A Day in the Life of Natalee

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged.  I had actually decided not to.  At all.  Ever again. I was sick of the pressure I put on myself ... I just don't have time and mostly am not inspired to write these days.  I'm too busy enjoying my children.

And then something happened today that I wanted to mark, and I realized that that is why I blog -- it's a record of what happens in our lives.  I don't care if no one reads it; I want to be able to look back on this and know what happended in our lives.  I have such a bad memory that if I don't record it, I will forget it.  My memory is so bad, that at times I have read old posts on my blog and literally could almost not believe that I, myself, wrote it.  If I did not have proof, I would swear that someone else wrote it, lived it even.

So here is the record of a great day in the Z Household:

Mia has lost her first tooth!  She pulled it herself after much drama and stress, and then immediately made me text her Daddy and call her best friend/cousin, Stella (who also shared the great joy of her fist tooth loss with Mia).  There is such a rash of smiliing and glee around here ... I truly wonder if it is one of the greatest days in a girl's life.  She has waited SO LONG for this day!  Congratulations, Peanut!  I love you!

I know there's a smudge on the lens, but I can't tell you how much I love this photo.  This is the kind of wonderfulness that happens when we have nowhere to go.  Love those kinds of evenings.  Daddy gets home from work, and sits in a chair, and memories happen.  <3

There's been a tragedy at the Z house.

I came upon this poor soul as I was headed upstairs to put away laundry.  I hardly knew him, and I had no idea his end was near.

What I find even more tragic is the state of my kids' coats behind him.  Will I ever get hooks for coats???  When you're renting, you just keep thinking "we'll be moving soon" and things like THIS happen!  Oh well, life could be worse, right?

See you around!

 

We don't usually do gruesome costumes, but I justified this and gave Owen a lesson on the Ancient Egyptian burial practices.  :P

He is OBSESSED with mummies, in the same way that he is obsessed with superheroes and spiders.  It's usually a love-hate thing, and total fascination.  Jonny was the cutest cowboy ever, and literally got TWICE as much candy as everyone else because he would tip his hat and say Yeehaw!  Love it!

My little Mia -- here with her cousin Paige, Owen and Jonny -- was a kitty cat like none other.

Elena was a Steeler's cheerleader.  Some people said, "Oh .... I'm sorry.  We don't give candy to Steelers fans."  Darn Bengals fans!  They gave it to her anyway, probably because she was so cute.  And some gave her two pieces because of her Steeler Nation status.  :-)

Hope was a beautiful bridesmaid.  She doesn't know that I know ithis idea for a costume she had was just a ploy to get this beautiful dress in her closet.  :)-

Noelle was at a party and I missed a photo of her (Dude, my camera was broken that night and I was relying on other's charity!), and Julia didn't do much in the way of dressing up ...  What can I say, I'm a bad mom!!!  (I am going to try to get her to dress up again and snap one of her.)

 

Didn't mean to go this short, but I like it!

Here are some miscellaneous photos that I happened to be working with tonight.  Thought you'd like to see them.  Probably more to come!

Matt's new passion -- racing go-carts.  He won!