Concert Time

Every spring there are free kid's concerts in the park near our home.  They take place on Wednesday afternoons and are always lots of fun. Last week we went and saw FARMER JASON!  I wanted to post some of the pictures.  The day confirmed what I have been noticing for awhile, Harley is much different than the boys and I don't just mean anatomically.  Nash was practically on the stage during the concert. Actually, he really was on the stage a few times, until he was kindly asked to get down.

 Meanwhile, Harley was nervous being in the crowd.

Her thumb is her comfort. The thumb goes in the mouth when she is scared, sad, nervous, or even really excited.  She had a great time dancing to the music but refused to do it without her soothing thumb planted in her pretty little mouth. She can sure swivel those baby hips though. 

However, the moment anyone would look at her and smile. She would drop into my lap and pretend to sleep. She is hilarious.

I think she is definitely a keeper!

Help, I Can't Keep Up!

Nash has an Indian fetish, like the Old-West-Tee-Pee kind of Indian.  He has a little statue of an Indian that he carries around with him everywhere.  He even dresses up like an Indian on a daily basis...

or at least his interpretation of an Indian. On several occasions he has attempted to leave the house wearing my moccasins. On Saturday he asked a woman at Atley's soccer game if she was an Indian. She nicely replied, "No, honey I am from Iran not India!"  Thoroughly confused, he thankfully walked away without further arugument. 

When my kids become interested in something of value, I do what most moms would do. I try to teach them more about it.  So, we headed to the National Museum of the American Indian on Monday afternoon.  We talked about how the Indians whom Nash is so intrigued by should be called Native Americans, not to be confused with people from India.  We talked about the Cherokee and the Trail of Tears.  We talked about reservations and the Indian Pueblos in New Mexico that we see when we travel to Colorado. By the time we parked and I was putting money in the meter. I was pretty impressed by my little history lesson.  I must say I was patting myself on the back as we walked into the museum. The boys, especially Nash, were fascinated. Nash silently watched all of the videos.   

He made Atley or me read him everything.  He loved the costumes and the stories.  And I just kept getting more and more puffed up with pride about my superb mothering skills.  Then we heard drums and chanting coming from the main gallery.  We headed over  to watch the program.  It turned out to be mostly a question/answer session with one of the museum's curators.  Atley raised his hand to ask a question. I felt a little queasy.  I tried to get him to tell me what the question was, perhaps I could answer it for him.  He resisted. I then tried to physically put his arm down before anyone could see. He resisted even more.  I could feel the beads of sweat forming on my brow. This was a packed room of people with very few children except my own.  What could he possibly need to ask?  Well, then it happend. The microphone was passed to my son and I thought I would pass out for fear of the world's most embarassing question.  He bravely and articulately asked, "Can you guesstimate how many Native Americans live in the Washington D.C. area?"  Oh, that wasn't so bad. I wiped the sweat from my brow and patted his leg with motherly pride.  Wow, I was an amazing parent!! Just look at these intelligent and culturally aware children I am raising.  BUT,  the curator replied with, "Were you born in the United States?"  Atley, "Yes!"  Curator, "Well, then aren't you a Native American."  Atley, "Huh?"  Curator, "Please don't refer to us as Native Americans, we are the American Indian."  WHAT!!!  Apparently, I need to educate myself a bit more before trying to teach my children anything.  Sorry, if I cannot keep up with what is politically correct. Apparently, it changes like the weather.  I am sure there was an audible hiss as my "Great Parent Bubble" slowly deflated. The funny thing is the 200 or so people who were also there looked at us like, "Duh! Everyone knows that!"  Come on people. The truth is, you would have used the exact same terminology.  You didn't have a clue either.  Now you are all just overcome with gratitude towards your six year old scapegoat.  

 

Happy Mother's Day!

Isn't it funny that I never realized just how much my Mother did for me or just how much she loved me until I became a Mom myself almost 7 years ago? She has always been, and continues to be my biggest and perhaps only fan. She goes above and beyond to serve us and make me and my children happy. I love her so very much and consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world to be able to call her, Mom!  

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FUN! Fun! Harley's ONE!

