Date Night

The kids earned one-on-one dates again! On July 23rd, Natalya took me to the movie theater to see Ramona and Beezus. We got dressed up "fancy", bought candy, and enjoyed the movie together. She loves time spent with just the two of us.

The next day, Brian took Branson the go-kart race track. They had a wonderful time, but forgot to take the camera. (grumble)

Beat the Heat

Just 35 minutes away from our house is Mount Charleston. My parents invited us to their friend's cabin for the 24th of July. Unsure what to expect, we only planned on staying for a few hours. Yet within minutes of our arrival we wished we could have stayed all weekend!

In a relatively short distance, we climbed over 6,000 feet. The temperature dropped almost 30 degrees! It was beautiful weather. And we even experienced a little thunder storm. The kids were ecstatic.

The cabin had three stories. The first floor was the main living space. The upstairs was one large bedroom, and the basement was fully finished with two bedrooms and another smaller living space. The kids loved exploring and pretending like the rooms were really theirs.

We took the kids on a nature walk. They collected anything they thought was especially cool in their plastic cups, then brought them back to the cabin to show Grandma and Grandaddy.

Branson thinks all sticks are cool.

The best part? The hammock. Each of us took turns swinging in the hammock under big pine trees. Brian even took a little nap with Branson in it.

Leaving Mt. Charleston was not easy. It was fun, relaxing, and exciting all at the same time. We hope we have another opportunity to return to the cabin - part of us wished it was ours. Regardless, it was the perfect way to spend the weekend.

Summer Has Been Good to Us

Take away distractions, schedules, and the noise of every day life - and you have SUMMER. I can't explain how wonderful this summer has been. We didn't jam it full of back-to-back vacations, camps or huge plans. We've just enjoyed our home. Pajamas until 11, breakfast for dinner, no where to be and no one to see...

Prior to summer vacation, our kids maintained a typical love-hate relationship: they played together but needed me to referee. I have seen a total 180 in their relationship since then. They play together - well - for several hours - without me - and without a single argument. Woah. That never happens. I guess they're growing up. But I attribute this change in behavior to summer break.

Taking away TV helped. Natalya and Branson have since come up with several make-believe games. My favorite was when they became super heroes where they had to fight invisible villain forms of themselves. Branson would locate their invisible counterparts on his "GPS" and Natalya would take them out with her zapper. They don't play unless they're in full costume. And that's just a taste of it - they come up with new make-believe scenarios every day!

The best part is that they include Irelynn. She'll be 2 next month and is just mature enough to play their dog, their baby or their sidekick. It's cute to watch her follow them around and try to participate. In fact, she can count to 20, say, "Ready or not, here I come," and try to find her brother and sister in a game of Hide-and-Seek. If she's unsuccessful, she yells, "Make a sound!" and waits for one of them to respond.

Summer has been good to us.

Irelynn Goes Swimming in the Porcelain Waterhole...

I hadn't heard from Irelynn in a while so I asked Natalya to check on her. She found her in the bathroom. Playing in the toilet. With toilet paper (now soaked and disintegrating) while waving the nasty toilet scrub brush around the room. Trying to hold back my urge to vomit, I picked her up, swatted her bottom and marched her upstairs for an anti-bacterial bath.

[note: I normally do not spank my children (well, never) - but this was a second offense. She had been warned. I am 100% positive she knew that playing in the toilet was a BIG no-no. Sick.

After all the nastiness was cleaned up and Irelynn had recuperated from being spanked, we hugged and snuggled for a little bit. I couldn't help but wonder if she was just trying to "clean" the toilet for me. What a good-intentioned little helper. But regardless of her intentions, I am confident that she will never attempt to help clean the bathroom again.

Happy 4th!

We keep sparklers year round. Sometimes they make a fun family night activity.

But on the 4th of July, we had a little family lesson on the reason why we celebrate. (Then we did sparklers.) Natalya and Branson understood a little of our country's history (war/declaring independence from Great Britian). As for Irelynn, we told her that it was our country's birthday. She loves singing "Happy Birthday to You".

Happy Independence Day!

Little Artist

Irelynn surprised us all with this darling art project. I think she actually colored on her right eyeball.

A Beautiful Saturday Morning

There's nothing wrong with this picture. It's perfect. After I snapped this shot, I just moved to Branson's bed.

Happy Saturday.

Letters to Missionaries

Our family has been learning about service lately. During a recent family home evening, we discussed how service relates to missionary work. Our kids wanted to do service for missionaries by praying for them and sending them pictures they drew in the mail. We hope they are inspired to continue their great work when they are reminded that people from their home ward are thinking about and praying for them.

