he loves me...

...he loves me a lot.




better than any flower.
love you, mister :)

more.
sanford

dear cold and flu season.

welcome.

how my day began...
"umm, teacher, my tummy feels like its going to frow up..."

love,
sanford & my new bff, lysol

dear karma.

hahaha. you are soooo funny.
jokes on me, right?

i was trying to be all funny and maybe a little jealous, pouty baby when i sent this

pathetic picture of my dinner to mister in hopes for a return picture of some 'real' meal he was devouring while on his fancy business trip. (side note: fancy = my definition of getting the heck out of dodge away from any small people i might know, any furry beasts that i may be responsible for, any toilets that have some random residue all over them b/c nobody bothers to lift the seat up around here, any clothes that won't magically clean themselves and then find their proper homes, and possibly anywhere that isn't a billion degrees with 900% humidity with nothing but outdoor sporting events in the middle of september)

why would i even be shocked when this

now-banned-to-the-outdoors member of my family took a whole 2 seconds behind my back to eat that brand new block of cheese, brand new package of luscious virginia ham deli sliced goodness, and the very last bite of cheddar cheese?
did i happen to mention that said family member had already barfed all over his kennel earlier today?

bahahahahahaha!
jokes on me.

dear bad attitude.

okay, listen. i hate to break it to you, but ya gotta go.
i'm kickin' ya to the curb.
if i don't, this guy's actually about 3 seconds away from doing it himself...

i can be associated with you no longer.
i've run out of excuses about how you're really not that bad and how i can turn you around, but i'm drained. i simply cannot stick up for you and your attempts to take over my life.
i cannot say that i haven't tried to show it's not really your fault that i'm such a crabby, irritated, fun-sucking, looney.
nope. i've justified you for soo long...hormones, children, other stupid people, not knowing what i want to be when i grow up, hormones, money, chaotic schedules, vending machines not have diet coke, hormones, that dog, indecisiveness, not being able to find my favorite shoes anywhere anymore, texas summers, no candy in the house, hormones combined with this out of control heat and humidity and inability to not stop sweating, my kids growing up way too fast and i can't do anything to stop it, and on and on and on.
i think i'm ready for my old friend, miss easy-going-remembers-how-to-laugh-doesn't-say-no-ALL-of-the-time-wouldn't-kill-you-to-take-a-risk-every-once-in-a-while-thinks-about-others-more-than-herself--spunky-cheery-actually-participates-in-the-occasional-physical-activity, to come back and be my bestie.
in order to please not isolate ALL the people i love in my life, i must bid you farewell.
i'd like to say it's been fun, but who are we kidding?! :)
i have no doubt you will soon find a new best friend, in fact, i swear i saw you flirting with her the other day :)

sayonara.
-sanford

dear dyson.

have i ever told you how much i love you? you are one of my best friends!
you and me...we make the best team EvER.
we're like super heroes!!
we work hard to defeat the evil dog hairs and legos and dry cleaning tag thingys and wrappers and baseball dirt and scissor scrap-majiggers and spiders and so much more!
PLeASE  don't fail me now!
i know, it was really silly to try and teach the kids about that responsibility thing and chores-schmores.
i knew i should never let them touch you...
i'm sorry i failed you.
you've always amazed me with your sucky power! but no one could have imagined you'd attempt this...
how in the world did you consume a big, fat, purple crayola marker? how you were able to maneuver it through your angry brushes on past the holy macaroni? that i will never know.
i guess it's completely understandable that you decided that you could take no more.
if i promise to make some changes, would you rethink your will to serve this household?
i can't imagine the days of fighting crime with someone else? no more magic-sucky-power-wand?!
i can't bare the thought.
i will try not to crash you really hard into things on purpose when i lose my temper because there's so much crap all over the floors that everyone besides me thinks is invisible.
i promise i won't yank the cord as hard as i can out of the socket when i've gone too far and am on a dog-hair-ocd-sucking-roll only to find i've run out of cord.
i promise i will try to lay off the legos and monopoly pieces and marbles and dental floss picker sticks that the dentist should be arrested for handing them out to little boys...really?! he thinks they'll use them only in the bathroom and for their teeth? bah-hahahaha :)

have i ever told you how much i love you?

