A little of what we've been up to.

Okay it is way past time to update our blog. I didn't want to post this picture until further down but was having issues moving it. Mid March we took our kids to my ultra sound appointment to let them know that I was pregnant. They originally thought we were going to a doctor's appointment to check on my heart, but when we walked into the ultrasound room Nathan knew what was going on. They were able to see the baby moving and hear the heartbeat. I am due mid October with baby #4 and I am excited and nervous about the whole thing.

Nathan had his final basketball game for the winter season the end of February. This is the team after the game. They would always sit along the wall on their basketballs and listen to coach. Most of these boys have played together with the same coach for the past 3 years. They are a really good group of boys.

After the last game Coach treats the boys to a party at Peter Piper and they receive their medallions from the league. When coach presented Nathan's medallion he said " Nathan was probably the most improved player and that he had the best shooting percentage. He didn't maybe shoot as often as the other boys but almost everytime he did shoot he scored" We decided to sign Nathan up for the spring season and he had his first game yesterday.

Nathan was well overdo for a haircut. It was the day before school pictures a few weeks ago so it was officially time. He couldn't fight me on it anymore. Before

All the hair

After- Nathan thought I cut it too short but I really like his hair this length. His face makes me chuckle everytime I see this picture. I thought my girls were dramatic :-)

Taylor took a gymnastics class with the city and on the last day the teacher let Natalie join in on the fun. She loved it and I think Taylor enjoyed having her in the class with her. She was protective most of the time.

The first Saturday in March was the pinewood derby for Nathan's scout troop. He worked a lot of hours over a couple of weeks with Preston. Nathan designed the car himself with one of his hot wheels cars as a model.

His troop showing their graphite covered fingers.

Nathan tied for first in his troop and so they did a race off and he ended up with 2nd place. We were just hoping he would win at least one race. He was so happy to have done so well. So that night was the Stake finals. ( We had to cancel our date so that he could attend) There were a lot of fast cars at finals and the races were close like this one here. Nathan is the one on the far right lane.

Nathan ended up not winning any races at finals and got a few 2nd place finishes. He was disappointed but proud of himself for making it to finals his first year competing.

We have been busy potty training Natalie. I bought a book at Barnes and Noble titled "Princess of the Potty" It comes with a tiara that she wears while going potty and then when she goes she gets a sticker jewel to put on it. Some times she will use the regular toilet and other times the potty chair on the ground. It is so nice to be done with diapers. It is funny because after a month she still will tell me she has to go potty and then as it starts coming out she will say "See Mommy"As if I thought she was kidding about having to go.

Mid March the kids had a half day so I decided to finally take my kids and some of their friends to Jump Street. Nathan had been asking me to go for months. I got a coupon and so off we went. It was really fun for the boys but I will probably wait until the girls are older to take them again.

Nathan had a school wide running club race. He ran really well and we were all proud of him. He placed #51 out of all the boys at the school.

At the school awards assembly Nathan was recognized for 2 awards. The music class award.

Exemplary Student Award. He worked really hard this semester to bring up his grades and be a better student overall. His teacher noticed his hard work and presented this award to him. Nathan also accomplished the task of answering 40 multiplication problems in under 2 minutes. We spent a lot of time reviewing them so he could do it.

Nathan's Primary teacher left on a mission a few weeks ago to Fiji- French speaking. This is her and the kids at her open house. She is going to do a great job.

We went to a park with my Mom over the break to feed the ducks. It was really hot that day and we weren't very successful in actually feeding the ducks, but we did feed a lot of the pigeons and the fish.

Since Nathan's birthday always falls during spring break I often forget to bring in treats for his school class. This year I remembered and the Friday before break I brought in donuts (Nathan's favorite treat)

Preston and I took Nathan out to eat at his favorite restaurant Texas Roadhouse for his birthday dinner on the Saturday before. It is a nice tradition to have some one on one time with the kids for their birthday and I think it is a highlight for them.

The birthday ice cream sundae. Nathan didn't want to sit on the fake bull this year. He was too embarrassed.

On his actual birthday I took Nathan and his best friend Hayden to Amazing Jakes to play. That is quite the place. I had never been there before and neither had Nathan, he just heard about it from other kids at school. They had a 2 hour wristband with unlimited fun on all the attractions. Here are a few pictures of things they did.

That night we had family over for a March Madness tailgate type dinner of hot wings, taquitos, nachos and vegetables. For dessert we had ice cream sandwiches and drumsticks and brownies since Nathan doesn't care for cake.

One of Nathan's presents was Wii Just Dance for Kids. After everyone left our kids busted a move.

So that is some of the past 6 weeks in review. I will post more another time.

Scouting and Snowboarding

This past Tuesday was Blue and Gold Banquet. Every year they Dad's and Scouts are supposed to decorate a cake. So here you go.


Nathan with the finished product. They were supposed to give the cake a title and I suggested "Fast Food" I thought it was clever enough and surpisingly Nathan even liked it.

