This awesome class I'm taking....

So last night after her bath, Kenley was insistent that we all attend "Robe Class." What is Robe Class? I'm still not sure. It involved all three of us sitting in chairs, with robes over our clothes, staring at each other, with Kenley periodically saying, "Sooooo...." She also wanted all her stuffed animals out there in chairs as well, for more class participation I guess, although I lovingly nixed that idea. Soooooo, anyone else out there ever been to Robe Class?

Great bargain!

Well most of you got this e-mail I sent to like 50 billion people, but I will toss it up here even for my blog-stalkers. Current catalog (www.currentcatalog.com) is having a big clearance sale on their crafts for kids. They're marked down to $2, $3, and $4, but that is for a pack of 12, so super good deal! And also, almost all the clearance stuff was showing up in my cart for $1.79, regardless of its original clearance price.

I will say I read this on a Bargain message board, so participate at your own risk, but I think it's legit. Some of the girls on there were having a hard time getting their order to go through so they called them in to Current and it worked fine.

Soooo... knock yourselves out! Then come back and post what you bought! I believe I have about 250 crafts coming my way (unfortunately not kidding), and I paid less than $20. These would be great for preschools, daycare, playgroup, or even donating to a shelter or something, which I may have to do with some of mine unless my children want to be doing the same crafts every year for the next 10 years. :)

Oops, I almost forgot the best part! Use VIP in the coupon portion for an additional 25% off. Then use UE8 in the promo portion for free shipping.


I know you want to see what I bought!
Item # NAME QTY GIFT PRICE SUBTOTAL

089289 Dress-the-Turkey Magnetic P... 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089345 Design-It-Yourself Puzzles 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089741 Photo-Frame Ornament
Craft... 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089655 Scarecrow Clothespin Magnet... 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089264 Witch Paper Plate
Craft Kits 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089306 Wooden Scarecrow
Craft Kits 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089742 Reindeer Ornament Craft Kits 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089547 Elf Ornament Craft Kits
Se... 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089649 Halloween Lantern Craft Kit... 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089537 Holiday Lantern Craft Kits
... 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089706 Beaded Ornament Craft Kits 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089648 Halloween Sticker
Scene Act... 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089848 Fall Weaving Placemat Kits 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089775 Leaf Ornament Craft Kits 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089040 Beach Party Sticker Scene A... 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089329 Count-Your-Blessings
Trees... 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089546 Santa Door Hanger Craft Kits 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089338 My Biography 1 No $1.69 $1.69
089300 Design-It-Yourself
Kids
... 1 No $1.79 $1.79
089344 Design-It-Yourself Totes 1 No $1.79 $1.79
089343 Fabric Paint Pens 1 No $1.79 $1.79
089576 Scarecrow Pants Treat Holders 1 No $2.79 $2.79
089495 Give Thanks Word Art 1 No $5.19 $5.19
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Discounts
|You saved 25% off your order, $18.69
Thank you for your order - you $6.27
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Subtotal = $18.81
Shipping Total = $0.00
Tax Total = $0.00
Order Total = $18.81

A conversation with Kenley

Me: "We just can't have treats every night?"
Kenley: "But why?"
Me: "Because they have lots of sugar. And fat."
Kenley: "CAT?"
Me: "Uh, no. Fat."
Kenley: "Oooooh, fat! I know all bout dat! Iss when all your buttons dest squirt off your shirt!"
Me: "Um, yeah, kind of. I guess. Where did you learn about that?"
Kenley: "From a cartoon."

And today I totally saw the cartoon she was talking about, in a Thanksgiving ad on Noggin! It made me laugh.

1 giant box of Gobstoppers + 2 unwatched episodes of Grey's Anatomy = perfect working-husband night

Olivia

Some things about being a mother to a little girl were easy to anticipate, others not so much. I have loved the book "Olivia" for years, since way before I had Kenley. I envisioned myself curled up with my little girl, reading it together and laughing at Olivia's silly antics. It took a while, Kenley has had no interest in it until now, but it's her current favorite, and she chooses it every single night. We do laugh together at the funny parts, and she mouths all the words along with me, her eyes shining.

What I didn't anticipate was having a daughter who is so absolutely horrified by any sort of naughty behavior, that when it gets to the part where Olivia recreates a Jackson Pollock painting on her wall, Kenley is so traumatized by Olivia's naughtiness and consequent time-out that she has to go sit in her chair and stare at the wall - her back ramrod-straight, breathing shallowly, until she hears the words, "Then it's time for a nice bath...." And then she comes scurrying back to my lap.

I try so hard not to laugh, because it really embarrasses her, but oh my goodness. I wish I could capture it on film for you all. I'll try - it's that funny.

Today is the day we find out what day is the day

FINALLY! Seriously! My mom finally called the mission office in Nauvoo to find out when my sister is coming home. Andrea apparently doesn't particularly care, because we just kept getting these vague, "I'm not sure. Sometime in the beginning of December. So my investigators...." Not going to cut it. So you wanna know? December 2nd! Woo hoo!

I had this dream about my sister where after we picked her up at the airport, after all the chaos had passed, I just sat down on the curb and started crying because it was finally all over. And that's how I feel right now, like I just want to sit down on the floor and cry because I am so happy that we are reaching the end. Hundreds of days I've wanted to call her, thousands of things I wanted to tell her, and millions of moments I've wanted to share with her, and she is finally coming home.

One thing I've learned about myself is that I don't fare well when my support system is shaken. I think I probably seem independent, but in reality I cannot function without a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear. I am lucky enough to have a huge support system with wonderful friends and the best family ever, but I need my sister for things to be complete.

Soooo.... three more weeks! Hooray!

Happy Election Day!

As you may or may not have noticed, I prefer to keep my blog personal about our family and don't generally discuss politics. But I did have to hop on and say how happy I am tonight. Prop. 8 is looking great, and my eyes kept welling up with tears watching the election results come in tonight. To me tonight was historic, hopeful, and a beautiful statement from our country. Watching both McCain and Obama give their speeches was really emotional to me - I've been sort of a grump about this election and how pompous and untrustworthy I feel both these guys are, but I'll admit, they both had me tonight. I really could feel the love that they have for their country and it made me feel optimistic for the first time in a while. Both of them gave me goosebumps. I know that some are nervous, but tonight let's all start praying for our new President and for all of us, that four years from now the country will be better off than it is today.

And now imagine an inspirational picture of a flag, because my computer is being crabby and won't let me put one up.

Happy Halloween!

Side note: I've been on a posting blitz today so make sure you scroll all the way down for lots of good times!

Anyway, we have a fun tradition of having my dad and Joanie join us for Halloween. Scott came up also this year, and we had a fun night together. Kenley proclaimed, "DIS is a fun night!" and even said "Trick or Treat" at each house (I was doubting - she's pretty shy). Parker also got into the spirit of it all, running up the houses and pounding on the doors, and even signing Thank You. Unfortunately, James had to work. Boo.



This is Kenley and our sweet little neighbor boy she loves. Isn't he just the cutest?