xo,
sanford

dear life.

you are kind of amazing.
you're up, then you're down. you're a little silly and sometimes sad. you go by way faster than intended in this hurry-up-and-get-in-the-car, hurry-up-and-get-your-shoes-on, hurry-up-we're-gonna-miss-it world we live in.
with age, i finally feel like i'm starting to appreciate you the way you were intended... with family and friends, with no agenda, learning from the smiles and tears that touch our hearts, treasuring God's creations around us.

on the way home from a great vacation, that sadly, we wanted to hurry up and get here for the previous 300-ish days...i found one of those simple moments to treasure and learn from. after finally taking the driver's seat on our way home for sweet chelsea and brad's wedding, i looked over at mister.
this was playing.



i looked back at the three monkeys.
heart full. butterfies.
totally corny i know. and of course, when i have an abundance of emotions of ANY sort, what will i do friends?
(response in unison) TaLK :)
"hey mister, if we got married right now. this would be our first dance."
pretty sure he was sleeping, but i did get a smile.

hours later, laughing and experiencing a beautiful wedding with the boys for two people with a story not too different than our own...



butterflies.


life, thank you.

after stealing my camera and quickly returning it with a huge smile, this was taken from the point of view from one of my midgets...
i think he might get it :)

xo,
sanford

dear vay-cay-shun,

i.heart.you.

it's only been like TwO hours, but we decided we like you.

it's been quite a while since i've ventured into blogland, believe me, i've had plenty
swirling in my lost-cause of a head, but life has managed to come first...as it actually should.

vacation,
here are some reasons why you are so great:

-we get to eat circus peanuts.

-you allowed me to rock this guy's world when i so awesomely
got 'the ticket' to stream throughout the car through my phone...







-i get to actually JuST BE with these guys and the beach and mister and eat LotS of spectacular, yummy, totally-not-good-for-you, random food...







one of the only pitfalls you possess is having to leave this sweet, allergies-so-bad-i'm-losing-my-hair-and-look-homeless poopy dog behind...






mosby and 'buddy' tried so hard to help us pack :)

okay, pitstop's a-callin'...check back with you soon.

peace out,
sanford

dear little things.

thank goodness for you :)
with only a few minutes in the whole strange, emotional, exhausting past week, you made me smile and filled my heart with this one simple thing...




partnered with mister, his giggle and a couch.

xo,
sanford

dear papa frank.

well, crap.
leukemia, huh? swine flu or even pneumonia wouldn't do? gotta pull out the big guns to actually get all of the family in one place. we're that difficult to corral? i'm thinking there may have been some other options also to get some time off work.
but, hey, we'll go with this. i know some boys who already think you are pretty strong and amazing and are secretly looking forward to wearing beautiful gowns and sweet masks in the months to come just to hang out with you! they have already talked about new happenings and changes to the papa 500 speedway :) i'd like to take a moment already say a big thank you for letting me talk non-stop because of my lack of knowledge of what to do when there's silence; allowing me wait time to focus back during my constant talking to the original thing i was talking about; letting me stick my foot in my mouth, which we all know kicks into high gear when i'm nervous or uncomfortable...i think it's my best trait, wouldn't you say? and on that note, if needed, i think these...

will look fabulous on you!
unfortunately, now that you've pulled the cancer card, your plan for family to be around may have back-fired...you see, we 3 women will be pretty hard to get rid of! didn't quite realize that did ya?! :)

it seems that in the last few years that i'm learning each day that i am apparently a big girl now with incredible family and friends and in life's journey there are some surprises in store...full of every emotion. if we give ourselves a chance, i am actually allowing myself to learn from these blessings and trials and the one thing i've found throughout all is how amazing God's love is and when we actually put our lives in His hands we feel what amazing strength and will and love He gives us. no matter what the road ahead, you are never going to be alone in every sense of the word.

leukemia has no freakin idea who they have chosen to deal with! :)
 we love you and are soo proud to call you OUR papa frank!

xo,
sanford

dear mister.

it is not kind to send your hormonally-challenged, fat-cha wife pictures as such...

