Nori's home!

We weren't supposed to get Nori for another week, but we had a schedule conflict next weekend and while Mom and I took the kids to a dance competition, Chase drove 2.5 hours away to pick up our girl.

The first time we met Nori!

 Poor Nick, his mother held him captive at a dance competition for an entire Saturday.  I think he handled it pretty well.

Out of order...
CHELSEA GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!

Nori on the way home.  She only got carsick twice, poor Chase.

Dana helped make Nick's day at the dance competition more tolerable by offering a back scratch.  

 Natalie and Nori bonded instantly, they just absolutely adore each other.  

Leprechauns came and messed up our house.  Ugh.

 This is a horrible picture, but is this not the fattest cardinal you've ever seen??? I've been trying to snap a picture of him for weeks but he always evades my camera.

Soccer!

Natalie has been asking, no, BEGGING me to get her "soccer class".  It's been really important to me that I nurture and develop all of her interests, not just dance; I don't want her to be that kid that's always at the dance studio and dances because she has to.  So I signed her up for a "mini kickers" soccer practice.  Yesterday was Natalie's first day of soccer.  I had to get her an athletic outfit, a soccer ball, shin guards, and special socks.  Cleats were recommended but we decided to wait and see how she did on the field.  She was great!  She picked up the technique, participated in practice, listened to her coach, and followed directions.  She even scrimmaged.  But she HATED it.  She came off the field and told me she never wants to do that again and told my mom "That was NOT good."

So now what do I do?  Am I the mother that forces her to participate in something she doesn't like?  Unfortunately, I think I've decided to make Natalie stick it out, I can't stand it when parents allow their children to quit so I'm going to stick to my convictions.

Even though she didn't like it, she was cute doing it:

Busy Busy

I swear the Blanton's are the busiest people ever.  We're constantly on the go and I can't remember the last time we had a weekend, or even just a Saturday, to do nothing.  Chase has leave coming up and we're very seriously considering a "staycation".  Here's the lastest installment of photo updates from our crazy family:

Nick's asthma acted up last week.  This year has been so much better since he's been put on a daily inhaler and we're very thankful that we don't have to deal with Nick on 'roids very often any more.  This picture is a pretty good example of how ridiculous he gets on prednisone.

Nick has decided that riding in the cart is no longer acceptable.   Now we amble through Walmart, annoying everyone in our path as Nick navigates the cart.

Someone is always unhappy about having to share my lap.  A few days ago I heard Natalie tell Nick "she was my mommy FIRST!" 

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday Natalie dressed up as Cindy Lou Who for school.  

Aunt Chelsea and Dad have both bought Natalie sleeping bags recently, she LOVES them and sleeps in them every night.  

 Here's Miss Nori at 6 weeks.  She weighs 7.1 pounds and is getting ready for her first vet check next week.  

The Junior League hosted their 10th annual spring fundraiser on March 8.  It was so much fun and before the night even began, our ticket sales alone had almost matched last year's total raised amount.  Way to go JLMC!

Introducing ELECTRIC BOY!

Out of order as usual, but anyway... The JLMC fundraiser had a photo booth.  Hilarious.  

Blanton Happenings

As usual, Blogger has discombobulated the order of my pictures... ugh.  

For Valentine's Day Natalie got an Ariel wall decal that lights up and plays "Under the Sea".  In love.

Mom's birthday lunch at the Holly Inn.

Lynne and Ralph still looking good!

Probably the greatest picture of these two EVER!

She actually smiled nicely without making that goofy face!

Not the greatest picture, but I wanted to document the first time we ate outside at the new house!  In typical NC fashion it was 72 degrees on Sunday, followed by a low of 16 the next day.

Sweet Nori, 5 weeks.

Nori officially becomes a Blanton on March 22!

I don't care how much he hates me for this later.

Natalie has had some difficulty following the rules at school.  I was getting super exasperated because nothing seemed to work to correct the bad behavior.  We tried punishments, rewards, all sorts of incentives... nothing worked.  Then one day, one of her classmate's mom told me about her daughter's pompom system.  Every day she goes to school, depending on her behavior, she earns one or two pom poms.  If she wasn't very good, no pompoms are earned, and if she's really bad then she goes into negative pompom territory (definitely don't want to go there).  Anyway, depending on how many pompoms she earns per day, she puts that amount into a pompom jar.  When the jar fills up she gets a reward of her choice (within reason, of course).  If she goes goes negative pompoms then she has to remove some from her jar.  It's a great system because the child isn't getting spoiled with treats every time they're good, and it teaches them to look forward to something and enjoying EARNING it.  I put Natalie on the pompom system and it's been like magic.  She's had a few one pompom days but nothing less, and we're very proud of her.  When her pompom jar was full she asked to go to Discovery Place Kids, so I let the kids play hooky, took them out for a yummy breakfast and Mom and I took them to play the day away.  Here are some pictures from her special day, of course Nick gets rewarded, too :)

Out of order... this was while Natalie was in ballet class.  Perks of mommy time.

 Back to Discovery Place:

This was at breakfast, just me and the kiddos.  They insisted on sitting next to each other, while I sat across from them.  I felt a little out of control.  They can smell fear.

 Here's Natalie modeling her summer swim line:

The last one of the the three buddies got married last weekend, Congrats Kevin and Kim!

Get me outta here!!!!

My first college roommate, and one of my dearest friends, has an etsy business.  She crochets the most amazing hats.  She donated three hats to the Junior League's silent auction and sent a bunny to Natalie.  Natalie was thrilled!

Back to the three buddies.  Bob, Kevin, and Chase.  These are the war buddies out kids will tell their kids about.  Sniff.

It was parent observation week at dance last week.  Natalie wasn't really cooperating, but I got some pretty decent footage of her amazing skills.  Obviously she's the best and should be sugar plum in the Nutcracker next year.

Nick has developed and extreme love for all things transformers.  Since this picture was taken his collection has quadrupled.  And yes, he takes all of them to bed each night.

Nick's Valentine's Day bag.

 Chase's latest beer bottling night.  This is a Belgium something.... next up is a Pilsner.  I can't wait... I want it out of my fridge!