flag football
Chance LOVES football! Such a difference from soccer. He said after his game on Thursday, "I didn't even look at you and dad the whole time, I was just concentrating on the game." Much different from soccer when he wanted to take breaks all of the time. But the one who is most excited is Shawn! He's been waiting almost seven years for the day that his son would play football and we could go to the games and cheer. It's been so fun!! Go Tigers!!

uncle wayne

My Uncle Wayne is a member of the Osmond Brothers. He is married to my mom's sister, which makes him my uncle. No, there's no blood relation, which is why my smile doesn't dazzle and why I don't see Donny and Marie on a regular basis! Anyway, I wanted to post about him for a couple of reasons. First and funniest, because my kids are so fascinated by him. He is such a jokester - here he is at a family party. His shirt reads "I'm a fun guy" with a picture of a mushroom on it! Get it, "fungi"? haha I loved it!

At this particular party, Hannah runs over to me and whispers, "I want that guy up there to come down here and chase me." Why? I have no idea. So when Uncle Wayne climbs down, Hannah (who is usually shy around people she doesn't know very well) goes up to Uncle Wayne and asks him to chase her. Uncle Wayne had to decline because he has a bad knee, and he felt SOOO bad! It just made me laugh that she wanted him to chase her because it's really unlike her!

Chance has realized that Uncle Wayne is a performer. We took the kids down to one of the Osmond Brothers concerts down in Layton, and we told Chance that Uncle Wayne was singing. "What else does he do?" asks Chance. I reply, "Well, he plays the guitar, and he tells jokes." Chance pauses, then says, "Wait a minute. Uncle Wayne sings, plays the guitar, AND tells jokes? He's the whole show!!" Well, in our eyes, he is! Then Chance asked, "What does Uncle Wayne sing?" I said, "Well, he sings a lot of songs. I'll have to get one of his CD's and let you listen to it." Chance's eyes grow even larger than normal and he slowly says, "He has a CD!!???" He was amazed! So, to say the least, he had a great time at the concert. We were even able to go backstage afterward. I made sure to get a picture of Chance and Uncle Wayne together.

Lately, Chance has expressed to me his confusion - when he talks about his famous uncle to the neighbor kids, to his surprise, none of them have heard of the Osmond Brothers! He can't believe it. If you don't know about the Osmond Brothers or Wayne, click here for his website.

I had the opportunity to take my Uncle Wayne's picture for his new book, which came out on his birthday, August 28. I thought the picture I was taking was going to go on the back cover, likely in black and white, kind of as the "about the author" blurb. Here is how it turned out:

Augh! Cover shot? Scary! My cousin (Wayne's daughter) Amy published the book. It's available for sale on her site (click here) and I believe will also be available in LDS bookstores. I haven't read it yet but knowing Uncle Wayne, I'm sure it's entertaining!

baby lily
My baby sister finally had her baby - Lily Claire. She was born on August 13, 2009 - 8 days overdue!! Their cute fam is living in Hawaii so I haven't even been able to hold the little cutie pie yet!! We (specifically me and Hannah) are just DYING to see her!! Hopefully soon... We just stare at her pictures every single day. These are a few of my favorites - especially the first family picture!! How priceless.

first day of first grade

The day finally arrived - the first day of school! About two weeks before school started, Chance became excited about school again, asking when it was going to start. Mostly, he was excited to wear his new school shoes. They are DC's. Yeah, I hadn't heard of them either, but I guess they are pretty dang sweet. We met his school teacher, Mrs. Pitcher, at back to school night. She approached Chance and said to him, "Chance, Mrs. Judkins (his kindergarten teacher) has told me all about you and what a good student you are!" Talk about making someone's day - he lit up like a lightbulb!

The night before school started, I asked Chance if he wanted me to walk him into his class on the first day of school. (They built a brand new elementary school, and this is the first year it was open. Noone really knows their way around.) So Chance said yes, he'd like me to walk in to school with him on the first day. Being the obsessive photo taker that I am, I took my trusty camera with me. Little did I know I was going to embarrass my first grader by not only taking his picture in front of the new school, but by also taking his picture in class!!! Check out that expression, if looks could kill...

teeth

Maybe I should put it this way, Chance has a "low pain tolerance". So does his mother. So when his top front tooth became loose, he wouldn't wiggle it, let alone allow someone to pull it out! It was cute at first, because he would tell me that he didn't want his teeth to fall out because he didn't want to grow up, and he wanted to live with me and Shawn forever. Awwwww. HOWEVER, when the tooth started turning GRAY (how gross!!!) I had to put my foot down. We had to get it out, especially before school starts! On Sunday (well, two Sundays ago), we had Papa Bryan pull out the trusty pliars. Shawn tried to to pull it out, but the thing wouldn't budge! After much kicking and screaming by Chance, we decided to have a professional do the job - Chance's hero Uncle Mark. During the operation, Mark discovered that not one, but two of Chance's front teeth were loose! I gave him the go ahead to yank both of them at once! I refuse to go through another gray tooth episode! Here are some before and after (and during!) pics of the ordeal.

