It's my sister's fault

In case you're wondering why I havn't blogged in a week. My sister gave me a gigantic bag full of chic lit and I've had my nose in a book for a couple weeks. I've read 7 novels in the last 2 weeks. 2 more and I'll be through the whole bag.

Ok, also, I got sick. I suppose that's another reason.

This morning I'm grateful for...

Last night was stressful. My Gabe is sick. He had a seizure at 3 AM.

So today, I'm grateful for a great home teacher who will drop everything and come over at 10:30 PM to help Dave give Gabe a blessing.

I'm also grateful for my online friends. It was because of them that I knew not to panic at a fever related seizure. I did call our dr and she was great and told me what to do.

Now my sweet baby is sleeping soundly.

See? Tiaras make people happy!

That's Gabe and my brother-in-law. Gabe loves tiaras. They're one of his favorite toys. Those and wands. The rest of us like to humor him.

I wasn't sure if it would work...but it kinda did!

I've been mesmerized the last few mornings with this site out my front door. Maybe it's normal to people who are used to 10 degree temps, but I thought it was pretty neat. I wasn't sure if a photo would work and it doesn't quite do it justice, but it's still neat. Too bad I don't have a star filter...anyway. See all those spots of light? That's the air sparkling in the sunlight because it's so stinkin' cold out. Cool, huh?

Nathan and the Magic Pants

My 5 year old is a bit..um..quirky at times, but he is also a very logical thinker. That is why my sister sparked a 2 day discussion between him and I about the properties of his magic pants.

We were at my sisters house and he had chocolate on his pants so I told him not to sit on the nice furniture. My sister said she probably had something that would fit him and went to look. She came back with a pair of running pants. Like the ones that High School track runners wear under their super short shorts in the cold wheather. They're very stretchy for grown-ups, so on him they stayed up around his waist, but kinda fit like hammer pants (billowed around his thighs and tight at the ankle.)

Apparently they were very smooth and comfy. He instantly loved them.

Before we left, I took them off and put his chocolate pants back on. He was sad because they were so wonderful and he wanted to keep them.

He gave my sister and big hug and kiss and batted his eyes and she said he could. This is what followed.

"OK, Nathan," I said, "Auntie Rae said you can keep them."

"Forever?" he asked. And I could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Yes. Forever." I replied, then looked over at my sister. "Now how am I going to keep him from wearing those to school?"

She started to laugh and turned to Nathan. "Nathan, those pants are magic. They make you run really really fast, but only if you never wear them to school. If you wear them to school, they'll lose their magical powers and you won't be able to run fast anymore."

"I can't wear them to school?"

"Nope."

"Oh."

We left and went to the car, but I knew it wasn't over. For a while, I stuck with the magic story. We got home and he put them back on. He asked a couple times if he could wear them to school and I would just say no because they'd lose their powers.

I let him sleep in them that night and the next day after he took them off to take a bath, the conversation continued.

"Mom, it's ok if the pants lose their magic powers, I want to wear them to school."

"You don't want to be able to run fast anymore?"

"Well, I don't think they really make me run faster. I just run the same as I did without them."

"You don't think they're really magic?"

"Not really. Do you think I should give them back to Auntie Rae? She thinks they're magic, so maybe she needs them so she can run faster."

"I think she can probably run pretty fast without them. You can keep them if you want."

"So, I can wear them to school?"

"No, you still can't wear them to school."

"Whyy-yyy?" (that's a whiny why in case you can't tell)

"Because, they're like super comfy jammies and we don't wear jammies to school."

"OK." he sighed. "I'll just wear them on pajama day then."

At that point, I just laughed and gave up.

Stand in your majesty!

I hear that phrase often from a friend of mine. She is amazing and likes to remind her friends that they are queens and to act like it.

So the other day I was noticing the large collection of tiaras that Aria has built. She must have at least 10 different princess crowns.

I was repairing one for her yesterday and after I rehooked the hair comb, she stuck it on my head and told me I was a princess. So I left it there.

I wore that one all day yesterday (mostly because I forgot it was there). But I'd catch a glimpse of it every now and then and it was fun, so I left it on.

Then today, after church, I grabbed one out of the van that had been left there. (it's Gabe's favorite one, he carries it around and puts it on. lol) Instead of putting it away, I put it on and decided to have another princess day.

Turns out, it's really fun! I feel like a princess! My kids keep telling me I'm beautiful and a princess and it totally affected my attitude and I had a great day!

So, my challenge to you is to be a princess for a day. Or a queen. Whatever. But you have to wear a tiara. And maybe some jewelry. That's fun too.

Comment if you do it! I want to know!

PS...It's 9:03 PM, all my kids are sleeping...but I still have the tiara on.

Teresa and Ben's wedding pictures

You can see them all here.

And here are a few of my favorites.

I feel like a cool mom!

Today I was volunteering at Nathan's kindergarten class and I was with a group of kids working on their journal writing with them.

One of them said "You're Nathan's Mom?" I said yes and he said "You don't look like his mom, you look like his sister." Then another one piped up and said. "No, you look like his babysitter."

lol.

Either way, I'm good! I don't look old!

Things I learned on my Christmas vacation

Through observation:

-If you buy a pie from Costco at Thanksgiving, eat one slice, then put it in the fridge until it gets moldy, Costco will take it back at Christmas time and give you your money back.

-There is no prophecy of a new star in the Old Testament. The only place where that prophecy occurs is in the Book of Mormon. So where did the the wise men hear about it? Hmmm....

-Planning large wedding receptions and Christmas parties for 50 + people is stressful.

-My Grandpa reads my blog. Hi Grandpa!

Through experience:

-If you get a gift from Best Buy that came out of the box broken, they won't take it back the day after Christmas if you don't have a receipt (hello, it was a gift!) and will be non-commital about ever taking it back.

-My kids' dentist was screwing us. Aria has like 5 crowns and tons of fillings, Nathan has 2 crowns, but doesn't have the rest of the work done yet. We took him into our old dentist while we were on vacation (Dave's sister's father-in-law) and he said Nathan didn't need those crowns and did a pulpotomy without sedation and didn't add a crown and it was SO much cheaper. We won't be going back to fancy pants expensive dentist that does work that isn't needed.

-If you're driving from WA to Boise, Tollgate is a better road to take than Cabbage Hill.

-Girls Night's Out are a necessary thing for a Mom of three.

-Leaving your husband home in a messy house alone for 3 days results in a clean house when you get home! (Maybe I should leave more often...)

-Giving Benadryl to a 14 month old can result in the best night sleep you've had in 14 months. (It was legit! He was breaking out from drinking milk!) I was sorely tempted to drug him again last night, considering I was up practically every hour with a cranky, coughing, teething little boy. I resisted, but man am I tired today!