bittersweet.

the day that i've dreaded as well as looked forward to arrived yesterday. my baby went to kindergarten.



she couldn't have been more pleased with her wardrobe choices for the big day--dress with silver sparkles, (yep, she's her mother's daughter) ruffled "floofy" skirt, and bejeweled shoes.

were you aware that choosing just the right first day of school outfit could be such an intricate and involved process? fyi: it IS.






as well as choosing the right backpack:





the most highly anticipated part of the whole day was the arrival of the school bus.

she waited it out (in the 1 BAJILLION degree heat) with her buddy, issac:






finally, that glorious moment arrived. and it was even better than anticipated:






i feel that with each child i had, i was so impatient for them to get to the next milestone, make the next step, grow up just a bit. but with this one, i've wished for eternal youth--yet why hasn't it happened?


so, my tiny baby mia--your mother accepts her fate. she wants you to spread your wings and fly!

(and she loves you more than you'll ever know.)

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:



**this sweet little gift that my kindergarten girl brought home from school yesterday. (first time all day long that i watered-up, and couldn't seem to stop the tears from flowing--i guess i'm not as hardcore as i thought.)


now i'm gonna have to obtain a copy of the kissing hand:

"Chester Raccoon doesn't want to go to school--he wants to stay home with his mother. She assures him that he'll love school--with its promise of new friends, new toys, and new books. Even better, she has a special secret that's been in the family for years--the Kissing Hand. This secret, she tells him, will make school seem as cozy as home. She takes her son's hand, spreads his tiny fingers into a fan and kisses his palm--smack dab in the middle: "Chester felt his mother's kiss rush from his hand, up his arm, and into his heart." Whenever he feels lonely at school, all he has to do is press his hand to his cheek to feel the warmth of his mother's kiss. Chester is so pleased with his Kissing Hand that he--in a genuinely touching moment--gives his mom a Kissing Hand, too, to comfort her when he is away."



does anybody suspect that an author would pen a book like this just to torture parents? (a good torture, but torture nonetheless....:)

**the chance we had to have "brother" hang at our house for a while and light up our lives.


as well as make a few quick phone calls:

**& the opportunity to pull this puzzle out for him to do, then realizing that it's superstar in the right hand corner is totally our MARTIN:

ohhhhh, MARTY.




speaking of puzzles..... AND cole-- THIS was him when barreling feet first through all of the millions (okay, hundreds) of puzzle pieces he dumped on the floor.

he is absolutely and completely a wild man:




(hims is so crazy.)

**this license plate we saw coming home from las vegas which made us slow down & back it up so that we could capture the essence.

three reasons--abbey

three reasons why i love you, my sweet abbey "abigail" abbers--


1. you are the very definition of "lovey"--being born on february 14th, i should have known what a gift i had in you. so many hugs, kisses, loves, squeezes, nuzzles & snuggles-- i am one very lucky mother.

2. you are my very best bed-maker. (shhhhh. don't tell your sisters.)

i am also incredibly proud of how clean you keep your room and how patient you are with your younger sister when the two of you clean it together! (not an easy task.)

3. i love that you have a wicked little sense of humor.

our conversation two nights ago:

abbey: "mom, i need to tell you two blond jokes. they will make you laugh."

mom: (somewhat distracted) "mmmmmmmmmkay."

abbey: " how do you drown a blond? YOU PUT A MIRROR AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL!"

mom: (smiling) "hey--that's not too shabby."

abbey: "okay, so how ELSE do you drown a blond? YOU PUT A SCRATCH-AND-SNIFF STICKER ON TOP OF THE MIRROR!!!!"

mom: "that's my girl."



you will always be my valentine baby. i love you so much.



and i support you in becoming mrs. zac efron. make me proud.

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT BABY

{l to r: jentix, tiburon, vanessa, mindi}

first and foremost, a big THANK YOU is offered to montell jordan and his timeless voice for providing the THEME SONG to this trip.

THIS is what it looks like when you stick your body out the top of the sunroof on the las vegas strip and have your photo taken:

(objects appear larger than actual size.)

THIS is what a BLOGGER'S PHOTO-OP FANTASY looks like:

THIS is the founder/creator of the "20 dollar & under rule" that you happened to run into again while trying to scalp tickets:

(he got in. we didn't.)

THIS is the birthday banner that you swiped from your daughter & took turns wearing so the group could reap any extra benefits that a birthday-girl would receive.

the power of what it brought was a sight to behold:

& THIS is the song that the birthday girl busted some sweet freaking moves to.

allegedly.



