Guess Who Turns 3 Tomorrow!

Almost 3! And TOO cute, though a bit anti-social these days. But come on you gotta love her.

Oh, and by the way, Dan forgave me. I got a few texts from concerned readers : )

I'm a Jerk, Will You Forgive Me?

I'm sure that none of you other wives out there have ever had an emotional outburst that was pretty much totally unnecessary and unwarranted towards your husband. But on occasion, I have. Every once in a while, I start looking around the house and obsessing over what needs to be painted, the towels that should probably be replaced, the mysterious boxes of items needing to be labeled and organized in the garage, and the villainous weeds that seem like they're on a mission to overtake our backyard. When I start to dwell on these things, I sort of start to panic because I feel overwhelmed, and often times that panic evolves into frustration. And as the frustration begins to bubble over into anger, I look across the room, and who's there?

My husband, that's who. So I start complaining and unloading and suddenly focusing on everything he's ever done wrong since 1994 the year I met him. And then I go to sleep and then I wake up, and then it's morning, and suddenly the house doesn't seem that bad, the kids seem pretty happy, and oooppps, I feel better, but why does my husband look so morose? Oh yeah, I yelled at him and blamed him for the time we had bad weather, the cavities in my teeth, and for the fact that my youngest daughter was overtired yesterday at church, and ridiculously clingy.

And suddenly, I want to take everything I complained about back, especially because now I'm remembering all the incredibly hard work he's done around the house, the devotion he has to the kids, the hours he's spent patiently listening to me ramble, and the steadfastness that so defines him in every way.

Do you think if I post it all on my blog, he'll read it and forgive me? Let's hope so, any other guy would be half way to Mexico right now. And blog readers, (all 3 of you out there), allow me to share this lesson with you that will so help you in your marriages - Proverbs 13:3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. Speak less, listen more, and you'll be making fewer apologies than I have to make, I assure you.

June Gloom

There's a phrase we have here in Cali, known as "June Gloom" that refers to a brief stint in time when it's supposed to be summer, but it's cloudy and cool, and we freak out because it's below 80 for two weeks of the year. So to escape that, we thought, why not head to Washington state, where we can embrace the cloudiness factor, enjoy the coffee, and bond with the relatives. Here's some of what we did. Jumping: This is pretty much what Morgan did the entire 8

days we were in Washington, because both Auntie Carol &

Gamma Luci have trampolines. Who knew these modern

day death traps could provide parents with so many hours

of happiness. Well, girls enjoy it, cuz Mom's NEVER getting

one. BTW, above is Morgan and cousin Sollie.
Miraculously, the day of the long-anticipated outdoor grad

party at Auntie Carol's was beautiful & sunny. The decorations

were beautiful, the food was good, & the grads were great,

it was a perfect afternoon.
Above, Rhaquel, our niece just graduated from high school

home schooled all this time, her parents deserve equal

commendation in my opinion, and there they are!
We also got to celebrate all the June bdays in the family,

3 of which are in our own immediate family, and we were

totally blessed and spoiled by everyone's generosity, and gifts.

I'm thinking we should go in June every year! That's our

friend Andrea joining in on the present opening.

Oh, look, Dan's friend from high school had cutie pie

puppies for the girls to admire and hold. Again, girls,

puppies are like trampolines, fun to enjoy at other peoples'

homes, not ours, EVER.

Uncle Doug graduated from Seminary, that's right Dan's little

brother is now officially ordained!
At one point during the week, Dan and I slipped away for

an overnight trip to Seattle. It was awesome, and most

of our time there was spent eating, looking for places to

eat at, or waiting to eat. Here's a glimpse of Pike Place Market.
Have you ever watched a World Cup Soccer game with actual,

real live Brazilians? I have.
Token cute shot of youngest child.
Some of the cousins & my girls with their 92 year old

great grandma and their grandma on Dan's side. What an

amazing woman - she came all the way from Brazil for this

trip!

In all, family, friends, fun, food, and well, we won't talk about the 18 hour drive to get there and back, because I don't want to relive that and lapse into a SERIOUS case of June gloom. Instead, we'll focus on the good times: My fellow Leamans, thank you for hosting us on yet another fantastic family vacation. We miss you already!

Catching Up

Marc, his mom (my cousin), my uncle James, and his girlfriend
The girls and my cousin and her kids.
My Cousin Vida walking down the aisle with her dad
Amazing drawings!
I had mistakenly thought that as soon as my school year ended in May, I would be relaxing and enjoying life without the hassle of grading essays and copying handouts. On the contrary, the last 3 weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. But I thought I would be remiss to mention some of the highlights:

1. Dan's parents came all the way out here, driving till 1am to be a part of Grandparents day for Lorelei. This was such a great blessing for us, she was thrilled, and the next morning when we had our garage sale, they took the girls out to breakfast and gave us a few quiet hours to get stuff done. THANK YOU for that!

2. The next weekend, my family came down and we went to the Grove for Lorelei's birthday, 2 days later we had our big Memorial Day Bash, and the next day was my 34th birthday.

3. So about my bday. Dan and I are practical, non-sentimental people. I usually tell him to please not get anything for me, because I'd rather just use the $ to buy myself something or to get something for the house. This year, Dan totally surprised me, for maybe the first time ever. He had had Laura, an amazing young student about to go to Masters, create the drawings above of our 4 girls. I was so blown away by them. I LOVE THEM!! Because I mean, who doesn't love pictures of their own kids. I just thought these were so classic, Dan had had them framed, and I love the 4 of them hanging in my living room right now. Good job Dan, Good Job Laura, and a Happy Birthday to Me.

4. Then this past weekend we drove to Visalia for my cousin's wedding. It was hot, but beautiful, with a lake behind them as they said their vows, and it was a chance to see all the relatives you forget you're even related to. Everyone looked remarkably similar to my dad (see my Uncle above). Anyway, it was fun.

5. But is it over? No way, Lorelei's commencement is today, and a big trip to Washington is underway.... I've gotta clean, and pack, and clean some more.... yikes..

Memorial Day Weekend

One tiny house (mine) 19 kids, Scott, and the various parents that belong to the aforementioned 19 kids, did you all catch that number.... 19? As in 19 under the age of 9? Yep, go ahead and salute me people. Our old friends from Masters were in town, and it was a great chance for several of us to get together, share some typical Memorial Day type grub, and reminisce about when we were all young and thin. It was a blast, and it forced us to mow our lawns, and clean out the playhouse, so it was a win-win for all. And yes, I paint faces too, it was cheaper than renting a jolly jump.

Oh, and before you jump to the conclusion that I forgot what Memorial Day was really all about, for the record, I tried to explain that soldiers fought for our country and for our freedom. But that lesson was a little complicated for my kids apparently. Because Lorelei kept asking, but are they free in Washington where Grandma Luci lives? But are they free in Visalia, where Mimi lives? But are they free in Hollywood where the American girl doll store is?

Perhaps, before I launch into politics and history, we should cover some basic geography. I finally summed up it all up by saying, listen, we're the good guys, there are some bad guys in the world, but they're really far away, and we should be grateful for the soldiers that keep them at bay.... they seemed satisfied with that, and I am too.