you know how some girls dream of having a little girl of their own someday?  a little girl to dress up, have tea parties with, go shopping with, and do all manner of girly things with?  that was never me.  before having kids, i’d always somehow thought that if God blessed us with kids, i’d have all boys and i was fine with that.  i saw myself as the total boy mom and didn’t think i’d miss out if i didn’t have a girl. don’t get me wrong- it’s not because i didn’t like girls, or the thought of having one.  i just honestly felt somehow impaired and wasn’t altogether…

this past weekend, i had the privilege of attending tim park’s next photography workshop.  i also had the privilege of hosting a new friend who flew out from new jersey just for this workshop.  i met kelly at tim’s first workshop a couple of years ago and we’ve been online friends ever since.  so when she told me she was coming again, i rashly invited her to stay at our house while she was out here.  i say “rashly” because i didn’t stop to think about how i was offering her a ghetto air mattress in our ghetto downstairs room with the ghetto door that doesn’t close all the way. …

last week, the kids and i were able to join our church’s moms’ group at the cabrillo marine aquarium (THANKS stef for inviting us!).  on the whole ride there, mikey kept asking about a certain someone who works there… would auntie esther be there?  is auntie esther going to teach them a class like last time?  is auntie esther going to show them the fish?  does auntie esther live at the aquarium? needless to say, we couldn’t get there fast enough. and look who we managed to catch just before she had to leave?  the aquarium’s just not the same without auntie esther there! we went inside to find our…

alright, so the day after allie’s and my princess date, phil actually got home early from work.  this RARELY to NEVER happens.  and so, off we went to disneyland again!  this time as a whole family!  cuz our passes were expiring!  and cuz we still didn’t know that we weren’t going to new mexico then! so… here is the surprise third and FINAL disneyland installment.  until we renew again at some point.  because now we know we’re not going to be new mexicans.  🙂 well, look who we ran in to just after entering the park?  allie didn’t want a picture with mickey because of his over-sized head and because…

so, right after we saw the princesses, we hopped over to pixie hollow to see what we’d see there. and we saw silver mist! who allie decided was her favorite. until… until she locked eyes with tinkerbell. who asked allie questions… and took a genuine interest in what she had to say… tinkerbell = allie’s new best friend.  i wished i had videotaped their conversation since tinkerbell took a lot of time to chat with allie.  it was a sweet moment. after meeting princesses and fairies, we had just enough time to get on a few rides. i kept trying to catch allie in the mirror until i got too…