
28 March 2008
Alvin - Simon - Theodore

27 March 2008
Thursday Thirteen - 6th Edition

- Haystacks (Combine 1 sleeve of Fiber One cereal with 1 bag melted chocolate chips. Drop into 48 haystacks. Best if served frozen!)
- 97% FF Popcorn
- Graham Cracker Sandwiches (Freeze 2 Low Fat Graham Cracker Sandwich halves with a dollop of cool whip in the middle.)
- Curves Chocolate Peanut butter Cereal Bar
- WW Chocolate Smoothie made with 1 cup of coffee and ice
- Apple
- Healthy Choice or WW Fudge Sickle
- Scoop of Sugar Free Blue Bell Ice Cream
- Egg Beaters with Salsa
- Corn tortilla with spray butter
- Cup of Strawberries
- Reduced fat Chips Ahoy Cookie
- Fat Free Ruffles
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
26 March 2008
Doing Great!
James' surgery went great. We are home and he is sleeping right now. They gave him an antibiodic shot there at the hospital and we have an ear drop prescription but other than that, it will be life as normal and hopefully he will be feeling even better now that all of that infected fluid is out of his ears or on its way out! Thanks for your prayers.
25 March 2008
James' Ears
23 March 2008
Easter Sunday

During our church service on Sunday there was an artist that worked on these amazing paintings. He painted the first one during the service that we attended and then the one that Kirstyn is standing by was painted during the second service. It was really exciting to watch him while the chior sang and while David George was preaching (I still managed to take notes!). I was excited to see what it was going to be when he finished. Kirstyn wanted her picture taken with the butterfly one and I was happy to do so because now you can see how large these painting are!
22 March 2008
21 March 2008
Fabulous Tip Friday!
My tips are reuses for a few items that have already been used once and would be going into the trash (or recycling bin). These have the potential to save you time and money!
- Used Dryer Sheets (any brand) - after your clothes are dry, when you remove the dryer sheet from the dryer, instead of throwing it away, take it to your shower. (what!?!?). If you get it wet it will make a soapy like foam that you can rub on your glass shower door or on your shower tiles and it will clean them! I like it because you can clean the door while you are in the shower and you won't get your hands yucky with a 'bleach' like smell!
- Old Newspaper - Use old newspapers to wash your windows along with your favorite window cleaner instead of using a roll of paper towels. They work great, don't leave any streaks, and don't cost you anything! And, if your house is anything like mine and you have "helpers", then you will definitely save tons of paper towels!
- WD-40 - If you are like us, you bought a can of WD-40 years ago to make a chair or a door stop squeaking and then you put it in your garage. Well, if your children bring home a silly putty egg this Easter, you will be prepared when it gets 'permanently' stuck to fabric or carpet. Just spray on WD-40 and wipe away with a clean cloth!
Happy Cleaning! For more Fabulous Tip Friday participants....click HERE.
20 March 2008
Thursday Thirteen - 5th Edition

- Go Fishing
- Ride in the back of the truck
- Watch the cows eating hay
- Check the pigs
- Throw rocks in the creek
- Jump on the trampoline
- Play with cousins
- Watch the logging trucks
- Run around outside
- Feed the pets
- Ride the tractor
- Watch the deer run across the pasture
- Get DIRTY!
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
19 March 2008
Time for some Tea
17 March 2008
My Meme Monday!
1) You must post these rules on your blog before you answer the questions.
2) You need to list one fact about yourself using each letter of your MIDDLE name. If you don’t have a middle name use your maiden name instead.
3) When you are finished with your answers, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name.
My Middle Name: ESTELLE
E - Exhausted. I am very tired because since James has been sick he has not been sleeping well. I am planning to spend this week in Arkansas getting some much needed rest!
S - Star. Estelle means 'star'. Natalie means 'Christmas'. So, guess you could call me "Christmas Star"...perfect since my birthday is Christmas Day.
T - Tracing. I was recently contacted by a third cousin that found us on mySpace and she has traced the Bickley side of my family back to the 1600's! I am learning so much and am helping her fill in all of the blanks she had on our side of the family.
E - Eating. My favorite pass time! Aka, why I have to attend Weight Watchers meetings!
L - Laugh. Some people laugh at my 'wit' while I think I tend to rub others the wrong way. I just mostly speak before I think too much about it. I love to laugh and make others laugh too.
L - Love. I love it when people leave nice comments on my blog! Comments really are the
E - Early. Something I would love to be all of the time but usually am not...I think most of the time it is David's fault and he is in denial!
Oh and tag, you are it! If you are reading this and you haven't done this meme yet, then consider yourself one of my seven.
Mommies United Mega Launch Party & Ultimate Blog Party Wrap-Up!

