New to Us

The Saturn has been barely running for some time...John has to fill it with water every time he drives it, the transmission is going out, and there's no A/C (which is particularly enjoyable in a black car when it's 100 degrees)....at least that's what John tells me. I refuse to drive the thing because I fear for my life...even though John reminded me daily that it is MY car (which is true because I bought it before he came around and he can barely fit inside MY little car).

Anyway, we happened upon a great deal that had just been posted on the Classifieds and are now the proud owners of this 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier. The great part is that it is in mint condition and only has 16,000 miles on it! We've never owned a car with that low of miles. We got it from a little Grandma that passed away and only drove it to and from church during the last four years. The not so great part is that it has no power windows/locks. I guess Grandma didn't see the need. But, John assures me that he is capable of unlocking his own doors and rolling down his own windows.

Funny Story:

Kelsie and I were riding home from a craft fair with my mom and Grandma Hansen. They were asking about the new car. Kelsie got so excited and told them,

"It has this thing on the bottom of the door. You can turn and it makes the windows go down , and it even works when the car is not on!"

She was so impressed by the manual windows on our new car. My Grandma explained that most all of her life that was the only kind of car you could get. Kelsie was dumbfounded by the thought. :)

My kids think these manual windows are the coolest thing ever. It made me realize how much times have changed, and how spoiled I am to think that I can't drive a car that would require me to actually unlock my own door with a key (key less entry is super convenient when your carrying a baby in your arms or if your terrified of dark parking lots like I am). How times have changed.

Lucky Girl

We've decided that Kelsie must take after Grandma Durrant with her luck in winning contests. On Monday of red ribbon week she came home ecstatic because her name had been pulled out of a drawing and she had won a gift certificate to Jump on It. Pretty cool. It was the 1st time she'd ever won anything and she was so thrilled.

On Wednesday the school announced the winners for the red ribbon week drawing contest. Kelsie won 1st prize for the whole 2nd grade (not a small feat in a school as big as hers). Her drawing was of pedestrian safety and showed all of our family in the car stopping at the crosswalk as kids crossed the street in front of the school. It was a really impressive picture, I have to say. :) That winning wasn't just about luck!

When she got called down to the office for the 2nd time that week to claim her prize the principal even noticed. When she came in he said, "Hmmm. You've won a lot of things lately haven't you? And then he told her "your drawing was very good." She couldn't have been more proud.

After school I went to pick her up and all the kids came running up to me and told me that Kelsie won something REALLY BIG at school. Kelsie wouldn't say a word about it until she got home alone and could show me for herself. She really likes to surprise me after school. :)

So in her bucket of winnings was:

A Halloween bucket, coloring book, crayons, candy, GC for a free pizza, $5 GC to Target

Pretty cool. She was SO excited! I was too. I love free stuff. Maybe she really will take after her Grandma Durrant and her lucky streak will continue!

More Birthday...

Our kids get really excited about their homemade birthday cakes that we (okay-usually dad) make for them. This year Emily's was a tulip with fairies on it. She loved it. We made this cake for her family birthday party with all my family. She got spoiled with more presents. Her favorites were a singing Three Musketeers Barbie and a Three Musketeers coloring book. She was delighted by the Barbie coloring book and wasn't really interested in seeing any other presents. She broke out her markers and just wanted to sit and color. She loves coloring...and she likes nothing better than a brand new coloring book to start on. She's easy to please.

Later in the night, we managed to pull her away from her coloring so we could have cake and play a rousing game of Fairy, Fairy, Pixie Dust. It proved to be a game that united all ages and everyone had a great time with this version of Duck, Duck, Goose. Carter stole the show during his turn when he tapped everyone on the head and then yelled "Pixie Dust" and took off across the house so no one could tag him. It was a fun time with all the family here. We ended the night with Emily trying to find a quiet corner (pretty hard with my loud family here) so she could actually hear her Barbie singing. I found her in the corner with her Barbie pressed against her ear, singing along with her. It was so cute.

And here's a random picture I took that night of my cute little nephew Mason--the newest member of the fam. He 2 months and is so sweet and content.

Happy Birthday Emily!

Happy Birthday Emily. I can't believe you are five! You have been SO excited for your birthday and have been counting down the days (for several months). You just couldn't wait to turn 5 and be big enough to go to school. We loved spending your special day with you. You loved being spotlighted and sharing treats with your friends at preschool. Then dad came home and took you to lunch at McDonald's on a date. You came home and helped us get everything ready for your fairy birthday party. You loved having your friends over for fairy activities and celebrating with you and you've been totally entertained by your new toys. After the party, we had pizza, opened presents, and watched the new Tinkerbell movie you got for your birthday. You were so tired that you didn't even make it through the movie. You asked me to go put you in bed---you NEVER ask to go to bed. I think you were a little overstimulated from your crazy day. We hope you had fun and enjoy your big day of turning FIVE! We love you Emmie!

Mini-Me

John was getting Carter dressed for church on Sunday and found these. He brought Carter in and said, "Introducing Mini Me". I laughed and laughed. He really did look just like a mini John in his button up and "Dockers".

Trick or Treat!

Ready to go Trick or Treating...

The kids all loved trick or treating and it was great to have a nice, warm Halloween night this year. Carter thought trick or treating was totally cool and couldn't believe people kept handing him candy. He was totally happy to wear a ridiculous one piece roar costume (he's not a big fan) as long as people were giving him candy. He was amazed by the whole event. I took the kids trick or treating for the first time ever (I'm usually the one at home passing out the candy) and it was great fun to get to walk around and chat with friends. The girls got to go around with their friends (Brianna, Amber, and Lizzie) for the first time and Kelsie said that made it the best Halloween ever! They lasted for over 2 hours of trick or treating (even outlasting the older neighbor kids) and didn't want to stop there. Needless to say we are going to need to freeze Halloween candy to break out later. They got TONS.

Halloween 2009

A Fairy

A witch

A Roar!

He's a dragon or a dinosaur...take your pick. All that matters is he can "roar" and scare us and he actually put the costume on!

A few people have been suprised to see this boy wearing a "roar" costume. The truth is he wasn't too taken with the idea. He kept telling us that he "hates the roar" and "I hate the costume" but when he figured out that people would give him candy when he wore it...well he decided that being a roar wasn't so bad after all! He loved scaring us with his scary "roar" and he even smiled. :)