I had to get these down...

...before I forgot them! Tonight, when we left my parents' house, we were putting the girls in the car and just after I put Whitney in her car seat, Ryan said, "Whitney's sleeping." And, upon hearing this, Whitney tipped her head back, closed her eyes, and made little snoring noises. Ryan and I just laughed--she's never done that before! It was so cute.

Then, as we were driving home, we stopped at a home in my parents' neighborhood. The couple who live there create an elaborate Christmas scene every year in their huge picture window at the front of their house. As we were looking, Ryan said, "Do you see, Kallie?" To which Kallie replied, "No, Dad, I don't see Kallie in there." Once again, we were laughing. As we left the house, Whitney yelled, "Bye, Santa! You're welcome!" Have no idea where the "you're welcome" came from, but it was funny just the same.

A little further down the road, Ryan drove on some road grooves that made a loud noise in the car. Whitney piped up from the back, "Toots!" And, yet again, (the third time within about 15 minutes), we were cracking up at our kids!

Our kids just can't figure out what's so funny--and when we try to explain we're laughing at what they say it's even more confusing for them. They are just so cute and do so many cute things! We can't get enough of them! :)

Our Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day started nice and early for us, with the girls getting up before 6 a.m. I made Kallie go back to bed, in hopes that she would actually go back to sleep. Boy, was I silly! She waited until the clock said 7, (the earliest we wanted her to get up), and popped into our room within seconds. Ryan got up with the girls and turned on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I didn't sleep for too much longer because watching the Parade is one of my favorite traditions! We ended up watching NBC's rebroadcast of the play that lasted until noon--I love watching all of the performances at the beginning!

Toward the end of the Parade, I started cooking my additions to our family Thanksgiving meal. I made green bean casserole and butternut squash gratin. As a quick side story here, the night before, I took Kallie over to my mom's and we made pies and rolls for the next day. When everything was almost ready to bake, we turned on the oven. A few minutes later, my mom looked over and saw that there were sparks coming out of the element. It started a little flame that slowly spread up the element toward the wall, like a dynamite fuse. We were relieved when it went out after traveling several inches. So, we loaded everything into my mom's car and brought it all to my house. She shaped the rolls and then there was nothing left to do but bake--so she went home and I started putting things in and taking them out of the oven for the next several hours. Back to Thanksgiving Day, after I finished our food preparations, we left about 2:30 for our 3 p.m. dinner at my Aunt Dru's house.

There were a LOT of people at our dinner--3 separate tables' worth! And, Dru had everything set beautifully, of course, complete with little pilgrim hat candy holders! She certainly knows how to create a special celebration. There was a ton of food and, in the end, a ton of leftovers as well. After dinner, we went downstairs and played Guitar Hero for a while. My girls got bored with that real quick, but Grandpa saved the day by giving them rides on the elliptical machine. Their tiny bums fit perfectly into the foot pedals of the machine--so they sat while Grandpa pumped the arm poles. You couldn't have asked for a better kiddie ride! We also watched a video my Gramma Betty brought about one of our ancestors. Apparently, the guy who made the movie about President Hinckley is a cousin of mine. Who knew? (Well, besides Gramma...)

It was a great Thanksgiving Day for us! Tonight, we're heading over to start Christmas celebrations with a dinner of leftovers and Christmas movies at my parents' house. I'm trying to do everything we can to be Christmasy, since we don't get to decorate our house. So, this should be a fun start to our season this year!

My Silly Beans

My kids are so silly sometimes! They've had quite a few laughable moments recently.

Whitney has just been cracking me up. Since she learned to open doors a few weeks ago, it seems she had a development spurt and started a few new things all at one. Not only did she learn to jump with both feet off the floor, but her vocabulary is increasing daily. A few weeks ago, while playing outside, Whitney got really upset that Kallie had taken something she had been playing with. She firmly placed her little hands on her hips, thrust her chin down, worked up a cute little pout, and said, "Hey, I first!" (She learned this phrase from Kallie. The drama is all her own.) Then, last week, when it was time to leave for our final swimming lesson, I turned off the Little Einsteins video they were watching. Although she was sitting, (actually lounging), on the couch, those little hands flew to her hips, the chin tipped down, and the pout reappeared, and I was repirimanded with, "Hey! I first!" The pout didn't last too long, as she joined me in laughing at her cuteness.

Kallie recently went through a 2-week phase of seeing what she could get away with. For example, she would put her fingers in her juice and then watch me like a hawk. As soon as it looked like I might turn around or look up and realize what she was doing, she would pull her hand out and say, "You didn't see me, Mom!" I now realize how it is possible that moms have eyes in the back of their heads. Because, although in a few of the situations, I couldn't see her, I knew exactly what she was doing. After a week or so of this risky behavior, I went to the back of the apartment while the girls were eating lunch. Kallie called out a request for more milk and it took me a second to finish what I was doing and get back to the kitchen. When I walked in, there was Kallie, standing in the open fridge, sucking chocolate syrup straight from the bottle. I stood there silently for a few minutes waiting for her to notice. It took quite a while, and a purposeful movement from me, for her to finally realize I was standing there. (I guess chocolate syrup is just that good when you're 3.) As she sheepishly stood frozen to the spot, I said, "I see you!" Needless to say, she was denied her chocolate milk request.

