The Long and Winding Road.....: Strawberry Fields Forever: Ode to my sister LeAnn

My older sister (much, much older) noticed that I hadn't written about her in my blog. Silly me. She asked for it! My Much Older sister LeAnn(who is a gorgeous Strawberry Blonde, hence the blog title) is the best. She is my kids' favorite aunt. And to any other sisters reading this, I'm sorry, but it's true. She works hard at the title of favorite aunt. You are all beloved, she is just the belovedest. LaRee ran a good campaign with the quiet book, Lyndee enthralled the boys with her puppy, and Lisa, well, she fixes airplanes which the boys think is pretty darn cool. But LeAnn is "IT". They ask nearly daily to got to "aunt nan's" house. It helps that she has come to visit a lot more, so the boys just know her better. I used to compete with her for the Favorite Aunt title. Just ask any of the

older nieces and nephews. We'd each call them and say "Hi, this is your favorite aunt" then make them guess which of us it was. I am finding out now that we traumatized a few of them with this stunt. But finally I was defeated. LeAnn wins. Seriously. She IS the best aunt. Perhaps I better explain my family dymanics for those of you unfortunate strangers to my wild and wacky family. My mom had 10 children. 5 girls and 5 boys. There is a 25 year span between the oldest and youngest in my family. I am #6. being a middle child in such a large family is the BEST! I love it. I first became an Aunt when I was 9 (shout out to

beautiful Andrea, my first born niece). Holy Schmokes, I loved my little nieces and nephews. Still do. And my younger sibs are pretty great as well. Todd was the next closest to me in age, so we fought a lot. I think it is the law, for you to have to fight with at least one of your siblings. We also played together the most, so I suppose it all works out in the end. But the other 3 were enough younger than me that I felt "motherly" toward them, and doted on them. My older sibs all adored me (admit it) except for maybe Lisa. Again, she was the one closest in age older than me, so we tended to fight a bit. All that is long since forgotten, and we became great friends by the time She was about 15-16. But I digress. LeAnn. Yes. Well, she is also

my favorite sister. Again, sorry to all reading whom this might offend, but she has worked hard at the title. Admit it, she's your favorite sister, too (besides me, of course). here is a brief rundown of the sibs.

*LaRee, the eldest, mother of 4, "The Boss". She is the most creative with things other people would throw away, and the one to call when you need someone to go to battle for you.

*Danny, father of 2, extrememly talented artist and wood worker, and some of my favorite memories of my childhood include him

*LeAnn, mother of 3, favorite sister/aunt, and is a "Do-er". You need it

done, call her. Has helped me through countless rough moments, Unintentionally funny (you know it's true) which makes it even funnier. Easiest to talk to, laugh with, etc. The "glue" in our family

*Darin, father of 6, and a great dad to his children, which makes me respect him even more, resident genius, most fun to watch a stupid movie with (don't EVEN get me started on High School Musical)

*Lisa, mother of 2, Most independent, and definitely the wittiest. The one to call when you need a laugh. SO much fun to have an adventure with (Starcon? Rennaissance festival?)

*ME, mom to 3 soon to be 4, the tallest girl (6'), best at most embarrasing moments. (except for ONE incident with LeAnn and Santa Claus)

*Todd, newlywed, Father to beautiful Crimson, Tallest boy, I think, though they are all tall. very clever and Extrememely handy to have around if something breaks (especially electronics- very handy)

*Mark, great student, soon to graduate College, most talented artist. Kind hearted, so much fun to be around- very creative mind. His friends count themselves lucky.

*Lyndee, mom to be (in March, I think), the baby girl. Sweetest, most tender hearted. She has amazing talent and patience when working with the disabled. She is a true gift to this family.

*Brent, "The baby". So funny, smart, and a gifted writer. I still haven't quite forgiven him for moving away from AZ. I loved my "Brent weekends". He assures me he'll move back if we can figure out a way to move the entire city of Seattle with him. Any ideas, anyone? I'll entertain any viable option!

Okay, maybe my rundown wasn't so brief, but it's my blog and I'll do what I want to. Just wait until I do my Ode to my mother.