Holiday Pix

See the girls with their new porcelain dolls? Guess what
those dolls aren't new. Three of them were mine when I was
a kid, and one was my sisters. We gave them to the girls this
year, after a five minute speech about not playing with them.
Meanwhile, Auntie Beth decided she would get
each girl a pair of shoes for Christmas, Noelle wanted
imitation uggs, Lorelei wanted Toms. So their wish was
granted. I sort of think Toms look like shoes a homeless
person would make out of scraps, but who am I to buck
the trend? Besides for every pair sold, another pair is
donated.

Here are the girls with my grandpa, their great-grandpa Felix Sr.
Visiting him this year was bitter-sweet, because this was our first
December without Grandma Mita (his wife Mary, we called my Grandma
Mita). She went to be with the Lord in November, right before Thanks-
giving. Grandpa is the last of my four grandparents, and we are all so
thankful for him.

And here we have my family....after church on Sunday.
What a group.... do you like how we're all color coordinated?

15 Days till the Big 15!

In 15 days, Lord willing, Dan & I will have been married for 15 years! I know, it's hard to believe I'm old enough to have been married that long, especially since I still like to shop in the junior department and pretend I'm a 15 year old teenager. (It's not as believable lately, I gotta tell you).

Anyway, I thought it only fitting to come up with 15 reasons Dan & I are still married.

15. He lets me get my way, a lot, not all the time.... but a lot.

14. Dan's the best dad of ALL TIME. (Though, my own dad is sort of tied with him, I have to say). He loves the kids, and takes them on bike rides, and teaches them to roller skate, and tie their shoes, and he reminds me not to yell so much on long car trips.

13. Dan only works with men, no leggy blondes, no curvy brunettes. I really love his workplace. I always look pretty cute to Dan after a whole day with just Scott and Anthony and Scott's dad. I think one of the UPS delivery people is a woman, but I suspect she's not my husband's type.

12. Dan still looks pretty good in soccer shorts.

11. He's accepted I won't watch sports with him, and I've accepted he's not in to romantic gestures.

10. He eats everything I cook, and doesn't complain about the fact that lately, it's mostly cheese quesadillas and progresso soup.

9. We love our kids together, and only the 2 of us can truly understand how the four of them can be so incredibly annoying and yet so incredibly amazing all at once.

8. We both actually enjoy each other's parents. No really, we do.

7. We are both share a love and a commitment to our church.

6. We are honest with each other, even though, sometimes I think he should lie to me and tell me there's nothing I need to work on, I'm perfect the way I am.

5. We were both raised by parents who taught us that divorce is never an option, and that God hates it, and I'm pretty sure they'd just about disown us if it ever came up. That foundation has helped us tremendously (as have their examples to us).

4. When the doctor said, you know you're having twins, right? I started crying, and Dan said, "TWINS! AWESOME!" like it was the greatest news of his life. Seriously, what kind of man is that? A superior one, for sure!

3. We still Love each other.

2. We still LIKE each other.

1. God has shown us great grace and forgiveness when the ugliness of sin does rear it's head, which is every day.

Last of the ABCs

U is for Unbelievable, people would not believe how many cookies I've eaten in the last 7 days. Needless to say, I was forced to turn on a Jillian Michaels DVD this morning as a result. (I said I turned it on, I didn't say I did the exercises).

V is for Vacation is truly vacation when your 4 kids all actually sleep in...... ahhh, we may never be able to get up before 7 again.

W is for What a Mess! I got this one from 1 of my favorite friends & bloggers, Miss Stephanie. It was her response after we let 7 of our 8 children frost and sprinkle sugar cookies for an hour. I'll be picking sprinkles out of the lines in my dining room table for the next 12 months!

X is for eXcitement - Only 2 days to go till Christmas! Everyone's getting dreamy eyed and the adrenalin is pumping, can't wait till the Christmas day let down, when an hour after opening gifts everyone feels depressed and defeated because real life isn't like a Disney channel movie. Kids will be tired and whiny, there will be no beautiful snow on the porch, only gray murky fog, and suddenly I'll start thinking about my credit card bills....

Y is for Yuck, fruitcake.... really? My dad still gets at least one every year from a patient. Y is for Y people? Y ?

Z is for Zoo, maybe this week I'll see that new We Bought a Zoo movie, it looks pretty cute, and Christmas vacation isn't complete without at least one trip to the movie theaters!

