Crazy Week

Hello from the crazy house! Well, at least that is what it feels like this week. We have been going non-stop and the weekend shows no signs of relief. For those of you who have been praying for Dan I have an update and prayer request. But first I will catch those of you up who don't know what I am talking about.

A few months ago I noticed a lump (rather large) on the back of Dan's head at the base of his skull. He casually mentioned that he had found it nine months earlier but ignored it and now it was three times the size. Ahhhhh, gotta' love fireman or is it just men in general? Anways, a freak out moment from the wife and a few Dr. visits later we had an MRI done and it looks to just be a fatty tumor that is not attached to any nerves or anything. This Friday he will go into the hospital to have it removed. The Dr. seems to think that it will all be smooth and we should be home that night. The Dr. wants him to take 2 weeks off but Dan is already trying to talk him out of that amount of time. Again, lovin' the fireman; they are the WORST patients! ;) I have my mother-in-law coming in to help me out this weekend and watch the girls Friday. Then while Dan is resting Saturday Morgan has to be at her school for her Holland festival and her class performance. I will try to catch my breath sometime Sunday night and update you all. Thanks again for the e-mails and prayers this past week.

A Riddle For You..........

Ok so heres a little riddle for you; what do you get when you have a suitcase........Two darling little girls (oh don't let their faces fool you)................
And a poor unsuspecting cat?

Welllllll...........if you live at my house it goes something like this;

I am on the phone trying to talk to my husband when I hear some comotion coming from the bedrooms. I think nothing of it because there is no crying and fighting and so pretty much I don't care. Then as I am wrapping up my conversation the two girls come running down the hall with cat hair flying all around them. I'm not talking small amounts of hair here people. It looked like they had thrown him through the ceiling fan. I tell my husband we have a problem and that I have to hang up. Mr. "I'm on a 72 with grown ups" reminds me to be patient, kind and loving to the babes. I think I yell."ya' right!" and hang up. I finally get the story from the oldest (the honest one FYI) about how they had been putting the cat in the suitcase for rides and they were "just trying to catch him again mommy."

AGAIN!!?????!! AAAHHHHHHH!

Morgan says,"now let me take your picture mommy."

"uuhhhh, mommy aren't you going to smile bigger?"

On a much lighter note. I took leslies challenge about finding out what others thought you were passionate about. I sent out an e-mail to different family and friends who knew me on all different levels and in different areas of my life and trust me when I tell you I held my breath. I was thinking of all the things I do and say and reflect and wondering,"what do people really think I love?" So I got a few back. Thanks to all those of you who were honest and brave enough to get back to me. And shame on those of you who were to chicken. ;) Most people after getting my e-mail wanted me to write back and do the same for them so I enjoyed returning the favor or helping someone look at their prioritys and what I saw as important to them. Thats really what I thought the exercise was all about. Thanks for making me think that through Leslie.

Here are just a few of the answers I got.

My husband- chocolate for sure! Writing. family. God. he then added that I am all about healthy friendships and not blowing smoke up peoples butts. I care to much about being honest and loving those people. He asked me not to post the "blowing smoke up peoples butts" part. Seriosly thats my favorite part. :)

Jessica-making my husband and kids feel special with things I plan for them. Making my marriage strong and vibrant by planning date nights and weekend get aways. Quiet time with my God and faithfully praying for others. Creating memories for our family by taking frequent vacations. Spending time with all sorts of different friends. Serving at my daughters school.

Heather-serving others, helping others in need.

Christy P.-being outdoors. my family and marriage. Organic foods

Rhonda-my marriage. my kids. Seeing others honor God in their marriages. Healthy living and eating. Being a good friend.

Marianne- flip flops, bags and the pursuit of the best brownie in the world!

Thanks for all the input! Love you!

Preacher man

When I have to stand on the seat with my head hanging out of the sunroof and dirve with my toes I know it is time to get my car washed. Yes very dangerous, illegal but oh how the people get out of your way. With that said Ryanne & I headed to the car wash the other afternoon. We give them our car, pay and with a three year old, bottled water and enough snacks to occupy an army we settle in on our bench.

