Kara Update

This past week it seems that things have just been clicking in Kara’s mind. She is closer to walking and takes a couple of steps to me if I sit on the ground and get her to come to me. Ray and I sat across from each other and we would just have her go to the other person, it is so cute and she gets so excited when she gets to the other person. She likes to walk around everything, and even down the hall holding onto the wall. I watched her do this today and she is quite fast. She also is standing but doesn’t realize it. She will stand and rest her backside against the wall or cupboard. She was doing this tonight but she had a toy in her hand and she was to interested in the toy to realize she was no longer leaning on the wall but was just standing. It scares her, I think, and she just sits down, as Ray would say - " she is naturally tentative" – it is from Over the Hedge.

She also is doing better around the stairs. I usually keep the gate closed, but we have been working on turning around and going down. She can turn around but usually just goes down one stair then just stands there. I think I will keep the gate up for a bit longer.

I think she understands sign language for milk. I have been trying to teach it to her forever. You hold your hand in a fist and squeeze kind of like you are milking a cow (you know, I know how to milk cows, - really I don’t) anyway, she waves "bye-bye" by opening and closing her fingers and the sign for milk is kind of like that just your hand is turned so your thumb is up. She has been doing it kind of and last night she woke up and I went in to nurse her and I said, "you want milky?" (nice grammar baby talk huh) and she held up her fist and did the sign. So I think she is catching on. YEAH!

She also has learned how to spit. She thinks it is hilarious. She was doing it in the car and it was making Tyler mad because apparently the spit was getting on him. Tyler told her to stop and to get back at her he started turning his head and spitting at her, (they are a seat apart so I don’t think it was getting on her – just more of the sound) she of course thought he was playing with her and she was laughing her head off and spitting even more. It was pretty funny.

She also loves to go into the bathroom. I try to keep the door shut, but it seems that her two older brothers don't always remember that she might go in there. Anyway, I could hear her throwing toys into the bathtub the other day(her favorite thing to do, put anything on the floor into the bathtub) and I knew she was in the bathroom when I walked in I found this:

Her IN the bathtub, with a red spot on her head but happy as could be! (ok there weren't any candy corns, this picture really showed how gross the seam is that we need to re-caulk in that bathroom) I couldn't believe that she climbed in there! Where is the parental supervision?

I also have been having issues with Kara’s hair. I was making a little ponytail on the top of her head, but lately she seems to HATE it; just as I am about to get it in she throws her head back and I can’t get it in. So, I came up with these cute little bows. I have seen them around but they are usually to big for her small amount of hair. So being the very ingenious person that I am I got out my trusty wire cutters and cut the "alligator clip" practically in half. Then I used my needle nose pliers to squeeze the clip so it is tight at the edge of the clip. Then I glued ribbon over the clip and attached a bow that has the edges "sealed" in Fray Check. So there you have it – a cute little bow that actually stays in, and is quick to attach before she has a fit that I am messing with her hair.

here is the fit picture.

No Trent

On Monday I waited for Trent’s bus to come and it was super late. Then when it did come it was a different driver and there was no Trent. The driver stopped because he saw me standing there but when Trent didn’t get off when I called, I stepped up on the stairs and Olivia (little girl in our ward) said Trent’s not on the bus. I said "Where is he then?" the bus driver explained that there are normally 4 routes and our normal bus driver and bus didn’t show up that day (she was sick) and so the other 3 buses divided up her route and somehow Trent didn’t get on with the rest of the kids in our neighborhood. He called on his cell phone to the other driver and sure enough Trent was on that bus. So I grabbed Kara who was sleeping and Tyler and headed over to the school. We had to wait about 15 minutes before the bus came. I watched as 4 other little kids ran in to the school (they had afternoon kindergarten) then I saw Trent get off and just stand there. I called to him as Tyler, Kara and I walked down the sidewalk, he recognized me after the 4th time I yelled "TRENT." I asked him when he realized he was on the wrong bus. He said he didn’t until I just mentioned it to him. I asked him if he wondered why the bus driver never took him home and he said NO. Then I asked him what he thought he was doing back at the school, and he said "don’t know" – Sometimes I wonder what goes through that kid’s head! Anyway, an hour later than he normally gets home we pulled into the driveway. (good thing I wasn't supposed to be anywhere and could just drop everything to run to the school to pick up my kid) I still am not sure how the mix-up happened. I told him in the future to make sure he is always on the same bus as Olivia, and if some adult tries to put him on another bus he is supposed to tell them that his mom said he has to be on her bus. Doubt he will remember that!
Here is a random picture I took about a month ago before I gave the boys buzz hair cuts.

