Farewell Honda

Our Honda finally gave out on us. Within the past 3 weeks we had invested about $900 dollars in repairs after being stranded a few times. We knew there were more problems with the car but we didn't think they were immediate repairs from what the mechanic told us. Then last night as I was coming home from the store I noticed the car was smoking and realized all the oil had leaked out if it. I made it home after being pulled over for speeding, going 45 in a 40, and having one of our front lights out. We found a Volvo wagon which is a 1996 but in great condition and they are selling it to us for $1,000. Yes only $1,000! They just had the engine rebuilt last year and the AC fixed. All we need is a car big enough to fit our family and that will run for at least 8 months until Doug finishes. What a blessing.

Sweet Sisters

I love it when my girls are getting along. Today Kate and Alexa where being so cute together. I needed Kate to help entertain Alexa a few times while I was busy and she was really good with her. One of the times Alexa had gotten out the baby doll stroller that she always plays with and was trying to roll it around the house but kept bumping into things and so she was getting frustrated. I asked Kate to help her and she did. She taught her how to turn the corners and get unstuck when she'd run into stuff. Then they were playing on this little push car. Alexa was pushing Kate around on it. Kate was helping too of course but it just looked funny to see this little baby pushing her big sister.

Halloween 2009

Halloween day came fast this year. I felt like we had already celebrated it 3 times over by the time it came. Doug took the girls trick or treating in our neighborhood for a bit and then we headed over to our friends house for a little party. It's our friends who used to live across the street from us but have just recently moved. :( It was really nice having them so close because our girls are good friends with their girls. We'll miss having them over here but they are still close enough that we get to see them often. After eating some yummy food Doug and I took MaKenna and her friend Sidney out for some more candy. We had hoped to see MaKenna's teacher, because she lives down the street from our friends house, but she wasn't home. The girls had a lot of fun but were pretty tired. Alexa was loving it too because she got candy for the first time. We had a nice time hanging out with friends and

Say No To Drugs

The say no to drug week at MaKenna's school is full of opportunities for dressing up. The first day they could wear as much red as possible which of course MaKenna had something red from head to toe. The second day the kids could dress up in a decade from the past. We really had nothing and then at the last minute I came up with some clothes that could be from the eighties. MaKenna had on a long sleeve pullover shirt of mine so it could be really baggy and then some black leggings of hers. I had a black patent leather belt that she wore over the shirt and then some black and white stripped leggings for leg warmers. We made her hair really big which she was pretty embarrassed about at first but soon got over it. The next day they had crazy sock day and so we decorated some old soccer socks of MaKenna's. She ended up tying for the craziest socks with another girl and won a $5 gift card from Walmart so she was really happy about that.

Lunch With Dad Part II/Pumpkin Carving

10/25/09-MaKenna had the day off school last Monday so we went to lunch with Doug again. This time was more of an effort though because our car was in the shop and we were borrowing a friends car that is 5-speed. I have tried learning to drive a stick shift many times in the past and could never get the hang of it. Well the night before I was determined to learn because I know how badly MaKenna wanted to go have lunch with Doug and she rarely has a day off where he is in school. Doug went with me and we just drove around our neighborhood and somehow I was able to get it this time. The next day we were able to go see Doug for lunch and I only stalled a couple of times. :)

10/27/09-We have made a tradition of pumpkin carving every year for Halloween. This year we got 3 pumpkins, two large and one smaller one for Kate to decorate(no carving yet for this girl). Doug and I shared one and carved a mummy face and MaKenna carved the bat one by herself for the most part. I was really impressed at how well she did. Kate was enjoying the seeds and guts of the pumpkin and turned them into pumpkin cupcakes. Doug got out my cupcake pan and she was piling a bunch of the slimy seeds in each cup. She then wanted us to bake them because she thought they would really turn into cupcakes.

