Thomas!

It can go without saying, but Scott very much enjoyed his Day Out with Thomas experience.

Holding on tight to his train ticket!

The Sir Topham Hatt character was a bit intimidating, but Scott stood close enough for a quick photo. He did not want a hug or any interaction with this director of the railway. (I could understand!)

Thanks Dad/Grandpa for a fun day!

Wagons, Playgrounds, and Teething, OH MY!

Natalie loves rides in her new little wagon. (Thanks Aunt Maggie and Uncle Derek!)


Scott thinks it is only fair if they take turns. Scott doesn't get as far during his rides though. They really are becoming little buddies. So fun to watch!

Good times at the playground!



Natalie is 13 months already. She has five teeth and is working on getting another one tonight. She could live on lasagna/spaghetti and chicken nuggets. Hopefully she will expand her diet as she gets more teeth?? I'm not holding my breath.

Simply Scott

Blowing bubbles was fun...


while it lasted. Oops! Spilled a little!

Quotes overhead from Scott while playing with his engines. I think he's seen one too many Thomas episodes.
"Percy's driver applied the brake."
"He pumped his pistons and raced away."
"Toby, you were driving much too fast."
"Percy was coupled up to the freight car."
"Thomas applied his brake, but it was too late."


If you ask Scott his name, he may tell you that it's Rocky or Byron. It's been Rocky the Crane for a few weeks now, but this week he's been calling himself Byron the Bulldozer. He even insisted that we sign his Father's Day card with "Byron". He's regularly been calling me Cranky (the crane) for about a month now. "Can I have some more milk, Cranky?" or "Cranky! I need help!" I don't think he even understands what the word cranky means, so I'm going along with it. He informed me this afternoon that he wants his new baby cousin to be named "Alfie" after Alfie the Excavator, of course. On the way home from church he said, "I told my teacher that I was Rocky, but she didn't understand." The sweetest older lady was his teacher Sunday morning, and I had forgotten to put his name tag on him before class. I can just picture this conversation taking place! :)

"Actually" must be Scott's word of the week. It's been in about every other sentence lately.

For his birthday, I ended up making a Percy cake, AND I bought a store cake at the last minute. Scott and I ran in to chose one from Marsh while Jon and Natalie waited in the car. Scott immediately spotted the rainbow cake and said that he wanted that one. I tried to show him some with balloons, but he was sold on the rainbow. I thought that it looked a bit girly, but got it anyway since he was going to share it with Natalie and all. As I was having the Rainbow-loving cake decorator man write "Happy Birthday Scott and Natalie" across the cake, the negative rainbow connotation hit me. Too late. Oh well. Then, I paid for it and brought it to the car. Jon's first words to me..."You did not let him get a cake with a rainbow on it, did you?" After explaining my thinking and reassuring Jon that he could help Scott select his birthday cake next year, we started talking about how sad it is that a symbol so beautiful given to us by God has been so perverted in our culture to be a symbol of something else. Anyway, the rainbow cake made a hit and was devoured quickly.


Me: Scott, I'm losing my patience because you are not cooperating.
Scott: But NOW I'm cooperating. Do you have your patience back?


A few days ago, Natalie and I ran to the store before Jon had to go in for work. Jon was packing his lunch and explaining to Scott that he would have to go into work soon. Scott said, "But will somebody be here to keep an eye on me?"

Scott is enjoying being THREE and asked us to inform the waiter at the restaurant that he had turned three years old. However, when asked his age at a garage sale this weekend, he told one lady that he was 1 and told another lady that he was 5. Perhaps he was in character as Byron or Rocky at the time...who knows?!!

Nothing but Natalie

Recently, Natalie has been doing headstands a lot. She usually only does it on this particular kitchen rug, too. Ready for gymnastics, perhaps?!

Vacuuming? Snacking? She's probably seen Mommy multitask, as well! :)

Natalie's mission lately has been to empty things...drawers, trashcans, bookshelves, toy bins, diaper boxes...you name it, she'll empty it for you. One day I came home from the store and thought for a second that our house had been burglarized since the living room looked ransacked. I was relieved when I realized that it was just Natalie's work from earlier that afternoon.

She's a growler, too. When she falls and hurts herself, she usually gets right back up and growls it off. When she wants attention, she growls. When she's eating, she growls. She's probably growling in the picture below.

We love our crazy girl!

A Picture Post

The goobers are becoming good friends and partners in crime. They are both doing things to get the reaction of the other...sometimes good, sometimes bad.


Miss Natalie is starting to get into trouble more, which Scott thinks is hilarious. She is a character and likes her brother to laugh at her mischief.

Good morning! We begin our days early around here. I used to be an early bird by choice. Now, I'm an early bird not by choice. It was much easier to be an early bird on my own terms. :)


Scott recently celebrated his third birthday. He's already talking about his four year old birthday party! :)


Natalie enjoys stroller rides at the park.


TRAIN STUFF FOR SALE! Really! We are selling some of his track, a Tidmouth shed, a few trains, etc. (I got duplicates of some from a Craigslist purchase.) Let me know if you know of someone who may be interested in more info! I'll keep it cheap.

Natalie likes to dance!

Monkey see...
Monkey do...
Scott is learning police lingo.


I'm trying to get caught up on my pictures. Another picture post is coming soon...

"Luscious Cakes by Lindsey"...I can see it now

For the past 6 months or so, Scott has been talking about his upcoming birthday and his PERCY CAKE! For those of you who are not fully educated on Thomas trains, Scott will tell you that Percy is "the number six green engine." After calling a couple of places to get quotes for a "Percy cake" and after a pep talk from a friend who happened to have a train cake pan, I decided that I would attempt to make my own cake. Scott and I made a practice Percy cake this week in preparation for his party. Ta da...

Beautiful, eh? I'll be taking orders in the near future. Jon may even be able to quit his day job. It only took us about five hours to handcraft this masterpiece. We've nibbled on it all week, and Jon politely told me this morning that I could throw the rest of it away.

So...I'm still deciding what to do for the party this weekend. Run to the grocery or try my hand at another beautiful train cake?! I won't say which way I'm leaning in case some of the guests read this and decide not to come. :) Regardless, Scott was very delighted with his one of a kind Percy cake. He's now requesting a "Gordon" cake, too. Oh dear...