turning into my mother

first, happy aloha friday!! i am sharing some throwback aloha today. this might be a new aloha friday blog series for me so i hope ya like.

sunday i was sitting out in the man cave with the hawaiian watching the last bit of the seahawks scrambling to take the win from the buccaneers.
side talk:
why do the seahawks insist on me biting my nails? it's rude, and nasty.
no one under the age of 10 months should have their fingers in their mouths. ever.
i would be ever so grateful if you would just finish the season off with those pretty, stress-free wins. my nails would thank you and i might even donate a facebook, "today i'm thankful for" status on it.

anyway, i'm all curled up in the man cave (i push my way in regardless about what that "no girls" sign says-i'm not a girl anyway, i'm the damn queen up in this house!), chewing up my nails, half holding my breath, praying that kicker makes that winning field goal and i looked down on the coffee table to see the cutest picture of my man and the sweetest little baby girl.

i had forgotten about this day. 1996.
i believe it was saints fan day where you could come and take pics and get signatures.
she must have sat there for an hour, happily eating her crackers, watching all the fans come up and the camera flashes go off.
eventually lil lou (her nickname from infancy which still stands today) got up to toddle around the field through the legs of the real men in black, who must of seemed like giants at the time.

i started to get all emotional and think about how fast time flies. it really does.
and this is where i sound like my mother.
i remember rolling my eyes at her while growing up as she would sigh and make comments of time having wings.
i started to realize i am saying the same things, sounding like my mom.
it's not a bad thing, but that, combined with even having an 18 year old makes a queen mama feel old and get all misty eyed and well, snotty.
literally, hand me some tissues.

it's true though, time takes flight right before my eyes.
this tiny girl is 18.
still as cute, sometimes still as sweet, depending on if she gets crackers when she wants them. she will read this and i am sure she will roll her eyes at me and make a silent wish that she never gets "so old" that she starts to sound like her mother. sigh.


and i always gotta leave ya with the reminder that it's aloha friday, no work til Monday! so spread the aloha to the person on your right, unless they are weird, then hit up that person on your left.
aloha!!

if you're feelin my aloha and don't want this magic to end:
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kitchen counter confessionals

6:30 am. coffee at the kitchen counter with the littlest.
mine dolled up, her's dulled down.

the conversation included quite a bit in that short 15 minutes.
from how she likes sweats with pockets to her thoughts on the government shutdown.
both things i might have never learned had those 15 minutes of mine been spent anywhere else other than with her in that moment.

this is how my aloha friday has started.

oh it's gonna be a good day!
how has your aloha friday started?



linking up:
social week end hop

aloha friday!

first i want to just thank friday.
for always coming round even when it sometimes seems so far away.
for bringing it's rush of week-end excitement and of course it's sparkle of aloha.

this week i have felt the aloha in many ways, starting with some of my friends.
you are awesome.
you have called me, texted me, checked in with me simply to see how my mom is and how i am over these past few weeks.
you, deserve some serious aloha and i hope when you need it from me that i can be as wonderful a friend to you that you have been to me.
anyway, what i'm sayin is i got mad amounts of aloha for you!

this week-end is all about halloween decorations.
it's time.
and my middle little has already started

and while he was doing that, the littlest little discovered she likes sugar on her oranges. uhhhh...

the cat wore a lettuce helmet.

and the bunny stuck his tongue out because he is partial to easter decor.

what do you have planned this aloha friday and week-end?

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linking up!
aloha friday

oh friday, i just love your aloha

oh yeahhhhhh, it's my day! get your aloha friday on and let's not be shy about this thing man! it's real, it's here, there is no denying it so let's do this!!!

last week while my mom was in the hospital having surgery we noticed there was a farmers market down in the parking lot of the hospital. it was small but so cute and such a great distraction as we waited 5 whole hours. 

i thought i would share a few of the pictures with you because well, i have them and you should see them. 
there is nothing you haven't seen before, i mean, it's not a carnival with a woman who has a 5' long beard that she grew in 3 days or a monkey that blows bubbles out of his (you get it) but, they are pretty and it was a bright spot in my day. 

so from me to you, here is a little aloha.

oh, and this last picture isn't from the circus either (although....) ahem, i'm sure i could find a few of us that would be more than freak show worthy.....
i wanted to give you a sneak peek of an awesome blogger and gorgeous, fun, witty, caring, smart ass cookie that you will get to meet on monday. yay you!!!
i know, i know, stop whining. monday isn't that far away and ya know what, all good things are worth the wait. 
trust a mama on this one.

sorry 'bouts the blurrr
it's hard to take a pic of 2 waaay too funny girls.
anyway, for right now enjoy your aloha friday and your week-end but come monday, get ready for that there girl on the left.

good morning aloha friday!

i've called this 'meeting' together today because, well, it's friday of course and it's a 3 day week-end! yayaya!

first, because this is the most important item on today's agenda, happy aloha friday!!

i think it should be a light workload today for y'all, and if it isn't, make it that way! or fake it that way. whatever you're best at.

i'm sayin goodbye to my week, which started kinda sucky but has ended really great! take THAT monday, tuesday, wednesday and thursday!
it's amazing how friday can come in and kick all those other days booties simply with it's presence.  it's so bad-ass that friday!

 that's not very welcoming. the cat decided to christen my new welcome mat...

 the smug killa'

 got the hawaiian and the little to the nail salon for pedi's. not sure how comfortable he is...

 we saw this on our walk. this actually made me sad. i guess someone is done with their puppy.

you will never stop gettin bunny pics from me. i won't even apologize. he is damn cute right?!

and just because...

you got that song in your head now huh?
meeting adjourned!

it's not me, it's definitely you.

sorry, i just like him better. i suppose it is personal. 

then i'm goin' to get a refill...

happy aloha friday!!

pinata cookies and you know the drill, ALOHA FRIDAY yo!!

so i made these last year and thought i would re-post if ya wanna do something really wild and crazy this cinco de mayo!
well, not really crazy, although ya never know what may happen with a 'stache, a sombrero and a boy.....