Learning to Swim

Last year Branson had a near-drowning experience. This year we put the kids in swimming lessons. Prior to this year we didn't visit pools or swim much - but after Branson's scare we realized that it didn't matter how much or how little we go swimming, the kids need to be accustomed to the water.

Success! They took to swim lessons like fish to water. :)

Now they look forward to getting into the water. Goggles helped a lot - they love looking under the water and keeping the water out of their eyes.

Natalya floating.

Branson kept looking to me for approval. I'm my kids' #1 fan!

I'm so proud of their progress. They'll need many more lessons, but I think we are off to a great start.

My Two Favorite Fathers

My dad has always been my inspiration. He has so much faith in me. He encourages me to reach higher, do better and expect more. There are so many things that I've accomplished in my life that I wouldn't have been able to do without him giving me the confidence that I needed to succeed.

My husband is my rock. He supports me in my every endevor. And he loves me regardless of success or failure. Brian needs me and I need him. We compliment each other. He listens to me. And despite our busy lifestyle, he reminds me on a regular basis that I am his first priority.

I am so blessed with these two men.

Happy Father's Day, Daddies. And thanks for everything.

Breakfast in bed for the #1 man in my life. He likes blueberry muffins.

Annie

Natalya finally got to perform in her much-anticipated Annie musical medley. Almost 10 months of practicing with her musical theater class really paid off during her big recital. The amazing part - Natalya wasn't nervous at all. She absolutely loved being on stage. She had so much fun. And her favorite part, apparently, was getting flowers at the end. Ha!

The theater was huge. But there wasn't a bad seat in the house.

After Annie and Sandy finished Maybe, Natalya came out with the rest of the orphans and sang It's the Hard Knock Life.

(Natalya is 3rd from the right)

Their only large prop was a bed. It was neat to see how many different ways they could utilize the same prop.

Natalya (last on the right) sang a little solo during It's the Hard Knock Life. She sang, "Santa Clause we never see." And the girl next to her shouted, "Santa Clause? What's that! Who's he?" right in her face.

Natalya (to the right of Annie) got to help un-velcro Annie's orphan outfit revealing her red dress during the song, You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile. She thought that was an awesome responsibility.


After the recital was over Natalya lingered on stage. I don't think she wanted off.


We were so proud of her. What a talented, happy, hard working little girl. This last year her favorite day of the week was Friday - because she got to practice for Annie. On many occasions when I would tuck her in bed at night, she would count the days until her musical theater class. If it were Wednesday, she'd say, "Mommy! Only two more days until musical theater! That's what I'll dream about tonight..."

Branson is such a champ. Every week he would wait patiently in the hall outside the studio for an hour while Natalya was rehearsing. He never complained once. He just brought a couple matchbox cars - maybe a book or two - to keep him occupied. Or he just watched through the glass. What a great kid.

Auntie Ellen drove all the way to Las Vegas for Natalya. Then as soon as her performance was over, she hopped back on the freeway and drove home so she could make it to work the next morning. She even bought her flowers. Natalya felt pretty special.

Auntie Sharon brought her kids out here for a fun quick trip. Her kids were itching to go somewhere this summer so she arranged for them to visit during Natalya's recital week! It was so nice to have them here. We shopped, went to Sky Mania (a warehouse filled with trampolines), and celebrated Father's Day together. Our kids love their cousins.


It wouldn't be a special occasion without an Oreo kiss from Grandma and Grandaddy.



Natalya had the most wonderful director, "Mr. Steve". Steve Huntsman is a fantastic actor and serves on the board of directors of Signature Productions. And best of all- he's the father of three little girls. Two of his daughters were in the class. He was the perfect teacher.

'Till next year!

Natalya Turned Six

Wow. It's scary how quickly six years has escaped me. Natalya isn't such a little girl anymore! She's already so independent and responsible. And she loves being six. The countdown to her birthday was excruciating.

Daddy decided that the big kid deserved a big kid bike for her birthday.


She was slightly excited about that.

Classic white cake, strawberry Cool-Whip, fresh strawberries, red sugar sprinkles - Natalya's favorite. (We usually put pink mini-marshmallows in lieu of the strawberries. But this year she wanted strawberries so that's what we did.)


They figured out that her party begins in - just 20 more minutes!


Natalya requested a puppy themed party this year. She was almost the last of all her friends to turn six, so waiting for her party was painful. She helped plan the whole thing. They wore doggie ears, had their faces penciled, picked their own doggie names, wore collars, and played pass the squeaky toy.


Then we put the kids through obedience school, played BINGO using dog names, and ate "dog kibble" cake (German chocolate cake, pudding, Reese's Puffs cereal) without utensils.

Natalya has the cutest friends. I think everyone had a great time - especially the birthday girl. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.