I have to admit, I love that toothless grin!

happy anniversary to us!

Oh boy, I am WaY behind on my blogging! All kinds of fun activities I need to catch up on! But first I want to remember that 10 years ago tomorrow my cute hubby and I were married. We joke about how it's been the longest 10 years of our lives, but really, it's gone by pretty fast! I truly can't imagine my life without him. I had the biggest surprise today - not only did he call me at work and ask me if I wanted to go to lunch with him, but after lunch I walked back to my office and found this gorgeous bouquet of my favorite flowers! Then, after work, I found a very sweet note he left for me. (He is at a scout campout right now which is probably why he's making such an effort! haha) Then there's me - completely unprepared, thinking we would celebrate later. I think he'll forgive me. After all, he's had 10 years of practice...

Independence Day 2009

We spent the 4th of July in Star Valley, Wyoming (our tradition). This is our third year of pulling our trailer up to stay in it, rather than staying inside the cabin. Shawn's family is growing and there is no more room! It works out perfectly though, because I have terrible allergies and I think sleeping by the dog (Annie) would make them even worse. And the kids love it. Speaking of allergies, I made a big mistake and took an Allegra with a Benedryl on the evening of the 4th. OOPS! I couldn't keep my eyes open, fell asleep after dinner, and didn't see one firework! I honestly could not move! Poor Shawn had to take the kids by himself! Luckily we had a lot of fun the rest of the time, but I will definitely not do that again!

Top Row: Autumn (6) * Chance (6) * Gracie (almost 8) *

Brielle (10)

Bottom Row: Ireland (3) * Cienna (1) * Porter (3) * Hannah (4) * Jace (3) * Garrett (5)

Very Bottom Row: Annie (7 in dog years)

Missing due to nap: Hugh (1)

Other than allergies and the millions of mosquitos (and mosquito bites! poor hannah...those 'skitos just love her!) we had a great time. Between fishing in Uncle Lance's pond, attending the Star Valley Ranch 4th of July Kids Carnival, swimming, golfing (Shawn, not me), and 4-wheeling, we kept very busy! We didn't run the river because it was too high, and we didn't make it to Jackson this time, but I think we all considered it as another successful cabin trip!

fathers day

I am so grateful for all of the fathers in my life! Happy fathers day!

Leela and Chance

Just a quick post about the fam before I forget these funny things. On Sunday, Hannah's imaginary friend began living here. Her name is Leela. Hannah wanted to pick out a dress for Leela to wear to church, so I helped her find a cute dress. Suddenly, Hannah decides that she wants to BE Leela. So now Hannah IS Leela. She would not respond to anything other than Leela all day Sunday. Leela is five years old, obeys her mom, and goes potty in the big girl potty without accidents! I'm really starting to like Leela. Leela aka Hannah goes to church and tells her primary teacher that she is five years old, which confuses Hannah's friends in her class, because everyone knows that Hannah is four. Hmmm, multiple personality disorder symptoms here?

Another kinda funny story - Chance was outside the other day and his friends began fighting with one of the neighbor boys. I guess the fight escalated into rock throwing and hitting. I overheard the neighbor boy telling one of the moms about the fight, but I never heard Chance's name mentioned. When Chance came inside, I asked him about the fight and asked what he was doing while the fight was going on. He replies, "I just sat on the swing and kept saying prayers that everything would be okay." I smiled, thinking, okay, do I get mad at him for not sticking up for the boy that was getting picked on because he was saying a prayer? It was a catch-22. So I decided to just give him a hug. When Shawn came home that night I told him the story to see his reaction. His response was classic: "For as wimpy as that sounds, it's kinda cool."

