~Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful~

Be your own kind of beautiful
The best that you can be.
Smile your own kind of smile.
Find your own identity.

Then heaven's light will shine through you in very special ways.
Just being you is sure to make the world a better place.
Be happy to be who you are.
To your own self be true.
Be your own kind of beautiful you.


I don't recall who wrote this poem, but it brings me back to my teenage years. These words played a major role in helping me through those tough years. I was reminded of the poem that I loved so much last week when my youngest daughter said to me, "Mommy, I'm not pretty. I'm stupid." And no matter what I said to her to the contrary, she insisted that what she was saying was truth. How absolutely heartbreaking to hear those words come out of the mouth of a 4 year old. I am teary-eyed remembering.

I will recite these words to her every day if I must and know it is my job as her mother to help her realize her worth and beauty as a daughter of God.

~UPDATE~

Wow! I can't believe that summer is over already. It seems like just yesterday we were gearing up for 3 wonderfully long months filled with sun and fun. I am definitely sad to see it go.

We have been extremely busy in our neck of the woods trying to keep the kids happy this summer as well as get ourselves ready for our big trip coming up next month. Cancun, here we come!!! As excited as I am for this vacation, I can't help feeling much trepidation about leaving my babies for 10 WHOLE DAYS! I don't know what we are going to do with ourselves for that long without them. I haven't gone that long without a kid with me for 9 years. Crazy. The only thing holding me together while thinking about this is knowing that my mom will be here with the kids. There's no other person that I would rather have taking care of them. And they are extremely excited for her arrival.

In other news, as is the case in most homes across the country, our kids have gone back to school. As much as I hate to say goodbye to summer, the start of school has definitely brought me a little peace. With Faith in preschool 4 mornings a week I have 2-1/2 hours Mon through Thurs that are all mine. (Although most of this time will of course be spent working, but it is soooooo nice to be able to sit for even a full hour and type without needing to get up and tend to someone's needs.)

We have said goodbye to Silverwood for the season, but we do plan on visiting the Spokane Interstate Fair this weekend. Should be a good time and hopefully I will remember to bring the camera. I have been so bad about taking pictures lately. I am ashamed to say that the two pics accompanying this post are literally the only two that I had in my camera to download! The one with all the kids was taken at the campground at Silverwood on Labor Day weekend. The other is Faithy Riley on her very first day of preschool. She was loving the ice cream that mommy bought her to celebrate her first day!

Well, I apologize for the boring and somewhat random nature of this post, but hey, at least I did one, right. I do solemnly swear to blog about our adventure at the fair immediately following the event. (Maybe!)

Night all!

Tagged

Tagged by Mindi

Four random things I love about my husband :
1. He can fix the things I can't.
2. He plays with the kids in the water when I don't want to.
3. He can cook a mean breakfast.
4. He is generous and kind and quick to lend a helping hand to anyone in need.

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Zips.
2. Sharis.
3. Spokane Dermatology.
4. MxSecure.


Four movies I have watched more than once:
1. Dirty Dancing.
2. Neverending Story.
3. Pete's Dragon.
4. Mary Poppins.

Four TV shows I watch
1. Grey's Anatomy.
2. Americal Idol.
3. Prison Break.
4. House.

Four random places I have been:
1. Mt. Rushmore.
2. Catalina Island.
3. Disneyland.
4. Ensenada, Mexico.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Cheese.
2. Red Rome apples.
3. Bananas.
4. Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.


Four places I would like to visit:
1. Ireland
2. Australia.
3. France.
4. Disney World.
5. Hawaii
6. Spain.
7. Greece.

(Oh, whoops, only 4? Sorry)

Four things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
1. Trip to Cancun!!!
2. Refinancing our house.
3. Getting in shape (Hopefully to precede #1).
4. Getting some more home improvement projects done.

Three people I tag:
1. Adrea.
2. Kim.
3. Crystal.

Hannah Banana

Hannah will celebrate her 8th birthday tomorrow, August 18th. It was pretty much a birthday weekend all around for her. On Saturday evening Grandma Cindy and I took her shopping. It was a lot of fun. She picked out a brand new Hannah Montana bedroom set for her room. Very, very cool! I'm also pretty certain that she talked Grandma Cindy into buying her everything "Hannah Montana" that Walmart has to offer! (Not really). Next it was on to the mall to visit Build-A-Bear Workshop. Every time we are at the mall she begs to go here, so I figured what better time than a birthday. She was so excited to pick her little bear (actually it's a pink leopard), stuff it, give it a sound, bathe it, and, of course, accessorize. She got to pick two outfits, one of which was a very cool Hannah Montana (go figure) get-up, and also some jammies. The bear/leopard got its very own bed and cell phone and even a tiny little pair of Hello Kitty underpants. Oh brother! We then visited a cute new store called Justice for Girls and Grandma helped her pick a new outfit for school. After that it was off to TGIFridays for some grub. YUMMY!!!

