Natalie, the gymnast

Natalie and I have been taking hula-hoop classes. Natalie is learning a lot of cool tricks, and I'm at the point where I can almost actually hula-hoop! We're both enjoying it and getting better each time, even though we are obviously at very different levels.

After the class is done and everyone else leaves, the gym we are in is just too tempting. A big open gym floor just needs to be used for some gymnastics:

I know she's a little sassy towards the end of the video, but I think it's worth it to see her eyes light up with a big smile at the end. She asked me to record this video for her, so she could see herself - she wasn't planning on me posting it for the world to see...

Field trip to the botanical garden

Natalie's class went on a field trip to the botanical garden - and I got to tag along as a chaperone! We had such a great time. The weather was a little on the cold side, but with no rain. The teacher from the garden was very good at showing us all kinds of things about plants and seeds. It was very enjoyable and educational, even for the grown-ups.


Natalie's teacher took pictures and made a really cool video out of the pictures:

Girls night out

Sometimes, girls just wanna have fun... So Natalie and I had a girls night out.

We started by going out for dinner. The dessert was pretty special, so Natalie wanted me to take pictures of her (we texted them to Karsten so he could see all the fun we had):

Gotta love the expression on her face. Had to include this picture, even though the light i a bit off.

And here's another cute one!

After dinner, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese. Natalie got really hooked at this "jump-rope" game - and she got really good at it, too:

Family activity night at school

Natalie's school had a family activity night. One room was filled with board games, etc. The other room was the gym filled with fun things to do. Knowing Natalie, it isn't surprising that we never made it to the board games...

Slalom obstacle course - Natalie competed against one of her friends.

Natalie loved the climbing wall...

... and she was really good at it, too!

But I think her favorite was the hula-hoops:

Happy Birtday, Karsten!

Karsten had a big birthday this year! We celebrated with a fancy breakfast table - and a big present:

The big box was something Karsten had wished for. It was really fun trying to hide it from him. Fortunately, Natalie and I had build a big fort in the living room the weekend before - the perfect hiding spot!

Happy Birthday, Karsten!

Natalie also had a birthday song for Karsten:

Sledding

Since this was a very cold winter, we only got to go sledding once... But it was a good one:

Getting pulled to the sledding hill.

Ready - set - go!

And here she goes:

Daddy - Daughter Dance

On Valentine's Day, Natalie and Karsten went to a Daddy - Daughter Dance. Natalie was very excited. First, her and I sent to the salon to get a special fancy hairdo for her:

Such a pretty girl.

Karsten dressed up all fancy, too:

That's a cute couple.

There was a photo booth at the party:

Look like fun.

Natalie met one of her friends from school at the party:

There was lots of dancing...

And cure pictures...

Of course, I didn't get to go, so i just heard the story thru the pictures above. But I did get to see Natalie being all happy before she left:

Karsten got in on the dancing at home, too:

Natalie's cake

One of Natalie's favorite things to do is to bake. And she is very creative with the decorating:

Cupcakes with frosting and sour patch gummi bears

Cupcakes with sky blue frosting, marshmallow fluff for clouds, and rainbow candy

And the artsy close-up...

The cake...

The cake had a special story, complete with rainbow bridges, etc. But Natalie can explain that much better:

Ice-skating

Natalie tried ice-skating for the first time this year! At first she reminded me a little of "Bambi on thin ice" (ah, the Disney Classics), but she quickly got the hang of it.

I tried to get some pictures, but most of them turned out like this one:

Bambi...

Or this one:

Full speed ahead...

But eventually, I got this one:

That smile is priceless!

Towards the end, she got really good at it:

Unfortunately, she took a good spill shortly after this video was taken, and she even knocked out a tooth - a baby tooth that was very loose and would have come out anyway within the next few days. She kept saying she had fun and she wanted to go back, but we didn't make it back again this year, since the temperatures kept being way low... We'll try again next year!

The pianist

Sometimes, when it is really cold outside, Natalie and I hang out in the basement. And when I'm really lucky, I get treated to a fancy concert:

Snowy Christmas

This year, we definitely had a white Christmas. On Christmas Eve day, Natalie and I went outside to play:

Snow angel.

Get ready...

Get set...

Go!

And get ready for the next round!