Waiting for Nathan to receive his awards. (Not sure why the quality is so bad)

Nathan earned his Wolf badge so I am pinning it on his shirt here.

Receiving the Mom's wolf pin.

Hayden also earned his wolf badge that night. These two do almost everything together.

Wednesday we let Nathan miss school to go snowboarding with his Dad and use the free Warren Miller tickets that they got last year. Nathan before a day of boarding.

Nathan got a snowboarding helmet for Christmas and it relieved me to know that he had it on. He mentioned when he got home that he hit his head a few times. I was grateful for the helmet. The helmet is neat because you can plug in an MP3 or Ipod into it and listen to music while you board. Nathan was really excited about that feature.

Preston made the comment when they got home Wednesday night how neat it is to watch Nathan board. He says he portrays such confidence and high self esteem when he is boarding. He really enjoys it and feels very proud that he can do it. I think these father son snowboarding trips are going to be a big memory highlight throughout their lives.

Cool picture

After a full day of boarding. Look at that helmet hair and awesome smile :-)

Video of Nathan boarding.

City classes for the girls

The city where we live offers a variety of classes and a very reasonable price. We have signed our kids up for many of the classes over the years. The past couple months Natalie and Taylor have enjoyed their classes.
Natalie was in a class for 2 and 3 year olds with a grown up. We sang, we danced, we pretended to be various animals, played musical instruments, played with various other props like parachutes, balls, scarves and pom poms. Natalie really enjoyed the class.

This is Natalie ready to blast off. We sing a rocketship song that all the kids love.

Now she is flying her rocketship to the stars or moon or sun.

Taylor took a beginning gymnastics class again for 3-5 year olds. I am really not impressed with the class and I think the teacher is odd but Taylor really enjoys it and asks to be in it.

I know she looks more like a ballerina then a gymnast. I bought her a little leotard (no clue if that is how you spell that word) that was a bodysuit with shorts. She wore it the first day of class and then we have lost it in her room since. The tu-tu is to cover her undies under the leotard that has become small.

It is time...

To finally update my blog. These are some miscellaneous pictures of things over the past couple months. The pictures are in no particular order.

I was able to help in Taylor's Preschool class a few weeks ago. It was great to see how Taylor interacted with the other kids in her class. I noticed that she is kind to everyone in the class and that they all are her friends. I think she will do great in Kindergarten. She gets along with others but she is also spunky enough that she will not put up with kids being unkind to her. Cute side note, the boy on the left with the striped shirt is named Grant. I learned from Grant's Mom at the Preschool Christmas program that Grant has a crush on Taylor and that he wants to marry her. Taylor of course is completely oblivious to it all and says that he is usually mean to her, which she doesn't understand that that is what boys do. His Mom said that the first day of preschool Grant came home and said "I met the girl I am going to marry. She is so cute." She said that is very much out of character for him and that the crush is still there 5 months later. I would have to agree with Grant on the part of Taylor being so cute. :-)
Nathan has one more game in the winter wham season of basketball. He is #5 in this picture. Nathan decided that he wanted to play in the spring season so we will start games again the first Saturday in April. Nathan is really improving his game. During this particular game he made 2 baskets. The second one he made was a difficult shot. I really wished that I videotaped this game. After he made the difficult shot he had a grin from ear to ear for a few minutes. Many in the crowd made comments during and after the game like "That is what it is all about right there" "Great smile, that is true happiness" Many spectators from both sides came up to Nathan after the game and complimented him. Nathan told me "Mom, the crowd loves me" He was on cloud nine for quite a while.

Action shot.

Family came into town a few weeks ago for a baby blessing for our new niece. This is Grandpa S and Natalie. They are playing with a piggy bank that is a favorite toy in this household. They sat here together for a long time. It was a cute moment.

A week or so ago I took the girls to a park near our house where there are ducks that you can feed bread to. The weather was amazing and the girls had fun. Here are a few cute pictures of the girls.

Postcard material right here :-)

Nathan decorated a gingerbread house at scouts a few weeks ago and he wanted a picture to document it before we threw it away.

Nathan after climbing a rock at a nearby park a couple months ago.

Taylor's hair is getting long and I enjoy trying new hairstyles, when she will let me that is.

Natalie loves to ride around on Preston's back. She likes to dig her toes into his pants to help give her support.

In December Preston and I went to our friend's Gingerbread House making party. It is a lot of fun. This year we spent hours of prep work before the party to make it easier to construct in the allotted time of the party. Well our ski lodge attempt did not go very much like we had envisioned. If only we could project the images in our head perfectly into real life. The ski lodge was equipped with a moutain with a ski lift in the background. I will be honest here, Preston gets pretty intense when it comes to these kind of things and I try really hard to just sit quietly and do exactly as I am told. :-) The lodge is standing up in all of these pictures but it slowly collapsed as the evening progressed and by the time we drove home I had frosting all over my clothes and a collapsed heap of the previous lodge materials.