Some Past-Due Bragging

I have neglected to blog about an important accomplishment for me. Last Christmas, Joe got me a sewing machine along with sewing lessons with an amazing friend of mine in Sacramento. My goal was to learn how to operate a sewing machine. We managed to work in our lessons between busy schedules and two little girls very eager to "help". By the end, I had made two skirts and two pairs of leggings for said girls. I also made a petticoat for Elizabeth. I wasn't able to finish Natalie's since I somehow managed to break my sewing machine. It's still awaiting repairs.

The skirts have gotten good use, though. They are perfect for dancing and twirling:

Baby Jesus to the Rescue!

Every December, when we pull out the Christmas decorations, I remember how much I love our Little People Nativity Set. The kids love having a Nativity set they can play with and I love the cute little figures.

Every December, when Joseph becomes an evil villain bent on defeating the Baby Jesus with his superior supernatural abilities, I wonder if a little sacrilege at Christmastime is OK.

Here's Mary commandeering a jet to make their escape into Egypt...
(can't forget the donkey!)

The Great Pyramids

5 Years Old

My Natalie turned 5 a couple weeks ago. It's still hard to believe. She had quite the birthday week. Let's just say this won't be the norm so hopefully she won't be disappointed next year.

It started out at preschool the day before her birthday. She got to make an "All About Me" poster and bring in some of her favorite things from home to show her class.

Here she is with her teacher, Mrs. Chae, showing her poster:

On it she wrote that she wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up. Her favorite place in the world is McDonald's, and she wishes for a dog.

We also brought some cupcakes for her birthday snack:

On her actual birthday we didn't do too much. She got to pick what to have for breakfast and dinner. She was invited to a friend's birthday party so she got to go to that. After the birthday dinner we blew out some candles on a leftover preschool cupcake and she opened a couple presents from us. She did get her big present that day--a new bike! She spent most of the day riding it (no pictures of that, for some reason).

Happy to get a slinky from Elizabeth
(slinky #3 for us--we'll see how long it lasts)

I love Nate's face in this one:

Joe wrote her a really sweet card

He was reading it out loud to her and got about half-way through when she lost interest and wanted to play with her new stuff. We had to laugh. I guess she's still pretty little. Someday she will appreciate that card! I was holding back tears listening to it.

Me and the birthday girl

Proof that I do exist--at least I'm in pictures on special occasions.

The Saturday following her birthday, she had a party. We let Elizabeth have her first real friend party when she was 5 so we did the same for Natalie. Unfortunately this one got a little out of control. It's my own fault. The problem with moving to a new place and having a party is that she doesn't really have any close friends here yet, just a lot of people she knows and has played with a few times. We didn't want to leave anyone out. Plus, I thought there would be a lot of people that might not be able to make it because of the holidays. Not so! We ended up with 19 kids (including our own) at our house! It was a little crazy. Luckily we had some parents stay and help. I don't know how we were thinking we could do it by ourselves. The kids were all great and didn't fight or run screaming around the house or anything, it was just the sheer number and the fact that 4-5 year-olds still need help with things.

Anyway, Natalie wanted a Looney Tunes party. I found some game ideas online inspired by Wiley E. Coyote. In one, you tie a long piece of string to something in your yard. You thread the other end through a straw that is taped to a blown-up balloon tied off with a clothes pin. When you un-clip the clothes pin, the force of the air leaving the balloon sends it across the string. It was pretty fun and we had races. Unfortunately it took us awhile to figure out the best way to help the kids do it successfully. We also made these little catapults and shot marshmallows all over the place. They liked that. We finished it off with a large tweety pinata that wouldn't break. :)

Here's her tweety cake:

The bad thing with having that many kids come was the obscene amount of presents:

I thought that picture was funny because of the looks on our faces. Natalie was very excited to get Squinkies. She loves tiny little toys so those are right up her alley.

We were too busy at the party to get any pictures, sadly, but I may add more later if I get some from friends.

Now, some thoughts on Natalie right now... She is such a sweet girl. She is so kind to her sister and brother. The other day we were watching a movie that had an intense part. Nate started getting upset and Natalie just hugged him and rubbed his head (she loves doing that) and he just sat there letting her. It was the cutest thing. He idolizes Natalie and is always asking her to watch him do things.

She LOVES preschool. I'm glad that I signed her up. She is a friend to everyone and is always yelling out bye to everyone she sees. There's a little boy in her class who doesn't speak much English and she likes to tell me when she has sat by him or played with him in school. She goes out of her way to be nice.

She has mastered the monkey bars and loves to climb. She went on a field trip to a gym and had so much fun:

She loved when they pulled her up high with these ropes:

She loves the art projects they do.
Here's her pilgrim and indian outifts for Thanksgiving:

A cute one just for fun:

She is becoming quite the awesome reader. I guess she always has been. She is very proud of the fact that she can read chapter books now like Lizzy.

We still have our struggles, she and I. The tantrums that I mentioned back here are still going pretty strong. I think it's my fault. I've been mostly just trying to ignore them and I've decided recently that I shouldn't be allowing that kind of behavior. A couple days ago she slammed her door again and I made her close it correctly 30 times. I think it was more fun for her than an actual punishment. Maybe I should have done 50... Anyway, at least she hasn't slammed it again since. It's funny how kids sometimes seem to really want limits. I'm sensing that with her about this.

She is getting big. She had a dentist appointment this week. She didn't even remember the last one she had, it had been so long. We have dental insurance now! Anyway, I ended up sending the girls to our dentist and not a pediatric one. I was worried about how she would do but she did awesome! I couldn't really go back with her since I had the other kids with me so she marched right on back. I could hear bits and pieces of what went on and Natalie was just being so chatty and not even shy at all (she is usually really shy around adults). When I went back to look at her x-rays, the dentist (who I love) was just going on and on about how she was his best patient of the day. And--no cavities! Hooray!

We love our Natalie. Sometimes I go back and watch videos from when she was this age:
And then I want that adorable little toddler with the stutter back. But... I honestly can't wait to see the girl/woman she'll turn into.

Done--Finally!

I am so behind. Here's an attempt to catch up....

We found out the weekend before Thanksgiving that JOE PASSED THE BAR! We had been fretting about this for 4 months. It's kind of impossible to describe the relief we felt. We all crowded around the computer to check the results. We were all excited and cheering when we found out. Nate got carried away in the excitement and yelled, "Daddy win! Daddy win!"

Joe opted out of an official swearing-in ceremony and just gave his oath to a notary public right in his office and then dropped his bar registration card in the mail. Apparently, you are officially an attorney from the postmarked date on the card. So, he dropped it in the mail and became an attorney. Weird.

It is so nice to be completely done with the law school/bar experience. We are so proud of Daddy!