welcome home endeavor!!

today i am joining some of my favorite gals for their photo friday link up par-tay!!
psssst, you know you can always lure me in with a party. it's a given....

this photo is of the space shuttle endeavor as it was flown into the los angeles international airport making it's final flight last friday. the endeavor has circled the earth 4,671 times on it's 25 missions to space- i find that utterly amazing. i mean what?? you've been to space not once (cool enough for me) but 25 freakin times???

you can go view the endeavor at the california science center which is the orbitor's final home.

flying over the griffith park area on it's way to los angels international airport being escorted by 2 fighter jets

such a historical moment to be able to witness and catch on our cameras!

aloha friday comin' atcha!

 

i kinda wanna be right there, right now, all day. you too??

so most of yesterday was spent with me thinking it was friday. i do that a lot. it's a sucky sucky moment when your entire world comes crashing down all around you as you realize no, no in fact it isn't friday-close, but no cigar. 

its thursday. 

well, at least it wasn't wednesday right?? 

gotta find that silver lining!

this was a busy week with all kinds of good stuffs!!!

-the biggest little started her SAT classes. these are gonna make her all kinds of smart, prepared "almost" college girl. she probably won't leave my house because you see umbilical cords dont really stretch all that far but we are workin' on it.

keala with victoria the on set teacher. this is a perk of having kids on set- a teacher to help them!!

-spent 3 days filming for our show- you can read about the excitement here!!

exhausting work! you wouldn't think it but for me, just having to do my hair and make up and stand up straight is really like tough work. oh, and i had to wear heels, i wasn't my usual barefoot self for 3 whole days! 3 days!! 

car cam-this can be tricky coz you have to remember to keep your road rage down to a dull roar

-the littlest little had a great soccer game and wasabi girls won. yeah! i pretty much stayed in my seat most of the game. whose proud of me??? huh? 

-the dawgs won against stanford last night! yea!!! they said they wouldn't win. they said they had no chance. they underestimated the men in purple. they shouldn't do that.

-might be planning to see a few of my fav northwest peeps in the next month or so.

-no, shane is not completely sold on being bill to my sookie for halloween but im still workin on it and it may be looking up.

-i am also still working shane on my pet pot bellied pig. i have good feelings....

i mean come on! its a hawaiian pig!

-it's aloha friday, no work til monday...nuf said!

-oh, as a special treat that will make you feel like you truly are the best mom on earth, today i leave with with one of my favorite video moments from a toddlers and tiara's mom.

 

spread the aloha today y'all!!!

why ya gotta take the tramp?

it had been a real tug o' war.

in the mom corner we have 5' 5" (or close enough) blond mama with a fierce stink eye and a hand that fits perfectly on hip giving off the essence of authority.

in the dad corner we have 6'4" strong hawaiian man with a look that tells you he never loses. anything. ever. sigh.

we were running out of backyard space, yes, this may be true but what's a backyard for? places to put things for kids to play in or on right? places to put structures that will keep your kids safe and busy for at least 30 minutes at a time while you do something important like, make dinner, or simply lock yourself in a closet for moments of solitude. c'mon, ya feel me! i know you do!

the trampoline has spent many years being a very good friend to me. it has filled days with moments of happiness and not just for me. my kids loved this trampoline.

when it was cold (as cold as southern cal can get) they would take blankets out and build forts on this.
when it was boring inside they would go outside taking turns jumping while one lil body laid flat and let themselves be rolled and bounced all over the trampoline knowing the safety of the netted walls would never let them down.
when it was time to take a breather they would be served lunch on the trampoline happily bouncing their little buns while munching on their lunches.
when it was hot outside they would haul over the sprinkler placing it underneath and get on their suits (or not) and jump and twist and flip in the sprays of cold hose water.

no matter what the day, the time, the situation, the jumpers had a smile therefore, i had a smile.

he said it was time for it to go. i couldn't stand the thought of the trampoline being taken down and hauled to the dump. i looked to my kids with the, "okay, this is where you do what you always do when you don't want something to happen look." whine. whine dang it!
crickets.
really?

my kids aren't so little anymore and i guess i just wanna bottle it all and live in the little bottle with them and bounce and jump and roll and smile for a good long time.

i really looked to my littlest little to start the whining. she failed me that one. nothin', not even a small whine. she should know the  "mom look" by now and should have produced some sort of noise on my behalf. nope.
of course i gave one last ditch effort of the stink eye to the dad corner.
i lost.

but...here is who gained.
shane took all the pieces down to his factory where all the guys felt the same appreciation for the trampoline as me. except they saw something else. they upcycled in a way that made me happy.
soccer nets!

many goal nets were made out of my friend. hmmm...that sounds wrong.
anyway, you can see here that the trampoline will continue to hear laughter, see smiles and make many moms, dads and kids happy.
even though there is a huge gap when i look out my back door at where my friend use to wait to be of help, i guess it really was time....

crisp that makes you go mmmmm....

