This Sunday

Today I am neglecting the giant roll of bubble wrap and packing boxes, the pile of unwashed dishes in my sink, the stack of papers on my desk, and even the back-logged list of topics I've been wanting to blog about (Thanksgiving, Christmas plans, Moving, kids' lives, etc.)... and instead I am going to write a whole blog post about what I'm going to wear on Sunday.

What I am going to wear on Sunday, to my Mormon church services, for the first time in my life, is pants.

I don't know who reads my blog anymore, but to my friends on the outside of Mormon culture this will probably seem almost incomprehensibly trite. To you I would say, think of walking into a party in a tee shirt and everyone else is in cocktail dresses. Now add to that a time when people you love have drastically misunderstood something you've said and you feel alone and maligned. My friends on the inside of Mormon culture will know that in some ways this is similar to a Muslim woman eschewing her hijab, and may provoke feelings across the spectrum from admiration to confusion to disappointment to anger - even violent anger. Knowing that this public act will illicit strong emotional responses over which I have no control makes me want to throw up. I am not a timid person - I have delivered sermons to huge groups of people, dodged burning tires and flying stones in a Palestinian street protest, navigated foreign countries on my own and given birth without epidurals. I've even taught Middle School! But the thought of wearing fabric sewn around each individual leg instead of around the outside of both for three hours on a Sunday morning... in some ways this is the scariest thing I've ever done.

To pre-empt possible misunderstandings, the following are not reasons I've chosen to wear pants to church:

1. It's December! It's cold! (Nope. I am in Southern California. Sunny and and 75 degrees forecasted for Sunday. Though what if I lived in Salt Lake City? Or Minneapolis? Or Helsinki?)

2. I like pants better than dresses. (Nope. I like them the same.)

3. Because I think all women should wear pants to Church. (Nope. I think all women should wear exactly what they feel is best to church, without criticism or judgment from others, no matter what that is.)

4. I think pants, overall, fit the requirement of "Sunday best" better than dresses. (Nope. Nor do I think that dresses, overall, fit that requirement.)

5. I want to be a man. (Nope. I have had actual nightmares about having to sword-fight for honor, being shoved onto a football field as a linebacker and having hair grow out of my face.)

6. I think there are no differences between men and women. (Nope. Last I checked, all species of males and females are different from each other! I personally believe in a big, beautiful yin and yang of Male and Female in the Universe.)

7. I want the Priesthood. (Nope. While there may be some women wearing pants on Sunday who are campaigning to ordain LDS women to the Priesthood, there are some who are not. This is a meaty topic for another day, so for now, just know that these are separate issues.)

8. I work in the Nursery at church, crouching and sitting on the floor with 18-month-olds for two hours at Church. Have you ever tried to sit on the floor modestly while wearing a skirt? (Nope. But I have friends who do. It is not comfortable.)

9. I am currently an LDS missionary who rides a bike for miles every day. Have you ever tried to ride a bike wearing a skirt??? Of any length??? (Nope. I am not a bike missionary. But my sister and many of my of my friends were. Oh, the funny stories of flashed underwear!! And the not-funny stories of bike crashes caused by fabric in completely impractical and dangerous places.)

10. I have a lot of liberal friends who are also wearing pants and we're doing this together. (Nope. As far as I know I will be the only one in my chapel not wearing a dress, and in my Northern California ward I know of only one friend.)

Here is why I am wearing pants to church.

1. I question cultural norms that have their basis neither in Reason nor Scripture. Jesus Christ was constantly challenging social norms - think of all the times that He went out of his way to speak to women, Samaritans, publicans and prostitutes, and to heal on the Sabbath and eat bread without washing his hands, to name a few of many examples. He railed against the Pharisees for "building a hedge about the law," adding to God's laws and then clinging to those new rules to the point that they overshadowed the original ones. This created a culture of external behaviors "to be seen of men" rather than focus on personal relationship with deity; and of finger-pointing and judgment rather than love and acceptance of others.

