Great Conversations

Last night I was hugging Nathaniel after we said prayers and he was getting ready to go to sleep. We were telling each other "I love you" and it was such a sweet moment. I asked him if he could stop growing, and she said "No mom! I eat too much! I get hungry!"

Last weekend Nathaniel and I met up with a coworker I hadn't seen in a while. We met at her new apartment. As I parked on the top floor of the parking garage, Nathaniel and I got to look at the fantastic view all around us. He was so enthusiastic about seeing NASA and the local landmarks. Then he saw a large cross at a church and he said, "Is that the cross where Jesus died to save us from our sins as a sacrifice?" I was just blown away. I told him that the big cross we saw wasn't the exact spot, but the cross was a symbol of exactly what he had just said. What a neat conversation to have with your son on top of a parking garage!

We went inside my friend's apartment to visit, and we found she had a small dachshund. Nathaniel sat nicely in a chair next to me while we visited, and was so polite and answered questions. He was apprehensive about the dachshund because it was barking, so he sweetly held my hand. Nathaniel would walk over with me and we would let the little dog sniff our hands and then we would sweetly pet the dog. It was so amazing to me how sweet and tender my little boy can be at times. I was so proud of his behavior.

Yesterday at swimming we saw a man walk in, and his hair was very tousled. Nathaniel says nonchalantly under his breath, "that guy has some crazy hairs." I agreed, but told him it wasn't nice to talk about other people's hair. Just like last week when he asked me why the woman's lips were so red. (Her lipstick was very red, for the record).

One more sweet and tender story. One of my friends (not someone I know really well) had a baby at 26 weeks that is in the NICU. We pray for the baby each night. Last night Nathaniel asked me how the baby was doing, and I said he was still in the hospital. Nathaniel says, "Well, that is sad news." In the SWEETEST voice. He did the best job of praying that night for all kinds of things. He even included Otis and Annie. Specifically the Otis's hair would grow back. (Otis is balding, for those that didn't know).

I love these conversations! I try to write down as many as I can so I won't forget as we get older.

Some Artwork and Fun with Friends

The other day I picked Nathaniel up and he showed me this picture he had made. He told me that it was "an orange tongue, a shark and a sunshine." As usual, this cute little boy made me laugh. I did not take a great picture of the artwork (ignore the large shadow), but you get the idea.

We played at a friend's house with some transformers. Fun! I know Will was jealous he missed this one.

Last week these silly boys came up with raspberry fingers.

And one last picture of the monster towel. We did a lot of swimming this summer and last weekend was probably one of the last days to swim. Good-bye summer, we had a lot of fun!

Birthday Cake

Last week Nathaniel and I made a birthday cake for Daddy. To my surprise Nathaniel figured out quickly how to use the mixer on his own. And no mess!

Happy birthday to Daddy!

Things Kids do in Houston

They pretend to sled with no snow . . . this was at the library. Too funny! They have a lot of interactive games and toys there for the kids. We enjoyed a fun Friday afternoon there with a couple of friends.

Cute Picture

Of me and my little guy before we left Amarillo to fly home last month.

Soccer Time!

It's time for soccer again . . . Nathaniel liked it so much last spring we're doing it again. It's really just 5 weeks of practices, really low-key, but that is what we like. There will be many more soccer pictures to come in the following weeks.

Dinos in a tube

We had been playing with a cardboard tube for a couple of days. One day I walked into the living room to find this:

He's so clever.

Swimming and Push Pops

This sounds like another summer post, and summer should be over, but you know the weather here. We are thankfully still continuing our swim lessons and the lightbulb clicked last week! Nathaniel started swimming on his own.

He swam from the steps to his teacher here.

He can also float on his back by himself now. What a big boy! Many thanks to our wonderful swim teacher. :)

We got to eat a fun lunch after church with some good friends of ours, and they brought the kids some free push pops. Neither kiddo had eaten one before (or it had been a really long time), so it was lots of fun.

Homemade Ice Cream

Over Labor Day weekend we decided to make some ice cream. Nathaniel helped, and his job was to crush the cookies. He was very successful! And of course the ice cream was delicious.

First Day of School

Sorry this post is late, but we've been busy getting back in a routine. I had such a hard time on the first day getting a "great" shot, but these will have to do. He of course had a great first day, and has had excellent behavior the first 2 weeks. I am so proud. This year his little class has a library, and he gets to bring new books home each day, so that is a lot of fun.

 Outside of school

What's amazing is how much bigger he looks than last year . . . . click here to see last year's first day pictures.

End of Summer Trip to Amarillo

Nathaniel and I flew to Amarillo to see our family before school starts. It was so nice to be able to see family and play outside. There was a lot of rain in the Houston area when we flew out, as you can see in the first shot. We had fun watching the planes.

Nathaniel loves these little rides right now. And gumball machines (even though he doesn't chew the gumball).

Having fun with Aunt Hill's dogs.

Mimi took him to paint some pottery. He was very focused and intent on his painting.

He really loves arts and crafts.

He was so hungry from playing outside he almost ate a whole small pizza.

World's Strongest Man?

A bell pepper and tomato he picked from the garden.

I should have fixed his hair before this picture.

One day we got to take lunch to Aunt Hill at her school. Of course her classroom looked terrific and Nathaniel had a great time at a "big" school.

Putting rocks (or something) in his toes.

The last day before we left we went to a railroad museum. Fun!

The Train Station

As always, we love seeing our family and it is such a special treat to go.

One funny thing I remember about the trip. When my mom and Nathaniel were playing with a little lego set, she told Nathaniel that the firefighter had a monkey wrench. He gives her the funniest expression and says, "for monkeys?" We all got a good laugh.