Well, wonders never cease.

And no, I'm not talking about the fact that I'm actually posting after a week has come and gone since my last post. If you can even call what I wrote last time an actual "post". Although, it is a small wonder that I'm finding making time to sit down and give some attention to my little blog, read by a few faithfuls.

The wonders that I speaketh of are many, though. So I will proceed. You're welcome.

I might, in fact, be referring to the wonder that we finally made it down to California to visit part of Billy's side of the family after having not been for about a year and a half. Too long!

And it's possible that I might be speaking of the wonder of quality time spent just "being" together...
(We started missing you the moment we stepped into the car to leave Tia Gina, Uncle Joe, Dani, Gabe, Ang, Noah, Micah, and baby Lily!)

...and to the wonder of God's creation provided for our enjoyment (and for our cooling off)...
...and to the wonder that IS Puerto Rican Lechon, rice, and beans prepared lovingly by Billy and his uncle (while wearing aprons - why don't I have a picture of that?) (and homemade cheesecake that wasn't around long enough to get a picture of)... ...and to the wonder that kids have for the simple joys of the sprinkler (have I mentioned the cooling off part?)...

...or not...
...and to the wonder of the hand and "bottom" prints...
...which they happened to think looked like a bunny's head. I didn't argue with them.

...and to the wonder of...

(need I say more?)

...and to the wonder of beautiful babes...



(See that boy on the dock? Yup, that's my oldest. And that's about as still and about as close as I could get for a picture the whole time we were there.)

(I couldn't resist, Dani. You ARE one of the beautiful babes.;))

...and the fact that God even gives us the privilege of caring for them.

But the best wonder of all that I might be referring to would be witnessing one of God's miracles in person. The birth of one of God's creations never gets old to me and I couldn't have received a greater blessing to send us off on our way home.

Welcome to this big, crazy, loving, all-up-in-your-business (in a good way), amazing family, sweet baby Lily!! We love you!

...aaaaand...I'm done. And it only took 2 hours 8 minutes 23 seconds (ok, maybe a smidge more), 20+ photos, and more brain cells than I could stand to loose to do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Wonders never cease.

Speaking of wonders (which I have been, in case you just skipped to the bottom of this post), it's a wonder that you kind people stuck around through that highly overdue monstrosity of a long post. Kudos to you.

Now, if I could just get that "The Contents of my Purse" post, that has you all waiting on pins and needles, drafted. Now that would be a wonder....

Dear Dancing In The Rain,

I'm sorry

I'm neglecting you.

I miss you. Really I do.

But, you see, life

is happening all around me.

And I would miss it more

if I neglected it.

But I know that you'll be here

when I'm ready to fill you with words and pictures again.

Cause I will.

Soon.

I promise.

Next time I'm not

tending to

sinks full of dishes,

couches piled with laundry,

scraped knees,

kids drying off from the pool,

filling the cupboards and fridge,

vacuuming up crumbs,

picking up dirty clothes,

picking up books and toys,

exercising this body,

painting little girl's toenails,

packing for a trip to the park,

cuddling waking babes,

dating my husband,

worshiping my King,

building and nurturing my friendships,

visiting with family,

I'll tend to you.

You understand, don't you?

Not Me! Monday - Vacation Style

We DID go on vacation for 8 days. We DID go to California to see family. We DID have a wonderful time. And I WILL write more about all that later...along with "The Contents of My Purse" post that I promised you and that I know you all are just dying to read. But first, I couldn't pass up "The Confessions of a World Traveler Road Trip Mama" Not Me! Edition. So buckle your seat belts and hold on tight while I bring you up to "speed" on all the things I did NOT do this last week. (Which in layman's terms means I did do.) If you need the driver's manual on how this all works, visit MckMama, so you can pass the test and become a licensed "Not Me-er". Did I take that a little too far?? Naaaah.

We did not have to start out on our 10 hour drive with "Barf Bowl" in hand. We would not be so used to kids feeling sick the morning of the beginning of vacation that we actually have a "Barf Bowl"....and it's absolutely not decorated.

We did NOT resort to eating at MickyDs a total of 3 times. I have spent way too much time trying to have my family eat healthier things to then say "heck with it" on our vacation and cave for what was cheap and easy. But, seriously, where's an In-N-Out when you need it?

And I definitely would not have taken a picture of my baby sleeping on his Aunt and Uncle's couch, only to discover while uploading and examining the pictures that, yes indeed, he did fall asleep with a fry sleeve in hand. Nope. Not me.

I absolutely did not let my children participate in another unhealthy activity (watching way more T.V. than they're used to watching) because it was just too.dang.hot., during the triple digit heat wave that lasted a few days, to even step foot outside.

I did not pray that my "sis-in-law" (She's technically not my SIL. Billy's cousin's wife. But he's like a brother to Billy and she's like a sis to me.) would go into labor while we were in California so I could be a part of it, be an eye witness to another miracle, and hold my new "niece" before she's a year old. I did not rub her belly numerous times and say, "C'mon bebe!" (Nacho Libre style) to "aid" in that process. I am not still glowing that God answered my prayer. More about all those "Nots" in another post, of course!