Since I flaked out and missed the open house for the Draper temple, I made sure we made the trip down to see the Oquirrh Mountain temple before it is dedicated. We drove down last Thursday. Chance was so funny - we were getting ready to go and he says, "Mom, I'm a little nervous to go to the temple. I've never been inside of one before." I told him there was nothing to be nervous about, and that we just needed to be sure to be reverent while we were walking around. I pulled out a white shirt and some cordoroy pants for him to put on. The next thing I know, he's changed out of his cordoroys and put on his Easter suit! He wanted to look his best! I thought it was pretty cute. The kids loved the temple, and came home and drew pictures of it (their own idea) . . .

Chance's picture is below, Hannah's is above.

preschool graduation
(an overdue post)

mikaela * hannah * esi * gracie

We had a little joyschool for the girls in the neighborhood this year. Even though they "graduated", at least three of them are going to another round of preschool next year!! haha I have a feeling they won't mind.

hannah's first dance recital
I was really nervous about this performance, due to the fact that approximately two weeks ago at dance picture time Hannah clung to my leg and did not let go. Needless to say, I was upset, and Hannah is in ZERO dance pictures. I was thinking, "If she is a nervous wreck at dance pictures, how is she going to behave on stage?" I was honestly expecting a disaster. But yesterday, up on stage, the girl was in her element! Her class had two dances "Me and My Teddy" (ballet duet with a teddy bear) and "Ain't She Sweet" (tap with attitude). The entire class completed both dances without even blinking an eye, and after they were over, Hannah asked if she could do another one! Her dance class is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I was so proud of her!



We were bad parents and forgot to buy flowers to present to Hannah after the recital. She noticed all of the girls receiving flowers and kept asking "Where are my flowers?" Shawn and I just stared at each other blankly. So after the recital, Shawn took Hannah to Smith's and let her pick out some flowers. The sucker dad he is, Hannah received a dozen roses in her favorite color.

mothers day happiness

I had such a nice Mother's Day yesterday! I was given the cutest cards, a portrait of me made out of construction paper by Chance (am I hot or what?), and beautiful yellow flowers! The kids (including the big one) made me an omlette (my fav), and even cooked the bacon outside so our house did not smell like bacon! [That is one of my biggest pet peeves, to smell like food -- ESPECIALLY prior to going to church or somewhere in public!] It was so nice. I had already received my "big" mothers day gift -- a Wii Fit. Yes, I bought it for myself for Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to me! If you don't want to be disappointed, buy your own present! I played it one day, and I haven't been able to get on it since because my kids (specifically Chance) have overtaken it. But that's just fine.
A highlight of the day occurred while I was putting Chance to bed, beginning our nightly routine. I asked him if he had chosen a story for me to read to him. He said, "Mom, since it's Mother's Day, I thought you could pick the story tonight and I'll read it to you. You just relax." So I chose one of my favorites -- Are You My Mother? (appropriate, right?) I kicked back on his bed and he read me the entire story. It was so sweet, one of those moments I did not want to end. He is such a thoughtful boy. Another highlight of the day was reading the paperwork the kids had filled out during Primary. They were supposed to answer questions about their mom. To the question "What is your favorite meal that your mom makes?" both of my kiddies answered "Chicken Nuggets."

Maybe because that's the only meal I make! It made me laugh. Chance stated that I have "a very cool job." I am wondering if he is referring to my job as a mom, because I don't think he has any idea what I do as a paralegal! And knowing Chance, in his mind, what could possibly be cooler than taking care of him all day? And by the way, that's a 31, not a 37 -- but both are wrong!

I am so grateful for my own mother. As one gets older, the sacrifices and trials your own mother has made for you seem to stand out and become more obvious. I am so thankful and lucky to have such a great mom who did, and still would, do anything for me. I love you, Mom!

the simple things...

I took Chance to his first T-Ball practice today. Shawn couldn't decide if he needed to be there, or if he could miss it. I told him not to worry about it, and that I'd just take him. Chance, of course, LOVED it. He loves baseball, it's really fun for him and he's confident about it. So, anyway, while I'm sitting there watching Chance give his new teammates (and coach) tips and suggestions on how to throw, catch, and otherwise play ball (how embarrassing!) I was trying to convince Hannah to go play with some of the little girls her age who were running around, picking dandilions. In typical Hannah fashion, she was shy at first, but soon warmed up and began introducing herself. To two, separate girls at two different times, I overheard her say this:
"Hi, my name is Hannah. My daddy's bald."

Talk about an icebreaker! When we got back into the car, I asked her why she told the girls that her daddy was bald. Her reply:
"Because, Mom, he doesn't have any hair."

Ask a simple question, get a simple answer. I can't figure out why she would mention that little tidbit about her daddy when Shawn was not even at practice! I'm dreading the day she is with Shawn and he overhears, "Hi, my name is Hannah. My mommy's fat."

