EIGHT years ago today.

I married this guy 8 years ago today.

(I know, he looks like he's 14)

He had just turned 22, I had just turned 21,

and we had known each other for a whopping 2 months.

true story.

Yesterday we were sitting on the back porch,

chatting about how crazy we were and Richie said:

"You know, had I known then what I know now,

I would have married you even faster than that."

and all I could say to that is a resounding "ME TOO, ABSOLUTELY!"

These 8 years have been blissful. . .

annnnnd, they've been like the refiner's fire in so many ways.

Not in regards to our marriage, AT ALL.

but in regards to the craziest life circumstances you could possibly imagine,

in your very wildest dreams, ever.

all crammed into this short little window of life.

and yet today,

looking back,

I can honestly say now that I'm grateful for all of it.

and I am so thankful to have held YOUR hand along the way and no one else's.

I love you Richie.

yours forever,

Nat Nat

PS. I'm off for the day celebrating us.

Tomorrow I've got an exciting wedding in Kailua,

soooo I'll see you next week. . .

hopefully with the launch of the new blog!

hopefully.

running shoes.

Today.

I found one of my running shoes lying alone in the driveway.
it's partner was nowhere to be found.

Lincoln tells me that he threw them outside
(for reasons currently unknown).

Me:

Lincoln, mommy really needs to find my other shoe
or I'm not going to be able to practice and I'm going to lose my race.

Lincoln:
(really concerned face then, BAM! light bulb!)

Mommy!
You can just hop really really fast!

Nice.

Thank you Lincoln.

I'll do that.

______________________

thank you all so much for your encouragement and running tips.

I'm happy to report that I actually did it.

Monday, I ran 3 consecutive miles!
well, I did walk 2 small hills for less than 1 min each.

I was bewildered by my ability to do this.

truly stunned.

not to say it was at all pleasant.

no.

I'm quite certain there were 3 or 4 times when I actually
HOPED a car would take me out and save me from my misery.

Tuesday was a resting day.

Today, I miraculously did it again!

Tomorrow:

FOUR.MILES.

Seriously.

To be totally transparent:
I'm freaking out of my mind.

Allllllll that said,
honestly thank you.

Your tips and encouragement truly gave me courage.

So many of you expressed the reality that it's all a mental game.
I can now attest to that as well,
because when I said earlier that there was no way I could EVER,
EVER run 3 miles,
I wasn't being modest.

It was quite literally, physically impossible. . .
and yet. . .

wow.

I'm amazed and can't help but mention the parallel to life in general.

I'm consistently CONVINCED that I just CAN'T do this or that,
and yet. . .

hmmmmmm.

lots of love and happy Wednesday!

N

If you get a sec, there was an article written about baby gavin
in the honolulu advertiser. check it out here.
we'd love your comments.
:)

pretty patty.

ok guys, guess what?

that sexy blond?

is Richie's grandma.

owwwwwww!

she's still gorgeous and glamorous as ever!

and then we called 911.

This morning.

was beautiful.

5am smelled like rain and freshly cut grass
and not like "urgh, hit snooze."

and then, Lincoln woke up.

and swallowed a penny.

and life went all crazy pants.

and suddenly I was on my knees in front of him,
praying with all of my soul. . .

PLEASE! not again. PLEASE!

but my face was calm as Heaven itself.
(That gift of calm in crisis is inherent and comes from my mom. . .).

and then he started talking and breathing (and whimpering).

HE WAS TALKING. . .
and BREATHING.

and after a short fiasco with the paramedics and then the ER,
all is well.

and my heart is FILLED with gratitude.
because, I cannot do another gavin ever again.

ever.again.

oh and ps. I'm told that that bubble around the demon penny,
is a fart.

life, hope and love.

I was so moved by this video.
To my very core.

Tears flowed freely
as I listened and learned
about life, hope and the enduring love of God.

10 + 10 = school sucks (in alphabetical order).

Post edited to include: Please don't wrongly assume that this post is directed at my children's school, Laie Elementary. I LOVE Laie Elementary and the wonderful teachers there. This post was triggered by a general observation of the state of the public education system as a whole, watching too much news while on the mainland and many fascinating discussions with friends (who are MUCH smarter than I. . . than me. . . than I. . . see what I mean?).

If you don't want to read through my whole train-of-thought rant,
I'd still love your opinion on THIS:

How do you make sure your kids
get the best they can from public education?

______________________

I just want my kids to feel smart
(THEY ARE)

I just want my kids to develop their own unique creativity
(IT AMAZES ME!)

