Boys Will Be Boys

When I got in the shower last week the boys were playing happily in the sand box (clothed I might add). This is what greeted me when I got out. They filled each others underwear with sand and eventually took the undies off as well. Hilarious.

My Natali is 7!

It is so hard to believe that my little girl is 7. So here are 7 random things about my wonderful 7 year old (accompanied by some random B-day photos).

• Books: Natali reads every night in bed. She usually reads a book a night, meticulously keeping track of how long she read so she can report the time and the plot to me, her teacher, Greg, or anyone else who will listen. She loves to read, but I think her favorite part is having an excuse to stay up late.



• Nat: When she was born I thought maybe we would call her "Nat" or "Natty", but we never did. She has always been Natali--till first grade. When I go to help out at school most of the kids and the teacher call her Nat. So suddenly she has a nickname. Kind of weird, but I don't mind.
  
• Soccer: She is playing her second year of soccer. It is an all girls team with only 5 girls (most teams have 8) so it has really forced her to step up, and she has. Each game she looks better and better. However, I still think her favorite part is just being with the other girls on the team.



• Singing: Natali continues to love to sing. She has joined the ward choir and she still enjoys Childrens Choir as well. She came home from choir the other night, put her face right in mine and said, "See!" I noticed her already big eyes were especially huge, but was missing the point until she explained that she had her eye brows up, "Like you should when you are singing".



• Big Sister: Natali loves being the oldest. She runs and gets this and that, keeps her eyes on the little ones, and keeps everyone in line. They all can't wait till she gets home from school. She shares her treats from soccer or birthday parties, and goes out of her way to try and make everyone happy.

• Social Butterfly: Natali continues to amaze us with her love to talk...to anyone...especially new people. She has no fear; she strikes up conversations with anyone, anywhere. For instance--on her birthday she was telling our neighbor all about the purple dress her grandma gave her and how she was going to be baby-sat that night. She told him Greg and I were going to a church thing and then asked him if he ever went to church. No fear!



• Big Kid Talk: Suddenly, we have moments where we can talk to Natali about big kid stuff. Example--the other night she started asking me questions about the Great Depression (she had just finished a fictional story about a girl in the 30's). We talked about what it was like then and how some similar things are going on today, on a smaller scale. She talked about how lucky she was to have enough to eat, and how glad she was that her dad had a job. I loved it! It was so rewarding to see her connecting the dots and seeing the bigger picture, if only for a moment.

I am so excited to watch her continue to grow and learn. It is such fun. We love you Natali!

Happy Birthday Katers!

Our little Kate had a fabulous birthday. She started the day by climbing on the table (she had never done that before) and dumping breakfast cereal all over the table till it cascaded onto the floor. It was a lovely mess by the time Andrew came to tattle.

After her bath she went looking around her room for something to wear. She just kept looking around and saying "rella" until she found the pink, way too big, Princess Barbie nightgown that she had slept in that night. I really dislike this nightgown. However, she happily wore it for 45 hours straight. She only changed when her new princess dress from Grandma Nani arrived in the mail the next day - Thank you Grandma.
For dinner Katers gorged herself on kidney beans and sour cream. Yea, you read that right. She loves sour cream. By its self. By the spoonful. Strange - especially when her father, because of his dislike for it, almost throws up while watching her eat it.

The kids had worked hard earning money to buy Kate gifts and they were so excited for her to see what they had picked out. The present idea was no mystery this year and she ripped through them in no time. Then she pranced around the house the rest of the night with her new baby doll in its new baby car seat, wearing her new diaper bag - complete with bottles. She wouldn't even let go of the car seat while she blew out the candles and ate cake. One hand was always on the baby stuff.

This is her "baby" cake. Greg said it was kind of frightening, and he is probably right, but considering I was still hacking up my lungs and blowing my nose all day long I think it did the job. She knew it was a baby!