Sunday afternoon we headed off to the Fitzhughs' for a quiet little BBQ and swimming. It was the perfect way to spend the day and I'm pretty sure that Hannah had a blast. Of course, since tomorrow is her actual real B-day Hannah will be served chocolate chip teddy bear pancakes in bed. Oh man, it's a good thing birthday's only come once a year!!!

(FYI: All of this spoiling was done in lieu of an actual birthday party!!!)

Quick Update

So I have found myself with just a really quick spare minute and thought I would try to do some catching up. We have had such a fun, jam-packed summer that there's no way I could blog about it all. The pictures above are random, as I have yet to figure out exactly how to do words/picture/words/picture, etc. My motto this summer has been "Work hard to play hard," and we have definitely been following it for sure. The kids and I spend most every weekday at home with me working my butt off and them doing their own things. I have really been trying not to leave the house unless absolutely necessary to save on gas and the all-too-easy fast food joints. Then the weekend comes and we are outta here. We have spent 6 weekends at Silverwood camping with Christy's family. SO MUCH FUN. I think we will also be going on Labor Day weekend as well. Can't wait. It's fun to get the camping aspect along with the amusement park.

Some of the pics are from the other day when I did venture out of the house one morning. I took the kids over to a little spray park and they had so much fun climbing the trees that I couldn't resist snapping some pictures. Noah actually surprised me and gave me some smiles. *Gasp*

I also included just a few of the pics from when we went to the air show with Mindi and her kids and Michelle. That was so much fun and such a learning experience. Very, very cool.

My New (Old) Best Friend

I have formed a new relationship with my television. Now, for those who know me well, you know that me and t.v. already get along great. In fact, I have at least one, if not two or three, shows that I watch on a nightly basis. Thank goodness for DVR, that's all I have to say. Otherwise, I would probably never get off the couch!!!!! LOL!

No, but seriously, over the past few weeks I have rediscovered the wonder that is On Demand television. Namely, Exercise TV. I LOVE IT. I have never been a huge fan of going to the gym and having to work out in front of a bunch of strangers, nor do I love having to spend the money in order to do so. On the other hand, I have pretty good drive when it comes to working out at home, whether it be on my treadmill or with a good old-fashioned workout video. So, that said, I have been trying some awesome new workouts from Exercise TV as of late and absolutely love it. It's so great to be able to change up my routine so I don't get bored with doing the same video over and over again. And the coolest thing of all is that it is absolutely free. My new fave is yoga. I never before understood what all the hype was about. Now I know. Yoga is so unbelievably hard. I LOVE IT!!! I absolutely love when I am so sore that I can barely move because then I know that I got a great workout. Some of these muscles have not been used in years, I bet!!!!

So anyway, I am officially back on the fitness train and so excited. I've even kicked it up a notch and added a diet. Amazing, I know. I gotta say, I feel so much better and am looking forward to looking fab for Cancun in October.

Bye for now!!!!!

Tagged by Mindi

MY MAN:

Whats his name? Brian Robert
How long have you been together? 5 years, married for 2
How long did you date? The second time around it was about 10 months.
How old is he? He is 30
Who eats more? Oh definitely him. He is a never ending pit!
Who said I love you first? He did. He'll be the first to admit he had a crush!
Who is taller? my big, strong man!
Who sings better? he actually sings pretty well. I think I'm okay too
Who is smarter? It depends on what you're referring to. We are both equally intelligent in different areas
Who does the laundry? Mostly me. But occasionally I can convince him to fold and put away. I really detest that part.
Who pays the bills? Well he makes the majority of the money, but I write the checks.
Who sleeps on the right side? That would be me
Who mows the lawn? I really love this job, so I'd say it's 75% me and 25% him. And we have a huge (almost acre) lawn too!
Who cooks dinner? Mostly me because he works later than I do, but he does occasionally. And he can make a mean breakfast!
Who drives? He always drives when we ride together. I don't necessarily feel nervous driving in front of him, but I do hate him being a "backseat driver" and criticizing my driving. Plus when he drives I get to relax.
Who is more stubborn? We are both equally so
Who kissed who first? We kissed each other mutually on our very first date.
Who proposed? Brian proposed on July 4, 2005.
Who has more friends? We probably have about the same. He might actually have a few more because he is still friends with all of his high school buds.
Who is more sensitive? definitely me
Who has more siblings? me. He has one brother, 2 half sisters and 2 stepsisters.
Who wears the pants? This one is still up for debate. It works to my advantage if I let him think he does though!

I tag Adrea!