Dream Within a Dream

Guess where I just went?

I will give you some hints:

That's right, folks, I just lived every Mommy's dream of a blissful getaway to beautiful Hawaii. After the initial guilt of abandoning my husband and children for a 6 day, 7 night Hawaiian vacation with my mother-in-law, (who also happened to be very much in need of a break) I buckled down and allowed myself to indulge in the utter joy of it all: beautiful ocean views, delicious food, snorkeling, ziplining, sunset cruising, and general revelry which also included someone making my bed and vacuuming my room every day. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Can't wait to show you the rest of my 391 pictures and tell you all about it!

Just One more Reason to Love Craig

One night after showing up fashionably late to our standing Monday night laundry date, I found Craig already up to his elbow's in a week's worth of laundry. Man, I love this guy.

This Was Bound to Happen Some Time...

My nephew Lincoln is the only boy out of my sister Cyndie's four kids. In a house with so many women, it was only a matter of time before someone took a straightening iron to his killer curls.

I can't get over how much he looks like such a little teenager.

P.S. This is what his hair is supposed to look like. 

When Christmas Came to Town...

Remember that one time that Christmas happened and I never blogged about it? Well, if you know me at all, you know that that's just par for the course. I've been getting in trouble with my sister (ahem...you know who you are...) for not blogging lately, so I figured I'd start with something that happened almost 3 months ago.

Christmas being on a Sunday was new territory for us. We had a really beautiful, spiritual church program that was a great reminder about the actual meaning of Christmas, and then we came back home for the decidedly non-spiritual part. We did stockings and Santa gifts and first breakfast before church, and after church we did second breakfast and everything else. (If you are familiar at all with my children's grandparents, you will know why they were opening presents until it was dark.)

The candy trail...we adopted this tradition from my sister 

and the girls L-O-V-E it. It's usually Christmas Eve by 

the time that we remember that we need enough candy 

to go from their bedrooms upstairs all the way 

down to their presents downstairs. 

Thank goodness we always have m & m's.

Lexa's Santa gift. She sure loves babies. As long as they're not real.

The girls got Wuggle Pets. I had some guilt at the 

last minute about giving them such a small gift as 

their Santa gift, but I soon realized that my worries 

were unfounded...these guys were crazy about 

being able to make their own little stuffed animals.

Stockings and the rest of the presents.

(Maybe I should ask Santa for new couches...)

All set to follow the trail.

Getting ready to stuff the Wuggles...each one came 

with magic sprinkles to put inside and a 

birth certificate so the girls could name them. 

Stuffing "Uni" the Unicorn

(I am still finding magic sprinkles in the carpet.)

She'll make such a good Mommy as soon as 

she gets over her aversion to real babies.

One of our favorite books.

A DVD reading of another fave...

Vanna loves her big sis.

The T(h)ree Amigas

Second Breakfast sponsored by Craig the Omelette-Maker

The Egg-Maker

The cheese-maker

Ponies from Grandma

No, we didn't get "Maverick" for Lexa, even
though she is a die-hard Mel Gibson fan. 

She is opening it for Grandpa Dennis.

Cute backpack with a puppy attached. 

Or maybe she's more fit to adopt a monkey...

Merry Christmas (3 months later)!

Try, Try Again

We've been trying to get this girl to leave her binky in the crib.

It' s been going great so far.

In other news, she sure rocks these boots.