Want what you have...

Well, another little bump in the road has come along... Once again in lovely Snohomish it is snowing. Snow has been falling for several hours but not sticking to the ground. Smiles could continue because at least it was not accumulating. Now you know the luck we have had recently with the beautiful white stuff. Guess what, in the last 15 minutes it is now sticking to solid surfaces. I keep reflecting to something my Mother-in-law mentioned last week when we were snowed in. I will share with you now.

"Here are some words about contentment that I like:
Be happy.
When you don't have what you want, want what you have.
MAKE DO.
That's a well-kept secret of contentment!"

So as I look outside and think of all the things I would have liked to do today instead I will make due and be happy with were I am. I can reflect on the year that is coming to a close and the wonderful things it has brought. The joy in little childrens faces when they see the magic of Disneyland, the promise of lovely new babies to snuggle, the beauty of newly married love with an entire future to behold, the assurance of spring and summer yet to come, the beauty of a complete family bathed in health, and knowing that 2009 is a blank slate yet to be determined. I am blessed and will have to remember that even when it is easier to get irritated with the events around me.

Maybe this reflection was meant to occur because as I have reflected guess what... the snow has stopped. It is once again raining. Do you see me smiling?

Happy, Happy Birthday to my dear Sister-in-Law KT! Hope it is fabulous and we know the year to come is bound to be exciting!

Happy New Year to you all!
I hope this day finds you wanting what you have.

I have good news to report...

It is raining in Snohomish!

I hope it melts the snow. When I came home from work tonight I got the van stuck in the snowy driveway again and I do not want to dig it out tomorrow. It is now just this wet, mucky, slushy snow but it still sucked the van into it's evil vortex so that once again I have to get out my snow shovel! DAMN YOU SNOW, I HATE YOU! Well, I will probably only hate it for a few more weeks then I will forget what a pain this was. Then I will romantically wish for a beautiful snowy day again. I think snow is like childbirth, easier to enjoy when it is gone! Either way the rain is welcome because it lessons my shoveling work in the morning! 

Careful...

My dream has officially become my nightmare. 32" or more of snow, I have given up trying to keep track. Just a "hella lot" to quote younger, cooler kids.
What did we do to deserve all this snow?!

Walkway to house and driveway...shovel this? I think not!

Taken Christmas morning, check out the snow on the deck behind her.

Yep, more of the same...snow, snow, snow. How can something so

beautiful be such a pain in the arse?

Christmas day at the Marks house looked like this...Still amazing to me!
This is historic and I know we have created so many memories...yet I am
done with it. I was happy and embraced what I had. Now I yearn for
Something more, like a trip to the grocery store!

I am hoping and praying when this all melts it goes somewhere else and does not complicate our lives further. They say rain is coming but I am having my doubts at this point. It snowed here all day. Our power went out at 3pm Friday as I type this by the power of our generator at 12:15 am I just wonder...how much longer?

I am dreaming of...

My wish came true!

We wish you a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Christmas 2008

Click the above for a link to photos from our Christmas Beach celebration---Snow all the way to the surf! CRAZY. I will write more later about the events for now just enjoy the photos.

SNOW DAY!

I thought I would share some of the fun pictures. Snow is the nicest backdrop, it makes the images just pop out. Hope you enjoy. You can see more if you click on the link...

Here is the entirety of our day so far

Wake up and watch this... 

Charles Schultz 1965

remember when Trevor was little, I think about 18 months old at Christmas. I was told time and time again he looked just like Charlie Brown...glad he outgrew that bald ginormous head thing! He might have been teased in school-

While they watched the cartoon they got to eat some donut holes we bought for Megan's class party that she had to miss. Then they watched a Muppet Christmas special we had Tivo'd. 

After that we did a little of this... 

Smile for Mom

and

Practice our parade wave

and of course some of this...

But only the clean stuff!

Then this happened...

After that I witnessed this... climbing a giant Juniper to 

throw snowballs at the neighbors truck-

Making friends wouldn't you say?

From Fall/Winter 2008

Click on the Fall/Winter 2008 tab above for more pictures.

Hope this day finds you warm and safe with 

people you love!

9 inches and still snowing~

Guess what, no school. I think it is safe to say that we have begun our Christmas vacation 3 days early. 

 The kids are watching a Charlie Brown Christmas in our warm house. I just pray we keep the lights on. It sounds like we are supposed to have continued snow/ice/cold for several days. Michael's Brother and family are supposed to fly in tomorrow for our family Christmas... This might get interesting. 

The real bummer is that when normal people get to take a snow day and stay home and enjoy the snow with their family the poor guys working for the transit company do not. Michael has to go in early an stay late. He left home at 8pm last night and still is not home. Who is really riding a bus in this weather? Beside the homeless guys trying to stay warm I cannot imagine many people. He says they are just putting chains on constantly. UGHH, I'll pass. 

Want a cookie?