If you don't already know me, I am Natalie and this blog is all about what is Normal to me. I stay very busy keeping up with my two little ones while helping my husband run and grow our business (speaking of that...If you live in Texas then you should call him for a FREE, no obligation quote on your insurance...a link to the agency is on my sidebar!). I hope you will come back and get to know me better! I think this blog is even helping me to get to know me better. It is amazing how much you can learn about yourself when you blog!
The other thing that I am excited about is the chance to win some prizes. I was contacted yesterday by Angi over at Thoughts of a Wannabe to let me know that I had won the book Truffles by the Sea from my visit during the Ultimate Blog Party '08. Then, I was contacted by Kelly to tell me that I had won a Cold Stone Creamery gift card! (no, it won't ruin my WW
- Free Blog Template from Splat Designs
- Anything from GirlMogul (I love these SMART Girl shirts!)
- Set of Books from Cedar Valley Publishing
- Party Game from SexySlang (I bet you click on that link just to see what it is!)
16 March 2008
Family!
14 March 2008
Updates!
Well, James and I spent the afternoon at the ENT yesterday and the doctor said that his ears looked really bad. He was very surprised that he had been on antibiotics for so long and his ears still were that bad. The audiologist did the puff of ear test and James had a flat line showing lots of fluid in the ears. We are scheduled for tubes for James' ears on March 26th. This is the earliest we can get in since next week is spring break and the doctor is on vacation.
We got the kids picture made last night with the Easter Bunny! I am so excited that they actually turned out great! Stay tuned for your Easter Card!
Okay, now I have to get back to packing....we are headed to Arkansas for Spring Break!
13 March 2008
Thursday Thirteen - 4th Edition

