How many do you really need?

My kids crack me up, and often.
Devin found a collection of binki's well it was like the lottery to his little mind I am sure, so he brought them all out and tasted them all, then even took them for a spin through the house. Oh the little things in life that can bring such pleasure, I wish we as adults were so easily pleased.

3900 Marbles

I know of a few that need to read this and maybe we should all remember this, Robbie sent this to me and I keep it on file now, I found it to be so important and a blessing for those days that I am frustrated with all that life is giving me. To remember that life is giving me life, time with my husband who I adore so much, my children that I will do anything for, I love them all with so much that it hurts sometimes.
My family and friends mean the world and this puts the hard time back in to perspective.
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.
Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way,I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business He was telling whomever he was talking with something about 'a thousand marbles.' I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
'Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to w ork sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital' he continued. 'Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.' And that's when he began to explain his theory of a 'thousand marbles.'
'You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.'
'Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail', he went on, 'and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.'
'Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.'
'There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.'
'Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.'
'It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!'
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. 'C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.' 'What brought this on' she asked with a smile.' 'Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.'


And so, as one smart bear once said...'If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.' - Winnie the Pooh.

99 Balloons

please view this, it is truly amazing, you can pause my playlist at the bottom of this page! Peace and blessings and know that every day is a gift from above......

Yes we Can!

Yesterday was an amazing day, one that we should all be proud of.

I feel like we were all standing at the front door of something amazing, one knock and that door opened, the pride and confidence that the Obama family has. To know they are a part of something amazing in the making, this man and the team he will put together will bring this country to great heights and we will not fear it, we will be proud and strong and feel our nations pride again, UNITED is right Obama, right on!!! This is not about him being a black man, it is about him have a love, faith, belief that this country can do amazing things, and changes can be made. McCain was wonderful in his speech last night, kudos to him, maybe it was finally one he wrote instead of the person that told him to be on the defense and attack when he can.Obama took a stand to not offend, not to bring others down but to be honest, be hopeful and believe in better things for us all as one. He is a hero and I pray for him and the future we have ahead , one that is so bright! I know it important that we have a minority President to break the mold of what this nation has been haunted by for so many years, but more important that we have a free thinking, open minded man to lead this country. A man that I feel truly represents what this nation is and that is one of many that can come together and be united under one flag.

We need a fresh start, fresh ideas. This country will not be fixed over night, we as individuals don't fix our own problems over night, so I would hope no one would think this man or his party can fix a billion families and problems in one step. But he wants to do it together and with listening ears and understanding. He makes me feel that I could sit with him and feel peaceful, that he could help me to calm down and have a better understanding. There is a peace and father love to him. He has such respect for those around him, I just cant say enough how I feel that this man is on to do wonderful things for our country.

Feel pride in our country, even if you did not vote for Obama know that he is doing this for all of us.

Pray for him, pray for our nation, God is in charge of all of this, THIS is what was suppose to be.

Queens park

(as Brenden kept calling it) this is what we visited on Saturday evening, Big Daddy's idea.
A park he use to visit as a kid and yea for him for spending so much kid time/play time with the family. I think it has been so good for him to get out play and have no worries, let his little guy in him get out. Too much serious boss man these days. So Saturday afternoon he states that he was going to take us to Queeny Park to play so we hopped in the car and off we went, not totally sure what road it was off of. I suggested a road that I thought could be it and we turned on it (a very short distancelater) Brad felt it was wrong so we turned around and traveled further to a road we felt could be what he described, and we found the entrance. If you know Brad and I well, than you know we don't do trips on a moments notice without some sort of happenings that is humorous. So we enter and there is a truck blocking the road or entrance to the park and a sign that says hayride parking, and to the left at the Dog Museum there is a benefit of some sort going on and a ton of cars. First of Brenden wants to know why there is a museum for dogs, Brad wants to know if there are stuffed poodles in there.......
so I told Brad that he should ask the guy in the truck "blocking" the road in, how to get in the park. It is still day light and we should be able to play. So picture it, we drive up next to the guy in the truck who is eating his McDonalds apple pie and Brad says, excuse me " How do I get in to the park?' (the man is black so he has a bit of slang tone to his speech) He looks around and says "You at da Pawk" We about fell out of the truck, "we said we know we are at the Park how do we get IN the park you have it blocked!
well turns out we had to back to the original road I told Brad to go down, if we would have stayed another block on that route we would have been there but we chuck it up to that is how we do things and we had the best time replaying and of course adding to our conversation with the park maintenance guy, we thought about finding him from the playground side and asking him how to get out of the Pawk!
Here are some photos of our time, Such a great idea Daddy, afterwards we stopped at Chick Fil A to eat since Devin was not ready to leave Queeny Park. The restaraunt has indoor play ground there. Well everyone and their Aunt was there to eat so we ate outside and went in with Devin to play a few times till rumor started someone was sick in the tunnels, well this play area is realllllly small so I thought they will find it fast, well no one ever left it so I think it was just a national enquiror thing, a kid finding a way to get the play area all to his or herself!