4" and counting...school is listed as 2 hours late right now. I think it is safe to say that will change. Good thing we picked up a game of clue when we were out running a couple errands before the snow. It took over 2 hours to get home from somewhere that normally takes 20 minutes. We never got stuck though. I love our van, it just went everywhere I prayed it would go! YIPPPEE for the Bokeswagon Verovan as the kids used to call it when they were little (couldn't say Volkswagen Eurovan).

When we were in the car this conversation happened...

Me: We need to find a cooking store (kitchen type items)

Elise: can we have one? (I could hear glee in her voice)

Me: huh? what are you talking about?

Elise: a cookie, you said we needed to find a cookie store

If only I was a cool Mom that drove around looking for random cookie stores...I feel so boring and un-fun now. Sorry kid, no luck! Boy she would have been disappointed if we had actually found a "Cooking Store" before we ended up in a snow storm.

Careful what you wish for...

You better watch out, You better not cry, you better now pout I am telling you why...

Santa Claus is Comming to Town

It sure feels like it. We live in a little pocket called the Puget Sound Convergence Zone. We are projected to get between 8-16" of snow today according to channel 5. I prefer KIRO because they are indicating a meager 3-9". Either way it poses problems for children that are so disappointed to be stuck at home and not attending there holiday parties at school. I guess we will need to improvise and have a party at home. I do not think it will be the same but it just might be the best option.

I do recall when I made my previous wish for snow to avoid the chaos that comes with the big stuff. Maybe this is our Christmas Gift from Sarah Palin for Voting for Obama?

A lyrical masterpiece...

After begging, pleading and complaining about the song my Mom's phone played when I called her she changed it to this little beauty. This song gives me goose-bumps. The lyrics are so wonderful to take them for yourself or imagine them for your children. I am not sure if she knows she hit it out of the park. I like to think she picked that song because the lyrics touched her the same way they touched me. 

"My Wish" 

Rascal Flats

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,

And each road leads you where you want to go,

And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

And if one door opens to another door closed,

I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,

If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,

All the ones who love you, in the place you left,

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,

And you help somebody every chance you get,

Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,

And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

This is my wish

I hope you know somebody loves you

May all your dreams stay big

If you click on the link of the title you will go to youtube and get a sneak peak at another sappy thing I really enjoy...

Have you heard...

there are mumblings and rumblings... Panic is starting to set in. Whatever will we do? It might... maybe just maybe.... wouldn't it be pretty if we got some...

SNOW!

UPDATE: 2:05pm

Nevermind -- according to KIRO News

"Winter Storm warning for Puget Sound canceled". Imagine that, a storm can be canceled.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/18263763/detail.html

Sounds like instead we will have

RAIN!

her finger & her thumb in the shape of an "L" on her forehead

I was almost thru the year without pulling a maneuver that makes you go "man, I am such a bonehead". Then what happens? So close to the finish line, I could practically smell the beauty of another year tied up in a nice little package with a pretty bow on top! Yep on Sunday, December 7th I blew it! After having a nice leisurely bath, I decided the jets needed to be cleaned in the tub in our master bath. It seemed like a great idea at the time.

Let me walk you thru the next part-

• Step 1 insert nasty chemicals and run jets for 4-7 minutes
• Step 2 drain said nasty water
• Step 3 due to corrosive nature of above mentioned chemicals fill water 2 inches above jets before running jets again
  
• Step 4 (this one is important guys!) TURN OFF THE WATER!
  

Yep you guessed it, I overflowed the bath tub. So much so that the little dust bunnies could have used a life boat to be saved. The tub was taking so long to refill that I went to go find my cell phone "real quick" so I would have it Monday for work. Then some laundry that needed washing, perhaps I would fold the laundry that I took out of the dryer, it seemed like a good idea to load the dishwasher. It was then, as I was rinsing a dish in the kitchen sink, only then did I have that "OH CRAP" moment. Running off to find trusty Remo lying on his dog bed just outside the disaster zone. He did not even bother to come alert me that I had a problem... Where is Lassie when you need her? Water spilling down the heat register, dangerously encroaching the carpeted closet, Running down the tile surround. I think I said every 4 letter word I knew at that moment. I might have even made up a few new ones!

I will spare you the details but just know, to protect my family and our home, I have grounded myself from ever cleaning a bathtub again! Sorry Michael that has to be your job now. Gee maybe this worked out well after all?!

Michael gets a "free pass" because not once did he say anything unkind. Have at it buddy, give me something else to write about.

20 days are left in 2008---let's hope I don't top this one!
Did I just jinx myself?

Feeling Nutty?

I was singing an old commercial to Megan tonight...this very one in fact. One of her spelling words is M-O-U-N-D-S.  Nice to know somewhere you can locate these old gems and relive being 9 years and running around the playground in bell bottom pants and a polyester shirt singing..."Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. Almond Joy's got nuts...Mounds don't." 

Courtesy of Almond Joy and Mounds please enjoy this trip down memory lane--because sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't!