happy tuesday things.

First, thanks to all of you for the comments and notes
on yesterday's post.

I'm feeling a little better today,
and a little closer to a decision.
I'm sure I'll tell you more later....

I had a lot of moments today that reminded me
just how sweet life is.

Oh happy day,
my ranunculus are blooming!!
That one morning last fall I spent outside
planting bulbs has all payed off.













Oooh, do I ever love looking out my kitchen window
and seeing these girls.

Tomorrow my toes will be this spring-inducing color:



"My Chihuahua Bites", by O.P.I.
It may just be the perfect coral.
{and doesn't o.p.i. have the best color names?}

I know it sounds weird,
but these made me happy today.



Gary's mom gave me some kale from the farmer's market this weekend,
so I made kale chips.
I promise...promise...they're good.

And I saved the best for last.
I came across these napkins at World Market last night.
I have no idea when I'm going to use them...maybe the next time I host bingo?



Bow wow wow yippy yo yippy yay.
I. love. them.

:)

hi. remember me?

I'm here to say hi for just a minute.
I'm soaking up the last few moments of vacation,
so I can't stay long.

We've been enjoying ourselves down in SoCal this week.
Two hours ago I would have said it has been a vacay
that went off without a hitch,
but that was before Riley was changing into his pajamas
and discovered that he had a very red, itchy rash all over his torso and arms.

I always - ALWAYS - bring Benadryl with us on vacation.
Except this time.  I forgot.

Hello, Murphy?  Your law stinks.

Thank heaven for 7-11.
At 11pm.

But before the rash we were spring break-ing it up.



Ahhh, beach.
I love you so.
It's definitely my happiest place.

We've been in another happy place this week, too.
And I think I gained 5 lbs. from the churros to prove it.

I'll be back soon.
Let's catch up?

remembering the happy.

Happy 2012, friends!

We had a wild New Year's Eve last night
filled with pizza, sparkling cider, Just Dance 3, and board games.
And Dick Clark.
{who was looking quite orange, i might add.}

I don't make resolutions, per se,
but I happened to read this yesterday:

O, God, let it be said of me that 

my faith is growing more and more,

and the love I have for others is increasing! 

[2 Thess. 1:3]

{from beth moore's 'praying god's word'}

I think those are perfect things to be working toward
for the next 366 days.

I'm excited for 2012.
I'm ready for a new year,
a new beginning,
and a brand new opportunity to live this life.

{and i'm ready to exercise more.  blah.}

2011 had its challenges,
but overall was a good one.

When I look back at these I don't remember the kids bickering
or the bills
or the days with migraines
or the 7,291 times I had to wipe down the countertop.

I just remember the happy.

Here's to more happy in 2012.

a freecycle gem. finally.

I've had a migraine every single day for the last ten days.
It's making me very cranky.

I hate that when I have a migraine I don't get much done.

My house suffers.
My laundry suffers.
I feel like I'm in a fog.

And since talking about how I've been sitting around in a dark room
with my head on an ice pack for a week isn't a whole lot of fun,
I thought I'd show you my awesome
freecycle score from the other day.

I don't know if you're familiar with freecycle,
but it's a yahoo group you can join
where people offer things for free.

And by things I mean crap.
{usually}

There have only been a handful of times when
I have seen anything that really grabs
my attention on freecycle.

Last week someone offered a box of vintage sewing notions,
and I snagged them.

Best freecycle score yet.

TONS of bias tape.
I'll use it all.
And it's pretty to look at.

This almost makes up for all of the freecycle offerings
of broken toilets and vitamins for chickens
and used razors.

{SERIOUSLY.  WHO is going to take a used razor??}

maui, part 1

Back in March,
when Gary was working a ton of hours
and I was close to being committed to
a mental institution,
we decided to plan a summer vacay.

I needed something to look forward to.

The kids got out of school on Friday June 3rd,
and on Monday the 6th we were flying west over the Pacific.

Paradise.

I love it when you get off the airplane
in Hawaii and the air just smells different.
I think it's the flowers.
{or the mai tais?}

The first half of our vacation we rented a condo.
It was on the beach.
ON the beach.
I've never stayed on the beach before.

The sun set right in front of us every night.
I miss that sunset.

We found some awesome beaches.
Gary bought a book and had us driving
all over the island finding different places to explore.

This beach was my favorite.

Riley and Colin discovered a love of boogie boarding.
It made me nervous, because I kept worrying
that they would get tumbled in a wave,
but they were fine.

 {waterproof camera = hawaii must}

The sand.

Oh, the sand.

I would kill to have to sweep up that soft sand

from my floors everyday.

Really.

If I could move to a warm beach

{no northern california cold beaches, please}

I would do it tomorrow.

I am most relaxed at the beach.

Oh, and apparently I have good taste in beaches.

And directly above Clint and Tiger's houses...

Oprah's Hawaii house is up there,

but I'm not jealous.

I'm not.

Seriously.

Quit looking at me like that.

More another time,

but I'll leave you with three lesser-known Hawaiian wishes:

Peace be with you,

hook 'em horns,

and hang loose.

i have a pinterest problem.

I'm sure you've heard of Pinterest by now?

It's a virtual pinboard:
perfect for keeping all of those things you've bookmarked
together in one place.

And it's kind of a problem,
because I could waste a ton of time there.
But, really...
look at all of the pretty things!

