More Birthday Pics

A couple of Nat's presents - she's always wanted one of these goofy microphones.

And a 'skip-it' - which is trickier than it looks! It took her a few tries.



It was a nice evening so the girls did a little jumping . . .









The cat wanted to come out and play too, she is always escaping into our backyard.

Natalie's "cake" (o:

A birthday visit from grandma.



Modeling her new outfit.

For her present from grandma and grandpa T, Nat got to go for an evening of shopping, which is becoming a favorite "tradition" for the girls now. I think this little girl had a pretty darn good birthday, and we havne't even covered the friend party yet . . . (o:

Drugs at Chuck E. Cheese's?

This is quite possibly the kookiest set of pictures of my kids that I've ever seen. They all make me laugh. We were all especially laughing at the hilarious Chuck E. Cheese "drawings (the black and white pictures). I LOVE Natalie's face above. And the picture of Angela holding her goofy picture . . . priceless.

This was our birthday celebration for Natalie. We called grandma and grandpa at the last minute and they joined us too. Good old Chuck E. Cheeses has some kind of magic that keeps the kids coming back for more. Maybe it's some kind of drug they pump in the air. That would explain my kids' extra goofy behavior as well. See for yourself . . .













See, I told you.

Happy Birthday Nat!

8 years ago this adorable blue eyed, brown haired, freckle faced girl joined our family! We love you Nat! (I love Sarah passed out in the background.)

Twilight loves birthdays too - she always loves the boxes and bags to hide in!

Natalie passed out donuts with sprinkles to her class and, of course, I brought her a balloon. (o:


The girls' school has a good set up for lunch visitors. They have a separate table the kids can go to with visitors and they can choose 2-3 friends to come along too. We had a fun lunch all together since Sarah has her lunch at close to the same time as Natalie.

Isn't this such a Natalie shirt? It looked so cute on her for her birthday outfit.

Quirky Girl

Ah, there is never a dull moment with this kid around! (o: The things she comes up with just keep us laughing. She is always inventing her own fun. The other day, she decided to do a little experiment with an empty 2 liter bottle. I watched her wash it out and take the label off and wondered what she was thinking of doing. A little while later she came downstairs from her room with the bottle full of water and several items inside floating around inside: a crayon, two silly bands, a few charms, a paintbrush, a mechanical pencil, some coins, a Squinky, and some other random little toys that could fit through the narrow opening. It looked like quite the project. Later that night she had added two markers which made the water turn a dark reddish purple color. I had to draw the line there as I pictured the bottle leaking dark inky water all over her lovely carpet. I teeter between being annoyed at times and just laughing at the things she comes up with.

I love my Nat. Life would indeed be boring without her! If you have seen the movie Ramona and Beezus, that pretty much describes my Natalie. She Ramona incarnate. I think that might be why I love that movie so much.

School Projects

For the big second grade project in Natalie's class, her teacher wanted them to do a Great Brain report. The kids had to pick any topic they wanted and read a minimum of 5 hours on their subject. Natalie picked cats for her topic. We got lots of library books, DVDs, magazines and studied them for weeks. She made a binder to keep track of all the things she learned. She filled it with pictures, facts about cats, drawings of our cat, journal entries, etc. It was quite a project. Then she had to do a presentation on all she learned for her class. She really did a fabulous job and she scored a "Genius" grade. (O: I have enjoyed all the creative assignments her teacher assigned this year. They really challenged Natalie, but had such a fun and creative twist that Nat enjoyed using her artistic side to do her homework.

Natalie glued on some items that cats like to play with. Sure enough - Twilight is demonstrating that feathers and chenille pipe cleaners are irresistable! (o: Nat wanted to badly to take Twilight to her class, but it would have been a dangerous thing for the cat and the kiddos. So she had to settle for pictures.

And wouldn't you know that at the same time, Angela had to make a spotlight poster for her class. When it rains it pours! She did a cute job and wrote a little comment next to every picture.

April Birthdays!