One more story...I love the movie Enchanted. This should not come as a shock to anyone who knows me even a little. Although we don't watch it much, (I think Kallie has seen it once...), I play the soundtrack probably 4-5 times a week. The girls put on their princess skirts and we dance and sing to the music. And when I say WE sing, it really is all 3 of us singing. In fact, the girls will burst into Enchanted songs in any random place, (including church). Whitney goes around singing, "How d'I knoooooooow!" and Kallie is starting to memorize the words to the verses. So, this past Sunday, I was chopping up chocolate for a dessert I was making. Kallie desperately wants to help with any possible project, so I gave her the task of unwrapping the one ounce chocolate pieces. As we were standing unwrapping and chopping, Kallie turned to me and said, "Mom, it's not enough to take the one you love for granted." (This is a line from the "How Do I Know?" song.) I started laughing and said, "Yes, Kallie, you're right. It's not enough."

What silly kids I have! They certainly keep us entertained and help us enjoy life!

ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!!!

I have so many friends who do cool things! And, I'm loving all the giveaways they're having. This time, my friend Charissa is hosting a Scentsy giveaway. In fact, she is going to start hosting monthly giveaways, so you'll definitely want to add her to your blogroll!

If you have not yet been introduced to this wonderful wickless candle product, click on the Scentsy circle in the "Check This Out" list on the left. I've had my Scentsy for a year now and I absolutely LOVE it. Everyone who comes over comments on how nice my home always smells. The best thing about it is that I don't have to worry about it burning my kids if they happen to touch it. I also love that if I forget to turn it off when running errands or going to bed, it's not going to burn down my house. Head on over to Charissa's blog and enter today!

P.S. This is completely separate from the giveaway, but I just added another new button to the list for Usborne Books. If you haven't seen them yet, head on over to my friend Robyn's site and check out their great selection of cute and educational books!

Home Sweet Home

I just got a phone call telling us that we've been accepted to rent the one-and-only home we applied for! It's a beautiful 5 bdrm, 2000 sq. ft. home in Mill Creek, (well, technically Everett). We are almost tripling our current living space...
I've been mentally dividing up the bedrooms, placing furniture, and planting the garden plot. The neighborhood is awesome, with lots of parks and trails nearby. Turns out we're even going to be in the same ward as my in-laws' good friends! We are definitely excited about living in this home. And, although we're not thrilled about the logistics of moving, knowing that we get to move into this house makes it a little easier.

The Housing Search

I guess after the last post, I should add something about whether it was all worth it or not, huh? We were able to get in an entire day of househunting on Saturday. My in-laws were kind enough to drive us around the area and look at homes with us. I'm sure they were both pretty bored by the end of the day, but we enjoyed spending time together and discussing the various homes. I'll add here that our joke of the day was that they could feel free to add their 2 cents, but it might not buy them much. :)

I won't give all the boring details of the long day, but suffice it to say we looked at homes from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. with a short lunch break in between. By the end of the evening, Ryan still wasn't satisfied with what we had seen. He continued searching for homes in the Bothell area, which we decided felt like a better fit for us than Renton, where we had spent the majority of Saturday. The next morning, we made a few more appointments, went to church, then drove an hour back to Bothell for a few more viewings. On the last appointment of the day, we found a house we really liked, in a neighborhood we really liked, with a landlord who seemed really great, (that was one of Ryan's stipulations). We drove around the neighborhood for a few minutes and then drove back to submit the rental application. At this point, we're waiting to hear back from them within the next few days. I'll give more details once we find out what's happening there.

I realized a few things from our searching. First of all, the neighborhood was WAY more important to me than the actual house. There are things I can live without if the neighborhood is right. Secondly, I learned that I'm more picky about a rental house than I would be if we were buying. If it were our home, I'd have no problem changing up the carpet, installing new fixtures, installing a fence, etc. But, it's not our home, so I can't make those changes. Thus, the home must be good-to-go as is.

Overall, it was a very productive and exausting trip. Between our late hours, TONS of driving, and analyzing homes, we came home a little less rested than when we left. But, it was completely worth it in the end! I'll keep you posted once we hear on the home...

Don't Leave Home Without It

This past weekend Ryan and I flew to Seattle to do some househunting. The day before we flew out, I removed my driver's license from my wallet and put it in the back pocket of my jeans. We were heading to swimming lessons--and I didn't want to leave my entire wallet in my bag where anyone could take it while we were in the pool. But, I also didn't want to risk being pulled over on the way to/from swimming lessons and not having my wallet. So, there it was, tucked safely in my back pocket. When I got home, I pulled it out and thought I should, right at that moment, put it back into my wallet. But the girls were hungry and tired and smelled strongly of chlorine. Off to the bath, then dinner, then bed...and then I got down to the business of packing.

