SNOW

The first snow of the year is here! I am NOT excited about it. Not only is it Katera's Halloween party at school-they were going to trick or treat to neighbors, I have to drive to St. George in it. I could really do without the snow. It could snow for the week of Christmas- enough to go sledding and that's all! I have so much to do today. I am helping with treats at Katera's party, then work, get me and the girls packed, get gas, air up my tire, get Sekoya to cheer, and off to St. George. No time for blogging!

And the award goes to.....

Me, for being a looser mom that didn't know it was Crazy Hair day today.

Yesterday Sekoya came home and asked me if it was crazy hair day tomorrow (today). I told her I didn't know, but doubted it cause they would probably send a note home. Well, after seeing a Facebook post this morning I realized I was a flaky mom. I felt so bad. I was almost in tears worrying about how upset Sekoya was going to be. After I picked up Katera from joyschool I drove by the school to scope out recess and see how many other kids had actually come with crazy hair. It didn't look like too many. I couldn't see Sekoya anywhere so I drove around the block and into the parking lot. There she was, shootin' hoops all by herself. I parked and got out. She was so excited and surprised to see me. She asked what in the heck I was doing there. I told her I just came to give her a kiss and she smiled and giggled as we stuck our puckered up lips through the chain link fence. She didn't even mention that we missed crazy hair day. I wasn't too worried the rest of the day. Then when I picked her up she said it was crazy hair day and it was ok because she tipped her head upside down and rustled her hands through it and made it crazy. I love this girl!

Fall Fun

This last weekend we did some much needed yard work- getting the garden pulled up and burning weeds. Then we took the girls to the corn maze. Great idea, not a great result. The corn was no taller than Sekoya. It was pretty easy to see where the paths led so you didn't take a wrong one. They had little fact stations set up through out the maze that included a paper punch to prove you made it to that check point. The goal was to collect 8 punches for a prize. The girls got tired of it real quick. I don't think we were even half way through before they started complaining. Then we stopped at the kiddie corn box. It was like a big sand box, but filled with corn kernels. They had fun with that. The next stop was the hay jump. Bales of hay were set up to be like a platform that they jumped off into a pool of soft hay. Of course Sekoya took right off and jumped with out hesitation. It took Katera a few minutes to warm up to the idea and still wanted me to hold her hand as she jumped. The differences in our two girls are becoming more and more apparent as they get older. They are both wonderful girls with very good personalities- just different. We had to strip Katera down when we got to the car because hay was stuck all over in her clothes.

The weekend before was when Jason was gone hunting. We spent one day raking and playing in the leaves in Grandma's neighbor's yard. Again, Sekoya went running and jumped in head first. Katera mostly stood back and watched. She did get in the leaves to pose for a picture. The cousins came on Sunday. They had lots of fun playing in the leaves again with them. I let Sekoya stay home from school on Monday so she could play with them. We had them at our house all day while Heather was getting hair and nails done. We only had two little issues the whole day! I was impressed. Later that night we went to the pumpkin patch. The kids had a blast riding the hay ride, picking pumpkins, and riding the train. I just wish I had gone earlier in the month when the pumpkins weren't so picked over. Ahhh, the traditions of fall! I really wish fall would last longer, but we will be covered in snow before we know it.

Happenings

I love Saturday mornings! No alarms, no school, and I get to sleep in. I set out dishes, bread, and the toaster the night before. I tell Sekoya to be a big girl and get Katera and herself some breakfast and not to wake me up. She is so good to do that. I still hear them turning on cartoons and stuff, but only in my half-awake state. When I finally roll out of bed around 8:30 or 9 I have such a great outlook on the day. Amazing what a little selfishness will do for ya!

These last two weeks Katera has been going to Joy School as well as her preschool. A girl in my ward asked if we wanted to do it. It will require me teaching six 3-4 years olds every six weeks for two days. I think I should be able to handle that. Most of it I think is just a big organized play date with a few educational activities. She loves it! It's so nice for me too. I get two hours to do whatever I want for three days a week. At regular preschool she has been learning about volcanoes, dinosaur bones, and dinosaur eggs. She really loves school and her teachers- Miss Polly and Miss Stacey. She got school pictures this last week. They are so stinkin' cute! She is the smallest one in her class. But she is also a good 6-8 months younger than all of them too. She is quite the moody thing. She gets really scowly and grouchy sometimes. She won't quit being grouchy no matter what you do. Lately what has been working is we tell her to get rid of grouchy Katera because we don't like grouchy Katera. She will grab her face and pretend like she is throwing it out the window and then beam with a smile. We sure do love happy Katera!

