Things are about to change in our house. 😮Not sure if I’m a ready for this, or not. Only one way to find out. 😏

I HATE Cheetos! Strong word to use, I know, but they are not the greatest thing for you, don’t taste that great, and make a horrible mess. However, kids LOVE them. At least my kids do. 😕 Having a mixture of older kids and younger kids in the house makes it hard to keep the little kids untainted from big kid junk food. Even if I don’t buy it, they will visit friends and come home with it. It is a battle I am so tired of fighting. Today Lucy had a HORRIBLE day! She was incredibly whiny about everything, and then screamed most of the afternoon. I was trying to be sympathetic because I know a lot of it is probably exhaustion from our crazy week, but man oh man, my patience level is not the greatest lately. Nate was wanting to visit a friend, so I had to wake Lucy up early from her nap. When we put her into the van, she blood curtling screamed the entire time we drove. When we got home, I explained to her that I was not going to take her out of her seat until she stopped. She did right away. (Stubborn little miss!)  When we got inside, she started up all over again. In asking her if she wanted a snack, she said she wanted some chips. Well of course the good kinds were all gone. All that was left was Cheetos. I tried telling her that they were yucky and didn’t taste very good. Her reply, “Mommy, these chips are yummy. They’re not yucky.” 😏I tried. I guess sometimes it’s okay to have a Cheetos Day. Lucy was happy the rest of the day. Happy Lucy=Happy Hardy Household!

“You’ll LOVE Lucy! She’s an artist!”😱

Poor Lily! At least the marker was washable. We explained to Lu that it hurt Lily being colored and made her sad that she was orange. Lucy looked very concerned for her. Hopefully this will be the last time she does this. 

Ever want to punch something? Hit something? Scream or yell at something? Run away? Hide? Yeah, all those emotions run crazy when you lose someone you love. Tonight, I lost a huge part of me. My Dad! Wow. It’s even hard to write, but I know it will help to just get my emotions out. It is such a surreal feeling to have that part of me gone. Our relationship has been so distant for quite a while, but it doesn’t mean that I ever loved him any less. I love him so incredibly much, I hope now he can see that and believe it. Very few days ever go by without missing him. What a whirlwind of events for the evening. I knew I didn’t know anyone in GA, other than Zoe, but so many solicitors call my phone lately, I didn’t think much of it. Until the voicemail was her voice. She never calls me. I knew something was wrong. What was supposed to be a small procedure on my dad’s ear, ended with a heart attack he could not recover from. I know anesthesia has never been good for him. I cannot believe this is the way things ended for him. It is all so strange. I was just texting with him this morning about all the rain they have had. And that was all. Now nothing. Just an empty hole. I wish my kids could have known him better. I wish he would have come to visit us. We would have loved that. I wish he could have gone to the incredible places we went when I was younger with my family now. My kids would have really enjoyed all he knew. My dad was a super smart man. He was always teaching lessons on things in everyday life. Even though I didn’t live with him for very long growing up, I learned so much in that time. My dad could make ANYTHING taste fabulous, and could grow absolutely everything! (Two traits I obviously did NOT inherit from him! 😂) I hope he knows how grateful I am for him. I hope he is happy for us to be his family. I hope he sees how much we love him, and even though he is gone now, he will always be in our hearts. He is gone for now, but I know we will be together again. And when we are, what a wonderful reunion that will be! I love you Dad, forever and always. You will always have a special place in my heart.

With Lucy learning how to jump off both feet last Tuesday, this past week she has been practicing her new skill. Tonight, she was quite proud of herself. I have to admit, she has come a long way in a week! 😊❤️ Along with jumping, she can forward roll, log roll, and hang from the bar for 5+ seconds all on her own. She also is very close to backward rolling by herself too. I see another Natalie in our midst. 

This morning, I was in a hurry to get ready for Church, so I asked William and Alex to help play with Lu for a few minutes. When I came back down stairs, the boys were telling me to hurry because they had something that they wanted to show me. As I came around the corner of the office, I saw this:

They were so proud of themselves! They told me that she was holding the flower in her mouth, but that she didn’t want to do it anymore by the time I got there. They also informed of how well they had made her look like she was from the ’90s. 🤣 It was pretty great. These boys are SO GREAT with Lucy! (Now to just straighten out their time eras! 😉)

Today was Alex’s first soccer game. What a beautiful day for it too! He really tried super hard. You forget when you see your kids play a sport that they have to learn EVERYTHING! They don’t come into it just knowing how to play it. I can’t wait to see his progression as the season goes along and he understands the game better. 😊

Lu was playing with her markers at the table today. I just casually walked up to her and told her what a beautiful job she was doing. I then asked her if she could write her name. Completely unexpected, she started singing her “L-U-C-Y Lucy” song as she wrote her name on her paper. Her letters are not right next to each other, but she wrote them in the correct order on her paper. 😮 She amazes me everyday! I rushed her paper to the laminator to save it for as long as possible!😊

Lucy sure can say some pretty funny things for a one year old! Today, this won it. “Look at this mess! Who made this entire mess?!”Gee! I wonder who it was?! 🤣

Today we tried out Forest School with Maedreigh. It was such a beautiful day!The kids found all kinds of sticks and goodies!Lu took the opportunity for dancing while we waited for Maedreigh and Ms. Brandi to find us.Alex loved trying to “chop” down trees. We did have a talk about respecting a nature preserve as well. 😉William kept finding snails for the girls. They liked them best when the snails would peek out their eyes. 🐌 Lucy LOVED throwing the gravel into the pond. I think she could have done that for hours had we let her.More snailsAnd more snails.As we were leaving the pond habitat, we found a wasps’ nest. It was a great learning opportunity for our kids, as well as the ones walking by.The girls found some great mud puddles to stomp in while the boys found crawfish. The boys also discovered some pretty cool tracks. We think they might have been from a coyote. Maedreigh went searching for some ducks, and found the mud. Her mommy was very prepared though. Clean clothes were waiting in the car for later, so they could get as dirty as they liked. I would say Forest School was a success for the day! 😊 To end our crazy day, since Daddy was out of town, we loaded up with Orange Leaf. At least Lucy likes frozen yogurt