Better Days

My last post was about all the crazy things Kate can do it one day. She has actually been good since then. No major incidents to report. :) She has made some cute comments lately.

We have started to read the Book of Mormon reader for little kids to her and she told us one night while reading a story "this is my favorite book." She calls the scriptures "scrippers" so we think it's pretty cute that the "scrippers" is her favorite book.

She also randomly will say to me or Kyle "you are my best friend". I'll take that comment any day.

She's been big into doing puzzles lately so we have 4 different puzzles out that she is constantly putting together and then taking them apart to redo again. She's getting pretty good at them.

This week we have gone grocery shopping, ran a few errands, I worked and Kate had preschool. I do a co-op preschool with 2 other moms and it works out pretty well. We just alternate who teaches and the girls love it. On our way to pick up Kate after preschool, I told Preston, "we are going to go get Kate" and then he pointed to her carseat which is next to him and patted it. It was so cute. He's understanding more of what we say which is nice. We can tell him to get a toy or a book and he will go get it. He's walking everywhere now and started right before Christmas. We were outside the other day and he had a hard time walking uphill and even downhill. I was laughing just watching him. He loved being outside and walking around, but after a few falls he was getting frustrated. It will be nicer this summer that he can walk instead of me holding him!

Happy New Year!

We had a nice relaxing New Year's Eve. We slept in and lounged around in pj's for a while then decided to go eat at Ivar's Landing restaurant and see the water in Mukilteo. Dee Ann was excited to eat some yummy fish while visiting here. I'm still salivating over the delicious creamy clam chowder and warm sourdough rolls. Mmmmm. Kate was entertained by the seagulls that were perched out the restaurant window.

Brrrr... It was cold out near the water.

After lunch we went home so the kids could take naps and then went bowling. Kate has gone once before and loved it. We only did one game, but that was enough for her attention span. I have to say I bowled my best game ever of 177!!! I was excited. Kate would look down the chute to watch for her ball to come back and once it did it would scare her. I have to admit that we wore our bowling shoes that we acquired for our Halloween costumes. They worked great and saved us $7. :)

They had arcade games at the bowling alley and Preston loved moving the steering wheel and pushing buttons. Cheap entertainment. ;) Kyle and I played a game of air hockey.

Holding her 9 lb bowling ball.

A little of this and a little of that

We have been busy getting ready to leave soon for Jeff's wedding this weekend in Idaho Falls and getting everything done for Christmas since we aren't coming back here until after Christmas. This weekend should be interesting for traveling- lots of snow. We are just hoping there aren't too many road closures.

I've been making Almond Roca (yummy recipe from my co-worker, she's the dentist's wife) and lots of candy coated popcorn (coated with almond bark) for various friends and people at church.

I've been trying to convince a 3 1/2 year old that we can't leave tonight for Jeff and Sadie's wedding because Daddy has to work tomorrow before we can leave. She was NOT happy with that answer and I was tired of hearing her whine and cry about it all night tonight.

After Kyle got home from work today, he helped Kate build a snowman and an igloo- her request, random I know. We got a couple inches of snow this afternoon and tonight. We may get more so we'll see. Having a 3 yr old SO excited about the snow makes it so much more fun.

Preston is a book worm. He loves to look at books. Preston will even bring a book to you so you can read it to him. Kate loves books too so we read lots of them at our house.

Preston checking out this man called Santa. He wouldn't stop staring at him. It was hilarious! I was amazed he was fine with him. Kate screamed with her first Santa visit.

Kate not scared anymore of Santa. :) She was excited to get a candy cane and still talks about how Santa came to her Church. She thinks he is still there. I have to remind her that he flew back to the North Pole to get ready for Christmas. wink, wink.

We attempted to make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers for Family Night. This is our little pathetic house. :) I needed stronger "glue". It kept collapsing, oh well.

