A Year and More in Review......

It's sad to say....but I haven't updated this blog in over a year.  With the start of my business and just being plain tired I have let it slip.....but today I finally sat down and finished renaming all 3000+ pictures we had taken and now taking the time to update this blog I have loved doing so well.........so sit back and relax cause this could take a while.  Ha ha!

We will start back in September 2012 when we went on our first camping trip ever as a family on our own to Fall Creek Falls.  When we have went camping in the past we have always been with someone but this time was a first for us to man it alone....and we did pretty good.  Momma and Daddy let us borrow their little gas cooking stove and we had our tent from when we went camping with the Scouts last year so we were all set.  Natalee had never been camping and she was a bit afraid at first that a bear would come out of the woods and eat us but we survived.  We are hoping to do a lot more of it this fall.

 

Not long after this trip, we took another camping trip with the Cub Scouts to Skymont.  It was a terrible camping experience.  It rained the whole time we were there.  We didn't go up with the pack but went with some of our friends we had made in scouts instead.  It was fun getting to know them better but the rain was brutal.  Although we had a rain canopy on our tent, we discovered some holes on the sides that had ripped and water leaked in pretty good.  None of us slept well for fear of branches crashing on our heads as well.  After the boys earned the missing badges they lacked, we packed it up early and headed back to Chattanooga.  But despite the rain, it was fun.





There's never been a dull moment since Miss Natalee arrived to the Webb household.  The day before Halloween 2012, we had quite an occurrence I'm sure to never forget.......I like to call it "The Attack of the Blender".  Natalee likes to help me cook and on this particular day, we were making something chocolate for dessert.  The kiddos like to hold the blender to mix the ingredients.  On this particular day, Natalee got a little too close to the blender.  I had turned my back for a split second and all of the sudden I heard a scream and turned to see Nathan high-tailing it out of the kitchen in a flash.  I thought that boy had did something to aggravate her as all brothers like to do but to my dismay it was worse....much worse.  Natalee stood there covered in chocolate from head to toe and a blender still running turning in her hair!!!  It was horrible and extremely funny all at the same time.  Instead of being a sympathetic mother to my distressed child, I ran for the camera.  I just couldn't resist.  I'm glad I did because looking at her poor little chocolate covered face helped me as I worked 2 hours on getting that blender out of her hair.  In the end, I had to cut her hair.  Thankfully it was the part of her hair that I pulled back so it wasn't noticeable.  One day this picture will be wonderful blackmail material!



As you may remember earlier in 2012, Natalee started taking ballet.  This past year she added a combo class of tap and ballet.  It was fun watching her tap, but she really did a great job of ballet.  Here is a pic of her dressed up for Halloween as a mermaid at ballet class with her teachers.



Nathan during the 2012-2013, was a third grader.  That kid did so well and he had the best teacher.  Ms. McKinney was such a blessing to him and me........and even to this day she is still there for Nathan.  I sure wish there were more teachers like her out there that show love and care for the ones they teach.  It sure makes a world of difference to them.  Here is a picture of Nathan during his Christmas party last year in Ms. McKinney's class.



The end of the year brought some big surprises and happiness.  The surprise was Nathan lost his first tooth.  He was so worried about that.  All his friends were losing teeth like crazy and he was feeling very concerned about his teeth.  But suddenly one popped out, followed by several more!  He has done a great job taking care of his teeth.  I love his smile :-)



The biggest happening of 2012 and the most exciting for the kiddos has been the addition of our new family member, Reggie.  Tripp surprised me one day by saying maybe it would be neat to have a dog.  I was shocked because Nathan has been wanting a pet like that for a while but it didn't seem like an option.  We got excited and started looking online at area rescue sites and came to A Paw and a Prayer..........there we saw Reggie and his brother Pogo.  We were kind of interested in Pogo because he had blue eyes!  The ad said they were a Husky/Corgi mix.  So we decided to head down and check Mr. Pogo out.....but when we got there Mr. Pogo wasn't the friendliest one of the bunch........but Reggie was so sweet and loving and trying real hard to get our attention.  We had heard from several that when we went to let the dog choose you, not you choose it...........so we went with that advice and brought Mr. Reggie home.  He is like having another child but we love him dearly.

 









We have quite some silly kiddos.  The next two pictures have no words to explain..........I am speechless but I'm sure you would get a good laugh out of them.

We love hiking and now that we have Reggie, hiking has become quite fun.  That silly pup loves the water and gets so excited on our walking adventures.  In April, we took a trip to Cloudland Canyon State Park.  It was a perfect day for a hike!

In May, Natalee had her second and last ballet recital.  She has decided to not take lessons anymore which probably was a good thing since she started school this year...but she still enjoys dancing around the house.  She says she is going to be a ballet teacher when she grows up though.........or maybe an astronaut.  Ha ha!  Here are some pictures my dad and Tripp took after her recital.  I love these pictures!



With the summer starting off and dreams of going to the beach, we decided to get Natalee into swimming lessons.  She said she knew how to swim already but talked her into going anyway.  Ha ha!  The poor girl needs help.  Lessons were great but the learner sunk every time.  She was brave though....very brave. But I see lessons next summer in her future.  Ha ha!  Here are some pics of her when she wasn't sinking :-)

It's hard to believe but my little girl turned the big 5 this year!  Time sure does fly!  To celebrate, she wanted to go to Lake Winnie.

Nathan's teacher had told us about visiting Navarre Beach in Florida and how much she loved going there.  We thought we would give it a try for our summer vacation this year.  The drive was a very easy drive and we found an awesome deal on a new condo that overlooked the ocean.  We had a great time!  It stormed the first couple of days off and on but the rest of the week was perfect!  One night we tried looking for sand crabs on the beach.  That was fun.  We found more than we thought!  A shark that had been caught off the pier earlier that day washed upon the beach.  It was interesting to see one up close like that.  We also walked along the pier and visited a local zoo.

Natalee was trying to feed the seagulls Pringles.......and teach them their ABC's

LOL!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Natalee has such pretty hair but it tangles badly everyday.  With school approaching, we were trying to think of some ways to stop the tangling so school morning won't be so stressful combing out knots.  I found these rollers that look like sticks with batting inside that has been a lifesaver!  I love how it curls her hair.  She is getting so pretty and Nathan so handsome!  Love them!

It's hard to believe but school has started.  Nathan is in the fourth and Natalee started kindergarten.  I wasn't sure how I would handle both of them gone but it hasn't been bad.  I can get so much things done and my sewing business has picked up a lot so I'm keeping busy with that as well.  Nathan is doing well in 4th but it has been a bit of a challenge too.  They are pushing them to be more responsible and he is changing classes between two teachers.  The teachers are great but definitely more homework and responsibility for recording your assignments between the two.  Natalee loves kindergarten.  She has made a lot of friends........and from what I understand all 12 boys in her class are in love with her.  Uh oh!

 

Kindergarten is hard work!!

 

 

This year has been a blessing to me........much more than I could post or say on here. But I look forward to getting back into posting on here again......and hopefully my next post won't be a year from now :-)

Until next time on the next chapter of Nathan and Natalee......and Reggie too!