__________________________________________________________________

these are fun but beware-you gotta be committed coz this is lots and lots of work. i tried to keep it all real up in my kitchen but honestly mustaches are itchy and the sombrero kept slipping and covering my eyes. its really tough being all authentic and stuff.....

this is a basic sugar cookie recipe until all heck breaks loose....

recipe:

1 cup sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup vegetable oil (i know-this is alot of oil, this freaked me out too. i'd use less.)

2 eggs

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. baking soda

5 cups flour

1 tbsp. vanilla

mini m&m candies

Frosting:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. milk

mix:

cream sugars and butter. beat in eggs. add oil.

add your dry ingredients.

mix in vanilla and almond extract.

split and color:

split the dough into 5 even balls and 1 smaller ball (this small one will be the black)

add your food colorings. i wished i had some more vibrant colors like for the purple for instance but eh, whatcha gonna do?!

layer:

use a container that is about the size (width AND height) of your donkey cookie cutter and line it with plastic food wrap.split all of your colored dough balls in half except for the black. start to layer the colors starting with the black dough on the bottom. alternate the colors so that you end up with two layers of each color by the time you are done.

wait it out:

cover the layered dough and freeze for four hours or overnight. i suggest when you take the container out of the freezer wait a few minutes before slicing or use a very sharp knife because this can get hard to slice evenly or may crumble. cut slices approximately 1/4" thick. place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes.

cut the donkeys: (doesn't sound right, i am aware of this but, cut the donkeys)

immediately after you bake the cookies you have to take your donkey cutter and working in sets of 3 quickly cut out 2 donkeys in the same direction and one in the opposite direction.  this way when you go to assemble the finished cookie will be pretty on both sides because the baked bottom sides will be hidden.

create the pinatas:

for the middle cookies in each set cut off the ears and the legs and cut out the center where the m&m's will be. if you have a small round or square cutter this works well but you can use a knife too.
try to work quickly because as the cookies cool they will become more likely to crumble. let the cookies cool on the sheet completely once you have them prepared before you remove the excess outer cookie.

assemble:

take the first pinata cookie and lay it upside down so that the baked side is facing up. outline the center of the pinata body with the "frosting glue". put the middle cookie on top of the frosting glue, fill the pinata then place the opposite side cookie on top with more frosting glue.
let this sit and harden so they wont fall apart. i waited 30 minutes. well, i tried.

this is a lot of work but pretty darn cute-it only makes about 6-8 cookies but thankfully may 5th only comes once a year!

ta-da! 
your pinata!!
i do realize this looks a little morbid but its a pinata-how awesome!
*originally found on sheknows.com. she DOES know!

without further ado, meet my friend, aloha friday.

oh hey there! you're here! i'm so happy to have ya! 

if ya know me even just a little bit than you know how i feel about aloha friday. 
aloha friday and me have a thing goin'. oh it's been years and in the beginning i kept it quiet because ya know i'm married and all and people just don't understand. but then one day i thought i should share aloha friday. we should all have a bit of aloha right? 

if you haven't met my friend jean, well, come out from under your rock and say hello!!
this girl does aloha friday like no other and this month (yep every friday this entire month) i get to hang out with her and some fun bloggers and help share the aloha. 
so c'mon, don't be shy, link up, share the aloha!

oh i knew i had a purpose here in this great big world!!! 
 

Grab our button!!

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You can easily follow all of the hosts & co-hosts by clicking on our pictures below which (for most) will lead you to each host's specific GFC "follow" page or FB/Twitter for those without GFC. 

Can you believe this is our 46th Aloha Friday Blog Hop?!  Time flies when you're having fun!

The last Aloha Friday Blog Hop had 426 lovely participants.

THANK YOU!!!  It's really helping us all get more followers and more exposure!!  Make sure you link up because every single button in the last link up was clicked at least 8 times, some as many as 100 times.  It really helps get you followers!

If you're interested in co-hosting next month's Aloha Friday Blog Hop, please email jean@whatjeanlikes.com for more info.   

Here's the extra special addition to our lovely hop. It's an oh-so-easy opportunity for you lovely participants of the Aloha Friday Blog hop to get some exposure to your blogs!!  What do  you have to do to enter?  Just link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop Below!! It's that easy!!  No extra forms or hassle, just link up!  Each week we will pick a linker to featured at random and invite you all to say ...

Grab a button if you were featured this week!
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Aloha Hoapili translates as Hello Close Friend. So, without further ado let me introduce you to this week's featured friend ...

Setarra at  The Burghal Gurl.

Setarra blogs about dance, travel, food and style.

Want a little taste of her blog? Check out these posts to find out what you've been missing: Snowglobe Dancing the Night Away I'm No Dr Love Here's to Serendipity Want your link to be one of the first people see?  Sponsor What Jean Likes by purchasing an ad space!! All Sponsors are automatically linked up! More info on becoming a sponsor {here}.