Lizard Watching

Now that the weather is warmer, lizards have made our backyard their home. They like sun-bathing on our back wall and on our concrete. The kids love having new "pets". They've learned that approaching the lizards just scares them away - so sometimes they watch from our kitchen window instead.

The End of a Busy School Year

The school year has come to a close. I can't believe how fast the year has flown! Natalya finished kindergarten and Branson finished his first year of pre-school. (At this time next year, I will have Natalya entering the 2nd grade, Branson in kindergarten and Irelynn will be in pre-school. Crazy thought.) That just makes me want to enjoy the few years we have at home together - before they grow up.

Branson's last day of pre-school. With Andrew, Zech, Brayden, Dylan, and Issac.

Mrs. Kristi. The world's greatest pre-school teacher.

Natalya's last kindergarten performance. Their entire program was nearly an hour. They memorized speaking parts, sang songs with actions, incorporated drawings, and ended with a slideshow to music. These are all the kindergarten classes combined. Natalya is the second from the right on the top row.

We were so proud to hear that Natalya earned a citizenship award along side her friend, Mike. They were recognized for displaying the attribute, initiative.

They were recognized at an outdoor assembly. Natalya was beaming. So was I.

Shark Teeth

Natalya's life has been pretty exciting lately. Considering all the "firsts" she's experienced in the last few weeks, I'd say she has been overwhelmed with positive stress. The school year has come to a close and there have been year-end celebrations, report cards, assemblies, 1st grade prep, and their final kindergarten performance. During all this activity, she grew her first permanent tooth, lost her first baby tooth (in that order), earned the citizenship award, turned 6, and had a birthday party.

Most of the excitement began with a wiggly tooth...

Her baby tooth became loose just as her permanent tooth broke through the surface of her gum behind it. She said that she was getting shark teeth! Just like a shark grows rows of teeth, so was our daughter.

We were getting ready for school. I had the kids upstairs brushing their teeth and doing their hair. When it came time to brush Natalya's teeth I told her that I had just had a dream that her tooth fell out. (I really did.) So just for fun, I tried wiggling it. I screamed when I felt the tooth rip away from the gum a little and we all laughed. It brought back so many memories of losing my teeth when I was her age. Her gum started bleeding and I informed her that we reached the point-of-no-return. When I asked her if she wanted me to pull it for her - or if she wanted to finished the job herself - she said, "I'll do it."

Natalya took hold of her tooth and pulled it forward until it was inverted. Or as my mom would say, it was hanging by a thread. I plugged the sink's drain because I knew it was going to pop out at any second. Sure enough, her tooth was in her hand just moments later and the whole family was cheering. What a fun morning.

For every grandchild's 5th birthday, Nana sends them a Tooth Fairy pillow in anticipation of their first missing tooth. This is Natalya's - and she was SO anxious to finally use it.

She was beaming all the way to school and couldn't wait to tell her teacher and friends about the news.

Later that night, the Tooth Fairy visited our house. Natalya woke up to a very magical morning. The Tooth Fairy left her a note with a beautiful purple butterfly and one dollar bill rolled up in the butterfly's antennas. (Losing your first tooth deserves something special.)

The note read:

May 27, 2010
Congratulations, dear Natalya, on the loss of your first tooth!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lady Kalista and I am your family tooth fairy. I have been your family tooth fairy for over 150 years. Whenever someone in your family loses a tooth, I take their tooth and keep it safe.

Losing your first tooth is a special time for a young person like you, Natalya. It means you are growing up and will soon have new adventures in front of you. Part of growing up is learning to take proper care of your teeth. That means brushing every day and eating healthy foods. In sincere appreciation for leaving me such a fine tooth, I have left something special for you, too! I give you this violet butterfly to help you to always remember the marvelous morning when you woke up to your first tooth missing and in its place, a dollar bill.

You are an exceptional little girl, Natalya, and I am honored to be your tooth fairy.

Love,
Lady Kalista

About Your Tooth Fairy:
Kalista is Greek and means, “Most beautiful one”.
She lives with her fairy friends in Fairyland high in the clouds.
Fairyland is always moving because clouds follow the always-changing direction of the wind.
Kalista was assigned to your family when your great-great-great-great grandmother, Calista Exene Ware lost her first tooth when she was about your age.
Kalista has long, wavy blonde hair and bright green eyes.
Her favorite colors are periwinkle and lavender.
She loves music and plays a variety of woodwind instruments.
Kalista loves all children and encourages them to live healthy lives.

I think this letter was so specific because Natalya LOVES detail. And she's enchanted with magical things. I think there should be magic in every child's life. My life was filled with magic when I was little - I loved all the possibilities. And now that I'm grown, I think it's just as fun watching our kids live in a world filled with imagination.