50 YEARS!

                                       All of us - Above!  Grandma & Grandpa 50years together below!

                                           The grandkids, in order of course.

                                       Half of the group exploring the Lava tube caves, while
                                  us moms went shopping in Bend, Oregon.

                                    Below are my true peeps - the 6 of us that married in to the
                                  Leaman clan! 

So I've been gone for over a week in Sunriver, Oregon, celebrating Dan's parent's 50 year wedding anniversary.  This was no ordinary family gathering, because in Dan's family, there were 6 kids, and now those 6 kids have 6 spouses, and between all us we've had 26 kids, and now even 2 great grandkids!  So you can imagine the magnitude of this event.  Spending this much time with the in laws made me realize how incredible they are as a group, where I fit in I'll never know.  They are actually superior to me in most ways.  Here are a few examples:

                          Leamans: They are all incredibly athletic, they spent the week volleying volleyballs,
                    riding bikes, & rafting down rivers. 
                          Me: The closest I got to participating in an athletic event was when I sat and watched
                     the Olympics in the evenings.  I almost broke a sweat worrying about China having
                     more medals than us.

                         Leamans: They have an uncanny ability to stay up till all hours of the night, partying.
                   They go to bed at 1 am, and then are ready to attack the day at 7 the next morning.  
                          Me: I was having anxiety attacks because I was not getting my 8 hours, and at
                      one point, I thought I'd have to be hospitalized for exhaustion, like Lindsay Lohan.

                        Leamans: They love and embrace small children, loud noise, and hard work.  I am
                   not kidding, they run around scooping up grandchildren, throwing them in the air, while
                  simultaneously cleaning the kitchen. 
                          Me:  I sit on a couch, feeling all worn out from sitting by the pool, and praying that
                   no children talk to me, including my own.

                        Leamans: They are happy, carefree, and fun people.  They laugh on the river rafts,
                   they play games until the wee hours of the night, and they go hot tubbing at midnight.
                         Me: The entire time I was on the river, I was convinced someone would drown, and
                   throughout the week I started having my annual back to school nightmares that it's the
                   day of the semester final, and I forgot to go to class all year.  I have a huge fear of being
                   unprepared, so I literally have these dreams every August. 

In all, I would just like to say this, opposites do indeed attract.  And 15 years of being around Dan's family, I am still in awe of their cheerful demeanors, their ability to be content wherever they are, and their hard-working heartiness.  I am so grateful that their genetics mixed with my frail, worry-ridden, nutty ones to produce hopefully balanced children.  And above all that I was grateful that we really do have one thing constantly in common - a love & a committment to Christ.  Listening to the history of their testimonies and the testimonies of the grandparents before them was absolutely an awesome reminder of God's goodness and His grace.  What a legacy of generations of godliness.  And for that I am truly thankful.....
       But now, now that I'm home, I'm going to get some sleep!

Thrill Rides & Overpriced Sodas

 Magic Mountain is less than an hour away from where I live, and it's just minutes away from my sister's apartment.  It's a theme park that features insane roller coasters and occasional references to Warner Brothers characters.  Crazily enough, I won 2 tickets on the radio to go, and Lorelei earned a free ticket at school for reading.  So with 3 tickets paid for, we decided to embark on a summer adventure in the 100 degree heat with the girls.

 Funny thing is it made me feel a little OLD.  Here's why: I used to go to Magic Mountain a lot when I was a kid, it was our school's incentive for honor roll and perfect attendance, a bus trip to the park.  So I have memories of it that were somewhat different than my time there this week.

The Teenage Me: I LOVE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, roller coasters rock, briiiiiing it!
The Mom Me: Hmmmm, these lines are really long, I wonder if any of my kids are going to suffer from some kind of rare head trauma as a result of this really unsafe looking ride.  Why does man insist on testing the limits of gravity?  This is very unwise, we should be home right now on our couch, where it's safe.
The Teenage Me: My dad's so cool, he gave me two twenty dollar bills for the day, I AM RICH!
The Mom Me: If I buy each child one souveneir, we will not be able to get groceries at the end of this month.  Why is that giant lollipop $15?  Lorelei's teeth are going to rot if she eats that.
 The Teenage Me: I LOVE this hot weather, cuz it allows me to wear my halter top from Wet Seal and show off my super flat stomach.
The Mom Me: Why are the girls standing in front of me wearing such short shorts?  Don't they have mothers?  
The Teenage Me: I LOVE THEME PARKS, I've never had so much fun in my life, I never want to go home.
The Mom Me: If I touch that railing in line, I'm touching thousands of germs from all over the world.  "MORGAN DO NOT PUT YOUR FINGERS IN YOUR MOUTH!"

No wonder teenagers think their moms are such killjoys.

July Gets Juicy

                                July's been a juicy month.... as in beach days & playing barbies!
                               (I just noticed that all the barbies were naked, we were about to get them
                                all ready for a ball.  We're not weird, I promise).

                         July also gave us some Juicy burgers.... just discovered Umami Burger restaurant                     
                        with these little ladies below.  We may look dainty, but we ate like a pack of
                         football players after a game.

