Disneyland Part One

Oh Disneyland how we love you so. spending 7 great days in California and 5 at good old Disney is just what we needed.

Disneyland is magical, so magical in fact that it tricks us, it tricks us all.

have you ever noticed that in Disneyland reality does not exist, for example, an otherwise sane somewhat fashionable woman ( I am not alluding to myself I do not claim to be sane or fashionable) who wouldn't be caught dead in a mickey mouse sweatshirt walks around with one on like she is headed to fashion week.

I found my self going into stores and thinking

"Why yes actually I do need a cashmere sweater with Minny mouses face embroidered on the front. And it is only $250? YES! Score!

or how about this one?

" $5 for a Churro? Yeah, OK, that seems fair"

or thinking that riding Star tours 5 times a day is an awesome idea ( I will claim that one)

Despite the trickery and mind magic Disneyland plays on us I cant help but love it. I was ready to come home yet sad to leave.

Here are a few shots of the trip with more to follow

House Hunters International

We are back from California! So many pictures to share but it will have to wait until tomorrow I am so behind,

However, remember when I posted about the house hunters international shoot we did with our brother and sister in law? It airs tonight on hgtv so check it out. And if you see one of my kidletts on there it is an added bonus for you! :)

I think I made a mistake

Freckles and Wrinkles

Whoa Whoa Whoa

close up on me and my wrinkles,and my freckles. My wrinkles and freckles have been out full force lately. They literally take over my face.

I really don't mind the way the wrinkles look, I mean I don't love them, come on who loves them? No One. No One loves them.

but, I don't really think about them they are just a part of life.

I do however think about what those wrinkles represent. My life is more complicated than it used to be.

In college when I was wrinkle free I had only myself to think about. I was insanely selfish and didn't even know it. Of course I was wrinkle free I was also relatively worry free.

These wrinkles came with maturity and ( which to be honest I still am lacking 99% of the time)

The wrinkles came with me learning to love people more than myself

and they came with a whole lot of perspective.

needless to say I shouldn't be sweating those wrinkles, or those dark circles under my eyes. They just come with the territory.

My freckles on the other hand are another story

Those buggers have always been here to taunt me.....

but the jokes on them....

I'm kind of starting to like them

Take that my nemesis of 32 years.....

I'm actually starting to like you

I believe that means I win

Instagram lately

Sometimes I forget to load pictures in here and Instagram gets all my fun shots.
We had a pretty relaxed weekend here.
I had to run 10 stupid miles because I signed up for a stupid marathon, and stupid may 19th is just around the stupid corner. All of a sudden 26 stupid miles sounds pretty stupid to me. I don't know if you can tell but I think my bright idea to run a marathon was just plain stupid.

Two videos in a Row but this one is Funny

Happy Weekend!

Please Watch and Share

Pictures of our Day

Just a few pictures of our day..

Logan and Kennedy didnt get any pictures today. I have realized that most of my picture taking hours happen between the hours of 12-3 when these two kidletts are in school.

Starting tomorrow I will do better Logan and Kennedy.....I promise

Don Juan comes home tomorrow, I am very excited, very very excited

Well Played Don Juan. Well Played

I am most definitely not the fun parent. That would be Don Juan Demarkland.

I have come to accept my place in the family as the educator, the manager, the chef, the maid, and a plethora of other titles. Sadly Fun exciting spur of the moment parent is a title I will never be able to steal from Don Juan.

This weekend while Don Juan was away I attempted the impossible I attempted to steal the title form the recurring champ. I piled the kids in the car drove them to the mall and took them to see the Lorax. They love the book and I have to admit I also have a soft spot for it.

after the movie fun while we were driving home I was sure I had clinched the title. there was no way he could beat this....

Then from my eldest mouth I hear..

"That was fun I wish Dad was here with us"

At first I was going to argue that we didn't need him that we had fun without him didn't we? and then I realized that it is OK that they love him and find him more fun. It is OK that they want their Dad around.It is OK that they look up to him and just want to be in the same room as him whenever he is home.

I realized I couldn't convince them that being with Dad isn't that great because I agreed with them

It is great.

So instead I quietly said

" I do to sweetie"

Well Played Don Juan. Well Played..

mommy and Daughters feet

Going in! going in!

I might have gotten them alot of popcorn along with the candy.... I was really trying to win here.

Men Chase Other Men...According To Logan

Dear Logan,

You make me laugh

this weekend you didn't even know why you cracked me up but you did

Like when I came home from dropping Dad off at the airport and you had just watched Mulan

I told you to go clean your room and you said

" sure, then lets make a man out of me"

you were quoting the song from Mulan , but oh it was funny

and then tonight as we are playing a board game you told your Uncle Daniel.

"I'm chasing you Daniel be cause Men chase Other Men. Men should always chase other men"

It seems that you had a common inappropriate theme.

one day you will read this and know why I thought you were so funny this weekend

There is Something in The Water....

Kennedy and Jude One day when in your Tween-Teen years I will show you these pictures and remind you how much you loved each other.

You love each other. just remember that

Don Juan is in Virginia for a week for year 2 of his residency. Its tough on him, he worked so hard on his dissertation proposal and finally got it passed the first approval process just to get to his residency and to have the professor tell him he is not even close.

he is not giving up because as he has brainwashed into our children's head

"Marklands do not ever give up....EVER"

I keep telling him that in 5 years he will be done and will never have to do it again...it does not seem to be comforting him so I think I will just shut up about it and just let him work through it.

Remember when I used to do a big home project when Don Juan would leave for a while?

Well you will all be pleased to know that my big project this time around will be just plain showering every day.

I have started out bad

today was a fail.....

tomorrow is looking better for me not because I want to shower but because I actually will have to go into public and no one should have to see me like this.

for those of you who saw me today I formally apologize.

Really I am sorry you had to see me like this but it just had to be done....I had to sit in my p.j.s all day

maybe it was in honor of my friend delivering her baby at home today? Just hearing about her doing that this morning made me so tired I couldn't even get dressed.

Is that a real thing? you know how some husbands gain weight with their wife when they are pregnant? maybe I get tired with my friends?

That totally makes sense because my friend today is the fourth one of my friends in the last two months to have a baby, and we all live within a 1 mile radius of each other...

That is why I have been lazy lately....I am feeling their exhaustion...

I feel your pain ladies....though not quite as extensive as you feel it I'm sure( OK, not at all as you feel it.) but thank you anyway for letting your hard work at bringing life into this world be my excuse for staying in yoga pants and sweatshirts all day.

for this I will be eternally grateful.

I will also be eternally grateful if you guys let me babysit your little nuggets so you can just take a nap.

Well hello!

The Weather is Bad.....

Family pictures today.

Well family pictures were cancelled because the weather was horrible.

horrible I tell you.

incredibly windy, snow, low dark clouds.

We have been trying to schedule these suckers forever.

We were all ready

and then I looked outside

I got these two before they changed.

We will try again in June

I guess we will go to costco instead.