Being on the Yearbook Staff Finally Comes in Handy

I know it's hard to believe, but I was once a writer for my high school yearbook. My favorite part about that task was writing captions under people's pictures. I thought I'd just caption some Christmas photos and let those serve as a recap for some of this past week's recent holiday highlights. This is what happens when parents don't arrive 15 minutes early to their kid's preschool performance. Good luck capturing that moment.
Here's Bethie.....loves to work out and go with her nieces to

Disney movies, would hate for me to try to set her up, or indicate

on an online website that people read that she's available.
I'm Noelle & I'm so excited to see The Princess & the Frog.

Too bad nobody warns me there's scary voo doo demonic forces

in the movie. Thanks Disney for using the shadowy images

that terrified adults in the 90's movie, Ghost to scare my kids.
I think this picture speaks for itself. Let's see if as a family,

we vote for which movie to see, and Dan is outnumbered by girls

5 to 1..... then expect to see these 2 expressions a lot in our future.
Everyone loves the tradition of Mimi (my mom) sewing the

girls old-fashioned nightgowns and giving them to the girls to open

on Christmas Eve. Wait, did I say everyone?
If I were to predict which child will give me grief in high school...
Mom was upset because 1 of the lunchboxes she ordered for

the girls said, "Be Green," on it. Don't worry mom, I won't allow

those liberals to influence me, disposable diapers are my friends.

I'm not grateful or at all happy with this gift or any of the

others I got, because the twins got lunchboxes, and I didn't. Don't

try to teach me about contentment or gratitude because I'm 2, and

don't you forget it.

This is the same type of jacket that Steve McQueen

used to wear, so basically this is Mikie's best Christmas

ever. And yes, He's drinking a Dr. Pepper Christmas morning.
Why is my mom trying not to cry? (Because you look like a

19 year old model, and you're in kindergarten, but I'm not going

to tell you that because I don't want you to get a big head).

Lastly, I wish I could have taken a picture of the police officer that pulled us over on Christmas day, but I just didn't think he'd be interested in participating in my blog. That night, after the kids went to bed, Dan & I took advantage of my parents babysitting, and headed to a movie. On the way there, we were stopped by an officer and asked, if we had been smoking marijuana that evening. It was funny, sort of. I guess minivan drivers with car seats and bibles strewn about the back seat fit that whole "pot-smoking" profile. Who knew? Probably a good thing I didn't try to take his picture, he let us go, and told Dan not to straddle the lanes so much in the future. (In his defense, our window was misty...)

All Time Best Presents

The truth about the whole gift-giving thing is it's really only fun to give the kids gifts. First of all because you can get them something in the dollar section at Target and they're thrilled, and secondly because they are still wide-eyed and (fairly) grateful when they receive new things. However, reality never is quite like the movie moments on Lifetime in December, but I will admit, I have been blessed with some pretty awesome gifts in the past. Here's my top 5.

5. A brown leather jacket from Dan. This was a score because a) it fit b) I actually loved it c) I still can get away with wearing it even though I've had it for years, because it's classy d) I was stunned he picked it out by himself, I hadn't even realized I wanted a leather jacket.

4. Western Barbie: She didn't just have a cowboy hat and tassles hanging from her shirt, if you pressed her back, she winked and her eyelid was covered in bright blue eyeshadow. She was awesome and inspiring. I couldn't wait to wear turquoise eye shadow because of her.

3. A porcelain China doll that my mom gave me when I was about 9. She was so beautiful. I still have her, pink pantaloons and all, and I'm going to pass her on to my girls when they're older.

2. A Swatch 2-way pink telephone and my own personal phone line when I was 13. This gift brought tears to my eyes and was probably the biggest parenting mistake my parents ever made. I LOVED it, and it was before caller ID so prank calls were a way of life. Ahhh, the glory days.

1. The Ultimate, the microwave that cooks things with light bulbs, come on! Does it get any better than that? I baked cakes in tiny, circular pans by adding water to bags of mysterious batter mixes that came with my u-bake oven, and they took like hours to cook, but at the time I felt like Martha Stewart must feel after she milks her cows and churns her own butter each morning, like one proud little mother hen. Whoever thought of a light bulb cooking things is a genius. They should get a technology award of some sort, forget flip cameras and ipods, light bulbs that bake - you can't put a price on that.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like....

