Busy Week & "Happy Fodders Day"

I'm not sure if we have been busier going out and doing things or if we have spent more time at home- but our moments at home have been filled by such non stop playing that it has been a treat! Natalie and Stephen have been playing and make believing for hours and hours at a time--they don't even want to stop to do anything else. I must say that I have loved it--they are both SO happy together and I love seeing them together like this. It is so nice to have a break from school and have some unstructured time together...
Our first day home; David was working and we were unwinding from our trip and getting all the laundry done- these two played for like six hours straight!! I walked in to check on them and they were SO SO cute- the little things they were saying to each other and these crowns Stephen was making for them.
I liked this silouette picture of the two of them just playing together- these sheer curtains of Natalie's that they were playing near remind me of some curtains my sister and I used to make believe were our wedding dresses when we were about Natalie's age. I remember my sister and I playing with them on so many occasions...
Of ocourse dressing up has been involved...
And for Stephen staying in pajamas is one of his favorite things--although he is ALWAYS wishing for his superhero pajamas the most. I think he will change his pajamas three times a day and if he is wearing clothes and we don't go anywhere he is quick to go back to PJs. They had some fun with the carseats all coming inside to be cleaned--Stephen was copying the upside down show that he and Natalie love.
After a long drive to the other side of town, these two fell asleep in the car and I carried them in and laid them down together--I went to get my camera and Natalie woke up--I made her lay back down so I could take my picture so that is why her face looks like it is grinning a little:)
Just playing the afternoon away--crowns seem to be a big part of their play lately.

Natalie was SO proud of her improvised costume!
These photos are some of my favorites in a while. They were playing a game where Natalie was the Mommy kitty- it was SO sweet. The things they were saying and how they were treating each other was so special. Melted my heart.

One fun thing with not being in a rush in the mornings to get up and get to school is that Natalie and I have had time to do our hair and makeup together. It has been so much fun to get that chance and to have fun picking outfits (we always enjoy that) and taking extra time to get to accessorize (something not allowed at school because it will "distract other kids from learning" as Natalie tells me). Natalie was SO proud of getting to wear this necklace of mine- it was a perfect fit with her outfit and she loved that Mommy was wearing the matching earrings. I think we had gone through three of her necklaces and settled on one of hers before I thought of this one- she couldn't have been more thrilled or felt more special for me to think of this one--too perfect! But she looks much too grown up with her pretty makeup and things:)
Spending the afternoon doing some coloring- Stephen is really starting to enjoy this lately- and doing some artwork for Daddy too.
We had quite a good time shopping for Father's Day too--and Natalie was so cute carrying her little purse with her and helping make decisions. We knew we wanted to get his a swim suit but the other really fun thing we picked was a porch swing. We actually went to look at a lawn edger and both of us gravitated to the porch swing instead. I have ALWAYS wanted one so I felt a little guilty to get it as a gift- it felt to much like a homers bowling ball but once Natalie said she wanted one as a gift for him I jumped on it!!!!

Natalie remembers swinging on one in Grandma B's backyard from years ago- surprises me that she remembers it but porch swings seem to have that effect and that was a special trip too. Stephen was sleeping when we were shopping but while we were eating (cheeseburger therapy!) we told him what we got and he got SO SO SO excited and sheepishly told us he wanted it to be his!!! I don't think I have ever met a person who loves to swing more than he does. Natalie told him we are all sharing it- she wanted it for Daddy so they can sit outside and swing togethr while they practice spanish! How cute!
We have a little Mothers and Fathers Day tradition where we take photos of the parent being celebrated with our kiddos. It started when Natalie was a baby and we always do it because we are dressed up for church on Sunday anyway. Well I LOVE how these pictures of Natalie and David turned out; but The Colonel was a little tired and being a stinker and wouldn't get in any pictures!!



Can you tell that this little lady has her Daddy wrapped up so tight around her little finger...
After a yummy meal of Salmon (we made a yummy dinner too of chipoltle braised burritos- had to extra spoil since it was Father's Day. We also tried a yummy new recipe of fried ice cream! What a fun culinary day:) The Colonel was feeling MUCH better and excited to give Daddy his gift in the cool Superman bag he had excitedly picked out...
And it was SO adorable how Stephen says "Happy Fodders Day" in his cute voice!!!
Natalie and Stephen were SO SO SO excited about the card they got Daddy- it was Looney Toons which is a favorite of our family that is encouraged by Daddy! For days Natalie quoted the card to anyone who would listen; taking great delight in all the R's that were pronounced as W's and giggling as she recited it. I love that kids can get SO excited and get so much pleasure and joy from such little things in life.
Goofy Stephen decided to make us laugh trying on Daddy's shorts. He got a lot of mileage out of it and jumped around and danced for us all the while shouting "cherry pants." Goofy kid--I guess there is a tv show that says banana pants all the time. So when we were in Flroida the kids saw some banana trees and after that Stephen kept randomly saying banana pants all week to make Natalie laugh. He thought he was being especially funny to make up something else besides bananas...
Natalie thought that Stephen was SO funny that she needed a turn...
like I said, they got a LOTZ of mileage out of this gift...