Ward Halloween Party

Today was a busy day. MaKenna had her Halloween party at school which I went and helped out with. I was also finishing the girls costumes as well as mine and then made a cake for our ward party cake walk and some chili too. I also painted some t shirts for the girls for Halloween and then had to pick up Doug. I actually got everything done and made it early to our ward party to help set up the things I needed to. I was amazed that it all worked out.

The ward Halloween party was a lot of fun. We had different soups and chili's with breads to eat. The kids all performed a skit for their own age group. Kate refused to do her little song. They had these little witch faces that they held up and sang this song, "I am a mean old witch with a hat." Kate said she wasn't going to do it from day one and she ripped up the mask they gave them. MaKenna on the other hand memorized her line and happily went up and participated in her skit. She was a pumpkin sitting in a pumpkin patch with a bunch of other pumpkins. They were talking about what was about to happen when the people came to pick them. MaKenna's part was "I know what you mean. Pretty soon the people will come and start poking and squeezing and trying to decide how they are going to dress us up." She said it with ease and was so cute. Then the kids paraded across the stage in their Halloween costumes. After that they could get a balloon from a balloon animal guy, a cake walk and a station to make a trick or treat bag. Then they went trick or treating in the church. The kids had so much fun and I did too. MaKenna brought a couple of friends with her from school. A girl in our ward told Kate her costume was fabulous and she turned and gave her an evil look and said, "I'm not fabulous I'm a vampire!"

MaKenna's Halloween Party

MaKenna had a little party for Halloween at school today. Her teacher had planned two crafts for them to do one was a toilet paper roll that you cover with fabric and turn into a pumpkin and the other were some Popsicle stick Fall crafts, pumpkins, scarecrows etc. They read a story and had some yummy treats. As you can see Alexa really enjoyed them.

Girls Day Out

MaKenna had Friday off and so we decided to make it a fun day. We started out going to breakfast at this little cafe in Mt. Pleasant, Charleston Cafe and then headed on over to the Boone Hall Pumpkin Patch. This place has it all. They have a jump house obstacle course, a sand pit with plastic tunnels, plastic tube swings, plastic tube slides, two corn mazes, a jump pillow(a big rubber pillow like thing that you can jump on) a goat feeding area, hay rides, games and of course pumpkins. It was so much fun for the girls. We only stayed for a bit thinking we would come back after meeting Doug for lunch but our car had other plans. We ended up stranded at a gas station. Thanks to my friend Becca who came to our rescue we safely made it home while the car was towed to the auto mechanic. It could have been much worse because when the car started smoking it was not too far from a long bridge that we had to cross to get home so I am thankful it happened before that.

Halloween Party

Today I had a Halloween party for the younger kids in our ward. They came dressed in their costumes and they are so cute. We decorated little pumpkins, ate some yummy food, played a wrap the mummy game, played eat the doughnut off a string game and decorated sugar cookies. At the end of the party I had two bags one labeled trick and the other treat. Before the kids could have a treat they had to do a trick from the bag, which included things like spin around 5 times while patting your tummy and rubbing your head. It was a lot of fun. MaKenna and Kate really had a great time and that's why I do it.

I Told Heavenly Father

Kate was misbehaving and hurt MaKenna so Doug took her and put her in time out. I guess he had hurt her while carrying her there and she got really upset and started crying. After a couple of minutes in time out she stopped crying and then a few minutes after that it was time for her to come out. Doug asked her to come see him so he could talk about what had happened. She came walking out with her hands on her hips and with a very confident look on her face said, "I prayed to Heavenly Father so I'd stop crying and it worked so there." Then she came into the kitchen where I was and I asked her what she said because I didn't hear her. She told me with the most serious look on her face and I had to turn my head because it was so cute and funny. She said she prayed to stop crying like her friend Aden at church. His mom told a story about him in primary today where he was playing around one day and slid into the corner of his bed and started crying because he was hurt. So while she was hugging him he asked if they could say a prayer to help him feel better. Once the prayer was done he had stopped crying. I guess Kate really took that story to heart and she tried it for herself and it worked. :)