Morgan in her winter ensemble. Is it just me
or does she look like trouble?
Last Saturday, we went to see Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Here's Maisy enjoying one of the finer things in life, movie popcorn.

This morning was the annual kindergarten Christmas
chapel. Lorelei was an angel, but of course!

Above is a pic of our "Company Party," last night with
our friends the Stimers and the Naimos. We love them all!
And below a pic from our Birthday party for Jesus last week.
I wanted to capture the moment of me actually reading to
the kids to assuage my guilt for the massive amounts of TV
they've been watching, er... lately.
So basically, it's beginning to look a lot like.....

my life revolves around my children. Who knew?

Christmas Cheer

So I'm all grumpy right now because in an attempt to impress my neighbors, I tried to channel Martha Stewart and make these candy type walnut chews. And basically, when I cut into the crisp, beautifully brown-sugar tan top layer of chewy goodness, the whole top crumbled like over-cooked meringue, only to reveal a completely gooey under done layer beneath the hard surface. Hmmm, baking disaster #1 of the season.

But never fear, because if you're ever feeling down, all you have to do is read one of the holiday-themed poems you assigned your class full of 7 Jr. High boys (and one lone girl, thank you Emily for being born, and doing thoughtful things for me like writing your name on your papers and doing your homework and coming to class with combed hair). Anyway, here's one of the poems turned in to me this year. Hope it brings you some Christmas Cheer:

The Snowball

Come one, come all -

Behold, the mighty snow ball.

As I hit you in the head,

I'll send you to the nurse's bed.

As I do my victory dance,

It will soak your underpants.

The Family Christmas Card

Well, the card is on it's way out to you so now you know, it's just a picture of the kids this year. I know, I know, some of you have strong opinions on that, but this year, I had a theme going, and it just looked better with just the kids. If you really want to know what Dan and I look like, here are the pictures (as taken by our friends the Hervey, see her blog and check out their other photos). The t shirt idea was given to me by Jen, so I owe all of that brilliance to her.

Meanwhile, I survived a Christmas play Monday, bible study Tuesday, haircut & sick child Wednesday, Thursday bring baked goods to special Christmas ladies night at church, and a house full of toddlers for a birthday party for Jesus this morning.

I am now tired, there is glitter in my hair, and I'm in a sugar-induced stupor, and actually I kind of like it.

27 Days to Go

Is it January yet? I feel like December crashed down upon me in the last 3 days with a vengeance. Whenever I see Hickory Farms kiosks in the mall, I feel my pulse go up, and it's not just because I really like cheese. It's more because I get reallllly excited about the "idea" of making Christmas MAGIC every year, but then I sort of forget my limitations. Needless to say, we just dragged the kids from store to store looking for outdoor Christmas lights even though they had just spent 3 hours in the car driving back from our Thanksgiving holiday in Visalia. Not only do I sometimes forget my limitations, I sometimes forget that I have FOUR kids, and seriously folks, that can really feel like a lot at 8pm on a Saturday night in the middle of a CVS pharmacy, when contemplating milk prices, pushing two carts, and trying to convince your husband that putting up lights will be a fun opportunity to make memories with the kids.....

So seriously, is it January yet?

When You Wish Upon a Star

Fellow moms out there with multiple kids know that the more kids you have, the more birthday parties you get invited to. This weekend is a triple play of parties for the kids to attend. I don't mind, actually, I love them because it's always so much fun for the kiddos. But then there's the whole gift-buying thing that gets tricky. Today we decided to try the new Disney outlet. I had all 4 girls with me, and before we went in, I gave them the preemptive lecture. "Now remember, we're not shopping for ourselves, we are just looking for one gift, and then we're out of here. Do not have greedy hearts, and start saying you want everything. Do not touch things, stay close to the stroller, don't covet....."

And then we walk in, and I remember that the people that work at Disney have spent their lives majoring in marketing. The bright colors, the sparkly t-shirts, the ornaments, the lip gloss rings. My eyes start to swirl, and I honestly feel the impulse to buy one of everything. I suddenly feel pretty sure that my kids are deprived, and I'm an unfit mother if I don't buy them a stuffed pooh bear, an Ariel nightgown, and a mug that has Mickey Mouse ears sticking out of it. But I gulp down the urge, and try to focus on my task. Maylin is the first to break, "Mom, I want this..." she picks something up. "Remember what I said girls, we can't want everything, we need to be content." Lorelei sighed, "But it's sooo hard."

