so anyways (avoiding the subject of me and my absentee status)

hi. :)

some thoughts on the radio stations in oahu. i kid you not, we heard these songs so often on the radio we would make bets on how many songs would go in between one of them. not many, ill tell you that. (aside from one or two that heather played so much that mckenna now associates them with hawaii, so they were added to the list) the repetition went from mildly irritating, to absolutely impossible to take one more second, to really freaking funny in the matter of two weeks. and now we call this our hawaii playlist and we listen to it all the time. mckenna requested that they be added to her iPod as well.

let me also just say that there are several musicians on this playlist i admit to being sure would never be anywhere near my ipod. with nickelback and colbie caillat at the top of the list. but hey, the heart wants what it wants right jen?

this list includes a song that fills me up inside and i want to share it with EVERYONE. this is a happy, heart in your throat kind of song! heather played it in their house, and i can just hear her belting it out. makes me smile so big. (wish i could embed. its worth the click over, i promise!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hooPU2mdsH4

and a scene that made my heart want to pop when i walked around the corner and took it in…our four. on the balcony of the hotel.

we are home.

hawaii was good. simple. beautiful. warm. breezy. however, before we could get to that part, our trip was kicked off with a NINE hour delay in LAX when our flight was canceled. YES. CANCELLED. and we had to un-check our bags, and re-check into another flight, and walk to another terminal, where we didnt even have seats together. four children, two adults. one five year old and one who we call autistic because it’s just easier to explain that way even though that isn’t what she is, we kind of need to be together.

i was so upset and so frustrated and so angry about the wasted time, but after having a zesty beverage (or two?) in the airport at chili’s to go (bleck) jeff and i were able to relax. i was shocked he was cooler under the collar than me. i was ready to fight and scream. i hadnt slept hardly two hours the night before (always nervy before traveling) and he was just rolling with it. but it was mckenna that i was most worried about. her first plane ride was already going to be six hours. did we really have to tack nine more onto the misery?

but yes, we did. and we did it as well as can be imagined. and we managed to swing three seats together for us girls. mckenna was totally fine until the four hour mark of the flight. and then she started begging to be in hawaii, begging to be off the plane, spilling drinks, and kicking the seat in front of her and anna couldnt fall asleep unless her feet were sticking mostly into my real estate and up my nose and who whined for two hours until i wanted to jump out and hope for the best.

but, at last, sigh! we land. and we all run to the breezeway outside the gates to get our first smells and feels of hawaii. and it is good. it washes away the airplane.

we high tail it to the north shore where we stay with our lovely friends heather and kivalu, along with their two boys kivalu jr and keenan. we show up at 11pm and we are welcomed into their home with lots of love as usual. we pile into the one bedroom casita and fall asleep hard.

but oh no! the airplane strikes again when we realize the next day that the brand new iPod Nano’s that the boys received for christmas were left.on.the.plane. not to be found in the present or future. to whom it may concern, you there, yes you-the one who found two iPods in the seatback of a plane and didnt turn them into the flight attendants? SHAME ON YOU!

we freak out for about 30 minutes and then shrug it off, we are in hawaii. no feathers get ruffled here!

the rest of our time is spent as relaxed as possible with four kids.

here are just a few favorites from the trip, more to come later, wanted to get this post UP already!

christmas came and went once again, and even after all of my grumbling, i did manage to enjoy it. how could i not with faces like this surrounding me?

yes that is a pink beach cruiser under the tree. i knew jeff had something up his sleeve (even after both of us saying no gifts for each other) and when i came downstairs and saw it there it was such a surprise and so magical that i started to cry.

i’ve wanted a cruiser to replace the one i had in childhood (pink with a flowery banana seat) and again in college (green) for several years but it was totally under the radar and not on the top of any of my must have now lists. even with all my sluething i had no idea, so i really felt that christmas morning magic, right from the get go.

you might notice my house looking different-we’ve rearranged and plan to do more changes in the beginning of the new year. here they are opening stockings.

ah the pretty lights and the fake inflatable tongue to tease dad with….

and perhaps my favorite part of it all-after everything is opened, everyone settles in to enjoy their new things. drew and mckenna, adding music to his new ipod nano.

today we are packing up to leave for hawaii, won’t be updating here again until mid january! until then,

aloha friends….