Kid Stuff

I'm writing this random blog post for the sole reason that I do not want to forget! These kiddos are growing up right in front of me and I know I'm going to forget all of this funny stuff.

Hannah adds "ed" to the end of her words. It's not "jumped" - it's "jump-Ed." Dad "lett-Ed" me go outside. Grandma "fix-Ed" my hair. I "eat-Ed" my noodles. I'll have to add more after I hear her say them, it's funny! "Annie (Grandpa's dog) scratch-Ed me."

Immediately before bed, whenever Hannah has a clean nightgown to wear (she doesn't do this with regular jammies, only nightgowns) she carefully takes out her hair so it is "long", puts on her "bednight hair-band" (a silver, sparkly headband) and to top it all off, applies pink lipgloss. Right before bed and prayer. Then she shows Shawn, and waits for him to tell her how beautiful she looks. I love it.

Chance keeps telling me that he doesn't want to grow up, and that he wishes he could be a kid forever. In fact, he wishes he could go back to when he was two years old. I think he's brilliant. Most kids are dying to get big, but he's smart enough to realize just how good he has it.

Chance asked me how come daddy doesn't wear his wedding ring. I didn't have an answer. Shawn got out of the habit of wearing it when he was working in the shop and didn't want to have his finger ripped off while working on the machinery. Chance said that dad had better start wearing his ring because some girl might think he's cute and ask him out on a date. Then he commented how good dad is looking with his shirt off lately. (This is immediately following our trip to the gym.) ??? Then Chance proceeds to tell me how he wants big muscles and is going to avoid sugar and eat lots of protein. He then reads aloud every ingredient listed on his "Muscle Milk" and commends himself for choosing chocolate milk that is so very low in sugar. I'm not sure when he became so fascinated in food labels, but it's been over a year.

I'll have to keep posting these cute little things as they occur so I don't forget. My kids make me laugh every single day, I am so lucky.

Boys Will (Definitely) Be Boys...
Chance said something to me the other day that really scared me. "Mom, from now on, I'm going to hide my dirty underwear and then see how long it takes you to find them." This was in response to me finding a pair of his underwear in the cupboard underneath the bathroom sink. What is wrong with boys?

CrossFit - kill me now...

My hubby has been doing this exercise program for a few months now called CrossFit. He has had amazing results! I'm so proud of him. He will be embarrassed that I am sharing this, but he has lost like 15% bodyfat and he can jump and run like a teenager! I couldn't believe how he could play basketball in his Alumni tournament a few weeks ago. VERY impressive. So anyway, the teacher/trainer is our good friend, Lindsay Hassell. If you don't know Lindsay, he has muscles on top of his muscles. Then he has muscles on top of those. And he's scary. Okay, not scary all of the time, just when he yells...

So anyway, last Saturday was my first attempt at CrossFit. And I threw up. Literally. I barely made it to the bathroom. I have never worked out so hard in my life! I walked upstairs and sat in the daycare room with Chance. I was so MAD. Am I really that big of a wimp? I throw up at the gym? That's not the Natalie I know!

As embarrassed as I was (and still am) I have continued to go to CrossFit. My goal is this: Do NOT, under any circumstance, throw up again! And I have achieved this goal in my one week CrossFit attendance. Yay for me! My legs are like rubber and are tender to the touch -- walking up and down stairs is a definite chore. But I can do this! And as motivation, I keep one of Lindsay's old sayings in my head to keep me going:

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

See, told ya he's scary...

Blogging Maniac...

My recommitment to blogging has come in an effort to eventually pull these memories into some sort of memory or history book. As I am more prone to sit at a computer and write out my thoughts rather than make notations into a journal or diary, I've decided to make Blogger my family history outlet. It is, admittedly, a little strange that this history I am creating is online for the world to see! Fortunately (or unfortunately!) I don't have many juicy secrets to hide, so it doesn't bother me too much!

Last night around 7:30 I was looking for Chance. The TV was on and he was not sitting in front of it, which is quite unordinary. I noticed that our front door was cracked open, so I opened it and looked outside for him. There he was - standing on the curb of our front yard, head tilted upward, gazing from side to side at the sky. I asked him what the heck he was doing. He said, "Oh, just enjoying nature and the fresh air." Then he breaks into this big grin. Is that really what he was doing? I guess I'll never know. As I'm smelling the fumes from the cars zooming along our busy street, I politely asked him to "enjoy nature" in the backyard where he's less likely to be kidnapped or run over! He is such a funny kid.