There is no rational reason why a pair of nice slacks are not appropriate for women to wear to church. And not only is there no scriptural reason, there is in fact danger in "building a hedge" around the laws we already do have.

Here is the Church's official statement:

"Generally church members are encouraged to wear their best clothing as a sign of respect for the Savior, but we don’t counsel people beyond that." 

2. Wearing pants to church calls attention to the issue that women have individual and collective potential that is often not being realized in our current Church culture. Joseph Smith said to the first gathering of Relief Society sisters, "If you live up to your privileges, the angels can not be restrained from being your associates." I believe that there are many privileges that we are not living up to - not claiming as ours - that do not require any doctrinal changes. They simply require us calmly and confidently making our voices heard. Wearing pants is a way to peacefully draw attention to the fact that there are many rights women already have that we are not speaking up for - to hold the callings of Sunday School President or Ward Clerk or to hold our babies during their Priesthood blessings if we wish. The "Let Women Pray" campaign was a great example of this - there was no rational or doctrinal reason why a woman had never offered a prayer in General Conference, and women finally took it into their own hands to live up to that privilege.

3. In general I really dislike gender essentialism. The view that all men and all women are inherently a certain way, and thus they should have certain prescribed duties and feelings and life experiences feels limiting and emotionally unhealthy to me. I believe that each individual and each married couple is capable of listening to their own hearts and to the Spirit of the God in deciding how to live their lives, including who earns money, who washes dishes, and yes, what is worn to church.

4. In solidarity with the many people who feel marginalized and unwanted in our current church culture because they are different from the majority. Being uncomfortable walking into the church house in pants - feeling eyes staring at me and possibly judging me unfairly - gives me empathy for members or visitors to our church who may feel that they don't fit in. I love learning from people who are different from me. I believe with my whole heart that the Book of Mormon got it right in the verse "All are alike unto God." My heart sings when I read in the Bible that we are all part of the body of Christ - not only do we not all need to be alike, we are not even supposed to be alike. A body made of all ears would miss seeing and smelling and feeling and walking.

5. In respect for my heroes who challenged cultural norms in the past, winning women the right to vote, to own land, to claim inheritances, to win legal protection from abusers, to go to college, to practice the profession of their choosing, to receive equal pay for equal work, to play sports, to pray in Sacrament Meeting and to pray in General Conference, and yes, to wear pants, in public places and at school.

6. Because when I told my seven-year-old daughter, "some women are wearing pants to Church on Sunday," she said "I'm doing that," before she even asked if I was going to. When I told my twelve-year-old daughter, she looked up from her homework (a project on the Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention - a topic she chose) she was matter of fact, "of course you have to do that, Mom." And my ten-year-old daughter, who HATES when I dance on the subway or speak in an accent or in any way draw attention to us in public, thoughtfully said, "There's no rule against it, right? Then all women should just be wearing whatever they feel is their Sunday best. It's just between each person and God, right?"

7. To be as brave as my sister, who wore pants last year and a few times since, and whose text informed me that it was Wear Pants to Church Day this Sunday.

8. I have been surprised by the amount of nervousness I feel to dress differently from the crowd. Women are judged so harshly based on what they wear! This alone is reason enough to push back. Wearing our best clothing is a legitimate way to show respect, but when I think of the Jesus of the New Testament and how much he condemned the Pharisees' obsession with outward appearance, I can't help but feel uneasy in my expensive clothes, high-heeled shoes making me appear taller than I really am, mascara to make my eyelashes blacker than they really are, lip gloss to make my lips shinier than they really are, curlers and straighteners to make my hair different from how it naturally is... even sometimes (yes, I'm going to admit this) Spanx to make myself look skinnier than I really am. This is out of control. Why are women buying into this culture telling us our natural selves aren't good enough? And in Heaven's name, why are we letting it into Church?? (And I can't help noticing that men do not do this to themselves. Generally speaking, if they go bald, they go bald. If they gain weight, they gain weight. They don't tweeze their eyebrows and they wear practical clothing without asking permission and without making apologies.) I'm not brave enough to go to church naturally-frizzy-haired and makeup-free yet, though I think Jesus, who loves the real me, would feel happy for me if I did.