Our little baby lover isn't a baby anymore. She is such a fun little girl; everyone's favorite. Today she had her well child check up and the doctor started asking the routine questions. "Does she string words together? Can she jump? Is she a good eater?" With each question she got 4 answers. The kids felt like they could report just as well as I. We all love her so much. Happy Birthday Kate!

I love her crazy curly blond hair- I hope it lasts! This was a very special bed head day- had to share it.

Oregon Coast

Sadly, I have no pictures from our spring break trip to the Oregon coast. Greg headed out of town before us and left simple instructions not to forget the battery when I grabbed the camera. But I forgot. So instead of photos we had the kids draw pictures of the trip.

One of Mack's favorite parts was seeing Mount Hood when we drove into Portland. He is very into volcanoes right now.

Our first day we got to play on the beach a bit and feed some seals at an aquarium. Then we went on a hike, but the girls didn't last long in the wind and rain so I sat in the car with them. And we waited for the boys...for nearly 2 hours. I talked with Greg on the phone a few times the first hour, but started getting a little worried when he stopped answering. One of my favorite moments of the trip was when they finally got back. The boys were covered in mud and smiles. I was prepared for cold whinny boys, but they were so happy telling me all about how they slid down parts of the mountain on their bum. Its great to get nice and dirty sometimes.

Well Saturday morning was the day we had all been waiting for because we were going on a boat ride to look for whales. Well our 2 hour morning drive to get to the boat ended with no boat ride because the weather was so bad no boats were going out. So no whales for us- very disappointing. Instead, we drove down more of the coast in search of a famous sea lion cave. We got to ride on an elevator about 200 ft. down into the "largest sea cave on earth" where tons of sea lions hang out. It was fun to hear their calls echoing off the rocks, and watch them swim in and out of the cave. Here is Natali's rendering.

Well we did a lot of driving in the rain while the kids watched movies in the back. Greg and I were discouraged about how the trip went considering the money spent, the time taken off from work, and all the planning. However, I learned a good lesson - A trip is only as fun as you make it. No matter how much we spent or planned the kids were thrilled with whatever we did - hiking in the mud, seeing waterfalls, or exploring hotels. Greg and I were grumpy about the whales but the kids got over it pretty quick. So my lesson, enjoy the moments and make it memorable because you can't orchestrate life, no matter how much you try.

Dishes and more Dishes

I asked my kids these questions while on our vacation during spring break. I assumed I would hear a lot about me reading and eating sweets – not a word. In fact, they all listed Greg’s favorite foods as mine—interesting. So here it is N – Natali (6) M – Mack (5) A – Andrew (3)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
N- Thank You
M- Yea
A- Clean the dishes

2. What makes mom happy?
N- When everything is cleaned up so we can play
M- Us
A- Clean up

3. What makes mom sad?
N- When we don’t do our chores and we don’t obey
M- When we don’t obey. I’m good at this. (I think this was a side note like- wow I know all the right answers to these questions)
A- When we don’t do our jobs

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
N- Tickles me
M- Sometimes tickling me
A- Whenever I see a TV somewhere I just fall down (Said while staring at the TV in the hotel)

5. What was your mom like as a child?
N- She owned a farm (What? – I think she has be confused with my mother)
M- Her mom? (He looked like he was looking for a hint or something)
A- A baby like when I was a baby

6. How old is your mom?
N- 28
M- 28
A- I don’t know. Give me a hint. ME - “I’m younger than your dad.” A- 85

7. How tall is your mom?
N- I don’t know
M- 10 feet
A- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, I don’t know. I can’t tell up.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
N- Play with us
M- Play
A- Clean the dishes

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
N- Take a Nap
M- Sleep
A- Sometimes I go outside (is this a confession?)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
N- Singing
M-Tackling
A- I don’t know

11. What is your mom really good at?
N- Sewing
M- Washing dishes
A- Doing the dishes

12. What is your mom not very good at?
N- Singing really high
M- At being fast because I am faster than you
A- Doing gymnastics