At exactly 2:19 PM on May 3, Harley Belle turned the big "1"!  I sure feel alot better today than I did last year. Unfortunately, Harley does not. She has been terribly sick since Saturday. The doctor says it is just a virus, but she is not eating, drinking, sleeping, or playing.  Granny surprised us by making a special trip for Harley and my birthday but things obviously didn't work out quite as planned. We were going to celebrate on Sunday but she was much too sick as was her brother Atley. Monday she was also too sick.  Today she was probably still too sick but it was her actual birthday, plus Granny had to leave so we went ahead with the party sans guests. She didn't smile much, wasn't interested in her cake and went to bed at 6PM.  Let's hope she still parties the same way when she's seventeen. 

We love you Harley Belle!  Get well soon so you can enjoy your presents! Mommy will save you a cupcake!

Easter Progression

First, a visit to the Easter Bunny. 

Second, dye the eggs.

Eat the eggs.

Then when the children are nestled all snug in their beds with visions of colored eggs dancing in their heads, the bunny creeps in and leaves them treasures.

The children, thinking it is Christmas instead of Easter wake up at the crack of dawn and Harley discovers her favorite Easter candy.

Then with her peep and her sheep she is ready to go back to sleep.

Next, dress up in Easter finery and try to snap some pictures before church!

Happy Easter friends and family.

Family Bike Ride

I am so excited that Harley is finally old enough to get strapped onto my bike and take a ride with the family. 
This time of year is so beautiful here, when it isn't raining that is, and I love to be outside with the kids. Nash is close to riding alone but for now he is still riding behind daddy on the double bike.  Atley rides a little too fast and most rides have at least one wipe out, but he is tough and always hops right back on.

The Snack that Smiles Back

Sometimes I get the impression that my children are a little unconventional.  I suppose that is my nice way of calling them strange. For example, Harley has a walker. She also has a push toy and a mommy who would love to teach her how to walk, however she prefers a container of goldfish.  Each day she cries and begs at the pantry door for our gigantic tub of goldfish crackers.  She then uses it to walk around the house.

Occasionally, she stops...

and has a snack.

She is also always willing to share.

Easter Favorites

Of all the holiday's I think Easter has the best candy, even better than Halloween.  The family voted and here is everybody's Easter Favorites.

Nash prefers the JELLY BEAN!  In fact, I have caught him twice with these yummy delights tightly gripped in his hands, while he slept at night.  He must have a secret stash in his bedroom.

Atley prefers a good old fashioned milk-chocolate bunny!

Scott loves Cadbury Eggs, but strangely enough he waits to eat them until Easter Sunday!

I love me some Reese's Eggs.  Pure joy right there! 

Perhaps next year Harley will have more of an opinion, but for now she prefers whatever sugar seeps into her milk from mommy's Reese's addiction.

What Easter treat do you love?

My Animals at the ZOO

Atley had a day off from school yesterday and it was so pretty outside that we headed to the National Zoo.  It was especially fun because lots of the animals had brand new babies. I have never seen Harley so excited.  She absolutely loves all animals.  She was a perfect angel throughout a very exhausting day.  She yelled, "AHHH! AHHH!" at every new animal we saw.  When we were watching the tiger a woman actually told me that she thought my baby was making the tiger nervous with her loud screams.  I just laughed.  Harley especially loved the baby meerkat.  I thought watching the baby and momma gorilla was a bit too much like life at our home.  Atley had to stop and read everything in sight, while Nash was often forced to take little breaks under the nearest shade tree. 

Soccer-School Play-National Harbor

We had a busy weekend full of, well, everything mentioned in the title. Nash and Atley both had soccer games.  Atley's game was hailed/rained out after about 20 minutes but he played well, had lots of fun and of course mom was sans camera. Nash was a stud in cleats at his game, while Harley was a fantastic cheerleader for her big bros.

Atley had a starring role in the 1st grade play. He did a great job and got the biggest laugh of the whole program! We are not sure whether we are excited about our budding thespian, but we are really proud of his performance.

We went to National Harbor to celebrate Atley's hard work.  No trip to the harbor is complete without a visit to the PEEPS Candy Store. 

Here is Nash having a break down at the PEEPS store.

And here is Nash having another break down at dinner. Never fear, when he realized that Church was on TV this weekend, he was smiling again!  We all love General Conference and we managed to squeeze in all 5 sessions. Does anyone else fast forward through the MoTAB and prayers? We do, and I am pretty sure we are going to hell!