I'll take photos on Sunday and post any questions or comments I get during Church. If you feel inclined to wear pants (or purple, the color of the Women's Suffrage Movement), imagine me holding your hand. And if you don't wear pants or purple but you see someone who is doing so, give her a smile. She might be doing the scariest thing of her life.

October 2013

As I uploaded all these photos I realized how much fun stuff our family does, but also how lopsided a representation it is of a life to show only the photos of the highlights. If I would have taken pictures of the dish-washing and homework-trudging and tantrum-calming and patience-losing, it would be a more homely picture but a more accurate one. Let alone if I could have taken pictures of my mental landscape - my brain would not have been saying "cheese." But here is what I took photos of during October. There have been challenges, but there have also been many many happy moments! It's lovely for me to take a moment to gather and post them.

Back to School night: a sample of Sophie's work. She wrote about playing with her cousins in Utah.

Lucy cutting onions. She loves to cook and loves to be goofy (and I love her to do both of those).

Lindsay with Baby Cousin at his 1st birthday party at the pumpkin patch, and Great-grandpa (Opa).

Cousins driving tractors at the pumpkin patch

More cousin time

I remember Lindsay at this pumpkin patch when she was just a tiny little toddler

Best buddies Sophie and Stone, choreographing a song and dance in the garage!

The Kellers drove down(!!!!!) to stay with us and go to Disneyland. We were so happy. Every moment with them was so joyful, I still feel a glow when I think of it. We are so excited to be reunited with these guys.

Stone got chosen to do the Jedi Training Academy!!!!

Lucy begged for months to start playing the trumpet. It seems a little harder than she thought it would be, but that girl is persistent!!

Family party welcoming Jessica and Edgar from Holland - Aunt Maryorie made this awesome Rice Krispy Treat skull

Lucy always accepts her daddy's rock-climbing challenges in the pool

Cousins on the tramp

Cousins in the hot tub

Cousins at the Halloween party - wow, we had a lot of cousin time in October! Awesome!

Visiting Northern California for a long weekend - on the first day we went to our favorite Children's Museum in the world - the San Jose Discovery Museum. The kids and I were sad when we saw the sign that prohibited kids older than 4 from entering one of their favorite parts that they used to go to when they were little. I can't believe I don't have anyone young enough to go!

What do I love about this? Everything. English, Spanish and Vietnamese directions. Garbage, Recyclables and Compost recepticles. We love you, Bay Area!!

Our Ward Halloween Party dance

Olé!!

One of my favorite moments: showing up to the Smiths to pick up Lucy and Sophie, and Stone seeing 12-year-old Will mowing the lawn and saying "I want to help you!" And Will says "Ok, come on Stone!" This is the village I want to raise my kids with daily at school and play dates and weekly at church. It is home to us.

Look closely, because you'll never see Erik wearing anything like that ever again. :) The National Western Rodeo was in San Francisco, so our friends organized a big group of families the weekend we happened to be in town!! Everyone dressed up and whooped and hollered for the buckin' broncos and American-flag-unitard-clad acrobats (Sophie says she now knows what she wants to be when she grows up).

Does anyone else feel like once a year is way too often to scrape the guts our of pumpkins? We did this out of pure love for our children. I hate those stringy wet gobs of glop. But they love the tradition so much. Sweet kids. 

Fun Monday Family Night, music playing in the garage as we scraped and carved

The kids had a couple of days of school off, so we took them to San Diego for a family Staycation. Stone had been begging to go to Legoland since we moved down here, so this was the day!! 

Next day: San Diego Zoo Safari park!

Amazing.

And tiring.

Last activity: the Cheetah run!!