Yesterday morning, I awoke and began to step out of bed. To my complete surprise, I almost stepped on Hannah, who was sleeping at the foot of my bed! When she woke up, I asked her why she was sleeping on my floor. She replied, "I woke up and my dollies on my bed were STARING at me and it was FREAKING me out!" I burst out laughing. She has like five billion dolls sitting at the foot of her bed and they really are staring right at her! I had to take a picture of what she saw when she woke up in the middle of the night. I must admit, it freaked me out a little bit as well.

General Conference Ramblings...

the fam -- San Diego temple

I just love General Conference. It is so nice to hear our church leaders reassure all of us that our Savior is aware of each of us and loves us all. I need to hear that from those wonderful men twice a year! It gives me such a peaceful, happy, warm feeling.

I need to re-read Elder Richard G. Scott's talk from the Saturday session. Did anyone else catch it? He spoke of the temple and eternal families, but there was so much depth to it that I am sure I missed a lot of points that I will catch later on while reviewing his words on paper. Elder Nelson spoke immediately following Elder Scott, and I noticed that Elder Nelson had tears sparkling in his eyes. I felt so calm and humble inside, knowing that I and Elder Nelson had both felt the strong spirit coming from Elder Scott's words.

I had the impression from this conference that our lives could be a lot worse than we are all complaining about. President Monson's story of the woman buring each of her four children along her journey brought tears to my eyes. I thought, here we are as members of the church, feeling sorry for ourselves because we have lost money or lost our jobs due to the economy -- but have any of us buried each of our children due to starvation and cold? Here in the United States, I doubt it. We are a little TOO well-taken care of. I'll speak for myself when I say I am spoiled rotten in comparison!!

The good news is this: things aren't that bad. We are going to survive. Life is good. Enjoy! Let's put smiles on our faces! Our Father in Heaven loves each of us, and is aware of each of our struggles. I'm so grateful for Him and all that he has done and continues to do for me and my family.

Sorry for the testimony bearing, it's just been one of those emotional weeks... :)

our baby girl...

I am seriously behind in the blogging department! I'll never catch up, but I thought I'd at least give it a shot by posting a major event...

Hannah had her 4th birthday while we were in California. I didn't want to haul all of her presents with us, so I just brought one that I knew she'd love - a Sleeping Beauty costume. She loves to dress up while pretending that Shawn is the prince. I like when he is around because he thinks it's hillarious and will always play along. If he's not home and if Chance is out playing, then I am the lucky one who gets to be the prince!

It is so fun to see Shawn with his little girl. There is such a special bond between the two of them. He is so cute and patient with her. I can't believe she is growing up so fast! I started thinking about the day that she'll leave me and go to school and I began to tear up! It honestly feels like yesterday that she was a newborn. I remember rocking her to sleep, not minding too much that I was up in the middle of the night because it finally just the two of us -- that didn't happen much with Chance running around wild! Ah, how time flies.

Random post - Shoes!
I found this cool website: http://www.endless.com/

I have been looking to buy Chance some brown dress shoes for church (I've brainwashed him and he flat out refuses to wear his brown pants with his black shoes, even though his black shoes are the only dress shoes he had at the time...). Anyway, I found some cute brown dress shoes for a great deal on this site and they gave me FREE overnight shipping plus FREE return shipping (if I did not like them)! I was so impressed! I ordered them yesterday and my buddy the UPS man brought them to my door this afternoon! Talk about service... I believe it is powered or owned by Amazon.com, my favorite online shopping store (next to EBay, of course). Thought I'd pass on the info to anyone who might be in the market for shoes.

Quote of the Day:

I received this quote on an e-mail today. I loved it! In the spirit of General Conference this weekend, I wanted to share:

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."

- President Thomas S. Monson

happiest place on earth . . . literally!

Happy Hannah
Since Hannah loved her new Matilda Jane dress so much and I thought her pictures turned out cute (call me vain, I know! I'm just a proud mom...) I e-mailed a picture of her to the company just to say "thank you" and they posted her on their blog!!

http://matildajane.typepad.com/

New pictures...
I'm weird, that's a given. But I bought a bunch of clothes for Hannah for the sole reason of taking her pictures in them! Check out: matildajaneclothing.com. I think she looks cute, even though she was described as "earthy" by my hub, so maybe I'll put her in them for other occasions... But what do I do about Chance and taking pictures of him? Boys are just no fun to shop for. T-shirt and jeans, or t-shirt and jeans? Or how about this - a t-shirt and jeans?