(ReAL chicago pizza)

and this...

(lakeshore drive on a beautiful day)

here's a tip, paco...

next time you go to her hometown and send these kinds of things, you might leave her with something other than nathan's hotdogs cooked on the STOVE (okay, they actually don't suck) which will be placed in lovely albertson's buns or maybe at least bring her back some fannie mae candy (the milk chocolate butter creams) or a new cubs hat or an italian beef sandwich or photo booth pictures from navy pier or cotton candy from wrigley field...

...i'm just saying...

signed, 

the wonderful woman you have to come home to...

sanford

xo

circle of life.

it must go on.

after the hardest week of my life knowing i'd be saying good-bye to my sweet avery, it seems like you just can't possibly remember that there is always going to be tomorrow.
no matter what it holds.
people (and animals) and incidents so change our lives that it's so very difficult to somehow know that tomorrow will always be there to help you through what life brings your way.
why are faith and trust so difficult to remember?
hmmm...i guess there is that 'being human' thing, huh?
well, i will try not to ramble (ie. take a seat), but just wanted to share (and maybe give myself a visual reminder) that He is always taking care of us...

here is one of the last pictures of avery in her favorite, worn-out spot next to my bed, and that "please, mom, would you close the door so i can lay here?" her sweet eyes would seem to say.
"it's time for bed, right?"

this was taken just the day before. of course, she had to take one last swim to freak her mom out ;)

and then, mosby, who's spooked by water (yes. he is lab.), is like, "hey! ARE YOU CRAZY, OLD LADY?! get out of there quick! what were you thinking?!"

now, it's friday morning.
we hold our avery, talk to the boys, say good-byes and think we can cry no more.
a few hours pass, when suddenly, a little comic relief comes our way...at least for me :)
mister and i pick up jack from school around lunch time for his arm's moment of freedom.

noticing anything on his face? if not, maybe this will help...

"MOM!! YOU ARE NOT HOLDING MY EYES CLOSED TIGHT ENOUGH FOR ME NOT TO LOOK!!!" poor jackie didn't want to, but couldn't help trying to look while the nice man used pliers to twist and turn and yank the ginormous pins out of his bones. sweet.
apparently, mister also couldn't help looking and by the time it was over this is what i saw...

oh, wait. i'm sorry. this probably didn't give you the full view of the shade of green he and jack both turned.
ah. here it is...

til death do us part. right, honey?
thank you, mom, for working in an e.r. and telling gory stories during dinnertime. no queezy tummy for me :)
so next we scramble home to gather all the boys so they don't have to enter the house for the first time without avery by themselves. we cried a lot and we talked a lot. my boys grew up so much that day. no one fought. no one said unkind words. no one wanted to be with anyone else, but our own little family. that brought more tears to mister and myself. we were so amazed by how vocal each boy was at expressing how they were feeling. hmmm....how amazing that smiles were already beginning to creep back into our hearts.
now it was time to finish this

so it could travel to houston for this young lady's first birthday :) happy first birthday, kaitlyn!!! that is exactly how you should eat cake!

and before the night was over, we headed to the first of 4 hockey games for the weekend.
sadly, early the next morning, mister had to catch a plane to miami (i know, boo-hoo, right?) and all activities resumed. each boy had two games that day and why wouldn't they be at the same times? i can't thank my friends enough for helping out with all of this! you are our angels :)
and finally, enters today.
always best to start the morning with a little implosion of texas stadium followed by bagels and sunday school and a visit with bibber. a nice morning :)
but wait!!! my kids are fat like me and could not have been more excited than when we went here for lunch...

they were all like, "in your face, dad! no jimmy john's for you!"
mister, you're crying right? ;)
okay. hurry home. logan, change clothes, you two, get ready for God and me.
ugh. what time is it?
YES! time to green flag it to win the hockey championship where this guy (the white blur)

scored FIVE goals!!!
yes...i was THAT mom in the crowd you probably wanted to move away from after a while and darn proud of it! can you tell?

