why does it feel like friday?

this week seems to be going by reeeeeaaaaaalllllly slowly.

maybe it's because of the rainy, dreary weather we've had the past few days. i really feel bad for all the kids who are on spring break this week - no fun!

here is note that i happened to find on the living room chair today. apparently natalie wrote this some time this week.

for those of you who don't read "kindergarten" here is the translation:

Dear God, please stop rainy days but you can still make it rain

the lego, the runway, and the table

last week before school one morning, russell was playing with his legos like he does just about every day and i saw him put a teeny-tiny piece into his mouth. he was just chewing on it and it was such a tiny piece that even if he swallowed it, it proably wouldn't cause him any harm. but i just didn't like the fact that he was putting legos in his mouth so i decided to tell him a story -- a scare tactic, if you will. it involved our good friend logan who, just about a month ago, decided to put a small lego up his nose. to his surprise it became stuck and after a few tweezer removal attempts and some phone calls, his mom (heather) had no choice but to take him to the ER where it was finally safely dislodged. (i can assure you, this rendition is very simplified). i quickly described this story to russell and told him how really, really bad that would be if that happened to him, then walked away feeling pretty good about my "scare tactic." fast forward to later that afternoon after school. we were at home rushing to get ready for natalie's ballet class when russell yells out "MOM! i accidentally put a lego up my nose!" umm, "accidentally???" i immediately panicked and thoughts of heather's horrible incident with logan flashed through my mind and i began to cry. WHY DID I EVER THINK IT WAS OKAY TO TELL HIM ABOUT LOGAN'S LEGO INCIDENT?! i frantically searched for my tweezers and luckily the lego peice was so tiny it had slid down a little by the time i was ready to pull it out. within a minute or so russell's nose was lego-free and we were out the door headed to ballet. all i could do was laugh as i recounted the story to russ later on. boys are so curious. you tell them NOT to do something strange and they decide they need to try it out to see for themselves. i think i learned a lesson from that one...

the tiny lego, our new keepsake:

last night i took natalie to a "fashion show" that was being put on by a ministry from our church. when we walked in, i soon realized that even with our 25 year age span, natalie and i were two of the youngest people in that room. i knew it wasn't going to be anything like i had imagined when i first signed us up for it. as it turns out, we ran into a friend of mine who was alone and looking for company and then we realized that we knew quite a few other people there. the dinner was great and the MCs were entertaining and funny. natalie had such a good time socializing with everyone and making everyone smile. the highlight of the night was when one of the gentlemen who was volunteering (and also sitting at our table) asked natalie if she wanted to walk on the runway stage. they were having an intermission break but a lot of the people were still seated at their tables. they watched as natalie excitedly walked down the stage and posed and modeled as awkwardly and as cute as possible. she was in her glory and the "audience" loved it too. i snapped a couple of pictures with my cell phone, though it doesn't do the moment any justice. i'm not sure where natalie gets her outgoing behavior from, really. celena moved this weekend. in the process, she was letting go a lot of her things, including some furniture. we graciously inherited her kitchen table and chairs and we were very excited to put it use for the first time this evening. thanks celena, we love it!

the kids...

natalie had to make a leprechaun trap to set up in her class the night before st. patrick's day. we all worked on it together, but natalie worked especially hard and was very creative. the next morning when the kids returned to their class, they discovered a huge green mess everywhere. that crazy little leprechaun had been in EVERYONE'S trap and left a little something in each one.



russell has had 2 practices and 2 games so far this soccer season. he is the only "newbie" to the team, which has been together since last season. although he has a lot of catching up to do, he loves to play and we can tell he's happier playing soccer than he was with t-ball.

russell had wild west day at school today. you might remember when natalie had hers last year (when i dressed her up more like dorothy from the wizard of oz, rather than a cowgirl...). i decided to make him a cowboy vest which actually turned out to be fairly easy and was fun, too!

i got to spend time in their class during the festivities that day so here are a few pics:

making a twinkie cactus:

panning for gold:

playing bingo with rollos

squaredancing:

WANTED:

with mommy:

hello blog

natalie just lost her 5th tooth

russell just had his very first soccer game ever

our house is under contract

school's almost out for the summer

and i'm still here

barely...

this is my attempt at getting back into these blog updates. i really miss it. i'm constantly trying to remember what we did "a week ago," but before, when i was keeping this blog current, i had the ability to go back and actually read about the memories we made. so yes, that, i miss :)

one of my most recent posts is about the kids starting school and now, believe it or not, we have about 2 more months until the summer break! i almost cried looking at those pictures because the kids have grown SO much since i took those.

i will try to put some pics on here soon. despite getting an awesome new camera for my birthday this past october, i haven't been taking pictures as much as i used to. maybe it has something to do with the kids' keeping us so busy lately, i don't know...

so, if anyone is still keeping up with my blog updates and reading this post now, please comment on here and let me know -- i certainly could use the encouragement!