Oh, by the way, I'm back...

I am back and I have lots of random thoughts.

1. Being tan makes me feel way skinnier.....plus i worked out every morning of my vacation so that helps. I am sure I don't look much different, but I feel better about myself. yah!

2. I didn't take many pictures on my trip. The more I tried to take pictures the more I new I should just take a break from thinking creatively for a while....It was really good for me.(and my cute husband, i think)

3. I didn't talk to ANYONE while I was in Kauai! except Eric :)
That was weird, but good. Again, I didn't just stop wanting to talk to my friends, I just knew, as I went that it was best to just take a break from everything but hanging out with my cute husband. (ps. we DID text and picture message with our kids :)

4. I am desperately grappling to get into summer mode now.....and it's raining....weird.

5.My kids were SOOOOOOOOO happy and taken care of during my trip. Just a few examples:
Jake-stayed with his best friend "Gracie" and her amazing family. They FILLED his days with adventures like treasure hunts, the zoo, wrestling her daddy, sleeping on the top bunk, and park marathon.....don't you just sorta wish you could be him? Also, he came back with incredible manners. "Please" and "thank you", "may I be excused", and extra special patience with his little brother and sister could only be topped by his proclamation that...."mom, at Gracie's house I learned to chew with my mouth closed at the table"! Yes Please! Bea, Gracie's mommy runs a tight ship! and i LOVE her!

Ty-stayed with his very special friend Brooke and her amazing family. THEY have a giant trampoline, a huge dog and a slip n slide....need I say more? well, i will. They took him along with them, to VBS each morning where he did awesome crafts and hung with Brookers...heaven. Plus, Robin, Brooke's mom, did and amazing job of making sure Ty saw his big brother while we were gone.....and i am told, that their reunions were so joyful, it was almost embarrassing(sorry about the rolling around on the grass at church all you Calvary Santa Ana members :/) Also, Hannah, the big sister, was super into Star Wars with Ty and made him feel so welcome(he has said 3 times today that he misses her and how she was so nice to him!) How great is that!?!?

Ella-stayed with her special friend Leslie and her amazing family. In this case Leslie is the mom and THE FRIEND (you know that amazing friend that you hope for?) that was willing to take my very sensitive and clingy 2 1/2 year old for a whole week. She came home with a plethora of new Hello Kitty treats, a photo album of her special time, a new baby doll named "baby pops" complete with diaper bag, and a copy of "brown bear,brown bear, what do you see?" that she had almost completely memorized. Leslie's kids had helped her to spoil my little Ella with trips to the park and the mall, and IKEA(what kid doesn't think that place is fabulous?) and then even put up an ADORABLE "welcome home" sign for us all on our garage!!!! Love them!

PLUS I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT ALL THE MOMS DID MY KIDS LAUNDRY BEFORE I GOT THERE!!!!!! am I not the most blessed lady right now!? a week in Kauai and then this!
Since,I know these dear friends of mine didn't do it for their own gain or for their own glory, I will just tell you all that I am so blessed by these ladies and that they were doing the Lord's work in my life. They were HIS hands hugging my kids and folding their underwear while I recharged.....amazing.
I Hope they know that.

5. Lastly, I have totally missed blogging. I guess it is officially part of my life and so I thank you, all 20 of you, for listening to my ramblings....