I just want my kids to think independently
(THEY'RE SMARTER, AND MORE INNOVATIVE, THAN ME . . .
TIMES 47 BILLION)

I just want my kids to be confident in who they are inhernetly
(THEY'RE COOLER THAN ANYONE ELSE I KNOW)

Is that too much to ask??

apparently so.
. . . .
A lot of my problems with public school
are chalked up as being "just a normal part of growing up."

give.me.a.break.

since when is a 2nd grader's ability to write a word (neatly)
20 times more indicative of his ability to spell it
than just repeating it correctly a few times orally?

How does that activity nurture a true and lasting love of learning?
(particularly when the kid is clearly maxed out and miserable . . .)

how does forcing a kindergartner to color PERFECTLY within the lines
say anything about his intellect?

Particularly if the kindergartner HATES coloring.

and don't you dare go on and on about learning fine motor skills.

there are clearly other ways to encourage proper fine motor development
that won't SQUASH the child's eventual love of writing.

How does holding a kid back from recess
because she didn't finish her math as quickly as her peers . . .
do ANYTHING constructive for ANYONE?!

I could go on.
and on.
and on.
and on.

. . . .

just because WE grew up in a broken system,
that doesn't make it normal.

what I see
(now that I'm looking with my own two eyes
and not through the bottle thick glasses I wore through my public education k-12)
is NOT anywhere in sight of "normal."

and at the very least. . . it sure doesn't have to be.

I'm not here to bag on government.
or teachers.
or administrators.
or parents.

except that I am in fact going to bag on everyone,
just a little.

because for crying out loud,
WE.ARE.BROKEN.

and it's all our fault (collectively).

government, I don't know what to say to you.
though if I did, it might sound something like "lay off!" . . . ???

you act like because you give us money,
you get to control us. . .

wasn't it our own money to begin with?!

teachers, where has your passion gone?!
(because I know you didn't get into this for the money)

and don't blame it on government restrictions,
or lack of funding.

Last I checked, passion came from WITHIN
(the majority portion of which is choice based, trust me)
and is born from the love and respect you have
for the children who need you
(even if you secretly want to hit them upside the head,
and again, trust me, I know a lot of them could probably use it).

Administrators. . .
I've been told that you are the children's advocates.

act like it.

cut our teachers (and parents) some slack and let them
do the job (that I truly believe many of them were BORN to do)
the way it needs to be done.
(they way only THEY can do it, because they're amazing!)

Parents,
get in there.

even if your kid's teacher looks at you like "one of those" parents.

stop caring about that and get.in.there.

parents think they have no control over the education system,
yes.we.do!

and let's prove it to them.

because this is so completely far from normal.
. . . .

I sincerely want to know what you think
and how you make it work for your family
(or plan to when you're an old lady like me with kids in big kid school).

talk to me.

please note: I scored AMAZING parents who encouraged and REQUIRED my brother and I to be self directed learners. . . they taught us to think for ourselves. PRAISE YOU MOM. I also scored some AMAZING teachers (Mrs Gega, Mrs Shire, Mrs Dominguez, that choir teacher in middle school who's name I can't remember, Mrs Woolsey and a million more) and so have my kids (all the pre k teachers, Mrs K, Ms Butterworth). THANK YOU HEAVEN ABOVE!

Happy Weekending.

photo from sister Chelsea's wedding by Jon

birthday balloons.

today you turn 4.

FOUR.

woosh.

There was a distinct feeling present

at the birth of each of you boys. . .

each different.

each powerful beyond description.

and for you, sweet Lincoln,

the moment you were born,

that room was FILLED to the brim with JOY.

absolute joy in it's very purest sense.

Everyone felt it.

Complete happiness.

and it was thick. tangible. and indescribable.

No one (doctors and nurses included)

could stop smiling or outright laughing out loud with joy.

It was completely infectious.

YOU are completely infectious.

Every perfect little part of your perfect little spirit.

You still fill our lives with absolute joy.

Every minute.

of every single day.

We love you big boy!!!

Love,

Mommy

huppy burfday big guy!

Richie,

There's no one I'd rather "ride the river with."

Happy birthday baby!

Love,

Me

on the road again.

look at this wonderful picture

my v. v. talented friend Ryan Muirhead took of my boys.

then tell me their abundant adorableness

didn't make you poop in your pants.

_______________________

Today.

we're on the road again.

back to Utah for baby Chelsea's wedding

(don't worry, baby Chelsea is 24 as of yesterday).