Natalie had a whole story about the snow:

Flipping crepes

Natalie and Karsten were making crepes. Natalie was very fascinated with how Karsten could flip them in the air. So, of course she wanted to learn, too! I had a blast watching them and trying to take their picture. Here is one that turned out pretty nice:

Getting ready for the flip...

But some of the other pictures ended up being really funny:

The crepe-hat!

The crepe-face!

Natalie is a fast learner, and she actually got pretty good at it. Just take a look for yourself:

Legos

When Karsten was a kid, he had a lot of legos. Lately, his Mom has been sending them to us a little at a time. Natalie has been having a blast putting them all together:

Legos, legos everywhere...

She even wanted to make a little video for her Grandma about them:

Runway for Life

On Thursday, I was modelling for Runway for Life. It's a benefit for The American Cancer Society. They put on a fashion show with cancer survivors as the models, showing off fashion from local stores. I was selected to model a handbag.

They went all out with fashionable hair-do's and makeup:

 

 

We were two cancer survivors from my company that modeled for the event, and our company sponsored a corporate table. I was so fortunate to have Karsten and Natalie in the audience, cheering for me, along with some great friends and colleagues. One of them even recorded a little video of my "5 seconds of fame"..

 

 

 

I don't usually consider myself modeling material, but it was a really fun event, and I'm glad I could take part in it. Not only was it for a good cause, but it was a total blast to do hair and make-up and hang out with the other models behind the scenes. And I think it was a great way to show Natalie that sometimes it's okay to do things you are not so sure about - and to not take yourself too seriously...

 

Happy Mother's Day

We had such a great Mother's Day! We spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing - like playing games, playing outside, flying kites, etc. And we did a lot of baking:

 

Yep, that's my daughter - wearing a pretty dress, an apron, and blue latex gloves. She DOES NOT like getting her hands dirty or sticky. But she's smart enough to just do things her own way. Gotta love it.

 

The best part was how happy she was to share "my" day with me. I think this video says it all:

What a Wonderful Day.

A bigger park

Towards the end of summer, Natalie and I discovered a REALLY big park across town. We spent a great morning there (with lots of photo-ops):

Natalie's favorite thing to do all summer was the monkey bars.

And Natalie is pretty good at them!

The park also had this very shallow stream, just waiting for us to go for a walk.

Very shallow...

Can you find Natalie?

Make a funny face

 

Well, that's one way to wake up...

Camping day three - morning

On day three, we went on the hayride in the morning. Actually, we had to wait for a little while first - which was a great opportunity for pictures. Here's one of my favorites:

Just hanging out...

We also played on the playground for a while. The slide is always fun.

After the hayride, it was time to raise the flag and visit the Bear's cottage. Natalie got the honor of holding one of the flags:

Such a big girl - so responsible!

We got to go inside the bears cottage and meet the bears:

Natalie and Aubriella posing for a picture with Cindy Bear.

Of course, Natalie wanted to explore some more - so she climbed up to take a look at the top bunk.

Back at the cabin, we had time for a little playtime. Can you tell that it was right around the time of the Olympics, and we'd been watching a lot of gymnastics on tv?

Then it was time for the pool again. The girl can swim! On her own! And once she started, she wasn't going to stop for a long, long, time...

... In fact, the only thing that could make her stop swimming was the idea of jumping into the water with Daddy - again and again and again...

But I figured I'd finish this post with one of the cutest videos ever. Brayden can be such a charmer... 

Dance show!

Natalie and I love to watch dance shows on TV together. We've watched "Dancing with the Stars", and we're currently hooked on "So You Think You Can Dance". After my last surgeries, I had to take it easy for a while. Natalie kept me entertained by doing the most beautiful, fantastic dance shows for me. Here are a few pictures:

Such dynamic moves...

Such great balance... So graceful...

Fortunately, I got some videos of it. Here's one of them:

She found the song on a very old CD somewhere in our collection. It is Johnny Logan's "Hold me now". She has good taste - I liked that one too when I was a kid / teenager...

A silly bedtime routine

I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but within the last week or so, this has become part of Natalie's bedtime routine:

Hmm, I thought bedtime routines were supposed to be relaxing... But oh, well, it gets everyone laughing, and that can't be a bad way to end the day!