Where is their mother? I can't believe she let them out looking like that.

At the begining of the school year, my Gramps and Bailey made a deal. If Bailey got 100% on her spelling test ten times in a row, he would give her a brand new $5 bill.

Not too long before Christmas, Bailey reached her goal and Gramps went to the bank and brought her a brand new $5 bill. Not wanting it to get lost in the first ten minutes of getting it, I told her to put it away somewhere safe. About 5 minutes later she comes out of her room, with the $5 bill grumpled up and a corner ripped off of it. She was trying to put it in her piggy bank and in the process ruined the new bill Gramps went to the bank for. Kids!

"Mom, I couldn't sleep last night. There was a dragon scampering around my room, keeping me awake."

"TA- DA !"

LONG OVER DUE...

In order to appease all those who have rebuked me for not posting since February, I present our last six months in pictures (and out of order because it takes me way to long to fix it.)

Cuddling Claire after she lost her hairbow in the waterfall

Scott and Hazel in front of Treasure Falls in Colorado.

Yummy Nutella!!!

Bailey at her SIXTH birthday! Why do they have to grow up so fast!

Kindergarten Graduation!

Grandpa reading to "his ladies." You guessed, EASTER!

TOOO CUTE!!!!

I am not done with all the cute pictures I have found on my camera.

To Be Continued...........

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday Little Sister!!!

She likes:

Dancing

Eating Sausage

Coloring

Blankets

Waking up WAY to early

Riding her plasma car

The Three Little Pigs Story

Mary Poppins

Do you remember when you were little and you could watch the same movie or show a hundred times in a row and never grow tired of it. When I was seven, my obsession of choice was Mary Poppins. I watched it so many times that my parents said it broke and they threw it away, only for me to find it later when we were moving.
Well to my delight, my children have their own obsession with Mary Poppins and I couldn't be happier. I was even more delighted when I learned that Mary Poppins was coming to Gammage Auditorium at ASU.
This last Saturday the girls and I went to Gammage to see Mary in person. The girls LOVED it! They got so excited when the recognized the songs and saw Mary "fly" over the audience. What an amazing way to spend a Saturday!

I LOVE MARY POPPINS!!

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize!!!

Finally....

Our old house is sold!

We have moved into our new house!

We are mostly unpacked!

The kids are use to their new rooms and are sleeping at night!

YIPPEE!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

Some of her FAVORITE things are:

dancing

sippy cups

bread (she is a carb addict)

baby dolls

her blankie

making bunny nose faces

running between her parents legs

The Second Coming

This morning Bailey came into my room and asked me if I knew what the second coming was. I replied yes and asked her is she learned about it in primary. She said she did and also told me she learned during the second coming Jesus will be incharge. Then she paused for a second and I could tell she was thinking. She then looks at me and tells me she is excited for the second coming because Jesus will be incharge, not me and I won't be able to tell her to eat her breakfast.

We will now break in our ignoring of this blog to bring you some very important messages.

*** Bailey went to play at a friend's house last week with all teeth accounted for and nothing wiggling and came home sans a tooth. The Toothfairy visited, Bailey was excited, mom cried because her baby is growing up way to fast.

*** Clementines are food from HEAVEN. Easy enough for kids to peel themselves, which keeps them occupied for a while, and the kids think they are candy.

*** We are proud owners of two homes and not very happy about it. Anyone want to buy our house????

*** Hazel got her first haircut. She no longer has a comb over. Oh and she is walking 3-4 steps between furniture. Again, Hazel is excited, mom is crying.

*** Claires new favorite "butt" is "Sleeping Booty." Translation: her favorite book is Sleeping Beauty

*** And this just in. I was just informed by my eldest that I have "Lost the privilege of being her mother." I thought she was five not thirteen.

Now back to our regular scheduled programing already in progress.

Pumpkin Patch

Despite the 104 degree temps on Saturday, we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. I admit our local patch isn't as idilic as pumpkin patches in other parts of the country, but we still had a good time. Here is what we did.

Hazel ate some dirt and dead grass.
Bailey loved decorating her very own pumpkin.

Claire loved posing as a "farmer."

And we loved spending time with our girls!

The Land of Enchantment

"Over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house we go."
Well it was actually over the mountains and through the Indian reservation to Albuquerque we go. Bailey had a two week fall break so we decided to take advantage of the break and take a long overdue trip to visit Grandpa and Grandma Sherwood house.

We had such a full and very fun week. The week started with a trip to the children's museum. We did art projects out of recyclable products, played with magnets, musical instruments, bubbles, water and Scott even rode a bike on a tight rope.

Later in the week we went to Albuquerque's annual International Balloon Fiesta. Every year during the first week of October, hot air balloon enthusiast descend on Albuquerque for a week of events.

First we went to a "Glowdeo." We rode on a school bus, a highlight for the girls in and of itself, to the balloon park. We had a picnic and watched the balloons inflate and then we got to walk among the balloons. Once it got dark, every few minutes they would all light the fire in the balloon and the whole field would glow. It was very impressive and a little magical.

On Saturday morning we woke the girls up early to go to a hillside park and watch the balloons float along the mountains. They flew right over the top of our heads, so close we could see the people in the basket. We also were able to see several of them land and pack up.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Sherwood for such a fun week. We may just make this an annual event! We love and miss you!

The End

It's Offical

Our house is for sale. If you know anyone that is looking for a well taken care of home in Gilbert, send them my way. Here are a few of the highlight of the house:

*Exterior was painted in spring 2008

*All new exterior doors

*All new carpet, tile and laminate wood flooring on the inside. Plus we had a no shoe policy so the carpet is clean!

*HUGE storage room and pantry. Not many houses this size have storage rooms.

*Bonus room/office off of the master bedroom

*Fireplace

*New Corian counter tops in kitchen

Email me at barlownatalie@hotmail.com if you want more details or have any questions!!!

p.s. Our new house is still here in Gilbert. It is about a mile away from our current house. So we will still be close to all our friends around here.

SURPRISE! I have a tooth.

It's right here.

This will hopefully be ours soon!

A few months ago we put an offer in on this house. Monday, Scott got a call from the realtor telling us the bank excepted our offer and wants to close on October 21st. I am still a little scared that it won't happen because I have heard so many horror stories about short sales and foreclosures. But if all goes as plan we will be moving soon.

If anyone is looking for a cute little starter house in Gilbert, we will probably put ours on the market soon. Let us know!!!

At what age do kids...

sleep through the night

and

sleep past 6:00 am

and

not scream and cry until 10:30 at night because

they are beyond exhausted, yet refuse to go to sleep.

Please tell me when, so I can start counting the

seconds until that glorious age.

If I survive until then.

Crazy Hat Day

Friday was crazy hat day at Baileys school. This is the beauty she chose to wear. Needless to say she had the craziest hat in her class.

Thanks Aunt Celeste for the hat!

Just had to share

Today I went to Walgreens and I came home with these...

and I got paid $5 to take them away.

Not bad!