Natalie is 3, David is 32!

Our little Natalie is 3.  This girl doesn't ask for much.  She didn't even know she was getting presents until I asked her when she wanted to open them.  "you bought me a present mom??!!"  I volunteer at the school on Monday mornings so Natalie spent all morning playing outside with her friend Taylor--she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.  Afterward, I took her to the store and let her pick out a balloon.  She always wants one so this was a treat.  I think it was her favorite present. 

She had to nap with her balloon clipped to her shirt

David and I couldn't stomach anymore goodies so we had some extra cookies I had made for something else and we put her candles in that.  She didn't eat it, just blew out the candles. :) 

After trick or treating instead of eating candy we dished up ice cream cones....because it's Halloween yet still in the high 80's.  Natalie picked out grasshopper ice cream for her birthday-yum!

Natalie with her new pajamas and her new nightlight.  I was so excited to find this purple Twilight Turtle at a discount store.  We've been wanting to get the girls one for a long time and purple is Natalie's favorite color! 

This girl has grown so much in the past year.  She's still a little spitfire but is so loving, compassionate, and sweet too.

She wants to wear a skirt everyday, takes great naps, her speech has improved, and she has become a much less picky eater.  

Here are 3 of my favorite things about Natalie:

1.  She is super cuddly and gives the most amazing hugs....seriously.

2.  She uses her entire body while she talks; especially her hands, eyebrows, and hips

3. She makes me laugh ALL. DAY. LONG.

Stats:

Weight:  32 lbs

Height: 37 in.

We celebrated David's birthday yesterday.  Now this man definitely doesn't ask for anything for himself. I told him I wanted to bring Paradise Bakery cookies into his work for a treat.  I asked him what kind he would like and he said 'whatever you get is fine'  to which I responded 'don't forget it's YOUR birthday and you're KING today!'  So the girls and I brought some cookies and a Superman balloon into his work.  

 

After work he opened some presents and we headed out to meet up with some friends for dinner.  And for a real treat, David didn't have to do any of the bedtime routine...he got to sit on the couch and watch a nature show while eating an ice cream cone! :)

Here are 3 of my favorite things about David:

1.  He laughs at all my jokes, even the not so funny ones

2.  He is always there for me and the kids

3.  He is steady, dependable, a hard worker, and oh so cute

Happy Birthday to two of my favorite people!!

Halloween 2011

We had a fun and busy Halloween.  The girls had so much fun at the ward party and then again trick or treating last night.  We carved pumpkins Saturday-you can't do it too early in AZ since it's still hot.  Sunday the primary program was AWESOME (if I do say so myself---but really it was all the kids).  That night we headed to the Blounts (David's boss) and had an unbelievably tasty dinner, pumpkin hammering, giant sparklers, and pumpkin bombs.  Really...they made bombs and blew up pumpkins.  No one was harmed and we were all entertained.  The girls love going over there, they'd stay all night if they could! 

I love my little trick-or-treaters.  Supergirl, a cupcake, and a candy corn!

Here, there, everywhere

Does anyone else feel like their head is spinning?  I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Yesterday was bad.  Today was better.  I worry a lot about my little preschoolers, but today was a great day and I felt like they learned a lot.  So many days I have no idea if I'm getting through to them.  But when I worry about my preschoolers and my curriculum, I feel guilty because I have less attention for my kids, and less time for keeping up my chores.  But then there are days like today where I've been able to stay on top of everything and everyone's been happy.  Go figure, just take one day at a time.  

The next 6 days are pretty packed; visiting teaching, truck or treat, recheck for Anna's cranial, preschool Halloween party, primary program logistics planning, primary program practice, primary program Sunday, plan Sunday singing time, carve pumpkins, Cyrena's fun run, gymnastics, fix/prepare costumes, prepare Cyrena's star student poster, babysit for a friend, Halloween, and Natalie's birthday!

It will be busy.

Here are some random pictures from the last bit.

 I helped my friend Alison make a Charlie Brown Romper for her baby boy.  

We turned a yellow t-shirt into a romper--even putting in snaps!  And it only took us 3 hours--ha!  It was an adventure and we were very proud of ourselves.

 Anna is getting more and more mobile.  She's not on all fours yet but she is rolling, twisting, turning, and scooting her way into everything.  She often ends up like this and she doesn't like it.  This girl doesn't hesitate to let you know how she feels.  She's a big part of my stress lately and is in a very hard stage.  Let's just say there is a lot of screaming involved and I'm contemplating using timeout at 10 months old!  It's a VERY good thing that she's cute.

She has also become a major Daddy's girl lately.  I wouldn't have expected anything different.  When he comes home from work and goes to one of her sisters first, Anna immediately shares her displeasure--in a very loud way.

I went to a kid's consignment sale a couple of weeks ago.  I picked up this magnetic gear toy for $1.  It is awesome.  The girls have had so much fun with it, I highly recommend it!

This past weekend we traded off with some friends for a date night.  David and I used a saved gift card for dinner then headed to the $2 movie to see the final Harry Potter.  It was great fun.  I have to tell a funny on David.  Many times David needs to me to give him little reminders about characters, names, etc. It's not something that's easy for him to remember and I'm happy to oblige.  Toward the end of the movie there's a scene where Harry visits with several close friends/family who are deceased.  When it showed one of them up close...I leaned close to David and I said "you remember him, right?  Harry's godfather?"  David slowly nodded then his eyes lit up and he said "you mean Sirius Black?"  Hahaha, I couldn't stop laughing! And he couldn't help but laugh at me when I would be learning forward and nodding during different parts of the movie.  What can I say, those books were magical.

