Words to Live By

I believe that Dr. Seuss was a very wise man, a bit crazy yes, but wise definitely.  He wrote a book called Oh, the Places You'll Go! that, in my opinion, should be issued to every high school graduate, college graduate or person feeling discouraged with life in general.

Below is a little bit from the book.

You'll be on your way up!

You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers

who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.

You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.

Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.

Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so

but, sadly, it's true

that Bang-ups

and Hang-ups

can happen to you.

You can get all hung up

in a prickle-ly perch.

And your gang will fly on.

You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch

with an unpleasant bump.

And the chances are, then,

that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,

you're not in for much fun.

Un-slumping yourself

is not easily done...

I just love the book because it is a reality check.  It is such a reminder that life isn't always daisies.  Bad things can happen, but you need to dust yourself off and move on.  Good stuff!

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

Saturday Sunshine

Today was the hottest day of the year (so far).  Tomorrow is supposed to nearly reach triple digits...  Wouldn't it be nice if we could be eased into the heat?  Well, this afternoon, Melanie and DJ came by for a visit.  The cousins all had fun playing together. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from today.

DJ and his favorite shirt.  It sure looks cute on him!

Looks like Hailey is doing an impression of Dwayne Johnson "The Rock".

Supa-Star!

We Love and Miss You

Dylan Robert McNeil passed away Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at Doernbacher Children's Hospital. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at Table Rock Fellowship.
Dylan was born May 14, 2007 at Rogue Valley Medical Center to Marcus and Sabrina McNeil.
Dylan loved to pretend he was waterskiing and loved to play in our family's boat. He loved to play with his big brother and outside. He made everyone smile and touched so many hearts.
Dylan is survived by his mom and dad; big brother, Ryan; grandparents, Rose and Cliff Esp; Mort and Maralee Sullivan; aunts and uncles, Shona and Jeff Rue, Jeff and Misty McNeil, John and Kelly Webb; cousins, Karissa, Shelby and Novaly and lots of friends who loved him dearly. Dylan loved life and was always full of love.

Oh, The Beauty of Spring!

Hailey found this robin egg.  It looks intact, but it has actually already hatched.

Fern fronds from our garden. 

The dogwood blooms are just too beautiful this year!

Behold, the Prophesy

Ok, maybe we have a little too much Harry Potter in our house...  The picture above is a decoration that I have in the kitchen, on the windowsill.  It is just a blown glass ball, but to the kids it is Harry Potter's Prophesy!  Hmm, we are certainly not lacking imagination!

Playing Around with the Rebel

I always love to take macro pictures.  Today, my subject was the blooming dog wood trees in our yard.  I decided to play around with the camera settings and do some manual (instead of automatic) shots.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Growing Kids!

This week, I took Hailey to the pediatrician for her 7 year well child visit.  She turned 7 in January, but the doctors office doesn't like to bring healthy kids in during the winter cold and flu season.  So, they scheduled her for Spring.  The checkup went well.  Last night, I was looking at her growth charts - slightly below 50th percentile for height and just above 50th percentile for weight. 

Then, I started to wonder where Pete would be on the charts.  He hasn't had a normal well child checkup since he was 18 months old and it has been almost a year since he has seen the Endocrinologist!  So, I went online and found a growth chart calculator and typed in his info.  Ok, I wasn't sure what to expect, but people always comment about what a big kid he is, when they findout he is only 5.  And he is bigger than most of the boys in Hailey's 1st grade class.  Well, Pete is indeed a big boy - 87th percentile for height and 92nd percentile for weight.  WOW, for a boy that stopped growing for a whole year while he was on treatment, he has certainly caught up and then some!  

After that, I went online again and found a height predictor and typed in Jeff and my info along with Pete's and it calculated that Pete should be around 6' 2" when he is full grown.  Poor Hailey should only be around 5' 4" or 5' 5".  So, Pete will be the big little brother before we know it!

I'm Trying

I always wished I knew how to sew.  Recently, my mom gave me a brand new sewing machine that she found a bit too complicated to figure out (she doesn't sew much either...).  After spending over an hour learning to put thread on the bobbin and threading the needle, I was off.  My mission, one tooth fairy pillow for Mr. Pete.  Well, I must say that with each stitch I am improving.  I am also better with a seam ripper now (at first I sewed the pocket closed and had to take it apart...).  After I finished Pete's pillow, I made one (minus the pocket) for Hailey.

 

Not too bad for a beginner!