Happy Birthday to ME!

GULP!!!

It's my last year in my 20's!!! I can't believe I just wrote that. Yuck. I still think of myself as a ripe 'ol 21 year old...so to think I'll hit the big 3-0 next year makes me a little queasy to my stomach.

Scott took the day off and let me sleep in and then took me out to breakfast. I was "given" the day to go shopping, but it was pouring rain outside and I just didn't feel like leaving the house again! Instead, later in the afternoon, Madison and I took off and did her school clothes shopping together. It was actually a lot of fun because she wanted to try on and model every single piece of clothing I picked out for her. Little diva! Later than evening, Scott and I went out to eat at my favorite restaurant, The Melting Pot, sans children. There's nothing like sitting at a restaurant for two hours without kids screaming, pulling and wanting things. Yipee!!

For Traci- a picture of our food as you requested. Sorry I forgot to take the picture until we were about half way done. For those of you who don't know, The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant, so when you order your food, they bring all the meat out completely raw and you cook it in a fondue pot at your table. It's so neat, plus the meal takes about 2 hours from start to finish (because of course it starts with a cheese appetizer fondue and ends with a chocolate dessert fondue), which allows a lot of talking time!!

We could all learn to belly dance

Especially from Madison...she's a pro now! We went to the 4th Friday celebration in Uptown Westerville this evening. Every fourth Friday throughout the summer, Uptown is full of fun and activites for people of all ages! This particular night was a culture festival and Madison jumped at the first opportunity to have one on one belly dancing lessons. Now when you ask her to do it (or sometimes you don't even have to ask!), she start whipping those hips around and snapping her fingers. So funny.

Cousin time!

We met Sean and Ryan the zoo today and had a super fun time. We live so close and don't do things together nearly enough. Look how cute they are together. Nathan always seems so much more "boyish" when he is around his cousins...it reminds me how badly he needs to play with boys more often.

We think Ryan was trying to portray the "I was dropped on my head as an infant" image. He could be a poster kid!! :)

Ryan, Madison, Nathan and Sean.

A new 'do to go with the new smile!

Madison has been asking for a few weeks now to get her haircut short. A bunch of her friends have recently chopped their locks and I think she feels the need to follow suit. But beyond the peer pressure, her hair is just LONG, it's thin, and she was lucky enough to inherit my naturally curly, always needs-to-be tamed hair. Today she laid on the begging pretty hard and I caved. I tried one last time to convince her to wait until closer to school so she can get a new look just before school starts, but she had made up her mind.

Off to Sweet 'n Sassy we went! And because they were running a few minutes behind when we got there, they painted her fingernails as a fun bonus, which of course she didn't object to.

When we came home and laid Nathan down for a nap, her and I had a mini-spa afternoon and did pedicures on our toes, complete with soaking our feet in the jacuzzi tub, a sugar rub, foot lotion and painted nails! She was sick this weekend, so this was just what the girl needed to get back on her feet! A little day of pampering. :)

About 6+ inches chopped off!!

It's gone!

My little girl, really isn't looking so little anymore!!!!

I'm waiting for you, tooth fairy!

This morning while eating a frozen Gogurt, it popped right out! No pain! This darn tooth has been bugging her for well over a month now. It's been loose, but not loose enough...just in the last week or so, it really started wiggling. Aunt Rosie tried to pull it out yesterday, to no avail.

The other front tooth is loose too....here we go again!

A leisurely summer afternoon...

Our friend, Sarah, invited the kids and I over for a swim at her dad's "house". She used the term "house" very loosely. Needless to say it was a perfect summer afternoon hanging out at the pool, listening to music, jumping off diving boards and soaking up the sun. Wish every day could be like this! Well, wait a second, if I'm wishing for things....I wish this was MY house!

Nathan with only half of the house behind him...the rest didn't fit on the camera!

Finally, Nathan is hangin' out with some boys!! Such a ladies man....
Me and my girl.

Thanks again, Sarah!!! :)

NOT how I wanted to spend a summer Sunday afternoon

But it HAD to be done.

Cleaning the playroom, that is. It was out of control. This is not an out of ordinary event, as anyone who visits our home quickly finds out. However, each time I spend 5 hours cleaning and organizing this *lovely* room, I swear to both myself and the kids that I will never do it again. It's their responsibility. But alas, 4-5 weeks later when every toy imaginable is on the floor, including sticky lolipop sticks and crumbled leaves from outside, I admit defeat and hang my sorry head as I march back into the room 'o toys.

But this time is different. This time, I'm serious. No more! I sent Madison in alone today to do the work by herself and she didn't enjoy it one bit. After many lectures and even more breakdowns (and, finally, a little help from mom), the playroom is clean. Madison spent a whopping 4+ hours cleaning this room today and I hope beyond hope that it was a wake up call for her, because I explained that the next time she lets the room get to this point, I will not come to her rescue.

We both agreed that spending a little time before bed each night might be the answer to her troubles of keeping the room clean, so we will see!

Oh, how I wish I had taken a before picture!!!

An evening stroll

Nathan got some major one on one attention this evening from Scott and I. Madison went for a sleepover at Nana's house and the three of us went out for dinner and ice cream. Boy, what a difference going from two kids down to one kid makes! It was relaxed, quiet, and there was no fighting for attention. Nathan was being SUPER cute, completely soaking up all the attention he was getting. When we left the house to go out to eat, he was playing with pretend money (coins) and brought them with him. In the car, he announced that HE was paying for dinner. He didn't forget about the money he brought all throughout dinner and kept asking, "I pay now?" Finally, when it was time to pay, he gave the waitress two plastic coins. The smile on his face melted my heart...he was so proud! We had a really fun night. When we got home, the three of us headed out for a walk in the neighborhood. But as boys will have it, Nathan turned every running sprinkler in the neighborhood into his own personal water park. When we were almost back home, I ran to the house for my camera. I couldn't miss capturing his cuteness on camera!

After snapping 20 or so pictures, he asked me to stop taking pictures and just watch him. He caught me a couple times still snapping and he would come towards me with this look of disappointment on his face and say, "Hey!! No more pictures!! Put the camera on the ground. Watch me, mommy!!"

I just love this boy to pieces!!!

Movies by Moonlight!

While frequently taken for granted, we are very fortunate to live in a city with a lot of opportunities for fun! Throughout the summer months, Easton puts on an outdoor movie, on a big blow up screen, once a week...best part is, it's free! We attended as many as we could this summer and had a lot of fun throwing out a blanket, snacking on yummy treats and watching a movie underneath the warm summer sky.

Madison and Brynn (forming a mustache out of a gummy worm)

Nathan at the movies with one of his many girlfriends, Finley.

July 4th

My favorite holiday of the year!!

Every year, the city of Westerville puts on a very fun and patriotic 4th of July parade, complete with dancers, marching bands, flying candy and overhead fighter jets. Both kids are still at an age where you can just see excitement in their eyes. Nathan is especially overjoyed as the police cars and firetrucks drive by. It was a perfect, hot July afternoon for it! Afterwards, we enjoyed the evening cooking out with friends, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores, doing sparklers, watching fireworks, and then spending a very late night outside doing our very own firework show. Despite the fact that our neighbor took a hefty drive into the middle of nowhere for very cool and "illegal" fireworks, the kids were absolutely fascinated with the cheap black "worms" that you burn on the sidewalk. Go figure!

My darlings at the parade

Nathan - oh so very serious about his candy collecting



Making s'mores!
It's not the 4th of July without sparklers!