My Love Song to My Kids

"I love lilacs and avocados,
Ukuleles and fireworks
And Woody Allen and walking in the snow....

But you've got to know that
you're the love of my life
You are the love of my life...

From the moment I first saw you,
The second that you were born,
I knew that you were the love of my life...
Quite simply the love of my life.

I love Lucy and pumpernickel bread,
The Statue Of Liberty, standing ovations,
and falling into bed.

But get it through your head that
you're the love of my life.
You are the love of my life

You can drive me crazy.
You can drive me anywhere.
Here are the keys, just do as you please.
It may not always be easy...

But you're the love of my life
My heart is riding on a runaway train!

You are the love of my life
through all the pleasure and pain.

From the moment I first saw you, I knew.
I knew it right away.
I knew that you were the love of my life
Simply the love of my life

You are the love
The great love of my life."

Carly Simon

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I've loved this song since the very first time I heard it in the movie "This Is My Life"
when I was much younger.  Really good movie, by the way. I still have it on VHS tape... ha.
I tucked the song, along with the sentiment of it, away into my subconscious as one of
those this-will-be-significant-to-my-life-someday moments... lo and behold, it is.
It embodies the very deep feelings I have for my babies.
It speaks for me when I can't...

It's been awhile since I sat and listened to it.
But Saturday, after a long day away from home,
I was greeted with this gorgeous bouquet of
fragrant lilacs on my kitchen island from J.
Such a nice surprise to come home to.

The lilacs made me remember this great song I loved so dearly.

a lunch date at Shenandoah in Los Alamitos

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We finally made it to Kate's 4 year old check
up that we've been meaning to go to since October...

Vision, blood pressure and hearing tests...all passed.
Ella didn't like that Jackie was covering Kate's eye
so she kept running to take it off and then, Ella kept
cheating and telling Kate what the small pictures were on
the eye chart... so funny, that girl.

the sass of a 4-going-on-16 year old...

Everything went well until Kate needed some boosters
for her vaccines. Dr. Castro started talking to me about
the necessary kindergarten vaccines. Kindergarten??
What is she talking about!!? Can Kate really be ready for that??
I opted for 2 of the 4 that she needed since I don't
like to overload their little bodies with too much at once.
We'll have to go back and get the rest of them before
she starts school in September...

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Ella has a new favorite book.
Charlie was given "Love You Forever" as a gift when
he was a tiny baby. At a recent trip to the book store,
Ella made us read it to her repeatedly, so I pulled it out
at home and Charlie read it to her... Such a cool moment for
him to be able to read a book to his baby sister that
he's had since he was born. AND he read it WELL!

Through all of it, the craziness, the blow ups and blow outs,
the tantrums and markered walls, old milk bottles left
under the car seat for far too long, having to lay a beach towel
over a pee puddle on my bed at 3am from one of the kids accidents
because I'm too tired to wake everyone up to change the whole bed...

Through all the bad, and there is much of it,
I hear my own version of this song on repeat
in my head and it makes it all worthwhile 

Of all the things I love, and I love a lot of things,
they are the great loves of my life...

Two Little Sisters

I just had a really good cry.

You need to have one of those every once in a while, you know.

I just found the perfect song to share for my girls.
The fact that it's by my beloved Carly Simon just makes it 10 times more perfect.

I think one of the best things I've ever done

in my entire life, the most important and

most rewarding relationship I will ever have

created was to give my girls each other...

Two Little Sisters by Carly Simon

Listen to it, it's a beautiful song.
Meryl Streep sings back up. Who knew??

An old photo...

Two little sisters dancing by the edge of the sea....

Taken in Savannah, GA. Oh how I miss that time. Can't believe it's been a year since our trip.

I'll be back later with another post I was writing before

this song fell in my lap and moved me beyond words.

I'll end this by saying go hug your sister. 

Right now:

I saw this on another blog and loved the idea... so I am doing my own version of it.


wishing: I didn't have to go to the market today. But we're out of healthy food and
                   it's a funny thing, kids need to eat several times a day...
feeling: sad that I hurt someone important to me.
laughing about: Kate's newest dance move.
thinking:  diets suck.
doing: school yearbook work
wanting: inner peace
dreaming of: getting on a plane to go visit a new place.
loving: that Ella and Kate are setting up a tea party in their room and Ella just claimed
                that she is excited about the tea party decorations.
watching:  my girls run around in underwear and tap shoes.
drinking:  my 5th water bottle of the day
reading:  In the middle of The Cupcake Diaries.
wearing:  cringe...my pajamas. At 2pm.
eating:  a Jenny Craig omelet. Blech!
listening: to Carla Bruni. Totally doesn't help the wanting to travel feeling. She
                     screams "Come to Paris!" into my subconscious with her every lyric.
avoiding: laundry. And cupcakes -Sad day.
missing: faraway family and friends
thankful for: my healthy babies and coffee
wondering:  how tonight will go...
texting: my dear friend Pou, she makes me laugh. I love her.
needing: a hug, a cupcake and more coffee. In that order...