Family Pictures 2011

So here are the family pictures we took at the ranch.  We're all pretty squinty but we didn't really have a choice in the time of day they were taken between naps, meals, etc.  Cyrena is a poser and Natalie couldn't smile naturally if her life depended on it.  All in all, I'm pleased with them!  Randy took the family pictures for us then I took the ones of the girls alone.  So fun. 

I do wish we owned some editing software...although I probably wouldn't be able to figure out how to use it...

The Taylor Ranch

Last weekend David's boss' family invited us up to their family ranch.  We went last year and had a blast.  It was a last minute trip but we're so glad we went.  We drove up Thursday night and came home Saturday night.  David and Randy had a meeting in Winslow Friday morning and then we had the rest of time to play.  The kids had a blast being outside.  The first day it snowed and the next day was a sunny mid-50's and Cyrena and I got a sunburn.  Go figure.

It was fun to see Anna all bundled up!

I can't remember what she's crying about but this is a great shot of the snow falling.

Anna watching the snow from the covered porch--it was beautiful

Oh my girls, what will we ever do if we have a boy??  I still can't believe I got this shot, all three smiling and happy. 

The ranch is beautiful with a handful of buildings, tons of land, a fire pit, swing set, a creek, tractors, etc., etc.  Paradise for kids basically.

Anna was a great traveler this trip.  She kind of lost it the last day while we were packing the car.  She doesn't like to just watch the action, she wants to be in it. 

Since we had a couple fires we burned through some of the wood pile so David and Randy chopped up some wood to replenish it.  They gave us girls a turn as well.  Here Brittney is hitting the wedge into the log to make it easier to split and Randy is giving a devotional about not letting wedges come into our marriages...

That's MY man!  And I quote: "There's just something about when you swing the ax and the log splits that makes you feel manly."  I love him.

Randy also took some family pictures for us while we were there, I'll post them soon.

A vist from Grandma

Grandma Taylor was able to come for a visit a couple of weeks ago.  We all loved the extra attention, especially Anna.  Cyrena cried pretty hard when we dropped grandma off at the airport.  Sad days.

 Right before grandma came, Cyrena had a little chest cold that quickly cleared up, but she lost her voice because of it. Then toward the end of the week Natalie came down with it.  Any sickness always hits her HARD.  She couldn't sleep well and kept coming into our room.  Her voice was also gone....David was enjoying the quiet. :)  The only bad thing was we couldn't hear her call us into the bathroom when she was done so when we'd go back to check on her she'd just be sitting there crying since she'd been done for awhile.  Poor girl.  In the pictures below she was just starting in on her cold.

About 4 days later, Anna came down with it and she coughed so hard she threw up all over David.  But hers quickly cleared up as well.  I'm hoping she has Cyrena's immune system.  Natalie can be quite the sickly one.  Anyway, David and I were fine and now everyone's healthy thank goodness!

 

Is it Fall yet?

David and I were talking tonight how we're so ready for Fall, especially for Fall meals!  That's it, regardless of the high temps, I'm making chili this week. 

There hasn't been much going on around here other than the normal everyday hustle and bustle.  I have neglected to mention that I am teaching preschool again.  It kind of happened at the last minute and  I have a full class!  We've been in school for a month now and it's going well.  I have 7 boys plus Natalie so it can get a bit crazy and exhausting.  Natalie is a huge flirt and loves all the attention.  It's a little worrisome.  And Anna is handling it the best she can, which isn't great most of the time. :) It's just 2 days a week and that is perfect. 

Cyrena has been spending a lot of time with David lately, which thrills her.  David took her to a Diamondbacks game last week.  The McKay's came as well so Cyrena had a friend.  They had a great time. 

Then last Friday David took Cyrena and Natalie to our local high school football game (we live about 2 minutes away).  It was a rematch of last year's State Championship game so that was fun for them to see.  Our high school is really good and some priests in our ward on are it, so lots of ward members were there.

One morning I came out of the shower and found Anna like this.  She usually just sits up and plays but she must've given up on me! 

Two Funnies:

1.  Cyrena is always trying to delay bedtime, it's a bad habit of hers that we are constantly trying to break.  One night she came out and asked for a drink of water.  We told her to go ahead.  Then she proceeds to tell us very very dramatically with wide eyes and dramatic facial expressions:

"Before bed you have to make sure your tummy is REEEEEALLY full so that you can survive through the night because you can't eat AAAAANYthing all night long."

2.  A few weeks ago, David and I went for our temple recommend interviews at the stake offices.  The stake president took David into his office first and when David came out, I went in.  The girls were just sitting in the foyer right outside the office.  

When my interview was finished, I came out and said "ok girls, are you ready?"

Natalie said, "yep" and marched right into the stake president's office and sat herself down in a chair.  He sweetly indulged her and proceeded to 'interview' her.  

"Do you listen to your mommy and daddy?" "mmm-hhmm" (nodding)

"Do you like to go to church?"  "mmm-hmm" (nodding)

"Are you nice to your sisters?"  "mmm-hmm" (nodding)

"Do you love Jesus?"  "mmm-hmm" (nodding)

"Well I think you're a great little girl, thanks for talking with me!"  "ok, it's Cyrena's turn!"

Of course Cyrena knew what was going on and that she didn't need an interview.  David and I were cracking up, it was something we'll never forget!