I had to agree. Bringing them into that store was like bringing a drug addict into a room full of narcotics, and saying, hey don't touch. Honestly, I don't usually get my kids stuff for no reason, but there was a table of $5 t shirts, and I caved. I let them each pick one out, I had to. They were so cute, I mean where else can you get a shirt for $5? Okay, so I'm pathetic, and should not be allowed in stores. But as is customary for my generation, I refuse to take responsibility for my actions. I blame Walt Disney for creating "the happiest place on earth," and animated movies full of catchy tunes, long-haired princesses, and predictable sidekicks.

Darn that madman.

The Clock is Ticking....

Soooo people, let's get right to it. Some of you out there like to procrastinate, and as a result of that procrastination, I get Christmas cards AFTER Christmas or not at all. People, I love to see your smiling faces on my bulletin board, on my fridge, on my my special, "Look how many friends I have Christmas card photo board," but apparently many of you don't care about me, my Christmas decor, and how I like to show off all my Christmas card photos to my family and friends around the area.

Take a family photo this weekend, and then you can place your order before the mad rush of orders all the procrastinators will be making, and then you can send me your card, and make me happy. Seriously, try to beat Sandhya to it, I almost always get her card within the first 5 days of December, and it sits alone on the red board, waiting for the dozens of other cards to join them (they usually come in a mad rush on the 23rd of December). Think of how superior you'll feel to all your friends who wait till December 20th....

Oh, and you other Leamans out there, you're the guiltiest of them all. My kids want to see pictures of their cousins who live sooo, very far away..... sigh. (Guilt trip, guilt trip...)

The "Poodle Girls"

Every year for Halloween, my cousin Eliza, her husband, and 2 girls come over for a Halloween feast and trick or treating. We love the tradition of it all. What was funny was everyone kept asking the girls what they were, and my girls kept saying, "We're poodle girls!"

In other words (they think to themselves), "We don't actually know what we are, nor do we realize that other kids actually get to choose their costumes, because our mom is controlling. She plots and plans for months what will look cute in pictures, and for now we really have no say. But we will get our revenge in high school when we outnumber her, and we form our own coup and force her to buy us clothes she doesn't even like....."

Oh yeah, we'll see about that, but for now, you're wearing matching cardigans, and you're ganna like it. And another thing, that rule I told you girls about weeding out all the chocolate candies and giving them to your mom so they won't "melt," that's a real rule. Eat your hard candy and like it. The Snickers are mine.

Pumpkin Carving

Who says Californians don't really experience fall? Our fabulous friends, the Naimos have moved back to town from the desert of AZ, and we had a pumpkin carving night last night. (In other words, we watched our husbands do a bunch of time-consuming and messy work while we chatted, ate pumpkin bread, and sort of watched the kids). And hey, check me out I'm Suzy-baker and I made these cuties for the preschool Harvest day they have every year. I found that when I have nothing to do in the summer, I don't enjoy baking. But when I have piles of essays to grade, bathrooms to clean, and laundry to do, suddenly, I get the urge to bake..... or blog.... or talk on the phone ..... even playing Barbies with the girls is looking pretty good right now.......

Fine, I'm going. I'm going to grade right now. Just as soon as I post some more pictures......

No. Cal Visit

My father in law, a retired pastor, has just taken an interim position as a pastor helping out a Presbyterian church in Sunnyvale. We needed an excuse to visit the Northern part of Cali. because we've never really been up there before, so we took a 3 day visit up to see Grandpa Dennis, and my sister in law Carol, and her daughter Rhaquel came too. We stayed at our neighbor's parents home, which was beautiful by the way, and saw some sights. We ambled through the streets of Los Gatos, dined on scallops and risotto, took a train ride at a State Park in Feldson, strolled through Santana Row in San Jose, and enjoyed a Sunday with the saints listening to my father in law preach the word. It was just the change of scenery I needed after weeks of grading essays and dreaming about lice infestations....

Nit-Pickin

As it turns out the term, "nit-pickin," took on whole new meaning for me this past weekend. A nit is a LICE EGG, yep a lice egg, and the term nit-pickin' comes from the idea of people picking nits out of hair. (Start scratching your head right now as you read on). Basically, a few families at church have gotten lice, and because my kids have been in contact with them a bit, I've had the subject on my mind. So on Saturday, I saw something small and sticky in Lorelei's hair, and I FREAKED because I had heard these tiny lice eggs are sticky, they kind of stick to the hair follicles. I bagged it and took it to my friend's house. We both totally thought this was an egg (though it may have been marshmallow from the smores we ate the night before). I FREAKED out more, and threw it away, terrified it would hatch and infest my house. In retrospect, I should have kept it, instead of doing what I did next.

