I have a Thanksgiving secret

Besides the cost of living, the ONLY other bummer thing for me about living here in San Diego is that we are 6 hours away from any family.  (Which is not that bad---and my Arizona brother..hmmmm...Kevin, could have come, but failed to plan).  My other family is either in Utah or across the nation on the east coast or up in the Pacific Northwest, which...believe me, is NOT close {especially when you drive it}.  When we lived in Utah our home was holiday central since most of my brothers were either living in Utah for work or finishing up school.  Those that weren't had flight benefits.  Here, our friends all have family that live near, so community Thanksgiving doesn't happen like it would in 'the mission field.' 

So my point being that unless we travel north, we spend the holidays...just with our little {BIG} nuclear family.  I used to long for that day, and now we have it, so here's to appreciating the beauty in all things:  

I love it that we can establish our own traditions and have our own time schedule...that it is free of drama, but I do miss having my extended family gather for such wonderful occasions... drama or not--doesn't that come with every family?

I love it that there is no one around to mock me, or become jealous...  when it only takes a couple of minutes to prepare our Thanksgiving feast...

Our home still has the aroma of a cooking turkey---because it is, well, 'cooking.'

I make a double recipe of lion house yummilicious rolls (recipe below) and typically I'll make pecan pie bars and a few pies.

I love to whip out my special china, handed down to me from my dear Grandma...and remember Thanksgivings past spent at her home with the same china.

I love having my family 'dress up'--a tradition my dad used to enforce. {at my house, shoes are optional}.

...and I love sitting around ONE table so we're within earshot of all the little funnies the kids spew. 

...I love to enjoy my dining room tablescape...because Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are the only reason I have a dining room table -- I would ditch it in lieu of a library in that spot...but that's another story.

When you have picky eaters, it's tough to justify spending 4-6 hours in the kitchen slaving over the meal that will be half-eaten and picked at in 10 minutes.  I can never come away from Costco + Albertsons shopping for an occasion as this, having spent less than $200 once everything is considered.  

It all started when I was complaining of these things and so Curt's solution was this:

Can you even see it?  Mimi's Cafe.

They have a take & warm Thanksgiving feast and boy, do they know how to make a feast.  My kids adore their sweet potatoes--probably because brown sugar and marshmallows are the main ingredient.  Give Curt a leg or two and he's happy for HOURS.  The turkey is to die for--competes with the best brined turkey I've ever had.  They even give you pie, whip cream, the best cranberry sauce I've ever tasted, gravy, veggies, chunky homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, and a few loaves of their yummy gourmet breads.  Seriously, can't beat Thanksgiving in a box for $80.  It is supposed to feed 6-8, but we have leftovers for a week.

What a deal.  And that's my secret.  This is why everyone can go enjoy a movie the morning of Thanksgiving and why clean up takes 10 mintues-maybe 20.  I love our Thanksgiving tradition for my picky eaters.  It makes for a happy mommie who can enjoy the simple things on this day of gratitude, rather than being so exhausted and over-heated from the day in the kitchen.

Some tips:  When you dissolve the yeast...make sure you do it quickly after the powdered milk is dissolved so the water is still warm.  Let it sit for a minute, then add the sugar and stir and let it sit for a few minutes.  The way you can tell if the yeast is active or not is if the mixture bubbles up and grows a little bit.  

This is what I do to help my dough rise faster--I pour HOT water in a big bowl, then put my covered bowl of dough on top of it (it's not necessarily sitting in the water, just over the hot water in it's bowl).  I then turn on the dryer for 5 minutes or so, turn it off, then place the dough sitting inside the water pot for about 45 mins until it rises double.  Just make sure your kids/hubby doesn't turn on the dryer cause that wouldn't be fun mess (we haven't ventured in that direction yet).  Line your pans with parchment paper---it yields a better roll.  After placing the rolled dough on the parchment, spray one side of your plastic wrap with PAM and place wrap on top of rolls (so they don't stick).  Turn on the oven to 200...turn off, then place your rolled rolls in there and let rise as oven cools down.  They'll be ready to bake in 30 mins or less!  

Harbor Staycation

For the first time since living here, we took the kids downtown on the coaster {a commuter train that goes along...the coast from Oceanside  to downtown SD}.  We've fared subways in NYC with four of the kids, and trains going inland to NJ, so the only cool thing about this was the scenery & trying to keep six kids fairly quiet with all the other passengers listening in to patty-cake, and our HS Musical Stars, Lexie & Izzie.  

