Happy Birthday, Natalie!

I rocked my baby to sleep tonight. She was overly tired and crawled into my lap while I watched "Private Practice." We snuggled and I wept. I cannot believe my "baby" is 5.

I still think of her as being 3 or 4. Five is just beyond my comprehension. Yet the past few weeks, I have noticed a difference in her. Her vocabulary, her understanding of things, the questions she asks.

She tricked the tooth fairy a few days ago. She sucked a peppermint down to a bumpy little piece and held it out to me saying that she had lost a tooth. She asked for an "enjelope," stuck her tooth in it and placed it under her pillow that night.

The next morning she brought the dollar to me and covered her mouth as she giggled and whispered, "It was really a pempermint," and then ran off to show her brother and sisters that she got a dollar.

I had to laugh, not only at her and how darn cute and funny she was, but at myself. Eleven years ago, I don't think I would have given a dollar to my DD for a tooth that wasn't even real. The "FIRST TOOTH" would have been too monumental a moment to mess around with and I would have told DD that the tooth fairy knew it wasn't a real tooth.

I don't take myself that seriously anymore. I can't. There are too many monumental moments out there waiting for us to mess with them.

Snuggle your 5 year old to sleep. Heck, snuggle your eleven year old to sleep. I'm about to right now.

Top Cop

Scott and I were invited to a dinner on Friday night. His LT. told us about it and said I had to come along, too. I had to rush out and buy a dress and heels(poor me!)

Turns out he won an award for going above and beyond the call of duty when he gave our car away. The program was called "Heroes with Heart"

We don't think of what he did as heroic and we were surprised completely by the whole thing. The award was in honor of a fallen officer and Scott feels very humbled and honored to be honored:>)

As he said in his speech, he didn't do it for any recognition. We are only here once, so give all you can.

His words echo exactly what God has been telling me: be generous

Dreamy

This week I have have had two very different dreams about my dad. One was very emotional and full of closure. The other was also very emotional but disturbing. Both broached the subject of his death. The first was soothing, healing, and exactly how I wish things had happened with our relationship. The second was heart breaking, disturbing. I could have helped him in the dream and didn't.
I struggle with that still. Why couldn't I have saved him from himself?

I just *knew* Latin would come in handy!

Macy and I are learning Latin together and I have to say it is pretty interesting. Words that sounded so, er, foreign to me now make sense: declensions, and all that :>)

Yesterday, tears in our eyes from laughing so hard, we came up with a phrase that in our house is sure to come in handy.

So, "Magnus Malus Ventus," welcome to our family vernacular!

P.S. If you need a hint, ventus means wind.

Think Honda should put this in their brochure?

One advantage to having an SUV over a minivan: Kyle announced today that he could now just throw his boogers out the window.

Dare I ask what he was doing with them before?

Law of the Universe #4,019

When a new container of bubbles is opened, said container MUST be knocked over within 60 seconds, thereby spilling at least 62% of its contents.

8 things I love about 8-passenger seating

In honor of our new car, I will celebrate 8 things I love about 8-passenger seating(in no particular order):

1. There is an empty seat between each child.

2. Between each child there is an empty seat.

3. No child will be sitting next to another.

4. No child will have another child sitting next to him/her.

5. No one will be sitting next to Macy.

6. No one will be sitting next to Kyle.

7. No one will be sitting next to Avery.

8. No one will be sitting next to Natalie.