Eight is Great!

Eight years ago today our family's life became infused with more pink...more fairy dust and more belly laughs than we could have ever dreamed possible.

Happy 8th Birthday to Natalie the girl who...

* loves female pop or as she calls them "smokin' girl songs" 

* loves to eat spinach and pumpkin flax granola and once told me "please don't put potato chips in my lunch box anymore as they distract me from eating my vegetables"

* loves to spend her free time making up jokes, drawing and writing stories.  She tells me her dream is to become a famous author.

* never met a stuffed animal she didn't like. Her love for all things fuzzy and fluffy is seriously testing our occupancy limit.
* often understands her big brother better than her Dad and I.
* brings joy, laughter and fun everywhere she goes.

Natalie, 7 months

Here is a clip of her singing with her Dad at the age of 2. She had only heard the song once before but as you can see from the clip -- made it all her own.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1322298058977&l=5104408769264741176

Whether happy or sleepy - she could be found twirling her hair. 
Natalie, 2 1/2 years

The girl LOVES olives.
Natalie, 4 years

The Butterfly Whisperer
Natalie, 4 1/2 years

She LOVES bugs. She often carries them in her pockets.
Natalie, 5 1/2 years

She's a collector...from fairies and Littlest Pet Shop to buttons and candy wrappers.
Natalie, 6 1/2 years

She's a Brownie...with a passion for sales. 
"Ok, so you like Thin Mints?...Would you like 1 box, 2 boxes or 13?"
Natalie 7 1/2 years

Today I want to freeze her...this age...this time, but I also love watching her grow and mature.  Happy Birthday Natalie!

This morning we sent her on a scavenger hunt.  She found a treasure chest with a stack of $1s. 
We're off to the mall! 

Musings From Natalie #94

Natalie: "Mom, can you come with me to college?"
Me: "Sure, I'll help you get settled in."
Natalie: "I wish you could be my roommate."
Me: "Hmm...I'm not sure how that would work."
Natalie: "But I won't see you for 4 years!"
Me: "You'll come home to visit."
Natalie: "Okay! I'll come home every afternoon, but I won't be able to see you in the mornings because I'll be working."

2,555 Days of Grace

7 years ago today...

* The number one song in the U.S. was Justin Timberlake's My Love.
* Our family car was a 2001 Honda Civic
* A gallon of gas cost $2.23
* Top rated T.V. shows included American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, House and Desperate Housewives.
* The Cardinals won the World Series

And, we welcomed a "chubby bunny" into our family.  We named her Natalie Grace.

She's tenacious, funny, witty, loving, thoughtful, creative and as her name suggests -- a blessing to us all.  I couldn't have picked a better little sister for Noah if I had tried. 

Happy Birthday Nat!

Musings From Natalie #56

At 3 a.m:
Natalie: "Mahhhm, I had a bad dream."
Me: "Alright...I'll come sleep with you."
 (dang you Scooby Doo...)

At 7 a.m:
Natalie: "Mom! I can't believe I slept all night without the nightlight!"
Me: "Do you think it could have been because I spent half the night in your bed with you?"
Natalie: "I had the best dream...about WORMS!  I dreamed about baby worms hatching from eggs.  The eggs had these little pink stripes on them and..."

Musings From Natalie #55

Me: "Natalie, please put your feet down at the table and sit like a lady."
Natalie: "Aww, Mom.  Being a lady is no fun...they don't even get to splash in mud puddles or be funny and tell jokes.  Being a lady is sooo boring!"

Musings From Natalie #54

Natalie: "Mom, I am so proud of cows."
Me: "What do you mean?"
Natalie: "Their milk is just so delicious!"


Natalie: "Mom, are we related."
Me: "Yes."
Natalie: "Are you and Dad related."
Me: "No."
Natalie: "You aren't?...but you're married and you kiss a lot."
(Hmm...rapture, relish, regard, respect...but not related)

Musings from Natalie #53

Natalie: "Mom, do you grow blueberries?"
Me: "Yes.  They are a plant."
Natalie: "Then how do you get macaroni?"

Natalie: "Mom, how many days will I be alive?"
Me: "Hopefully more than I can count."