Once we got off at the last stop--the Santa Fe Depot, we walked a few blocks to the waterfront.  Destination:  The Maritime Museum which includes about 4 vessels...a 'pirate' ship, merchant ship ("The Star of India"), Soviet Spy Submarine,  and a few others {they all begin to look the same once you explore them}.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed exploring & especially experiencing a submarine.  Those Soviets were like 4 foot nothin' with how short the bunkers were on the submarine.  

Ever been on a SD Harbor cruise?  Save your $$$ and don't.  It was okay--the sea lions and seals we were supposed to see in enormity were out at sea.  The history lessons were cool and the view from the boat to the mainland was beautiful, but unless you're doing a dinner cruise or something special like that, or have never been on a boat or a ferry, save your pennies.  Nothing matches the experience we had on the gigantic ferry up in Canada that we took to Victoria Island.  Spoiled, I know.  But this day wasn't for me & Curt...it was for the kiddos and any excursion like that is fun to 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 11.  Okay, maybe not 1.    

There's nothing like a stroll along the coastline...or two sisters skipping hand in hand.  I later joined them after they asked--I love being carefree with my girls.

We strolled down to the navy memorial statue and the USS Midway...the largest aircraft carrier museum--it's pretty impressive from the ground.  We should have forked out the money for and explored.  Next time.

Lunch at the Fish House--that amazing bread....yummmm and then we were on our way.  We tried to make it in time to go to the San Diego Children's Museum--but they were closing within the hour, so we figured the mile walk would be very much in vane.  Back home on the train...with eight worn-out people is the best recipe for a good nights sleep.  

Gone Fishing?

We have learned from past vacation times throughout our school  year that if we don't plan on keeping the kids busy with new & exciting adventures that we'll pay the price with kids who like to declare their boredom when the neighborhood kids are not home...  And I have no problem with little kids washing walls, deep cleaning rooms, organizing closets to fight that boredom, but we decided to make the most of our vacation time and 'do.' 

Our big plan was to get Disney passes for the family since we live so close.  The passes pay for themselves--if you go two days in the year.  When it came down to it, we just couldn't justify with all of our 'unknowns' at the moment.

SO I had this bright idea to go fishing...in November.  Not so shabby since we live in just a tempered climate.  We don't have equipment handy for a fishing family of 8 {or even 1}, so off we went to Huckleberry fishing pond {where they're guaranteed to have a catch and all the equipment is there} up in Anaheim.  I thought I did the research.  Um, try again.  We drove up and could hardly recognize that this was a pond.  Plastic sheeting, fake rocks, a chain link fence...and not a sole to be found and of course, no fish--oh, and no water.  Talk about deflating!  Apparently it's a very man-made pond right in front of Anaheim Lakes but they're only opened on weekends in the fall.  Big bummer.  Nothing an In-n-Out burger and a trip to the LegoLand free hour can't make up for.  So off we went...again.  The kids LOVE that free hour--and so do mom and dad.  Especially when it's topped off with a trip to Costco across the street from LegoLand for dinner.  Hot dogs, pizza, polish sausages and ginormous churros. We can eat for less than $15 there--what a bargain.  We pull out all the stops, let me tell ya {haha}.

My mom reminded me of what Lexie told her on the phone when we were going fishing:  My mom asked her if she was going to have me cook the fish so she could eat it, to which she replied, "You've GOT to be kidding!"   She later tried to think this out in her head... couldn't fathom eating a little fishy.  "You mean, we're going to eat chickenfish?"  

Happy Turkey Day!

...Just in case you didn't get yours yet since I failed to drop them in the mail on Saturday, here's the Thanksgiving card we sent out this year--in lieu of a Christmas card

...because now I can cross it off my list-neener neener!

Our Gratitude Tree- the photoshop version

Good luck reading this unless you have bionic eyes or super duper bifocals.

(or just click on it to magically enlarge)

...and the outside 'envelope'--just because I {heart} photoshop.

McKenzie wanted to post her greetings...

...and Monson too:

...and this is about the only cute project Lexie's preschool did this last session

All of our little turkeys send their greetings even though some have sad faces and others no faces at all:

...and the pilgrim hats we also made were too cute to boot:

Our cutest little kid-made place cards of edible yumminess

I'm so good at copying the 'other' creative ones out there.  But I was pretty excited about my fast thinking when I couldn't find candy corn to use as feathers...Mike & Ikes and hot tamales with little toothpicks--and they taste better too:) Besides, we practiced making patterns with the colors (or Monson & Lexie did) so we're learning during our vacation too. 

