Day 31

Coby's skateboards

Boys are contemptuous, haughty, irritable, envious, sneaky, selfish, lazy, crazy, flighty, timid, liars and hypocrites, quick to laugh and make others cry, extreme in expressing joy and sorrow, they'll do anything to avoid pain but they enjoy inflicting it: little men already.

~Jean de La Bruyère

Day 30

Nice shot Chance

I've got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.

~Larry Bird

Day 29

self portrait

God grant me the the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it is me.

~variation of an excerpt from "The Serenity Prayer" by Reinhold Neibuhr

Day 28

Mt. Rainier - 4:04 PM

Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way.

~Dr. Seuss

Day 27

chocolate fondue w/ friends

Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with chocolate.

~Author Unknown

Day 26

Gunnar's pirate treasure

The little money I have - that is my wealth, but the things I have for which I would not take money, that is my treasure.

~Robert Brault

Day 25

Chance -13 years old

Childhood Doesn't Wait

I was sitting on a bench while in a nearby mall, When I noticed a young mother with two children who were small. The youngest one was whining, "Pick me up," I heard him beg but the mother's face grew angry as the child clung to her leg. "Don't hang on to me," she shouted as she pushed his hands away, I wish I'd had the courage to go up to her and say... "The time will come too quickly when those little arms that tug, Won't ask for you to hold them or won't freely give a hug. "The day will sneak up subtly just as it did with me, When you can't recall the last time that your child sat on your knee. "Like those sacred, pre-dawn feedings when we cherished time alone Our babies grow and leave behind those special times we've known. "So when your child comes to you with a book that you can share, Or asks that you would tuck him in and help him say his prayer... "When he comes to sit and chat or would like to take a walk, Before you answer that you can't `cause there's no time to talk" Remember what all parents learn so many times too late, That years go by too quickly and that childhood doesn't wait. "Take every opportunity, if one should slip away Reach hard to get it back again, don't wait another day." I watched that mother walk away her children followed near, I hope she'll pick them up...

before her chance disappears.

~Author Unknown

Day 24

Books in my living room

Medicine for the soul.

~Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes

Day 23

Gunnar and Isaiah "fighting" at Chance's basketball game.

Give thanks for what you are now, and keep fighting for what you want to be tomorrow.

~Fernanda Miramontes-Landeros

Day 22

Coby at the skating rink

An eye can threaten like a loaded and levelled gun, or it can insult like hissing or kicking; or, in its altered mood, by beams of kindness, it can make the heart dance for joy.... One of the most wonderful things in nature is a glance of the eye; it transcends speech.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 21

Coby's bedroom door

It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't.

~Barbara Kingsolver

Day 20

Mt. Rainier blanketed by clouds at 8:45 A.M

Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.

~Author Unknown

Day 19

Railroad tracks in Tacoma

Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Day 18

A charcoal drawing I did in college

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

P.S. I couldn't pick just one.

Day 17

Chance

A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint pictures on silence.

~ Leopold Stokowski

Day 16

I found this on Coby's desk...

At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.
~Plato

Day 15

Tyler

Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.

~John W. Whitehead

Day 14

With help from Coby, Gunnar finally finished his puzzle.


You can't go through life quitting everything. If you're going to achieve anything, you've got to stick with something.

~From the television show Family Matters

Day 13

Coby's first basketball game of the season...p.s. he made the shot.

In basketball, and in life, you miss 100% of the shots you do not take.

~I was in a sporting goods store and this quote was on one of the posters.

Day 12

I found Gunnar like this watching Mad Monster Party.

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.

~Author Unknown

Day 11

Celine

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.

~Pepper Giardino

Day 10

Gunnar's puzzle that I can't touch because he "is going to do it...someday"


















Procrastination is something best put off until tomorrow.

~Gerald Vaughan

Day 9

Chance playing at his "gig"




















Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.

~Ronald Reagan

Day 8

(Gunnar's addition to my kitchen decor.)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

~ Aesops Fables

Day 7

Coby's grasshead

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is...today.

~African Proverb

Day 6

My front door
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

~St Matthew 7: 7 & 8

Day 5

McMurray Road
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 4

Coby - on the way home from basketball practice
"I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it."

~Harry S. Truman

Day 3

Gunnar - home from a birthday party

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

Boys are made of chuckles and grins,
Tousled hair and banged-up shins,
Things with wheels and frogs in pockets,
Questions, baseball caps, and rockets;
They're joy and mischeif, fun and noise-
That's how it is... boys will be boys!

~Author Unknown

Day 2

John - on the way home from shopping
Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. ~ Franklin P. Jones

Day 1

Romi, Teri, Jaime, Rocky at the movie theater
The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
~EE Cummings