I still don't take for granted what a fun thing it is to get to hang out with family so often. It it still such a novelty to me. We get to have Sunday dinner about once a month with my family and on this particular night we were celebrating our April birthdays! This is the kiddos table that my dad sets up. Notice the tarp under the table. It is really a necessity for those inevitable chocolate milk spills when a basketball somehow finds itself bouncing across the table. (I think this actual event happened this night.) It's never a dull moment with these kids!

My sister-in-law Kimmie makes such cute cakes and it is tradition that everyone gets their own cake from her for her gift to them. She does such a great job. Mom got flowers.

A ball cake for Collin's 9th birthday.

And Natalie asked for butterflies on hers. She loved it!

Random Weekend Pics

I don't remember which reason we were here on this particular day. This is just outside the hospital that we are very lucky to live so close to. Our pediatrician is located here and I often pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy. It seems between the girls, there is always something we are heading in for, I am grateful to have such a nice hospital so convenient to us. The girls always have to climb through the bike rack when we are walking in or out.

Sarah got a fun surprise early one Saturday morning. One of her best friends, Kassee, had a breakfast birthday party at IHOP. She came and kidnapped Sarah at 7:30 - a time you will never see Sarah awake on a Saturday morning! She was so surprised to see Kassee standing in her room when we went to wake her up. She had a blast at the party once she woke up! This picture makes me laugh because she probably blinked, but it kind of looks like she just doesn't want to open her eyes.

Nat and Ang wanted to do their own IHOP breakfast since they were stuck at home!

A lunch time creation by Natalie. She is always making herself these funny faces. She hides in the pantry - her workstation - sometimes with a flashlight so she can close the door, and she works on her creations. I love it! (Except for when she leaves things a mess in the pantry.)

The Everyday

I don't remember how long ago we started "store" - it's been over a year. The girls get Disney bucks for good behavior and then they get to use their bucks at the mom "store". They still haven't gotten tired of buying little trinkets and always spend tons of time deciding on what they want.

Natalie still has a reputation for very colorful fashion sense. There are still some days when she comes downstairs that I have to blink a few times to get past all the colors and patterns going on!

This is a favorite hiding spot for Angela and Natalie - our winter gear box in the closet. The cat also enjoys hopping in here for naps when the closet is left open.

Angela is learning how to do her laundry now. She is getting so big!

Here Comes the Bride!

Natalie has an adorable teacher at school this year. We have loved Miss Duncan. The kids were so excited after Christmas break to see what she got for Christmas - an engagement ring! She is so cute and sent each one of her students their own wedding invitation in the mail which meant the world to all of the kids. Natalie loved looking at the picture of her teacher with her fiance. I think all the little girls in that class had a crush on her fiance! They could not wait for the reception.

Since the reception was out in Midvale, we decided to carpool with Nat's best friend Janie and her mom. Janie is adorable and I have loved getting to know her mom, she's so fun. We had a great time watching the girls anticipation of seeing their teacher and congratulating her. They were so hilarious and got more and more nervous as the line got closer and closer to her. It was like Miss Duncan was a celebrity all of a sudden. Natalie even asked if there would be news cameras there. (o:

The new Mrs. Tingey was very gracious and so cute with the girls. She and her cute husband were so grateful we came out and waited in the long line. I love how Janie has one of the orchids on top of her head in the picture above. (O: She is such a silly - which is why she and Nat get along so well.

We had a great night and I was glad to have a chance to get to visit with Lisa (Janie's mom).

The girls found plenty of other friends at the reception too! It was quite the party!

Budding Chef

Natalie is always wanting to make her own meals or meals for others. She combines her love for food with her love for art and makes quite the creations. She also enjoys trying interesting flavor combinations like strawberries and pepperoni. If you are prone to heartburn, you might want to try some antacid before munching on a Natalie creation. (o:

Art Chef in the making.

My Valentine's

These were my Valentines to my Valentines this year. (O:

The one above says on the inside, "If so, You're My Hero!" I laughed out loud when I found this at the post office and had to get it for Bob* my super hero!