Punkin patch....

Katelyn's last day at soccer....it's gotten too cold for her to play.

Cheering on the Razorbacks!

I can't believe that it has been a month since I posted lasted. I guess things have just been too busy for me to post and really not that interesting.... My birthday came and went. It was nice. We took Katelyn to the Tulsa zoo. She had the most fun riding the carousel.

We are trying to avoid germs as much as possible. Today we decided to go to the pumpkin patch that a co-worker of mine has. We had so much fun! Kim, from work, went with us. Katelyn was clinging to her once Kim offered to carry her. There has been so much rain that most of the pumpkins have not turned orange yet but the colors were awesome. We ended up with seven pumpkins of varying shades. One really neat one is green, yellow, and orange spotted. Katelyn loved them all of course and it was very hard to choose which ones to bring home.

More Soccer...

Tonight we had another soccer practice. They actually got to scrimmage and it was really funny!!! It reminded me of the time my brother and his kids were here and their son Isaac got upset when we were playing XBOX because, "no one showed me how to win." That was exactly Katelyn's mentally during the game. She even broke down and cried because the boys stole the ball from her. She is really going to have to toughen up if she is going to make it this season since there are a lot more boys than there are girls right now. But at least she looks cute while doing it.

I'm Winning!

Yesterday was Katelyn's first day of Soccer. She was so excited! We got up and dressed and went to the soccer fields at Asbell not really knowing what to expect for her first year. There was about 25 kiddos there to play, both boys and girls. They were all so cute in their soccer outfits! There were two coaches so they split up into two groups. We knew one of the little girls in our group but Katelyn made a new friend named Julia. They just moved here so it was a good opportunity for both of them. They played several little games that helped them learn some basic soccer terminology and Katelyn thought it was so much fun! They played the red light green light game. In this game you have to make small dribbles toward the goal when the coach says green light and put your foot on your ball and stop when the coach says red light. Katelyn didn't quite understand the concept of small dribbles so she was one of the first kids to the goal and back. She looked at me and goes "Mommy, I'm winning!" She was so excited and wanted lots of praise. It really is amazing how kids have such a competitive nature!

After practice we decided to make a trip Springfield to the bass pro shop. Justin is preparing for hunting season and we had been trying to tell Katelyn about alligator gar. She was wanting to see one. When we got there however, she was too preoccupied with the swimming turtles to say much about the gar. Justin got several things for his bow and Katelyn got to see lots of animals. We did get her a really cute camo hat that says future hunting princess. I think Justin really wishes that he could take her hunting too someday.

And of course since we were so close to Branson we had to make a pit stop at the Tanger outlet. I was wanting to get Katelyn her Halloween costume early. We went to the Disney store and they had all their outfits on sale. She decided it was between Belle or Jasmin. Since Jasmin was cheaper we went with that one but she really is going to be cute. We also went to Nike and were able to find her a new soccer ball since hers was the wrong size for only $6. I probably should have bought more and sold them on ebay because you can't even buy a soccer ball at Wal-mart that cheap much less a Nike one. Oh well....

Mud

Justin really doesn't think I should blog about this particularly funny incident but I just can't help myself! Yesterday I was reading my book (like usual lately) while Katelyn was playing with her horses in the living room. All of a sudden she came up to me holding out a dirty finger and she said, "Mommy I've got mud in my but!" I just rolled laughing becuase she really didn't realize what was on her finger! I know that is gross but we are still trying to teach her to wipe properly and that just prooved that we are still a long ways from perfect on that front....

She said another funny thing tonight. For a long time Justin has made fun of his brother Josh because when Josh was little Justin would say, "Let's go eat, shall we?" and Josh would always say, "My name's not Shalwee!" So Justin has been baiting Katelyn to say something similar and she finally did tonight but hers was something a little bit different. He asked the same question but she said, "I don't eat shallwees." Maybe that is a family joke but I think it is pretty funny how kids will answer a question even if they don't know what you are talking about. Maybe it is practice for when they are older. Smile and nod boys....Smile and nod!

On a different note....I have been reading a lot lately! For anyone that really enjoyed the Twilight series I would recommend the Vampire Academy Series. It was way better than Twilight and I never thought I woudl say. We are also looking forward to a new series that starts tomorrow on the CW. It is called Vampire Diaries and is based off another book series. I bought the first book tonight at Hastings and have read the first chapter so far. It sounds a lot like Melrose place with teenage vampires...we'll see. I may be setting myself up for disappointment after Arkansas Author Charlainne Harris' success with the Sookie Stackhouse series and True Blood on HBO. More later....

