Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are a couple ways we let people know that we love them this year. We sent out some homemade Valentine's to Grammas and Grandpas and our neighbors. On the left is a pic of some of them. On the back of each card is a hand-print of each girl with their name and date.
On the right hand side is a photo of the mobile Natalie and I made for Daddy. Double click on the photo to see it better, but here is what it says. Across the top, it says "I love it when we..." Then, in the hearts at the bottom, I wrote 5 things Natalie said she loved to do with Daddy.
I had to do a lot of the cutting and tying work, but I love it because of what Nat said: I love it when we..... "Play" "Cuddle" "Wrestle" "Walk on the sidewalk with Jazzy and walk up hills and up mountains" and what was the FIRST thing she said she liked to do with Daddy? "Watch Cops" =)

More Birthday Pics

Here we are in the "Party Room, eating pizza and cake. We REALLY enjoyed it =)

I love this series. Pic 1: Nat isn't sure about this Bounce U guy getting so close to her. Pic 2: Ooooh! It's time to sing Happy Birthday to lil' ol' ME! I guess that's not so bad!

Rewind - Natalie's Fourth Birthday Party

In addition to the little family affair we had on her actual birthday, we had a party at Bounce U for friends. At first, I was going to have the party here at the apartment. Natalie insisted on inviting all her little friends .... and their moms... and their siblings =) I was totally going to try to swing it and even had all the cute little invitations made. As I'm gluing the last bow on the last invite, John says something like, ".... how many girls? and parents? and your parents? ... You're crazy" "No, it will be fine," I said, "you'll just have to do exactly as I say and not be a party pooper. I figured we'd have nail painting in the bathroom...." "No, this is crazy," he said, "and your poor dad stuck in here? He'll have to leave..... I'll have to leave!"

By the end of the conversation, I agreed to look into Bounce U. As luck would have it, they had our date open and in the end, we were both glad we went that route. We enjoyed an hour of bouncing and then had Pizza Hut pizza and homemade cupcakes. They did all the clean up, served, and even wrote down the each gift and giver.

I think the kids had a good time. I know I did. Oh, and all the parents got to participate too! It was really fun seeing all these moms and dads letting loose! John and I even did a Tug-of-War game. I will let you guess who won, but I will tell you that it involved one of us flying through the air. =)

Big Winner!!!

Well, not really THE big winner, but John did win something with the buck he shot during archery season near Pittsburgh.

He entered a big buck contest and out of about 1000 entrys, his buck scored #14!!!

He won $99!

It will probably all end up back at the archery shop, ... but that's okay with me=)

John's New Favorite Song

A few days ago, John turned on the country music TV channel when a song I'd never heard came on. John said, "Oh, this is my new favorite song. As we listened together on the couch, I grabbed his hand and held it tight.

The song is by Josh Turner and here are the lyrics. Click here to listen (the video you see is not the real music video):

I got a home down on the river
I’m married to the woman of my dreams
Got a good truck that gets me down the highway
Everything is perfect or so it seems
Momma and daddy come by sometimes
And everything is fine

My old dog does a little singing
Late at night when the moon gets bright
Sunday morning hear the church bells ringing
Let us go and see who’s getting baptized
We gonna take us a Sunday drive
Cause everything is fine

Everything is fine, fine, fine
Through the sunshine and the rain
I got a peace of mind
You know I can’t complain
I make it a point to thank the Lord
When I got Him on the line
I’m feeling good and everything is fine

Got the same job down at the warehouse
Ain’t never been rich but I sleep at night
Got a little girl that looks like her mamma
She likes it when her daddy tucks her in real tight
One night this week we’re gonna have a fish fry

Cause everything is fine, fine, fine
Through the sunshine and the rain
I got a peace of mind
You know I can’t complain
I make it a point to thank the Lord
When I got Him on the line
I’m feeling good and everything is fine
I make it a point to thank the Lord
When I got Him on the line
I’m feeling good and everything is fine
I’m feeling good and everything is fine

As we contemplate where we should move once he finishes his required time here in the 3Hs, the lure of amenities, more money, career advancement opportunities, etc. do tempt us from time to time. We just keep coming back to this same idea: We just need a simple life. We already have the best things this life can offer ... right here between the four of us.

