Have Towel, Will Swim.

You know those days where you are just practically RUNNING all day long?

Today was one of those days for me. No idle down time today. Would you believe my laundry got folded (and if you knew how much clean laundry was piled on my bed you would be amazed), I exercised for 30 minutes (and tried to forget my old trainer telling me you have to exercise a minimum of 45 minutes to burn fat), and even showered. Miracle, I know.

In the midst of all of that boring stuff, I managed to finish that project from yesterday. It's amazing how much you can accomplish when you're not reading blogs all afternoon! (Not that I would ever, ever do that.)

A little background on my motivation behind this project: After being on the waiting list for two years, I finally got the call a few weeks ago saying that we got into our town's swim club. Woo hoo! So we'll be at the pool a lot more this summer. Which means I'll be lugging three kids, plus towels, snacks, sunscreen, waters, floaties, life jackets, and pool toys to the pool. And once I found out that we'd be at the pool more, I immediately remembered an awesome tutorial I had seen.

It's a towel, it's a tote, it's a towel tote!

Fold the towel, roll it up, and throw the strap over your shoulder. This way the kids can carry their towels and (hopefully) have a free hand to carry their pool toys as well.

Avery thought it was pretty cool. In fact, when Colin wanted to tote it around for awhile she loudly proclaimed, "MINE!"


(Of course she says that about a lot of things, so I guess I shouldn't feel all that special.)


Colin hounded me all afternoon for me to make his towel tote, so you know what I'll be doing tomorrow.

{Want to make your own? Go here to Anna Maria Horner's blog. If you've never been to her blog, grab a cup of coffee, and a spare two hours, and enjoy. She's amazing!}

Need - More - Time.

Oh how I wish I could magically conjure up about, oh, eight or so more hours in the day. The things I could do:

*My house could be clean....

*My laundry could be done....

*I could exercise AND shower...in the same day....

*I could take the kids to the park without worry of not having time to start dinner....

*And I could do fun stuff.


BUT, since I can't seem to manage time, let alone create it, I have to settle for half of the above list.

*My floors are vacuumed, but not mopped. Only one bathroom is clean.

*The laundry is clean, but not folded.

*I showered. Sorry elliptical...maybe tomorrow?

*No, park. Yes, dinner.

*I started on a fun project.


I will finish it tomorrow. I WILL finish it tomorrow. {Fingers crossed}

We might not get dinner tomorrow night, but I WILL finish it tomorrow.

******

By the way, see my cute polka dot pin cushion/thread catcher? I love it. My super, SUPER talented friend Kate makes them. Go here, if you want one too....

If You Give a Kid a Camera...

I was uploading pictures yesterday and discovered these from several weeks ago. Colin found my old camera the day before Easter and went on a picture-taking frenzy while "helping" Gary wash the car.

He got some pretty artsy shots:


A few candids:


Even a pose or two: (Don't mind the apron. We were dying eggs that day.)


During his photography session, he remained true to his personality and style. (That's important, you know, as a photographer: know your style.) Hence the following shots:


Yep. Candid tooshie pictures. Thankfully, there were none of my tooshie. I guess he knew better.

(Not that I would have shared them anyway....)

Stuff.

It has been a few days since I've been able to blog. We've had a lot of "stuff" - some fun and some not so fun - going on, and I haven't had a chance to just sit in a few days.

So, for now, I'm sitting. And it feels good!

The fun stuff? The wrap party for the movie "Up". The movie was SO GOOD. I loved it...so funny and touching. (Let me be the first to advise you to bring a Kleenex tucked into your pocket into the theater. There's a chance you'll need it. That's all I'm saying.)

The marquee at the theater that hosts the movie premier always displays some sort of funny "inside joke" about the movie. I'm sure the people passing by think its completely bizarre: "Verbal Canine Technology Conference?? Ohhh-kay...."

Here's Gary with his Effects team. These guys worked hard. (Balloons? Water? Clouds? Fire? And more. All done by these guys.)
Here's a slightly-scary picture of me with Gary. I'm so proud of him.

And, finally, if you promise not to tell the doctor treating my achilles tendonits, I ended up wearing those shoes after all. I loved them...the balls of my feet did not. But I didn't fall once. I was so proud of myself. I loved my dress, too. This is kind of a random picture Gary took of me taking off my shoes, but it's the best I have.
It's from Anthropologie. Mark my words: when I win the lottery (whenever I start playing) I will spend the bulk of my fortune there. Mark. my. words.

************************

And today? It's Monday. No more glitz, glamour, or anything even close to that. It's back to laundry, coughing children, and dirty dishes.

Hmmm....maybe I'll put those shoes back on. Would wearing them make laundry seem glamorous, too?

Get Lost.

I can't believe I exposed the extent of my goofiness to you all the other day. I showed you these pictures of our trip and asked for guesses what they are:


Several of you were correct! On our drive around the island, we decided to stop and take a peek at where they film some of "Lost".

I know, I know...Nerd Alert.

I've watched Lost since it first aired several years ago. It's one of those shows you either love or couldn't care less about.

And, truthfully, I love it. If you don't watch the show, I won't be offended at all if you want to completely tune me out for the rest of this.

So...the yellow houses are where The Others live. And, in real life, it happens to be the one of the branches of the YMCA in Oahu.


(And in our defense, it was right on the coast, and we were driving by it anyway...does that dilute our nerdiness at all? Didn't think so.)

We also walked down to the beach where the survivors live and Mr. Ecko's church:


So there you have it. It could have been better if I had seen Sawyer strolling along that beach, but, alas....

And now, the winner! There were 43 total entries, and the random number generator chose:


Kathy B., you win!! Email me and I'll get right to work on that shirt.

I'm sorry, my friends, that you had to discover this unfortunate nerdy detail about me. And, I promise, this is the last mention of vacation. The sun has set on those posts.


Hee hee. I mean it. Sorry.

What'd You Bring Me?

{Don't forget to enter the giveaway, if you haven't already!}

***************

While Gary and I were away on vacation we had to bring home souvenirs for the kids, of course.

I thought this would be a piece of cake, but, to our surprise, we struggled with what to get them. The boys had made a special request of, what else..."Hawaiian Legos".

Ugh.

Well, for the record, in case anyone else needs this info: there are no Hawaiian Legos. Don't waste your time looking for them. Actually, there are really no toys for 5-7 year old boys to be found whatsoever. We ended up getting them some leather necklaces with shark teeth (corny, yes, but the boys were impressed), t-shirts, and some sugar cane (which they did not like at all).

Avery, on the other hand, was totally easy. We got her a few little things, but my favorite by far was this:


Isn't that the cutest? A bathing suit with a little green hula fringe!

How I wish you could see her swish when she walks.

I Hate To Have To Tell You This...

...but I really am a big nerd. And, as if that's not enough, I'm married to a nerd as well.

Our poor children. They don't stand a chance.

While we were in Oahu we were able to see almost everything that we wanted to see. We drove around the entire island one day and stopped off at various places here and there. It was so much fun to do that, knowing that there's no way we would have been able to drive around happily for 8 hours with the kids.

Are you wondering why that makes us nerds? Well, that alone doesn't.

But this does:


And since I'm still on a vacation high, let's make this a give-away!

Take a guess as to why these pictures officially qualify Gary and I as two dorks in love, and win your choice of any two hairclips from my etsy shop, OR a custom-made oneside or t-shirt for your little one. (And if you need something for a boy, I'm sure I can hook you up with something!)

I'll choose one random guess - right or wrong - on Thursday at 12 PM Pacific Time. (Please be sure you can be contacted via email in your comment.) If you want an extra entry, become a follower of this site (or tell me you already are one) and I'll put your name in twice.

And please try not to laugh too hard at us. We're fragile nerds.

Desperately Seeking Aloe Vera

Our "relaxing" vacation day:


A lot of this:


And this:


Some of this:


Saw this downtown. Not sure what he is. (And he IS a "he", if you look closely....)


Ending with this:


(And a sunburn!)


Goodnight.

Boot Update...

In case you were wondering: the boot does surprising well in the sand!

More tomorrow....

A Chocolate Hangover and a Beach Boot.

I'm finally coming down off of the Easter candy high enough to (hopefully) write a coherent post. I need a chocolate egg intervention.

And I'm pretty sure the kids ate nothing but candy after 1 pm yesterday.

But it was a great day. I love Easter.


This dress has so much chocolate on it now, I'm not sure it will ever recover.


The kids had a ball playing with their cousins.


Tomorrow should also be a lovely day. Gary and I are heading to Hawaii! Just the two of us, for four days.

I can't wait.

I plan to lay by the pool, swim in the ocean, and soak up the sun. And RELAX.

Oh, and I bought some super chic new beach-wear today as well:


Don't you love it?

In addition to Easter eggs, the Easter Bunny also brought me acute tendonitis of the achilles tendon. I get to wear that adorable boot all week at the beach. Lucky me!

So I won't be doing any hiking up to Diamond Head. Boo hoo. But on the bright side, the doctor says I'll probably be feeling a lot better by the time we're coming home. Great news, huh?

If I'm a little MIA this week, you'll know why. But hopefully I'll be able to check in a few times to show off my awesome half-tanned leg.

Aloha!

Easter Eve...

...was spent:

-dyeing eggs (I boiled 12 for the kids and then regretted not boiling a few more just to do myself. I wanted to make some polka dot eggs.)


-Avery dressing in her brother's shirt and snow goggles and the boys having an adventure with this guy


-eating ice cream (and then immediately bathing)


Staying up WAY too late to play Easter Bunny. I'm not sure why that bunny always waits until 11:30 to stuff eggs. You'd think he'd have a better system down by now....


Easter Bunny...signing off.

Reunited...And it Feels So Good.

FINALLY.

We're back together.


I've missed it so.


I've also missed good photo quality.


So. much. better.


First time ever a manufacturer's warranty has come through for us. My faith is restored!

To my lens: Welcome home, friend. Let's get reacquainted!

Saucy.

We are BIG Mexican food fanatics over here. It's pretty much the only food that all three kids will eat without complaint. (Well, the only food without sugar, that is.) So we eat it a lot.

Last night I made Gary's favorite dish of mine: enchiladas.

When we were first married I made enchiladas the Easy/Hard way. The easy part was canned enchilada sauce, which isn't bad but is, well, canned. The hard part of my old method was trying to heat the tortillas in oil with tongs until they were soft while also trying (unsuccessfully) not to splatter myself with oil. I hated that part.

Then I came across a great recipe for enchilada sauce. And I've never gone back to canned. So now I make enchiladas the Easy/Easy way. This sauce recipe is very easy, and my mother-in-law showed me a much easier way to soften those tortillas.

And since you're my friends, I'll show you.

First, pour one 10.5-ounce can of beef consomme into a measuing cup and add enough water to measure 2 cups. Pour into a saucepan. Add 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup flour, 5-6 cloves pressed garlic, two 8-ounce cans tomato sauce, 2 Tbsp. chili powder, 2 tsp. rubbed sage, and 1 tsp. ground cumin and whisk until smooth.


Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth and thickened. Resist urge to eat it by the spoonful, and set aside.

Now for the toughest part of the enchilada-making process. Grate one package of monterey jack cheese and try not to eat it all out of the bowl. (Is is just me, or is grated cheese even tastier than cheese in block form?)

To soften the corn tortillas - and here's the ingenious part - spray both sides of each tortilla with Pam cooking spray. Stack the tortillas on a plate, cover with a paper towl and heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes, or until all of the tortillas are soft and don't crack when you bend them. (Wasn't that SO much easier than dipping them in hot oil?)


Once the tortillas are soft, spread a little sauce in the bottom of an 11x13 baking dish. Fill each corn tortilla with cheese and any meat of your choosing. I usually add chicken, but was in a hurry last night so we went the vegetarian route. Place the enchiladas in the dish and cover with sauce and some more cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.


Yum. So yum, in fact, that we ate it so fast I didn't have a chance to take a picture of the melted cheese version.

And they go great with these beans and rice.

¡Que sabroso!

Un-Tempered.

Despite the rain we were promised today, I woke up in a spring cleaning type of mood. I had a lot of projects in mind to tackle, but thought I needed to start with the refrigerator.

It needed a cleaning REALLY badly.

So I pulled everything out of every shelf, tossed the old stuff (why did I have 3 jars of dill pickles, anyway?) and got to cleaning the drawers and glass shelves.

You know those shelves, right? The tempered glass shelves. The shelves that are supposed to be really strong and virtually unbreakable. Those shelves.

Well, they're virtually unbreakable unless you pull them straight out the cold fridge and proceed to wash them in warm water. Because then they explode in your hand.


And manage to get in every nook and cranny on your floor, in your sink, in your shirt, across the room, and just about everywhere else.

Ugh. MESS.

It took me a good hour just to clean up all of the glass. And Gary was really excited that he got to take apart the disposal to get the glass out. What fun!

So after The Tempered Glass Incident (as it is now known) I kind of lost my cleaning mojo. Darn.

But my fridge does look like this now:


So much better. If you had seen the before shot you may not want to be my friend anymore.

{Uh-oh. I hope that old dried-up blueberry in the first picture doesn't make you love me less.}

Old Bird, New Home.

For weeks now I've been wanting to go to our little downtown and peruse the antique stores. I haven't been able to do that in quite awhile, so I finally convinced the gang on Saturday to head down for some shopping. Our main street was holding a little open house event which meant that most of the merchants were handing out little goodies like bubbles or candy. Of course everyone knows that kids with candy make shopping easier.

I'm actually not being sarcastic there. The suckers were a god-send.

I've been thinking and thinking about what I want to put in the hutch that my dad made me. For now I have my china and a couple of old bowls from my grandmother, but I think it needs more character.

A few ideas:
::Bowls, plates, and dishes of all one color? White, perhaps?
::White dishware with red accent pieces?
::A collection of cake stands?

Ugh. I'm stumped.

At one of the antique stores on Saturday, however, I found this guy:


He's an old, old wooden red bird. I really like him.

I put him in this cagey thing I bought at Home Goods, and I like him even more:


So, my talented friends, I'm asking for your help.

With what should I fill my awesome hutch?

I'm not sure I'll keep the red bird in the hutch, but he's living there for now.


So...what would you do? What should I do?

Help. Please? Thank you. You rock.

First Grade Fortunes.

Riley came home from school Wednesday and asked me if I knew what a "Cootie Catcher" is.

I fought the urge to panic.

Please, please, tell me it's not a kiss. Doesn't it sound like it could be a kiss? I don't want him thinking about kissing yet. I'm not ready for that long talk.

Well it's not a kiss. It's one of these:


Remember these? Those things you fold...ask your friends questions...tell their fortune or (gulp) who they're going to marry?

He told me a girl in his class (with an older sister) was making them and showing them to the kids. He wanted to know if I knew how to make them. I used to know, and thanks to Google I know again.

So I made him one with first-grade appropriate fortunes:
*One day you will be president!

*Someone thinks you're great!

*Watch out for mud puddles.


So guess what we did all evening?

My first fortune told me that I'll travel to somewhere new. Well, that is true.... It also told Riley he'll be president someday. You heard it here first!

I was so glad that a "Cootie Catcher" is not a kiss. But then Riley told Gary and I yesterday that a girl in his class is 'hot'. Oh boy. We ended up having a long talk after all.