a little pick-me-up

02.26.2012

image by jonathan canlas

this image is pretty indicative of what life looks like these days...kalani time, beach time, hair pulled back and swim suit on. i know we're lucky and i'm working hard to savor every moment we have here. our plan is to raise our children on this rock in the middle of the pacific. the slow pace of country living suits the needs of our family for now and the transformations we've felt so far subdue the sting of an ocean separating us from family and friends.

there's something special about the baby of a family. i remember when we decided that weston would not be the last kiddo we had. he couldn't be our heart baby and our "baby" baby. so we had kalani. and even though the reality of raising six children can be overwhelming and downright daunting somedays, i wouldn't have it any other way.

isaac was 13 months old when i got pregnant with the twins and lots of life was a blur after that. it's relieving to have time with one child at home during the day. i was too much of a novice to appreciate that time with isaac before the next two came. so my days with kalani are special. he's my best bud and he's made me feel the truth in that saying, "the days are long but the years are short" when it comes to these growing children of ours. 

i didn't always feel this way. i was in survival mode for a loooooong time. and that's ok, because we survived! and now we work hard and play hard and life is good. even when i have no idea what else to do to teach our children to be kind and friends to each other and pick up after themselves and flush the toilet, things are good. i never thought i'd be able to say that.

so if you ever feel bogged down by the hard stuff specific to your life, hope on my friends. things get better, and lots of times even better than we'd ever imagined. and here's some things i found around the internets to keep you occupied till then. have a great week everyone!

pinterest continues to woo me and it's inspiring to follow people with impeccable taste. this lamp would make a perfect reading lamp for isaac and it makes me think of my sister, sue. nice pin, nikki!

another "surprise me" recipe from smitten kitchen. it can't get much simpler when it comes to dinner.

putting herbs to work. really though, that's a lot of information...

how to get your kids to talk at the dinner table. we've tried a few of the ideas and they really work!

this cake looks too good to pass up. i mean, come on! blood orange curd in the whipped cream?

i started a parenting course last week. things were a little more rough than usual with jon gone and we've already seen a big improvement from the first week's session. i'm hopeful things get even better...

since moving here, i seem to have forgotten how to cook anything but asian influenced meals. if i had easy access to some mediterranean ingredients i'd whipped up one of these in a flash.

and nothing gets me happier than people doing what they were put on this planet to do. ryan was at our kitchen table when we found out the offer on our house here in hau'ula had been accepted. "what do you do when your dreams come true and what do you do when they don't?" his kickstarter is a winner and their album will be on heavy rotation round here come may.

and p.s. to receive a couple extra "if i were..." menu ideas and secret recipes every month that i only share via email click here. i'll also be sending out recipes every once in a while for testing and feedback. the next email will be going out in a couple of days!