January 28, 2009 - Natalie's 4th Birthday

My little sweetheart has turned 4. Four in itself, is fine, but it's too close to 5 for my comfort. On Wednesday, her actual birthday, we painted nails while daddy was at work. Then, we were majorly side-tracked when the 9 yr old neighborhood girl that walks around by herself (LZ) stopped over. She hadn't eaten since the night before (it was 1pm now), so I made her lunch. Finally, I insisted she go home so I could put the girls down for their nap. I also needed to finish decorating for our little family party, making the pizzas and wrapping presents.

Nat was much too excited to nap. After about 20 minutes, she came out and saw the "Happy Birthday" sign affixed above the table. "Mommy, an ABC sign, ..... it's beautiful!" I put her back to nap ...ten minutes later, she returns to see the table cloth "Oh mommy, look at the little duck, isn't it sweet. This is so beautiful." I just can't do justice to her tone and the look on her face. I just had to smile from ear to ear and get down and hug her little cute self. .... Then, put her back to bed. Just long enough for me to finish wrapping her gifts. ... and I told her so. That's the only reason she agreed. So I quickly finished and immediately got her. She said, "Are they (the presents) going to be under there?" "Under where?" I said. "Oh," I said, "this isn't Christmas honey, they won't be under a tree." =) I kept all her presents, cutely wrapped in coordinating paper, in my room until after our pizza dinner. She did see them though and thought they were beautiful too.

So, daddy came home from work (luckily a little late) and we ate homemade pizza. Then, daddy took a little nap and Nat and I made the icing for her cake. The cake was a two-tiered round with pink icing. The cake was pink too =)

whoops! here's a tangent: (I especially like to make 2 tiered rounds because I have this beautiful ivory porcelain cake plate made in Italy. I got it as a wedding gift and was told that "if something happens, make sure you take the cake plate." hahaha. Oh, and while I do place it in my china closet, I use it any chance I can get. Really, what's the point of having something if you don't use it. This way, it will always be special to my kids too.=)

So, back to the cake. Pink. Then, since I'm no Gramma Graham (or mom) when it comes to decorating cakes in a traditional method, I had to come up with another idea. So, I looked to my friend, the Gourmet Mom on the Go - aka Mandy. From her fun blog (all about cooking with whimsy - gourmetmomonthego.blogspot.com ), I got the idea to make little chocolate decorations and words using melted chocolate chips and ziploc baggy. I made some number 4s, some flowers, and wrote "happy birthday natalie" in chocolate. I thought the cake turned out well, if I do say so myself, and John said it tasted good too. Nat helped put the chocolate decorations on and insisted on placing her own candles. I had to hold myself back not to move them to "prettier" positions, but I did. I figured it would mean more to her to do it by herself than to have it "perfect" in my eyes.

We called Gramma and Grampa in Montana on Skype. The got to sing with us and watch her open her presents from them and us.

All in all, it was a nice and pleasant birthday. Oh, and it was great, because Nat wanted to wear her birthday hat the whole time. (I kept thinking, "I'm so glad she's not too old for that yet!")

Oh, and where are all the wonderful pictures we took of the day? Deleted. Yes. Deleted. I downloaded them onto my computer, but somehow it didn't work! When I came back to the computer the folder was EMPTY! and I had deleted everything. I was simply devastated. I have always had good documentation of her birthdays.... and now =(

Winter Wonderland? eh, Maybe Not

Anyone else irritated with this South Central PA weather lately? Or is it just because I'm originally from the snow belt? I mean, "It's bitter" as my mom would say. And if it is going to be bitter, I'd like there to at least be SNOW! Seriously.

Anyone with a young kid (or if you can remember being one, you) can attest to a child's strong, unexplainable, almost mystical desire to don a pair of oversized pantaloons with a dangerous (for boys) zip-front, circulation-stopping elastic ankle bands, and enough material in the legs to severely limit range-of-motion causing one to walk as a penguin... or a cowboy after a long haul. Add an equally cumbersome swish-swish coat with an equally dangerous (for chins) front zipper, scarf, hat, mittens, boots, a red, runny nose and you have quite a sight.

Nat was so desperate to play in the snow that we all got bundled up and ventured outside to play in the great dusting we received last week. I felt so bad for her because it was so lame. She was a trouper though, making the most of it. We gave our best shots at making snow angels, but we couldn't even do that. Luckily, resourceful daddy found a way. She also managed to build a small pile to sure up her little "tree."

Daddy assured her that when we move, there will be plenty of snow =)