September's Hodepodge of Kid Quotes and Pictures

One month until Kate turns 2 years old!  (She's hoping that I expand her hairstyle options once she becomes a big, bad two year old.)

Scott recently read a long passage from Isaiah during his school's chapel.  He did great and his fan club was so proud!!  I'm not sure who was more relieved when it was over though.  Whew! 

Camping Time!  So much fun to talk about!  So much fun to set up the tent!  So much fun to get into the sleeping bags!  So much fun to read stories by flashlight with Daddy! 

Then it came time to sleep and the kiddos begged to come back inside the house.  They said they were hearing too many nocturnal animals.  Maybe next year...

Speaking of backyard animals...look at the friends who stopped by to swing and slide one morning before school. 

Great garage sale find of the month...now who could resist that?!

"I played the duet all by myself!" bragged Natalie.

Kate and her Michael Jackson glove. 

Not a good sign when you fall asleep BEFORE dance class! 

The goal was to build a tower taller than Scott.  So close!  Kate squirmed off a lap shortly after this picture was taken and you can guess what happened next. 

Watch out for Kate-zilla!

Natalie in the backseat of the van:  57, 58, 59, 80...

Me:  No, Natalie, it's 60.

Natalie:  You messed me up!  Now I have to start all over!  1, 2, 3...

(Jon and I go back to talking and tune her out.  After our conversation, which wasn't THAAAAT long, we tune back in to hear...)

Natalie: A billion 7, A billion 8, A billion 9...

Jon: Wow, Natalie!  Your teachers will be impressed that you can count that all the way to a billion.

Natalie:  Yeah, I just get a little mixed up in the fifties. 

The kids were pretending to hold their usual church service.  Scott was attempting to play the piano, Kate was in the audience, and Natalie was standing on a chair belting out Amazing Grace.  She sang loudly and sincerely, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch, like you..."

Jon and I recently started teaching the Perky Penguins class at church again.  Scott warned us on the first Sunday about some of the children in his class and suggested that Daddy bring his handcuffs.  We laughed, but after teaching, we totally understood Scott's suggestion.  (Gulp)

Evolution Buster #346

We've been loving on caterpillars for the past few weeks.  Our first two (named Owen and Anna by the kids) were well loved.  The kids watched and reported about their activities often.  They sure do make a lot of waste which the kids found entertaining! 

Look at how small they started out!

A little bit creepy...don't you think?!

It was disturbing to Scott when his first pets formed their chrysalises.  (It seemed liked the plural form of chrysalis should be chrysali, but I looked it up!)  Anyway...he had difficulty falling asleep on the night he lost his pet to it's new form.  

After a couple of weeks, a beautiful butterfly emerged!  Only our Creator could design something so amazing!

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."  

2 Corinthians 5:17

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge...Scott & Natalie Style

The kids recently received an ALS ice bucket challenge from their good friends.  They watched their friends' cute video over and over and psyched themselves up.

When the big moment came though, Scott and Natalie couldn't quite bring themselves to go all the way...so they just dumped some ice water on their tummies.  That doesn't count!

 Kate took one for the team, however, and saved the day!

A Social Butterfly in the Making

So perhaps that's a bit of a stretch...but we are taking steps in the right direction.

Anyone who knows Scott, knows that he's pretty reserved in most social situations.  This year in kindergarten, I've been making him earn two points per day by initiating conversations with the other kids in his class.  He reports to me about his two conversations each day.  Here are a few examples of the riveting dialogue he has had in the past month...

Scott:  Do you have any trains?
Other kid: Yes, I have more trains than you. 
(We aren't sure how the other kid knew this, since it was only their third day of school together and they had never discussed trains before.)
=POINT FOR SCOTT


Scott:  What church do you go to?
Other kid:  The one by my house.
Scott:  What's the name of it?
Other kid:  I don't know.
=POINT FOR SCOTT

Scott:  What's your favorite color?
Other kid:  Blue
(End of conversation)
=POINT FOR SCOTT

You get the idea.  Well, today his "conversation" story really made me smile.  He told me he earned all of his points at recess because he started to go down the slide and discovered that there was mud on the bottom of it.  He jumped off and said that he figured the other boys would be okay with the mud, but that he should warn the girls in his class since he was guessing that they would not like it.  So he said that he went around and found all of the girls in his class and told each of them not to go down the slide due to the mud.  :) =POINT, POINT, POINT for the ladies' man 

They get their moves from their dad...

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Highs and Lows

High:  Natalie loves doing school work especially when she gets to use her dot paints and markers.

Low:  We've had too many "Magic Eraser" moments on the walls lately, so Kate must stick to the crayon tub at the table.  You can see how she feels about it.

High:  We went on a family walk/bike ride at the park to burn some of our pizza power.

Low:  Natalie was hot and let everyone know it.  She whined a lot, and Jon said, "Well, Scott's two more years older so there is hope."  As the whining continued, we came to the sad realization that maturity had little to do with it.  Natalie will whine when she's four, six, and sixteen.  Oh, how we love her.

 High:  We had a water balloon fight in the backyard. 

 Low:  We found out that the kids mostly just like to hold the water balloons.  Daddy had the most fun.  :) 

High:  Natalie loves this striped shirt and "sparkly tutu" and would wear it everyday if she could.  (Hence why she has it on in about 90% of my photos lately.)  Kate now has a big tu-tu-too! 

Low:  Natalie wasn't as thrilled about wearing one of my old dresses to church on Sunday.  I loved it on her, but she didn't (reason for the fake smile below). 

High:  Scott's doing well in Kindergarten and is liking it!

 Low:  I have more pictures of the girls than of Scott on this post, so he's going to get another one below.

To end on a high note, here are a few other fun memories as of late...

Natalie-  "I'm ready to play baseball!"

Monkey friends! 

Molly while making bread with the kids-  "I sense a blog post coming on!" 

True Love

Jon's dream come true...

After an afternoon with Jon on the range, I'm nominating Scott and I for son and wife of the year. 

 Actually, Scott loved it and felt super grown up.  He's already asking when we can go back again.  It was fun to spend time with my boys.  :)