Well that's it folks, 26 things you didn't really care about it, listed alphabetically, to give you an idea of my Christmas. All jesting aside, I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas!

More than Half-Way thru the ABCs....

P is for Painting ornaments, a fun cheap craft we do almost every year that keeps the kids busy enough that I can fit in some of that grading I put off until the break....whoops, maybe P should be for procrastination was a bad idea this year.

Q is for Quandry, as in I'm in one because seriously, nothing Christmasy starts with Q.

R is for Regis, yeah I fit him in to my ABC's twice so far, that's my tribute okay, and so far the wanna be guest co-hosts for Ripa aren't cutting it. They're not grouchy enough, they're too nice and Kelly keeps gushing over all of them. I want to see tension, playful banter, and eye rolling please. If I wanted to tune in to 2 people being polite to each other, I'd watch Good Morning America.

S is for Sunday - the day Christmas falls on this year, and you know what even though in my initial fleshly state, that initially seemed inconvenient, I realized that's the best day for Christmas, since after all it is supposed to be about Christ, and it's going to help me teach the kids that concept I'm still struggling through - delayed gratification. Yep, we're ganna make 'em wait to open gifts AFTER church!

T is for Tim Tebow, as in that's all my sister wants for Christmas this year, and Dan would be fine with having him as a brother in law.

ABC's of Christina's Christmas Continue

K is for Kindergarten performances, as in, I've sat through 3 in the past 7 days. The twins sang with their teacher's singing group in one performance (dressed in their PJs), they had Oscar-worthy performances as "cow" and "lamb" in the annual Kindergarten Nativity chapel, and all 4 girls sang in the school Christmas musical. What can I say, their talents are endless, and my attention span is, well, short..... because at each performance I kept thinking.... another song, oh my, how ambitious, when do we get to eat cookies?

L is for Lights, we drive through Gemini street each year, the local neighborhood that decks out each house with lights and cartoon character themes. Instead of being grateful for the experience, now the girls just complain about the single string of lights Dan hung that go across the trim of our roof. They all say, "Dad, Dad.... our lights are the worst ones on the street, we need a nativity scene on our roof, we need a sled hanging over our driveway, Daddy, please..... build us an ice rink in our front yard....."

M is for Making Cookies for Darla's annual cookie exchange. Every year, I slave over making 72 cookies of some sort, well, not every year, sometimes I get my sister to do it for me! And every year it's worth it because seriously, I LOVE COOKIES, and because I'm so self-sacrificing, I hide all the good ones in the freezer for a rainy day (for myself people, I don't waste the good stuff on the kids).

N is for Neighbors, Christmas is a great chance to spread some Christmas cheer to the neighbors you don't usually see or talk to and bring them some cookies or a card.

O is for Open your gifts with low expectations that way you're not disappointed when you see that your student gave you yet another apple shaped ornament that says #1 teacher on it in shiny letters when all you really wanted was.... well, anything but that.

More later....

More ABC's of Christina's Christmas

F is for fragile.... as in, hey I paid a lot of money for that ornament why did you feel the need to drop it and shatter it into a plethora of dangerous tiny shards of glass that I'll be finding in corners from now until March? What me angry? No of course not honey, I love you more than things, or at least I will in an hour or so when I calm down.

G is for guilt-ridden.... because I'm a mom and it's required that you feel guilty about either spending too much money at Christmas, feeding in to the materialism of our culture, or not baking sugar cookies from scratch (because the store bought pilsbury ones are just as good).

H is for Have you bought your kid's teacher a present yet? Because you really, really should if you haven't already, I hear they make like no money.

I is for I miss Regis, which has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas, but hey I've never been good with change.

J is for Justin Bieber.... his Christmas album plays repeatedly in my van, at my house, in my head..... and yes, I'm starting to like it.

More Later.

Some ABC's of a Christina Christmas

A is for Are you serious, it's December already?

B is for Better not shout.....so much at the kids anymore, the neighbors are going to turn you in, and when I say you, I mean me.

C is for Coffee, Coffee, Cup of Coffee..... caffeine.... it stimulates the dopamine in my brain, it's my own version of an anti-depressant.

D is for Dan, please stop being a scrooge, and complaining about putting up lights, taking decoration boxes down from storage, and griping about buying me something, I'm starting to think you're the grinch!

E is for Explain to your kids that just because we don't believe in Santa doesn't mean everyone else doesn't believe in Santa, and that when they destroy other children's faith in jolly St. Nick, chances are, mom's going to get a phone call from that child's mom, and that phone call will end up with me apologizing awkwardly and sweating a little.....