Code Adam

This morning we went to Walmart to get some things. Kate wanted to walk so I let her only if she stayed with me. Well, we were looking at toys and Kate was at an end cap looking at books. I was just around the corner from her and I thought she knew where I was and I was fine with her looking at the books. A couple minutes later, I walked around the corner to get her and she was GONE. I called her name and started looking up and down other aisles and couldn't find her anywhere. When this has happened before I quickly find her, but this time all the aisles were empty!!! I went in panic mode. Luckily there were two Walmart people nearby (I think one was an asst. manager) and I quickly asked for their help in finding my daughter. I immediately thought the worst thinking someone had kidnapped her. I yelled Kate's name and the man told me he needed a description. I quickly gave it to him, but kept yelling Kate's name. And I mean yelling it. The man kept saying "ma'am, we will help you", but I really think he wanted me to stop yelling. :) At this point, I didn't care what he said because I was so scared she was gone! Everyone was looking at me, but I didn't care. (It's funny what you'll do in situations like these and you don't care what others think!) Anyway, I overheard on the intercom "code Adam cancelled" and then I knew she was found b/c I knew what code Adam meant (it means that a child is lost). Phew! I walked with the worker up to the front to get Kate and on the way this mom with two kids in her cart asked if that was my girl and I said "yes". She said she found her running down an aisle crying so she took her up front and she knew how I felt. I gave her a hug for helping me. When I got to Kate I gave her a hug and told her I was glad they found her. In the car on the way home Kate told me she was running trying to find me and the lady helped her. She said she was nice and gave her a small chair to sit in. On the way home, we stopped at Panda Express to get "chicken and noodles" for lunch because Kate has been wanting them and today she can have them or whatever else she wants! I'm glad she is safe.

Girl on a Rampage

Last night, for family night we had a cookie party in Kate's room. She was so excited for all of us to be in her room and play. She taught us letters and then we played with dolls. Well, for our cookie party I had brought up some water in a water bottle to put in our tea cups. So this morning she wanted more water in her water bottle. She stayed in the kitchen for 2 seconds and then left to go upstairs. I was doing dishes and feeding Preston a snack. A few minutes later I could tell Kate was in the bathroom and could only assume she was doing something with water so I told her to get out of the bathroom. A few minutes later I venture on upstairs to find big water droplets from her bathroom to her bedroom and a HUGE spot in her bedroom that was drenched with water!!! What a mess!!! Kate said she was sorry and went downstairs. After cleaning up that mess I quickly put some makeup on and did my hair along with making the bed. By the time I got back downstairs I noticed clumps of hair on the kitchen floor. Kate had cut her hair!!!!!!! I was so not happy. I had her come show me her hair and then took a picture. I told her that was naughty and only Melanie cuts your hair. Kate said it was terrible that she cut her hair. She was crying, as you can see in the picture. Now she's going to have annoying bangs that will be in her face, great. Good thing she only cut the front part- it could have been worse, I guess. It's not even lunchtime yet so I'm nervous what more she'll think of doing today.

Cousin Time!

Kyle's mom, Dee Ann, and his sister, Melanie, and her family were able to come this weekend. Kate and Preston were feeling better, phew, except Kate ended up throwing up Saturday night so I hope Melanie's kids don't get sick! We ended up going to the Children's Museum in the morning. All the kids LOVED it and it wore them out, which is always nice. Then Dee Ann, Melanie and I had a fun shopping spree (books, clothes and more books!) while the kids napped and the men watched an exciting football game. Then, we ventured to Old Spaghetti Factory which is usually kid friendly, but after waiting for almost an hour we wanted to scream! It wasn't a pleasant experience so we were all wondering why we chose to go out for dinner. :) After tucking all the kids in various rooms throughout our house Melanie did my hair, Dee Ann did her homework (ha!) and the men watched a movie.

Melanie and I at the musuem in the "glow room". I was scared by how my blonde hair looked and our teeth were horrific looking.

Kathryn and Kate "acting" in the theater. You all missed the performance, maybe next time. It was sold out. :)

The kids driving a metro bus- scary!

Preston backing up the good ol' tractor (it's not green, I know!)

Kate doing a funny cross-eyed face

Preston was about to fall asleep during lunch after the museum. It was cute how he rested his head on his tray, but kept eating his lunch.

I thought Kate liked pickles, but I saw Melanie drinking this tinted water and found out it was pickle juice!!! I have never seen anyone DRINK pickle juice so I had to take a picture. Ewwww! Melanie was surprised I had never seen anyone drink it before and so we had a good laugh about it.

