who needs sleep to dream??

not i. and that's a good thing cause i ain't gettin' it!

as of lately, i seem to only be able to fall asleep at 5 o'clock in the afternoon or 2 o'clock in the morning.  last night was especially bad, probably because mad had a sleep over at his cousins' and the anticipation of the late night "i miss mommy" phone call that may or may not come gets me all hyped up. so, what do i do when it's  close to midnight and i'm wide awake?? i do what any girl would do, grind some wheat and make banana bread muffins.

and then proceed to eat way too many of those plus stuffed peppers and watch all 4 hours of the rise and fall of the third reich on history international.  i should be ashamed of myself.

if wishes were horses

i'd have 2...

1. happy birthday taylor! my sister who is the mother to the cutest baby girl that has ever shown her face on this planet. we were just talking you about the other day, about how lucky we are that danny found somebody so amazing and wonderful and it's such a relief to not have to ever worry about our little brother because we know you are keeping him in line and well fed.=)  i know i speak for er'body when i say, we could not love you more! thanks for bringing the true mexican into a mexican food lovin' family.;) love you mi hermana!!!

2. and just so i don't have to do another post in a few days for yet another birthday, i shall wish a very happy birthday to my brother, nate.  he lives in georgia, is father to 3 little darlings, is married to the beautiful comfort, and together they make up the funniest couple you ever did meet. love to you!

shine on

happy birthday, tim!! it's finally your day to shine. feel free to use all the heat from the straightener.;) love you, skye baby! thank you for providing me with darling nieces that i can take shopping and a perfectly fat baby boy to cuddle with. {i miss that so.} thank you for making good sweets, for all the ute hook-ups and always being so cheery. i feel so lucky to be both your sister and your friend.

{baby keke, he's your best feature. and considering how much you carry that fatty, i consider him a feature."your one beauty." besides, i adore this picture and have been dying to display it.=)}

happy, happy

 "no llores por mi argentina."

{baby jo. ken. monchichi. 3 of 5 sisters. pretty wallpaper.}

kenny- you and i both know we are past the point of having to share our feelings for one another...or laughing at each other's jokes for that matter. ;) {"we on a higher level of understanding...."} but what kind of sister would i be if i didn't tell you how great you are on your birthday?? because great you are to me {overachiever.} and not a soul has had bigger dreams for me than you.;) oh v, we sure have had some times; being puerto rican in the big apple,  dancing in our scandalous attire in the bahamas, not to mention, the hours spent writing our novel.=) "michael jackson still was black...."  and when i think back to our high school days; you stealing all my thunder on the soccer field or trying to rip my shirt off in the middle of the lunch room, taking 500 people home from school everyday and listening to nothing but motown,  me trae una sonrisa al corazon y una lagrima al ojo.  

feliz cumpleanos hermana mia! espero que todos tus sueños para un supermercado y "evita" en cada esquina se realicen. te amo! 

"still crazy after all these years"

"i love thee, i love thee with a love that shall not die till the sun grows cold and the star{r}s grow old."  ~ shakes 

happy anniversary, my parents!  thanks for finding each other and loving each other and having all 7 of us. (crazies.;)) hope it was a great one. miss y'all so much. i do love my ma & pa!=)

   

there are two colors in my head

pink & green.

besides going to see "diary of a wimpy kid 2"  3 times this past weekend {yes, three and we very well may be at it again soon. one can never know these types of things.},  we also had a grand, colorful time at the holi festival of colors. 

"be loud let your colors show, try to keep the madness low."  
-avett brothers

{color freckles & perfect lips.<3}

{tie-dye party the night before.}

after two washes, they are still in my head.

hurting hearts

a week a go my cousin's little boy, who is almost 2, was sent to primary children's where they discovered he has a brain tumor.  he had surgery the next morning to put a shunt in his head and a port in so that they could start chemo.   i spoke to my aunt, who had driven up from las vegas to be with her grandson, the day he was admitted and told her that we would come to the hospital that night and bring dinner to everyone. i asked her what little jake was into these days so we could go get him something.  she said "shrek and horses" which i repeated out loud. the next thing i knew, there was a pile of toys at my feet.  my precious, little madden had gone upstairs and gathered up all of his shrek toys, anything that even resembled a horse {bullseye & the avatar horses} and more to give to little jake.   the boy has such a tender heart under his tough, little exterior.  he asks about jake everyday.  we love you, jake!! can't wait till you feel better.