...creating is only half the fun--

eating is the better half.

Happy Thanksgiving

May we remember our abundant blessings throughout the year 

(and fill our tummies with oreo turkeys & all the trimmings)!

Our Gratitude Tree

My blogroll inspired me time and again this season.  I loved all the Thanksgiving banners, decorations, uplifting thoughts and projects I saw so many crafty, creative, on-top-of-it moms blog about.  I have spent way too much time reading blogs and filling my head and 'bookmarks' with ideas and recipes...so fun!  

This week for FHE we made our gratitude tree {before the stomach bug of the YEAR hit}.  I love this representation of our blessings, a constant reminder of the reasons for the season adorning our dining room table in the center of our home.  We can add to it at will and it can never be full enough... overflowing with our many blessings.  I snapped a couple of branches from a maple tree to get us started.

I found some darling colored die cut maple leaves at our local teacher resource shop.

Each of the kids wrote or drew all the blessings they could think of to adorn our tree

We punched holes & tied with hemp string...Everyone got to hang their own

Mom...I think they really miss you.

Our Thanksgiving Table

don't you LOVE this mercury??  Thanks, Carole!

Field Trip Happy

Don't you hate feeling gypped?  I love LegoLand...I think the concept and the whole experience is wonderful.  It reminds me of my brother, Mark, who is lego King.  But c'mon...it's NOT Disneyland.  $60 for adults and $50 for kids?!  And they're opened for less time than the sun is in the sky!  Unless you're getting some fabulous coupon and are paying less or are season ticket holders (like we used to be), then I can think of a lot of better ways to spend nearly $500 on entrance fees for our fam...no hot dog or legos included.  So, imagine my delight when I learned the 'secret' that Lego Land is open to the public FOR FREE yes, for free... the last hour of every day-parking and all.  When the kids are out of school for a 4-day weekend, sitting at home just isn't an option.  

We showed up about 1 1/2 hours before closing on Tuesday, Veterans' Day, and scooted in through the gate unnoticed heheehe.  The kids had such a blast and we actually packed a lot into that 1 1/2 hours--perfect amount of time for an amusement park!  Just a taste--and we can go back for more anytime...FOR FREE, since it's only 15 minutes away.  Lucky us.  I'm not a cheapskate, but free is a pretty great thing when there's 6 kids involved.

But Wait!  There's more!  This summer we joined the San Diego Children's Museum as reciprocal members.  Big word.  But it means that we can go to a whole slew of museums in the US, including our little one here in Escondido and the ever-so-wonderful LA Children's Museum...all for one family membership price.  It's $75 a year (no matter the family size), for a membership for just the SD museum or $10 per person per visit... OR $150/year for the reciprocal membership.  On Tuesday afternoon (before our LegoLand Adventure) we checked out the Escondido Children's Museum and upon entrance it looked second rate.  But man, it did not disappoint.  What a great little museum with tons of hands-on activities and science how-to's.  The fav was the old schoolhouse where they could dress up as pioneers and conduct school with authentic little desks.  The human-in-a-bubble was great, as was the treehouse, puppet theatre, and oh, you'll just have to check it out for yourselves.  Without my 'exclusive' reciprocal membership, it would have been $5 per person.  Brayden wasn't with us and perhaps would have been a little on the old side for the activities they had.  But we had a seriously fun time with the other five.  Here's to family fieldtrips!  

 I wrote this Saturday...just didn't get it posted.

We Have TOTAL Harmony

*Disclaimer: don't read if you have a weak stomach and don't like hearing about disgusting illnesses of the stomach variety. * Consider yourself warned.

Note to self: The BRAT diet does not include chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream {for FHE treat}... Not the brightest idea the week we have a bunch of sickies. Chocolate was on the brain when I was at Alberstons today (well, now that it's the middle of the night..yesterday). But the kids have been okay today (and THEN it started right before my bedtime). I ASKED FOR IT! One child {Izzie}, we'll call her the 'wise and favorite child' elected not to eat it. And she wins the prize for the only one who can straight shoot it into a burp bowl. And she's 3.

Brayden...chocolate chunky pb ice cream chicken cordon bleu spaghetti squash and green bean a-la-mode...{mostly taking on the chocolate hue} ALL OVER his bathroom floor, sink, and maybe a drop in la toilette. He earns a star for at least making it to the bathroom.