Natalie: "I'm so glad I chose you to be my mom."
Me: (Speechless)

Musings From Natalie #52

Natalie: "Mom, can I play on the iPad?"
Me: "No. Go play and use that great imagination of yours."
Natalie: "I can't because I already deleted it."

Musings From Natalie #51

Convo with Natalie after VBS camp:
Natalie: "Mom, my camp counselor is a teenage boy...just like last summer."
Me: "ummhmm."
Natalie: "I can't remember his name so I decided to call him Smokey Pants...he said that was ok."
(Dear God: I'm going to need more than one village for this one.)

Musings From Natalie #50

Convo with Natalie as we head into the building for her first day of vacation bible school camp:
Natalie: "Mom, do you think everyone is nervous today?  Because I have caterpillars in my stomach that are getting ready to turn into butterflies."
Me: "I'm sure everyone is a little nervous and excited.  You are going to have a GREAT time!"
Natalie: "What do they do there?...give you foot massages?"
Me: "Foot massages?  Where did you get that idea?"
Natalie: "You said it's called vee-cation camp."
(Sigh...I think I need one.)

Mollie and the Two Cats

Aside from hatching plans to catch a fairy, probably one of Natalie's favorite things to do is have me transcribe her stories.  She has so many!  Below is a recent one she shared with me.  I write her words down verbatim.  She instinctively adds dialogue and lots of description and naturally follows the age old writing rule: Show Don't Tell.  

Mollie and the Two Cats by Natalie
After school Mollie and her mom saw two cats – a momma cat and a kitten. 

Mollie said, “Mom, can we keep them?”

Mollie’s mom tried to pet the cats, but the baby cat hissed at them and the momma cat put her leg over the baby cat’s mouth because she didn’t want the hissing to scare Mollie and her mom.  Mollie’s mom started thinking about keeping the two cats.  She looked into the cute eyes of the kitten and her big momma cat.

“Can we keep them?” asked Mollie one more time.

Finally her mom nodded yes.  She named the fat momma cat Pinky and the little kitten Pink.

Mr. Blue, their next door neighbor hates cats.  He never ever gets dirty.  Mr. Blue is the mayor.  Mollie went to see if she could have a play date with his daughter, Sarah.  Mrs. Blue came running along.  She is a little small.  She held Mr. Blue’s hand and smiled because she loves cats.  Mrs. Blue started to pet the kitten but the kitten hissed at her, but she didn’t mind.

One day Mr. Blue had a plan.  He was going to pull the two cats tails.  Mrs. Blue raced over and told Mollie what he was going to do.

“Hide your cats!  He’s going to pull their tails!” said Mrs. Blue.

Mollie hid the cats under her bed.  Mr. Blue couldn’t find them because they went to sleep and made no sound.  Mr. Blue thought about how painful it would be to the cats to pull their tails and changed his mind.  Now he loves cats…but he hates dogs.

Sweet Fairy Dreams

Natalie is obsessed with fairies and tonight decided she would find out once and for all whether fairies really do exist.  Using an old shoe box she fashioned a tiny abode that surely no fairy could resist.  She furnished it with a doll bed, complete with cotton ball pillow and a quilted toilet paper comforter.  She thought long and hard as to what kind of food a fairy would like best.  "It should be sweet and small.  Blueberries are perfect!" shared Natalie.  She originally included a glass bowl full of sudsy water -- a "shacoozy", but I convinced her that no fairy would be taking a dip tonight as I feared the water would freeze and shatter the bowl.  Before I tucked her in she asked me where fairies go to the bathroom.  I told her they probably just go outside like when you go camping.  She looked at me in disbelief and then said, "But, that's not natural.  Can you have Daddy make a toilet for my fairy box?"

"You mean like a latrine?" I asked.  

"No!  A REAL toilet.  He'll just need to attach some pipes so the water can go down.  Put that on his list, ok?" she insisted.

Poor Steve, no holiday rest for him.  Looks like he'll need to make a trip to Lowe's tomorrow. 

How could any fairy resist?  Berries, shiny coins and an animal print rug made from a piece of felt.

I wonder how long I'll need to eat berries and leave "leaf notes" behind?
If I'm lucky, at least for a couple years. 