To my left an older man with his newspaper.

To my right, an older man just sitting there. We will call him preacher man.

preacher man to newspaper man; "I just drove all night from Louisianna."

newpaper man; "what freeway did you take?"

preacher man; "the ten most of the way I think."

newpaper man; "why wouldnt you take the 10 to the 210?" why the 10 the whole way?

preacher man; "ummmmm, I dont really remember much of the drive to be truthful, it might have been the 210."

Newspaper man clearly satisfied with the conversation gets up and walks away. I look over at the nice visitor from out of town and politely comment and how hard that must have been to drive so far all by himself.

Preacher man; "I just took a job in Riverside pastoring a church. I was here for a week when my 38 year old daughter got a random blood clot in her heart and went to be with the Lord."

Christy; "I am so sorry, this must be a very diffecult time for you and your family."

preacher man; "yes, she left a husband and two children."

We talked a little more and then as he was leaving to get his car I wished him all the best at his new church. Clearly dis-sheveled from his journey, being in a new town not knowing to many people and also the fact that he had just gone to his babies funeral he looked back and mustered up a smile and wave to me.

Confession time. the thing I hate most about myself is that I think of things to say or do way after the fact. Now when someone has crossed the line or made me very angry that can be a blessing. But I pray constantly that I would step out, talk to people and offer them the comfort that I know my Lord offers. After "preacher man" left I felt the tug of the holy spirit say,"why didnt you tell him you would pray for him?" So the last few nights I have been faithful in praying for his family and asking that God would wash over him a peace that surpasses all understanding and though he may not remember the akward girl from the car wash I pray he senses someone praying for him. I desire to be more obedient in reaching out to people when they are hurting and not just to write about it in my journal after the fact.

Going Green?

If you answered yes then you have to check out this really cute product below. My girlfriend bought me these for my birthday. I LOVE them! If you are new to reading my blog I didn't just jump on the "going green" band wagon with hollywood in the last few months. It basically all started for me about a year and a half ago when I started getting sick and found out my health was not good. After years of medications and treatments that were making me worse I decided to go all natural and organic with my food. Well as you can imagine the more I researched the things that were going into my body the more I realized it was bigger than just the food, it was the products I used around the house, the body soap, make-up, deoderant etc. So I branched out and started using all natural products in everything in our home. My friend saw these bags and just knew how important it was to look cute while out running your

errands. ;) If your like me or if you just want to make a small difference in all the waste that we produce AND you want to make a statement while doing it here is the link to buy these. Or maybe you just have an insane friend who you need to buy a birthday gift for! :) http://www.envirosax.com/

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Yay, for a fabulous trip to SF with my cousin who I have not seen since we were kids. It was like meeting up with an old friend you had not seen in ages but you picked right up where you left off. We ate way to much, made it our mission to try all the gourmet chocolate and stayed up till' early morning hours talking. Got our toes painted, got facials and hit all the fun stores in SF. Now thats how you ring in number 34! We walked EVERYWHERE and talked to EVERYONE. She's just like me in that she makes friends with the waiters, the hotel clerk, the guy on the corner selling (well begging) the lady on the train, the people who owned the polishe lounge; it was funny to be with someone else like that. I told my husband and he just laughed at the thought of us let loose alone in a big city talking to everyone. We met some really nice people though. :) We are sad to say we forgot to take many pictures but here are just a couple until Shawna sends me hers from her camera. The polish lounge

To see what I HATE look below!

