If I click my ruby slippers three times....

will I magically reunite with Toto?  

Toto, the toilet, that is.

Life on the cold, hard porcelain ring has not been the same.  Toto was always perfectly heated for my seated pleasure.   Toto did all the work for me.  Gentle spritzes of warm water followed by warm air dry.  Is that too much information?  My point is, I'm back to life.  Back to re-al-ity.

Our trip to Tahoe was a nice break from the day-to-day routine.

Not only were the accomodations OFF. THE. HOOK. (as the young kids are saying these days), 

but, we also got to be with family!

In my 6+ years of marriage with Troy, we have never had an official reunion on his side of the family.  We've had gatherings here and there, but never a planned reunion with all the kids present.  For the first try, we did pretty well, I think.  We were only short one family, but they have vowed to be there next time!  (right guys? You were missed!)

We only had 3 short days in Tahoe, but I think we made the most of it!  Here are some of the highlights.

Hike to Emerald Bay

Watermelon Eating Contest

and the winner is.....Grandpa Bruce!

winner in action

Honorable Mention goes to lucy bean.

Close runners-up!

Rock Jumping

Sand Harbor Beach Play

Lexi

Spencer

chloe

colton

lucy

grandpa bruce & sue

Cousin Fun

Hot stuff Grandma! 

(Coco....are you going swimming?)

Good bye Tahoe.  we love you...

blue skies

We're back!  

Details on the DeGraff reunion to come....

he needed to know.

I guess my kids are brilliant.

Or at least smarter than Jayne's.

Because somehow she gets away with telling her little ones that ice cream trucks are "music trucks" that drive around our neighborhoods and grace us with annoying children's songs.

Not mine.

They know what's inside that truck.

They've seen their neighborhood friends walk away with sweet, drippy popsicles before. And I'll admit, I did spoil them with a frozen treat sometime last year.  I thought they'd forget.

They haven't forgotten.

In fact, by the time I heard the tinkling, tinny sounds of the truck intensify, Jack was already in the street waiting.  (in his underwear, mind you)

So I grabbed a handful of coins (not enough, because wouldn't you know those sugar and water treats will now run you about 2 bones a piece?!?) and ran out into the street.

But this time I didn't care about buying a popsicle.

I had a bone to pick with old Jawahar.

You see, lately he's been driving through the streets around, oh, 7:30 or 8ish PM!  Right around the time my kids have just been read to, prayed with, sung to, and tucked in for the night.

Then they hear a playful rendition of Frosty the Snowman (yeah...don't ask.) and their senses are awakened!

So you can see why I marched right out there with my ONE dollar in coins (not enough to buy and ice cream, just so you know) just to gently tell Jawahar that 3 in the afternoon is a PERFECT time to sell ice cream.  NOT 8!

Our work is done now.

Jawahar knows how the mom with the underdressed kids feels.

So we marched away triumphantly with our treats....4 dollars poorer and 4000 calories richer!

 

Jack and his endless collection of expressions. 

It was a sad 1st experience for lu bean.

it's early

i rolled out of bed, wiped the sleepies from my eyes and headed straight down to the laundry room to start on the daily (or every other day) task of laundry.  In my partly conscious state of being, I spot treated an entire load of darks with WINDEX.  You can see how I'd make this mistake, right?  They are both blue....

Now off to a shower.  Perhaps I'll try shaving cream for shampoo?

against the grain

i wasn't raised on crustless sandwiches.



Quite the opposite, actually.

As a kid we never had such options. My dad was a culinary revolutionist, of sorts. He liked to dabble in unusual combinations of food. I once watched him BBQ Ritz crackers with peanut butter and jelly squishing out from the middle. I supposed he thought the hickory smoke of the BBQ would add to his elegant creation?

It was not uncommon for him to return home from work with all the fixins for homemade sushi rolls, or fried up frog's legs, or even rare breakfast cereals from the "grocery outlet" with Arabic writing on the box-front.

We were not given the option to deny these dishes.