County Fair

Tonight we went to the Washington County Fair because it is supposed to rain for the rest of the week. We always make a point to go and see what we got on our entries and to look at all the exhibits, both animals and crafts. This year was the most fun yet with Katelyn but she was definitely more interested in the rides than the exhibits. There wasn't a lot of people there which worked to our advantage. Katelyn was able to ride the ponies by herself, pet both goats and a sheep, and get on every ride without waiting. We had a blast! Then we went to Logan's to enjoy a great meal for half the price of the fair food (After seeing some of the carnies I wouldn't recommend eating at the fair this year!)

My car went to the shop today to finally get the hail damage repaired. We left Katelyn's cd's in my car. On our way home from Logan's she asked to listen to her songs. When we told her that we couldn't because we left them in the other car she decided to sing them for us. We got to hear a wonderful medley of all the Disney songs she could remember from Aladin to Hercules. It was really cute!

Wading in the River

I promised pictures in the last post and I hold true to my word. This weekend was beautiful and full of picture opportunities. Saturday Justin woke up early and took a quick fishing trip with his dad so Katelyn and I stayed home and took it easy. It is the first weekend in a long time that we did not visit vegetable day (or the farmer's market as normal people know it). When Justin got home we took Katelyn to War Eagle Mill. This was not her first trip and probably won't be the last but it was the first time that we visited the mill when it was warm enough to dip your feet in the water. She loved searching for shells and walking on the slimy river rocks. I remember many weekends spent in those very waters swimming and wading and looking for "special" rocks. We also bought some pancake mix and yankee corn grits while we were there. We were able to enjoy the pancakes first thing this morning before going to church. Our pastor, Jack English has been doing sermons this month on marriage, divorce, and remarriage. A very interesting topic to me as it has personally affected my life. After church we went to Margret's house for a family dinner. Katelyn made some new friends and was able to play out in Margret's backyard for the better part of three hours. She has really enjoyed being outside so much this weekend but all of our allergies are taking a toll (hopefully nothing a few doses of allergy medicine won't cure). I hope everyone has a great week!

Mama, do you know this man?

We were driving home from Target this evening when Katelyn asked me, "Mama, do you know this man?" I was a little taken a back by the question so I turned around to see her holding up a nickel with the face pointed towards me. I don't know why but I said yes I know that man. And truthfully I feel like I know President Thomas Jefferson up close and personal. Justin and I were talking about this on the rest of the drive home and we realized that during a persons lifetime they probably touch the faces of our presidents more than they do their spouse or children's faces. Isn't that a scary thought!

I will try to take some more recent pictures this weekend and post them for everyone. I have been getting some requests recently so I will do my best to follow through. We don't have anything planned for the weekend but it is supposed to be gorgeous weather so I am hoping that we can all get outside and enjoy it. Justin is still recovering from his knee surgery so Katelyn and I may just have to go to the park and play for a little while. There is a great little park behind the subdivision across from the botanical gardens where Margret lives that is quiet yet fun for Katelyn. We may just make a visit to Margret and go to that park....who knows what the weekend will hold.....

20!

I recently purchased one of those preschool workbook that is supposed to help your child learn the basics like colors, numbers, letters, etc. to help Katelyn get some extra practice in. She loves it and wants to do color pages all the time now and it has prooved itself useful in the car to keep her occupied. Last night I was helping her with one of the harder pages, color patters. She was doing good in recognizing the patterns like blue, yellow, blue, yellow, blue, ? She would figure out that it was yellow. But she also wanted to count the colored beads and she actually counted to 20 and I only had to tell her one number which was a very big surprise to me because she has always had difficulty counting. So when Justin got home I made sure to tell him what she had done and he asked her about it. He said, "Katelyn can you count to 20?" And she said, "yes!" And he said, "well show me..." And she goes, "20!" She was just showing off and never would count for him but we thought it was so funny. Maybe you just had to be there but it was really exciting news that she was able to do it even if it was only the one time.

Oh today is horsey day at her new preschool and she is supper excited! They are suppose to have a mamma and her baby there so she is wanting to feed them and pet them and all that fun stuff.

Branson Weekend Getaway!

