Happy Birthday, Give Me...

I can't say I don't have a clock hanging on the wall in my home even though I hate clocks, but I can say you'll never find pictures without purpose on my walls. And my most favorite wall pictures are the family kind.

That's why I asked for or actually demanded professional family pictures for my birthday this year. My walls are bare.

Weeks before my birthday, I 'd ask the kids what they were getting me for my birthday, and then I'd answer for them, "That's right, family pictures" or "Yep, a smile". I made sure they knew not to buy me anything, and that I expected them to wear whatever I had for them during the 2 hour photo shoot.

I'll ask for things for Christmas or Valentine's Day, but because these holidays come before my birthday I've never had to ask for much on my birthday until now and only because I had never thought of doing this before. It's amazing and ideal because having family pictures yearly as my birthday gift solves the problem of family portrait procrastination for me.

We missed our photographer from Texas last time she was here, so we had to find another one available on February 21st when the kids were out of school. We loved our photographer. If you are local, you can find her services here.

Thank you, Kelli!

Forget This Mission

My sister bought a minivan probably 10 years ago, and 4 years later so did we. We didn't do it because Makayla begged for it, though. We did it because we thought we'd fill it with at least 4 more children, and we wanted to be made fun of by the SUV owners.

Not a year after we got our minivan, my sister bought an SUV. And guess who didn't outgrow asking for an SUV until she was 12?

Sometime last month, we bought a Sequoia for traveling, pulling tent trailers and dependability, but not because we had 4 more children.


Immediately, I contacted my good friend in Arizona for charity in hosting our family during one long February weekend. We haven't seen them since here. And the night before or maybe 2 nights before (I can't remember), I realized Matt was too sick to take on the staycation to our friend's house.

But he wasn't too sick to sleep in a comfortable bed and eat food and walk around, but not too much walking around, right? That was my rationalization. So, we packed our bags for San Diego to stay in a hotel with a kitchenette and a beach for walking.



The pictures show he's sick; you can see it in his eyes. At one point, I remember him saying he just wanted to be at home in his own bed. I felt bad. But not bad enough to go home. I thought if I gave him enough Nyquil and nursed him with hugs, he'd stay quiet and get better because I hadn't had a vacation and I wasn't giving in so easily.

This wasn't a proud mom moment for me, but it doesn't define who I am. I'm usually anything but selfish and so is Matthew. That's why he stayed quiet and why we stayed to tour the Mission San Juan Capistrano and ride the surrey at the Hotel del Coronado.

He probably forgot everything about the San Juan Capistrano even though I wanted him to see it for an upcoming report at school. Hopefully, though, he forgets more than just the history of this mission.

The Cake Is The Same...

Tom had to top the birthday cake for Makayla this year with a rice krispie number 14 as a mark that she is a year older, but only because the cake is identical to last year's.

Because so much is not identical, like how she wanted fake eyelashes for her birthday and instead of anxiously waiting for us to come in singing "Happy Birthday" in the morning she really was asleep and annoyed that we woke her up because after all this is year two being a teenager.

This year we took her and her friend Reyna to Disneyland, she got a popsicle making kit, and I made her an honor photo book instead of the traditional honor board.

She is still as funny as ever and clever and creative. She's quiet and innocent and much more mild mannered than I was at 14. She has her rough days when she is too tired or had too much fun or who knows why and she has no patience for her brothers or Tom or even me.

And although she isn't as adventurous as she used to be, she is still open to new ideas and embraces learning. She doesn't thrive in school, but is responsible and goes even when she's sick, which is rare. Her tonsils are still huge and she's learned to use them to leave school on an off day, which is also rare.

Her favorite dessert is probably nutella and strawberries or maybe the new popsicles she's created. She loves sweets, but will still eat anything I make without complaint. Honestly.

She still loves soccer and her brothers and Tom and even me.

Happy Birthday, Makayla.