This morning, as I was cleaning my bathrooms, I thought about all of the stuff I buy and what I have deemed a "splurge" that I can't live without. (Fascinating, I know...my brain is working overtime!) Here are some examples:
Chlorox wipes and Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I have tried the generics, and they are NOT the same. (Chlorox wipes in general are one of the more recent wonderful discoveries, especially with small children!)
Expensive ice cream. I am convinced that the more it costs, the better it tastes.
Crayola markers. The others always dry out first.
Disposable toilet bowl cleaners. James thinks they are a waste of money...I challenge him to clean the toilets weekly and then reconsider his opinion.
Tyson chicken. Again, generic is inferior.
Jeans. If I am lucky enough to find a pair that really fits right, it is destined to not be on the clearance rack in any store. Sigh.

I have become quite a generic-brand shopper, I promise. No "Coco Puffs" or "Goldfish" for us. But, sometimes it's worth the extra money to be satisfied.

Oh, and chocolate chips. The generic are waxy. Now I want to bake some cookies.=)

The other day I was busy in Ivy's room, cleaning her (and her room!) up from a major diaper mess. When everything was finally fumigated, I went to find the other girls. They were in my room, apparently trying to get something out of reach:

I walked in as Abby was saying to Brynn, "I need more shoes!" I guess the shoe tower is one idea. How about a stepstool?! Pretty cute. =)

Some new shots of my sweet girls:

Ivy has quite an arm!

A classic Brynn look. (So sweet, but she looks like she's hatching some sneaky plan in her mind.)

I just love this photo. She's beautiful!

Squishing my baby.

Happy sisters.

It's so easy for me to take my life and blessings for granted. Too easy. But, during the last few weeks especially I have had several moments to be reminded about how blessed I am. Just look at those faces! Who could ask for more?

Well, after years and years, this was finally the year to get new family room couches. (One of my dreams has finally come true!) So, here's one last look for those of you who had the pleasure of sitting on our beauty.

I'm a bit embarrassed at how attached I can get to objects, though! I guess when you keep things for as long as we do, you associate moments in time with them. We bought this couch from Jake when we were still young and childless and in our one bedroom apartment. And, it was a nice couch back then! Now, when I look at it and I see the signs of our children: marker stains, little holes, saggy cushions, it evokes so many feelings. All this from a couch! I guess one comfort is that I know my kids will put their "marks" on my new couches as well. Wait, is that a comfort?!

By the way, thank goodness for ksl.com...Both couches were gone within a few hours of posting them!

James and I had a fantastic week in San Francisco this month...the perfect way to chase away the post-Christmas blahs! (My wonderful mom took the girls, which really made it a vacation. Thanks again, mom!) It was so nice to just be with James for a few days, away from everything else. We almost felt young and carefree again (which was very timely, since I just celebrated my birthday the week before)!

I won't go into all of the details of our voyage getting there...James loves telling the story, so ask him if you want to hear about how our plane got struck by lightening (yes, it really did!), how our flight got cancelled, and how he made use of the airsickness bag. Kind of a rough start, but everything went up from there.

I loved San Francisco...what a cool city! We rode public transit everywhere and discovered so much. It was fun to be able to just wander and go where our whims took us. Much of the city (and the buses and metro) reminded me of my mission in Marseille. Nice walks down memory lane. A few of the highlights:

We saw Wicked, which I have been dying to see for a long time. It was even better than I expected. I loved it (especially the price! The tickets were half the price of the ones I failed to get in Salt Lake last year). I can't wait to see it again some day!

The Golden Gate Bridge. What an incredible feat! We walked part way (it was raining and super windy and I wimped out from walking the whole way. But, we got the idea.)

The hills of San Francisco are unbelievable. We definitely got a great workout just walking around.

The camera just doesn't show the steepness (is that a word?) of these streets! I loved the homes around our hotel. They are gorgeous (and I'm sure very pricy).

Our one hundred-year-old hotel: such a nice stay, and so much more unique than the best western. (Our hotel was in the upscale part of town, which made us feel pretty special!)

Riding the cable car. (We hit the city in the slow time of year...not too many other tourists in sight. Though it rained the whole week, it really wasn't a big deal...It was still 30 degrees warmer than home! I loved being able to explore without everything being packed.)

With my sweet husband. I couldn't have asked for a better week.