ALOHA!!!

Big long lull in the blog posts eh?

Well, I have the best excuse ever!

We took a family vacation to Hawaii and let me tell you, it was fabulous!

Non-stop happiness for the kids.

Happy mommy and daddy.

Snorkling. Snorkling. And More Snorkling.

Beverages.

A real Hawaiian luau.

Grandpa and Grandma time.

Beach magic.

History.

More refreshments.

Poolside fun.

Sunsets.

Submarine rides.

Fish.

The best shave ice EVER!

My husband starring his own Nautica commercial.

And another drink…..or two.

Now it is back to reality……full of jet lag and laundry, but I am sleeping in my own bed,  blessed and thankful for my family and the wonderful time we got to spend together.

Wow.  I love my life.

Valentine Photography

It’s a little early for Valentine’s Day I realize, but I am on a mission.  To be more specific, on my list of 101 Goals to Complete in 2012 is goal #17 – Send out Valentines.

So on a cloudy cold day with my camera settings on, 1/20 | f/5.6 | ISO 400 (if you care about that stuff), I took those girlies outside.  Then, I forced them to hold little cutout hearts COMPLETELY still while I took pictures…..of the hearts.

The girls whined about it, and I made one of them cry.  They would move or giggle and my camera would focus on them, and not the heart.  This ended up making me angry, and it wasn’t the happy-go-lucky photo-shoot that I had intended.  I was imagining something like skipping and laughing children with colorful hearts fluttering in the wind.  Not so much.

But finally, I got about 50 pictures of them and a few actually turned out how I wanted.  After a boosting, cropping, and text addition, my Valentines were complete.  Printed out on some glossy paper, you’d think an actual photographer took these.

And just in case the grandma’s want pictures of girls in which their faces aren’t all fuzzy, I had the girls hold up some bigger sentiments of love too.  We love you!!!

Goal #17 complete!

Ranch Goldfish

The girls have been out of school since Friday.  The weather is cool, and we are all staying inside baking and enjoying some much deserved rest.  

I took some pictures of the falling…..fallen leaves of the little Japanese maple in our backyard.

The girlies each did a huge puzzle at the dining room table.  It was two days of sister togetherness.

Tonight we are making chicken noodle soup.  It’s not homemade though.  What’s better than homemade????  According to Amber, “DOUBLE NOODLE Cup-O-Soup!”

For the rest of us.......those who are missing the “homemade love”.....I made some ranch oyster crackers.

Except I had a problem.  There are no oyster crackers to be found in Japan.  So I improvised.

Don’t laugh.  It worked.

Ranch Goldfish

Ingredients:

• 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 bags Pepperidge Farm saltine goldfish
• 1packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix

Place crackers in a large bowl.  Pour oil over crackers and stir until all the fishies are coated.  Add dressing mix and garlic powder.  Bake on an ungreased baking sheet at 250 degrees for 15 minutes.  Stir every five minutes or so.  Store in a plastic container or serve it to your kids while they sit happily at the table doing Christmas puzzles.

Yay! The First Day of School...2011!!!

The Three Girlies had their first day of school on Monday.  They were all so excited they about peed their new jeggings.

I on the other hand, had the mixed emotions of every mother.  These kids need to get out of the house mixed with…..why do my babies have to grow up so fast?

Abbey is almost 13.  She tried on about 15 different outfits before settling on the perfect one for the first day of school.

She is a mini me.  She sounds like me, looks like me (except I don’t have dimples), and she even acts like me.  She’s 7^th grade cool and ready to show her sister the middle school ropes.

Allison is 11 and has moved out of elementary school. 

Normally outgoing and relaxed, I am seeing hints of anxiety and pre-teen self consciousness.  She also, for the first time ever, had to have the perfect outfit.  But despite the pressures of having to play the “look cool for middle school” game, she stopped at the shoes.  That’s my Allie girl.

Amber is 8 and started 3^rd grade.

She is sassy and silly, and a little bit disappointed that she has a boy for a teacher.  (Boys are a bit gross these days.)  I’m thinking it’s going to be the year of many friends for my social girl.

If we can buy more shoes and clothes for Abbey, help Allie remember her locker combination, and get Amber to quit talking and eat her lunch at school, I think we will be off to a pretty good year.   

  

But geez…..I am sure gonna miss my girlies.

If You Send Me Fire, I'll Send You Rain



I will get to the details of this swap soon but first I must tell you, that the rainy season has started here in Japan.  It started raining yesterday and with typhoons Chedeng and Songda headed towards the island, I’m thinking it isn’t going to stop raining any time soon.   

I’m not too thrilled about six or so straight weeks of rain, but I am excited about all the Japanese umbrellas!

Japanese umbrellas are traditionally made of rice paper, wooden spokes, and often have artsy designs printed on them…..like one you might imagine a Geisha would carry around. 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE, all the spokes…..don’t you?  Lucky for me, I found a more practical version of a Japanese umbrella in a local department store called Joyful Honda.  (No, this place doesn’t minimize my mourning for Target.)

Twenty-eight spokes. 

It is delightful and brightens any rainy day.  I love it.

So here’s the deal.  I need someone to send me 3 bottles of Cholula Hot Sauce.  Yeah, you heard me…….hot sauce.  I need it for my Salsa and Sweet-N-Spicy Garlic Dill Pickle recipes.  If you agree, I will send you an umbrella like mine. (Any color you want though.)  I’ll also send you some $$$ for the hot sauce.

Sure, I could have my mom send me some, but this is a lot more fun, don’t you think? 

All you have to do is comment on this post and I will randomly select a winner next Monday (June 6) from the thousands and thousands who will enter.  Or it could be like my first giveaway, and only four people will enter.  Surely I have become more famous in the past 6 months…don’t you think?

If not, Mom……could you please send me some Cholula Hot Sauce?

Update:

The winner of the umbrella is Ashley and she told me she’d send me some Cholula.  So Ashley, the umbrella is on the way and I am looking forward to adding extra spice to my life!

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Linking with Army Tankers Wife , Carrie With Children