More Later

Move Over Freud

I realize I haven't posted as religiously as I used to, and I'm also realizing that I'm entering a whole new chapter of this thing they call parenting. For a few years there, I really thought parenting was exhausting, the lifting of chubby babies in and out of car seats, high chairs, and grocery carts, the running across the room to perform the Heimlich maneuver because your toddler just swallowed a nickel, and the never ending cleaning up of diapers, spit up, and spilled everything.

Well, a few years have passed, and I'm now realizing that parenting is still indeed exhausting but now in a different way. Before so much of what I did with my 4 girls was physical, but now we're entering into new territory, and I feel as if I must put on counselor's cap. As the girls grow, I'm starting to really get glimpses of who they are as people, and here are a few things I'm realizing.

1. Though genetically linked, our children are not miniature versions of ourselves or our
husbands. Chances are they have some striking similarities, but sharing in the same gene pool does not make them entirely like you. Example: For me to have a daughter that does not like school is almost unfathomable. I soooo loved school, so much so I became a teacher. One of the things I'm learning is that just because I like something doesn't guarantee my kids will. I know this seems like common sense, but I think if we're honest with ourselves we expect our kids to be just like us in a lot of ways, and then when they aren't we're almost disappointed. We need to accept it, and adapt.

2. Secondly, I am just now truly coming to grips with the fact that my children are flawed. Let's face it when my babies were babies, I was pretty much secretly satisfied with the fact that they were superior to all other babies in every way. Obviously this is ridiculous, and maybe it was the post-pregnancy hormones that were blurring my sense of reality, but I was content in my own children's perfection. However, as they get older, they each are showing that not only do they have amazing individual strengths and unique preferences, but they also each have their own set of struggles (aka sin issues). I think as parents this is really hard for us to truly admit to ourselves. If we see something unbecoming in our children like laziness or a mean streak or a selfishness, we are very reluctant to acknowledge to ourselves, to our spouses, and definitely to other people. However, I think the very best thing we can do is look at it honestly for what it is, so that you can (in love) help your child to deal with that issue early on.

3. Lastly, I'm learning that parenting is still exhausting, but in a different way. It requires a tremendous amount of thought, discipline, grace, love, time, and prayer. Mainly prayer, and if you think I'm preaching to you, I'm not, I'm preaching to myself. I'm admittedly a typical teacher, which means I'm controlling, bossy, and I like things run a certain way. No matter what I say or what I do, ultimately I cannot control the people my children become. Only God can orchestrate the direction of their lives, only God can move their hearts, and convict their souls. I can do everything right or I can do everything wrong (more likely) but my input only takes them so far, which is why we have to continually put them in God's hands.

Shwew.... now that I got that off my chest, I feel better. Oh and my kids haven't turned rotten lately in case you're wondering, they're still nearly perfect in my eyes, it's just every once in a while they remind me of me, and I get a little terrified.

The Eye of the Beholder

It's my favorite time of year - Picture time! Our amazing friends/photographers just did a shoot with our fam. last week so that we could find a pic for the annual Christmas card, and as usual, they were creative and cheerful and immensely patient with a family of 6, a blaring hot sun, multiple pesky flies, and a group of cross country runners that kept running through our shots! Part of their talent is that they like to take pictures of shadows and backs and feet and other fun angles that reveal a certain charm and whimsy that is somehow simultaneously current and vintage at the same time. Kat is in love with all things romantic, like rainy days, old movies, and sentimental mementos, my husband and I are a bit more pragmatic than she is. So it cracked me up that she said that the 2 pics above (the one of the girls' backs, and then the one of their feet) were some of her favorites. Dan just looked at them, and said, "I don't get it, why does she like those?" He super loved the close ups of the girls and the more traditional family shots. It was just another reminder for me that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

But seriously, the pictures are awesome, will reveal more soon, or you'll just have to wait till the Christmas card comes out. If you're a local, be sure to check out herveyphoto.com or her some of their other info. which you should be able to find via her blog at somissurfergirl@blogspot.com.

How Bout them Apples?

In Morgan's class last week, they measured all of the kiddos with apples. Morgan was 9 apples tall. The teacher made a chart and hung it up for everyone to see. It listed each student's name, and how many apples tall they were. I noticed everyone was at least 1 apple taller than my Morgie. I picked her up, and said, "Wow, I heard you're 9 apples tall!" She smiled her gigantic face-breaking, dimple-cheeked smile, and said, "Yep, I'm the smallest one."