Cypress Gardens Field Trip

This past Friday I went with MaKenna on her field trip to Cypress Gardens. We hadn't been there yet so we were both looking forward to it. The weather was supposed to be cool with only a 20% chance for rain. Well that 20% jumped to 100 when we got there and so the plans were changed. Everything had to be indoors. We were bummed because they were planning on going on a boat out on the swamp where alligators lurk and then they were going to cast some nets and talk about the animals they caught. Despite the change in plans it turned out to be a good day after all. They were able to learn about some different reptiles and amphibians. They were able to touch most of them too, except the alligator. They went to a butterfly house where several different butterflies fly freely. They also saw this really pretty duck in there too. They went and spoke with a guy who calls himself Mr. D who talked to them about the butterflies which they really liked him because he was pretty silly. I was completely grossed out by two rather large species of cockroaches, the Madagascar hissing roach, which Mr. D so kindly brought out to show everyone, and the roach which is twice the hissing roach's size and it blends in with a tree stump. Gross, I get the he-bee-gee-bies just thinking about them. The kids then ate lunch and got to play on this big web made out of rope, in the rain. They had so much fun with that. We were cold but we still left in good moods. It was fun spending the day with MaKenna. I also enjoyed hanging out with some of the moms. I have gotten to know them because most of Makenna's first grade class moved up to her second grade class as well.

Lunch With Dad

Yesterday we went and had lunch with Doug for the first time since we've been here. They just moved into a new building a few months ago so it was nice to check it out. Kate and Alexa were so excited to see Doug. It was a lot of fun hanging out with him during the day. Kate couldn't stop talking about it and couldn't wait to do it again.

Kate's Accidents

The kind of accidents I am talking about are the ones that should be going in the toilet. I am out of ideas dealing with Kate and having accidents(both kinds) in her underwear. I have tried both negative and positive reinforcement and nothing works. She has an accident at least two times a day. I have tried Pull-ups and she ends up pulling them down when we're not looking. It's extremely frustrating at night because she is almost always peeing the bed and then I am washing her sheets all the time. I started telling her I was only going to wash her sheets once a week like I normally do and that if she has an accident she'll have to sleep in it. At first it really bothered her and she didn't have as many accident but now she doesn't care. I was even taping her Pull-up on at night after she fell asleep so she couldn't take it off. It worked but I just didn't want to have to keep doing it. I go in waves with her because I know part of it is not her fault. She still has constipation issues and so when she is sleeping at night and her body relaxes the urine that was backed up just comes out. I'll be really positive for awhile and do rewards and tell her how good shes doing and say "it's okay" when she has accidents but then it just finally wears on me and I turn into this mean mom who is always getting after her about her accidents. I'm allowing this to bring out the worst in me as a mother and I hate it. It stresses me out because it increases my laundry, my cleaning around the house and takes up extra time having to remember to remind her to go to the bathroom. It's gotten to the point where I have to remind her almost every time. This past two weeks have been really hard because Doug went out of town for 5 days and then Alexa and I were sick and so I was just getting back on top of things again and Kate started having more accidents so I've been really stressed about it. I know this time will pass and it makes me sad because Kate is such a sweet, cute little girl and I feel like I am missing out on who she is because I am always getting upset with her about the accidents. If anyone has any advice on this subject I would really appreciate it.

Alexa's 15 Month Checkup

Cheese!