saturday was "apparently" the first day of autumn.
now maybe in parts of the states that is the case but here in southern cal we are still experiencing 90 degree weather. 

oh, i'm not complaining-this seattle girl will never complain about the sun or the shine or anything of the sorts.

but as i see all the fall decor out in the shops i kinda wanna ride that train too. so i decided to start with an apple crisp. i figure i got all kinds of time for pumpkin stuff (a fav up in my house for sure) and apple just sounded good. 

no, not because it goes with vanilla ice cream. am i that transparent??

when this bad boy was baking my whole house smelled like fall, and well, pineapples, i guess i should change out my scentsy scents huh? oh, if you want some fall scentsy wafting through your home you can get some here (she's my dealer- how thug does that sound??)

 ingredients:

*10 apples- i usually do 5 red delicious and 5 granny smith but if your son breaks the grocery bag open in the middle of the grocery store parking lot and 1 granny rolls under a car then you use 6 red and 4 granny-it happens.....

*4 tbs dark brown sugar

*3-4 tbs of maple syrup (i usually just do 3)

*2 tsp cinnamon

*1 tsp ginger

you can use 1 tsp. of nutmeg too but if you have a daughter that swears she is allergic to the smell (imagine that, a smell allergy?) then you skip it for fear of a major allergy smell attack.

crumble topping:

2 1/3 cups flour 

2 2/3 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup old fashioned oats

1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup room temp butter

preheat your oven to 350.

use an apple peeler (mine is from pampered chef, if you don't have one it is well worth it).

in a large bowl toss sliced apples in the filling ingredients. 

pour into prepared 9x12 baking dish. if you want you can cut all ingredients in half and make in a 9x9 or a pie pan but why would you want less? more i get, but less? 

add all your crumble toppings in a separate bowl. cut in the butter until you have a coarse topping

press topping over the apples

bake for 35-40 minutes

enjoy this:

then heat some up again later-like every 4-6 hours. 
it's totally dr. approved. its got all kinds of apples in it. you know the saying, "an apple a day".....

not a fan of the cake pop, but i tried...

i'm a pretty good baker. i'm just gonna go ahead and toot that horn for a minute.

i by no means should have a baking blog-have you seen those? they blow anything i can do right outta the kitchen!

i'm not so sure about my first try at cake pops.
i've never had a cake pop before so maybe this is how they are? if they are, i don't like them.
bummer too coz they are such a great invention.
very smart! oh, and the variety you can make from the batter to the chocolate to the decoration, smart.

my pops looked really pretty and my kids loved them (unfortunately that's not a very tough crowd...) but i really didn't.
i don't think my hawaiian liked them either-although he wouldn't ever tell, he is smart, like a cake pop!

i found a site that gave simple directions:

bake a cake.
let cake cool.
crumble cake in bowl.
add a tub of frosting (i only added half)
form into your shape
add stick by using melted chocolate
refrigerate for 30 minutes
dip pop in melted chocolate
decorate

easy.
time consuming, but easy.

here's what i didn't like about my pops. the centers were so creamy that i think it only needed maybe a quarter of the tub of frosting.
i have a secret i do that makes the cake super moist and maybe if i hadn't done that then the cake would have needed more frosting- but a whole tub? i don't think so. i checked a few sites and most said they use a whole tub so it's pretty possible that's just a cake pop, therefore, i'm not a fan of the pop.
if it was more "cake like" i would probably love them, and then we'd have a whole notha problem up in here!!

i will alter this cake pop biz a bit and see what i can do because they are pretty dang cute, i hate to give up on them just yet!



the heart was my fav

why? coz they kicked some butt this week and they needed it from last week

pink sparklies

cupcake pop



don't use the edible pens-they don't work as you can see....

i wish my photos were brighter but here they are in all their cake pop glory!

aloha friday singin' in my ear

hey hey hey!

man, i love me some aloha friday!
lots to be thankful for.

-thankful my littlest little didn't actually throw up while playing her soccer game in 108 degrees. the gagging got real there for a minute.



-thankful that littlest little also scored another goal and that her coach encourages her to take chances.

can ya tell which one belongs to me???

-thankful that monday was a school free day where everyone got to catch up on a little extra (much needed) sleep.

-thankful the dawgs made a big win last game, hoping they can do it again tomorrow.

-thankful that tomorrow is lash day.


-thankful for creative neighbors and the laughs they give me.

-thankful my son said the magic words:  mom. can. i. get. a. haircut.


