Our Life and Times » Natalie

Morning People

Toad — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:49:27 +0000

Some people are born morning people:

Some people… aren’t:

Brought to you from the files of “trying to get the kids used to waking up earlier for preschool”.

My Funny Kids

Mollie — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:14:37 +0000

One morning Ben came running into the house, very excited and shouting “Mommy mommy! A snake in our yard! Come an’ look!” I was pretty confident that he had NOT seen a snake, but figured I’d better check out whatever he was so worked up about.

Apparently he had never observed a snail before and he was COMPLETELY FASCINATED. He wanted to know all about them. Especially the trail of slime.

Look at that snail, running for his life. Don’t worry, we politely returned him to a bush when we were done observing (we only kill spiders, and sometimes ants). I know my mom is laughing right now because I used to tell her, “Snails are my friends!” and make little homes for them.

PS- I was planning to add a bunch more funnies to this post, but WordPress is giving me trouble this week and won’t save drafts, so I lost a bunch of work. Hopefully more blogs coming soon!

Imagination

Mollie — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 05:13:35 +0000

I love to see what the kids come up with when left to their own devices. One morning they built a “rocketship” out of chairs and car seats, completely by themselves. Here they are doing their “1-2-3… BLAST OFF!” Natalie is great at coming up with fun make believe games and Ben is thrilled to play along. I love how well they play together. This was actually back in February and I didn’t have a chance to post it, but I thought you all might enjoy one of my favorite things in action. This is why I keep the camera in arm’s reach!

Natalie’s 4th Birthday Party

Mollie — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:33:22 +0000

This post is going to be heavy on the pictures, because they really do speak for themselves. We celebrated Natalie’s real birthday on March 1, but couldn’t schedule her party with friends until March 11. This is very confusing for a 4 year old! She very anxiously awaited the day of her party.

Andy took the kids to run errands in the morning so I could finish the cake…

6 layers of chocolate cake, with toasted marshmallow in between, and chocolate malt frosting on the outside. I always have a stash of recipes I want to make on special occasions, and this is the one Natalie chose.

Natalie has been blessed with so many sweet friends (who also have awesome mommies… bonus!).

I think it took Ben a full 24 hours to come down from his sugar/party high! He was pretty wound up!

After the party, with the Curtis kids… these 4 spend a LOT of time together and always play so nicely!

I think you can tell by Natalie’s face that her party was a success!

The Joy of LOVE {Day 3}

Mollie — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 05:07:16 +0000

{Day 3: Then and Now}

For Thursday’s “then and now” assignment, I wanted to document Natalie’s hair growth over the past two years. (Bonus: you can also see my photography skills improve!) Her hair has basically been awesome since birth, when she arrived with a full head of hair, complete with frosted blonde tips. It quickly turned red… then strawberry blonde and CURLY! It is now extremely long, having never been cut. She loves it, but lately she’s been begging for a haircut. Seeing as long curly hair is really high maintenance… I think she will be getting a trip to mommy’s salon for her 4th birthday! It will definitely be harder on me than on her!

The Nutcracker

Mollie — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:20:59 +0000

This week Natalie and I were at the ballet again, this time for The Nutcracker! You may remember that earlier this year, our trip to see Noah’s Ark was a big hit! Several of Natalie’s good friends and their mommies were also there to enjoy the show… thanks Olivia for organizing this!

There were more girls, but these were the ones who held still for a picture! Their expressions are so funny.

We had GREAT seats this time, and really enjoyed the ballet! Natalie has a surprisingly good attention span for this kind of thing.

Tea Party Time

Mollie — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:01:54 +0000

I really dislike it when the kids empty out my kitchen drawers when I’m not looking– it happens a lot around here. But I can’t argue with Natalie’s adorable tea parties. She sets this up all by herself!

Costume Time

Mollie — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:29:23 +0000

We didn’t do anything for Halloween, but Natalie did wear her favorite costume that day– and every other day in October. I let her pick her own costume, and believe me, it was a tough choice between Belle and Cinderella, but Belle was the winner (despite the fact that she’s never seen the movie). Here I have captured some classic Natalie poses:

Hilarious

Mollie — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 04:21:33 +0000

It’s a good thing we keep the camera handy so we can remember funny little moments like this. We were getting ready for church when Andy caught Ben “shaving” his face with my hair dryer.

Not so funny: in a 24 hour period, Ben broke my steam mop (so sad), brought me a dead bird that he found in the yard, and burned him self on the toaster. He keeps me on my toes.

Natalie wanted me to take her picture with the paper full of “N”‘s she wrote for Grandma. She said, “WAIT! Let me put my pen in my ear first!” I started to tell her that we do NOT put pens in our ears, then realized she was doing the same thing I always do with my pens.

September- A Picture Post

Mollie — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 05:20:38 +0000

Just another day of dress up with Natalie, the Snorkeling Cowgirl Princess in a backwards shirt!

Little Lights had a transportation themed field trip the Oxnard Airport, as well as the train station. My kids were a little scared of the airplane and Natalie refused to sit in it when she had the chance, but that’s okay. Maybe transportation isn’t her thing. I have a feeling next month’s farm field trip will be more her style.

The kids got new pajamas for fall. This is a REALLY. BIG. DEAL. in our house. These pictures are blurry because I didn’t use the flash but too cute to not post.

Natalie had her first trip to the dentist. I am glad I waited till she was a little older because she did amazingly well! She had a full cleaning, and didn’t have any cavities. She talks a lot about plaque now. Ben is also really picking up on oral hygiene. He loves for us to brush his teeth, and the other day I caught him brushing his baby’s teeth.

It’s great that Ben loves babies because we have a little buddy named Will who comes to our house on Mondays while his mommy works. The kids ADORE him and it’s so much fun to have him around! Nata can play on the floor with him for hours, and Ben showers him in kisses.

September was a really busy month but there are some highlights for you at least!