This weekend Justin and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. I know it doesn't seem like we have been married that long but we have and we wanted to do something a little bit different to celebrate our anniversary and the fact that we have now found Katelyn a new daycare. I know I haven't written about what has happened to several of the families there but to make it short we left Community Preschool and had to find somewhere else for Katelyn to go. Not only did Katelyn leave but I resigned from the board....probably too belatedly but time will tell for sure. If you need more information see last week's Fayetteville Free Weekly for the full short of it. (http://www.freeweekly.com/)

So anyway we wanted to do something different but we were both too busy to plan anything and Katelyn has been dying to go to the Butterfly Palace and "Silly Dollar City" in Branson so we decided to make this our last summer vacation and take her along with us. We have to agree with many of the reviews that we read about the Butterfly Palace being too overpriced but it was still fun nonetheless. Katelyn was scared to death of the butterflys too. This was the only picture I could get of a butterfly. But one funny thing that happened was that a butterfly landed on Justin's shirt and I was holding Katelyn right next to him. When he showed her the butterfly on his shirt she climbed onto a stranger's arm just to get away from the butterfly! It was really funny!After the Butterfly Palace we went to a few craft mall. If you have never been to the Branson Mill you should go sometime. It is a big with various local artists and there is some really need booths there. One guy was carving leather which was something new to me and Justin. His work was really nice! We also went to Spirit of the Dance. We both thought that Katelyn would really enjoy this show since she loves to watch Riverdance on Youtube and loves to watch dancing on tv....(Step Up, etc.) but she was bored with the show. There was a bit too many singing numbers for Justin's taste but it was nice and Katelyn was free!

Today we went to "Silly Dollar City" to celebrate KidsFest one last time this year. Katelyn loves all the trains, trucks, and tractors that you can climb on and all the toys and activities that are set up everywhere. We finally broke down and bought her a "berella" as she calls an umbrella with her name on it. She loved it and carried it for shade the rest of the day. We enjoyed many rides this time. Many more than normal but she got totally freaked out on Fire in the whole and was done for the day so we can home just as it was getting way too hot to be outside. Perfect timing!

Justin and Katelyn pulling themselves up the pole...by the Giant Barn Swing.

Katelyn's words of wisdom

Today we had a fundraiser for Katelyn's school at the Fayetteville Farmers market, took naps, and went to the NWA Naturals game with Mimi and Poppi. The game was REALLY hot! We decided to leave early because Katelyn was being really fussy but on our way home she decided to share some wisdom with us. In order to make friends at a baseball game you have to put on your "number suit" and go get the ball! We thought it was hilarious that we needed "number suits" to make new friends!

Go number suit Naturals!

Been Awhile....

Well it has been awhile and I apologize for not writing more. Several friends have begun telling me about the various blogs that they are following and how great it is when those writers update every day. I really don't know how anyone can get anything done if they are blogging every day but I will try to do better. I can for sure try to keep you updated on my Always Fit Challenge sponsored by KNWA. I weighed in on Thursday for the start of the contest and have been busy ever since but am already starting to reap the rewards. I unofficially weighed in last night (I got to sneak in to use the official scales though!) and have already lost 2 1/2 pounds since Thursday. I am so excited! And I hope that Justin and I will both make some changes from this challenge that will last a lifetime. Today we did our initial photo shoot at the gym. I thought we would just show up and take some photos and that would be it but no! They actually video taped us working out. Uugh! I was on my lunch break and I think I got a little too sweaty to go back to work but I had no choisce. You can check out my tv interview Thursday at 6:45 on KNWA. Lucky enough for my co-workers I had to leave because Katelyn got sick today...So at least one good thing came out of a bad situation. I took her to the doctor and he thinks that she has the croup again. Anyway, I hope that she gets over it soon enough.

I also wanted to let everyone know about the fundraiser that Community Preschool has coming up. We are hosting Kidz Korner at the Fayetteville Farmers Market this Saturday, June 11, 2009 from 7-1. There will be games (such as a life sized Operation game), grafts, and gifts for purchase. We would love for everyone to come out and show their support for our organization!

More Tutus and Tap Shoes

Last night Katelyn acted so much better than last week. She was chosen to be the class line leader and I think that really helped her be a better dancer because she was really paying attention to the teacher instead of playing. She still isn't as coordinator as some of the other little dancers but she is so much fun to watch!

Just Wondering....