I've always loved the runts of the litter.

Busted

So the other day, Morgan got into the car and sat down in one of the van's captain's chairs and began to buckle up.

"Hey Morgan, get in your seat, you need to be in a car seat."

"Why?"

"Because you're only 4, and it's the law. If you don't sit in a car seat, you're breaking the law. Do you want to break the law?"

"You break the law when you talk on your phone in the car" (meaning while I'm driving).

Silence.

Me...to her, "Just get in your seat, and obey mom."

Grateful? Or Grumbling?

I fluctuate between 2 constant states of mind. A part of me says, I love this life of mine, I love my family, I love that I get to work part time with my favorite age group in the world, and teach students how to write introductions and thesis statements, and I actually love being really busy. However, I find myself more often vocalizing tired statements like, "well, I'm just so exhausted," and "there's just so much going on," and "It's just so hard to work and be a mom," blah, blah, blah.

Seriously, I'm annoyed by my own complaining.

So no more Debbie Downer droning from me folks, I'm moving on. Seriously, a new chapter is here. The next time I try to complain to you that I currently have a head cold, and didn't sleep half the night, I'm going to stop, and remind myself that it could be worse. Lice is worse than a head cold, and I don't have lice.

Or if I try to complain to you that paying for over-priced school pictures and carpet cleaning and new tires is really depressing because I'd rather just buy something fun and frivolous like a tiara, well, then I'll stop myself, and I'll remember my new chapter, my new happy, grateful chapter.

Yep. That's the new me. No more complaining. I'm not even going to mention the fact that I should go grade right now.

Or that my head hurts.

Or that I'm tired.

Or that my kitchen floor is dirty.

Nope.

Not ganna do it.

New me, new chapter.

Who Me? Tired? Nahhh....

Summer was moseying along, and then POW!

1. Soccer started, Dan's the coach....yay, oh yay. That means we

can't be flaky and miss practices because we're having an off day.

2. Guitar lessons started cuz I always said, my kids would try an

instrument when they turned 8, and whoa, I've got an 8 year old.

How did that happen? (and did I mention, I'll have to take a 2nd

mortgage out on the house if I want all 4 girls to take lessons of

some sort in the next few years?)

3. School started, school, you know that thing we go to, where all

4 of my girls are in 3 different classes, and I'm teaching 2 classes at

their same school, and they expect us all to be there with lesson

plans, and homework, and ironed uniforms, and lip gloss on by 8:30 each day? Well, maybe they didn't mandate the lip gloss but

please people, I am not an animal.

4. And then right after school started our family came to visit for

Labor Day weekend. That was fun, but did I mention, they have

SIX SONS UNDER THE AGE OF NINE? Did I also mention that my

house is less than 1400 square feet? Did I mention that?

5. And guess what I have Monday? TWO WORDS: JURY DUTY.

I love my country.

So yeah, I'm not tired, not tired at all, because being tired is for sissies, and I'm not a sissy, I'm a mom.

* Note: I'd like to say a special thanks to Auntie Bethie, my bestest and only sister for giving us a fun first day of school package to open the morning we all started, with presents for all of the girls and for me. (This is the part where all of you feel jealous that your sister is not as thoughtful as mine).

* Secondly, I know my relatives are all reading this, and I'd like to say for the record, that I did indeed enjoy the visit from my brother in law and his wife: Doug & Leah. We love them very much, and as much as I am not a kid person, especially when it comes to little boys, I will admit, that the boys were actually really good and really cute! And the chaos was sort of fun and very worth it because my girls especially had a BLAST with their cousins. The baby is missing from the 2 pix above, so you don't get the full effect.

My Twins Are 6, How Old Are Yours?

Have you noticed there are sets of twins everywhere you go these days? I have. But no matter how commonplace they may be, I must say that having 2 kids that are only 1 minute apart never strikes me as altogether normal. This last week my girls turned 6, and I sort of wondered for the first time if it bothered them to have to share a birthday? I don't think so because that's all they've ever known, but still.... it's a unique way to live. But despite their differences and daily squabbles, I get the feeling they love each other a lot!

