Like mother like daughter

We attended parent-teacher conferences two weeks ago for Sabrina. The teacher told us that she was curious to see what level Sabrina was reading at since she claimed all the supplementary reading was "too easy". Mrs. Winter pulled out one of her books that her own children read in the second grade and Sabrina read the first page with ease. She says that Sabrina is reading easily at the second grade level. Not bad for a kindergartener. Something must have clicked in the last few weeks because all of a sudden the kid is reading EVERYTHING she can get her hands on. The other day I came in to wake them up for school and found Sabrina already awake and reading in bed. And when I tried to take the book away she freaked and wouldn't let go. She wanders around the house with her nose in a book; bringing them to meals, to have her hair done, and in the car while we run errands. Last night when I went to tuck her into bed I felt something hard inside her pillowcase and before she could stop me I tipped her pillow over and found a small flashlight hidden inside! Moira piped up and said that Sabrina wakes her up reading in bed at night after we've turned out the lights! Sneaky kid. I can see that we're going to struggle with trying to keep her nose out of a book long enough to get other things done. I half expect her to start stashing books throughout her room so I won't confiscate them. (That's what I did growing up.) At the rate she's devouring books she'll probably be a few grade levels beyond where she's at by the end of the school year. She has jumped from pre-k level to second grade level in two months!

How did this happen? I attribute it mostly to you Mom and the Writing Road to Reading Program. Incredible! Thanks!

Halloween 2009

Argh!!

Don't even THINK about it. You ain't gettin' my loot.

See Mom! I learned how to throw my knife!

Ahhhh, a little pre-Halloween snack. And I did it all by myself too.
I made my own snack! Ta-dahhh!

Here's the annual Halloween issue of the blog. I was on top of costumes this year and didn't sew any of them. YEAH. Except for Brayden's sash. I cut a length of orange fabric in half and then sewed the ends together so it would be long enough.

Thank heavens Halloween was on a Saturday this year, no last minute rush by myself trying to get everybody ready. Adam was there for reinforcements, like changing that last-minute dirty diaper.

Sabrina went as a cowgirl, Moira was a witch, and Brayden was a pirate. His shirt says: Cap'n Spooky's Pirate Academy; Surrender yar candy!! I died laughing when I saw it at Target. I even taught him to say AARRRGGGHHH. He did that for a few people and then figured out that everyone else was saying Trick or Treat so he started saying his garbled version of it. (Mostly t's) But the argh was so much cuter and more appropriate for his costume. He was really good about carrying his sword correctly and even tried defending himself with it when he encountered a particular scary costume. I immediately rushed to the rescue to make sure no one got hurt.

Our neighborhood had their annual Trunk-or-Treat at the church parking lot. The kids filled their buckets 2/3 full in about an hour only going around once. Love those trunk-or-treats for efficiency. Afterwards we went to the cul-de-sac around the corner from our house where many of our friends live and did the traditional candy-begging. One homeowner turns his front yard into a haunted corn maze complete with smoke machines, monsters, strobe lights and big candy bars if you make it to the end. The kids say they want to go every year, but usually they chicken out at the last minute. I carried Brayden through, Adam carried Moira, and Sabrina snuck through the back way to avoid all the scariness and got a 3' pixie stick as her reward.

We were home before seven o'clock and the kids immediately dumped their haul on the kitchen table and started stuffing their faces. But we still got them into bed by 8:30 pm and then turned all the clocks back. We stayed up and had a Chuck marathon. LOVE CHUCK!!! We stayed up way too late, but it was fun!

New Car

Well, it is new to our family, anyway. In the metropolis of Salt Lake City all registered vehicles must pass a safety and emissions test to have the registration renewed. Our 1989 Camy was getting to the point that if you filled the tank with gasoline and changed the oil you've added 50% to the value. We did not want to have to put any "fix-up" money into that car. It passed all of the required criteria for having the registration renewed in August of this year. That very day the car started giving us issues. First, the engine fans wouldn't turn off when you turned off the car. Then, the battery died. Then, the dashboard warning lights all lit up like a Christmas tree (for no apparent reason). When the car started shaking at any speed we knew we had better be serious about finding a replacement. It was as though the car was saying, "Just let me die in peace!" We had been praying for a car for a couple months. In September, we included it in our fast. Wendy thought she had found the perfect minivan, but when we wanted to go take a look it was sold. That same day a new ad was posted at a dealership we had visited before. We drove down to the dealership and it was everything we were looking for.

Power sliding doors, alloy wheels, tow hitch, late model year, CD/cassette stereo, stow-n-go seating, great handling, and it fit our budget exactly where we needed it to be. It was a true answer to our prayers. Oh, and it does fit in our garage. If you have seen our garage you will know how amazing that is. The kids love all of the new elbow space. They played with the power doors for a week straight. We have had this van for just short of a month now and Brayden still thinks it is his job to close the sliding doors. We bought the van from Henry Clay motors just off I-215 and California Ave. They went out of their way to make sure the car was reconditioned to like new.

Last night we sold the Camry. There is a mechanic around the corner and he gave us $100 for it. The odometer read over 324,000 miles when we turned over the keys. That car has lasted us just over 10 years and 190,000 miles. I bought it for $5000 out the door. I figured that I have put about $15,000 in fuel, tires, oil changes, and maintenance into that car. If you do the math you will see that paying your tithing pays you back REALLY well. Our prayer now is that the Pathfinder and the Grand Caravan treat us just as well for the next 10+ years.