I have to say, I dont throw the word HATE around very often and in fact cant think of anyone or any one thing that I really and truly HATE. I dont like alot of things and some things are just a turn off but HATE? Not so much. So in my therapy session today I wanted to share what I really do HATE. Can you see this little booger below? If the picture is not clear enough let me fill in the gaps. Its a freakin' baby rattle snake. I HATE snakes, Not dislike, a little creepy, kind of wish they would all fall of the planet but actually HATE. Have nightmares about, freak out when we find one, scream at the kids to run for thier lives while throwing our neighbors dogs in the path to slow them down HATE! I knew when we moved up here we would be dealing with alot of things; mountain lions, bears, coyotes (which by the way just walk through my yard in the middle of the day while I am outside watching the girls play) bobcats that walk up to my sliding door and peek in at 7am and scare my 5 year old half to death, bats the size of.....well I wont go there. But I think for the most part I have done pretty good. I am by no means a city girl. I enjoy the city, no scratch that I love BIG cities. I am not a mountain girl (too cold that high) so I am somewhere in between leaning more toward ocean or lake girl. :) When we bought our house at 3,400 feet up against forestry and wild life refuge I knew I would have to watch the girls a little closer and look behind my back when we walked so as not to get eaten. But seriously I am over the snakes. Two years ago they were everywhere, last year not so bad this year is the earliest they have come out and this one almost got Corey our neighbor. He was doing something in our backyard and walked past the snake who knows how many times until he finally reached down to grab something and there it was. The kids come running and screaming at the excitement (barefoot and thrilled I might add) they all LOVE snakes. Last year Dan cut a head off one and my girls pet it. Yup' I know you dont have to say it. So being the brave mom that I am I threw Corey the camera and told him to take a picture so I could post it and look all cool.

I HATE SNAKES!!!

What we did today........................

Today Morgan had an out of town swim meet. The weather was AMAZING! It was really windy but like 90 degrees so after months of standing in freezing rain we were not about to complain. Here is a bunch of the swimmers from the Flying Fish that competed today. They all did amazing! Morgan is the one on the far right in the row of three short little girls. I'm sorry that most if not all of my swim meet pictures look alike but hey thats swimming for you. You try to get the best action shots while at the same time screaming, cheering and jumping up and down all at the same time. Oh and yes I am that kind of mom. ;)
I love how one minute she is all business, future gold medalist, "dont hug me mom, I'm gonna win this one!" and then the next.....................................
She's my sweet little Barbie playin' cuddly girl. Seriously right before a race (like 1 minute and then until the horn sounds) Morgan is unbearable to be around. She gets this nervous pace and starts this nervous stretching and wierd stuff like that. She gets all moody and focused (yes, shes only 7) and then right after the race is over...........
Sheeeeeeeee's Baaaaacccckkkk! I was probably like that before every softball game as well and just dont remember. I know my mom said if we lost she would just volunteer to wak home because I was sooooo competative it was insane. I would be out for revenge the next game. I do remember that. Maybe I should have looked into more of an individual sport like swimming. ;)
oh, and something very depressing happened today; I had always hoped that if I went to the slammer some day it would be for something BIG, maybe even make me famous like stealing a world famous jewel or something but oooohhhhhh no, I have to go and steal a fork from Chili's today. Seriously, after the meet my mom & Rick and the girls & I went out to lunch. They brought me my b-day gift early since I am leaving and wouldnt you know the little sucker did a head dive off of the table & into my b-day bag. When I got home and was unloading stuff I thought to myself,"now, if my mom wanted to buy me silverware she could have bought all 8?" And why would she not have pointed out that I missed one of her gifts in the bag? Seriously I should have been blonde? (ooppss sorry fellow blonde bloggers) but then I realized I had stoled the fork. I am sure they are looking for me now so please pretend you have never heard of me. I know you will miss my ever so entertaining Blog entries as I am sure computers have not made it to prison yet; whats that? Oh they have t.v, tivo, better medical and dental AND computers? Well shoot, throw in a hot meal and quiet night and I am so there! ;)

SF here I come!

Ok, so one week till' my birthday present! Dan bought me a plain ticket & so I am flying up to SF to meet up with my cousin who is flying down from WA and we are spening four days there just haning out. We already have a pedicure scheduled and something else that she refuse to tell me about; hmmmmmmmmmmm. I guess I will have to wait to fill you all in when I find out. If anyone has a fun place to eat, favorite shop etc. comment and let me know and we will check it out. I have been many times but never just for a girls trip so we are really excited. We decided to take advantage of not having kids, strollers etc. and opted to not rent a car. We thought it would be fun to walk everywhere and take the BART and trollys. Have you ever seen thelma and louise? Ya' thats what I am afraid of? ;) So get those suggestions rolling in and I will look into them. Christy P. you should have some good suggestions right? Have a great night!

another day in the life of Ryanne.......