one of my dearest friends, deAnn {who all my sisters thank me for bringing into our lives on almost a daily basis. she really is that special.},  lost her dad suddenly monday night.  although i had only met him a handful of times, i adored him and his protectiveness of his family. {"you go tell that lady in the office...." it still cracks me up.=)} and i felt as though i knew him well from all of deAnn's stories.  he was a detective for the salt lake county sherrif's department and had the funniest, scariest, and strangest stories i have ever heard and i was always so excited to hear more. {i shall look for you on the other side, garth..;)}  he will be greatly missed on this earth by many, many people.

i love you, dee more than i could ever say {you know i'm not good at words and such.;)} and i am constantly amazed by your strength {seriously, 4 kids!=)} and ability to always find the good in all. 

...i'm here.

silver lining {there is always one}:  these types of things will always put your life into perspective if for even just a small moment.  and sometimes just a small moment is all you need to change your way of thinking. one second i am dreaming of summer dresses and vacation plans and the next i could care less about any of that and the only thing i long for is home and family. 

as luck would have it...

my sisters and i have been doing a little genealogy for my mama's side of the family with my grandma over the last year.  i suppose i should say-- ken, jo and gangs have done most since i just became involved a month or so a go. (it's a whole other exciting blog full of stories and fun facts to be posted at a later date. you won't want to miss it, unless you're not related and if that's the case, you won't mind missing it at all.)  regardless, we have discovered a good bit of irish blood running through these veins of ours.  we haven't ever really made a big deal of good ol' st. paddy's day, but in the words of my sister kenna, "it is our right and obligation to celebrate."  so, celebrate we did.....

(it sure gives a little meaning to that year we did irish step dancing, huh sisters?  oh, those were the days and quite the outfits, i might add. now point, hop, toe....arms straight! ;))

first, we were visited by a darling leprechaun and his pot of gold.  we then headed over to the sitake's where the leprechauns left some goodies for the children and we made a mostly irish, but most certainly delicious, feast. 

on the menu:

shepherd's pie

steamed cabbage

cabbage salad

irish i were drunk pot pie

green cream soda

and

somewhere over the rainbow cake

(coconut cake with lemon frosting)

i told tim i would make everything else if she would just make the cake, "perfectly plain, with all the colors of the rainbow." she definitely did not disappoint.  it was everything i dreamed it to be only tastier.=) 

the kids frolicked about and ate too many chocolate coins while mark and i snuck out for a little playtime. (thanks for sitting sisters!) overall, our first st. patrick's day celebration was a fine one but we still "just wanna know where da gold at?" ;)

as i sit...

as i have watched the news the last few days and learned the extent of the horrific disaster in japan, i have been overcome with both compassion and fear.  compassion for those who have lost loved ones, for those that are scared, alone or suffering, for those parents who are doing their very best to keep their little ones safe.  but i especially feel for those mothers and fathers who watched their children being swept away with no way  to save them.  i can't even fathom how horribly painful it would feel to not be able to protect the one thing that you would give your life for in a second.  my heart breaks for them. 

i fear for what is to come next in this world. when will something happen here? not being able to keep my boys safe is my greatest fear on this earth.   i do my best to both keep my boys out of harm's way and to teach them that the world is not a scary place but a beautiful one that we are lucky to experience. it is difficult to teach sometimes when i am watching the devastation on tv that is happening all over.  but,  as i sit here listening to the little breaths of my sleeping, most beloved babies,  i realize that that is all i can do.  

my heart and prayers go out to everyone in japan during this tragic time.

soul healing & heart filling

{thank you mom and dad (pitts) for our snowshoes. we do and will love them to pieces.=)}

"i brought you to these mountains to watch the clouds float by. the wind here gives me shivers, the freedom makes me cry."

{thank you stranger.}

"being with you, darling, forget what we have  not.  just being  at the top here.  if there's anyone, there's a God."

-the avett brothers