front- Pacie, Katera, Lily, Austen

back- Miss Polly, JJ, Araya, Halee, Miss Stacey

Daxton is not pictured

Last night we had a Halloween theme dinner. I made- mummies (hot dogs wrapped in breadsticks), troll fingers (string cheese with green pepper fingernail), apples that bite you back, spider web dip, bat chips, frozen frog eyes (frozen kiwi pops), and swamp juice complete with fish eggs (cooked tapioca pearls). It was a lot of work. I think I was in the kitchen for four hours! And my kids wouldn't even eat! It was just hot dogs my word. What kid doesn't like hot dogs? They are just too young to appreciate it I guess. Give them about 5 years and they will think it's the bomb! Sekoya then asked if we were doing anything fun! I thought dinner was fun enough!!!! So we went bowling. It was the first time Sekoya actually bowled a whole game. She usually gets bored with bowling and wants to play the arcade games. Today we are on our own with Jason gone hunting AGAIN. I think we will go to either the corn maze or the pumpkin patch.

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

That is my question! Last year the swine flu broke out. I laughed as I saw all the people on the news wearing surgical masks out in public. Not because I thought it was funny that people were sick, but because it IS funny how people panic. Now that's easy for me to say sitting here in my small town USA where we don't get affected by things like that. Or so I thought. Slowly there started to be confirmed cases in Salt Lake. I rationalized that they got it because they live in a big city with so many more people to bring it in. Now there are a few- unconfirmed- but still suspect cases in Sevier county. This makes me a bit nervous. Our little family is actually quite healthy and we don't catch every bug that goes around. I just don't know if it's worth taking the chance! But then there are the controversies over the vaccinations and if they really help or hurt?! There are several videos being circulated that vaccinations have all kinds of undesirable ingredients- formaldehyde, mercury, etc. that can actually be harmful. I even postponed getting Katera her MMR vaccination due to the scare of autism.

I have compared it to seat belts. It is a law to wear seat belts. Seat belts save lives. Facts? For the most part. There are a few instances where seat belts have actually done more harm than good in an accident. So do we quit wearing them because of those few instances? No! We keep putting our faith in the life saving devices that were tested and proven to save lives in accidents. So, with the vaccinations.... sure there have been instances where they have done harm to patients. Fluke instances where the vaccination reacted to their body in a way it shouldn't have. Does this mean that ALL vaccinations are bad? Should we shy away from protecting our bodies from disease because of those few cases? I don't think so. I definitely don't have a medical degree and neither do all those people on the internet that have posted their "findings" against vaccinations. Just because you read a few articles that state some negatives about vaccinations does not give you the medical knowledge to accurately say that they will hurt you. For now, I am leaving my faith and trust in the doctors with the MEDICAL DEGREE that have come up with a vaccination to keep me and my family safe from disease.

Little Green Monster

"Do you wanna fight with this?"

That is what Katera said as she rounded the corner with her little face colored green with marker. It's a good thing she's so cute and it was washable marker. Never a dull moment with kiddos!

Bullion Canyon

After Jason was done hunting we took a last minute trip to Bullion Canyon by Marysvale. I have never been there and Jason hasn't either. I can't believe I found a place Mr. Mountain Man has never been. I was hoping to get to see the leaves changing colors and get some fun pictures, but we were a week late. We still went on the little walk that they have with plaques explaining what the mining days were like. The girls totally loved it! They wanted to go on the mile hike to the water falls, but we were too late in the day for that, I am still getting over my cold, and Katera and Jason are getting the cold. We decided that we need to bring the rhino and come another day when it's warmer and we can go on the hike. We stopped at Hoovers on the way home to eat dinner. Both girls ate their dinner and sat nicely in their chairs the whole time. Yay! Maybe we can finally take them to restaurants now without making a scene. They ate so well that we let them order dessert- that NEVER happens. Sekoya ordered a brownie sundae and Katera ordered a raspberry cobbler. Katera took a couple of bites and made a face then said- OOoOhh yummy! She acted like she was in heaven! It was really funny! It was a really fun evening with just our family!

