Sunscreen

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You're not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind…the race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/baz_luhrmann/everybodys_free_to_wear_sunscreen.html ]
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time it's 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen...

Daddy Daughter Dance

Matt took the girls on their annual Daddy Daughter dance this year.

The girls look forward to this special date with daddy so much. They talk and plan excitedly about it for weeks in advance. Yesterday, Mallory told me it would probably take about three hours to get ready. HA! Spoken like a true woman.

Baths are taken, nails get painted, hair gets done up, beautiful dresses get put on and cinderella slippers are place on tiny toes.

The evening starts off with a dinner at the girls choice restaurant. This year (again) was Cici's Pizza. A buffet style pizza place that Mat just loves (not). But he is such a good sport, he goes along.

Then they head to the dance to boogie down. The night ends and they come back home tired yet too excited to sleep. Their excitement fills the house as they twirl around in their dresses and tell me and the boys all about their fabulous time with daddy.

I am so thankful and blessed to have a husband who loves his girls and will treat them like the princesses they are.

Realization

Isn't it funny how somethings in life you have to "live and learn". I learned something about myself in the past week. I can not be a working mother.

I worked alot this week up at the kids' school helping out with the book fair. I think it's important to volunteer and I really do enjoy it. But it took it's toll on me, the kids, and our house, with me bieng gone and busy so much.

Early last year, about April, I went back to work. It was supposed to be just part time, but quickly evolved into full time. I loved being a legal assistant. Someday, I hope to be a lawyer, so this was perfect for me. I started full time in August and worked until December. Rachel, my last baby, went off to school in August. I was already working at the time so I didn't get the full understanding of being a stay at home mom with no kids at home during the day.

When I decided to quit in December and try just being a stay at home mom I was able to recognize what I had been missing out on. I love my kids, but I am one of those mom's that enjoys my breaks from them. With working full time and then going directly from work to get them it did not give me the "me time" I needed to gather myself for the evening ahead of tattle tailing, driving kids to soccer, making dinner, crying, fighting, entertaining, homework, teeth brushing, good night hugs, bedtime etc.

Since the move into this new house happened almost at the same time as my job change, my life has been changed for the better. I absolutely love being a stay at home mom now. That is a huge blessing from where I was at three months, six months, or even a year ago. I make myself a chore chart each day of things I want to accomplish on the house. I have time to go to lunch with friends, I can sit and read a book all day if I want, I am able to stay home and love on my sick kids when needed, I can even take a nap if I want to! My houses overall cleanliness, attitude, love, and happiness has increased in our home. Guess the saying is true..If momma aint happy aint nobody happy" lol.

I thank God for the change in me, my attitude, and I am so grateful He allows us to be able to have one parent be a stay at home parent.

New House- New Start

The famous saying is "Home Is Where The Heart Is".

We recently moved from our special house that served us well for eight years. So many memories were made in that home.

8 years

2,920 days

43,800 potty breaks
7,300 meals
1 baby born
4 kids started school
3 kids learned to ride their bike
3 kids accepted Christ
Over 50 visits from grandparents
A bajillion goals scored
1 world cup party
3 super bowl parties
3 Halloween parties
About 800 too many late nights
1 bathtub flood
1 ceiling collapse
4 daddy daughter dances
1 epic nerf weapons fight
14,750 night night kisses
Over 400 soccer games
81,760 shoes tied
2 times where I shoveled the whole culdesac
Over 9,000 showers taken
Over 300 Movie Nights
3 rounds of P90X, 1 turbofire

14,750 Goodnight prayers

This made it hard to say goodbye.

We are praising God tho for our new home. What a blessing it has been for our entire family. I can not tell you how much this move has impacted us for the good. We love our new house and our family feels more like a unit in this home.

We moved from a two story house to a one story ranch style home. This made a huge difference. We are all on the same level. The school is within walking distance from Dalton and Avery's school. For those of you who know how many countless hours I spent trying to figure out driving schedules and hours in the car to make it to everyones school know what a huge impact this has on me in particular. It's fabulous to say the

least! The kitchen and dining room are set up in such a way that that has become the new hub bub for our family. The kids can be where I am without being in my kitchen space. There is storage galore. I actually have empty cupboards! I love it! When deciding to move we knew that the next house had to be in a cul-de-sac or a very low traffic street, since we had been in a cul-de-sac previously. God came thru with this too. We are at the very end of a dead end street. The street right off of our street is also a dead end. So we literally get no traffic. The kids can continue to ride bikes, rollerblade, and hola-hoop with no worries. Our back yard is huge. HUGE! So is our front yard. The back yard has trees and brush lining the back fence. The kids have already built a secret hide out back there and play together for hours.

Needless to say, my heart is definitely here and it is definitely home.

Verse of the Day (VOD)

Do you struggle with getting in the Word everyday? Do you struggle trying to be an example for your kids in the area of daily quiet time with God? Well if not that is great! I commend you. However, I struggle with these two things.

I want my kids to have a PERSONAL relationship with Christ. Not a relationship based on my beliefs and what they think they should do and believe because that is what I do. But, I do want to be an example for them.

With busy lives and hectic schedules it can be hard to find that time. So, we have started to do a Verse of the Day. Each morning a child takes a turn picking out a VOD. Then we write it on our schedule board. Each child read the verse aloud and then we discuss the verse as a family....kind of a mini devotional. They are not required to memorize the verse. It is just a way that we as a family can get some time in with God before we start our day. It isn't much but it certainly is better than nothing!