Kate's blessing Sunday

After about twenty shots, this is only one where everyone was looking at the camera, Danny had his hand out of his mouth and Kate wasn't crying. So this is our little family on the day Baby Kathryn was blessed.

Proud Grandma Norton Daddy and his little girl Here are all the Norton cousins. Even though I miss my family desperately and I'm sad Danny doesn't get to spend much time with my side of the family, I am so happy we at least have Dan's family close. They are really starting to play well together and they love GrandDad's hammock!

Apple pie anyone?

So I have never made an apple pie before. But our ward was having a chili cook off today and contests in chili, cornbread and apple desserts, so I thought I would give it a try! I found a Paula Deen recipe and put it to the test. Unfortunately, we did not arrive in time (surprise, surprise) and so it didn't get judged. But I think it turned out very pretty and it was delicious. We loved it!

In the last week or so...

I always check on Danny right before I go to bed and the other night this is what I found. Could a mother be more proud?! :)
Although, the pride stops whenever I find that he has climbed up something again and has gotten into something (again) that he shouldn't. Dan loves seeing his son with make-up brushes and powder all over himself. But Danny couldn't be happier.

Danny loves balls and plays so hard his cheeks get all blushed. This week, he spent a day with his Grandma Norton at a farm on a field trip and he found pumpkins, which he insisted were balls.
His favorite thing to do right now is instead of holding my hand, he wants to put his hands in his pockets like a big boy.
Kate was a bit disgruntled the other night when we took her and Danny to James Wood's football game. (The high school where I used to teach.) Danny had a blast, but Kate wanted to go home. This picture cracks me up!Contrary to what one might believe after having seen the previous picture, Kate has begun to smile!

Protect Our Children Act

Yesterday's Oprah show was about online sex predators/pedophiles. (To read a summary of her show, click here.) Not the most uplifting topic, I know. While watching I had such a pit in my stomach and I had to turn away at times because I was so disgusted. While trading in pedophile pornography is illegal, there are not sufficient resources to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators. Only one-half of one percent are ever prosecuted. And now the demand for this type of pornography is so high, the predators are attacking younger and younger children, even infants. Being a new mother, this was particularly disturbing. I don't even want to say anymore about the crime, it is just horrible what is happening to these children, toddlers and infants and this should never be a part of one's childhood. To even imagine that any child has to experience this kind of abuse is heartbreaking.

Even though I had difficulty sleeping last night, I am glad that I watched because there is something we can do to help these innocent children. There is a group called PROTECT that is working to pass better laws to better protect our children and there is an important bill going before congress this month. Senate Bill 1738, the PROTECT Our Children Act, will provide valuable funding for child protection task forces. Please take the time NOW to contact your senator and voice your opinion on this bill. Tell them to vote yes! Oprah's website gave great instructions as to how to do this. Click here for that page. It only takes a few minutes. Please do it today.

Top Gun

As I previously mentioned, Dan was away at UPS school last week and I had to hold down the fort without him. I got to change one million and one diapers (believe me, I counted) while Dan worked on attaining his goal of being the Top Gun of his class. This training that he went to was pretty intense with class all day long, then hours of group and personal homework. Plus, they were required to memorize a bunch of information that they were drilled and tested on. At the end of the week, there was a contest and whoever won, would be the Top Gun of the class. My dear sweet husband is ultra competitive, plus he really cares about doing a good job, so he took this very seriously and he reached his goal! Congratulations Dan! (I meant to get a picture of him and his trophy, but I didn't get to it today...maybe another day.)

Bruin Beatdown

"Rise and shout the Cougars are out along the way to fame and glory...Go Cougars!!!" I know some people don't enjoy blowouts, but when it's our treasured Cougars who tears up a PAC-10 team, we don't mind one single bit. It was so fun to see them play so well in all aspects; excellent offensive domination, big defensive hits and forced fumbles, and another blocked kick. Which by the way, is what won the game last week, NOT necessarily the controversial excessive celebration call Washington got. But if you'd like to read about Hall's seven touchdown passes and how AWESOME BYU is, click here: http://http//sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282570252

Josh is home!

It's taken me a little while to get some pictures posted of Josh's homecoming from Mexico because I haven't had any. I've waited and waited...he got home on August 27th. But after much nagging, my dear sweet little brother Austin, who asked to be mentioned lots in my blog, sent me some pictures today. They were taken at the airport. Here Josh is with my Grandma and Grandpa Tew and Aunt Rachelle. My mom says his suit was hanging on by a thread. I know he worked so hard and I'm grateful for his testimony and committment to the Gospel.
Getting a long awaited hug from the lil' sis!
And doesn't Lexie look pretty! I had to put this in because she just went to Homecoming on Saturday night and she looked gorgeous! She's a junior this year.

Newsflash---Being a mom is hard

Just in case you didn't know, being a mom is a handful and I'm ready to go crazy. I'm about ready to pull my hair out with Danny. He wants to be so independent and it makes things soooo difficult for me. His favorite thing right now is when I hold his hand and ask him to walk with me, he throws his body to the floor and REFUSES to walk. I feel like I'm gonna pull his arm out of the socket. But then if I don't hold his hand, he takes off and loves to see me chase him. I feel like I'm creating this terror child, but I don't know what to do. At this point, I definetely feel like the two year old is winning and it's driving me crazy! Our enrichment activity this week is on parenting-looks like I'll be the first one there! (Actually, probably not, I can't seem to be on time for anything!)

But I guess I should share something that shows his sweetness, because he is most certainly not all bad. :) So a little background information---ever since he was a baby he has been one of those that plays with his hair. When he nursed, he would play with this one little piece and twirl it around one of his fingers. Also, when I hold him and he has his arms around my neck, he'll do the same thing to a piece of my hair. And now that he has a big boy bed and I lay in bed with him to read stories and sing songs and stuff, he does the same thing. Well tonight, he put me to sleep as he played with my hair! When I woke up, nearly an hour later, he was asleep but still playing with my hair. He's so cute.

The baby is doing well though. They're so sweet when they're newborns. Dan is out of town this week for some training, so we shall see how I do ALL by myself.

I'm a canner!

My next door neighbor Tara went to Pennsylvania for Labor Day weekend and raved about how good produce from Lancaster County was. She offered to bring me back some peaches, so I decided I needed to learn how to can. My Relief Society did it as an Enrichment activity a few weeks ago, but with the new baby I wasn't able to go. So I called up my friend Sister Rust to see if she could tell me how to do it. But instead, she so graciously offered to come and help me that very day! So we spent a couple hours together and afterwards I felt like a better Mormon woman! :) I ended up getting about nine quarts of peaches. Thank you Sister Rust!

I'm looking forward to canning apples here pretty soon. My cousin manages some orchards out here, so I'm sure I'll be able to get some delicious apples from him.

Slip 'n Slide

We had such an exciting mutual activty last week at the Bishop's house. Check out this Slip n' Slide!! Two tarps were sewn together to make one massive slide and the kids used dish soap to make themselves go even faster. After everyone's eyes were burning from the dish soap, the YM leaders realized that they should have purchased baby soap instead. But the kids hardly complained and they had a great time.

Dan would get a running start holding Danny in his arms and just FLY down the hill. This one ended up in a small little crash, but Danny just popped up and started clapping with a big smile on his face. Dan is creating a lil' dare devil.

My little warrior playing with all the big kids!