A Thorn Among Roses

my tribute this week...is to duane and brooke paulson. duane and brooke, well, i only know them through blogland and in email convos, but these people are thinking about others...all in the midst of their fab angel, andie grace, getting her wings. unselfish. faithful. and what did they do...well, when andie was in the NICU in AZ, they used a lot of beanie babies for sensory stuff. so they asked for donations of beanie babies in andie's honor. we totally got in on the deal...sent an entire bag of beanies. and the girlies def made some super fun and creative notes to give to the nurses and staff and patients. i added a description to each letter saying what the horses and mermaids in the pictures are doing and a little hello from each of the girls. so, i guess i have a little challenge for you this week. grab a beanie baby or two, write a short note, and send it to the paulson family. duane and brooke paulson 26910 n. 54th ave. phoenix, AZ 85083 this family is amazing...they had t...

a few things me and the fam DID NOT do this week... ryan DID NOT ask brooke to say "please" in french and he'll get her blanket. her response..."i did". after my fab new hair cut, this convo DID NOT take place... jk: mom, why your hair is like gray? mom: i'm getting old. b: mom, you are not old. jk: yes, she is old. b: stop. she is not old. jk: she's "old enough." i DID NOT win a 7 day stay in an ocean front condo by simply donating to kayleigh freeman 's give4kayleigh. no one was more surprised than hubs who found out in mexico... i DID NOT wake up at the crack of stinking dawn on jk's bday to fresh bake blueberry muffins for her breakfast and to take to school for her treat. sleep is for wimps. paige DID NOT walk into the hanging scale for veggies at the grocery. she and i DID NOT laugh until we almost peed ourselves. paige DID NOT "find" her fav sweatshirt hiding on a hanger in the closet! amazing stuff. stinking sne...

i heart faces this week is focusing on kids pouting....hmmmm...i just wonder if i would have any pics of kids pouting. my kidsa re always so joyous and happy...ha!!! this is my sofie throwing a temper tantrum.... ...and isn't she sweet? oh, and i just have to say...bc i can't even believe it...i got 3rd place in last weeks i heart faces natural light photography contest! i am soooo excited! so go on over and check them out

look what i won...for my b-ster!!! remember the spring fling...well, michelle of one crafty momma gave away a gorgeous coronado orange beanie {from tina's etsy shop } and an itunes card. a big fat THANK YOU...

i did it!!! can you read that??? {look past thos wrinkly hands...seriously, i don't look that bad, do i?} let me help you out... bill is $120.73 70 items sold total savings in coupons $89.30 {43% savings} i know, it's not that big of a deal. and i won't be winning any special awards... but for me, i'm taking victory in the little accomplishments. i mean, i don't really have any great big ones i get to relish in, so go with me, will ya?

what's in a name? well, trouble, when it comes to paige... not in a really bad way, but in a "destructive" way. some things never change, you know... paige was "that" kid...the one that followed directions the first time. almost never had to be reminded of rules anywhere. she was polite and darling, looking very much like a precious moments little girl with her big brown eyes and her toe head blonde hair. one thing...the one thing that paige did {okay, there were two...but more on that at a later time} was write her name on everything! my handmade natural, unfinished leather couch...scratched her name right in the side of it. then, said she didn't do it. hello...your name was the clue. the bathroom wall...lysol-ed a big arrowed heart with "her bio dad's name + mom"...then said she never touched the lysol. the smell didn't evacuate for 3 months...and we had to repaint the wall in the end to cover it up. so you know that when ryan was inst...

if you don't know mckmama , well, come out from under your rock. if you do, you know that stellan is a stinking miracle baby to begin with. but little stellan is in need of our prayers...and a little honoring might be nice too! tabitha at a five Oh 4 uplifting is honoring little stellan by putting together some goodie bags for the kiddos at stellan's hospital...and donating them in stellan's honor. here's where you come in...prayerfully consider donating some items from OTC (as noted HERE ...scroll on down, you'll see it!) to tabitha to make this happen. more details HERE on tabitha's blog. and please, please, please, pray for strength and wisdom and peace for the whole mck fam!