Sickly

The kids and I stayed home today. I cleaned bathrooms, which is my least favorite housecleaning job ever. Preston and Kate are sick with colds, well we all have colds, but of course Preston has it the worst. He coughs and throws up his food so yesterday he hardly kept anything down. This morning he woke up SO thirsty it was sad to see him gulping the milk down and then shaking and crying when I tried taking it away. He ate saltines and applesauce for breakfast and then took a long nap (he didn't sleep good at all the night before). But during lunch he threw everything up again. Lovely. He finally kept a snack down this afternoon and his little dinner he ate. I don't know if it's a stomach bug or just that he coughs and it's so "natural" for him to throw up. He's lost weight and he doesn't have much to spare! We have Kyle's mom, sister and her family coming into town this weekend (quick and sudden plans- we're excited) so I hope that we are all better so they can come. The last time Kyle's mom saw Preston he was sick and was not himself so I really hope he gets better so she can see what he's really like.

P.S. Don't forget to vote!

Happy Halloween!

On Halloween night, we went with our friends, Mat and Darbi and their kids, to an outdoor shopping area to go trick-or-treating. It was fun and Kate loved finding other Dorothy's like her (she became instant friends with them). She also liked seeing all the other people dressed up and when she would go up to get candy she would ask them what they were and then proceed to tell them "I'm a Dorothy doll" and then tell them what each of her friends were too. It was funny. I had to keep pushing her along to keep her going. She also wasn't shy about going up and getting candy from them. It was fun to see her having fun. We came home and then had some trick-or-treaters come to our house. Kate liked answering the door and seeing what the costumes were. The night was rough though... Kate and Preston both threw up in the night. Kate came to us at 3:30 am saying she had thrown up, but I couldn't understand what she was saying and finally she said " I. THREW. UP!" Then I understood. :) I'm not sure if it was too much candy or what. Today, they seem fine.

It was ironic because both times I had to get Kate dressed as Dorothy (last week for our ward halloween party and then last night) she loved getting into her costume and wig. However, Preston cried the entire time and would gag and throw up while getting him ready. It was crazy that he acted the same way both times. The minute I started getting Kate ready he would start to cry. What's with that?!

We're Not in Kansas Anymore!

Here are the kiddos in their Halloween costumes. Let's just say it was crazy on Saturday. Kyle left around 3:30 to go set up the Spook House at the Church and wouldn't be back home (the ward halloween party started at 5 pm) and so I had to get both kids ready on my own. I had no idea how I would do Preston as a scarecrow so I made it up as I went. He screamed the entire time I was stapling raffia to his clothes. Then he coughed, gagged and threw up on his overalls. Totally stressful for me. Then I forgot about the cornbread cooking in the oven and raced downstairs to pull it out, luckily it wasn't too overdone. I loaded the kids up, the food, the candy, the hula hoops (for a game) and the prizes. We made it and Preston was super good the rest of the night and didn't even pull at the raffia until right before we were leaving. He even left his hat on- miracle!

Kate and her friend Alyssa. There was black wig hair wrapped around that carmel apple sucker of Kate's. DISGUSTING!

Jackson (munchkin), Preston (scarecrow) and Dallin (monkey)- the three boys born last October.

I love this picture of them checking each other out. My friend, Jeanne, handmade those munchkin shoes!!! Impressive. (Jeanne was Dorothy too!)

"Whatever"

It's official!!! Jeff is engaged to Sadie Vandersloot from Idaho Falls!!! It actually happened a month ago, but it's still new. :) We are excited and are looking forward to going to the wedding in the Idaho Falls Temple in December.

The grandkids (r-l: kate, carter, paige and aubree holding preston) after church a month ago. My Mom and Sara LOVED how Kate was "posing" and asked me if I taught her that! What?!
After my Mom's quick trip to Utah she decided to stay the night (instead of driving home late Friday night) and hang out with us on Saturday. It was fun and I'm glad she did. In the morning, Kyle and my Mom went with the kiddos to the Children's Museum (I had a primary program practice and pizza party that morning- FYI- our program went well on Sunday and I'm glad it's done!) and I think she probably had more fun than the kids- not really, but she liked it. It is a cute place, but our membership ran out and I'm not sure if I want to renew it so I wanted Kyle to take the kids one last time.
Preston on the tractor

