A Thorn Among Roses

this is abigail...the face of a fun, happy, loving, giggly and charismatic kid. this is also a face of a child with a terminal illness...mitochondrial disease. this last saturday the UMDF chapter in indiana held the annual "mito walk" to raise awareness and funds for research for mitochondrial disease. and that face...up there...that sweet toothy grin...she's one of the big reasons so many of us walk and donate and help. i had the honor to be the "press" or the photographer at the mito walk...and i loved it! the clan here walk as the "motley crew"...you may remember last year... {this year...there was a softball tournament with p, and b and jk both had soccer games, so we sadly had to miss the walking part as a fam. but i was so grateful to still be a part.} so what is mitochondrial disease??? well, it's complicated, but we all have mitochondria in us...and those mito's are our energy system. mitochondria generates 90% of all the energy needed...

a few things me an d the fam DID NOT do this week... paige DID NOT play in a softball tournament, on a lake, where it was stinking freezing! i DID NOT go get hand warmers for the girls...who DID NOT put them in their back pockets of their pants to keep warm. and...the girls DID NOT laugh endlessly bc when you looked around the field, all of them were touching their butts...to keep warm! hubs and i DID NOT have a super fab time on our 10th anniversary...we DID NOT eat super fab food and laugh and enjoy every second alone on our date. we are NOT so stinking grateful that we still love each other and have fun together...and laugh a lot together! i DID NOT get "SHUSHED" by jada while singing along in the car with radio disney to "the ants go marching one by one..." jada DID NOT tell me, "mom, your singing is not so good". i have NOT been battling for a solid week a sinus infection/flu type thing. i am NOT tired of being exhausted and sick...but grateful i...

{got this from one of my girlie friends...and i loved it} Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Love the ones who don't just because you can. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Kiss slowly. Forgive quickly. God never said life would be easy. He promised it would be worth it.

it's been 10 years today... we became a fam of 3 october 9, 1999. {aren't we cute?} i feel so honored and blessed to be married to a humble, honest, loving, supportive, hot and god fearing man. i never take that for granted...i promise...and today, i take a little extra time to be thankful because the last 10 years have been awesome. we've gotten older...i have gotten skinnier {can you believe that?} and paige has turned from this little blonde cutie pie to a full fledged beautiful teenager. our fam has grown...our house is fuller...and honestly, our love is stronger. we've been through some stuff...good and bad...and we are better for it. so, thank you lord, for the man you brought me when i didn't think i ever wanted another man in my life. proving once again, i still know nothing...and you, lord, know what's best for me. happy anniversary, hubs. love ya...d

me and the girlies {and yes, i omitted ryan for a reason} are park peeps. we love the park. if it's nice outside and we have some spare time, we head to the park... and sometimes, if i hear one more scream inside of my house, i will pass out...so we go to the park to run out our energy...and then mommy won't pass out! but all in all, the girlies love the park...they beg to go to the park...and we're closing in on fall and park time is getting less frequent. the girlies actually get along at the park...yes, they do still have tiffs, but it's about who can go first down the slide...you know, not big ones that drive me nuts! you can discover a whole new world...wait, i think disney already did a song on that one. oh well. and for me...i need only a few things other than smiling and laughing kids... ...but a good old fashion belly laugh from a kiddo is priceless! ...fine. i got bored for a second and well, then i resorted to vandalism. so bye bye park...indiana weather ...

i love my home nicely decorated...but i got a little "forced" decor this last week. it's dog ugly...u-g-l-y!!! the only thing worse than the uber ugliness of the machine itself, is how NOT HOT i look in this dumb mask. yes, i snore. fine. i quit breathing for 5 or more seconds over 33 times an hour. sure, i could have stroke. but seriously? you don't have anything a little more...girlie? or a little less darth vader-esque...or scuba steve-ish?! and to boot, apparently, i have a dumb allergic reaction to the latex on the mask...so now, there's nasty puss filled hives all over my nose and cheeks. that just makes it so much sweeter...and heaven knows, i'm a super scuba steve impersonator. what do you think? i'm thinking of lace and finding a bedazzler...maybe that will help? any ideas?

a few things me and the fam DID NOT do this week... i DID NOT develop some weird allergic reaction to the cpap facemask on my nose and cheeks after 3 days. i DO NOT look like a acne faced zombie even without the dumb mask on! jada DID NOT have an absolute fit ont he soccer field saturday when it was NOT 53 degrees and 20 mph winds when i put her coat under her uniform to play...apparently, jada is NOT a conformist bc she DID NOT ask for the coat to be taken off bc no one else had their coat on. me and the fam DID NOT drive 2 hours to ikea on saturday...we DID NOT have a total blast and get some new set ups for the play room and office! i DID NOT disappear from blogland for 4 days and have peeps flipping out...turns out ikea is NOT a distraction! my paiger DID NOT design her high school class ring...and i DID NOT love helping her. i DID NOT think about how lucky i am that she DID NOT want me to do that with her. sofia DID NOT jump into the display window at the children's place on ...