my bud, michelle at big blueberry eyes , asked...if money were no object what is your dream vacation? where would you and what would you do? well, i would always go where there was a beach , few people, good food and lots of sunshine. give me the beach and a cute little sippy sip of diet coke, iwth a funky umbrella in it, of course...and i'm set! hawaii would be great...but i'm up for any good beach. got any suggestions? a form of therapy asked, what made you decide to adopt/foster children? i grew up in an adoptive fam...after my little bro, matthew, died in 1974, i was 5 and an only child for a year. seems i was too spoiled and getting too much attention {a diamond ring and motorcycle in 1 year, come on..it was all love}. whatever! anyway, mom and dad felt the call to adopt...long story short. after looking at piles of books at the welfare agency, mom fell madly in love with jeremy's chubby face and eyes...and the rest is history. jeremy was 26 months old...and we we...

jada is in a funk...in the picture arena. look at her "pouty face" when she was asked to share a picture with her friend and sister...no way. she was having none of that! so we got the decent shot of molly and brooke... and THEN, jada says, "take my pic too, mommy...but only all by myself." this is all i can get from this kid. the 2 finger myspace shot! i think we are spending too much time around hs kids or something! she's gotta come out of the funk soon...otherwise she'll think we made her do "the look" later in life. you are my witness..she's all about the "by myself" and "myspace shots." go look on over at angie's for more wordful wednesday's.

my tribute this week is for my #3 daughter, jada. a girl who loves food more than life itself...in fact, the last words {every night} are her request for what food she wants in the morn. a girl who wanted strawberries on top of her cake so bad that she it was time to sing, she started it off and said, "happy birthday to me....}. a girl who came to us as a gift from god...and a gift we will never forget. and so we celebrated our little jada gift on saturday with friends and fam...and that is always fun!!! uber cuteness all around! happy bday jk! A Jay and Deb Production.

before you start NOT ME this week, say a prayer for stellan, mck mama's sweet little 4 mos old miracle...not doing well and well, go read here . ___________________________________ it's that time again...so here are a few things me and the fam DID NOT do this week: hubs DID NOT get the trim molding done in the toy room after it being left undone for 3 years...and then he DID NOT ask if i was proud of him for finishing it in one day. i DID NOT get a felt food kick and sew like there was no tomorrow 23, 597 pieces of food for the girlies to play with {roughly}. when i found sofie with a venti cup from starbucks, i DID NOT rush to get the camera way before i even thought whether there was any coffee inside. {seriously, it was mine. do you think there was any coffee left in it??} brooke DID NOT ask me in the car if god made our feet or our heads first...to which i DID NOT do the "which one do you think"...to which brooke replied, "ummm, mom, that's why i stinkin...

hard to believe that brooke was ever this small... and so still! {kids entry} b is 2 weeks old in this pic i took in the side yard in ryan's hands...you can see his thumb on the right side. this is the actual shot, no cropping, but sepia toned, which i love! {it's the opening photo in her baby scrapbook} and my adult entry.. one of the girlies i mentored while she was in hs...and i totally still talk with her an dlove her even more today. and she's more than beautiful. there are lots of fun faces to see, so head on over to iheartfaces ...

remember these??? well, we have a winner!!!! random.org picked michelle at big blueberry eyes is the winner! congrats! {and if you don't know michelle, you need to stop in bc she is awesome...her hubs is in iraq for the second time...and she's got 2 totally beautiful and amazing kids}

this is the bday of all bday's for jada... bc it's the bday of makeup. it's all she asked for... {except a drum, which i made serious threats} around here, being 4 means you can get play makeup... 5 means chewing gum...i know, silly, but it's just the way it is! so check out the ultimate makeover, 4 year old style... the girl has style...and some snot on her nose, but she's got style. and, she shared...on her own with brooke! {see the eyelids...this is how you pose for pics when you have eye shadow on...that's what brooke told me, anyway.} the real bday is this week, but auntie meg and uncle jon sent along a super shiny hot pink box full of makeup love...that is already all used up. well, it was fun while it lasted, for one day. {thanks aunt meg , uncle jon, jack and finn}