- "Dear Diarrhea" (hummm...dear diary?)
- "You are not following the erections" (what!?!?! maybe we should follow the Directions!)
- "SH*%#" (this one made her a party attraction....my friends would say, 'Kirstyn, say FIX IT, and she would....she would say very clearly "SH#$@"....I'm glad she outgrew this one before she asked her Sunday School teachers to fix anything!)
- "A-WAZ" (because)
- "DDD" (D-V-D)
- "Why does brother have that?" (umm, his penis? because, that is the way Jesus made him.) "Jesus is really silly!" (such wisdom at such a young age! I'm one proud mommy!)
- The other day, Daddy was teaching her how to rhyme and if she couldn't think of a rhyming word, he was teaching her to work her way through the alphabet. For example, at, bat, cat, fat. Okay, so a few minutes later the word she was trying to rhyme was lick. I could see the wheels turning as she started working through the alphabet silently until she came up with something. She was sooooo proud when she screamed LICK - DICK! Daddy was officially now done playing this game. He couldn't wait to play Hi Ho Cheerio or Candyland!
- "One nation, under God, uninvisible, with littering and dust us for all!"
- Her bedtime prayer... "Dear God, thank you for our hearts, our pink ones, red ones, purple ones, (and on and on...I think she is thinking about valentines!) in Jesus name, Amen.
- Awwwww, Pickles! (too many episodes of Higgly Town Heroes!)
- Today I mentioned that maybe next week Pappy would take her fishing and then we could have fish for dinner one night. Her response: "MOMMY! That pond is dirty, those fish will have germs....AND I only eat fish from the Freezer!" (what was I thinking...I called Pappy and told him he better go fishing before we get there so that we can eat our fish from the freezer!)
- After watching Snoopy lick his wound on his back, Kirstyn asked what he was doing. Daddy told her that he was licking it because it hurt. The next day, Kirstyn hurt her foot and immediately sat down and said, "Daddy, lick it!" Too funny!
- And my all time favorite is here!
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
12 March 2008
Happy 80th Birthday Granny Rene!
*Update on James: We see the ENT tomorrow afternoon!
11 March 2008
ENT, Here we come!
Tonight I talked to my mom and my little nephew Bryton is also sick. Poor guy, he had to get a breathing treatment today at his doctor and was sent home with a treatment machine and antibiotics. Also, today my dad took Snoopy to the vet to have him put down. My mom said that he was not eating and doing much worse...so we made the right decision when we sent him home with them a few weeks ago.
On a happier note, Kirstyn had ice skating lessons tonight and they evaluated her and she got all positive scores! She was very excited to have passed Tot 1 at Ice Skating. I will post another video of her skating soon. I am just so proud of her (even more so because I know how hard it is because I can't do it!).
10 March 2008
Susan has moved in!
09 March 2008
Date with Kirstyn
08 March 2008
Sick Days and A Fun Night Out!
Oh, I forgot, the main reason I wrote this was to tell you that I got to go out tonight to party to a ladies night with some ladies from my Sunday school class. We were all given the instructions to bring our favorite winter pjs in a brown paper sack to the get together. We all drew numbers and opened the bags one at a time. One was a really tiny bag and everyone was afraid to open it! Too funny, anyway, this was a great little party game. After everyone's was open we all voted on the "hot mamma", "cold as ice wife", and "queen of the pjs". It was really funny and our hostess, Carol, gave out prizes. The "hot mamma" was given some things to "cool" her down in bed to make the rest of us not look so bad...she got some Doritos to make her breath stink, some curlers for her hair, etc. The "cold as ice wife" needed some help in the bedroom so she got a little black number, some candles, a latin music cd, etc. The "queen of the pjs" got a tiara to wear! We all laughed very hard and had a great time guessing what pjs went with what lady!
Do you have any clever ladies night ideas? Or do you have a sick little one? Please share!
07 March 2008
Welcome to My Party!

Please stop back by often for some fun with us in what we like to call our "Normal" lives! Oh and don't forget to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by!
Oh, one more thing....what is a party without a goody bag? Well, I am so excited about all of the prizes that are being given away at the end of this huge party! Have you checked the list to see what you want to win? I have and I hope to win one of the following (but hey, I would be excited to win just about anything!):
- Jill's Book Bag (#100)
- Webcam (#72)
- Shopping for me! $25 Gift Card to Target (#117) or $25 CASH (#59) or $23 CASH (#55)
- PINK Legos (#103) for Kirstyn and I to enjoy together...we will just have to keep James from eating them!
- Baby Signing (#17) so Kirstyn and I can learn to talk to baby James
- Noah's Ark Stacking Blocks (#85)...guess since I put the legos for Kirstyn on my wish list I decided I needed to pick out a little something James would like on my list.
- Oh and any one of the blog redesigns would be a fun prize!
***Update 3/12: Well, I was right about the weather....it got to 80 degrees today here! Also, how are you approaching the huge mr. linky list? I have visited all of the blogs that registered with Mr. Linky before me (I am #129). Now, I am going to visit as many of the blogs that are in a mr. linky number that ends in 9. I'm not even sure I will make it through that many before the afterparties start!
06 March 2008
SNOW in Texas!
Well, on Saturday we were working in the yard wearing shorts and today it snowed! Kirstyn was so excited even though I was disapointed that we didn't get as much snow as they did just 30 minutes north of our house. Here are some pictures of Kirstyn out in it all! She was so funny, she was running around on the deck making "paw prints" and right as I was going to take a picture her feet went out from under her and she found herself looking up at me! I was laughing and taking her picture! Then we went out front to check on the flowers and take a picture of our tiny bit of snow. After we came in and Kirstyn had a nice hot bubble bath, she and I made "Snowmen" Cornbread for dinner. Pretty cute huh! (I have several random cast iron pans like that...yes, Tracy, I know that is why I often find myself with a storage problem...but it is FUN!)
I Can't Wait to PARTY!