The beach on Coronado Island

Playing on the sand "dunes" - look at that joy.

Family mini-golf. The kids' ages is SO FUN - my parents call this "the sweet spot" in a family where they're old enough to be independent and do fun stuff together; young enough to not be fighting their parents yet. This spot is sweet indeed.

A visit to the Mormon Battalion

What an amazing presentation! Probably the best exhibit of its kind I've ever seen, anywhere.

Our ancestors traveled across the plains in wagons like this. I wonder if Sophie and Stone look like any of them.

The Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. Sophie LOVES dinosaurs

And Lindsay does not!!

My run this morning. I usually don't bring my phone with me, but I'm so glad I did this morning so I could capture this glorious sunrise over the hills. 

These hills have brought me peace and solace during our year here. I have missed the ferns and redwoods - they speak to my soul, but I'm also fond of these desert hills.

Next.... selling the house and finding somewhere to live in Los Altos! The kids are still excited....

Moving Back to Northern California: FAQ

Q: Where exactly are you going to end up?

A: Within the boundaries of the Heritage Oaks Ward and the Los Altos School District.

Q: Does that mean you might have to give up Spanish Immersion for your younger kids?

A: Yes. (Tears.) I will do anything ethical within my power to get them into Castro, but there's a chance it won't happen. In that case, we will do Spanish after-school activities and frequent study trips to foreign countries as a family. But it would be so much easier and better to do it at Castro. Plus, my nephew goes to Castro. Plus, I adore Castro. It is a special, wonderful school.

Q: When are you moving?

A: Our dear friends from Amsterdam are coming to stay with us from Dec 27-Jan 4. The plan is that right after that we'll move up. Hopefully our kids will be in class for the first day back to school. We'll see.

Q: Are you going to try to buy a house immediately?

A: No, we won't be ready right away in any way. As much as it pains me to think of moving twice, it takes pressure off to not have to find the perfect house right away. We will get settled in the ward and schools and not worry about it until later. But if you hear of the perfect rental, let us know!

Q: We've noticed you have those license plate covers, "Live Deliberately." You know you don't have to haul off and uproot your family every time you get an idea in order to live deliberately, right?

A: Yes. Each one of our changes has taught us invaluable life lessons and felt really right to us, and (as you have noticed) we are not averse to change. We truly have no regrets! But we are ready to settle down and finish raising our children in the place that feels most like home to us in the whole wide world. We will keep living deliberately from Los Altos.

Q: You always have a metaphor ready for any situation, and we've noticed a Wizard of Oz "there and back again" theme. Do you have another metaphor as well?

A: Why yes, yes I do! Here it is: We fell head over heels in love with the San Francisco Peninsula the moment we set foot there in 2005. We were starry-eyed ga-ga for the Bay Area, giddy about its charms and overlooking its flaws. The romance lasted and deepened as we made lifelong friends that felt like family. But any time we would get close to buying a ring and proposing (buying a house), we would get gun-shy and remember hotties we dated in high school who weren't as demanding. After awhile, though we still loved our dear Peninsula, we were worried about some of the challenges in the relationship and knew we needed to take a break to travel the world and date around. We traveled. We cleared our heads. We dated a knock-out from high-school and got serious. This new love-interest had some great things going for it, and wasn't so demanding in many ways. In the end though it turned out it was the perfect spouse... for someone else. We have a soul-mate, and it's you, Peninsula, it's you! It was always you.

Q: So you didn't hate Orange County... it just wasn't a good fit for you?

A: Correct.

Here are some things we loved and are so glad we got to experience:
-More time with Erik's family
-Solitude, peace, quiet
-The kids love boogie boarding now
-Owning a house we love. I'm not going to lie, that was fun
-Seeing dads skateboard with toddlers standing with them on their boards
-Seeing coyotes and road runners out our windows
-Seeing the ocean from our street
-Living by lots of Mormon families
-A Spanish elementary school and a middle school with church friends in the same school district

Here's why it wasn't a good fit:

-Just picture the bird "Blue" in the movie Rio. Remember that part when he's in Rio and he finally can't take it anymore and he screams "I DON'T LIKE SAMBA, OKAY????!!!!" And all the other birds' beaks quiver and they turn their backs in devastation and horror.