On a side note,

she's marrying a prince.

but like, for real.

she is.

Anyway,

I'm feeling kinda bleh from all this travel.

You know how it's just common womanly knowledge

that you gain 5 lbs for every 1,000 miles you spend in

a car eating road trip food?

Well, folks,

I've been in a car for 6,000 miles. . .

with ZERO shortage of road trip goodies.

Watch out world!

and please, don't look at me from behind.

happy weekending!

This is an alien. Love, Cardon

Today Cardon was looking at Cousin Ashley's art

with Grandma.

He decided he wanted to draw something for her.

"To Ashley,

This is an alien.

Love,

Cardon"

read this. LOVED it.

"How you go'n stand it. . . . I mean goin' home every night and she ain't there."

"Do I got a choice, Will Tweedy? I got to stand it, ain't I? Livin' is like pourin' water out of a tumbler into a dang Coca-Cola bottle. If'n you're scared you can't do it, you can't. If'n you say to yourself, 'By dang, I can do it!' then by dang, you won't slosh a drop . . . . I wouldn't ask the Lord to steady my hand for a thing like pourin' water into a Coca-Cola bottle. But I'll be askin' Him for help on this."

-Cold Sassy Tree

Olive Ann Burns

PS. Hopefully I'll get my act together and get the final changes to the designer for the new blog soon! Holding off on "real" blogging until after my face lift. :) Hang in there friends! SOOOOOO close!

Happy Birthday to Me.

Today is my birthday.

I'm 29.

TWENTY-NINE.

gad.

Got this awesome b-day surprise from my Costa Rician muchacho.

(he's singing softly so he doesn't wake up his hombres)

If the video doesn't load, go here to see all the awesome that is Richie.

richie b day from Natalie Norton on Vimeo.

Richie.

My man is off surfing in Costa Rica.

I am going to the zoo.

Then turning off the computer until Monday.

Peace out homies.

xx,

N

Raleigh.

Cardon.

Lincoln.

a long time ago.

look closely.

a long time ago.

at church.

me: speaking to the congregation.

Richie: managing the crazies.

Congregation: silent.

Cardon: has to pee.
as per every second of his life.

Richie:
"just wait until mommy's done and we'll go potty."

Cardon.

screaming.
as per every second of his life.

"MY WIENER'S GONNA BLOW! MY WIENER'S GONNA BLOW!"

and Cardon,
that is why I love to be made crazy by you.

every.single.minute.
of every.single.day.
of forever.and.ever.and.EVER.

so glad you're mine.

every single crazy little bit of you.

xx,

mom

workshopping it here in Calgary tomorrow!
can't wait to meet all my new friends!

Yeeeeeeehawwwwwwww!

United Press International + 6 months ago today.

I was interviewed recently by United Press International.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with UPI, as I was,
UPI is one of the nation's leading media outlet organizations.

You can read the full article here.

A lot of you have expressed a desire to help create awareness
surrounding the need for adult pertussis vaccinations.

THANK YOU.

This article by UPI would be a great way to start.

If you feel so inclined,
please send this article on to friends and family
and even (and especially) local press associations.

You may also simply link people directly to this post if you prefer.

Let's end this together.

So no family ever has to have a 6 month anniversary
like the one our family is recognizing today.

______________________

FYI

Here is some information about what United Press International:

Since 1907, United Press International (UPI) has been a leading provider of critical information to media outlets, businesses, governments and researchers worldwide. UPI is a global operation with offices in Beirut, Hong Kong, London, Santiago, Seoul and Tokyo. Our headquarters is located in downtown Washington, DC, surrounded by major international policy-making governmental and non-governmental organizations.

UPI licenses content directly to print outlets, online media and institutions of all types. In addition, UPI’s distribution partners provide our content to thousands of businesses, policy groups and academic institutions worldwide. Our audience consists of millions of decision-makers who depend on UPI’s insightful and analytical stories to make better business or policy decisions.

In the year of our 101st anniversary, our company strives to continue being a leading and trusted source for news, analysis and insight for readers around the world.

Millie.

just went with our may-as-well-be-cousins
to see Thoroughly Modern Milly here in Cardston, Alberta.

so.fun.

bet you didn't know I used to hop and bop around
on the stage in my former life.

did a fair bit of choreography as well.

kinda missed it tonight. . .

and by kinda I'm sure I mean, oh so totally.

Michelle, you were FAB!!

xx,

N