I took Alexa in for her 15 month check up yesterday. She was supposed to have her well visit but due to a major diarrhea episode it turned into a sick visit. She has been battling with diarrhea for about 2 weeks and I thought she was finished with it and then just before we got to the doctor she had a blowout. She was such a mess and it had oozed onto her car seat which I had just cleaned the day before from her previous blowouts the week before. I got her all cleaned up and luckily I had a bag of clothes to take to the Goodwill so I found an old shirt of mine and put it on her. The diarrhea mess had gotten everywhere my shirt included but I was able to get it out. I was completely flustered when I finally made it inside for the appointment. After I explained to the front desk lady what happened she was able to get me in for a sick visit. The doctor said she could still do her shots but I decided to wait until her body is functioning like normal because she usually has a reaction to the shots and gets a fever.

Alexa says eyes and points to everyone's eyes, nearly poking them, its her favorite thing to do. She has started to repeat words we say. She has learned a couple of new signs, eat, fish and airplane. It was really cute, last Friday at my friends house Alexa saw a picture of her little girl eating and all of sudden Alexa started putting her hand to her mouth and saying eat eat eat and then she started laughing. When she sees an airplane she points at it and then does the sign with her hand up high and makes the airplane engine sound that I make. She says cheese when we are taking a picture and gets this huge grin on her face. I love it because she has these cute little dimples. She is so cute!

She gets our shoes for us and usually knows whose are whose. She lets Cocoa out of her cage when she's not supposed to, naughty girl.

She still loves to play outside. She wants to jump a lot lately. She'll point to the back yard and then make a motion like she's jumping up and down.

I Love Couponing

I am really going to miss having a grocery store that triples the value of your coupons. I have gotten some great deals. This is my latest bargain at the Harris Teeter. I got all the items pictured above for $13.50. In the past I have gotten Huggies baby wipes, 64 count, for $1, Electrosal gel tabs dish washing detergent, a years supply for just the cost of the coupons, $8.50, Shout stain remover for free, Viva paper towels for free, All detergent for $2, shaving gel/cream for me for $.45, dental floss for free at Walmart, Huggies flushable wipes for $.14 and many more food and other items for super cheap. I have about 6 months to a year supply of most of the cleaning and toiletry stuff. It's so nice because it's all the brands I like to use but wouldn't normally buy always because they're too expensive. I have some great friends out here who got me started on it and I am so thankful to them for it. I think it's fun to see how inexpensive I can get something for. It's kind of addicting.

Latest Craft

9/16/09-I found out how to make those Baby Legs that they sell for around $12 or more. I wanted to make some for MaKenna as arm warmers for school because she always gets cold in class. I made her a couple of pairs when school started. She loves them. They also look so cute on Alexa and she liked wearing them to bed tonight. Kate wanted some too, of course because MaKenna had some. She thought she was so fancy wearing them as you can see by her pose. They are so easy and inexpensive. It's just the cost of the socks which I've gotten most of them for $2.50.

Kate's Opinion On Modesty

Kate has been telling us lately that she thinks being "unmodest" is good. When she sees an immodestly dresses girl on TV or out around town she tells us that she likes the way they look and that they are pretty. I guess I should back up even further. Kate has been talking about things being ugly for some time now, her hair, some of her toys, people, things in books and magazines and more. At four years old she has quite an opinion on what is pretty or not. In fact one day last week she told Doug his singing was ugly. Then she said the look he was making while singing was ugly. She proceeded to show him what a pretty look was. I wish I would have had my camera at the time because you need to see her face to get a better understanding of how she is. I'll try to describe it the best I can. She puts her hands on her hips and turns her head to one side and then puts her lips together and puckers like she is going to give a kiss and then looks real serious. Then she said, "that is a pretty look." Of course we are trying everything in our power not to laugh too hard because she is completely serious. That brings me to yesterday. We were driving home after dropping Doug off and out of the blue she says to me, " mom what if I had an unmodest name." I asked, "what would an immodest name be Kate?" She said,"unmodest pretty Kate." I couldn't help but laugh and so I was trying to hide it. I'm sure it's just a phase but I am starting to wonder. I remember MaKenna at this age she would point out everyone that was immodest and tell them. She had no tolerance for it. It just shows how different each kid is. I am hoping this doesn't last.