Are you there, too?
If you are,
find me.
{i'm 4everlaundry}
I'd love to see your boards.

If not,
request an invitation to join.
I think there's a bit of a wait...
but it's worth it.

So tell me...
do you Pinterest?

the princess tea party

The princess tea party is over.
And {I think} a success.

I loved planning Riley's 7th birthday Halloween party,
and Colin's 5th birthday Lego party,
but this is the most fun I've had planning a party.

Here's the play by play,
in case you care:

The table.
Oh, the table.
The table is the most fun to plan.
{and a super important part of a tea party, right?}

Bright fabric sashes for the chairs
are super easy to do,
and make the table look so festive.

A few months ago I put out a request on freecycle 

for some embroidery hoops.

A guy responded that he had about twenty hoops for me.

Twenty!?

They weren't the size I wanted for the project I was doing,

so they have sat in the garage for months.

But then Friday I had an epiphany:

 

They are the perfect tea party chargers!

I love them.
{i might hang them on avery's wall now...not sure.}

 

My mom came down to help with the party.

She is the best kind of helper:

the kind that brings food and helps you clean up.

Thanks, mom.

When the girls started arriving they colored 

until all of the guests were here.

Then once all of the princesses were here

they got to work making princess wands.

Every princess needs a wand.

After the wands were finished I read

"The Princess and the Pea".

{you know the one...the king and queen know the girl 

is a real princess when she feels the pea in her bed under the 

20 mattresses.}

And then we played a game to find out

which girl at the party was a *real princess*.

I l-o-v-e this age.

They buy into things like this one hundred percent.

Then it was tea time.

But before eating I gave a little mini

princess etiquette lesson.

{napkin in lap...please and thank you...the usuals}

After the girls ate their food

we had a princess ball.

Except instead of the waltz

we danced the freeze dance

to some fun songs.

{think "happy working song" from enchanted and selena gomez' "who says"}

Then after dancing

and some free play time

it was time for cake.

I had some major icing issues.

Let's all try to pretend the cake doesn't look like it's melting.

After cake the girls jumped on the trampoline for awhile

and then went home with ring pops, bubble wands, and a hair clippie with their initial.

(And I have to give major props to my friend Pat for

many of the party ideas.

She is the princess party planner extraordinaire.

Thanks, Pat A-J!)

I can't believe this girl is turning four.

I know everyone says this,

but it really does go by so quickly.

I remember her being a baby so clearly.

And now she wears a size nine in shoes

and sits on our bench with her feet almost touching the floor 

playing the iPhone.

It's not right.

But I love that she still looks little when she sleeps.

So fitting that she wore her Sleeping Beauty dress today.

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

{don't forget to enter last week's give away here.  i'll pick the winner tomorrow.}

two days at the beach

We played hooky on Monday.
We went to Monterey on Mother's Day
and spent the night.

Monterey is gorgeous.
The beaches are picture-perfect.
They're not warm beaches, of course,
because Monterey is on the central coast,
and warm beaches are a Southern California
phenomenon.

But it's still beautiful.

Every time we go to the beach
we try to hatch plans for how we can somehow
acquire a house there.

I'll let you know what we come up with.

The kids could have played for hours and hours.

It was the Great Crab Hunt of 2011.

No crab was safe.
{except for that one really big one we found that we were all afraid of.
he had nothing to worry about.}

You know that Martina McBride song where she says
'I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean'?

I do.
The ocean has a way of making you realize
how very small you really are.

After playing in the sand for awhile we
drove south a little through Pebble Beach
and the famous 17 Mile Drive.

The houses along the drive are unbelievable.
Each one is more magnificent than the last.
I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy
drooling over each one.

That cypress tree is Pebble Beach's (trademarked) logo.
There's a big sign saying you can't sell any pictures you take of it.

Seems strange that a company can trademark something in nature,
doesn't it?

It was windy and the kids were freezing.
{why, of course Pooh Bear was with us...you expected otherwise?}

The second day in Monterey we went to the aquarium.
Monterey has an amazing aquarium.
Gary and I hadn't been since 1995.

Amazing stuff.
But I do think the jelly fish are a little weird.
It's crazy to think they are alive.

Underwater palm trees.
{at least that's what i named them.}

The hands-on area is always the best, of course.

Starfish, crabs, kelp,
and the oh-so-cool sea cucumber.

That lady told us the sea cucumber
(get ready)
"poops out its own stomach as a defense mechanism
and then regenerates it awhile later. "

Niiiiice.

The boys were beside themselves
at the cool gross-out factor of this little tidbit.

And of course no trip to Monterey would be complete
without the crazy animal-handler people.

Back in 1995 there was a guy
who had a cigarette-smoking monkey on the pier.
I am not a fan of monkeys,
and that particular one jumped on my head.
I started crying and Gary took a picture.
True story.

I'm forever traumatized.

There were no monkeys this time....
just a very gruff man with his gang of birds.

He all but forced you to have your kid hold a bird.
{for a tip, of course.}

Avery was not impressed.

She's braver than her mom, though.
At least she didn't cry.

I'm not sure why the crazy animal people
are so drawn to the Monterey pier.

I need to end this post on a nice note,
so I don't have nightmares of that chain-smoking monkey.

What a view, huh?
I feel tiny.