Mother's Day

She squeal's "Mommy!" whenever I come home; she shouts "HUG!" whenever she wants one; she thanks God for chocolate milk at bedtime prayers. He smiles whenever he sees my face; he coo's and waves his arms to catch my attention; he loves to snuggle. They have made me a Mom and I am blessed.

 Perhaps the memory I will never forget about Mother's Day 2011, is seeing Ellie watching a video before church naked. When I asked Mark if there was a reason for the nudity, he looked quite stunned - guess she stripped all on her own. Who knew watching a Dora show would be much more comfortable in the nude!

Happy Star Wars Day!

Years ago (like over ten), my younger sister called me up on May 4th and said "may the fourth be with you" - it took me a minute but then I got the reference and nearly died laughing. Therefore, each year as the 4th of May rolls around, I remember that phone call and have a little chuckle to myself.

Perhaps the thing that is the most humorous is that I really like Star Wars and that style of movie or TV-show (I was a huge Battlestar Galactica junkie right along with my husband). Mark thinks it's awesome that I like a good Action or Sci-Fi film, but the downside for me is that I have absolutely ZERO leverage to get him to see chick-flick's with me. I will point out that he has done his husbandly duty and watched the full six hours of "Pride & Prejudice" as well as my favourite musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" without complaint.

I look back to the "I-want-to-get-to-know-you-more" dance that we did in April/May of 2005 with pride. I got this guy, who hardly ever spoke to me, to ask me to the movies (one in particular) - I basically told him I'd say yes if he asked me. While the lines of who asked whom out on the first date are often disputed with much love, I holdfast to my defense that I merely gave him the solid invitation that asking would result in success.

Our first date was May 20, 2005 and the movie we saw was "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" on opening weekend. It was a terrific night and six months later he asked me to marry him, so I ask you, does it really matter who asked whom out? I say no, it really doesn't (though it wasn't me).

We have held fast to our love of Star Wars, and in March, Mark bought me the Lego Star Wars game for the Wii (we gave away our Play Station version last summer). Ellie is now getting lessons on the game - with her favourite character being R2D2 and the fun sounds he makes. And Baby Will? Well he's not too young either, but I'll let the photo do the talking.

So forgive me when I say: May the Fourth be with you!!

All things Princess

Unless you’ve known me since childhood, you likely don’t know that I adore the British Royal Family and grew up with this secret desire and belief that I would one day become a real princess. (This was interrupted for a year or two when the New Kids on The Block came around and my heart was with them).

My elementary school BFF Jesse and I used to parade around the playground at recess with this terrific game we’d dreamed up that we were royal princesses. We dreamed up our kingdoms and adventures that were executed with perfect British accents and it was a game that lasted years. My Grandma and Grandpa had collector magazines and tons of articles that they gave me to start my first scrapbook (which I still have), and I saved my allowance money and faithfully bought the monthly Majesty magazine issue. 

Looking through the wedding photos of Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson’s weddings fueled my princess dreams and my determination that I was going to have a ball gown wedding dress with a veil the length of my train just like them.

Now I must pause and borrow a statement from my dear friend Jesse’s blog – we did have other friends in school and have grown up to become successful and well-adjusted adults.

As I have gotten older, I still have a deep love of all things “princess”. I think I surprised my in-law’s the first Christmas we spent with them as I would randomly burst forth into song from the movie “Ever After” that had just been released. However, they are used to my frilly side and just smile when I tell them of my Pretty Princess Tiara that I would wear during the final stages of any University course (it seriously helped me study), or if I tell them of the Tiara bowl I refrained from buying at the Disney store (I would have had to share with Ellie or bought two, but I’m sure Cheerio’s would have tasted sublime). 

Thankfully I have been blessed with a husband who, after 5 years, is starting to get used to this side of me. While he was surprised that I was going to blog about the Royal Wedding, he wasn’t as surprised as when he found me watching TV one night wearing sweats and my wedding veil (something every girl needs to do).

Watching William and Kate’s wedding was so exciting for me and while I wasn’t able to share it with my BFF Jesse or my sisters, I did get to share it with my own young Prince Will and I tried not to complain too much about how tired I was the next day. 

While I didn’t become a princess on my wedding day, two things did happen. First, I married a man who adores me and treats me like royalty every day. Second, my veil was longer than my train….