First I spent $100 on lice shampoo/treatments/etc. Then I came home and from Sat. afternoon on, I have been running my washer/dryer. Heat kills lice, so every stuffed animal, hair product, pillow, blanket, etc. has been run through my dryer. I treated all of the girls hair and then straightened all of their hair with my scorchin' hot straighter (again heat kills lice, so this seemed pretty smart to me). I almost dyed my hair, because hair dye chemicals kill lice. Basically, I've been going through everything in my house like a tasmanian devil on a mission. In gist, after hours and hours of combing through every strand of my girls' hairs, I don't think any of them actually have it, but I'm still taking precautions and going to continue checking them all week.

So the question is what have I learned from this?

1. I tried to maintain perspective, this was not a life-threatening illness, but it would be SERIOUSLY INCONVENIENT.

2. I have SOOOOO much compassion for my friend whose kids had it. The implications of having it are a HUGE PAIN, your life stops because you can't be around people, and to take all of the kids stuff and clean it takes forever.

3. Husbands are not helpful in these instances. For some reason the idea of lice sends chills down my spine, whereas Dan thinks it's no biggie. All he was worried about was the fact that I had spent $100 dollars on shampoos. He thought I was "over-reacting," as if that's possible.

4. And finally, be grateful for the boring day you may be having right now.

Fall Observations

* First of all the Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks are like having pumpkin pie in a cup. Hello happiness.

* Secondly, if you know me, you know I've had sinus issues since the 4th grade. I perpetually have to blow my nose. In elementary school they used to say I was responsible for killing the rainforest because I went through so much kleenex. Well, now I'm using a netti pot sinus contraption and it's sort of working. Too bad it feels like I'm being water boarded every time I use it.

* Thirdly, today whilst lecturing on the short story genre to 17 bored teenagers, I went over a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story with the kids (you know the Sherlock Holmes author). I was explaining how Holmes and Watson's characters are the perfect complement to one another, and it occurred to me that Dr. Greg House and his BFF Wilson are modern day replicas of the two. Seriously there are tons of parallels, I could write a paper on it, if I had time, and if I actually thought anyone would want to read it.

* Lastly my pastor's sermon on Sunday was AMAZING, so go to fccoxnard.org and listen to it sometime. It will make you reflect on our humanity and God's sovereignty and how they all tied together in the account of Abraham, Sarah, Ishmael, and Isaac. I had read the story so many times, and yet never thought about so many aspects of it that my pastor pointed out. If I were interviewing with Oprah right now, I'd tell her it was full of "Ah-Ha moments," for me.

* And speaking of Oprah, you know how I had a list going for a while called, TTTMK (Things to Teach my Kids). Well here's #3: You're replaceable. I mean not as my kid, of course, but this week, I saw Journey on Oprah, and they were talking about how their lead singer walked out on the group, and now they have a new lead singer that's even better than him and super humble and inspiring. They found the guy on You Tube, and he's from the Philippines. So don't get too big for your britches someday and act like a diva, because if you do, well two words people, two words : You Tube.

* Okay, gotta stop observing, and go start grading essays. The red pen awaits.

Learn a Lesson from Letterman

Numbers 32:23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Most of us can remember our parents using certain catch phrases over and over again (Examples: I'll give you something to cry about, One more word, and I'm pulling this car over, or my mom used to say, "The first shall be last, the last shall be first..." etc). Well, Dan said, that growing up, he can remember his dad always warning them, "Be sure your sins will find you out..." I try to teach the girls that you're not just doing what's right for my sake, but are you going to do what's right when nobody's looking? Are you doing it for the Lord, because He knows all, He sees all, and be sure, your sins will find you out. I thought of that when I saw the headlines for the David Letterman story this morning on my yahoo page.

Although Dave's story is far more dramatic, shameful, and tragic (much like that of King David's when he was confronted by the prophet Nathan), we each have our own version of an instance when my father in law's warning from the bible, caught up with us.