It's not that we hate surfing, it's just that we don't live and breathe and eat and sleep and want to marry surfing. There were other things too - you know us. You can guess. But I want to emphasize that the people here, especially here in San Clemente, are not the shallow, fake-body, fake-smile mannequins one fears one will have to make conversation with in Orange County. San Clemente is a wonderful place with wonderful people. It just wasn't us.

Q: One of the reasons you moved down there was to be near Erik's family. How did they take the news that it didn't work out?

A: I was physically shaking as we rang their doorbell to deliver the news. We talked about some other stuff first but I think they sensed that we were there to drop a bomb. It was really hard, and they were really sad. But they also told us they understood and that they weren't surprised. They had been hoping and praying that we would thrive near them, but they could tell that we were struggling and they knew how strong the pull was to our people up North. They were supportive and loving (as always) and they reassured us that they will continue to visit us often, no matter where we live. They are amazing people.

Q: The most important question (which many of you have really asked - thank you!): How are your kids taking it?

A (Stone): He has been very happy here, but he has periodically remarked that he wished he could go home. Last time we visited Los Altos, he said, "Wait... why didn't we come back here after Spain?? This is our home!!" He says he misses his friends and his cousins. He was thrilled when we told him. I don't think it's sunk in yet that he will be leaving the climbing wall and Vaughn Hemeon.

A (Sophie): Sophie is thriving at school. She loves her teacher and has made three very, very close friends. So I was surprised when we asked the kids what they thought of the possibility of moving back to Northern California, that she didn't even hesitate. "That's where we belong, Mom. That's our home." When we had our family meeting to tell them the decision, she clung to me and said "It's the best decision, but I'm going to need to cry about it." I told her I would need to cry about it too. But her friends were so supportive and loving when she broke the news to them, and now she's very excited.

A (Lucy): Lucy was our child who was most anxious to leave the Bay Area, and most excited to move to Southern California. She had always told us she wanted to own a big house with a big yard and live by family. She cried with joy when all of those dreams came true, and had seemed so content with our life here... until the last couple of months. She came to me awhile ago (before Erik and I had mentioned that we were re-assessing things) and said "I know you're going to be surprised by this, but if I could put our house in my backpack, I would take it back up to Mountain View." She has been frustrated with the level of education at school (she especially notices that Math is not as challenging as she wants), and in her words, feels like she doesn't "fit in." She also said she had not realized how important it was to walk around town and church and know that the people there know you and love you. She has noticed (as we all have) that in general the people here are nice, but they already have their friends and don't make time or space for more.

A (Lindsay): There was about a week that Erik and I knew we were going to move, but we hadn't told the kids yet. Any time I would think about telling Lindsay I would cry. She had made close friends very fast and had really enjoyed school... and she's in 7th grade! We had told her we were not going to move her during Middle School, and I felt like we were betraying her. So one night Lucy asked me in front of Lindsay "what's the chance that we would move back to Northern California?" and I was so blind-sighted and so emotional about it that I started to cry. Lindsay's eyes got big and then she tipped over onto her bed in fetal position and started crying too. I laid out all of the data for them and told them that Erik and I wanted the best thing for our family, long-term, and that we would weigh their feelings very heavily in the decision. Through her tears, she said "I want to go home. I'll miss Mia, but I want to go home." And then it was Lindsay that suggested that we should not wait until the end of the school year - once she thought about going back, she wanted to go right away.

Q: So will this affect your plans to go to graduate school?

A: Yep. I had been really excited about either San Diego State or Claremont Graduate University, both of which have fantastic English and Women's Studies departments. But there were drawbacks there too - both of those Universities are 1.5 hours (without traffic) from our current house, so I wasn't sure that was going to work anyway. I'll still go to grad school, but it won't be as soon as I was planning.

Q: What's your biggest worry?

A: Having to give up Spanish Immersion

Q: What are you most excited about?

A: Scott and Rachel and the boys, Friends who know us and love us and we know and love them, running in Rancho, Redwood trees, San Francisco, classes at Stanford, Friends who know and love us and we know and love them, Oatmeal cookie gelato at Yoogl, De Anza Lecture series, great quality Dance for Lucy, great quality Piano for Lindsay, Sparkling conversation, Eucalyptus trees, The Dish, The golden hills and the green hills, The HO Ward Halloween party, The HO Ward Christmas party, The HO Ward talks and classes and testimony meetings where there is more than one way to be a good Christian and good Mormon, The different languages everywhere you go, People wearing turbans and saris, Friends who know and love us and we know and love them, running in Rancho, SJ Children's museum, Dumb stupid crusty gross old El Camino that for some reason I just really love with all my heart, Muir woods, The Tech museum, The Zeum, The Exploratorium, Little Mom and Pop restaurants, JJ&F Market in Palo Alto where I am greeted by name and the guy at the deli counter knows what I'm going to order, the parks, Stanford Memorial Chapel, House of Bagels, visiting the courtyards, Giants games, Union Square, Trolley caroling, Hippies, Techies, Start-ups everywhere, University Ave in Palo Alto, The Bing Fair, The energy of the great big tech campuses, Amber India butter chicken, Guest authors at Books Inc, the drive up I-280 to the city, The minute you see the water in SF, the big weird bow and arrow sculpture on Embarcadero, Whoa, that reminds me, the super weird sculptures all over Palo Alto, like that guy with the big face on his stomach on California Ave, the Farmers Markets, Happy Feet, Blowfish Sushi, The culture that values being curious and being tolerant and respectful of others who are different from you, Stanford Mall, Rick's Rather Rich Ice Cream, Monterey Aquarium and the Dennis the Menace park, Ollalaberry picking in Watsonville, the rugged, rough, wild coast, The Christmas Tree Farm in Pescadero, Knowing and loving friends who are migrant workers and live in tiny apartments and knowing and loving friends who cashed out huge at Facebook and live in mansions in the hills, and God knows and loves them the same and we learn so much from all of them, Friends who know and love us and we know and love them.

Love you all!

Last Month of Summer; First Day of School

Erik was out of town one Saturday and we were missing Northern California's Saturday Farmer's Markets. Happily, we found one in Mission Viejo, and sampled some amazing peaches, juices and hummus.

 Amy and Kids Road Trip to Utah

Allebest Family tradition: gyros at the Mad Greek in Baker, CA

Wisdom on my sister's fridge. We had long, long discussions about those principles, which have pretty much been the theme of what Erik and I have been learning the past couple of years. I think I'll dedicate a whole blog post to that slip of paper.

Sophie thought it was hilarious and fun to sleep in the crib at my parents' house! She fit exactly from head to toe, and insisted she was comfortable. My dad is the best tickler. :)

The seven-year-old in the crib

Upon his return from a long, grueling roadbike ride up the canyon, Papa (my dad) came in for a chat with his granddaughters (Abby and Bria)

Mowing the yard

Stone (not surprisingly) insisted on steering by himself

My mom loves to read to the grandkids

Girl cousins with boxes of bling

Sophie loves her MacFie shirt (MacFie is the original Scottish spelling of McPhie)

Courtney and Lindsay were going through baby clothes hand-me-downs (Courtney is due in November).  I hadn't realized that a lot of the clothes came from my kids! Some clothes had been worn by Lindsay, Lucy, Sophie, either Abby or Bria, and Chloe. We passed around the little dresses and sleepers and I soon had tears streaming down my face, remembering how each little body had felt in them.