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A Gosselin tea party...

They're so sweet and lady-like.

and then we have this...

Want to know why??

Kate doesn't think Ella plays tea party the way it should be played.

She thinks standing on the chair to drink tea and putting plates on your

head is not a fancy tea party thing to do... Ella didn't care.

 and so Kate cried...

While Ella poured more tea...

Welcome to my wonderful world...

Have a nice weekend, friends.

16 Things

1. I bought sunflowers and daffodils today. They made me homesick for New York.

2. I'm excited for the chance for Eric and I to spend Sunday with Ella alone at a birthday party.

3. I'm a fan of Uncrustables. It's brilliance to have invented a pre-made sandwich with no crust.

My spellcheck tried to change Uncrustables to Incorruptibles... ha.

Even it knows their goodness.

4. I subscribe to 5 magazines and I have 3 months worth of each to catch up on.

5. I kick ass at Scramble with Friends. New favorite pastime.

6. A friends 4 month old baby boy has me seriously wanting a newborn.

7. The bond these 2 have is pretty special. I'm glad it's there.

8. I adore rainbows. They're beautiful and fascinating. Doubly so when there are 2 at once!

9. Charlie & I are taking a cooking class together

in 2 weeks and we're looking forward to it.

10. On Friday, I will have 7 kids in my care overnight. Ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 7, and 9.

Send me all the patience vibes you can muster please...

11. Second pot of coffee of the day is currently brewing. It's been that kind of day.

12. When they get along, it's a beautiful thing to see.

13. Barbra Streisand turned 70 today. Isn't that nuts?

14. I love these faces.

15. He fell asleep reading...

16. Bad days are bad enough without including a trip to the ER for your baby.

She's fine, no stitches needed because the cut is in her mouth and the

Dr. said that usually heals by itself.

Traditions

I have some of the best memories of my childhood because
of family traditions that were created long ago.

I never realized the real comfort and feeling of belonging
that keeping traditions held for me until this past Fall when I
let a few of our traditions fall through the cracks.

Fall didn't hold the same feeling or meaning without
having gone to the apple orchard to pick apples and
raspberries while dressed in rich Autumn colors in entirely too hot weather,
or having gone to the pumpkin patch with my entire family.

It's not even about the actual pumpkin patch, it's the act of going,
reminiscing about who did what crazy thing last year...
Remembering how tiny the youngest was the previous time.

I'm intent on giving my kids the gift of carrying on those traditions and

even more intent on creating some of our very own that they will

hopefully be proud enough to continue with their own children some day.

Around this time of the year, we have a few good ones that I adore.

Old traditions

Baking at my Grandma's for the holidays

She loves baking. I love that I passed that on to her.

New traditions...

Baking and decorating sugar cookies with my
own babies at home for the holidays...

The little sugar bandit...

She ate so many spoonfuls, we lost count!

Here is what we created...it was too late to bake and decorate the cookies that same

night because we got a late start so we did it the following day...

These are the best sugar cookies to make. They are soft and moist.

I hate a hard, crunchy sugar cookie...

Of course Martha has the perfect recipe...

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy. With mixer running, add egg, milk, and vanilla; mix until well combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add reserved flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
2. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

I've tried 20 cookies recipes and this is, by far, my favorite.

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Another tradition that I've quickly fallen in love with is our annual

family 17th breakfast. We eat deep fried pancakes and make

breakfast burritos that are entirely too stuffed to be wrapped properly.

The cousins all play together in the backyard, in their pajamas and

we get to just spend time together, laughing and teasing each other

 like my family does best. This was our 2nd annual breakfast and we

sorely missed my two littlest sisters and my brother-in-law this year.

That's hard for me to swallow. I like having my loved ones close.

Mark was a little over-eager when filling his burrito...

Her beloved grandpa...

Grandma/granddaughter toes

Our annual family photo

What traditions are important to you?