Dear Justin....

Dear Justin,

I love you.  I happen to love the way you have married organic dark chocolate with organic peanut butter even more.  You deserve sainthood.  Seriously.  These little round cups of goodness are sent straight from heaven.  The very best reward for good behavior.

Go for a four mile run....earn a peanut butter cup.

Mop the kitchen floor...earn a peanut butter cup.

Find kid's missing library book...earn a peanut butter cup.

Be awesome...earn a peanut butter cup.  

So thank you for your great contribution to the human race.

You are a good man.

Sincerely,

 Me

And then it happened...

We were just trucking along through life...

eating our way to happy maybe once...or twice.

Birthing beautiful....and I do mean BEA-UUUU-TIFUL babies

seven in total between the three of us.

And then....there was the huffing and puffing when walking up the stairs...

things jiggling when you run to get the phone that have no business jiggling...

one arm stronger than the other because we lopsided carry babies in one arm and not the other.

So...for all the excuses...wow...we have SOOOOOOO many...
we have come to the phase of life where we are taking a stand...
we are getting our strong, keep up with life, selves back.

We've lasted all of two days so far...
wish us luck....

1.1.12

She gets me...

she totally, totally gets me. 

Love that little four and a half year old.

She was so excited when I was describing to her what a "new year" meant.

How we get to do everything over again...

"another Christmas, another birthday, another trip to the grocery store"...all of it.

We also decided orange juice is about the funniest thing we've ever seen...

Happy 1.1.12

A Christmas sweater....

This is as close as I can get to donning a festive Christmas sweater...

quilting...

...okay...so I may be using that term a BIT liberally...

all I've really done is sew several rectangles of fabric together...

ACTUALLY quilted...

not so much.

But some day....totally gonna...

maybe...

with my mom's help?

WOW MOM...

 This is my favorite new mug.  When we were at Seabrook, Wa on vacation they had a pottery studio there where you can paint your own treasures.  I decided it was time for a "mom" mug. 

Turned out just peachy I think...makes my morning decafe taste extra delicious.

As I was putting my mug away in the cupboard upside down I noticed something...what had just said "mom" now said "WOW."  That's right.  MOM upside down is WOW.  I now call it my "WOW" mug.  It makes me feel just super.  So if you are a mom, remember....you....are...WOW.

Spring, Fall, Winter....

I caught myself today, while combing my hair, thinking about fall. Ummm hum...fall...as in autumn. But it's just barley spring you say...some spots out there still boasting snow. I do realize this, however I am still un-programing the "Texas" in me into "Washington."

By now in my previous home it would be on the cusp of summer...mid April it can easily reach into the 90's. Those days were really hard on this Washington/Alaska girl. I kept waiting for the blissful day to arrive that I would wake up one morning and have "adjusted" to my surrounds and think 95 degrees with 90% humidity felt "normal." This never happened for me. So as soon as the beautiful two weeks of spring were over...and summer had set in...I would start dreaming of November when fall would finally arrive and with it cooler days.

So here I am today...in the midst of spring...real spring with rain this morning, gusty wind and tulips....reminding my self to dream of summer and swimming pools and cool evenings when you need a jacket and my soon to be garden and flip flops and fire flies.

So hello spring....and pssst...summer...I'm dreaming of you too.

My Maria....

A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad. ~Arnold H. GlasgowThis is my Maria, we met when we were 18 months old (okay, I was 18 months, she was 15 months, she would want me to be CLEAR on that). I don't remember life without her.

I don't have a sister, just one older brother...except for Maria. I can call Maria up at any time of day and lament with her the smallest, insignificant thing or mourn life's greatest tragedies.

She treats them with equal importants, which makes me feel like I am important and that I matter to her. I think that's all anyone really wants in this world, to feel like they matter to someone else.

Life Lesson #1

Today's Life Lesson is brought to you by: This is my oldest daughter Audra, she is 4 1/2 years old and learning new things every day.

A couple of days ago she learned what "inappropriate" means, it went a little something like this:

First let me set the stage for you. We are at a museum, having a "I've been very good" snack of a chocolate chip cookie in their cafe while mom has an "ahhhhh, coffee!" snack.

In walks a woman that is VERY curvy and FULL figured. Now, remember, we are at a museum...a very quite place. Audra, who loves all things baby, says, "Mommy, she has a baby in her tummy!" I at this point, cannot cram the chocolate chip cookie in her mouth fast enough to keep her quiet as I wildly look around the room to see if the curvy, but defiantly not pregnant lady (this lovely lady was "grandma" aged...her ship has sailed in this department) had heard Audra's diagnosis. Thankfully she was happily going about her business at the pastry counter. "Audra that is INAPPROPRIATE" I said as I shoved another bit into her already full mouth!! "What does "inarroriate" mean mommy?" "It means you NEVER say that about a lady's tummy....EVER....no matter what size or shape it is!" I can't wait till she gets to first grade and has a vocabulary test with the word "inappropriate" on it!!

Be Happy...TODAY!

"If you are not happy here and now, you never will be." ~Taisen Deshimaru

The cute girl...

Exhibit: A
Exhibit: B

So who were you in high school? I'll go first, I was the "cute" girl. Not pretty, beautiful, smart, nope....just cute. Not that there is anything wrong with being cute. There are definitely some positives here. It's really easy to fly under every one's radar when you are the cute girl. If you are with a gaggle of girls and they are into some kind of monkey business, they never peg the "cute" girl as the trouble maker. And being the "cute" girl some how means you can put people at ease. The other girls aren't intimidated by you, the boys aren't out to impress you, it's easy to be friends with the "cute" girl. But there are days when "cute" girl wants to be, well, pretty, smart, maybe even a hottie. Case and point, my daughter walked into my closet the other day and saw a pair of sexy, strappy black heels (Exhibit A) that she cannot in her four year old life ever remember seeing me wear. "Mooooooooomy," she gushed, "are those YOURS???????" I was a little taken back by her shock to see such a smoke'n pair of shoes in MY closet. "Well, ya, they're mine." "Can you wear them???? she asks with her little nose all wrinkled up." Now I'm getting a little perturbed by the four year old. "Of course I can, I just happen to prefer these (Exhibit B). And "these" would be my "cute" shoes. I guess what they say is true....if the shoe fits....wear it! What can I say, I'm cute!!

Longsleeves....

I know what you are thinking right now...huhhh? What is this a picture of? This, is me, sticking my tongue out at fall. First you must understand I grew up in the great Northwest, I now live in the Southwest where today it was 88 degrees outside. It's October. This makes me cranky. It is supposed to be a beautiful fall day, leaves turning colors, cool crisp air. Not so much here folks. So I took matters into my own hands, put on a long sleeved shirt, light my yummy pumpkin spice candles and turned up the AC. Take that FALL!!!!!