I did not, myself, on our 10 hour drive home, eat In-N-Out (burger, fries, AND shake. Thankyouverymuch.), a couple bites of Linc's Subway sandwich, a foo-foo coffee from Dutch Bros, Taco Bell, AND a Take 5 candy bar. And I won't tell you that when we arrived home at around 9pm I did not also down a Nutty Bar that I discovered we still had in the pantry. (Can someone please tell me why I typed that out? It looks so much worse in writing.) Because if I had consumed about 8 times the calories that any human being should consume in a given day, I would absolutely never admit to it. And I would never excuse it in my own brain, by telling myself that I had sweat enough in the last 2 record high northern California days to burn off most of that junk food. DEFINITELY not me.
I did not come home to a kid's bathroom that smelled all kinds of rancid because someone forgot to flush the toilet before we left for 8 days. That would never happen in this household, especially after I thought I checked for that before we left.

Because I would never laugh at my own joke or overuse a joke (facebook, twitter, blog, ahem) I will not tell you again that the evil voice of Mt. KillinMeWithLaundry is calling my name yet again. The really scary part? Mt. KillinMeWithLaundry can magically move from suitcase, to laundry room floor, and then rest itself on living room couch where it decides to settle until I just can't stand it any longer and decide to move it to the closets. And I'm not telling how long I can stand for it to reside there. I'm not telling all my bad habits. Really, I'm not.

Until the next time I decide to air all my dirty laundry... (snicker, snicker, snort) Get it?! See, I told you I never laugh at my own bad jokes. NOPE! NOT ME!!

For my tweet peeps...

...and whoever else might be interested.

I honestly can't remember the last time I paid for a FULL session at hairapy. You know, cut AND color. So it was with great excitement and some nervousness that I set out today to do just that. I decided to ignore the husband's suggestion to go platinum. I usually aim to please him, but I don't think he quite understands that freckled fair skin and platinum don't mix. There's no need for me to try and look more washed out then I already do. But I hope he's a little pleased because I gussied up my natural auburnish color (Yes, it's a color. It's the color of a youthful vibrant auburn gone brownish with age. How's that for a description?) with some darker red and blond highlights. And I decided to go a little sassy with the cut. I must say, I'm pleased as punch at how it turned out. And deem this hairstylist "a keeper"! One of the many reasons being: she spent quality time explaining and showing me how to style it and different ways of styling it and all kinds of useful tips. A must for me who is bond by The Curse of ThehairthatIcan'tstyleathomeandhaveitlookthesameasitdidwhenaprofessionaldidit-andthusitlooksrediculous.

Soooo...
getting on with it...

Um. Yeah. Me trying to look sassy. When you don't got it, you don't got it. Let's just go with me looking cheesy and nerdy.

...pretty sure I stink at self portraits...
To get the effect featured in this photo simply clean your bathroom mirror, wait 1 day maybe less, and then step back and enjoy the speckled toothpaste look that was achieved by your spouse (cause it definitely isn't me that holds this talent. ahem. I just hold the talent for noticing it and then either ignoring it or taking pictures of it and posting it on my blog for all the world to see.) But, hey, it shows off my highlights and that's all that matters.

Well, there you have it.

On a totally different note...I'll be on a little blogging break for about a week. But when I come back prepare yourself for a profound post on "The Contents Of My Purse". Now, won't that be special.

...if that doesn't make you come back, I don't know what will.

I told you so.

Be warned. I'm breaking all kinds of unspoken and spoken parent/wife/husband/friend/kid rules with this title.

Be warned x 2. Serious eye candy forth coming.

I told you so.

I told you recently some of Emma's cute little 5 year old sayings. Well just the other day she was taking a shower and she asked me to close the curtain. When I did, she says, "Thank you...don't mention it." Um. Ok.... I love her.

I told you that Lincoln has a slight obsession with guitars. What? I didn't tell you that...well, I did now.
So when I realized that his swim shorts from last summer we're going to be a little too small this summer and I happened upon these at Gymboree for a really good price. I bought them. Because they're perfect. What do you think?

I told you in my twittering that a smashing rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus" would be quite appropriate after making myself an appointment for a pedicure. I wasn't kidding. I'll spare you the before (since it had been well over a year since my last pedi), but here's the after...

Hellooooo, smoother heels and pretty toes! Even if you are freakishly long...

Bonus: I used a gift certificate from my March birthday. I didn't pay a cent. AND I got to go with my friend who bought me the certificate. Thanks Summer!

Go Cathy! It's your birthday! well, it was your birthday...

I told you that baseball is a time sucking vortex of which you should stay far, far away taking up some of our time. But Saturday marked the last game of the season, which means we actually may have a life time to do other things now.

But I also told you that I couldn't be prouder of my first year, much improved, double base hitter.

I told you how much I love this man and how, daily, I'm trying to show him that more by "dating" him.

Just in case you were wondering...it's going pretty good. Getting better every day. And if you're any kind of friend at all, you'll pretend you don't see my pastey white, flabby arm in the reflection of the hub's glasses.

I told you myself that with this...
I had gone as "edgy" as I would go with my children's hair.

But then "Field Day" happened.

There were bounce houses...
...fire hoses...
...snow cones...
...and then this...
And it's safe to say that if he didn't look quite punk rocker before, he surely does now. But I kinda liked it.

I told you that I've been weepy lately what with all the growing up that's going on around these parts. Well, Will's officially a big 2nd grader now...sigh...

...but not so big that he can't still walk hand in hand with his daddy!

And, I tell ya, that's just the way I like it.;)