THIS is the prince look-alike who soothed your sadness at no gaga tix while putting on one helluva SHOW.

THIS was jerone. who happened to be your favorite part of the show. which got you in trouble with pseudo- morris day. but it was WELL WORTH it:

THIS was the best 10 bucks you spent all weekend long:

THIS is the face you make when the young sweet thang (him likes boys, btw) you saw dancing afterwards convinces you to join him on the podium. and then plants a kiss on your cheek:

(fyi? you find out that he dances in THIS show.)

& THIS is what he can do when egged on by four middle-aged women:

**note to reader--i in in no way, shape, or form endorse stripper poles. just bendy boy-toy dancers.

THIS is what it looks like when you are a latino princess from san diego who's parents just dropped a cool 50K for your Quinceañera in las vegas--

as well as her date from the mexi-version of the jersey shore:

THIS is what your stretch-humvee and your extended party will look like while celebrating said quinceañera:

& THIS hairstyle makes you look like the heat miser

THIS is the tiny little bottle of ketchup you fell in love with while dining at your new FAVORITE LAS VEGAS EATERY:

which is decorated like THIS:

{love.}

speaking of eating, THIS is yet another photo adding to the evidence that you did it. a LOT:

(detox is a biznatch, btw.)

THIS is the shemale winner of the lady gaga look-alike contest. (which should have been called the "lady GUY GUY contest." thanks stevekemp.)

and, finally-- if you play your vegas cards right, THIS is what you will be driving home at the end of the night:

**for more vital vegas info (it will change your life) read tiburon's informative things i learned in las vegas
& things that most definitely--may or may not have--allegedly happened in vegas
as well as vanessa's 10 things i learned in vegas .

they will let you in on the secret of why the las vegas d.j.'s are always so concerned with "where they party people at?"

and why even a very, very bad fake nevada drivers license is better than no nevada drivers license at all. allegedly.

what happens in vegas

i'm exhausted!

but it's a good exhaustion--i figure i can always sleep when i'm dead.....


so, just a sneak peak of what was seen in the city of lost wages while i bide time getting my facts straight:




HIMS:





HIMS:



(sneaky photo taking doesn't work so very well while trying to be covert.)





HERS:





the latino-equal of GTL:





& HERS in male form:

hidden kitty treasures

the other week when we came home from our family vacay in park city, i went to put a small trinket in my non-white-trash version of the curio cabinet. imagine my surprise when i saw this:

keep in mind that any manner of feathered friends or creepy miniature hand-objects are right at home there.


i was just (pleasantly) taken off guard when i saw a few new additions:

now, i ask you: who does NOT love a tole-painted cat, lovingly crafted and placed in a position of prominence?

obviously, my "crazy cat lady" status has not been lost on my friends--jody & jared had snuck into our abode and stealthily placed them with care in the cubby for all to enjoy.



they. complete. me.

three reasons--mia

three reasons why i love you, my sweet baby mia:


1. for the fact that you are very concerned about putting on your swimsuit and "getting a tan." (btw: she gets that ALL from her father. whom we've nicknamed "the situation" this past year.)


2. that you start every single sentence lately with the words, "can i tell you something?"


3. that you have your mother's natural ability to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, anyplace:















p.s. is it wrong that her mother didn't sign her up for kindergarten until yesterday, and school starts tomorrow?

someone call dcfs, STAT!

we already knew that!

i read this little quote about sisters and it did my heart good--

during a study (a part of BYU's Flourishing Families Project* ) this bit of info was discovered:


"Sisters seemed to help siblings avoid negative emotions. Those adolescents with sisters were less likely than those without sisters to indicate feeling lonely, unloved, guilty, self-conscious and fearful. It didn't matter whether the sister was younger or older, or how far apart the siblings were age-wise."



when i read this, i was flooded with gratitude. as well as relief.

sometimes it seems like all my girls do is fight, argue, yell, argue, and fight a bit more.

but then, i remembered doing some (or MORE!) of the same with my older sister, loni. and i couldn't love her more now that we are both grown women. (or at least she is.)


so! there IS light at the end of the tunnel.....

*the study included 395 families with more than one child, at least one of whom was an adolescent between the ages of 10 and 14.

new catty collars

when we went to park city, the thing i was most excited to bring home were the prizeys for dave & martin.

yes, i AM that person who spends money on stupid crap like bejeweled collar-gems. i think petco must have seen me coming from a mile away.....



we got martin the skull because he is such a bad arse:

can you see how thrilled he is to be wearing it?

&, of course, dave got the fish-skeleton because the boy does love his food:

(in fact, we could barely fit it 'round his ginormous neck.)