Our typical school sack lunch would usually consist of:

* One PBJ on extra sourdough bread.  who eats pbj on sourdough?
* A plastic baggie filled with carrot salad. Oh...never heard of carrot salad, you say? It's shredded carrots mixed with mayonaise, sugar, raisins, coconut, sunflower seeds and pineapple. delish. Oh, and we did not get utensils to eat this salad. We were taught to rip the corner off the baggie and SQUEEZE it into our mouths, because "that's how the astronauts eat". Nice one, dad.
* A paper cup with two tablespoons of powdered TANG, covered with saran wrap on the top and sealed with a rubberband. We were supposed to go fill it up at the drinking fountain. Just imagine the mockery we endured from our other ruthless classmates as they sipped from their fancy capri suns and sugary juice boxes.

And again, unless we brought our own money to school, we were given no choice but to eat what was given to us. Or mooch off all our friends, which we did all too often.

My point is, I have not followed in these footsteps.

Instead, I want to give my kids all the things I've been dreaming of since my childhood.

soft, airy wonderbread
sugary cereals
creamy peanut butter
capri suns
fruit roll-ups
brand name snacks
pop tarts


and gosh darnit....CRUSTLESS sandwiches.

So sorry dad. You really built our character by force feeding us your creations and subjecting us to embarrassing situations, but maybe Jack could build character by learning to share his awesome lunch with some dorky kid sucking carrot salad from a baggie? 

just a thought...

welcome home, daddy!

we play

we fight

we clean

we bathe

we make messes

we create

we destroy

we eat

we say "hi" over the phone

we have accidents

we laugh

we cry

we nap

BUT....

nothing is really complete until 5:45 pm when we see dad drive up the street honking and we run up the driveway next to his car to greet him.

Welcome home, Daddy!

This is when our day begins.

a mellow soul

I love these pictures of lucy. To me, they really illustrate the kind of gal she is. 

mellow. 

easy going. 

content to be alone. 

observant.

peaceful.

(with an occasional growl here and there)

Thanks Ryan S. for capturing these moments!

These were all taken while 5 other wild kids ran free. Lucy just sat in the wheat and watched.

What do HOUSEGUESTS and FISH have in common?

They both STINK after 3 days!

Oh, but contraire mon frair....

not these houseguests. Our houseguests were more like a fine wine or a delicate cheese. They just got better with time (a month, to be exact)!

In fact, I already miss them so much!

Now, you housewives might understand this. The days of a mom with youngins can sometimes be long and lonesome. I usually pepper my days with a phone call here or there...OK...let's be honest...my phone battery is usually dead by the end of the day because a girl needs some adult conversation every now and again to keep her ticking? Am I right?

My brother, his wife and their little 18 month-old cutie, Carter, came to stay with us while my brother did a short podiatry internship in Orange County. I got to spend the days with my sister-in-law, Mindy, who I am now further convinced is one of the nicest, most laid-back people I have ever met. It was a joy to have a 24/7 friend around! I can usually only fenagle my other friends to hang out with me in small 20 minute increments, but I had this one trapped!

It was so fun and I already miss them. Plus, she did dishes...a LOT of them!

Thanks so much guys for not being stinky guests!

Here are a few trip highlights:

Photo Shoot #1

Click to see more pictures over here....

Photo Shoot #2

Disneyland

My parents came down one weekend too.  We loved sharing the Disneyland experience with them.  My dad wasn't expecting to love it as much as he did.  I'll bet the next time he goes, he'll be wearing a pin trading lapel.  mark my words....

Beach

zonked

Jack's first surf with Dad!  My mom teared up!

dat be fun?

Daily plea:

Hey mom.

I got an idea.

Yets go swing on the twee!

(or pway at da pawk)

(OR swim at da pool)

Dat be fun?

yes son.  dat will be weally fun!

missing in action

No, I'm not dead. I did not fall off the face of the earth.

I've just had a really fun, busy month.