The other day, Kate was eating candy out of this goody bag from a birthday party and said, "say whatever, Daddy." I was wondering why she wanted him to "say whatever" and quickly realized she was asking him if she could eat another piece of candy and then was telling him to say "whatever" meaning she could eat it!!! It was so funny. Normally, you tell your parents, "say yes!" but we must say "whatever" a lot around here because that is what she was saying. She did eat a lot of the candy, but when we didn't say "whatever" tears started streaming down her face and she was so not happy. It's tough being a kid. :)

Ear Infection x 2

Is it bad that I am glad Preston has double ear infections?! I took him to the doctor on Monday because he has been sleeping horribly for the last week (waking up through the night, not crying, but babbling for an hour before falling back asleep and then only napping for 45 minutes in the afternoon). He has a cough and cold (passed down to him from me) and so I didn't know if he wasn't sleeping because of that or teething (he's getting an upper tooth) or maybe it was an ear infection. It always annoying taking kids to the doctor and then they say nothing is wrong. It's like "your just stuck with a fussy kid for a while." So I was a little hesitant to even take him, but once I did and my suspicions were confirmed, I was glad!!! Horrible. :) I gladly took the Zithromax prescription and out the door we went. It's been a few days, and I think he's starting to feel better, but he still needs to get back into his better napping habits.

My Mom made a quick visit on Tuesday night. She flew out to Utah on Wednesday morning so she stayed here and then I took her to the airport in the morning. Kate loved showing her all her dress up clothes, reading books with her and then cried in the morning when Grandma Vicki wasn't sleeping in her room. (so cute!) Preston stared at my Mom, either mesmerized or confused- not sure. :) We pick her up again on Friday night from the airport.

Randomness

Preston standing on his own. He's taken like 2 steps on his own and thinks it's pretty fun to stand on his own and try to walk between me and Kyle.

"Fancy Nancy" with her new hat and feather boa from Gma Dee Ann. (Kyle is already wanting to hide the feather boa because of all the feathers that fall off!!!)
Twirl...
Already into football?! Oh no!!!!

Labor Day

I am behind on blogging... For labor day weekend we stayed here- normally we go to my parents house or to the Ellensburg Rodeo and Fair, but this time we didn't. On Monday, Kyle met my Dad, brothers and brother-in-law outside Ellensburg to go on a motorcycle riding trip. Kyle loved it and Kate was so excited when he got home all dirty and tired.

I asked Kate what she wanted for lunch and she insisted on crackers and mayo. I thought she meant crackers and tuna fish, but nope, just mayo! Gross, huh?! She loved it.

I thought this was cute of Preston playing with a tractor.

Morning Breath

This morning (before I had brushed my teeth) I was singing the ABC song to Kate and she said "you let a stinker?"

I said, "no!" and kept singing.

Then she said, "your face stinks!"

"What?" I ask.

"Your faces stinks!" she repeated.

Then, I told her that it was my breath that stinks because I hadn't brushed my teeth yet. I immediately went and brushed my teeth then had her smell my breath again and she approved. :) I LOVE the funny things kids say.

Fair Time

We went to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe on Saturday and had a great time. I've never been to this fair before, but it's probably the best fair I've been to. In the morning, it looked like it was going to rain, but while we were there the sun came out and ended up being a beautiful day. I was so sad though because I forgot my camera at home!!! Kate loved the rides and all the animals. She insisted on seeing the bunnies for some reason. There were SO many food booths it was crazy. Amazingly, all we bought was some blue cotton candy for Kate. It was the first time she's had that and she LOVED it (yuck). I had brought us a lunch so we were boring and ate that instead of buying food. Normally, we go to fairs just for the food, right family?! We watched a lumberjack show and Preston cried when they fired a gun and Kate cried when they climbed a 75 ft pole- she kept saying "he's falling! I scared! I want to go!" It was funny. A nice lady (who Kate kicked in the bum many times) turned around and talked to Kate about the show and how it's all pretend. She ended up calming down. Then we saw these horses running around in a corral and one came up to Kate and showed all his nasty yellow teeth and got in her face- she was so scared! It was pretty funny. There was also a pig race I wanted to see, but we ended up not seeing it. I'm sure it would have been funny.

