thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:



**beautiful weather for a motorcycle ride. and a buddy who wants to get in on the action:

i think we look so natural:

**the fact that i may or may not have (allegedly) BEAT somebody in a game of words with friends who may or may not (allegedly) be in the photo above.


which might just be my greatest achievement, ever.


i place it right above marrying russ and birthing my four children:






**mia's fantastic spelling skillz:

(TRANSLATION: "this is an ice cream. it is strawberry. it is yummy.")




**that the 80's dream is still kept awake & alive by my 13-year old's school:

(on the downside, she came to me and described this outfit as "from the 60's". dislike.)

**baby libby's shopping skills.

she went right along to las vegas to search for a homecoming dress, and she couldn't have been any sweeter. or cuter. i think she might possibly be the actual cutest baby in the world.

here she is just chillaxing in the dressing room amongst the 400 dresses we tried on:

**when i find random old photos on russ's cell phone that i've never seen.

like these:

**that the good 'ole candy bar card never really goes out of style:

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:



**the loose tooth that FINALLY came out at the pool last saturday:

i tell you what: that baby was holding on for dear life by the thinnest of threads. the only way she was letting it go was the fact that her cousin showed no fear 2 minutes earlier and lost her first tooth to jody's expert hands:

the tooth fairy was quite busy that night:

**a kitty that makes me laugh when i see i've passed my "FOMO" (Fear Of Missing Out) right on to him:





ahhh, mahhhhhtin:

**once again, i want to express my thankfulness as a mother of four girls to the young men out there that are still asking to dances.


and in a clever way, at that:

katie is psyched to go to homecoming with taylor h.~

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:

*a brother-in-law who is trying to break into the lorn industry: (that's LIGHT PORN to you...)





**the fact that sprint has taken the guesswork out of my christmas present from russ this year......



awwwwhhhh! so sweet of them! i love that they are only looking out for my best interests.

actually, i don't care that they are going to bleed me for every last dime. i just want that phone.

***2019 UPDATE** Yeah remember the christmas where dad didn't buy me an iphone after i had told him for MONTHS AND MONTHS that it's ALL I WANTED FOR CHRISTMAS?  yeah.  your dad screwed up BIG time. 



**a daughter who doesn't know how to throw the 'peace' sign:


have i NOT TAUGHT HER BETTER? {sigh.}

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:



**my friend's husband's amazingly creative way to celebrate their anniversary--

this banner was displayed proudly on river road today:

**a sweet new baby cousin for us to love and kiss on:

**& for her incredible fashion GOOD sense she displayed at a mere two days old by wearing kitty clothing:

**the last two elementary girls i have taking the annual "back to school" obligatory photo--


my 5th grader:

& my 1st grader:

i must admit that i got a bit misty-eyed when watching this from the front porch:

i felt like i had a love-hate-love-hate relationship with the fact that i had no child at home during the day for the first time in SEVENTEEN YEARS! crazy.




**speaking of said child, did you see her awesome backpack that we purchased solely for the fact that it looked just! like! her! :

i might have been so enamored by the items we found at target from the harajuku mini line that i may or may not have purchased THIS backpack for no reason at all.

or for myself: (really. not joking.)

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:




**lagoon's one and only redeeming quality:

** police officers who don't haul this mother's arse off to jail after her 6-year old calls 911.

twice.





**and for the same said 6-year old who had the gall to tell the dispatcher who called back to the house that she "had the wrong number". nice:

{buy that rad t-shirt HERE}

**the fact that you really only need ONE chair to watch television: (a mere 18 inches from the set)

**the desert sage that blooms during these miserable hot months--it is my favorite plant and brings me much joy: (did i just sound like a member of AARP? yikes.)

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:




**abbey's intricate and detailed "to-do" list for the morning we left for our family vacay in park city last week:





**random photos that i find in my phone that my girls have taken with my retro camera app:





**speaking of apps, have you been sucked into words with friends yet? because you SHOULD:



it gets a bit addicting. which may or may not have contributed to the dysfunction that was (or was not) my husband and i lying on the bed next to each other a few nights ago, each playing opponents on our phones for roughly 3 hours. ALLEGEDLY.

it's basically scrabble that you play one move at a time with friends--you can sign up on facebook and see who plays as well. it's pretty rad. especially when i can play a semi-dirty word.

thankful thursday

**our new sticker on the car:



bat shiz crazy? why, yes. but it brings us joy. in THIS form:




**the creative genius of others so i don't have to think. which is JUST how i like it....



the gals at eighteen25 turned me on to some pretty cool free printables. yes, i know that subway art is everywhere and therefore nearly "out" again. but with my penchant for numbers and letters, i can't help but be drawn to them like a raccoon to a disco ball.



you can find the cutest "girl" birthday poster shown above HERE.


they also include a "boy" version:



mothers and fathers day free printables HERE






**this picture that tiburon posted:


i fought the road biking thing for a long time. i didn't want to fall into the cliche of investing big dollars into something that seemed to be the "IT" thing to do at this moment. but i finally caved, thanks to my friend's persistence, and i'm so very glad i did. i enjoy riding because it's less impact on this old, tired body and i've even seen some (very) small benefits to said same tired old body because because of it. but i still maintain the fact that biking clothing is uglier than sin and only looks good on somebody who weighs 78 pounds. and even then, it's sketchy.