Lindsay got a haircut and style! I have not yet mastered the curling wand like that (I should look it up on YouTube or something).

I love my sisters. We were missing Whitney. Although it was probably good we did all Mommy-boo-hooing while she was at work.

Playing our favorite game, Write-Draw, after the littles were in bed.

Our favorite park on a hot day. That's Sophie, drenched in her church dress. :)

The garden in Lulu's back yard! Food growing in the earth is so miraculous. I had been having a grumpy day, and the beauty of Nature in that little patch of soft dirt woke me back up.

Chloe and Lucy at another family classic location: the Holladay Lions pool.

Utah is so beautiful in the summer time!! We drove up to Snowbird to hike and ride the Alpine Slide, but it was closed and it started to rain. The kids had to flight to hang on to their positive attitudes. :) We rode a different ride (still fun!) and when the big drops started falling, adjourned to Chick-Fil-A and then to the most adorable little bakery, The Sweet Tooth Fairy, for incredible cupcakes.

On our way back home we stopped to visit our dear friends the Furrs in Provo, and as always, tour Amy and Erik's old stomping grounds. This was the little house I lived in between Freshman year, my semester in Jerusalem, and my mission. We walked all around and peeked in the windows, but it looks vacant. I wish I could have descended those familiar steep stairs into that dank, dark, beloved basement. Such fond memories there.

Amazing!!!

 The Skousens come to visit!!!

Lindsay, Lucy and Hazel. Why not.

Sophie and Elsa reunited!!

I didn't take any pictures of anyone else, but their visit was so wonderful! I loved having Christie with me at the grocery store, at church, in the car, washing dishes, making dinner, folding laundry... oh what joy to have her and that dear family in our house! 

 Erik's Birthday

Medieval Times for old times' sake

It was actually a really amazing show! We went with Erik's parents and his brother, his wife and kids, and all our kids, and from Grandpa all the way down to Baby Pieter, everyone was enthralled! It's hard to find any activity that is fun for that range of ages! We loved it.

And Stone particularly was in Heaven.

 Mommy and Kids to Disneyland for Summer's last Hoorah

We hit a ton of rides in a very short time - the whole country had gone back to school, so it was empty! Only drawback was that it was 105 degrees. We only last half a day.

 Ok, the real last Hoorah: family weekend in Palm Springs!

We had been wanting to spend some more time with Erik's family, so we planned the Medieval Times birthday, bought tickets to a couple of plays in the Fall, and booked a hotel in Palm Springs to just swim and play for a couple of days. We love cousins!!

The first day we had an unexpected rain storm and the lightning forced everyone out of the pool. We took the kids to the mall and laughed our heads off at the outfits we created at Claire's Boutique.

I had a voicemail informing me that Lindsay wouldn't be able to start school without a TDAP booster shot... so we headed to the clinic at the grocery store and took care of it then and there. Not Lindsay's favorite part of the vacation.

A real manicurist can work her magic anywhere.

Christiaan gave Erik some little kites for his birthday, and Stone had a ball running as fast as he could trying to get that kite up in the air. He was so persistent and got it to fly really well!!

The whole gang before piling back into the car for the trip home

 First Day of School!!

Kindergarten, 7th grade, 5th grade, 2nd grade. My first year with an empty nest. 6 years until Lindsay heads off to college. There have been many tears this week (though thankfully not any tears of sadness about school! Everyone - including Stone - LOVES their teachers and friends and school!!)

The only thing I love more than that my husband looks like that and that he will pose with a drill like a calendar pin-up boy is that he bought those hideous stone-washed jeans on eBay just to bug me. I love that man.

Stone's special "ladder tree" that he climbs every day after kindergarten. Bless his teacher's heart for helping him feel comfortable and happy about school - I had been so worried, but he is so happy!!

My brood of book worms. I can not get the children out of the car when we pull into the driveway. They sit there with their books, no awareness of where they are, until they hit melting point and finally come in, panting for water. I love it.