hodge podge

First and foremost- I forgot to give my top 5 reasons I love Natty. (It was her birthday a week ago, and true-to-form- I'm late with my tribute post) Anyway-
*She is one of the most creative girls I've ever known- she reminds me so much of my mom and Tim, both- (think: bubble wrap butterfly, using skeins of yarn to make spiderwebs through the house, making "workbooks" for Madison and Dallin as they play school, etc.)
*She is so smart- I still remember her being barely 4 years old and I was sitting with Dallin on the side of the pool with our feet hanging in the water. Natty starts swimming towards us very slowly saying, "I'm coming to *ANTAGONIZE* you...." . And her vocabulary has increased significantly the past 5 years :)
*She is the peacemaker in our home and with her friends at school.
*She is not afraid to stand up for what she believes is right
*She is truly our "Angel Girl".
We love you, Natty! For her birthday, we were also lucky enough to have one of our favorite visitors: My grandmother, Sammie came to visit for a couple of days. The kids LOVE getting to see "Simmie" (as lou-lou calls her), and naturally, so do I. A friend was kind enough to watch Madison for a few hours while the older 2 were in school, so Sam and I went shopping for shoes, clothes, and fabric (what else, for those of you who know Sammie :) She can shop circles around me), and then to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. It was so nasty.

Psych.

I wish we could see her more often.

After she left, the Halloween festivities began (Trunk or Treat at church on Thursday, then Trick or Treating the next night). Natty was a mummy (if we ever repeat that costume, we'll have to find a way to secure the bandage wrappings, because they kept falling off and by the time they were 3 houses down, her costume consisted of gray leggings, a white shirt, and a smile on her face. she still got candy. Dallin was a boxer with a black eye. Lou-lou- a princess, and Brooklyn was a bunny. She wouldn't hold still, so her pink nose turned into a smudge all over her nose and cheek... whatevah.
Before:
After:
Do you think the sugar had kicked in? B-O-I-N-G!!!!!

In other non-related news: Tim fixed the sink I broke, with much help from Lou-
And I've decided that the Bumbo is one of the coolest inventions. Brooklyn *loves* being able to sit up and watch all the action. Actually, I think she just got sick of Lou-lou using her bouncy seat as a baby-catapult (cause and effect is huge for 3 year olds, apparently), but regardless- she loves her Bumbo: