hApPy iN hAwAii!

We swam in waterfalls, ate quava off the trees, and topped it off with a luau too. We are really missing the kiddos though.

Hiking in the Hawaiian Jungle!

The waterfalls and views were spectacular!

flabdominal exercises

Being on vacation without children and with Chris working daily, I have the time now to "work-out." I hate exercising and I always will. Everyone that tries to tell me... "I feel like I have so much more energy" & "when I work out I feel so much better" Yeah right, I am here to tell you it doesn't work. I've done it for 2 whole days now! All lies. I try and be kind to my flabdominals these days-- after all, that area of my body successfully housed three healthy babies and even did me the enormous favor of stretching to Goodyear proportions without leaving a single stretch mark behind -- but sometimes (a LOT of times, if I'm going to be honest) vanity wins out, and I stare at myself in the mirror thinking, DAMMIT. I wish I could get back some of that self-love and peace about my belly that came with pregnancy. You know, without the pregnancy part. By the way, to all my preggo peeps(which there are a TON of you lately)...eat and enjoy your belly while you can!!

ALOHA

We are here... on the beautiful island of Hawaii! There were 3 tiger sharks spotted on the beach outside our hotel so the beaches are closed. One was 12 ft! Yikes. So that means our Wednesday dive & snorkle is out of the question. We will hike the volcanos instead! Lookin' for hot lava baby!

dumb bird! fly away!

For about a week now we have had this dumb bird thinking it is trapped in our garage. Why it can't just fly out the same way it flew in... I don't know. Everytime someone walks into the garage, it'll swoop at you. Dumb bird, I just want my garage back! Bird seed doesn't work. I know Uncle Nate has experience with birds in the house....Help us Uncle Nate!! hee hee

deee-lish!

My friend Sonia sent me this recipe for the BEST chocolate chip cookies ever. If you like 'em soft you will love these! It must be the pudding in the mix. (It is pathetic I am making cookies everyday when we leave for Hawaii on Sunday.... add a little more love to the love handles!?)

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
Cooking Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.
Yield: 72 servings

Rock Climbin' Boys

The boys tried rock climbing for their first time on a 25 foot wall. It is alot harder than it looks. Ben made it to the top and rang the bell.

This is for the birds!

We fed the birds at the zoo...they are so cute!

fOrT wOrTh, tX zOO!!

Here are just a few of the boys and I at the Fort Worth Zoo. You will notice that Chris and Baylie aren't in any photos....the fact is they decided to just mope around the house all day. Baylie said the zoo is hot and sweaty and smells like poop. Whatever.....the boys only mentioned those 2 things maybe 5-10 times throughout the day. The highlight of the day was Nolan's facial expression when the gorilla puked right by him...how cool. (it was actually so gross- of course the gorilla had to eat it again)

Nolan scooping ice-cream

Nolan sings while he does everything. He sings while showering, riding in the car, coloring pictures, going potty....well you get the gist. Today while scooping himself some ice-cream, Baylie captured a couple of seconds of the end of his song "ice-cream rocket" (Beware: my butt looks GIGANTIC in this...I promise it is the skirt I was wearing. I have always heard the camera adds 10 pounds- but this is ridiculous!! Baby got back!)