Happy Feet

So today Nate went and saw his first movie in the theatre. Regal Cinemas does a free kids movie 2 days a week during the summer, and since our local theatre is a Regal Cinemas, it works out nicely. So we went with Phoebe and her family, and Nate and Phoebe loved it. (Aside from the part when the sea lion tires to eat them, and then the whales, oh and the part with the rocks almost crushing them in the sea, and them almost getting blown away in the blizzard...) But they sure loved the dancing part. They danced and danced and danced. There were some happy feet in our aisle. Nate now wants to go to more movies.
In other news, I have found myself strangely addicted to facebook. Even though not much goes on, because I don't really leave too many comments on other people's walls, I'm still at that beginning part where I am becoming friends with more people every day, so it keeps drawing me in. And, people want to be friends with me. I sent out my initial requests, but all of these other people have found me and requested to be friends with me. I'm so popular.

Oh yeah...

Oh yeah, in addition to all of that other stuff that I did last week, I also joined facebook. And I'm going to have to agree with Erin on this one, I just don't think I need it. The only reason that I joined was because a roommate from college who I have not talked to in years and years requested to be my friend, so I thought it would be ok to reconnect with her. Of course, I came to find out that many other people that I have been desperately wanting to contact are also on facebook, so that was a bonus. The thing is, I'd rather read someone's blog than look at your facebook page, it's just more personal. But not everyone has time to blog, so I guess this will have to do. So that was part of my week last week too, and I meant to mention it, but then I forgot.

A Busy Week

So for those of you who do not read my losing my needles blog anymore, I thought I'd give a little recap on what a week it's been. I started running, and today my knees hurt so badly that when I crouched down to put some pans away in a cupboard I thought that I would be stuck in that position for the rest of my life.
This week I was called a "Desperate Housewife" and a bad mom for putting my kids to bed by 8:30 because I just didn't want to deal with them.
This week I went and saw my good friend Jana steal the show in Once Upon a Mattress.
And finally this week I celebrated spending 5 wonderful years with my DH Jesse.
In celebration I thought I would share 5 things about Jesse that most people probably do not know.
1. In Jesse I found someone who is more paranoid than I am. I didn't think it was possible, but he jumps at noises more than I do. As I result, I feel very safe being married to him. He never takes any chances when it comes to his family's safety. (He would like to point out that I will not let him buy a gun.)
2. Jesse bites his nails when he is watching TV. He says that it is when he is nervous, but he also does it when he is apathetic. It is one of those things that is particularly endearing to me, yet at the same time, I don't want my children to learn that habit.
3. Jesse can pick up any sport he wants to play. Within weeks of learning a sport he is able to play with those who have been playing for years.
4. Jesse not only can learn sports quickly, but picks up other things quickly as well. He wants to be the best he can be at the things that he has been asked to do, whether it be his calling at church or assignments at work. He is extremely dedicated to learning the things that he needs to know.
5. Jesse has a very soft side to him, especially when it comes to his family. I know that he values us and could not live without us. (But I mean, really, who could?!)

So there is my week. I am very excited to end it sitting on the couch watching Ultimate Fighting Champion with my husband on our anniversary.

We Survived

Well, we survived the week without daddy. It was actually pretty easy. He came home on Wednesday for the day and night, and we were at my mom's house on Thursday. We had Phoebe and Pete and Colleen come over to play on Friday, and we just made it a stress free week. I didn't leave the house after lunch time, and we just took it easy. I made a first attempt at potty training Nate, so we had new things to do (Play Dough, bubbles, new movies) There were a lot of accidents, and no real forward movement towards being potty trained, but we did get over his intense fear of wearing big boy underwear. That was good.

It's been hot, so we've been in the pool. Nate is practicing being a hip teenager with is baggy shorts. Poor skinny boy. Maybe next year when he is 4 these shorts that are a size 24Mos will fit him...

This is what Lizzie does when we are in the pool. That is of course until Nate starts throwing water towards the door, then she retreats.
And on Saturday we took Daddy to the Catoctin Zoo for the first time. It was a hot day, but we survived. The most interesting thing that we saw was that there was a turtle in the alligator pond. We wondered about that for a little while, and then we saw an alligator swim over to it. The picture will tell you what happened next... No! He didn't eat that poor little turtle, but he did try to pull him into the water.

So that is our life right now. It's too hot to really do anything these days. I'm ready for fall!

New Developments and Tricks

So it's been quite a month for Graham. It started with of course him being up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth. That was near the end of June.
July brought teeth. He worked on those front teeth for a long time, and boy are we glad that he finally got them out! (Until of course he tries to bite you.)
He finally decided that it would not be so bad to be a sitter. He could do it for a while, but he was not stable, and he just liked being on his tummy better. More reach. But lately he will stay sitting for quite a while before he decides that he needs something that is out of reach.
He also just this weekend has learned that he can go from lying down to sitting. That of course meant the dreaded lowering of the crib. Oh well.
And then he has started going after things. He has been rolling all over the place and pivoting and just all around moving for a long time now, but just this weekend he decided that he could move in a scooting or crawling motion towards something that he wants. He has to really want it though. For instance, a cell phone is worth crawling towards, but a teething ring isn't. Nate's cars are worth crawling towards (quite quickly too) but crawling towards Mommy is just mean. I mean, I can pick him up, can I not? He cannot understand why bother crawling if I am capable of doing that. If he cries loud enough he won't have to.
So yeah, it's been a fun month for him. I can imagine that it will be a fun few more months as he reaches the big milestones in the next 6 months.

Wish me luck

Well, Jesse is now gone to Scout Camp. This is the first time I will be alone with both kids for a week. Jesse's job, thankfully, does not call for much travel, so this is not something I am used to. So if you can't find me at the end of the week, check the local loony bins.

Painting Time

So when we got Nate the easel for his birthday, we got him an art pack that came with everything he needed to enjoy it to the fullest. Up until now I have not been adventurous enough to get out the paints. Nate actually did a good job of it, and we even kept things clean. I am kind of anal about Nate's toys. I inventory all of the pieces regularly to make sure that we have all of them. I also like to keep things clean. This is a problem with art paraphernalia. We did make it through the experience with the easel no worse for the wear.
We thought that today would be a good day to try out the paints so that Nate can make some pictures for my dad who is going to undergo surgery for a tumor pressing on the nerves in his neck. He has been battling cancer for a while now, and we are confident that he will get through it, even if the doctors are not so sure. It is one of the times in my life that I am so glad to have the gospel in my life. I don't think we could have gotten through this without the Lord's help.
Anyway, I get to go down to the hospital and sit with my mom while she waits for my dad to be out of surgery. It is an 8 hour thing. I won't be able to be there the whole time, but I will come down for the second half of the day. My sister-in-law Cammi is going to come and watch the boys for me so I can go. She really helps me so much with the kids, and I am so glad to have her close.
So that's it. Kind of a disjointed entry, but my thoughts are a bit disjointed today.