Halloween Party Two

Last night we went to Randy and Keri’s for our monthly "brothers and sisters" get together. Once a month we try to get together with my brother and his wife, Ray’s sister and her husband and kids, Ray’s brother and his wife and kids and my sister-in-law’s sister and husband. Got that! We each take a turn "hosting" it. Last night was a Halloween costume party. I got the boy’s costumes from my mom when we were down there a couple of weeks ago. I think both of them were Mike’s when he was a kid, so they are probably 20+ years old, and still in great shape. I had fun drawing a mustache and beard (complete with sideburns on Trent the cowboy) They each had their accessories, but at the last minute Tyler decided he didn’t want his (peace pipe and tomahawk) Ray and I dressed up as a "50’s couple", he was my accessory – my Fonzie! I also got my poodle skirt while at my parents. My mom made it for me when I was 10 or 11 – seems like 5th grade (?) anyway, as you can probably guess, I am not the same size I was back then and so I couldn’t zip it up – AT ALL. I was barely able fit it over my hips! It was long enough though and I just made sure my shirt covered up the zipper in the back. We had a great time, the kids ran around as usual playing with their cousins, and we (adults) visited and ate dinner.
We also decorated sugar cookies – which the kids loved! It was a fun night.

Randy, Keri and kids

Jenny, David and kids

Kara is kind of a little bully when it comes to Jenna. She kept pulling on her yellow bow, making her fall down and kept trying to take things from her. Here she is trying to take away Jenna's necklace. They are 4 months apart; My great hope is that they will be good friends like I am with my cousins that are my age.

This morning we woke up to snow! I should of taken a picture -dang! We probably only got 1 – 2 inches but it covered the grass. It didn’t stick to the road or side walk, so no shoveling yet! The boys wanted to play in it, and so they did – in their church clothes. I could see that their hands were getting red so I got them each a pair of gloves, I guess they forgot that we had gloves.

Today the primary children had their sacrament meeting program. It was really good. They have been working on it for a long time. Not just learning the songs, but as a class they have been practicing their parts. Usually the boys bring home their part and we work on memorizing it. Well, last week Tyler brought home his part and I forgot about it until Friday. I told him we better work on it and I said I think it starts with "my faith grows" and then he finished the sentence. I then realized that he already knew it. I also wondered if Trent had forgotten his piece of paper with the part, but he didn’t bring one home because he already had it memorized. They both did a good job.

This week’s "deal of the week" is free candy at Kmart – see coupon link to the right. It is limited to one, but hey – free candy is free candy!

Halloween party in Enoch

Last week Trent and Tyler didn’t have school (Thur-Friday) so we decided to go down to Enoch. Tennille came and brought her boys also. We had a fun time. The boys love to go to grandmas. Tyler told me 3 or 4 times on the way there that he loved me for taking him to grandmas. They were good most of the way down, but Kara cried the last ½ our of our trip. I had bought a Sense and Sensibility book on tape (CD) so I listened to that on the way there and back, it is amazing how that makes the time fly.

While at my parents we decided to have a Halloween party. We dressed up the kids and took pictures outside. My mom made a Spiderman Head piñata and the boys had a blast hitting it. It took them several turns each to get it open. But in the end they got candy so they loved it. Then we went inside and they decorated Halloween cookies.

