Relief from the heat

This afternoon we got our first rain! It's been so hot that this was a most welcome change. This is the first time Kelton has ever seen rain. (well, old enough to react to it, I should say) I don't think I need to tell you how he felt about it--the pictures speak for themselves. You can see that his arms are going like ninety miles a minute in this first one.

Water Babies

We've always known that Natalie loves water, but we found out that Kelton does too! After over a week of 100+ degree temperatures, we put up the pool in our back yard. Natalie remembers the pool from last year and was very excited. Kelton has never been in a pool of any kind. This was the first time he's ever been in a swimsuit--and he looks so cute! He didn't stop smiling the whole time he was in the pool. It was very easy to get some cute pictures of him. After the kids got out, we had dinner. As soon as dinner was done, Natalie was begging to get back in the pool. Poor kid is going to have to wait until Monday to get back in--I hope she can survive until then! There's a video of the kids at the bottom of the pictures. It's just randomness of them in the pool. They had already been in for a while by that point, so I didn't get the really good stuff recorded.

Dinner conversation

Nate got me some flowers for mothers day and they are in a vase on the table. Natalie really likes them and was looking at them at dinner. This is our conversation:

Natalie: "Those are your flowers."

Me: "Yep."

Natalie: "Mom, will you get me a present for Mother's day?"

Me: "No, you aren't a momma."

Natalie: "Not yet."

Me: "Mother's day is for mommas."

Natalie: "Yep. And when it's Little Girl's day, it will be for Natalies!"

I then told her I would get her a present when it was Little Girl's day.

There's a first time for everything

So I have been a mother for four years now (minus a few days) and I have actually never had a child with an ear infection. Until today. This afternoon Natalie was complaining that her ear hurt. Then about an hour later she was moaning. So we went to the doctor, and sure enough, she has an ear infection. Poor thing. But it doesn't seem to be a real bad one, and the medicine has made it feel better. And here are a few cute pictures of Natalie that I took the other day. I noticed that I don't have any real good pictures of my kids on here, including the family one at the top. (Natalie would not cooperate that day.) But these ones are cute. And for any of you who don't know Natalie, her personality is as cute as her facial expressions.

She's about to flee in this next one, if you can't tell.

Randomness from my phone

So here is some random stuff off of my cell phone. I took this picture the other day when we were on a walk. I know I'm not the first person to take a picture like this, but that doesn't make it any less cute. And this is the first time I've ever tried to put a video on the blog. So I have no idea if it will work or not. It's not very steady because I shot it myself using my phone. Kelton didn't want to say anything but "hi" no matter what I told him to say--probably because he could see the phone and that's what you say into a phone. I think I did get him to say 'dog.' Anyway, we will see if it works!

If the potatoes poison us...

One of these days I really will have some new pictures to post--but we just haven't taken any lately. But Natalie keeps saying funny things, so I have to post them. The latest was our dinner prayer tonight. I made stir fry for dinner. Ours is pretty plain--consisting of chicken, noodles, and potatoes. When Natalie was Kelton's age, she loved this meal. A few months ago she started refusing to eat it at all. Recently, she has started eating the noodles and sometimes the chicken. She all out refuses the potatoes. In fact, she won't eat any potatoes at all. (unless they are french fries) So here is Natalie's blessing on the food:

"Dear Heavenly Father, we're thankful for this day. Do not bless the potatoes. Bless the noodles. In the name of Jesus Christ amen."

FHE--Strike 2

Okay, since last week's family home evening went so well....Natalie is at it again. Tonight it was her turn to say the opening prayer. Here's the gist of how this one went. What Natalie said is in red and what I said to help her is in black.

Natalie: "Dear Heavenly Father, we're thankful for our blessings. (Then unintelligible stuff that included the word 'barbie' somewhere in there) (We're thankful for our family) Help us to get presents. (help us to be reverent) Help us to get presents. (Help us to be reverent) Help us to be reverent. (help us to listen) Help me to get presents. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Apparently, Natalie has one thing on her mind right now. Ask and ye shall receive, right?

Easter FHE

We had a home evening about Easter tonight where I hid an egg with a picture of Jesus in it for Natalie to find and then we talked about what Easter is really all about. Here is our ending conversation.

Me: "So Natalie, is Easter all about candy or is Easter about Jesus?"


Natalie: "Candy."


Me: "No, Easter is all about Jesus. The candy is a lot of fun, but we have Easter because of Jesus. Natalie, is Easter about candy or about Jesus?"


Natalie: "Candy."


Nate: "She's not paying attention to you. She's just kinda doing whatever."


Me: (taking Natalie's face in my hands and looking right at her) "Natalie, Easter is not about candy. Easter is about Jesus. We like to get candy at Easter, but Easter is all about Jesus. Natalie, is Easter about candy or is Easter about Jesus?"


Natalie: (very definite) "Candy."

Oh well, we will try again next year...