                                    Oh & did I mention I got to go to Vegas? Without my kids!
                               Got a pedicure there, and saw Circue de Soleil's Beatles show with
                                our friends Heather & Jon.  We were celebrating Jon's 40th birthday -
                                     Oh yeah!  Watching acrobats and trapeze artists really adds to my
                               inferiority complex about my lack of coordination.  Those performers
                              were agile & amazing, whereas I often find myself tripping on my own
                               flip flops.

                          So yeah, this July I went from swanky dishes in Vegas to teaching VBS
                       classes Monday morning for church!  VEGAS TO VBS?
                                                 How's that for a transition?
                          Here's Noelle giving it a go in the sack race.  I had 34 6 & 7 year olds in my group
                       today, and suddenly, I was wishing I was poolside back in the desert again!

Neighborly

Sometimes I just don't pictures.  But anyone who knows my neighbor, knows she ALWAYS takes pictures, and since my girls and I are with her quite a bit, she takes lots of pictures of my kids.  Check out her blog at http://somissurfergirl.blogspot.com/ to see pictures of our summer days!

Some Summer Stuff

                                       This summer we've gotten to hit the beach with friends,

                                                     get our hair done and eat doughnuts!

                                     We've purchased fake glasses, because you know if you're
                                  9, you've gotta have a pair. 

                                    We've harvested from our garden a plethora of summer
                                   veggies.

                                          Dan flew a kite, and of course....

                                          We've eaten ice cream.  (Thanks for the gift card
                                     Grandma Luci).

         Here's what I haven't done:

                      1. Dragged my children out of bed & yelled at them to get their shoes on.
                      2. Graded any essays.
                      3. Explained to angry parents that if their kids don't turn in their assignments, it's
                      difficult for me to grade them.
                      4. Driven back and forth to school 5 times in a day.
                      5. Felt guilty that I'm working, & not keeping up on my house.

So as far as I'm concerned..... after a crazy school year of working 5 days a week and trying to be a wife and mom to 4 kids, this has been the best summer EVER!

Oh and did I mention that next year, I won't be returning to work?  Did I mention that I finally came to terms with the fact that unless I wanted to work 40 hours a week, sending 4 kids through private school wasn't going to happen?  Did I mention that in the fall I'm going to stay home and home school my girls because my oldest daughter is half way to 18, and I'm missing everything because I'm more invested in other people's 7th graders than I am in my own children?

Well in case I didn't mention that just yet to you, now you know.  More on that later..... but now I've gotta go, I've got another carefree, beautiful summer day to enjoy with my kids!
 

Crop It!

 I've had short hair off & on over the years, but at the beginning of June, I took the plunge & really hacked it off for the summer.   In my mind I wanted to look like one of the ladies up above.  But one must realize, they have professional make up artists, thousands of dollars worth of cosmetics, oh, and they've never had 4 kids, and don't have naturally dark circles under their eyes that they inherited from their dad.  (Thanks Dad).  So as much as I wanted to channel Halle,  sometimes with my short hair, I feel more like I look like an 18 year old boy, maybe even this one:

Here are some of my observations about sporting a pixie cut:

      1. Men pretty much hate it. This is okay because 15 years into marriage, I'm not really trying to attract the box out boys at the grocery store or the crossing guards at the intersections.  And fortunately for me, my husband kind of likes it, because he's a little bit rebellious, and it bugs him that everyone thinks girls have to have long locks to be beautiful.

    2. Women over 60 love my short hair!  Older women always come up to me and tell me how adorable my hair is.  I'm not sure how I feel about this actually.  See here I am looking confused.

    3. It fits my laziness, because it requires pretty much nothing every morning, & I love that.

    4. It does require full make up & feminine colors because sometimes, you feel a little butch.  Thank goodness neon pink is this summer's hot color.  See, here I am wearing pink. 

   5. In short, it's growing on me.... no really it's growing on me.



  

Gym Anyone?

My motto in life regarding physical exertion began in high school when my mom bought me a black t shirt that said, "I get enough exercise just pushing my luck."  From that point on I did everything I could not to sweat, not to exert myself beyond extending my arm from the bag of chips to my mouth.  But alas, those days are fading.... because my metabolism is no longer that of a 16 year old youth, and those 4 children that were ripped from my abdomen have left me with loose skin, and chub where once there were only bones. 

And so because I'm incredibly vain, I've realized I must succumb to the daily grind of painful workout DVDs, where Jillian Michaels yells at me, Brooke Burke shows off her ridiculous perfection, and Bob Harper loses count as I try to pull the kettle ball over my head one last time. 

So here's today's inspiration to get me out of bed:

Dara Torres, age 45, went up against little girls that could be her daughters.... and she qualified, yet again for the olympics.   So if this 45 year old chick, could do that, then this 36 year old better be able to do a half an hour DVD. 

(Disclaimer: Though I was motivated today, I will probably be disgusted by this post tomorrow, will skip my workout, and will take the girls to go get doughnuts - As the ancient Greeks once said: "Know thyself").