and as the circle closes on this weekend, what did we come home to?
a newbie in the pool trying to follow in his big sister's footsteps...
and just maybe trying to save his froggie :) you go, mosby-moo!

 xo.
sanford

good-bye my sweet girl.

to my sweet avery.
thank you for loving us. over 13 years ago, mister and i started our lives and family together. in the spring of that first year, we were blessed with our first baby, avery laquisha. you have filled our lives with so much love and happiness. you were there to welcome home all of the boys and have helped us raise them to be sweet, caring little men. you are and will always remain the best vacuum there ever was. you were such a patient horsey during the toy story phase of life. you never ceased to amaze us at your ability to within seconds completely devour a whole pizza, sandwich, or entire loaf of bread. and, by the way, you were years of living proof that chocolate really doesn't kill dogs, it seemed to improve your quality of life :) i loved watching grandpa come into town and take you for your special walks and how after a trash scavenger hunt in the neighborhood you always enjoyed your laps in the pool. i love that you are probably the only retriever that didn't actually retrieve. although you made the best catches of food hardly ever letting a crumb hit the floor. one thing that especially makes me smile is when after you knew everyone was sleeping, you would unzip the boys' backpacks, pull out their lunch boxes, unzip them and eat their leftovers. remember the time when you ate the tiger cake i made for logan right before the scout meeting? as much as it frustrated me, i secretly loved when you would wait for me to engage in conversation with someone outside, then would slyly sneak around the corner of the house and go on one of your adventures. i love that you were so stubborn and would miss us so much when we were on vacations that we couldn't board you and had to find people to watch you at our house. and i love how you love those friends. i love how every time i was pregnant you seemed to know and were always by my side. i love that you and i were the queens of the house. i love how you come up to us and nudge our hands up on top of your head. i love the marks you have made on the rugs in your favorite spots...and i love how i will always be able to see you circling before you lay down. i hope it's okay, but i also love how you would finally lose it with mosby and snap at him. i love the way he watches you and oh so wants to be like you someday. i love when our family remembers how after we got you we took you everywhere with us like to kinsey's first birthday. i love how you always seem to be listening to me when i talk to you, especially when i'm cleaning. i love how you are so sweet and patient with the boys. and i love when i see them smiling at you and rubbing you behind your ears. i love how you would pretend not to be sleeping on the cozy blanket beds you would make with the boys' blankets. i love that you NEVER forget when you're supposed to eat and make it known to all...i believe this is the heart of our souls' connection ;) i love remembering when you and mister started running together and how you would get so excited when he put his shoes on. i love how we are both lazy lima beans. i love that everyone close to us knows that you are a part of our family and will always remember that. i love that your smiling eyes and ever-wagging tail were always the first thing i'd see when i came home.
thank you for being my sweet girl, old lady and best friend with mister.
i. love. you.

sweet dreams,
mom

procrastination at it's best...

so it is ME, not jack, who has put off completing his project and during the final hours what do i do?
take a stroll down memory lane of course!


i love this midget!

and this studly beach guy!

and this sweet boy who will do anything for a laugh!

...now, what was i doing?....

dear beach.

are your ears ringing? do you remember me?
mister and i REALLY miss you.
just thought you should know.
xo,
sanford

family game night.

ahhh. the joy of monopoly...

