Cute, cute, cute

This little girl was so fun! At one point I told her to throw a snowball at me. I was thinking no way she'd hit me. She's 3!

Nailed my camera. Right on the lens. Good thing I had a UV filter on! Here she is scooping the snowball up!



I love so many out of this shoot. You can see the rest right here.

And here are a few that I loved.

Aria's new exclamation

I don't know where she came up with it. She normally says crap (which I admit, makes me laugh everytime she does it). But I'm good! I don't let her see me laugh, and I usually tell her to use appropriate language.

But the other day she got frustrated and exclaimed "Creckin' Crewsh!" That time I laughed out loud. She's said it several times since then.

At least it's nothing bad...or real...

Book Review - The Kite Runner

I don't normally "do" book reviews. I remember in 5th grade we did this reading auction where we got "money" for reading to go towards this really cool auction at the end of the year, but you only got the "money" if you wrote a book report. And I hated that. I ended up reading way more books than I actually wrote book reports for, although I still ended up with the second highest amount of "money" to spend. Go figure.

I've always wanted to be in a book group, but I'm a little intimidated by them. I was that kid in school that knew the answer but never, ever raised my hand to offer it. Even when the class was silent and the teacher was staring us all down. I was partly protecting myself in case I was wrong and partly just not wanting to talk in a group setting like that. I still get embarassed to say anything in a class. Even at church. Oddly, if you put me in charge or if I'm giving a speech/talk, I have no trouble at all. Go figure again.

Anyway, I'm rambling. The point is, I read a lot of books, and I needed an outlet/discussion place for this one.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

This book is set in modern Afghanistan (from the early 70's to today). Basically, knowing very little about the Middle East prior to reading this, it really opened my eyes to the horror they face every day.

I found myself strongly relating to Amir. He is soft. He is timid and wracked by guilt. He has a stong loyalty, but it is overshadowed by fear and it takes tragedy and life experience for him to grow strong enough to face his demons. There's a passage in the book where he is witnessing a public stoning. He has his head down in his hands because he can't bear to watch. I understood him there.

I avoid the news. I convince myself that I don't need to know. Since I can't do anything (besides pray) at this point, I don't want to know what's happening in the world. I don't want to put those scenes and images into my head to come back and haunt me later. I don't want the weight of the horror that exists to press me down. I purposely read and watch a lot of "happy endings" style books and movies because I want to believe that the world is still basically good. And, considering the content of this book, it does have a rather happy ending.

But when I do allow myself to see what's happening out there, I tend to come away contemplative. I find myself with a new resolve to raise my children as confident, happy people who can make a positive impact on the world. I have more gratitude for how incredibly blessed I am. I realize that knowledge really can be empowering.

Like Amir, I find myself being more willing to stand up for myself and my family as I get older and put more experiences behind me. I've learned a lot about people and understanding them over the last several years. I know I still have a long, long way to go, but I'm looking forward to it!

I love that God set things up so we can learn line upon line, precept upon precept. It's amazing when something that I need to understand just settles into place as if I'd known it all along.

That was all a bit disjointed, I think. But if you've read the book and have any comments, I'd love to hear them!

The cutest little tree - a bright spot in the winter blahs

We are sick.and.tired of winter around here. Every single day when we drive by the park, Nathan and Aria discuss how much they want to play there.

Nathan inevitably reminds me that the groundhog didn't see his shadow, therefore, it should be summer now. (Thank you, Kindergarten, for teaching him that little nugget that he didn't quite grasp)

Aria then discusses the wonderfulness of swings. She looooves to swing. Perhaps I've even mentioned it before, I don't recall. But she is dying to swing again. She goes on and on about how she can't wait for me to give her an "under dog high run". That's no ordinary under dog. It's like and under dog with oomph. She wants to fly! She talks about how swinging high gives her a "tickle in her tummy" and that she loves to laugh while she swings so high. Then she heaves a big dramatic sigh and ends with "I wish it was summer today."

But last weekend we got a taste. I nice little spring-ish day that got up to the 60's! We didn't wear coats, we turned our faces to the sun, we were reminded how much we love spring/summer/fall around here. (winter...not so much).

These next pictures are all from our wonderful spring-ish February day.

