Sesame Street Live!

We got great tickets to see Sesame Street Live down at the Concert Hall in Honolulu on Friday. We went with Heather and Makki and our seats were in the second row! The kids loved it and it was adult friendly too. We had a blast!
Bert and Ernie
Big Bird
Elmo (Natalie's favorite), the Count, Big Bird and others singing and dancing.

Cookie Monster doing Riverdance with the "Lammies"
Oscar the Grouch-they taught him about hygiene. Natalie was trying to tell Brian all the characters we saw and she called him "Jack-in-the-Box" Pretty creative! The Count having the kids do different exercises 10 times each. Natalie participating. :) It really was a neat performance. I highly recommend you go if it comes to your town!!
While I was folding laundry, Natalie grabbed a whole stack of shirts and put them all on... we counted as we took them off... She had 8 shirts on!!
Making a road around the house with lids.
Father's Day Dinner... roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole... Brian's favorites. Can you tell he's from PA? :) We love you Daddy! Thanks for all you do!!
More fun in the house. They love this thing!

Another thing they both love is blueberries... yummy! But messy... straight to the bathtub for these two!! :)

And another Blake video... still not showing all his "skills" but you can see him walking a little bit:

Some funny things that Natalie has said lately:

Brian told her to move her butt back when he was putting her into her carseat, she replied completely aghast, "Daddy! We say bottom!"

"Carter says 'booty' but we say 'bottom' "

"Natalie, go back to sleep, it's still night-night time."
"But the sun's awake, Mommy."

"What's your whole name?"
"Nalee Yoder"
"What's Daddy's?"
"By-in Yoder"
"What's Blake's"
"Bakey Jumps!"
(I call him all sorts of things like "chunk-a-munk" and "bubba gump" and she tries to use them too. I thought this was so funny! :)

When she was stalling before going to bed one night and I guess Brian was seeming like he was frustrated with her, "Daddy, am I bugging you?"

On the couch when I was holding her one afternoon:
"I love you, Natalie"
"I don't love you, I just love Carter."
"Well, I love you. You can love us both."
"Mmm, okay... I love you AND Carter!"

And out of the blue one day: "I love you so much, Mommy! I want to give you a big hug!"

Blake Walking

This isn't great because he was tired of trying to walk for the camera so he was getting fussy and wouldn't really do it... but people keep begging for a video so here it is! :) And, I didn't realize that I was holding the camera sideways... sorry!

New playthings, stiches and the pool!

At a yard sale on Saturday, I found this pop up castle and tunnel for 2 bucks each. They've provided many hours of fun already! As I said before, I love a deal! :)

Ready to pump some iron!
Brian was working on the truck this weekend and cut his fingers pretty badly. We ended up going in to the doctor that evening because the one seemed deep. It was good that we did because he needed 4 stiches. Pretty exciting because they were his first stiches ever! (He's one healthy guy... no broken bones, no cavities, no surgeries until his tonsils a few months ago, and no stiches til now! My record as most of you know, is not quite that good!) Don't look if you get queasy easily, but here are the famous stiches: We went to our friend Heather's apartment complex to play in her pool and have a picnic lunch. It was a lot of fun and not having to deal with sand was actually really nice!
Jess and Carter trying out the water. Don't you love Katie's suit? It actually has a tutu on it! :)
YUM YUM!
Heather and Makki. Thanks for letting us come over! Who knew dry beans could be so fun??
She swiped the pasta off the counter and was sitting there eating it watching TV. She does love pasta!

Blake can stand up without holding on to something now and is taking more and more steps at a time now. He's so proud of himself. Will post a video soon.

First Steps!

Blake took his first steps on Wednesday! We tried to get a movie of it but of course he won't cooperate when being filmed. :) I'll keep trying and hopefully post one soon. He's 10 months old now and wearing 18 mos clothes and walking! He's growing up too fast!!

Natalie trying to get him to walk to her... I think that might be a little too far away! So proud of himself!
Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Couples Night, Playground and Walking!

On Friday night, we had a Pampered Chef couples show at Jess and Jason's house. It was meant to just be fun and hang out and cook together but people actually ordered products so it counts as a show. :) There were four couples and we had so much fun! Everyone was involved and the food was delicious. We spent the night at the Hillmans and stayed up talking after everyone else left until 2 in the morning...and then our kids were up at 5:30! Not much sleep but it was a wonderful night! Thanks guys, we'll have to all get together again soon! :)

Jason finishing up the chicken nachos, Jess working on a bell pepper. Rob and Nadine, and Carlos (and SueEllen in the background)
Jason using the Easy Accent Decorator on our Cappucino Trifle. Yum!

Playing the Wishlist Game for a prize. What a fun night!

Feeding all the kids before the show Carter and Natalie watching cartoons the next morning.
Natalie and Baby Katie
The guys chilling on the swing (still trying to wake up!)
Happy Kids before church on Sunday

Helping Daddy wash the truck. Blake crawled under and got soaked, but what fun is it if you don't get wet? :)
And some more pictures from the week:
Silly Natalie...there's a grape tomato in each of those cups.

Blake wakes up so happy. He waves (sticks out his hand like he's blessing you) to everyone who looks at him. He learned to sign "more" this week which is helping diminish the loud screams. :)
Natalie had her first "movie night" watching Finding Nemo with us. She thought it was great since we'd just seen all the sea creatures but she got sleepy half way through and had to finish it in the morning.
The playground:
Blake climbs all over the playground now...
... up steps and all the way up this slide!
Funny quote from Natalie while we were driving somewhere on our Maui trip: "I'm talking so much now. I'm getting SOOO big!"
And walking! He can stand on his own now and can walk pushing something or holding our hands. No official steps yet but it's going to be soon!

Check out those cheeks! :)
And the funniest picture ever...

Blake trying to be let in the house at the Hillmans.