It all started with a weekend away. No kids, no hubby....just me, a box of see's candy, a good supply of reading material, a plane flight to Utah and a great group of girls.

For years I had been trying to figure out how to be part of the Jibson sisterhood. Refer to this. My chances of marrying into the family were shot years ago.

Exibit A - me with a Jibson man.

I've thought of sneaking into luggage bags just so I could go HERE with them. But once again...amazon women are not known for their agility and flexibility.

So, I just invited myself on their next getaway and it worked. We had a great 4 days together doing a lot of THIS and some of THIS.

Some of the highlights of my trip included:

*Seeing old friends. Especially one of my besties of all time! We named Lucy's middle name after her because she's just about the most caring, funny, Christlike, creative and loyal person I know. And everytime I'm with her, she doesn't disappoint. And did I mention that her 3 year old can do a mean 3-point turnaround in an SUV? Thanks Jayner!

Plus these girls! We had enough college memories to chat for hours that proved to be a mean form of torture for the outsiders along for the ride. It is so good to know that after marriages, kids and living in different states for years, that we can still pick up right where we left off! How bout a reunion ladies with the original 6?

* Eating at Cafe Rio - twice in one day!

* Staying up late having girl talk! Turns out I get a little delirious after 1 am and start throwing out some seriously creepy compliments. Sheena...I really do love the way your lips glide over your teeth in a SOOOooo non-lesbian way. I promise.

* Singing beautiful songs with huge masses of women. Come to find out, I can't control my emotions in this situation.

* Getting the "nerdy chills" walking up to BYU campus with masses of jumper-clad middle-aged women with lots of Bumpit hairdos.

* Staying in Sheena's adorable house and waking up every morning to my new favorite - Bumble and Brown Strawberry yogurt butter spread. Oh yum!

* Having Kasey point out my glowing mustache numerous times, then introducing me to the worlds coolest invention. Is it still considered shaving if I'm using this? no hard feelings kasey...

* Eating, eating and more eating!

and finally...

Coming home to a great family and some awesome HOUSEGUESTS!

I'll tell you more about them tomorrow.

Happy Mother's Day

Perhaps you can relate to this, this or this.

Kisses to all my momma friends and to my own magnificent momma!

for carrie.

sneak a peek
(click here)

Easter Pix & New Trix

Easter Pix

New Trix

Easter Pix

New Trix

Easter Pix

New Trix

Easter Pix

happy easter

stuff yourselves with candy, chocolate and eggs

THEN

stuff yourself with these spiritually uplifting words.

sick of this, for sure.

You wanna know what the worst thing in the world is?

Losing your sense of taste!

I know...initially I thought this nasally, congested, bronchial sickness would be my big breakthrough. As long as I couldn't taste, then I should have no problem surviving off the stuff of supermodels - lettuce, celery, and spring water. This should be just what I need to catapult myself closer to that not-so-new-New Year's weight loss resolution. So I thought...

Then Troy came home to care for me on Friday evening with my favorite mix of See's Candy. I excitedly grabbed one out of the box to taste, and nothing....nada....couldn't taste a blasted flavor of the delicious chocolate. So, I tried again. (I'm not a quitter) NOTHING! Then I tried about 3 more times before finally admitting to myself that my tastebuds were SHOT!

It's a sad realization, folks.

On the one hand, I wanted to keep trying because in my memory bank of food flavors I KNEW what that chocolate was supposed to taste like and I desperately wanted some. On the other hand, I couldn't keep eating in vain and wasting my calories on flavorless food.

Again this morning I returned home from the grocery store with some homemade chili sauce aka the stuff dreams are made of.


Then I got a hankering for one of my favorite snacks. This chili sauce poured over the top of cream cheese and spread on crackers. Oh....it is so delicious. But, as soon as I popped that first cracker into my mouth I was so frustrated. Once again...NOTHING.

So, please tastebuds....please come back to me. We've had a love/hate relationship in the past, but I am realizing now it's definitely more LOVE than hate.