Princesses DO wear glasses!

Did anyone ever tell you that Princesses do wear glasses?

My little K has been squinting at church and sometimes in front of the TV, so I took her today to get her first eye exam. I wasn't planning on them dilating her eyes, but they did. I was so proud of her. I have never had my eyes dilated, but I have heard that it really hurts! She was such a trouper. Afterwards, the doctor said that she wouldn't be able to see very well for up to 24 hours and that she definitely shouldn't return to school. This gave me an unexpected day with her. It was great! She had been very worried about the possibility of having glasses, but the doctor said that she is only slightly near-sighted and only needs to wear glasses part time to see the board or such. She was now so excited that she just wanted to go try glasses on. We spent the rest of the day trying on glasses and she had so much FUN! I really loved spending the day with her.

And now, doesn't my little princess look sweet? I think she looks so cute!

The Joy of Friends!

I just have to say that I am one of the luckiest girls in the world. I have amazing friends and I just want to thank-you. One of my RLFs (aka Three Blond Boys) watched Little Dan for me today and I am so grateful. She is an amazing woman with so many talents....including always being willing to help me out. This same friend was the one who picked up the older kids from school the day Little Dan was born, even though the school is quite far from her house. And, she made me some of the yummiest pasta ever when things were stressful as my DH and I began our own business! Once she also agreed to watch C at 8:00 in the morning since my other babysitter canceled on the same day as K's field trip!

I could go on and on about her (Hope I didn't embarrass you too much!) and then spend years adding paragraphs for each of the many wonderful friends I have!

Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you!

How blessed I am.

Relief!

So, I have this car seat for Little Dan. DH and I made sure before buying it that there were no recalls or safety issues. Well, about two weeks ago, a friend mentioned to me that the car seat we had had been tested by Consumer Reports and that it was the least safe--the very worst one-- and that I needed to get another right away.

Concerned, I immediately did some research. Sure enough, on ConsumerReports.org, there was a front page story about the unsafe car seats. I still didn't feel like it was an urgent issue, however. We researched what the NHTSA said and they were not concerned. We prayed about it and we were not too worried. To be honest, the only thing that concerned me is that I wasn't a good Mom since I wasn't worried and stressed and buying a new car seat that night like my friend! Another friend's mom is a Car Seat Technician for the State Patrol and her mom said they were safe, as well.

Well, tonight I am so excited! Consumer Reports recalled their previous statements! Their tests were flawed and inaccurate! I was so worried that I was putting my precious son at risk! WHAT A RELIEF!!!

Snow Day!

I stumbled out of bed this morning, went to wake up the kids, headed to the kitchen to make breakfast, turned on the news to check the weather and heard "There are many schools around the area closed today." I thought "Why are they closed?" and quickly ran to the window. What I saw reminded me of growing up in Colorado (although they never would have shut down the schools for two inches of snow!). It was a complete and pristine blanket of white with more snow falling. Beautiful!

It took a few minutes for the websites to establish that, indeed, our school district was closed, but once it was official...I have never seen my kids wake up so fast. Amazing how that works...they didn't want to get up when they thought they had to for school, but for a snow day..POP! They were wide awake.

We are now a few German pancakes and frozen fingers later and completely enjoying our SNOW DAY!!!

A Picture of my Blessings!

Tonight as I was trying to ignore the crying baby while helping the kindergartener finish one more thing before tucking him in...I realized once again that I have the life I have always wanted! (Some of you will not think that is incongruous together!) Here is a picture of me with my blessings.

My neighbor makes SNOW!

I just have to comment on my crazy neighbor. Since we live in a place where it rarely snows, I have a neighbor that "makes" snow. When the conditions are right (humidity and temperature), he goes out and sprays water vapor into the air with a hose and an air compressor (at least that is what I think he's using) to "make" snow! Tonight, I heard this horribly loud noise all of a sudden..so I ran to the window and...yep, my crazy neighbor is out there in 28 degree weather "making" snow. If it is anything like the times before...he will spend all night out there! CRAZY!

The Dangers of Mary Kay

This is a little bit of a silly post. I have a good friend who has sold Mary Kay for a couple of years and has now decided to quit selling it. She was selling her inventory for cheap, so I went and bought a few things. I have always thought that there was not a huge difference between make-ups, but I was wrong. For years and years and years, I have been wrong! I have been wearing my new selection of Mary Kay make-up for the past 5-6 days and I have never felt prettier! I guess I will have to create a new budget category for make-up since I don't think that I can go back! Of course, I did not figure this out until AFTER my dear friend decided to stop selling it! How silly! I guess I will just have to add this to my list of things I thought I would never like (examples: capri pants, scrapbooking, tweazing my eyebrows) that I now love!

Frustration!

Does it ever seem like no matter how hard you try, life is still frustrating? First of all, I am trying hard to lower my expectations of myself...I'm nearly 30 and I have finally figured out that I cannot be a perfect mom, perfect wife, perfect housekeeper, perfect business woman, perfect spiritually, etc. all at once. Even with this new found knowledge and really and truly trying to enjoy each moment and not get overwhelmed or frustrated...each day (usually sometime between 3 and 5 pm) I just feel so unsuccessful. This week it has been a very needy 3-month-old and a stressed out DH. Throw in a whiny 7-year-old and a sensitive 5-year-old and it is just a sure formula for frustration! (On top of this...add a now losing NBA team whom watching used to be the highlight of the entire family's week!)

Oh well...tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity to enjoy the moment. And, I do have to admit that until that 3-5 breakdown time...I really have learned to be more relaxed and happier!

So this is blogging!

I have never blogged before, but my friends all say that is fun. Over the last few days, I have been reading their posts and I thought I'd try it too. DH says that it will just add another thing to do in my day (like I don't have enought to do already) and perhaps he's right. We will have to reevaluate later.

I chose this name for my blog since about two years ago I had an epiphany. My then 5-year-old daughter was complaining about cleaning up her room. I told her that she should be grateful she has so many toys to clean up. Kids in other countries that have only one toy sure have a shorter clean-up time. This made me realize that all the stresses in my life come from blessings. If I didn't have so much good food to eat, I wouldn't have so many dishes to wash. If I didn't have my beautiful home that keeps me warm and safe and dry, then I wouldn't have one that needed vacuuming, dusting, and baseboards cleaned. If I didn't have a wonderful family and DH, then I wouldn't have anyone to drive me crazy. etc....... From that point on, when times are tough and stressful I sing my mantra (and my kids join in) "I have a good life. I have a good life."

Today is a hard day since it is the third day in a row that Little Dan (my 3 month old) has been a little sick and thinks that I have to hold him all day long! How can anything else get done?