Much to many people's happiness, Justin and I have been thinking more about when we want to have a second child. During these conversations I often find myself puzzling over just how people lived with so many children in such small houses in years gone by. As most of you know we currently live in a three bedroom one bathroom house that is cozy but really not that small. I just wonder how people were ever comfortable in the same living conditions with more children. We are cramped! We think we have decided to purchase a storage building in order to move many of Justin's hunting items such as the four-wheeler and the lawn care equipment out to the building to free up more practical storage room for Katelyn's outgrown clothes and toys. Heaven forbid we get rid of them and then need them sometime in the future. I just hate the fact that we only have one bathroom but I have come to the conclusion that if other families have done with less in the past surely we can live with one bathroom!

It all comes down to something that I heard on Opera's Spending diet show I guess. You just have to be happy with what you have instead of buying things you think will make you happy. Justin and I have decided to be happy with what we have regardless of whether we have another baby or not. We just have to figure out what to do with all the extra junk that is driving us crazy instead of making us happy. Please let me know if you have any good organizational ideas!

Golf and Dance

Katelyn experienced two big firsts since the last time I wrote almost a month ago...boy does time fly by these days! The first one was her first minature golf experience. SHE LOVED IT! She would make a great hockey player. I took a video to share but it is sideways. I'm posting it for your enjoyment but don't hurt your neck....sorry!

Her second big first was her first day of dance class. She is taking dance from a little studio called Tutus and Tap Shoes on Tuesday nights. Tonight was the first night and she was so excited to go but she didn't behave very well while we were there. She was also thrown off a little when everyone started tap dancing at the same time. It was quite loud. I took her because Justin had to work late and I found out that the parent's are only allowed to watch on the first night so I felt horrible that he didn't get to watch her and that my batteries were dying on my camera and they didn't take very good pictures. Here are a couple cute ones though...

Wedding Pictures finally....

I know I said I would post some pictures from the our trip soon but it has turned into a long time. Brittany is back from her honeymoon and has already created a new photo sharing site for the hundreds of pictures that she already has. I feel like I'm falling behind but we have been so busy with Justin's birthday, school functions, and Mother's Day that I just didn't have time until tonight while Justin and Katelyn are both occupied with different movies in separate rooms. It is actually quiet in our house for once! So here are some of my favorites from the trip....

We went to Katelyn's first birthday party for a friend from her preschool. The idea was really cute because the mom invited all the girls and asked them to dress like princesses. We still had Katelyn's flower girl dress so we did her hair up, painted her nails, and she put on her "princess" dress before going. They had so much fun jumping on the bed, playing games, eating games, and hiding in the closet! You never know what they will enjoy!

American Idol House Party

I know I haven't posted since I got back from Florida and I promise that I will post some pictures from our trip but I just have a minute right now and I wanted to share that I was selected to host an American Idol House Party on May 19th for the finale! I am an avid American Idol Watcher as are many people from my work so I am super excited about this opportunity! You can visit my house party page at http://houseparty.com/party/137907

It is going to be a blast! There should be a 2010 Ford Fushion at the party for everyone to look at as well. Let me know if you would like to come!

Easter and All that Jazz....

Tuesday night I was lucky enough to go see the Comodores. I know that they were a little before my time but no one says that a girl can't enjoy a night on the town. Justin was kind enough to watch Katelyn and I went to the concert with Marivel. We had a good time. We just wished that Lioneld Richie had been there. Friday I took most of the day off to spend at Katelyn's school party. They changed the time to 9:15 and moved it indoors because of the weathers. I regret that I didn't get any pictures but it was really cute to see all the little kids looking for eggs in their classrooms. They all got little treat bags with lots of little toys since they don't do candy at this school. The kids really loved it and they got to eat real easter eggs. I was very surprised that Katelyn ate more eggs than anyone else.

Yesterday we went to the Church's Easter egg hunt and then to Mimi and Poppi's to paint easter eggs. This year has been so much fun with Easter because Katelyn actually knows what is going on. She wanted to visit the Easter Bunny at the mall. She can't stop hunting eggs. And she loves to paint them. At the Church party a family there also brought three ducklings. Katelyn loved them. Below are pictures.

This morning we got up early and noticed that the Easter bunny came to visit us. For weeks we have been visitng a horse named Snowflake at the Hastings animal corral (this is a large tower filled with stuffed animals in the children's book section). She would talked to her and tell her she loved her and all that stuff. One day last week she noticed that Snowflake was gone and she was so upset. So of course this morning when she found Snowflake in her easter basket she was very excited! She was very excited to put on her gorgeous princess Easter dress that Nana and grandpa Pardy sent for her. She looked so cute!