I love these pictures too--this was Monday morning at the start of our fun and busy week. We went to the childrens museum and saw a Sesame Street planatarium show that we haven't seen before. So it was a lot of fun. Our membership expired in April so the kids were excited to be invited by Stephen's bud Z to go. As we waited for our ride the kids decided to be so sweet and pose for some of the cutest pictures!! Love these!!





On Tuesday Natalie spent half the day (yes it literally takes that long) for her oncology appointment. This was our first six month stretch and it sure is nice to not have to go very often. Then the kids played the afternoon away with some friends that came to play and their cousins that I was watching. There was a lot of doll playing in the girls room- Natalie loved that!! After Daddy got home we took a late evening trip to the pool- it was fun but a little cool. We stayed late and the storm we had watched build finally started having lightning just before closing time. Good timing.

Wednesday was a BIG day for us!! It was David's day off and we went to "Six Flags water park!!!!" Stephen has been EXCITED and reminded me we are going almost everyday since March!!! Wow, we had a great time. They LOVE the lazy river and wave pool and there were a ton of tube rides we could all do. Stephen loved these and wasn't scared. There was even one huge tube ride we all did together. Natalie and Daddy also went and did some rides that Stephen wasn't tall enough for. I was SUPER SUPER SUPER impressed with my little Natalie doing some tubes called shotgun falls and some other ones that had huge drops (like ten feet) out of the tube before you hit the 12 foot deep pool. This dare devil would do it and swim swim swim all the way across the pool to get out. She really is an impressive swimmer, especially considering where she started not that long ago. She told us those were her favorites too. She and Stephen also liked the tube ride in the dark! The pirate ship was another favorite.

The only problem we had at the park was that Natalie would get cold (and it wasn't really that cold) and turn purple. We would take her to lay on the warm cement and watch the color return to her lips. This happened several times but by late afternoon it was happening more and more. She has also been having her typical tummy trouble and abdominal pain- she is pretty messed up after our trip because we had to pull back on her medications to get through our time on the beach and now she is all messed up. So she was having a rough time with that and we noticed in the later day that everytime she would get cold and turn purple and shiver it would ratchet up her abdominal pain by a lot. It was bad and at one point when we were waiting for a slide and she got really cold she was almost in tears and ready to go home. After she warmed up she would feel better and her tummy would improve too- it was interesting. But she had a great day despite those tummy troubles.

On Thursday we enjoyed David's other day off by taking David's visiting 16 year old cousin to lunch. She was at a conference but we picked her up and took her out and had fun with her. Stephen told her he loved her and wished she was in our family. Funny. Then we went to see "Mr Poppers Penguins." The kids and especially Stephen have been DYING to see this movie. They LOVED it and laughed and laughed!!! Afterwards we enjoyed shopping at the mall together and Stephen loved seeing the big crocodile and Natalie loved shopping at the Disney store and picking out a beautiful new sleeping beauty doll. She was SO excited to get this doll that is stuffed and perfect to sleep with.

All week since the kids saw Mr Poppers penguins they have been playing it--they especially like to pretend to be 'lovie' and 'loudie' two penguins from the movie. They have LOVED playing like they are penguins and have made up interesting scenerios. They have also adopted a game with Natalie's new doll called the Grandpa game. Stephen is the Grandpa, Natalie is the Mom, and the Aurora doll is the daughter. They have played it for hours and hours and it has even caused some fighting because Natalie is tired of playing it and Stephen tries to DEMAND that she keeps playing--he even wants to keep playing at the dinner table. It is funny- what a thing to fight about.

Walked past the bathroom putting away laundry and saw these two playing captured--I am sure it had some penguin twist:)

So excited about their sparkly art project. Stephen especially loved this and was SO proud of his!!



On Saturday we had a get together with our group of cancer friends- I think I am going to start calling them our group of survivor friends!! It was cool- The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has chosen our group to be honored heros this year; they haven't ever had a group before. They saw our calendar last year and loved it, so they sent a photographer to get their pictures and they are going to do the calendar for us this time. They also had some big wigs from out of state come and talk to us and I had such a good impression and learned a lot more about the research with LLS--I haven't always been totally sure since they do so much adult cancer research but I think they are a great organization. It will be fun to see the pictures...how can you go wrong with these five cuties??




The five Leukemia Survivors. All of us are officially off treatment now- Philip just ended (boys have to do an extra year) and will probably get his port out next month!!! Yeah!!!!!

Another black eye:) She got this one on the slide at our friends pool, nothing better than getting hurt in the pursuit of something you love! What a thrill seeker this girl of ours is turning into!