Rain, Hail...and Tears

We have had quite a stormy June so far. After a week or so of unsettled weather, clouds, wind and threats of rain, I commented to Bryan that I wished it would just pour. I was tired of the stormy skies and no rain. It had rained in other areas but missed Herriman for the most part. Well, I wish I could take that back now. Yesterday we had rain on and off most the morning and then about 6pm it started to hail...large pea size hail for about 15 minutes follow by a down pour. My rain gutters were filled with ice and so the water pour off my roof like a water fall, filling my window wells, drowning my flowers, and frightening my 2 little children. I tried to take a few pictures but every time I opened the door, the screaming and crying increased, so the pictures don't do it justice, but I had a good inch of hail on our back patio table. It looked like it had snowed. Later in the evening, after pumping water out of window wells, and getting two kids to bed, I went out to survey the damage. My yard literally looked like tossed salad...like a deranged Edward Scissorhands had attacked my flowers and vegetable garden.
After:

Before...taken 1 week ago.

Now it was my turn to cry. Overwhelmed, I went inside and called my sister and cried about my loss...I thought for sure I was going to have to replant my entire yard. Just when everything was starting to look good and grow...just shredded. Well, my sweet sister came out this morning and helped me clean up debree and fertilize. There is hope for my flowers and vegetables...hurray! I will no long beg for down pours! While we were cleaning it up, I just kept thinking well at least I'm not a farmer and these vegetables are not my livelyhood...just a hobby! I'm hoping for 80 degree weather and have new sympathy for those that have been through tornadoes and lost everything!

Natalie Turns 3!

Our little princess turned 3 years old last week. She has been anticipating this birthday ever since her brother celebrated his birthday in January. Whenever the subject of birthdays has come up since then, she has commented on that fact that she'll have a birthday soon. The past few weeks we have talked about it daily and she has sang Happy Birthday to herself many times!

We threw a Princess Tea Party and invited our family to join us for pink cupcakes cookies, brownies, pettifours and lots of candy (Natalie's favorties). It all turned out so cute if I do say so myself! We sent out invitations shaped like little dresses. As I was putting the finishing touches on the party setup, Ben asked me, "Isn't this a princess party? Where's all the princess stuff?" I replied, "Well, Natalie's the princess." He responded..."oh, okay." The two then disappeared and I hurried with some final preparations. The doorbell rang with the first guests arriving and they came down the hall. He had dressed her up in her Snow White costume, gown, crown, shoes, and purse. Ben announced: "Now she's the princess at the party, Mom! I dressed her up!" It was so cute!
My favorite part of the whole event was the priceless look on her face as we sang Happy Birthday (she sang along too of course) and then blew out the candles. It was adorable!



A little bit of remininscing about our little darling over the past 3 years...

She was born June 4, 2006 (she shares her birthday with a cousin...there are many June birthdays in our family so it bound to happen!) at 8:30ish pm at LDS Hospital. She weighed 6 lbs. and 4 oz. and was 19 in. long. She was 4 weeks early...can't imagine how big she would have been if she would have prolonged her arrival! She seemed pretty tiny though and came with lots of dark hair...you wouldn't know it now what with the blonde curls she sports today!

Before we knew about her, I always said I'd love to have a family of boys. But, boy oh boy, I wouldn't trade her for the world! Having a little girl is so much fun. I love the mother/daughter relationship and look forward to more that will come...well except for the drama which may escalate as we reach the teenage years...I can barely handle the 3 year old drama we have now!

Some favorites at age 3: She is all girl and loves everything pink and frilly. She loves playing with babies, playing house, carrying purses and diaper bags, shopping with Mom, cooking (pretend and real), painting her nails, playing with makeup, wearing dresses and pretty shoes, dressing up, and playing with friends. She's a bit of a fussy eater and will avoid nutritious meals at all costs and instead prefers to drink juice and snack...especially on candy! She loves her brother and would follow him just about anywhere and loves it when he plays with her.

Some quirks at 3 years old: She has a very sensitive nose and is constantly picking up scents and asking me "What's that smell...I smell sumpin'!" If she's not sniffing the air, she's sniffing her pink blankie. She fell in love with her favorite fuzzy, pink blanket when she was 7 or 8 months old and drags it around constantly. When she still had her binkie, she would put the blanket between her nose and binkie and smell it and rub it back and forth. She still hates it when I wash it and can tell if it's been washed with one whiff..."this not smell, Mom!" We have a duplicate blanket so I can wash them often, but she'll smell them both and always picks the dirty, stinky one over the clean, fresh one...crazy girl! She doesn't like cleaing up toys and such but loves to help clean the toilet and dust and vacuum. She is a pack rat and loves filling purses and bags with collections of random items...which drives me crazy! When she talks about size, she using only two words...it's either teeny or huge!

We love our little princess...quirks and all. Happy Birthday Natalie!

Inquiring Minds...and Noses

Have you ever read any of those Sam and Stella books from the library by Marie-Louise Gay? It's a cute little children's book series about a brother and sister who are always on some imaginary adventure together and all the while Sam quizzes his sister about the how and why of things. Stella always has some witty response.
"Stella, how do dogs learn how to swim?" asks Sam. "They take swimming lessons," answers Stella. You should check them out some time, they are so cute and fun.

Anyway, somtimes I feel like my life is a Sam and Stella book. My Benjamin is just like Sam, so inquisitive and curious and quizzing me a thousand times a day about all the hows and whys in the world. I think about 90 percent of his questions I either don't know the answer to or can't begin to think how to come up with a response a 6 year old can appreciate!

Here's a little list:

"Mom, what does the number infinity look like?"
"Do snakes know how to swim?"
"What would happen if you ate a watermelon seed?"
"Why do some animals lay eggs and why do cows give milk?"
"How many stars do you think there are?"
"What are you doing Mom?"
"When is it summer?"
"Why do we have Santa and Christmas trees on Jesus' birthday?"
"Why do some people speak different languages?"
"Is the Easter Bunny real or is it just a costume?"
"What is a butterfly doing when it's in his chrysalis?"
"Why does the Sun come up in the same place every morning and go down in the same place every night?"
"Why do dogs bark?"
"When is it summer?"
"What are you doing Mom?"
"What are we going to do today Mom?"
"Why do monkeys like to eat bananas?"
"Are ghosts real? What about the Holy Ghost?"


And if I'm not being quizzed to insanity by Ben, Natalie's nose is inquiring...

"I smell sumpin, Mom."
"What I smell?"
"Do you smell sumpin?"
"Sumpins in my nose."
"Sniff, sniff..what you smell, Mom?"

Good or bad, Natalie's nose doesn't let a scent go by without asking me about it or letting me know she "smells sumpin"!

I literally feel on the brink of insanity some days with all the questions! I need to be more like Stella and come up with something more witty than "I have no idea" and "Are you kidding me?" Let me know if you have a good response to what the number infinity looks like!