It wasn't until we were en route to the airport that I realized my license was STILL in my jeans. Panic-stricken, I turned to Ryan and informed him of my major faux pas. I had managed to organize an entire binder for our house hunting appointments, yet somehow forgot the license. Ryan, being the security-minded man that he is, (and feeling that airline security is more an issue of perceived security, instead of true security), assured me that he had read in several places about people who were TRYING to get kicked out of security, and still managed to get through. Since we didn't have time to go back home and retrieve it, I tried to calm down. It was just going to HAVE to be OK.

The Salt Lake airport wasn't too bad. They asked for my ID at the baggage counter--and upon informing them I didn't have one, they marked my boarding pass for extra security. After we left the counter, Ryan pointed out that they hadn't even asked for his ID. When we got to the security checkpoint, they took me aside and asked to see any ID I happened to have. I provided a few credit cards and an old BYU ID that only confused the issue because it was in my maiden name. When I told the guy it was all I had with me, he returned the cards and walked me over to what I called the puffer chamber. It's like one of those metal detectors from the airport, but has plexiglass doors that shut in front of and behind you. Then, it rapidly blows puffs of air at you--and you wait, trapped inside, while it analyzes the air in the chamber. It felt like the analyzation took a long time and, although I could see out, I started to get a little claustrophobic. Once that was over, I walked through a metal detector, and then my shoes and my entire carry-on bag were swabbed for residue of explosives. I finished my process about the same time Ryan finished tying his shoes. It was only slightly more of a hassle than the usual safety screenings I've had to endure at airports.

Seattle's process was a completely different story. First of all, we ended up in the maze of a line right behind the entire Monterrey Men's and Women's soccer teams. Someone was carrying a HUGE trophy, so I presume they won. But, that thing was heavy and looked like it could be dangerous to a flight attendant or other passengers--I'm not sure how they ended up getting THAT through security. When we finally got to the front of the line, I was once again pulled aside. This time, I remembered that I had my Seven Peaks season pass in my wallet and provided that in lieu of the old BYU ID. Notwithstanding, I still had to provide proof of address. The guy, (who was actually really nice), asked me several times if I had anything with my name and address on it--a bill or anything. Since I don't normally travel with my bills, I had nothing. They had me fill out a sheet with my name, address, birthdate, and phone number--and then the guy got on the phone to verify the information with someone on the other end. After asking me for my former address, my county of residence, and the major US freeway closest to my home, my boarding pass was stamped and I was given the go-ahead. I joined the other less-weary-than-I-at-this-point travelers in line for the standard metal detector and x-rays of shoes and bags. On the other side of the metal detector, I was sent to another set of TSA workers for a pat down as well as another swabbing of my shoes, bag, and contents. I chose to sit next to the table while they were swabbing my carry-on. After the bomb-sniffing machine sounded an alert, a supervisor was called over to explain to me that my bag had tested positive for nitroglycerin. I started laughing at this point and wondered how in the world THAT had happened. Apparently, if you use soap or lotion with glycerin in it, you can have a residue on your skin that will leave a residue on your items. And, as the TSA supervisor explained to me, glycerin is a key component of nitroglycerin. (Wow--really?) But, the guy said I'd be fine as long as the alarm didn't go off again. It didn't. (Thank goodness I hadn't been using fertilizer that morning!) And, I was finally through and on my way.

I think next time, I'll make sure I have my ID and will head through the "Experienced Traveller" lane at the TSA checkpoint. After all, I've now experienced the entire in-depth screening process!

What's in a name?

I realize that for most of you, the picture above is jibberish. But, to this mommy, it's a treasure. This is Kallie's very first attempt at writing her name all by herself. She's known how to verbally spell it for months now. I suppose that's one benefit of those decorative letters hanging on her wall above her bed. But, just today, we started working on how to write a K. The K above isn't her best K of the day, the A is a little strange, and the L's require some imagination--but SHE DID IT! All by herself!

Another AMAZING Giveaway!

You are going to want to participate in this giveaway from Brooklyn's Bows! I've had their link on my site for a while now, and now they're hosting their first giveaway. They are offering some darling things, including bows, Christmas cards, and tons of other fun things--head on over and sign yourself up! (And let them know I sent you!)

Brooklyn's Bows not only sells the CUTEST bows, but they also offer instructions to make your own. And, if you choose to purchase them, they are great quality bows for a great price. I really cannot plug them, (or the other giveaway participants), enough!

The Dreaded Day is Here

No, I'm not talking about the elections. (That one would have been posted 2 days ago if I really thought that.) Instead, I am referring to Whitney's new-found ability to open doors. I don't remember this really being an issue with Kallie, because we always had baby gates up where we didn't want her to enter. However, now having an older child who takes down the fences led to closing doors as a quick solution. That's not going to work anymore, though. Whitney, on the other hand, loves her new-found ability. She beams at me any time she opens a door now. And, I must say as frustrating as it is for the moment, I'm really proud of her for figuring it out!