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.