A Thorn Among Roses

before you read about my fam...please, go and pray for this fam who has been sent home from the hospital with their 2 year old daughter, tuesday, to die with stage 4 cancer. i am aching over this...please, i beg you, pray for their peace and strength... _____________________________________ company {or paige use to call them customers} is such a wonderful thing. we love having people in and around us. we're a very loud house with a lot going on, so there aren't many brave peeps who brave our house, but the "U" fam love us...and we love them! and that always means pizza...yummy!! {this picture is in honor of my paige who says, "my mom will take pictures of anything. she takes pics of food we eat all the time" karen is my fab friend...we have really grown in so many ways together over the last 12 years since we met. karen is the best person in the world to rely on for prayer or support or to listen. she can cry a waterfall just thinking about how much s

i am in a vintage mood, so feel lucky... this is my little brother, matthew. isn't he just darling. we only had him on earth for a little less than 4 years. he's one of those kiddos that are sent here for just a short period of time to bless a few folks along the way... my mom had this picture taken when my dad was out to sea..thus, the sailor suits...and note my awesome whistle too. accessories!! i don't remember too many details about matt not being anything but fun and my little bro. i never knew until i was older that matt had cp {cerebral palsy} and 16 other major birth defects. i do remember screaming at people who would stare at him. {shocking i know}. i also remember swinging his swing as high as it would go and mom almost having a panic attack when she saw me doing it. he liked it...he was laughing really hard!! so today, for no really good reason, i am honoring my litle bro, matt. he's so darling. he's got my daddy's ears and my mommy's

so when the teenager says, "hey we should all go outside and play in the snow together..." ...you get ur booty up and go! jada just likes to sit on the snow. she's totally not into the cold part or in to sledding or, well, really anything, other than sitting. she does it pretty, though! a game of chase...seems appropriate! look at that little red nose! p, s and b sleeding...look close for sofie int he big pink ball in the middle! then you get all 4 in one pic, together...seriously amazing! this is literally the beginning of the end for jada...p talked her into a sled ride down the hill. the end...p and b are cackling with delight... and then, it's def the end! tears of fear. she' def not gonna be my bungy jumper! being snowed in isn't so bad...i mean, we did this all together!! ok, i hate the snow and i hate the cold still..but the fam time is awesome!!! oh, did i mention that hubs had to get in on the action??

my fav face of the week i from my miss jk {with 4 kids, it's hard to pick one} jk has been in a phase with terrible smiles in pictures. finally, saying "be happy" got the real smile to come out...then she got so tickled at her little self, she got down right giddy!!! i heart faces is amazing and you have to go and see them! go and take a peep at all the fab faces from this week there !

project {create a home}: Laughter Captured & A Prize! i cheated...did digi on scrapblog.com, but i sill really love how the page turned out. thanks for the challenge...i ended up getting two more pages done!!! yea! ok, i know the last one isn't titled right, but it's still stinking cute!!!

i'm going to admit something to you...i hate (loathe) my chin! it's a family heirloom that i could definitely do without. i feel like i look 50 pounds heavier in every picture because of my chin. i hate my chin. ok, so i love the picture of me and sofie, but i almost deleted it and refused to post because my chin! so here's what i'm doing. i'm taking a step forward in the "my husband thinks i'm hot and i should too" moment. i'm posting the picture... i really am struggling with this whole "almost 40 year old, post 4 kid, worn out body". i don't look the way i use to, and that's hard for me to swallow. now, seriously, i have never been a supermodel or even gorgeous, but i looked better, at least in my eyes. two c-sections later, my mid section has a sausage roll that can't go away...and my poor little eyes just can't see past my double chin and sausage roll. i'm working on it, i promise. i don't want my girli

me: "what do you think about mommy?" jk: a very long pause then, "ummmmmm...i don't know." {not a reassuring start} i ask: "what is your favorite food that mommy cooks?" j: "i love chicken. i love rice. mommy is a good cooker. you are not a bad cooker. you always give us food and drinks. you always are the best cooker. you do my hair. you look beautiful for me and brooke. so, i want you to come to my school." {i guess topics are hard to handle at this age} i ask: "why do you love jesus?" j:"cause jesus loves you. jesus love you. then him there was nothing and he is asleep. they yell, 'wake up there is thunder.' jesus wake up. him friends were scared and he said 'stop storm' and then there was no rain. 'be still thunder.' and then there was no thunder." jk: "i want to tell about my friends; i love eva cause i wish she could come back. {eva moved right before christmas} chase is new fri

here are a few things that i totally DID NOT do this last week... i DID NOT buy 6 candy bars at the pharmacy when i went ot get the kids prescriptions filled because i knew ryan would be traveling the whole week and i would NOT need a little pick me up every now and then. i DID NOT feed my kids "alphabet rings", cucumbers, cheese and a cupcake for dinner and call it healthy one night while i ate nothing but did get a fabulous diet coke! jada DID NOT say to me in the preschool drop off line: "when little girls sneak and get in the pantry and eat food that they are not allowed to eat, mommy's and daddy's get angry, Jesus cries and santa is always watching." we DID NOT have our friends over on saturday evening and end up doing a marathon wii sports fitness age contest. i DID NOT eat mexican food two nights in a row. ryan DID NOT have his "meet and talk" with paige's boyfriend. and hubs DID NOT go in the garage to pray first...almost having a pani

this last week, hubs was out of the country traveling on business. 2 of the 4 girls got very sick...andi had no sleep for 3 days... b had a high fever that just wouldn't break and at one point, i got worried...103 and not going down, but up...so i did it. i called my mom and dad. i am a LESS THAN 40 year old woman...who still desperately seeks the advice and love from her parents...and it's beccause they are so stinking incredible that i can do that at 1am. i just wanted advice...but when the phone hung up, my mom was in the car, on the way over to help me out regardless of my many attempts to tell her i had things handled just fine. and when she got exhausted from the little sleep, my daddy came {without me even asking or knowing he was coming} and spent the entire afternoon and evening with the girls who were sick so i could still be a mommy to the ones who weren't...there were bball games and doctors appointments and school....you get the idea. {did i mention that my

i don't post recipe ideas because, well, i get sick of having to think so much about food...what to buy, when to buy it, how much to buy, what to fix on what nights...you may know what i mean. but...this is something that i have to share...super quick. super easy. super cheap. and it's a fam fav, done in 20 minutes and it's nutritious. woot woot. chicken tortilla soup 1 can diced tomotoes with green chilis i can cooked chicken (or use leftover pieces of chicken) 1 box of chicken broth 1 clove garlic, crushed (or the easy route of 1 teaspoon crushed garlic) 1 cup prepared salsa 1 can black beans and i often add a beer for flavor {but only if you can let stew on the stove top...don't get the kids saucy!} dump it all in a stew pot and simmer for at least 20 minutes. scoop into bowls and chow down! we like it best served with shredded cheddar cheese on top and crushed up tortilla chips. super yummy!

in the midst of cleaning, i just get sometimes caught up in the playing... and maybe it's because i seem to do the same thing over and over and it never looks any better... or maybe it's because my littlest assistant is so stinking cute!!! Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek