Happy Holidays!

In keeping up with my yearly tradition since our first move from here in 2006 and consequent moves that led us back here (incl. the one that brought us back to the area exactly one year ago)...I doubt I'll be sending out holiday cards. Why break tradition? Hahaha. JK...next year....next year.

The one tradition I have kept up with is taking our holiday photos. The one holiday photo tradition Sean has kept up with...fake smiles....or rather, extremely pained-frustrated-wanting-to-skin-our dogs-and-sell-our-kids-and-find-a-wife-who-is-not-a-perfectionist-and-takes-quicker-photos smiles. Mainly because while I'm tinkering with trying to get the photos right...he's handling the kids and the dogs...except for the dog & the kid who are clingy to mama....except the clingy kid is much better (he's with Dad this year). This is a prime example...

Still...Sean is the one who broke the tradition this year and passed it to me. So, here I am in all my plasticky smile glory while my beautiful family poses...

We're off to spend a glorious break in DC...time to enjoy some great food and loved ones!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! May your travels be safe and your celebrations special and joyful!

Love,

Kaia, Jaron, Remi, Jax, Sean, & Tan

Kaia...to the rescue!!!

From The Lee-Espiritu Fam

I think my kids are pretty good kids. They can get ridiculously crazy and hyper...especially when they see family...so that's outta love & well, craziness. They're kinda outspoken...like their dad. ;o) They can have those really annoying sibling tiffs that can drive us crazy. But, most of the time...they're pretty good kids...with pretty good hearts.

Yesterday, I found out that Kaia stood up to her class who was laughing at her classmate who had accidentally peed in her pants. She let them know that it was "just an accident". As outspoken as I am and how much I like to stand up for the wronged...I don't think I would've had the guts to do that when I was her age.

We also found out that her teacher's nearly week-long absence was because she had lost her mother. The loss of a parent is something we're all to familiar with and even though the kids have not yet dealt with a tremendous loss personally...they're pretty empathetic to the loss of a loved one through their grandfather they never had the chance to meet.

Kaia did a little something for her teacher. I hope my children never lose their good hearts...

From The Lee-Espiritu Fam

The Fam

Family. No matter what life gives you...family is always the constant. Family...not just relatives, but family. Being related does not always mean you are family...because so many of our friends are our family. Family...ones that love & support us unconditionally.

This core group that Sean refers to as "The Fam" is a constant reminder of just how blessed our lives are. We cannot even begin to imagine our lives without these individuals...our group isn't whole when we are missing one. Our lives are more enriched, loved, and happier because of The Fam. For that, we thank you.

On the train in Strasburg, PA...part of Kim's 30th birthday celebration weekend.

In Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, MD after piercing Talia's ears.

Blast from the past...

I'm working on a li'l somethin'-somethin' for my sister's upcoming 30th...and came across these old (but not so old) pics from a couple of years ago.

Notice my poor hardworking hubby...but more importantly, notice how hard I'm working to set up the perfect family photo.

Poor Sean...the things he has to put up with!!

PAYLESS 50% Off Entire Purchase Discount!!!!!!!!!

Check it out!!

Lazy.

Kaia's injured...she's doing well, but she's sporting a hot pink cast to protect her broken tibia. Read more about it here.

What would you do?

We look forward to the days when Sean stands duty...not because we can't wait to get rid of him for 36 hours, but because that's when Mommy reads TONS of stories for bedtime. It's actually our reverse psychology to get the kids excited about Daddy not coming home instead of upset. Military fam survival 101.

Anyhoo...fresh from our library outing last night before bed and the 60 books we literally checked out (oops...sorry Princess Anne Library...we'll be back next week)...one of the books I read was "Alexander's Pretending Day" by Bunny Crumpacker. Basically, the premise of the story is the little boy Alexander asking his mom how she would react in certain situations if he were different things. One of the things Alexander pretended to be was a lion. So, after Alexander asked his mom "What would you do?" I asked the same question to each child. It was Jaron's turn to answer first. His answer? "I would kill him." Yes, my darling, sweet, cuddly baby mama's boy has a killer instinct to protect himself and his family...or at least himself. Kaia's answer (which would've been mine too) was to RUN....FAST.

However, I wanted to steer him away from the generic killing statement but asked him how he was going to do that...have him really think out his answer. "With a spear." Well, shoot, you have me there...so much for steering the conversation towards a different solution. But...Mama's got a trick up her sleeve..."What if you didn't have a spear? What would you do?" Please oh please let's have a different answer (especially since when Alexander was going to be a mouse, Kaia's first answer was to stomp on him...collllllllllllld-blooded assasins, I tell you!).

My sweet, sweet, darling, cuddly baby mama's boy's answer?

"I would go to the spear shop and buy a spear...buy a LOT of spears and kill the lion with the spears."

*sigh*

Hopefully there isn't a blue light special at the spear shop or that lion is done for.