Natalie's Dark Tale

At 3 a.m. I heard footsteps on the stairs.  Instantly I knew...Natalie had had another nightmare.  Since her dreams tend to be very complicated and full of detail, I didn't ask questions, just lifted the blankets and allowed her to climb in bed with us.  However, I knew the next three hours would involve a wrestling match of sorts with her as a sleeping companion.  Oh well, such is the life of being a Mom and one day I'll miss this, right?

In the morning, she wanted to share with me everything about her "nightmare".

"So, Mom we were in the kitchen and the Brauns were with us. I was sitting in my pink chair.  You made me a bagel with chocolate chips (A Natalie special) and Noah took one of my bagels and ...and HE ATE IT!  THEN, Carter (4 year old friend) looked at the other piece and I said, "Don't you dare!" and then he grabbed it AND HE TOOK OFF RUNNING DOWN THE HALL AND THEN...AND THEN...HE DROPPED IT AND THERE WAS MELTED BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS ON THE FLOOR..."

As she recounted her dark (dark chocolate, that is) tale to me, her voice grew louder and went up about two octaves while I sat speechless.  I don't remember the rest of her dream because at this point the only thought that penetrated my brain was...it's got to be 5 o'clock somewhere.

Musings from Natalie #25

Natalie: "Mom, when am I going to get a baby in my belly?"
Me: "Not for a long, long, long, long time. You have to be married, too."
Natalie: "Mom, do dogs have to get married?"


Pointing to a loaf of Great Harvest cinnamon bread Natalie asked, "Can I have more of that magical bread?"



Natalie: "Mom, can I have a Dum Dum sucker?"
Me: "Sure."
Natalie: "Mom, I think I have a habit."



"Mom, find me a smokin' girl song," she asked.
Here's her defintion.

Bertday Love

On November 15, 2006 at 9:24 a.m. we welcomed Natalie Grace into the world.  She weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long.  

Today she is a funny, quick-witted kindergartner who sometimes forgets that I am the parent and she is the kid.

"Look at this chubby bunny! said my OB.

Below are some of my favorite photos and things she's said to me over the years:

Chocolate Pudding Showdown

“A chocolate chip would cheer me up.”

Natalie, age 2 1/2

Coon Cap and Crumpets

While I applied my make-up, I let Natalie put on some Chapstick and told her it would protect her lips.  She replied, “You mean from monsters and bats and stuff?”

Natalie, age 3 1/2

While viewing the live beehive at Powder Valley Conservation Center, I pointed out the queen bee to the kids to which she replied, "Look at all her husbands!"

Natalie, age 4

Look what I caught!

"Mom, now that I'm almost 5...I'd like to talk to you about getting my nose and ears pierced."

Natalie, age 4 and 2 weeks

"Mom, why do boys have a penis? asked Natalie

"That's just how God made them." I replied

"Does God think he's funny? asked Natalie

Natalie, age 4 1/2

"Mom, what did you dream about last night? asked Natalie

"I didn't have any dreams because I was just too tired," I replied.

"That's ok, Mom.  Next time just put faith in your pillow," she said.

Natalie, age 4 1/2

"Mom, I'm ready for our walk," she said (Nevermind that it was sunny and 80 degrees)

"I'm bored," said Natalie

"Why don't you make a card for your Aunt Joanne.  It would make her day," I offered.

"No, I want to make my day," she replied.

Natalie, age 5

"Natalie!  Why are you screaming in the house?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry Mom.  I was just trying to break glass," she explained

Natalie, age 5 1/2

_________________________________________________ 

On Thursday we marked her special day with a trip to Claire's Boutique to have her ears pierced.  She's been begging to have it done since she turned 4. Initially she was nervous and requested that Noah be the one to hold her hand.  She selected her "bert-stone" for starters and in the end had me hold one hand while Noah held the other. She was brave and only uttered a small single, "ow" during the entire process.  

Before

After

Musings from Natalie #24

"Mom, I have too many friends.  I'm going to give some of them to Noah," shared Natalie.



Natalie: "Mom, how old is Ainsley?"
Me: "She is 5."
Natalie: "But, why is she taller than me?  I'm almost 6.  That doesn't make any sense."



"I wish I may I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight -- I wish that everyone was happy with what they had and that all kids' wishes came true and that trees would walk and talk and sing and dance," whispered Natalie from the backseat.