ANOTHER new table

Like I said before, we've spent a lot of time lately at American Home's going out of business sale. One of the first times we went in there, we saw a table we really liked. We've been wanting a new table for a while now, but there was nothing wrong with the table we had, and we figured we would just wait until Nate finished school. Anyway, this table was still there every time we went back. As the days went on we started thinking more seriously about it. We finally offered a price for it--$500--which they refused and told us the lowest they could go was $675. Its regular price is just under $2,000. So we decided against it. But the table was still there day after day and we finally decided after looking around to compare prices that there was no way we would find a deal like this again for a table of this quality and size (5 ft plus a leaf and 6 chairs). So after days of debating, we bought the table. I listed our old table on craigslist and had it sold and gone within a few hours. (I had so many people call and email about that table, it was crazy!) It was a glass table that we bought when we got married and I am so glad to have it gone. It was impossible to keep clean. (Sorry about all the pictures--they are mostly for my mom's benefit. I've been talking to her a lot about the table. Also, the wood is not as dark as it looks in the pictures and there is one more chair still in the garage and the leaf too.)

Sometimes you just gotta cry

Kelton's been having a rough time lately. I don't know what's up but he seems to be crying a lot lately. We always take pictures of our kids when they are happy and smiling, but when he was crying the other day, he just looked so cute so I had to take a picture. He does this cry sometimes and the face he makes is just so cute. His eyes get wide and he pulls his eyebrows together and sticks his bottom lip out. It lasts for a few seconds before he starts all out crying. I didn't get the camera quick enough to get a picture of that face, but this will do.

New table

We've been at American Home's going out of business sale a lot in the past few days. They had these really sturdy little tables for sale for really cheap. I think they were used as display tables for lamps and such. Anyway, we decided to get one for Natalie's room. She is always monopolizing our kitchen table with coloring stuff and puzzles and more puzzles. This nice little table was only $36. So today I rearranged Natalie's whole room and put the new table in it. She was so excited. She sat down and just rubbed her hands across it. Then she immediately set to work on some puzzles.

Just playing

Nate pulled out the camera and took some pictures of me playing with the kids the other day. I thought they were cute so I figured I would post them.

Okay, so I don't think this one is too cute, but Nate really liked it...

I was touching Kelton's face with Natalie's barbie and he thought it was hillarious. He was so grumpy he was just crying all the time. I'd touch him with the barbie and he would laugh and then he would go back to crying like two seconds later. Crazy kid.

Nate said Kelton wasn't too happy about the flash on the camera from the picture right before this one, and this is the face he got.

Goodbye to over 13 inches!!!

So, I've been wanting to cut my hair for a long time now. And now I finally did it! I wasn't going to last through another hot summer of blow drying my hair every few days. I was so ready to have it gone--it was always being pulled by every member of my family (including myself) and a few days before I got it cut, I actually burned it on the stove while I was cooking dinner. We are in Snowflake this weekend so I had someone here cut it for me. I'm still trying to get used to it. I haven't had bangs since my Junior year in high school--so that's a bit different. The after picture isn't real great; you can't really see the layers. The picture makes it kinda look like its all one length, but it's not. Anyway, I had over 13 inches cut off. I'm not sure that I really love it, but I am glad to not have it long anymore.

Before

After

My Beautiful Princess(es)?

So the kids were having fun playing outside today. (For those of you who don't know, Tucson was the hottest spot in the whole nation yesterday-91 degrees! Insanity!) It was pretty hot today too so I realized that my kids probably needed some kind of protection from the sun. (What month is it again? I forget.) Kelton has a really cute U of A baseball cap so I tried to put that on him. He wouldn't have it. It would barely be on his head before he was ripping it off. So I remembered that we had an old flowery hat of Natalie's from when she was a year old--and it has ties. I knew he wouldn't be able to take it off. So without dad here to protect his son's dignity, I won the hat battle. After I got it on him, he just looked so cute that I had to take a picture, especially because he was just smiling away in his girly hat.

Bowling

A few weeks ago Natalie went bowling at her cousin Bryce's birthday party. She had so much fun. Although, after I showed her how to throw the ball down the lane, she immediately proceeded to run down the lane to chase the ball. She actually got about five steps before she slipped and sprawled out on the floor. She was so confused and then she was scared when she realized that it was too slippery to get back up. I felt so bad. I didn't even think about telling her not to cross the line to chase the ball. It just didn't occur to me that she would! (Yes, I admit, I should have known better.) Kelton had a lot of fun too. He loved the ball rack and watching the balls come back. He was entertained with the ball rack for almost the full hour we were there. It wasn't until the very end that he started making a run for the lanes.

These last two pictures I had to put on because I think Natalie just looks so pretty in them. I really love this first one. She just has such a beautiful little face even when she's not smiling. And she is just looking so grown up. I asked her the other day if she could stay little and be 3 forever. She told me, "No, I'm getting bigger. I have to be 4." So sad. But I guess that's the way it goes.