I walked up the stairs after gathering more supplies to disinfect Bray's a-la-mode when I heard grunting from Kenzie's room. "mom, I threw up last night." She was delirious (poor soul) and had no idea what time it was...quarter to midnight. LOVELY. Thank my lucky stars it wasn't 2 am yet. Kenz was literally rolling in hers and didn't even try for the burp bowl sitting maybe a foot from her bed. Did we not teach puke etiquette and go over it again and again before going to bed tonight...something about complaining your tummies hurt after eating chocolate pb ice cream? Instead there's a soaked comforter, sheets, pillows, blankets, mattress pad and a quilt to show how lousy she felt {did I say lousy..I really meant LAZY}. And yup, signature chocolate brown a-la-mode. She gets a pat on the back for not leaning over the bed and showering her carpet... like I used to when I was her age. Mom & Dad remember that? Maybe Kenz and I aren't so different.

I'm walking from Brayden's room to Kenzie's room to survey the damage laughing my head off in the hallway...standing in disbelief that they are doing this all at the same time...total harmony. Of course, I'm laughing so hard that I wake up Lexie and Monson...and then I see Izzie half naked standing up doing her duty into the burp bowl. Which was NOT of the chocolate a-la-mode variety. Did I say 'favorite?' I meant it.

Not 15 minutes before these charades Viviana showed us her stuff downstairs once again. Only hers was coming from both ends...delightful sounds and aromas....and even spewing out her nose--never seen anything quite like it. Poor baby--serious tummy issues. I betcha not too many of you have had total 'harmony puking' at your house with FOUR kids at once {okay, maybe Colorado Julie had an episode like this last year}. I think the kids are in kahoots and planned this just because I needed to chill out and have a good laugh. Did I mention I got in a 'car accident' today? My nerves have been shot all afternoon {it was hardly a fender bender, but trashed my door & I was TICKED...not my fault though}. I'm waiting for Mons to declare himself. He totally wins if he can make it into the bowl since he's on the top bunk. He and Izzie can vie for that coveted prize...

I begged for a night of rest and I got it {well, sort of} last night. Laugh when it's just too overwhelming to do anything else ...it will make you feel better, pinky promise. Lysol/scrubbing bubbles and puke...not such a lovely combination. Maybe that's why they just can't stop. That, and chocolate ice cream for desert - just call me genius. I am not staying up to do all the loads that this mayhem requires. So for now, what didn't fit is sitting in the backyard, along with Vivie's business. Maybe it will scare off the mice, coyotes or whatever looms out there.

And stay far, far, far away from our house! The coast is apparently not clear yet. Lex had it last Friday, I had a scaled-down version Sat and Sun along with Vivs going for her 2nd round.  Now she's on her 3rd round.  I think it's gonna be long, long night and perhaps a long, long week.

Update:  Curt & Monson violently joined the puke party at 3 and 4 am...the rest continued all night long.  For reals, 6 of them altogether.  I'm officially last man standing.  

Lucky me. ..Resident clean-up crew.  It's like a total freak-show gone bad over here! It's going to take DAYS to wash all this bedding!  I think Lexie and I should just high-tail it out of here while we have a chance and leave the rest of the sickies to clean up after themselves! My poor family...Izzie still wins.  HANDS DOWN!

{now I'm kinda worried about dehydration--really, it's not over & it's 7:30 am}  It's a WICKED one.  Hope you don't get it!

Not much slows our 'Hurricane Noddy' down

Feisty Faith is  her middle name, rightly so.   "Hurricane Noddy" has become her nickname. She gets the award for most active baby in our fam, hands down!  Either that, or we're just getting older and it's tougher to chase after her constant messes.  I have never 'baby-proofed' our homes in that I've never had to install a gate for the stairs, child locks on doorknobs, drawers, cupboards, or even lightsocket covers.  Adventurous Viviana is forcing us to take measures...if we want our cd/dvd's more scratch-free than not, our dishwasher level and not torked, our floors less ridden with cheerios, crackers, cookie-cutters and tupperware, our drawers that house the cd/dvd's to be intact and not broken, TP to last more than a day or two, my makeup to be intact rather than smeared all over the floors, walls, faces, and tummies... and no broken bones or icky bruises from her climbing adventures.  Nobody told me that ex-micro preemies were beyond active and a little hyper {and we're grateful she is}!