13. What does your mom do for her job?
N- Takes care of us
M- Do the dishes
A- Clean the dishes (There is a trend here)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
N- Rice
M- Sandwiches
A- Rice

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
N- When she does the laundry
M- Because she’s nice
A- When you help us do our dishes

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
N- Daisy Duck
M- Backyardigans
A- Uniqua

17. What do you and your mom do together?
N- Swimming and going to Roaring Springs
M- Play games
A- Play

18. How are you and your mom the same?
N- We both love to swim
M- Our noses
A- We have the same pants I know

19. How are you and your mom different?
N- She has brown eyes and I have bluish, grayish, brownish
M- You’re a girl and I’m a boy
A- Because we have some different pants

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
N- She makes dinner for us and does our laundry
M- Because I love her
A- Because I snuggle

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
N- India
M- Yellowstone
A- To the arctic with daddy

Forced Creativity

Winter weather, although not that cold in Idaho, does tend to keep us indoors. I don't think of myself creative but as I've looked through my pictures from this winter I realized that I have managed to keep my kids busy. So this post is in honor of the creativity forced from spending too many hours trapped indoors.

This was our pudding eating contest. We had a race to see who could eat their pudding fastest without using a spoon. Greg won for staying the cleanest. Natali won for getting the messiest. I won for having the cleanest bowl (I can't remember who was fastest). However, I actually can't take credit for the creativity here because this game was created and perfected by my sister, Val. She always won the award for the face with the best Lincoln beard (no kidding).

Welcome to make a face pancake night. Mack made his cute face then took almost everything off before he ate it. (He didn't even eat the bacon and eggs. I guess they were merely decorative). Natali, on the other hand, gleefully relished every drop of the whipped cream hair she piled on her pancake. The creativity on this next photo came entirely from Mack. He saw this idea in a reading book of Natali's and started saving milk cartons and cutting bags to make one for everyone. So after a few weeks he had made four space suits (Kate never really liked hers). Give that kid scissors, tape, glue, and paper and he will occupy himself for hours. He has already made Greg a birthday and fathers day present - including wrapping. Grandpa Dame's present is made and wrapped as well. He will come to me with sealed envelopes and say "That needs to be send to..." Some of you have received such treasures and I'm sure he has plans for more. I have no clue what he sends but he loves doing it.So on these cold winter mornings and nights the kids have started laying in front of the fireplace and requesting that I tell them stories. My creative story telling skills have surely improved. They love stories about when I was a little girl, Lobo stories, and Bunny Foo Foo stories. But my favorite part is when they tell stories. I love to hear their where their little imaginations go.This last picture is of Kate and my niece, Abby. They were fighting over who sat in which car seat until Natali distracted them by beautifying them. She gave them paintbrushes, her fake make-up, earrings, and necklaces. She eventually put them in princess dresses and even fixed Abby's hair. Check out Kate's earring and Abby putting on her own make-up. I love my Natali- she is such a great helper.I started this post talking about my creativity, but after writing all this I realize that most of the ideas really started with someone else...so I am not that creative after all (no shocker there) but I am happy to embrace the creativity of others - especially my own kids.

Dinos in Heaven

This is a conversation between Mack and Andrew in the car on the way home from the library. They are both treasuring the educational dinosaur books they just checked out. And you should know that the cutest word Andrew says is "definaly". He says it all the time and I love it. Here is the conversation...

Mack: So dinosaurs lived and died. Then we lived and when we die dinosaurs will live again and then us again and then dinosaurs again and then us again.... (here I interrupt to explain that that is not exactly what will happen - the conversation continues)

Mack: So will there be dinosaurs in heaven? Because that might scare people and well that doesn't seam like heaven.

Andrew: There will "definaly" not be dinosaurs in heaven because they would fall out of the clouds and that would be a problem. (he repeated this point numerous times while I cracked up.)