Last Days of Summer

We only have one more week and then free time is over. No more sleeping in. No more sleepovers. No more staying up past bedtime. It's almost time for homework, homework and more homework!

But before that happens the kids have been enjoying pool time, parties, and lots of sleepovers.

Sophia and Selena would have a sleepover every night if I let them.

My sweet girlfriends happily pose for pictures.
These boys, however, I had to man-handle them in place, threaten them not to move and to please smile -- stubborn!
On Sundays when the kids are all dressed up, I try to get a "happy" picture of them, but today they weren't in the mood. They said, "You're not going to put this on your blog are you?" Of course I am! Even if they don't have their happy faces on.

Big Hair/Big Cheeks

As I've been looking through old photos, I've come to some realizations. One is that I had very big bangs and lots of curl in my younger years and the other is the sadder truth that my cheeks were huge! I had no idea when Chris and I were first married I was Delta Burke's double. But back when these pictures were taken we didn't have digital cameras so there were no redo's like we have now. Even if I have a stranger take a picture of me with my friends, I check it and make them retake it if we look funny. Obviously if I had seen the above picture immediately, it would've been deleted on account of chubby cheek syndrome.
The picture below I love because of all our fluffy hair and all that paisley print. We used countless cans of Aqua Net getting ready for this photo shoot!

The Reluctant Flyer

There are times when something is happening in your life or you're having a conversation with someone and you think, "This is a bloggable moment." I had one of those experiences flying home on the redeye flight from Las Vegas to DC this week.
I expected an uneventful flight considering everyone should be sleeping, but I was wrong.
Because we get the leftover seats, I rarely get to sit by my kids when we fly. But I was only one row away from Selena, so I asked a lady to trade seats with me since I knew Selena would be more comfortable sleeping on me than trying to sleep sitting up.

As I took my seat next to Selena, the man sharing our row leans over to me and says, "Just so you know, I'm a very nervous flyer. I took a couple Xanax so I should be fine. But if I act strange, that's why."
As I looked in his eyes which were very close to my face, he did have a glazed look going on. But other than that he seemed like a normal man.
Then he got talkative and told me how he hates flying, but does it all the time because of his job. I told him to just think of it like a roller coaster ride. Then he said he hates roller coasters and any kind of ride that goes fast. He then mentioned how he shouldn't be like this since he's an officer in the military and has done two tours in Afghanistan.

I said, "And flying on this plane is freaking you out?"
He told me how his dad was a pilot, but his mom would never let the kids fly because it scared her and she's still never been on a plane.

As we took off, he had his head down between his legs and was mumbling to himself. Then he'd sit up, grab at his hands, and put his head back down again. Part of me wanted to comfort him and the other part wanted to say, "Dude, relax!"

Once we were in the air he listened to his iPod, had his head pillow and I assumed he slept, because that's what I was trying to do.
We didn't talk again until we started to land. At this point he's looking out the window, rocking back and forth in his seat while mumbling to himself. As the plane landed, it was loud like landings usually are and there was some jerking. He did not enjoy this and made a more audible moan while he put his head between his legs again.
Now, I don't get nervous when I fly. But even if I did, I was so fascinated watching him I wasn't even thinking about the possibility of something going wrong.
He was still nervous and mumbling as we were coming to a stop. At this point I grabbed his arm and said, "It's okay. It's over."

He said, "I know. I don't know why I do that every time. I should just sleep. But did you see the lightening storm we were going through?"

What? I thought he was sleeping during the 5 hour flight, but apparently he was checking for danger out the window. "No. I was sleeping. Why were you looking? You should've kept your eyes shut."

He said, "I can't. I have to have total awareness of the surroundings."
Then he asks me if I've heard of Tourette syndrome. I told him I had. And he said he also had that, which didn't help his situation.
He said he's here in DC for a week and then has to go through the flying torture once again.

I must say he was the most intriguing passenger I've sat next to. I've heard of people having anxiety when they fly, but I've never seen it firsthand. And this man was medicated! I can't imagine what he'd be like if he didn't have those pills to relax him.
I wanted to tell him that I was going to blog about him and if I could take his picture, but I didn't want to add any more stress to his day.

Vegas Fun

Having a sister in Vegas is very convenient. We can go to nice restaurants, enjoy all the sites and not have to pay for a hotel. One day I took all her kids to the strip and we went to the M&M factory, looked at the lions at the MGM and of course showed them the fancy hotels. Then Susana and Jason took us out to dinner at a yummy BBQ place where we ate way too much meat, but it was so yummy.

Then if just living in Vegas wasn't enough, my sister and her hubby also bought a boat, which almost convinced Chris to relocate. We went to Lake Mead where we swam in front of the Hoover Dam. The kids loved it. They tubed and enjoyed being thrashed around on the water.

Chris hadn't been skiing in many years, but got up and looked like a pro. He impressed me, because I never got the hang of it. My sweet sister watched my kids for me one night and Chris and I went to see Lance Burton, Master Magician at the Monte Carlo. I love vacations with built-in babysitters! Visiting Vegas gave me the baby cravings and gave Chris a boat craving.

Family Treasures

My sister Laura and I tackled a major project for two days. We went through all of our family pictures. That's elementary school pictures for six children and yes, my mother bought school pictures every year for every child, just like I do. We also had a ton of birthdays, Christmases, proms, and vacation pictures to go through. So we went through boxes and boxes of photos, separating pictures for each or our siblings. It was so fun reminiscing as we saw photos of events we had forgotten about and complaining about how we looked because of some unfortunate style choices we made.
But also in these boxes of treasures we found my parents missionary pictures from Mexico, where they both served and some of their wedding photos. We also found pictures my mom never showed us of her youth. For some reason she didn't like showing us all her pictures and I don't know why because she was so beautiful.
I also found tons of pictures from my high school days and I can guarantee once I get home to my scanner, there will be many, many Flashback Friday posts with lots of big hair.

Selena and Alec with their triplet cousins, Tatum, Liam and Shane.

The last time I saw my nephew, I know I was taller than him. He's now a man at 17. Time goes too fast -- I remember changing his diapers!
Connie and I have been friends since puberty. Then we became forever linked when her sister finally gave into my very persistent brother and they married. We also both chose the same job path and are loving our careers as court reporters.
Ever since my girls have been taking care of the newest baby of the family, they're begging for a new sibling.
I'm grateful for my sister-in-law Cheri for taking on the job of being my brother's wife. It can't be easy living with a man who constantly called me "butt munch" when we were growing up.

When we got to the desert, Chris took Selena to a motorcross track to watch the races. She came home and was saying, "I didn't take the picture!" I was confused until she showed me all the pictures they took and this is what I saw -- a not so attractive bottom. She was laughing. I think it was the highlight of the races, laughing at a man's unfortunate sitting position.