American Citizen

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 I became an American citizen in Greenville, Tennessee along with 234 other people from more than 70 different countries. Colin stayed home cleaning up vomit and diarrhea. (Poor Ben... and Colin! I definitely got the better end of that deal!) It was a good ceremony - the choir from the high school next door sang the national anthem really, really well. We all said the pledge of allegiance. There were a few formalities and then came time for the judge's remarks. He made a joke about this being the part we were all dreading (he was right) and then basically said that he didn't have anything to say because what did he know about what this moment meant to us? We all breathed a sigh of relief and clapped heartily. An official read the oath, we all said "I do," and then we efficiently filed across the stage, shook hands with the judge and received our certificate of naturalization.

While we were waiting for the ceremony to begin I discovered that the ladies to my left were from Eritrea, a country, I am ashamed to say, which I could neither locate on a map, nor spell correctly. (It's north of Ethiopia, if you're wondering.) The man to my right was from South Africa. He bellowed a hearty "God bless America!" after receiving his certificate. There was a woman behind me who could speak 6 languages - French, English and 4 African languages. It was quite a mix of people; some by themselves, some with large cheering galleries.

Here's a link to an article that was in the Greenville newspaper. Note that the people were from more than 70 different countries, not 7...



And this was one of the first things I saw after leaving the ceremony. Made me laugh.

The Mowers

I can call you "Mommy," can I?

Blogger doesn't want to let me upload any photos, so I'll just share with you some of the funny things Izzie is saying. She carries on whole conversations with herself, Ben, us, her toys etc. One afternoon I heard her say, "I'm so very proud of you." She repeated the phrase several times and since there were no other people in the room I asked, "Of me?" "No!" she replied perhaps more adamantly than the situation warranted, "I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to my blocks!" Just yesterday she said, "Your name is Natalee, but I can call you Mommy... can I?" Then today after I brought in a couple of green caterpillars from the garden she said, "Wow, I didn't know this was going to be so amazing!"

Yesterday at Ben's preschool graduation the director mentioned 2023 as the year Ben and his classmates will graduate from high school. He cautioned us not to blink because before we know it it will be upon us.

It's so true. I turned around and suddenly Ben is finished preschool and Izzie has turned into a long-legged little girl running behind her brother and speaking in complete sentences.

I'm guilty of taking my little ones for granted. Sometimes I weary of cleaning up another mess, answering another question, doing another load of laundry. But sometimes after a bath they snuggle in my lap and I breathe in the fresh scent of their skin and think, "Wow, I didn't know this was going to be so amazing!"

Robber's Cave

On our recent trip to Oklahoma we checked out Robbers Cave State Park while Grandma and Grandpa were at work.

"Robber's Cave located on this trail, is a legendary outlaw hideout. No gunfighters or any historic incidences are documented as having occurred at the cave. Yet it is a fact that local travelers during the 1865-1890 were often victimized by bands of robbers. Because of the cave's secluded location it is thus likely that it served as an outlaw hideout."

The kids had fun climbing on all sorts of rocks, and as you can see by the blue leash, Morley did too.





Somehow during our drive we managed to lose one of Izzie's shoes, hence the green frog boots. Frankly, I think they make this picture. Every time she wears the boots Izzie gets compliments on them.

This was in a pagoda - I'm under the picnic table looking up at the ceiling and the others are on the picnic table.

Ben made a bridge!

Sometimes I ask them to make a silly face and get the goofies out of their systems so I can take a "nice" picture... but it rarely works.

This slippery slope was called Devil's Slide, and the kids had fun repeating that phrase over and over for the next half hour.

Helium Balloons

A new grocery store was opening near us and to their delight Ben and Izzie each got a helium balloon.
For some reason (after bath, tired, silly time?) they were particularly amused by holding the string in their mouths. Glad it doesn't take much!

Izzie Sees the Light

Dandelions

Tis the season for dandelions, and they are everywhere - even just hours after mowing the lawn.

Izzie had a lot of trouble getting things going.

But she prevailed.

Ben was very helpful and wanted to blow Izzie's for her, though of course that was the last thing Izzie wanted.

Ben is a pro, since he did this all last summer.

Just for Me... and Mom

Doesn't Izzie look thrilled to be helping me practice backlighting?

And I took some flower pictures just for me... but I knew Mom would like them so I wanted to share.

The one above was from the park. The trees are flowering all over the area here and I have no idea what kind of tree it is, but the leaves look like hearts.

This is the lilac bush in our yard.

More lilacs.


My favorite.

A Night Out

While Grandmas Patsy and Ann were visiting for spring break Colin and I escaped to see a movie - Avatar in 3-D. It was the first time for either of us to see a 3-D movie, and the first movie we had seen in a long time! We felt like we were really living it up to be out without the kids. Thank you, Grandmas! Here's Izzie modeling the glasses.

The Purple Cast

Here's a shot of my purple cast. Ben and Izzie each selected a puffy paint to draw on it with. Then I got bored and added some more...

The cast has been off for 2 weeks now and I have a splint to wear, but Izzie wears it about as much as I do. The only annoying part is that she always wants help putting it on. 2 seconds later she will take it off. 3 seconds after that she will want it back on again. In other areas of life Izzie is much more decisive. She is not afraid to tell you exactly what she wants - and when she wants it. If you don't respond in a reasonable amount of time, or perhaps have trouble hearing her because of the noise from someone else in the room and ask her to repeat herself she will say emphatically, (and impatiently, with a hint of irritation in her voice) "I TOLD YOU, I SAID...."

And here's just a shot of Izzie that shows the color of her eyes really well. They're like Colin's and seem to change with what she's wearing. One day they'll seem blue, another blue-green or gold.

Ben's 4th Year

Well, it was a long time coming, but I finally finished the video for Ben's fourth birthday. I chose Three Little Birds as the song because he would ask to hear it over and over again while he and Izzie spun and danced in the family room. What a difference a year makes. Between the ages of 3 and 4 Ben learned to read, was potty-trained, graduated to the small Lego blocks, and started preschool - pretty much in that order. What a blessing he is in our lives. We are so proud of you, Ben!

Soccer!

Ben is playing Upward Soccer this year. It's run by a church not too far from us and all the practices and games are on the church property. Ben and Izzie each have their own soccer ball to practice with. They like to go outside and kick the balls around, and this day they begged me to take some pictures. Specifically the following ones which they set up...






Ben will tell you some more about his soccer team on his blog.

Typical Izzie Grin

The Benefits of Fresh Air

More Narnia Park

Yup, still posting old ones... these are from Thanksgiving 2009.



The sand play was well thought out - in addition to the diggers there are various tubes, lifting containers and special holes that will sift sand and shoot it out.

Sleeping Beauty

Izzie wouldn't go down for a nap before Ben came home from school, but couldn't quite make it to dinner.

Valentine Bags with Grandma Ann

Ben and Izzie have 2 creative and crafty grandmothers, and they reap the benefits (as do we) whenever a grandma visits.