Chunk-A-Cheese

For Natalie's birthday she went to Build-A-Bear with a friend on Saturday and then on her birthday she got to choose where she wanted to eat. She chose Chunk-A-Cheese, better known as Chuck E Cheese. She had a great time as did Bashka playing skeet ball. Here are some pictures of the birthday girl.

Three months later

Okay, I know it has been awhile since I wrote, but my drop down menu doesn't even register when I start to type the blog address :(

Life has just been crazy. There has been a lot going on with Natalie, work has been challenging and it just seems like so many other things. But I am happy to report, that Natalie has made huge gains with some issues she had been dealing with. She really is doing great!

Tonight I made dinner and she was getting her bath. She came downstairs and immediately I could tell that she had sprayed some type of perfume on herself. It was quite strong. She finally confessed that she had sprayed the air freshener from the bathroom on herself, just like perfume. Oh my!!

On a more serious note, my heart has just been so heavy for all the people affected by the tornado this week. The week before tornadoes hasdcome through North Carolina, but were not close to where I live. I did know people in Fayetteville who were affected by it. Alabama is just so much worse. The loss of life is great, people have lost their homes, belongings and many are dealing with the loss or injury of their pets.

Gwen Cooper (author of Homer's Odyssey) who I have mentioned before is raising money for a veterinary office in Alabama. They are working around the clock to help the animals in the area. Here is a link to the article she wrote and where you can make a donation if you feel lead to do so.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/homers-odyssey/201104/when-you-help-animals-you-help-humans

Thank you for taking the time to read.

Spring is in the air

Having lived in both Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, I do empathize with those dealing with the snow. But today it has been a beautiful day. Not sure what the high was for the day, but at 6:00 PM it is now 66 degrees. Today I took Natalie out to ride her bike. This is the second time we have gone without training wheels. So we practiced for about 20 minutes with her pedaling and me holding on to her shoulder. I let her go and she went!!! I was running (truly running) along side of her in case she lost her balance, but she didn't. She was able to ride solo 6 more times. I was there along side her, but she did it!! She was getting the braking down too by time we finished. Then we went next door to our neighbor's and she practiced shooting basketballs. Their hoop is set at regulation height while at Upward, it is lower (not sure of the actual height, but probably at least a foot lower) She was getting the basketball in the hoop about 40% of the time. I picked up a magazine at Bashka's house and had her read a short paragraph. She was able to read all but about 4 words. Blossom in the word that comes to my mind. That is what Natalie is doing. As she continues to feel loved and safe and settled in, she is becoming more and more confident. I am truly blessed by this child and the goodness of the Lord in giving her to me.
Spring is in the air and I am having the incredible privilege of watching her bloom where she has been planted!!

Go Girl!!

It has been awhile since I have written. It seems like the days get shorter and the list of things that need to be done gets longer. But today I just needed to write and brag about Natalie. In November Natalie started playing Upward Basketball which is a program through our church but also available in many other cities and churches. This is her first year playing. She is in the age group of 1st-4th grade. There are only 2 teams and out of 15 girls she is the next to smallest player. Today was our third game and I am so proud to say that today Natalie scored 4 points. It was so exciting for her and me too! Bashka went to the game today and was sitting right near the hoop and got to see Natalie score!

Natalie has also lost her front teeth over the last several weeks. She has already lost 6 and the last time we were at the dentist they told us she had 5 loose ones (she has lost 3 of those.)

She continues to improve in school and really works hard. I am amazed at how well she does considering all that she has had to learn.

Here are some pictures of her in her uniform. I wish I had some action shots to post, but I am actually coaching the team, so I can't take any pictures. I hope to have a friend take some soon. I signed up as a possible assistant coach but became the head coach. I have 2 assistant coaches who are great and all the girls on the team are really great too! It has been a real learning process but I am really enjoying it.

The President

Natalie never ceases to make me laugh. One day I had a bottle of water with a "squirter" on it. As I was squirting Natalie, she kept yelling, "Mommy, don't skirt me!" Another day as I was shuffling a deck of cards, she said, "Mommy, let me shovel them!"
Last week I mentioned to her that the President, Barak Obama was coming to our area of North Carolina. I told her he was coming on Monday and I was glad that where he was speaking was not near where I worked so I won't be stuck in traffic. Later that night she asked me, "Mommy, when is George Washington coming again?"
Tonight she saw a picture of the President in the newspaper from his recent visit. Natalie said, "Mommy, is that Rock A Bama?"
What a hoot!!!

Growing Up

Today had to go to the optometrist. I had gotten a new set of contacts (I use disposable ones) and for some reason I could not see correctly out of the right one. They were the same prescription but something was different. Any way I was due for an annual eye exam and decided to just combine the two issues. Turns out that my right eye has some how improved and I needed a weaker prescription. While I was there I made an appointment for Natalie since she had gotten her eyes examined the same time I did last year. I was thinking back to last year when the optometrist asked her to identify what letter she was seeing, she really couldn't do it since she had not learned her ABC's. This morning as I was getting ready for work (she was already dressed and set to go) she pulled a book off her bookshelf and started reading it to me. She knew most of the words in the book. What a difference a year makes.