Natalie: "Mom, can I have another piece of candy because I didn't like those candy sticks at all."
Me: "Why did you eat all of them if you didn't like them?"
Natalie: "Well, I didn't want to be wasteful."

Musings From Natalie #23

"I think God is my great, great, great, great, great, great, great Daddy," said Natalie


Natalie: "Mom, why is that lady just standing there?"
Me: "She's waiting for the bus."
Natalie: "Why doesn't she drive?"
Me: "Probably because she can't afford to buy a car and put gas in it."
Natalie: "Why don't we just stop and pick her up and take her to her house?"


Me: "Tuesday you guys are off school because it's election day."
Natalie: "What does that mean?"
Me: "It means everyone will be voting for the next president -- either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney."
Natalie: "MITT ROMNEY! MITT ROMNEY!!"
Me: "Have you been talking to your Dad?"
Natalie: "Nope...I just like RAM-en noodles!"

Historically Fun

"I'm gonna miss this place," said Natalie

And, I had to agree.

For the past four weeks, Natalie and I have had so many wonderful adventures together.  We took a ride on a horse-drawn carriage.  We explored up to our elbows with containers of polymer crystals, rice and oats.  We discovered half a dozen ways to play with tree gum balls, pipe cleaners and modeling clay. We took a ride in a pretend hot air balloon fashioned from a laundry basket and an extra large helium balloon. We dressed up in fancy hats and crowns.  We pretended to pack for a trip to the World's Fair and decorated a paper parasol and top hat.  We learned about other cultures - from Japan to Africa.  I never would have guessed we could do all of these things and MORE... under one roof... and for only $20 bucks for four - 2 hour sessions.

Although The Missouri History Museum has been offering "Parent & Me" classes for years, until last month, I had never heard of them.  I guess I had stereotyped the museum to be a stuffy place for retirees to hang out and meander through the displays. I never imagined it could be a place where young children would be welcomed to learn and explore, too.  I'm so happy my friend, Ritika, shared this "best kept secret" with me...so I can blab all about it -- to YOU!

Not only is the museum beautiful and well maintained, but the folks who work there, absolutely LOVE their jobs as evidenced by their warmth and enthusiasm for teaching kids about days gone by.  Whether we painted or pretended to be animals -- they got down on their knees and got dirty, too.  They listened and encouraged and invited questions from all the children. They even took pictures and developed them and then provided all the materials for us to make and take home a keepsake photo album to enjoy.

If you are interested in learning more about The Missouri History Museum, call or visit their website  . In addition to the Parent & Me courses, they offer lots of other family-friendly events like storytelling, family tours, gallery activities and Twilight Tuesdays.  The best part is that many of these offerings are completely FREE of charge.

Nat and Kiran take a ride.

Caring for balloon animals.

Nat cares for her baby elephants.

The girls loved the polymer crystal sensory area the best.

Nat makes an American Mommy and baby ghost from clay 

Throughout the sessions - they took pictures and asked the kids questions and created story boards. 

So many pipecleaners...so little time!

We learned about the 1st Olympics held in St. Louis. Nat shows off her mad weightlifting skills. 

Kids just wanna have fun!

All About Leafy by Natalie

My kids are like most -- they just love animals.  But, for Natalie, her love extends to include all of God's creatures...even those with up to 100 legs.  A few weeks ago she found a caterpillar in our yard and was all too happy to snatch it up and take care of it.  She was so in love with her new wormy friend, that she decided to write a book about him. However, after several days of feeding him leaves and rinsing out his jar, she announced, "Caterpillars are so much work!"

Yeah...so, if taking care of the needs of a pet the size of my pinky finger are too much for her, I'm pretty sure we aren't ready to add any furry friends to our family.

And, after reading her book, I realized -- caterpillars and kids have a lot in common.

The Food Ran Away by Natalie

Once there was a boy named Kevin and he liked to play with his food.  One day his food came to life and wriggled to his neighbor Molly Lolly’s house and then they danced in the cabinets and met other foods like onions and squash and potatoes, too!  There was an apple and an orange and maybe even a grape, too.  They danced till dawn.  When it was dawn Kevin was sad because his grapes and his oranges and his apples were gone.  Then he boo hoo’d all the way to bed.

The End.

Kevin's Fruity Friends