Nothing slows this little girl down.  We've been fighting the 'puke-all-night-long' bug around here since Thursday.  It slowly gets passed along, no matter what measures of cleanliness we take.  And why is it that the pukey virus attacks at night, and ALL NIGHT LONG, right about an hour after Curt and I get to sleep?  Never fails.  Vivie casually puked all over my shag rug (try getting THAT smell out) yesterday and then stood up, walked through it, and continued on without a missing a beat.  We all thought, 'phewww' she's gonna miss this one!  Then it hit her...in the middle of the night.  Lucky bedmates!  

She was sleeping basically next to Curt's head and then I heard the heavy swallowing right before the puke happens so I grabbed her and held her over the edge and saved Curt from being showered with chunks...thank heavens for wood floors and easy clean ups!  Poor little thing continued every hour through the night and woke up the next morning, napped, then acted like life was peachy again.  As for us, we're exhausted, so please please please spare us one night...who will be next?  I'm betting it's Izzie.  What fun.

Simple Gratitudes:

1. Grateful that maybe this year we won't be puking during Thanksgiving...???

2.  Grateful for 'internet church' when I'm not able to get there, LDS.org saves the day.

3.  Grateful for burp bowls and washing machines.

Reunion Time

I love my hubby. How great is it that he'll 'cover' for me on a Friday and Saturday with all six kids in tow to soccer, football, etc... so I can skip town? I've put him to the task a couple of times recently. I hear that I would have 'died' to see how Vivie looked at the soccer game...breakfast in her hair which was freaked out like it hadn't been washed in days...{he doesn't do rubberbands or even brushes}, pj's half on--because he couldn't figure out an outfit for her, and I'm not even gonna talk about the other girls and their hair nightmares (although they're semi-self-sufficient). At least they ate breakfast.

But this was all in the name of an escape for me...a lovely reunion I helped plan to gather many of our childhood friends from our ward/stake from yesteryear up in 'ole Calabasas / Woodland Hills. Some of them were my besties when I was five through our crazy teen years...one is my cousin whom I've been friends with all my life:), but all were great friends at one point or another. Back in the day my mom & Christie (Poppy's mom) put together a 'Teddy Bear Club' ... we all joined and had to make pj's out of the same teddy bear fabric for our fun slumber parties...remember that? Fun memories! I should start a teddy bear club for McKenzie's friends... (left to right: Tracie {Schaeffer} Pierce, Lena {Collins} Kohut, me, Noreen {Reyes} Noble, Poppy {Grasteit} Thatcher, Jessica {Doolan} Henkel, Alyssa {Doolan} Martinson, Pamela {Arnell} Anderson).

I mozied to LA mid-morning wanting to miss afternoon traffic. Sure, LA...missing traffic-no such concept. I forget how the 405 and 101 is pretty much 24/7. I had to stop by the wholesale district and get my fill of Amy Butler, Sandi Hendersen, & Heather Bailey fabric for all my projects in the works. I didn't find everything I wanted, so I stopped again on the way home...to no avail.

Since I was a little early Friday before 'the festivities,' I checked-into the Marriott then headed solo to my old stomping grounds to get a mani-pedi for my sad, tired hands and feet. Oh, how they were thankful. I don't treat myself often enough! Pam (my cuz) & yummy not-so-baby 'baby Wes' (still on tap so he got to tag along) and I went over to Jamie's lovely home to pick up Poppy & head to Maggianos to meet everyone for dinner. The food wasn't as wonderful as the OC location, but the company was! We had a lot of years to catch up on and I'm certain our waiter was thoroughly annoyed.

We were worried about Tracie...who was traveling across the US to meet us. Her excursion from Maryland wasn't so 'merry.' While taxying during a SLC layover, her plane backed into another, so she was in a 'plane crash' complete with the frenzy of having to unload, reload, etc. She made it about oh, 4 1/2 hours late, but safe & sound.

After dinner we headed to this most amazing 'Chinese Foot Massage' parlor. Interesting and wonderful concept. It's a fully-clothed massage factory of-sorts...about 12 recliners all in one room and our authentic Chinese masseuse to help relax our nerves, or literally climb up on our backs, or even nearly pull arms from sockets. The name is deceiving because it's actually a Chinese all-over-body-I-wanna-go-back-for-more-massage. Most of us laughed through it, but it was surprisingly a delightful fully-clothed experience. San Diego needs a couple of those joints. $25 for an hour...certainly can't beat that!