NOT!

sorry parker brothers, i'm not a fan. i've tried since i was a little girl, but you stress.me.out. maybe it's the too close parallel between real and imaginary life spending for me. or the fact that the volume of voices when playing is at an all time high and always sound defensive and high-pitched. or the fact that the game NeVER seems to end, i don't know.
i snapped this photo after i couldn't take it anymore and stomped off in true mama kat fit fashion when another episode of whoever smelt it dealt it snuck into this marathon event. the dogs even seemed to participate in this game.
i do have to give you kudos though for engaging these 4 fellows:(as pictured from left to right)

• the-plaid-jacket-wearing-slick-used-car-salesman-who's-constantly-screaming,"WHaT?!"-because-he's-too-busy-trying-to-swindle-someone-to-notice-someone-else-has-landed-on-his-property-and-the-next-person's-gone-so-he-doesn't-get-paid-guy
• the-always-calculating-i'm-gonna-regret-that-move-aren't-i-and-i-will-NEVeR-let-ANY-detail-of-this-or-any-game-go-unnoticed-guy
• the-eternal-grand-master-of-the-bank-and-we-don't-need-the-stinkin-rules-cause-i-make-them-real-estate-risk-taker-guy
• the-sure-i-only-have-4-bucks-left-and-build-motels-in-the-hood-but-will-somehow-manage-to-whip-your-butts-because-i've-been-running-a-black market-pencil-ring-in-my-locker-at-school-guy 

good times, my friends. good times.


gotta love boys.
 

thank you, margaret elizabeth.

more things change in 19 years than just your body...

enter my prom dress from 1991.
of course a big night out is just another reason to shop for a girl...anything is a reason to shop for a girl, right?! apparently not 19 years later. ReALLY dreading the thought of trying on dress after dress for a super fancy one time event is not even remotely exciting anymore...it's dreadful. my body is different, i know i'll never where the dress again and when i look at the price tags all i really see is sports registration fees, camp registrations, my costco and sam's receipts & anything else that pertains to three crazy monkeys and a dog that continues to eat things that aren't food.
am i boring or what?!
well, i saw this sparkly thing in the closet, tucked my skin and stretched out parts into some spanx and AMAZING, it still fits!
and even better... no $ spent and had a blast with my original prom date (hubba hubba) and family watching my amazing sister-in-law light up the room and keep us in awe again!

thank you betsy for always bringing the life to everything, especially this old dress, but more importantly, always to our hearts!
we love you and are so proud of you!
xoxo,
sanford

ps socks were not part of the actual night-out attire.
i'm not that lame...

yet ;)

"in your face, mom!"

i've never been happier to hear those words :)
after all my complaining and dread, cheers to my boys for rising to the challenge of doing science fair with their procrastinator mother and coming out on top.
thank you for teaching me!
i shall eat crow for dinner.
xo,
mama kat

 

dear it's-required-and-we're-taking-a-grade-science-fair-people.

i am NoT your number one fan! okay, so maybe i am a science teacher. so maybe i do love the scientific method and experiments and making mistakes and learning from them and getting messy and wearing super-goobery goggles and my black rubber boots and cute aprons, BUT i do not now nor ever did like the science fair. i am pretty close to loathing it or as my close friend, senor thesaurus, would say, i feel repugnance toward it.
not sure if you're aware of this, i'm somewhat of a professional crastinator. 
professional crastinator - one who waits until the very last second to do anything, but still gets it done. one who will do anything and everything he/she can to put off work, including writing definitions into the Urban Dictionary. one who procrastinates in every aspect in his or her life.[shout out to urban dictionary :)]

 apparently, the pain of having to turn one of these suckers in does not go away after you graduate!
yeah, yeah...i love my kids, i definitely chose to have them & completely understand what a gift and blessing each one is (i really do mean that!), but because of them  

YOU STILL HAUNT ME!!!

you stress me out! it is pretty much a fact that i can never do the same thing twice or at least not even remotely in the same way...have you been to my house?! the floor plan is different every week! have you ever known me to have the ability to do something by-the-book or follow rules ever? do you realize what you have just now passed on to my three children? or really what won't be passed on?

phew. i feel a little better getting that off my chest. thanks.

well i'll have you know that i'm really trying to overcome my disability somehow....maybe i'll start by making a list of new, fresh science fair project ideas...

hmm. 