This year we went to Paintin' Place, a paint your own pottery type place to celebrate their birthdays. It was sort of a quiet party, lots of painting, no jumping in bouncy houses, no splashing in swimming pools, no energetic attempts at musical chairs... so basically I loved it. I think they liked it too, but I must say, it may be more of an age 8 type of thing depending on your kid's personality. Every year for me is an experiment, and by the time I figure out what my kids really love, they'll have moved on to the next thing. Anyway, the girls are 6 now! Big things like kindergarten are on the horizon!

Washington Highlights

Lots of time with friends and family. Here we are with our

buddy Andrea Peterson who we met for the 3rd year in a row

in downtown Tacoma at Indochine restaurant. Soooo yummy.
A line up with some cousins, Dan's youngest

sister has 3 daughters (& 1 son) & the 2 younger

ones especially hit it off with our girls. Breah,

the oldest is a lot older than my girls, but was a

perfect shopping buddy for me!

And finally after dozens of trips to Washington, I

finally got the chance to visit the beautiful volcano,

Mt. Ranier. It was awesome!
Thank you Leaman (Hughey/Cowan) family for

1) actually reading my blog posts

2) for babysitting my kids so much when we visit,

3) for loving me despite all of my very un-Leaman like ways.

(example: Leamans are good with small children, I'm not.

They rarely complain, I often vent. They're fun-loving, etc. etc)

4) for feeding me so much I gained 3 lbs.

5) for always being good examples to me of people who are

living out their christianity day by day, for being my family,

not just by marriage, but through our bonds in Christ.

4) for always entertaining me with

Pics of the Ducklings

We just returned from our annual trek to Washington state to spend time with family; Grandma & Grandpa, lots of aunties & uncles, and lots of cousins. While we were there, we didn't get as many pics as we usually do. (Dan says he no longer feels "inspired" with his photography skills). But that's okay, because his little sister is quite the photographer. Auntie Sandra patiently clicked over 400 pictures of my girls enjoying the scenic beauty of Chambers Bay in University Place. It was so pretty there, a perfect day, a blue ocean, a rambling golf course, and the models..... well, they weren't so bad either. Thanks Sandra!

Camping & the Like

Check out this antique water heater.
This is how we make due without a toaster!
My great grandparents last name.... Avery carved out on

a stump in front of the cabin
My great grandparents built a sweet little one bedroom cabin with a loft full of twin beds in Mineral King, a patch of deep mountains east of the sequoias, and it is still being used 5 generations later each summer. A succession of cousins and in laws and family friends take turns each year to get their fair share of crisp mountain air, landscapes of pines that last for miles, and a reminder of what life was like before there was electricity.

So let me say this; the cabin is charming and full of dreamy nostalgia. The mountains are beautiful, and I was happy to see my kids running around exploring, looking for deer & squirrels & enjoying God's creation. But I have to confess to you, this is more Dan's thing. I don't want to be known as the shallow, prissy girl that has to have her make up on and her blow dryer working to be happy, but seriously.... have you seen my hair when I don't straighten it? Will you notice there are no pictures of me posted? That's because I looked frightening for three days straight. And another thing, I'm not a clean freak, but the dirt, people.... the dirt! Four little kids with deep dark lines of dirt caked into their fingernails, and sticky roasted marshmallows in their hair does not a happy mom make!

I know, I'm pathetic, and I ought to be ashamed that I have become utterly dependent on the internet, and the cell phone, and my cable TV shows for my comfort & convenience, but what can I say? I'm a product of too much time at the shopping mall, clever marketing ploys, & doggonit, there's nothing I love more than an over-priced cup of coffee at Starbucks.

But before you judge me too harshly, consider this - perhaps I'm just stating what you're all secretly thinking. You just don't want admit it because being outdoorsy has become trendy ever since the Jeep Cherokee came into fashion in the mid 90s. But let's face facts, I saw Into the Wild, and that outdoorsy guy died, & I saw 127 Hours, and that outdoorsy guy had to cut his own arm off. So the way I see it, staying in the suburbs just may keep me out of trouble, and it truly does do wonders for my hair.

Accidentally Scaring Your Kids to Death

Morgan has developed a new and annoying habit. She often puts her fingers in her mouth. It's kind of gross and I think she does it when she feels shy or awkward, and it's one of those normal kid things that kind of bother parents. So yesterday, their loving little auntie starts to tell Morgan that if you keep putting your hands in your mouth, you could get worms. She tells them that there are these microscopic worms that you can get under your fingernails and then I pipe in and tell them, yeah, and then they get in to your stomach, and come out when you go to the bathroom.....