Five of the eight of us headed back to the hotel, while the other [locals] headed home to their cozy beds and busy lives. I can't remember the last time I stayed up until 3:30 am story-telling and havin PJ talk. I don't even think I made it that late at Womens' Conference! I learned that our family isn't the only messed up one (NOT my McLaughlin nuclear family...of course, we're normal :). I also learned that my memory stinks. I didn't even recall half the stories and experiences others remembered. I'm chocking it up to lost brain cells from lots of pregnancies. Speaking of pregnancy, in the kid department, I either won or lost...depending on how you look at it. The other ladies just happen to possibly be more sane than me. Yeah, for sure they were all more sane. They ALL have three kids. One with her fourth on the way (Poppy) and I obviously have a multiple of three, which is a lot of kids. Thus, my undying gratitude to Curt for playing mom and dad in my absence...no matter how much they looked like their mommie (or daddy) didn't love them. This is why I came home for Sunday--church would have been a nightmare, I'm sure. It would just ruin my kids' cuteness altogether.

For some reason, no matter how late I stay up, I can't sleep in. We headed for breakfast way too early @ the 'ole Denny's we used to hang out at after stake dances (I didn't remember that either...or maybe it's cause Wayne & I had an early curfew?) Tracie and Pam headed out to visit with some other friends while I went to hang out with Poppy for a bit before heading back to the fabric district and then home again home again jiggedy jig.

That was a travelog, I'm realizing. And we missed you, Dannielle {DiPadova} Dilger,  Amy {Monahan} Livingston & Shelly Hansen! We decided that we need to keep up the reunion, so there will be a next time! No more having babies and buying houses so we can all be there next time! Thanks, ladies...for a short but great weekend of catching up!

Feast or Famine & Hawaii

My blogging habits are either feast or famine. I've had my nose in the computer for 2 hours...YES, 2 hours catching up on y'alls blogs after about 1 1 /2 weeks of ignoring my google reader. I didn't realize how LONG my reader list was of creative ideas that give me inspiration or a good chuckle. 2 hours! My kids want to know what's for dinner and I don't even hear them asking me until they've asked 5 times and now are yelling in my ear. I want to know what's wrong with them...but I think I'm the one with the problem! Am I the only one? I am a multi-tasker, but I get in front of my screen and it sucks me in and I get tunnel vision...especially when I've been too busy to catch up lately.

7:41 pm I still managed to get semi-homemade dinner on the table and give two raggedy-it-looks-like-your-momma-doesn't-love-you BOYS haircuts and bathe the girls. I feel like Christmas is around the corner and in my head I was organized 6 weeks ago, but it's crept up fast and I'm feeling a little frenzied. Nothing a good nights sleep...or finishing a project can't fix!

On another note completely, Allison hit me with a photo 'tag' last week-to post the 4th pic in my 4th folder. If for nothing else, it was fun to go back and relive {at least in my head} more than 5 1/2 years ago...when my toes last wiggled in the Hawaii sand. March of '03.

Oddly enough, it was also a time of a 'housing crisis' of sorts--for us, at least. Curt had quit his job with Pfizer for the American dream of owning his own business. Only the guy he partnered with made our lives.... well, he ended up being a total nut job so you get the picture. So we left that crazy 'venture' and were unemployed for what seemed like forever...

My dad used miles to send us to Hawaii after a long bout of 'unwellness' my grandparents had as a thanks for everything I did to care for them from A to Z. So we went to Hawaii on a budget while we were unemployed and financially struggling...a total bright spot that got us through that nutty, crazy time in our lives. This is us above Hanauma Bay just about to take it all in and snorkel. The sun was very much in our eyes as if you couldn't tell. Wow, how two people can age in just five years...okay, maybe only I've aged. But I did have 3 babies, many life-altering experiences and changes during at least the last four of those years! I earned every bag under my eyes, grey hair, crows feet, roll in unforseen places and chin I now have that didn't exist back then!

And Katie! You lucky duck! Can I come play with you in Hawaii sometime?

Almost forgot! Three Simple Gratitudes today:

1. Gloria & Luc that help bring me sanity every week, today being the day...so I can see clean floors and shiny countertops & windows even if for a few hours. It's therapeutic and worth every penny.

2. Curt coming home from his Vegas trip just in time to help tuck the little ones in bed.

3. Costco frozen pasta & chicken marinara yumminess (they should call it that) and artisan bread...I can refer to it as semi-homemade when I warm them in the oven and then whip up a delicious salad to accompany them and my house comes away smelling like the a fine Italian Restaurant. I'm hungry again.