-lastly, tomorrow is national ice cream cone day. important info for sure!

what are you thankful for today?
have a great aloha friday!!!

fall favorites swap

i have whined enough about not wanting fall to be here but after watching my littlest little play soccer in 108 degrees on saturday (honestly, could ya call the game? poor little girlies out there!) i am officially ready. someone, somewhere, is sounding a horn-i am just sure of it!

oh, and ya know who helped change my mind? vicki, from my vicki licious life!
yep, that girl right there!

i participated (such an official word!) in a fall swap and received the funnest package all the way from new york! it almost made me feel as if i had been there (shhhh, don't tell anyone that i am the last person in the world to have not been to new york-it would embarrass me greatly) actually, it almost made me feel like vicki knew me.

check out this scarf she sent me! so me! love the bohemian feel and blue is always a fav!



someone (not naming names) could use a hair appointment...



i love the 2 nail polish colors and the lip gloss is perfect for me!

it's really been quite fun to get involved in these swaps. i sent a fall package to chloe over at clovermarie214 and i'm really happy to have added two new blog friends (both with really great blogs by the way) to my day.

thanks girls! happy fall!

the one where i complain about how much i don't like packing lunches

my least favorite thing about kids being in school is waking them so early. they all wake up very easily (thankfully) but this means i am up too. but a very close 2nd is the packing of the lunches.

i do this the night prior because i am too busy tapping my veins for my coffee drip at 5:45 am. to try to remember who likes what this week.

typical convo with my biggest little:

b.l.: (walks in kitchen looks at lunch.) ugghhh. moooooom. i don't like these crackers anymore.
me: oh, but you just asked me to buy them on sunday.
b.l.: that was 3 days ago. im sick of them already.
me: hmmm, well, uh, okay. i mean, i bought a box of 50 at costco soooo. ok, well maybe someone will want 47 peanut butter cracker packs.......
b.l.: well you should check with me everyday.
me: okay, i will try to do that. can you remind me? if you dont remind me you will probably get what you don't want.
b.l.: uggghhh, pshhht, how am i gonna remember to remind you this every day. i'm sure mom!
me: uggghhh, pshht, how am i gonna remember what you like and dont like every day? i'm sure keala!
b.l.: blink
me: blink (i'm really good at stand-offs)
b.l.: walks out of kitchen
me: put crackers back in lunch bag

littlest little enters the kitchen.

l.l: hi mommy.
me: hi moo
l.l.: (picks up granola bar) i don't like these anymore.
me: ....................................

post card swap

i had so much fun with the postcard swap that hayley from hayleys world and kim from pink pearls & polkadots put together.

it was so easy and what a great way to get to know a blog friend from the other side of the states!
and c'mon, who doesn't like getting mail that doesn't tell you that you owe something?

my swap partner was kelly from thenodramama.
go checkie her blog, it's pretty fun and i think you are gonna like her lots!

kelly lives in georgia and sent me this fun little vintage style postcard. i absolutely loved it!

thank you kelly all the way from los angeles!

little free library

have you seen any of these little libraries in your neighborhood?

in the beginning of summer i was on a walk with two of my kids and we saw this cute box built like a house from afar. i thought it was some sort of decorative yard art or large mailbox until we approached a little closer and i saw a whole set up complete with benches. 
it was a tiny library!
 the books inside were free and the sign read,

 "take a book or bring a book or both".

ok, so, as a reader, this was jackpot city for me!

i couldn't believe this completely cool concept. my son and i went online to www.littlefreelibrary.org and realized it's a whole movement!

an idea born in wisconsin, a mission to promote literacy (hope they don't see my blog and shudder at the lack of capitalization's and bad grammar-oops) and love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide.

their goal is to build more than 2510 free libraries around the world-more than andrew carnegie!

they currently have them in more than 40 states and 20 countries. it's pretty darn genius!
and ya really can't steal a free book but it's all on the honor system.
take a book, leave a book.

  little library #1

The very first little library was built in the memory of june a. bol. it sits in the front yard of a home above the st. croix river in hudson, wisconsin. as you can see it was meant to look like a one-room schoolhouse. it's full of books about gardening and community life. not a drop of water has trickled inside....but books have come and gone since it's first week on the river.

we did take 1 book with us and quickly walked home to gather up all our old loved books that we could share. here is our pile ready for donation.

check out a few of these free libraries around the country:

new orleans

florida

los angeles

minnesota

cleveland, ohio

kansas

missoula, montana

vermont

seattle

find your closets free library here!

happy monday!

aloha friday and my month on instagram

can't tell ya how much i need this aloha friday.
its been a heckuva week and i am so ready for a lil aloha!

do something good with your day and spread your aloha!


my month on instagram......

new meaning to "hair bow"

why you ask? why not?!

front porch kinda afternoon

 

found on the floor by my computer. think its important?

what we do when its 103 degrees

lotus chandelier in the afternoon sun

hollywood tourists. taking their photos-it confuses them...

nervous little girl about to get a shot

because the dawgs need all the help in the world

new scarf from a new friend

wishin' hard

never enough time

lil mama after her goal

bouncing ponies

look! an aloha leaf!

wasn't me

unexpected aloha from a sweet friend

lovely friend

done lots of this all month

try it-it's comfy

what? you dont eat basil for breakfast?

makin pretty pottery in laguna

it's a sunny kinda rain

mj-(kinda)

have a great day and week-end!!