• how many science fair projects does it take to send my mom to the looney bin?
• how many loads of clean laundry do you need to dump in a pile before they fold themselves and put themselves away?
• which is more painful: the thought of cleaning the bathrooms, the thought of no diet coke, the thought of ever being a den leader again, or the thought of a clown coming straight at you?

those are just a few ideas to get a head start for next year's science fair. aren't you proud of me?!

woohoo. i am pumped!

spitefully yours,

sanford

disclaimer: aside from the above rant, i am extremely proud of my boys and their hard work on their science fair projects this year! they deserve huge extra credit or some special judges' award for having to work with me! ;)

nine.

you, jack, are nine today!!! happy birthday to my little jackie-poo-poo! this is one of my favorite pictures of you. 

 

your smile is shining through your eyes and your chubby cheeks and your precious blonde curls. and as betsy has pointed out, it's amazing that there is not a ball in sight! :) your are action. you are non-stop...thinking and doing. you are sports and mud and outside. you are always with bare feet :)

you are deep and curious. you remember details...a lot of details...very specific details. you love to completely involve yourself in whatever your interest is...sports, legos, cars, racetracks, sandcastles, you name it. you love to say, "okay, just one more time..." you love to play football, especially with your dog. you sometimes fight with your brothers, but will watch out for each of them and protect them with all of your might.

here's lolo doing the same for you :)

you like to dress up as yourself for halloween...

 

you are a fan of food just like your mom...

 

i was supposed to get back to you about my favorite thing about your year 8 and i have to say i think it was watching and listening to you think about your favorite things about your year 8 :)

you make me smile. you are loved and fill our lives so much. i'm amazed at how you've grown in so many ways.

happy birthday my sweet jack!!!

xoxo,

mama kat

a message to mister in miami from the bruddas.

remember that dad?




here is SIX years later...

can't wait to share the fun with you soon!
xo,
the knuckleheads, mama kat, the old lady, mosby-moo & pedro

missing my valentine.

 

fingers crossed for your new flight home tomorrow

xoxo

....more

happy friday.

 

i heart you sun. your light makes everything right.
xo

dear trusty rain boots.

please give me the umph and sass to FiNALLY start my day. i have been poor-pitying-me for a week now.
yes, i may apparently be some medical freak of nature in the girly issues department. and, yes, this past week has not been the most comfortable to manuver in clothing of any type and modesty has CoMPLETeLY gone out the window.
but it's time to suck it up chickadee!
let's put our big girl panties on (sorry mister, no pun intented there ;) ) and clean and work and hang with my family and stop whining.
so, awesome-fantabulous rain boots, shall we begin our day? i think we shall :)

last one in the puddle's a rotten egg!!!

peace out.
sanford

i am THE best mother e-ver.

here is some work my sweetest little first grade angel brought home today.

hmm.

"mom, maybe we need to watch what we say in front of him."

-logan

btw...apparently that nice little tiger at the bottom is not saying what i thought he was saying...

"I'm going to eat you little punk!" said the tiger

ahhhhhhh.

still a little disturbing, but better.

okay. maybe i have a problem...

this was breakfast today.

 

really.

and maybe even more sad is that the picture doesn't even show how i truly wanted to shed a tear because they didn't have vanilla zingers and so i had to settle on the twinkies.

i cannot believe i'm going to utter these words...

i want to cry because my sewing machine is broken.

there i said it. i feel better now.

dear lego people.

thank you for legos. i'll have to admit, you have not always been my friends. i may have cursed your name a few times as i stepped on one or two of your fine products that so amazingly camouflage themselves on the floor. i may have lost my mind cool on occasion because your products never seemed to find their way back into their designated place. and i may have to admit that i could have possibly 'accidentally' sucked up a few of your brilliant pieces of creativity in my friend, dyson, and not exactly felt too terribly bad and may have actually smiled just a little...
but, today, lego people i want to THAnK YOU!
thank you for making 3 boys plan together, work together, clean up together, organize together, laugh together, plot against their mom together and build upon dad's childhood memories together. i am not sure who actually enjoys this new sanctuary more, dad or child. no matter, you have made one mom's heart smile at the sight of each and every little product you make knowing how you make her guys feel.
xoxo
-sanford

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

btw...our lego city can kick your lego city's behind.

just sayin'