Tangled at the Grove

When everything is so crazy and hectic at this time of the year,

it's nice to take advantage of the moments we get to share and do something fun and exciting.

On this blustery Sunday afternoon, we loaded up the bundled-up babies and headed out to Los Angeles.

There are things we do when we are on vacation that we don't take the time

to do in the places we live. LA is a big, beautiful city, just like SF or NY,

but we rarely take the opportunity to fully explore it like a tourist would.

I would love to change that and become more familiar with this city.

It is fascinating to me that there are all these beautiful things to do and see and instead of

taking advantage of that we go to Disneyland every chance we get.

Today, we visited the Grove.

I love coming here. The Farmer's Market, the American Girl Store, Nordstrom, Anthropologie...

Everyone always says they see celebrities here but I have yet to see one. 

We had a serendipitous moment when we stumbled upon this lovely bakery...

Sharing the love...this doesn't happen very often.



The dazzling photography skills of Charlie.

This time of the year is the best time to go visit anywhere! Everything looks different

and better when it's all lit up so joyously and intoxicating.

The twinkle of all the lights and the music just automatically transforms into a wonderland.

It was definitely a cold, windy, scarf and hat kind of day.

The world through Ella's eyes is nothing short of pure joy and magic.

We caught the 7 pm showing of the new movie Tangled, which was AMAZING.

I loved it...

At least what I saw of it, anyway...

I had a little girl who didn't want to cooperate so this was the view 

I got of the movie for at least a half hour of it.

She's lucky she's so adorable...

What a great way to end a busy holiday weekend.

Have a great week, friends!

P.S.

December is almost here...

MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!

Woo Hoo!!!

Heavenly Peace

"Sleep in heavenly peace..."

They play that song in a diaper commercial and the sappiness comes right out of me.

I actually cried the other night.
It doesn't take much lately.

Josh Groban sings O Holy Night and I'm reduced to a weepy mess.

Kate runs up to me to put her hand on my cheek and

says, "I love my favorite mama." and I can't hold it together.

She fell asleep on the couch the other night as I was sewing.

When I peeked over to check on her, she was just so peaceful

that I had to snap a few photos.

Her thick, long eyelashes...

the upward curve of her cute nose...

the pout in her lips...

her little hands that are losing the chubbiness of babyhood...

These moments are fleeting.

I could have sat there on the floor in front of the couch for hours

just rubbing her cheek and memorizing her every feature.

It won't be like this for long.
I'm glad I get to drink it in as much as I can and know to appreciate it while I have it.

Gobble, Gobble

We had a good Thanksgiving.

It went by in a flash. That tends to happen when you're trying to cook

a full meal for 30 people and get it all right and tasting

good while taking care of all 9 kids running around.

Somehow it was drama-free and relaxed.

I'm definitely thankful for all of my blessings.

God, Family, Friends, Health, Love, Loyalty, Sleeping in... 

I'm grateful for it all.

But mostly though? For the 3 most beautiful people in the world...


My crazy, little turkeys
Thanksgiving 2010

Gobble, gobble was the theme for the day.
Seems only fitting to end with that.

Gobble, gobble...

Ella Meets Max

Here's Ella's first encounter of her new puppy, Max.

He got lots of touches on the nose followed by fits of giggles.

Ella is fascinated by this little pup.

It slept in the house in a crate with a nice warm blanket, but Ella kept

on trying to climb in with poor Max so I had to move him to the table.

That certainly didn't damper Ella's efforts to see him...

and when I took Max away?

Luckily, she's easily distracted.

Sweet Ella...

Poor Max. She's rough with him.

I guess he'll get used to it.



Working Through It

I had a really bad day.
Feels like everything that could have gone wrong, did.
There's nothing worse than a bad day where you can't even
pinpoint why it's been so bad. Just a bunch of little broken pieces
created a mutiny against you and you had no choice but to surrender to it.
The very worst part?
 Turning to my comfort place only to find it's gone.

Do you ever feel like everything's a mess in your life even though you know you are blessed

and that tons of people would kill to be where you are? I do...

It's not a great feeling, let me tell you. Feeling not good enough just makes me crazy.

Makes me question everything I once thought was true.

It's overwhelming when I lay at night, trying to sleep and all the things I was

supposed to do but didn't get a chance to keep flashing in my mind.