For dinner, Kyle and I went to Outback. Darbi watched the kids while we went. We switch off every month or so babysitting each other's kids so we can get a date night. I went to a baptism for a girl in the primary and then came home and we watched a movie. Fun day.

Visit with Marci

We ventured down to Puyallup to visit my sister, Marci, yesterday. It was fun to spend the day with her. We took a grocery shopping trip to WinCo (love that store) and then to the Mall to go to Old Navy. We had lunch at a Thai restaurant, Indochine (sp?) in Tacoma. Marci insisted we order this appetizer and I must say it was delectable. Yummy flavors with chicken, mango, cashews and a fabulous sauce on pita bread stuff. Mmmmmmm... I want some more now. While in this quaint little cafe' Kate said her tummy hurt so we thought she was hungry, but when she threw up all her pickles from her sandwich and gummy candy that Marci bought her from WinCo I knew she was sick. The poor waitress cleaned up the mess (it was gross!) so she got an extra big tip. The sad thing is Kate probably got the bug from Preston. I hope I don't get it. It was confirmed this morning that she is sick when she threw up all over my newly shampooed carpet after breakfast! Good thing the carpet cleaner vacuum was still out from last night so I quickly cleaned up the mess. Now onto cleaning bathrooms and doing lots of laundry from our trip to Canada.

Trip to Canada

We went to Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada on Thursday and Friday. Kyle's Mom, Dee Ann, came with us and it was the first time for everyone, but me and Kyle, to go to Canada. We had a fun time there visiting the sites, but keep reading to see how fun our trip back into the good ol' USA was.

Beautiful flowers made into Canada flag at border crossing getting into Canada. The Peace Arch Park there had the most immaculate garden, grass, shrubs and flowers. Very pretty.

Our first stop was Kitsilano Beach and this picture shows downtown Vancouver. We had beautiful weather while there and the views were amazing. There are huge green mountains surrounding Vancouver.

Kyle and Kate playing on the Beach. Kate loves digging in the sand.

The water was not too cold so it was fine to play in.

Poor Preston tried to take a nap while we were on the beach. He was sick (threw up in the car on the way up and down and once in a park and another in the hotel room. Fun times for us and him.)

I LOVE these lamp posts and hanging baskets. They were up and down the street, very quaint.

After the Beach, we checked into our hotel room and let Preston take a quick nap. We did Priceline and got a 4 star hotel room for the price we would have paid for a cheaper hotel downtown. It was a pretty nice room. Then we strolled the streets into the old downtown of Vancouver- Gastown. It was fun to look at the old buildings, see the waterfront and walk the cobblestone streets. We ate at Spaghetti Factory, which doesn't have the same menu items as the restaruants in the US- interesting.

Our family in front of the steam clock. It's a landmark there and chimes and makes noises every so often. It runs off steam and has since the late 1800's.

Kate watching Cars on the IPOD in the hotel room. Cute.

The next morning, we went to Stanley Park first thing and went to Vancouver Aquarium.

Beluga Whales, the little one is a baby and was just born in early June.

The dolphin show. We barely made it in time to watch this show and I'm glad we did because this was the highlight.

The miniature train ride in Stanley Park. Kate loved riding on it and it took us through cute forests and scenery. It was nice to sit for a bit. This Stanley Park is HUGE and we walked a lot.

The farmyard animals in Stanley Park. Kate liked petting the goats, but she was scared of them too. The farm stunk and we weren't all that impressed with it.

Stanley Park has lots to do and we stayed in the park most of the day. Before going home we drove around the park and saw totem poles, lighthouses and then went to a swimming pool right on the beachfront. We left around 5 pm to go home and it's a good thing we did because we had to wait 2 1/2 hours to cross the border!!! We were all so irritated. Preston was crying so Dee Ann walked outside in the Peach Arch Park while we inched slowly to the front and Kate ran around the park. It was ridiculous waiting that long. They only had 3 lanes open and the back-up of cars was very long. We went 1/2 mile in 2 1/2 hours! The Canadian side had like 5 lanes open and their back-up was minimal. It doesn't even take 2 1/2 hrs to get up to Vancouver! So needless to say, we were pretty tired when we finally got home around 10 pm.