Kara was not really very good at my parents. As my dad would say, "she is bossy". She definitely lets me know when I am not doing what she wants me to do, like not getting her food fast enough, or holding her when she wants to be held. She just screams a lot and is quite LOUD. She also didn’t really want anyone else to hold her, including grandma. Kara gets her feelings hurt easily, like when she is out of my presence. Several times she was being perfectly fine and then she would notice that I walked into the room then out which made her start to cry; I guess she thinks I am leaving for good. She still hasn’t gotten any teeth so I keep thinking any day they are going to cut through then I will know why she has been unhappy! She is getting so big and is now 11 months old. She isn’t walking yet but is getting more daring at walking around things and will stand for a couple of seconds then she just sits down. But, I still think she is the cutest little girl ever.

We came home Saturday afternoon and Ray surprised me by replacing the kitchen facet. It looks really nice and I am so glad to be able to turn the water on and not have the handle fall off (it seriously fell of every time I turned it on) Ray also did a good job cleaning up the house.

Not up to much, yet so busy

These last two weeks are a blur. I really haven’t done much, yet it seems I have been so busy! I did get some bushes from Wal-Mart, because they were 80 percent off – I was so excited! I bought 13 and I even got them all planted, then I went back to get more and they were only 50% off so I didn’t get anymore. The bushes are small, but give them a year or two (maybe more) and I think they will look great. I also spread some steer manure over the dirt around the bushes – it comes in a bag and is more of a compost not just plain manure – that would be sick. Anyway, I took some pictures of them so you can see. Yes, they need to grow way bigger, but it is better than weeds. Our dirt is so sandy so I am hoping that the compost will help.

Here is a story I can tell. The day that I went to Wal-Mart to get more bushes I was driving back and Sandhill looked open. If I haven’t mentioned it, Sandhill road has been closed since like August, and I have had to drive up and around to get to Walmart, what used to take literally 2 minutes has been taking 10+ minutes and it is the biggest frustration for everyone that I know that lives here. Anyway, I was coming back from Wal-Mart and where there used to be a HUGE "road closed" barricade and yellow "do not enter tape" it was open and other cars were driving on it. I was so excited to think that it was finally open to drive home on. I had some stuff in my car that I had been meaning to get to two sisters in my ward that lived on Sandhill, so I decided to drive to their homes. In all my excitement, I somehow missed the turn off and the next thing I know there is a police officer flashing his lights and "beeping" at me. I pulled over the best I could (which was really me just stopping right in the road) He came up to me and said the road was closed and I was NOT supposed to be on it. I explained that I thought it was open and that I was going to my friend’s house. He wanted to know where she lived and I said, "I think I passed it". I wasn’t lying, that road confuses me. He told me they had a lot of complaints and that people driving on the road were messing up what the workers had done. He wanted to see my licensee, and I said, "you’re going to give me a ticket?" practically about to cry. He saw where my address was and told me to not drive on it anymore. No ticket, thanks Mr. Officer – I am no longer Teri Ticket (Cedar City cops were not as nice to me!) I was more embarrassed than anything. I was talking to my friend later that night and she said "Guess what? Sandhill is open, I said – uh, only if you want a ticket!" Having the road closed has cut down on the number of trips I make each week to Wal-Mart, but I will sure be glad when they reopen it (scheduled for end of Oct. YEA!)

If you haven’t already checked out the Sweet deal of the week to the right of my blog (come on it’s been there for two weeks) You can print this coupon from Kashi and take it to your local Wal-mart (if their price is the same as ours) you can get a box of crackers for 50 cents. You could use it at any store. http://www.kashi.com/connect

In case you are new to printing coupons off the Internet, most sites allow you to print it twice, (it will always tell you when you have reached the print limit) anyway, and it is also ILLEGAL to make copies - so don’t! I have updated my blog with the newest coupon, a $1.00 off any package of Mission tortillas, chips or wraps and this one lets you print it 10 times – Awesome! After you print it the first time click on the screen behind the one that pops up and click "print coupon" after ten times it tells you that you have reached your limit. Now look for them where ever you shop and if you hold on to them for a bit someone just might have a sale and they would be cheaper!