Elk Hunt 2009

The elk hunt has been going on for the last week. Jason left last Friday night and hunted through the weekend with Kirk, Mark, Morgan, Uncle Steven, Brandon, David, and Quinn and some buddies. It was quite the camp up there. Only none of them were good enough hunters to kill one opening weekend. They decided they were all cold and tired and came down Sunday to watch the football game. They went back on the mountain later that night and hunted Monday and Tuesday. Still no elk. Uncle Steven and Brandon headed back to Texas empty handed, but had such a great time they promised to come back to hunt a big bull. Jason spent a lazy day at home Tuesday and half of Wednesday. He went back up with Kirk to hunt Wednesday night and that is when he shot his spike. Mark ended up going up Thursday morning to help them drag it out of a pretty bad spot. According to Jason it took 4 hours to drag it out- cut that in half and that's probably more accurate. Me and the girls spent the weekend doing absolutely nothing. I had a rotten cold and didn't even feel like getting showered or dressed. The rest of the week while he was gone was pretty unproductive as I was having a pity party. I haven't had a get away from the kids since my NYC trip in June. I am feeling the need very badly!! Then he comes home and has the nerve to tell me he is going hunting all next weekend with Weston to kill WESTON'S deer. I have to say- I have a hard time with hunting when it's not Jason's tag. I am told to just deal with it, it's a guy thing. He tried to compare it to shopping. I can't go shopping with the girls unless I buy something. Well, ok then! I think I can manage that. But that was a stupid analogy. When girls go shopping there is ALWAYS the possibility of "bagging the big one" (to put it terms men can understand) But when Jason goes with somebody else and he does not have a tag there is NO possibility of "bagging the big one". He can't even carry a gun for cryin' out loud!!!! I know Jason needs guy time and to do things he enjoys. But he's had a week now. It's MY turn!!!

Ok, rant is over for now.

General Conference

Why is it that when we're supposed to be having the spirit fill our homes during General Conference my house is filled with anger and frustration? Probably because I have two little girls who are too young to listen or even care what the apostles are saying. Therefore, I get angry with them for being loud and not allowing me to listen. I turned it on Saturday and got Sekoya's conference packet out that they got in primary. I explained to her what to do on it and she realized that conference went all day. She started to cry and asked if we had to watch it ALL DAY. I told her we didn't have to watch it on Saturday, but we would watch one session on Sunday since we would otherwise be in church. She did really good being quiet for that one session, but Katera was another story. She only lasted about 45 minutes and then was crying for me to change it to cartoons. I ended up putting her in the other room to cry and have time out. I have recorded all the sessions and I hope to be able to get them watched in the next week. I hate to admit, but I have NEVER watched all four sessions of conference. I always have good intentions, but it never happens. I am hoping that this year will be different and I will get through all the talks. I know that they have wonderful things to say that will help me to be better in all my roles of life. I am also hoping that in the next couple of years the girls will be old enough to understand that conference is quiet time and we can feel that spirit in our home.

Spa night

Man, my girls are spoiled. Sekoya wanted to have a "spa" day with a friend after watching an episode of Phineas and Ferb where they made their own spa in their backyard. She had to settle for pedicures and gel toes at Grandma's shop. We had to wait until they were closed so we didn't bother anybody. We went at six and spent two hours doing pedicures, gel toes, painted finger nails, and put pink and purple stripes in their hair. Then we came home to watch a movie with snacks. We took her friend home at nine. I really hope Sekoya appreciates all I do for her. I doubt it.

Get Bewitched!!!

That is what we did at Gardner Village on Thursday! What was supposed to be my get away trip without kids ended up being a trip with BOTH girls. We also took Grandma Sindy and Aunt Cortney. I can't say that I regret taking them because they were both very good girls and enjoyed the day very much. They were in awe with all the witches- fake and real. They got to get their eyes painted with glitter Eye Kandy, dance on stage with witches, make a spider lollipop and a ghost necklace, see the animals at the petting zoo, and go for a ride out to a witches house. We spent four hours there and could have stayed all day. After we left Gardner Village we went to Taipan to get a few more Halloween decorations, Target, Fabric Mill, and Costco. We only had major fits once or twice. Considering that we didn't get home until 10:30 pm they were major troopers. I can't wait until they are a little bit bigger and will have more fun with me at stores that I like to go to.

This was out at the witch's house. Katera was a little nervous about the whole thing. She didn't want any part of the witch's orderves of eyeballs, frog eyes, poison apples, and dragon armpit hair stew. Sekoya was really brave and even picked up the dead cockroach (plastic of course) to give it a burial in the graveyard. She also stuck her hand in the yucky looking wart bath that Crazy Cora had outside.

My Baby turns 3!

Today, after the Maple Grove field trip, we celebrated Katera's 3rd birthday. It was a busy day!!! I spent two hours while Jason and Sekoya were gone making Katera's mermaid cake. I really don't know why I take on these complicated cakes. They always look so easy until you're right in the middle of it. As I was frosting the cake it was falling apart. I was getting really frustrated and exclaimed- This cake is a disaster! Katera simply stated- It's not a disaster Mommy, it's a mermaid. That made me realize that it didn't matter if it met my expectations. Katera was thrilled that I was making the cake that she had chosen (two weeks ago). As soon as Jason and Sekoya got home we went to K-mart to eat pizza at Little Caesars. We had been in Walmart earlier in the morning when they were baking their bread. Katera said- Mommy, it smells like pizza. I want pizza! Then we went to the pool for our private swimming party. I had invited several of her friends and all the cousins. None of her friends could make it and none of the cousins showed up until half way through. It was only Jason, me, Sekoya and Katera in the water. I think they had tons of fun.