lolly for breafast

a friend gave natalie a tootsie pop one night. she took a few licks and then put it in the fridge for the next day. when she woke up in the morning the first thing she asked for was her lollipop!

last weekend

this is from last weekend and i'm just now posting.

friday night we went to the uptown art fair. we got there about 6:30 and were super disappointed that all the booths started closing up at 8:00. so, because i thought i had more time, i only took one shot of JR getting mini donuts for natalie. they were really good. four bucks a bag.

afterwards we walked by lake of the isles and saw these guys with their canoe. it was the perfect night. i love that it's a normal thing sighting 'round these parts!

saturday we hit up the loring park art fair. gorgeous setting. LOVE that we can walk across the street to an art festival!

the booths were all around the lake.

there's this hippie bus that sells food like the "grateful dog" and you can eat inside the bus like a small diner.

saturday night we went to the elko speedway for a low-end nascar race. it was loud and fun. there were several different races and different cars. next time we'll take ear plugs but we'll definitely go again. we got free tix, drinks and popcorn through groupon!

natalie just told me that her favorite part was getting ice cream between races. but she did love the race too!

ten on ten...on the eleventh

Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments. Then share your beauty with us!

almond butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast (cut into hearts)

gas $52.48 for 18.7 gallons

wal mart for...supplies

oil change and tire rotation

making homemade laundry detergent (using the supplies)

playdate at sovereign grounds (coffee shop with a full playroom!)

could my skyline be any sweeter?!

walking the dog

visiting "the girls" in the leasing office

dinner off the grill

loving life!

hooray for my first ten on ten! woo hoo!

best hippy show i've seen...lately

 
went to this show tonight.
loved it.
every song is good.
so download it.
home is where i belong with you.
i am home.
home is where i belong with you.

i wish i had my camera.
big time.
amazing weather.
perfect clouds and stage.
gorgeous sunset.

go ahead and listen on repeat
it will be okay
and you'll love it actually.

in between pictures

since i just posted a bazillion pics and i'm not picking up my camera til this weekend, i'll just log a few of nat's latest statements:
**ready freddy?
**everything "bothers" her. she'll take off her clothes and say, "they were bothering me."
"mom, stop it! stop bothering me!"
**natalie's best friend in kansas city is sweet evie. even though the "real" evie is still in kc, "pretend" evie is here everyday for a playdate. every meal. every bedtime. every errand. every craft. i serve evie food on her own dishes, hold the door open for her, get her own paintbrushes at craft time... it has been fun having so much of her around! :) BUT natalie has started BLAMING evie for things!!! "evie, don't pull my hair! don't do that!"
me: "natalie, who taught you that?" nat: "evie did.""
"mom, evie didn't wait for the swing but i did."
** she was standing on a chair getting ready to jump off and said, "mom, you don't have to tell me to be careful!"
** i was helping her clean her room and telling her where to put things away. the last thing was her baby. i handed it to her and asked, "where do you want to put her? in her crib? the stroller?" and she shoved it up her shirt and said, "in my tummy!"
**natalie told us she needed to take off her shorts (her shirt was already off) so she could eat her graham cracker better.
**our first night back in kc i was putting her to bed and she said she liked kansas city better than minneapolis. i asked her why? "because this is my home." ahhhhhh
**she came to my room this morning when she woke up and asked where daddy was? i said at work. "why can't he work in kansas city?"

dc - yep, washington!

i got to meet my mom and sister-in-law, rachel, in washington dc!

we went for a covenant women's conference. triennial is held in a different city every three years.

we chose the "dc at night" excursion. a bus took us around the city for a few hours. it's a beautiful, very busy city.

it's gorgeous. with so much to see and do.

the white house (complete with security on the roof) with the washington monument back left.

lincoln memorial

lincoln looks ready to go.

i think he needs to come kick some americans back in shape!

washington monument

vietnam war memorial

"three servicemen"

there are 58,267 names on the wall.

below is the directory. such a shame.

iwo jima memorial

u.s. capitol

the next morning we started with lattes (that come with animal crackers!)...

and then hopped on the metro...

to ford's theatre where lincoln was assassinated.

running across the street!

i think we counted 18 pigeons that were still there after i took the picture. many hopped away as i walked up.

i love that it's an old city. with so much history. it was so cool on the tour to hear how it was a marshland and then to see what it looks like today. i was thinking that even though it is a bustling, beautiful city, i wouldn't like to live in such a touristy (or political)place. tour buses and crowds of people - all day, every day. but then a friend from virginia made the comment that because of the visitors, the city is kept clean and business is good!

the building in the back is the archives of the usa.

the navy memorial is in the foreground. "the granite sea" (the dark part covering the ground) the granite map shows the expanse of the earth's oceans.

next stop: georgetown

darling town but mostly chain stores. that was disappointing.

georgetown cupcake - they have their own show on TLC

oysters and a philly cheesesteak at j.paul's

back on the metro

at rush hour!

two sets of escalators back up to street level

there was a guy in georgetown wearing a t-shirt that said "go heart your own city." i laughed out loud! i guess not everyone loves all the tourists.

back at the hotel

we got our sightseeing in the first day and a half and now back to the whole reason we were there!

the speakers, seminars and worship.

the speakers were all excellent. very powerful, moving and relevant. one of our speakers was kirsten haglund, miss america 2008! she's only 21 and an outstanding speaker.

of the two seminars i chose, one was called "grace in the trenches." it was about motherhood (and life!) and how it's going to be stressful and trying and that God tells us we're going to have trials so just count on them rather than being surprised when they happen. but that i can NEVER FORGET what Jesus did for me. He can handle anything! we also sang the worship song "mighty to save" which was really good for me to hear right now:

Savior

He can move the mountains

My God is mighty to save

He is mighty to save

Forever

Author of Salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave

so for me personally, i was really stressing about some house problems we are having in kc

but if God can move the  mountains, He can move my foundation too!

i also attended kirsten's seminar on body image. she spoke about overcoming anorexia and has started a foundation to help others. talking about having a healthy relationship with food and cutting ourselves some slack about our dress size is always relevant too, right?! how can we give ourselves to God and use our bodies for His purpose when we're constantly displeased with how we look? He made us! let's be happy with who He made us to be!

and the last night was a concert by natalie grant!

she was fantastic and hilarious! the song i linked her to is one of my favorite songs ever.

 it was a really great four days. so nice to be filled back up spiritually. wonderful to see some of my family. and thanks to nana for watching natalie so i could go!