I have prepared my family...I have taught my 4 year old to prepare her own food and feed her brother his baby food. We have enough clothes and towels to survive a whole week without me doing laundry and well, the hubby can play Pantry Survivor (really, honey, it will be fun!) Now, I'm going to get dressed up (in my yoga pants and a t-shirt with no stains) and sit down with a warm cup of coffee and my laptop and PARTY! Hope to see you there!!!
Thursday Thirteen - 3rd Edition

- I can't work on Tuesdays or Thursdays because I have to go to court ordered anger management. (what!?!?!?!)
- I don't like insurance. (no problem...that is all we do around here!)
- I don't deal with kids! (can she not tell that I am very pregnant and that this is a FAMILY business!)
- I'm not really interested in learning about insurance stuff, I just need a job. (great, I was just looking for someone to give money to!)
- I can't multi task and don't want to learn how. (why are you interviewing???)
- I don't do personal anything.
- I don't see the point in buying car insurance. (that's what pays our bills! and it is the state law!!! ugh.)
- Will I need to come to work every day? (ummm...no, can I just mail you the paycheck for no reason!)
- Do I have to learn a bunch about insurance? (nope, you can just sit here and look pretty!)
- I's (I is) great on da (the) phone. (sounds like it!)
- Can I get paid sick time...cause I'm sick a lot. (let me think about that...um, no!)
- I have school classes on Tuesday and Thursday but I don't go very much. (ummm...responsibility?)
- I guess I could do some stuff around your office. (huh? maybe like WORK!)
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
04 March 2008
Look at her GO!
Being Silly!
Last night, David got home from work early (5:30!) so he gave the kids a bath before dinner and then we had dinner together. After dinner we had some time to just be silly. It was storming outside and it is hard to play games with Kirstyn that James won't try to eat so Kirstyn suggested that we take some silly pictures! We would set the camera up on some books or on the chair arm and then run around the room to "pose" before the camera took our picture. We had a great time and James just had fun laughing at all of the commotion! This one we had the camera sitting on one of James' toys and we all ran and got on the couch upside down! I almost didn't make the picture after helping the kids get on with Daddy! I think I was still in motion when it snapped the shot!
03 March 2008
My Meme Monday!
Here are the rules:
Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you’ve written.
1. Link one must be about family
2. Link two must be about friends
3. Link three must be about yourself
4. Link four must be about something you love
5. Link five can be about anything you choose
Now for my attempt at this. I am approaching 300 posts however many of mine were one-liners because when I started this blog the only purpose was for relatives to see pictures of Kirstyn without me having to remember who had asked me to email them some.
1. Every year we vacation in South Texas and get to see many of my dad's side of the family that we don't get to see any other time. I love spending time relaxing at the beach and spending time with my family! 2007 at the Beach. 2006 at the Beach. 2005 at the Beach. 05 Seagull Pictures!
2. Mommy's Friends! This story will make you laugh so you have to read it!
3. Well, I don't have much on here about me except my TT posts 1st Ed. and 2nd Ed.
4. My something that I love is my husband David and this post was written by him when he started this blog and then I took it over a few months later when he had not posted again!
5. Kirstyn used to do silly things with socks....like this and this!
Well, I'm not going to tag anyone specific, but if you want to play then please feel free!