Knowing I disappointed people, fell short on promises, wasn't my best self.

Feeling this way at a time I should be counting my blessings and feeling grateful
just makes me feel like a really crappy person.
You really can't help how you feel, can you?

I guess on days like these you just have to embrace it.
Take the time, feel the pain, lick your wounds, learn the lesson...

I just have to keep reminding myself to keep my eye on the big picture...
Keep repeating this mantra in my head, "This too shall pass..."
Things will get better. They may get a little worse first, but eventually, they will get better.

I hate days like these.

Oh, baby. I feel the same way.

 

Meet the Newest Gosselin

This is Max.

I'll hesitate a moment here, and let all of you who really know me

pick your jaws up off the floor and stop gasping...

I am SOOOO not a dog person.

I swore to all ends of the earth that I would never get a dog.

That is, until now.

I walked into the house tonight after spending a day with my girls

to a very, very excited Charlie. He literally had a sparkle in his beautiful, big brown eyes.

He said to me, "I have a dog."

and then he held his hands up to his heart and said, "I have a Max."

I was confused because I don't really recall having the conversation

with Eric where I agreed that getting a dog would be okay with me...

I got mad. I got teary. I got even more mad. I hyperventilated and I yelled... in that exact order. 

And then I saw him.

I saw Charlie with him. He was smitten.

I took the dog in my hands. This tiny, little, shaking puppy and I locked myself in the garage with it.

He looked at me, and I looked at him. He was still shaking. I felt sorry for the pup.

I took him and put him in my jacket and he stopped shaking. He snuggled in and fell asleep.

I have to admit, I am getting to be smitten with him too.

Now, I know that the reality of having a dog will hit me the first time I step in dog sh*t and walk

on my carpet with it or when he chews up my kids' shoes... the newness will wear off.

I know I will curse Eric for it sometimes. But I can tell you this...

ANYTHING that makes Charlie, Kate and Ella smile this big is worth

loving and giving it a try at the very least.

Welcome to the family, little Max.

Please don't bite my babies and we will get along beautifully.

The First Broadway Musical

I like allowing my babies every experience they can get their hands on.

I want to expose them to the arts, to sports, to music, different cultures, travels...

I was introduced to these things early in my life too by my aunt and

I think that it contributed hugely to my love of the arts...

When Jackie invited us to attend the Beauty and the Beast Broadway show at the OCPAC,

I was elated. This is has been the kids favorite Disney movie for weeks now. It appeals to

both Charlie and Kate equally. I knew they would would love seeing it live. And they did.

It was a later show so I hoped that they wouldn't get too antsy during... there were a few

moments that made my cheeks hot with embarrassment but overall, I was amazed at how well they

sat and payed attention eagerly to the play.



Our great seats in the theater.

My crazy-independent child. It seriously causes me stress that she will absolutely

not allow me to do ANYTHING for her anymore. It is a fight to even comb her hair

but she finally allows me because her tiny little fingers can't quite tie the elastic in her

pigtails yet. As we speak, she is probably trying to teach it to herself so as to become

even more self-sufficient than she already is.

During a bathroom break, as I was helping Charlie out, he's the nice one who still likes to make

me feel needed and worthy, ha ha... anyway, as I was helping him out she managed to

drag an ottoman from the restroom waiting area into the actual restroom and push it to the sink

so that little miss could wash her hands all by herself. I got quite a few chuckles out

of the few ladies that lingered in the restroom. The bell had already chimed twice indicating that the

the intermission was over and that you should return to your seat for the next act to begin...

Kate didn't care about that.

She just wanted to do what she wanted to do. Take her sweet time, washing her hands.

I was so so speechless that I had to take a photo. It's a little grainy but it was taken with my Blackberry.

Stretching their little legs after the show...

An older lady usher reluctantly took our photo...um, look at what a great job she did.

This is the ONE photo we got as a group. Great.

It makes me so happy when they get along...

This was an extra special treat for C because he is rarely allowed to stay up past his bedtime

since he's started school although he tries EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. to fight that rule.

It was late when we were headed home so we jammied them

up all comfortably and as anticipated, they fell right asleep.

It was a great show, with great friends, and beautiful memories.

Thank you, J, from the bottom of my heart for this night.

It was very special to share this with them and with you.