Juning 2026

We're making our way quickly through June. We've completed VBS, and now we are on to the next camp, Idrafoje, next week. Three out of four kids will attend. Addie will experience what it's like to be an only child for a few days. Of all my kids, Addie is the quietest. She usually keeps to herself and reads a book, so it'll be pretty quiet around here. Lovely. Summer is such a mixed bag of boredom and excitement, iPads and camps.

I asked the kids who wanted to come to Vons with me, and Angus volunteered. He regretted his decision about 10 minutes in. 

My kids are always next to each other or on top of each other. It's cute. They're like puppies.

Dan and I forced the kids to go on a hike. It was a 5-mile hike, and Angus talked the whole time, so toward the end, I made him take a break from talking. Three out of four complained the entire way. 

You can guess which ones, haha.

Heard around here: 

Angus: When I grow up and start driving, I'm not going to honk at people. Everyone makes mistakes. (He said that after I honked at someone for stopping at the roundabout)

Life Update

It's been a while since I did one of these:

Angus - 11 yrs old

Angus is still the happiest person I know. He is always in a good mood except for nighttime, when he's tired. Then he is the unhappiest person I know. He still talks all day long to anyone who will listen. Angus will be going into sixth grade in the fall. That's the first year of middle school around here. Currently, he wants to be an airplane mechanic when he grows up. He does not want to go to college. He will definitely end up going to a trade school of some kind. He has always been super curious about how things work. Angus will hang out with anyone of any age. You will often find him outside playing with our 7-year-old neighbor girl. He has tons of friends and is well-loved at school and church. He's a rule follower and would love it if everyone else were too. Angus's spirit animal would be a Labrador.

Addie - 12 yrs old

Addie is growing, thank goodness. Not sure she'll break 5 feet, but we have our fingers crossed. She's going into 7th grade in the fall. She is the most confident of our children. (Angus is a close second) She is my most independent one, too. She LOVES reading. Currently, she's reading a series that I had to go to two different libraries to find in its entirety. She typically reads about 400 or 500 pages a day. If you know of a really good series like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter, let me know. She loves fantasy. She and Winter are writing a book. They're almost done with it. It's around 400 pages. They plan to write a whole series. Not surprisingly, Addie wants to be a writer when she grows up. She could also illustrate. She's an amazing artist too. She likes swimming, but other than that, adamantly hates all sports. She gets A's in school without trying very hard. She's loud and crazy when she's with her friends and is usually the leader of the pack. She's a lady of few words so when she talks, I make sure to listen. She rarely asks for anything, so when she does, I usually get it for her. Addie's spirit animal would be a house cat. 

Winter - 15 yrs old

Winter is quite lovable.  She's goofy and fun. She's usually happy and is still my free spirit. She often turns negative situations into positive ones. She often tells me about her daydreams and is really good at relaxing. She's very affectionate and is always down for a hug. She cries easily and is usually smiling or laughing. She can do anything she puts her mind to. She loves to preface every request she asks of me with an explanation. She's persuasive and usually gets a yes out of me. I usually just cut her off, though, and make her ask the question without the spiel. She is not a natural rule follower but has learned over the years that it's better for everyone if she follows the rules if rules need to be followed in certain circumstances. But she loves to gently push the boundaries. Winter has tons of friends, both male and female. She is very playful. I love that she'll still play nerf wars with Angus and his friends and have a blast doing it. Winter is thinking about being a nurse, but mostly she just wants to hang out with horses all day. The nursing thing will allow her the funds to have a horse =) Plan A is to marry rich. She takes her permit test in a couple of days so hopefully she will pass and start driving. She'll be going into 10th grade in the fall. Winter's spirit animal would be a Golden Retriever.

Mya - 16 yrs old

Mya is a very impressive young lady. She has always been great at tackling problems and finding solutions. She works hard at everything she does. She's usually "so busy." =) She is organized and usually has everything she needs handy at all times. She's a planner and loves talking to Dan about her future. She loves babies and plans to have as many as possible. She loves event planning and decorating. Think of Monica from Friends. Mya is a party animal, surprisingly. She loves dancing, being goofy and letting her hair down, literally =) She works hard and plays harder. She loves singing too. Everyone does, actually. My house if full of singing and harmonizing most days. Currently, she's helping everyone pack for camp and loving it. Mya is going to be a senior in the fall. She can't wait to be done with school and have a grown-up life. She plans on going to a junior college that specializes in radiology. She wants to be the one to give ladies mammograms.  That way, she'll make money and not have to deal with bodily fluids. She's a bit squeamish, like her mom. She'll probably have 10 side jobs, including organizing people's homes, babysitting, decorating tote bags & shoes, and baking cookies. She hates spending money unless it's at a thrift store and loves putting money in her savings account. Mya has been driving with a permit for over 6 months and could technically take her driver's test.. But she is also overly cautious, fear-driven, and is not great at reacting quickly, so we all agree that she needs an additional couple of months to get more comfortable behind the wheel. Mya's spirit animal would be an Otter. I feel like I need to explain this one. Otters love sleeping and snuggling, and they are always holding their babies. Mya loves the ocean too.

Dan - 50 yrs old

Dan has 4 years and 9 months left before he can retire, but who's counting? =) Dan loves being a dad. He challenges our kids and they challenge him right back. The girls are at an age when they have started making fun of us and are less intimidated by Dan. He can be tough on them at times, but I think everyone is turning out quite well =) Dan is a lot like Mya. He likes to clean; a messy house gives him anxiety, and for fun, he organizes our money in Quicken. He loves the stock market. I really have no idea what he does in there, but I think we're making money. Dan is the happiest when his whole family is home and we have nothing on the calendar. He likes to make lists and check things off one at a time. He loves good food so he often cooks at home. He's a homebody. Unless we are going to Newport Beach to eat good food. He'd rather do that than stay at home. He also likes to go with me to our local Mexican place for a margarita and some tacos. Actually, we both love that equally, I think. We probably do that once a week or maybe every 10 days. We sit and laugh, and people watch and discuss our kids and friends and work. Dan's spirit animal would be a lion. If you knew Dan well, you'd know that it fits.

Amie - 45 yrs old 

These days, I have two part-time admin jobs that keep me on my toes. One is for an amazing lady who coaches executives with ADHD, and the other is for one of the pastors at our church.

I love hiking, camping and the beach. I love my space. I love Fisher, our yellow lab. I take him everywhere with me if possible. Of everyone in the house, I am the most non-affectionate one. I'm social. I just don't like all the touching. Probably because 4 little people (and Dan) touched me non-stop for so many years. But I love hanging out with my family, singing, dancing, and laughing. We laugh a lot. I love making mom jokes and twisting their slang into something cringy only a mom would say =) I mess up the words on purpose to make them roll their eyes. I say things like, "Mya, you're so on fire right now." To which she responds, "Absolutely not." I love playing board games. I love singing loudly to Disney songs and Les Misérables. I'm the peacemaker in the family. I hate fighting, bickering, bad moods, and negativity. I try my best to keep everyone happy. I'm sure that's not healthy, but it's how I am. In my perfect world, everyone would be calm and content. Koombaya and all that. I love music. I love my audiobooks, and I love thrifting. Okay, that's all I can think of. I described myself and asked AI what my spirit animal is. I got this result: "Your energy points to one spirit animal above all: the Sea Turtle — calm, steady, nature‑loving, peaceful… but with a protective shell when the world (or your family) gets a little too loud." I LOVE sea turtles. I'm kind of obsessed with them, so yeah, that's so perfect. 

That's all for now! See you in July!