Daddy: "Ryanne, mommy says I need to talk to you about what you did today to Luke."

Ryanne: "well, we played alot."

Daddy: "Ryanne, did you do something naughty?"

Ryanne: "Daddy, I love you so much!" (reaching down to kiss his arm)

Daddy: "Ryanne, did you get in trouble today for something you did to Luke?"

Ryanne: "No, we played baseball, blocks, and house for a while, then mommy made us pizza oh and I might of hit him but I cant remember."

Daddy: "Ryanne, I need you to tell me the truth about what thing you did to Luke."

Ryanne: "Well, I might have bit him, and mommy might have had to put hot sauce in my mouth again. But I cant really tell for sure."

Just a little side note; Raynne has decided to wait until she is almost 4 to bite. When asked why she bites because its always when we are playing or etc. she simply states,"I was done with you."

And this to shall pass.

Firefighters weekend at Hume!

What a blessed weekend we had at our firefighters conference. I knew I was going to love the speaker when he opened by saying that fireman were a bit skitsofrenic (spelling) I got to thinking about that and how true it really is. At work they have to be leaders. At the sound of the bell they have to be brave, at the scene of horrific death and destruction they have to shut down and go on auto pilot, they have to be humble and be heros. Then they come home and have to sensitive and kind and tuned in. They need to relate to us and our kids. They wear many different hats. I loved how Charles Cooper was able to express that this weekend. How he was able to reach in and touch my heart and reach me where I was at as a firemans wife. Not many people can do that unless they are in the same boat. Below is the view that we woke up to every morning. Breathtaking. Our speaker said our relationship with the Lord should be something that we have no words for. Something that moves us to a place that is so intimate and profound that we cant descirbe it. Otherwise we are missing out. We have to rise above and get serious about who he is and what he desires for us. I love this picture of the boat dock because in the summer it is so full of kids and the water is so crazy; this is so soothing and calm. I cant wait to go back in June with the girls!

Powerful, all knowing, serious, abba, strength, not whimpy, stillness, the beginning and the end, provider & much more.

There were those of us who took our jobs VERY serious this weekend and then there were........... the obvious rookies!
Boys will be boys!
Not the best picture but here are Dan and I, and Brian & Yvonne.

Brian just got hired on with Fresno City Fire so he had to carry our bags this weekend, refillour drinks and clean our rooms. :) Just kidding Brian. We love you and are proud of you!
And of course in true fireman fashion there were dumb games that had to be played. Here we have men dressed in velcro shooting tennis balls at each other. Fireman! They'll do anything for a laugh.

Day 3-Crazy hair day!

For crazy hair day we dyed, twisted and tied Morgan's hair all over her head. So much fun. She looked so stinkin' cute I couldn't stand it. Should be REALLY fun trying to get it all out tonight in the shower. ugh! Thats ok it was worth it. That concludes our spirit week photos. Tomorrow the kids have their friendhsip games and are just going to wear their school colors. Morgan is excited cause they get to compete all morning and then get out at 12! Whew-hew. Dan & I are off to our firefighters conference up at Hume Lake so hopefully I will have photos to share. More importantly maybe I should take before & after picutres of what my house looks like when the kids are here with grandma all weekend. ;)
Oh and not to be left out Ryanne insisted on having "poofy" hair when we went to pickup Morgan today. So out came the dye, the hair spray and the blow dryer. She looks like Madonna back in the 80's! Love it Ryanne, so you! ;)

Day 3

Day three was inside out, backwards mis-match day. Morgan had soo much fun. Plus it is still "all about her" week at school so she got to post her board of pictures and take in her favorite cookies I made last night to share with the class.
Also, Morgan had her daddy come in his fire uniform and spend some time with the class. They were so cute. He dressed them in his turnouts and gave out some little gifts. Morgan was so proud! ;) check in tomorrow because its crazy hair day!

Day 2-Crazy hat & sunglass day!

Today was day 2 of spirit week at Morgan's school. It is crazy hat & sunglasses day. Need I say more? ;)