Okay, so this is disgusting, but this is what our mom told us when we were kids because she was a thumb sucker, and it actually happened to her when she was really little.

Fast forward to bedtime.

Noelle cries hysterically for 35 minutes. When I ask her what's wrong, she says, I can't stop thinking about the worms.

Ooops. Fear tactic was a little too effective there. Maybe, I'll leave that one out of that how to parent book I was ganna write.

Build A Bears & Stephen Tyler?

So last Thursday, June 30th marked a birthday in our household, and we greeted

our 4 year old with a pink Hostess snowball that was so full of processed chemicals and sugar, it sort of resembled plastic.
The Birthday celebrating continued as we headed to Visalia to see

the grandparents and get spoiled. Morgan loved her new clothes (take note

that's me in the background wearing unflattering "mom shorts" hmm, maybe

I'm the one that should have gotten a new wardrobe).

And at last, we finished off the day with a trip to Build a Bear, because

we are suckers for marketing and capitalism and ridiculous trends.

And speaking of trends, here are my girls sporting their Stephen

Tyler feather hair extensions that we took them to get in Visalia. Yep,

my kids know who Stephen Tyler is, he's the judge that wears the feathers

on American Idol. They don't know who or what Aerosmith is, and they

don't know the lyrics to "Dude Looks Like a Lady," & I plan to keep it that

way for as long as possible!

So yeah, we went to Visalia, did the birthday thing, had a great time. We saw the grandparents, the great-grandparents, & even old high school friends. But I must also note that 3 of us got some major dental work done by my dear old dad. Lorelei and I have horrific teeth which cause us much agony and anxiety and we've both suffered the wrath of root canals. I was fearful that the other girls might also share our same genetic fate. So when I spotted some cavity like spots on 2 of Maylin's teeth, I started to panic and assume the worst. We took her in and dad filled the 2 teeth. But low and behold, as Lorelei and I shoo and trembled and tears streamed down our faces, Maylin smiled cheerfully throughout her entire dental procedure. Dad drilled on her teeth with NO NOVACAINE, & she didn't even flinch. She thought the whole thing was a fun adventure.

This puzzled me and led me to the only logical conclusion I could think of, she was switched at the hospital, and has no actual genetic ties to me. (You have to understand, my dad says I'm the worst squirmer, jumper, crying baby patient he's ever had). But then as I thought some more, I considered an alternative option, Maylin is a Leaman, I mean a real Leaman. I'm a fake Leaman. You know the kind that marries someone with the last name Leaman. Maylin is an actual Leaman.... you see real Leamans like Dan and his mom and his 2 sisters never complain, never fuss about pain, and never seem to experience any form of stress or anxiety. I'm so happy for her, and I was terribly proud of her bravery. Dad told me to be more like her.

Hmmm, something to shoot for, be more like your five year old.

Summer = Swim Lessons

Every summer, my girls look forward to their 2 weeks of swim lessons with their beloved teacher, Mrs. Lynne, and every summer I forget to take her picture with them! First of all, she's wonderful, secondly swim lessons are wonderful because the girls get to play and swim and most importantly, the lessons make them very, very tired, so they all sleep in each morning! Ahhh, bliss. Quiet mornings, happy children, what more could I ask for?

Whatcha Been Up To?

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays.... for her birthday, Lorelei
got to get a pedicure with her BFF, Lilah, and her sisters. You
may think this is a bit extravagant, but it's way cheaper than a
party, cheaper than a jolly jump, and oh so much quieter! Am I
smart or what?
Immediately, following my bday, and Lorelei's bday, is
Owen's bday.... and nothing says party to a 2 year old
like a plastic pool. Good times.
Immediately following the end of the school year
came a rare, but sweet visit from 2 of the girls' cousins
from Tennessee : Ivy & Chloe, they are pretty much
grown ups these days, ages 18 & 20. Could these
brunettes be foreshadowing my future?
When the cousins came, we hit L.A. and then S.B.B.
as in Santa Barbara baby. Here are the girls in front of
the mission. We looked for Oprah, but she was nowhere
to be found.
Then we decided to crash yet another birthday
bash in an attempt to mooch more free cupcakes
for the girls. This party was for cutie-patootie, Bennett,
who is not pictured, but I promise he was there.

In all, June has been full of sugar, chaos, and very little sunshine, but hey it's summer, and so I'm hip-hop-happy!