideas?

Birthday Weekend.

football game

general conference snacks

family

pesto ravioli

football cake

Happy Birthday Max!

It does not seem possible that Max could be turning nine years old. I don't feel old enough or ready to be a mother of a kid reaching the double digits stage of life.

All day I have been thinking of how much I love this kid and the really cool thing is that I am not the only one. Since he was born, he has had an entourage of people (adults and kids) who love him too!

So in honor of him, here are NINE of my favorite "Max Moments"...

1. When Max was 4 he seriously had a list of like 20 jobs he wanted to do...my favorite was a limo driver.

2. When Max was 3 he announced, "Mom, I don't want to go to college when I grow up. I want to go to jail."

3. When Max was born, he had a head full of blonde hair. It was shiny like silk.

4. Max loved to laugh and shake his diaper back and forth to let us know he needed to be changed.

5. He has always loved bike riding. He once rode over 30 miles on a single speed and never once tired.

6. When we lived in our apartment, I would pull Max in a Radio Flyer wagon to the nearby Albertsons or KMart all the time! He never once tried to escape.

7. When we renovated our house, he insisted on having his own hammer. He also insisted on using it, and was really good at pulling nails! Now that I think about it, he never complained about all of the hours we'd spend at the "working house" (that's what he called it).

8. He used his hair as a napkin as a toddler and now uses his shirt!

9. He lives for football! He even figured out how to play catch when he is by himself...between 4:00 and 5:30 you can usually hear the thumping of the football rolling off the roof!

*these have been approved by max and shared with his permission.

Guilty Pleasures.

In case you ever wanted/needed to know I have a few guilty pleasures. One of them is OPRAH. I am not a big TV watcher, but I love me some Oprah. I especially love to hear her say, "All New" and today is just that!!

What I can't wait to see is if she is still curvy Oprah or not. I like curvy Oprah. I like it when curvy Oprah was getting a little more curvy than usually and just finally admitted that she likes real food. Wasn't that liberating? Poor Dr. Oz and Bob Greene, they were probably furious with her, but I love it!

I respect her search for personal growth and well being, although I did give an eye roll when she did her Vegan Cleanse at the end of last season. "Here we go again," was my take on that. Dairy=another guilty pleasure. I am far from joining the Vegans.

One sure bet, politics will be on the agenda (Obama). Probably a good book or two. Definitely Dr. Oz with his know-it-all body science. Someone to motivate us all to be do gooders. Any more predictions out there?