While the kids are away...

The kids have been gone a week today.  We've honestly been so busy, time is speeding by.  Last year we redecorated Brady's room and did a mini-makeover for the girls.  This year the girls decided they want to share a bedroom, and turn the other bedroom into their playroom.  So we've (read:Mike) have been busy painting and moving furniture and scrambling to get it finished before they return.  



One of Brady's friends thought it would be funny to fling of of Brady's shoes onto the neighbors roof. 

The girls (and a neighbor-friend) hanging in the cherry tree.

After mike had primered over the P-I-N-K walls. 

The pink strip is the lighter of the two pinks that were once in this room, and were now the marker to where we put a chair rail.

Prepping for polka dots.

And after! 

My sweetie. 

My good friend Tracy and her husband are on the Paleo diet and doing very well.  We had dinner together Friday night so I was searching online for a Paleo-friendly dessert and came across a recipe for banana ice cream treat.  And the recipe raved about this ice cream made from a plain ole frozen banana with the help of this machine: Yonanas  I picked it up on my lunch break and Tracy mocked me and told me that's what my food processor was for, and proceeded to endure endless teasing about buying a "gadget".  Well, shut the front door because this thing makes delicious banana ice cream!  And guess who bought one the very next day?!  Seriously:  in goes a frozen banana (and other frozen fruit if you wish) and out comes ice cream!  It's a Paleo dream come true for the ice cream lover who is jonsen for a cold, creamy treat! 

Spring.

Finding balance between life and work is proving difficult for me.  I've been so lousy at blogging, haven't scrapbooked in years... even my running has taken a backseat.  And it's my own fault, my family actually complains that I'm not doing these things.  I'm slipping into the old "put myself last" habit that is so true in so many mothers and wives.  We do it happily and without thought.  But... it's just a few things that make me happy and as the saying goes "happy wife, happy life" I think I need to get back in my old "good" habits to make sure I keep my kids and husband happy too! 

We spent several weekends this year over on "the island" helping build an apartment on Mike's parent's property for his ailing Grandmother.  Well, Mike helped build, I ate peanuts and drank beer while the kids played and got filthy.

 Natalie and I with fresh haircuts.

 Our girls at Woodland Park Zoo... we became season pass holders this year

 Brady hand-feeding a cockatiel.

 Natalie and her little bird...

and Makenzie fed a stunt bird :)

 Heading to the island... Brady's favorite place to be.

 The girls celebrated their birthdays together with a party at the Lynnwood Parks and Rec pool.

 6 years and 1 day, Boo lost her first tooth!

 Celebrating Erin's upcoming wedding with some dear (and gorgeous!) friends.

 The newest member of our household:  Our nanny's little girl "Bugs".  She just turned one, and she has the most delicious chubby rolls. 

Honeymoon (Jetskis and Parasails)

On our last full day in Hawaii we rode the bus to Hilo Hatties (and bought the last of the 5 million different Macadamia Nut treats that we hadn't tried/eaten/bought yet) and lingered over the official Magnum P.I. Hawaiian shirt.  But our real destination was the Extreme Parasail shack in the Ala Moana Marina.  I was the gracious one who volunteered to sit out of parasailing so that Mike and his sister could parasail together.  I mean, I was sooo looking forward to floating 1000' over the Pacific Ocean with nothing but a few yards of nylon keeping me aloft.  I actually can't think of another time where I was more happy to be the 5th wheel of the party.  So I played photographer instead.

 **I have the new format for Blogger, and haven't figured out how to caption the photos without deleting them yet.  They're pretty self-explanatory I suppose, but I'll work on my skills!

And what post is complete without a paparazzi shot?  We were stuck in traffic along with this lady, who was just kickin' back with an entire Kleenex shoved up her nose.  Never blew it, never touched it, nothin.

Weddingmoon Part 2

**I'm a dork. I just finished this post and realized that I posted a lot of the same pictures as in "part 1". But this time I put captions on 'em so I'm leaving them!


I got scolded for my lack of narrating in "part 1" but I was pinched for time and wanted to get a post out so I skimped on the actual blogging. I'll do better this time.


Lets start with the 2 classy brides. We said we didn't need to go to Hawaii to find the blowhole (sorry mom!).


The beach was scattered with Kukui nuts (the nut that leis are made of) and when we had finished with our "I do's" and photos, we gathered some sand from this very spot along with some of the nuts to give to our mothers (and some for ourselves). I also collected some seashells from the beach that Michael's sister got married at to put in the jar that we gave their mom.

Playing with the effects on our camera. We have since got a great photo editing software program and will take the time to edit all our wonderful photos from the most beautiful day of my life.

I asked him if he could carry me, I should've thought before I spoke (we got some great shots even though the waves almost carried us away!)

Married.

I could not (and still can't) stop kissing this man!

I wore a plumeria in my hair every day that we were in Hawaii.

Our Hawaiian prayer. Michael's hands encompassed mine as a symbol that he will protect me and be my strength. And he is. As we recited our vows, I thought of no truer words. We have been through sickness and health. We've been richer and poorer. We've been through good times and bad. We've already been living our vows, listening to them knowing we've already been honoring them was an incredible and overwhelming feeling.

Our last photo before we said our "I do's"

The wedding party. Me, Michael, Michael's niece Courtney, our new niece Ashley, Michael, Jacquie (Michael's sister), and family friend Chris (who everyone calls Charlie for some reason) who is stationed at Pearl Harbor.

Making it legal. I decided to change my middle name (Ann) to my maiden name. I'll never forget the twinge of sadness in my dads voice when I got married (the first time) and he and I no longer shared the Borton name. I didn't want to hyphen my name but it never occurred to me that I could do something else with my name. When I lost him less than a year later, the feeling became a constant regret. Ann was just a filler middle name (it didn't belong to my great-grandmother or anything) so I took this opportunity to honor my dad.

Wedding Moon Part 1

We had the most amazing time, and I am still pinching myself at this dream come true. We have a ton of pictures but I thought I should get a few up now (and of course I picked the big day to start with!)

Mr. and Mrs. Wallace (yay!)
April 1, 2012
Waimanalo Beach, Oahu, Hawaii