I'm in love with this tree. It's little. And cute. Also love the cool mural. And the building opposite it. I can't decide if I like color or b/w better on this one. Feel free to weigh in!

This is the building opposite the cool tree.

And, more shopping with Grandma.

My little chocaholic

Gabe has some sesitivities/allergies. He doesn't do well with milk or eggs. So my Mom found some dairy free chocolate chips and gave him some.

I think he liked them.

The first taste...

Going for another one...

When he couldn't get it off the table with his fingers...

and, along these same lines...Gabe in a candy store. He's got a sweet tooth, this one!

There's nothing like it.

A good sale. And not just a good sale on regular, every day, normal priced clothing (although that's good too), but a good sale on designer clothes. Oh, man. If you've read the shopaholic books...you know how it feels.

Now, I'm pretty good about my shopping. I love new clothes, but I don't feel like I go overboard and I never ever pay full price. Ok, mostly never. shhh. But getting beautiful clothes at a slamming price is euphoric.

So, this last weekend, I was visiting my hometown and we were drawn to this store. It's a store I've been in maybe once before. And that time I walked in, looked at one price tag, and turned around and walked out. But this time, there were racks of clothing outside with giant 75% off tags everywhere. Just inside the door were all these beautiful shoes...also 75% off.

I saw these first and fell in love. There were only 2 pair left and I just knew they wouldn't be in my size. I mean, when does that ever happen? It's usually the teeny tiny sizes and the giant sizes that are the left overs. But they were my size!!! And at 75% off, just $19. I grabbed them and wandered around the store a bit and my wonderfully awesome Mom said she'd buy them for me for a Valentines Day present!

So, I didn't feel badly when I found these shoes for $23. Also in my size! I bought these ones. They're so comfy. Like a foot hug.

Even Aria found something she absolutely had.to.have. A really cute topaz ring. It was normally $55, so I figured it'd be just under $15 and I left it there. I didn't think it was such a great deal right then.

But then my sister got to town and she's even more of a shopaholic than I am so we went back the next day. And that's when I really scored. She found me some jeans. And not just any old jeans. The most comfy, soft, perfect fit, long-legged, make-my-butt-look-awesome jeans.

Citizen jeans.

Oh, they're beautiful. And you'll never believe the price. $40! Oh, man. I may never take them off.

I also found an awesome black shirt, that totally hides my post-3-babies belly, but I don't have pics of that (it's still packed and I'm too lazy to unpack it right now).

And I was good and passed on 2 gorgeous skirts (I'm in this Dave Ramsey money class...so I had to be a little good to avoid the guilt).

Right before I checked out, I noticed that Aria's ring was still there, so I grabbed it to check the price. Turns out it was more than 75% off and only $5! So, it went with the loot. I'll probably save it and give it to her for her birthday or something.

Happy Valentines Day!

I'm notoriously behind, so...I'm a day late. But I thought I'd share my 2006 holiday cards with all of you that I didn't have addresses for. (I know, that doesn't make any sense...why am I talking about holiday cards and valentines day???)

So, here.....I sent them out last week along with a letter full of excuses for being 2 months late. (click the picture to see it better!)

Dance party!

We love dance parties at our house. We crank up the music and dance and spin and hug and boogie...it's the best ever. Gabe even break dances. lol. So I tried to capture it in pictures.

Our current dance party CD of choice is Regina Spektor's latest.

What do you think?

It's back! It's back! It's back!

3 weeks. 3 looong, horrible weeks.

My camera was sent in for a cleaning and minor repairs and it took THREE WEEKS to get back.

It was like having a severed limb. Seriously. There were so many pictures I could have taken. So many things I didn't get to record. 3 weeks is a long time.

But IT'S BACK!!!!

So, I took some pictures.

Learned a cool new photoshop technique

I can't remember what it's called. I'm on dh's laptop and I don't have it bookmarked, I'll edit this tomorrow to give credit. But look how cool!

Ok, I checked. It's the Orton Technique.

Before



After

My Mama Model had her baby.

A girl. She was born right before Christmas. Here are some of her last three months of pregnancy photos. (Here are the rest)

Month 7-

Month 8-

Month 9 -

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!