A funny example took place with Dan. As a young adult, out with his friends, he was living it up and having a good time. He had gone to a restaurant with his buddies and the service was slow. So at the end of their dinner, one of his friends suggested they take off without paying the bill. He agreed, and the group of them headed out to a bar/club/whatever.... After standing in line for a while, they all had to show their ID to gain entrance into the place. It was then, Dan checked his pockets and realized he had left his wallet at the restaurant they had just ditched out on paying.

Ahh, sweet justice, funny in retrospect, not so funny in the moment. I of course could site many instances of this type of thing in my own life, but Dan's scenario's way more entertaining and ironic. In gist, perhaps each time we see another celebrity or politician fall from grace, we should shudder and be reminded, our sins will indeed find us out, one way or another!

Chariots of Fire

Please begin playing the Chariots of Fire theme song in your mind as you read. This weekend Dan and my sister, Bethie did a 10k in Thousand Oaks. Neither of them had ever done an official race before. Their only "training" was running 6 miles together every Sunday for the past 3 or 4 weeks, but they still were awesome. So awesome in fact, Bethie got 2nd place for the women, 1st in her age category. Move over FloJo (sadly, I can't think of any other runners to refer to here, and she probably hasn't competed since 1990, but you get the idea), here comes less than 5 feet of muscle, stamina, and determination. I'm pretty sure we can't actually be related.

Please note the beauty of the Westlake/Thousand Oaks area, I mean if you're ganna run somewhere, why not here?

Also note, as they sweat from the heat and exertion, I hold on to a cup of coffee.... much more relaxing. (Oh and by the way, yes we have 4 kids, but Noelle wasn't being cooperative, and was wondering around outside of the picture).

All Good Here

Well, the fires aren't completely contained, but I think our neck of the woods has calmed down enough that I can remove the box of photo albums by the door. Thanks for your phone calls, emails, and blog comments. Ahhh, I feel so loved.

Lorelei, though is actually a bit dissapointed. She was hoping our family would get to move in to our friends camper, and we would live happily ever after in their driveway.

Who Needs Nice Stuff Anyway?

For years, I've had moments of discontentment about various things around my household, and in those moments I've longed to live in the pages of my Pottery Barn catalog. Today, however, makes me so glad I don't actually have very nice stuff. The Santa Ana's are in full force, and the hillside fires that always seem to affect only people you don't actually know are now only 2 miles away. They've actually evacuated parts of my little city of Somis. The fires are 20% contained, the smoke is thick, helicopters are circling, and there's ash in my driveway. There is an actual possibility that we could be evacuated should the fires jump the 118 freeway and head our way.

In light of that, I went from room to room in my house and looked around for things I might want to take with us, should we have to leave. Suddenly, I was grateful that I didn't have a Williams Sonoma kitchen or an Ethan Allen inspired study full of books and framed antiques. The truth is we just need a few bags of clothing and essentials, my box of photos/baby albums/and birth certificates, and our computer.

Actually, I'm most concerned about all of my files I use for the classes I teach. Those classes are a compilation of years of accumulated worksheets and assignments I've written, and I really would hate to lose them, but as far as material things go, I don't have much I would miss so, halleluliah! Who needs nice stuff anyway?

News

The Good News: I cleaned and sterilized every item in my kitchen this weekend.

The Bad News: I did so because we have a mouse or worse yet, a rat.

Good Or Bad? You Decide: The mouse ate through a pan of poison we left in the garage and should die shortly, maybe it will die in one of our walls.

The Good News: We saw a celebrity at Target this weekend and she was really super close to my sister Bethie and I.

The Bad News: I chickened out and didn't get an autograph, and the pic Beth got on her camera phone is pretty blurry.

Good or Bad? You Decide: The celebrity was Pamela Lee Anderson (as in Baywatch babe) and her two sons. Could mean she lives nearby. She was wearing a wife beater tank top, jeans, and flip flops.

The Good News: My kids still let me dress them, and I took great joy in putting them in knee socks and Catholic school girl like uniforms for church this morning.

The Bad News: They won't let me dress them for long.

Good or Bad News? You Decide: I want my own knee socks.

Patrick Swayze

Celebrities are very distant from our own personal realities, and yet I often feel like I know them a little bit. Some are especially more likable than others. I guess I've always liked Patrick Swayze because I think that something about him resembles Dan (see pics), and I was always so pleased with the fact that he had only one wife whom he seemed to be very devoted to(a seemingly unusual feat amongst most celebs). Anyway, despite not having actually known him, I'm still sad for his family's loss, and reminded of how much I enjoyed watching all of his movies back in the 90s especially.