So Clara has picked up the phrase, "not working." If her colored pencil breaks, she says, "working, fix it." She always leaves the "not" off anytime she wants to say "not working." So now that Jeremy has been home a lot less, she asks me frequently throughout the day, "Daddy home?" I've started to tell her that "Daddy is working." She finally put two and two together. So today when she asked, "Daddy home?" I said "Daddy's working." She then said, "Daddy fix it?"
That really got me thinking about how confusing it must be to learn to speak English. There are a lot of words that mean totally different things even though it's the same word. Just as another example, Clara has been learning to take turns. She'll even say, "Mommy's turn," "Clara's turn," "Addi's turn," etc. She is so good about taking turns I love it. But today at the grocery store, she was helping me push the cart. I said, "We need to turn this way." Clara got a confused look on her face as she thought about that one. Poor little Clara.....
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
goodbyes and Pies
Addi's mom is expecting her 2nd child anytime this week. So she is on maternity leave for a while. That means this last week was Addi's last week to come and play for a while. Clara was sure nice to her this week too. They kept giving each other hugs and making each other laugh. It was like they knew they wouldn't be spending time together for a while, so they make the most of it.
I also decided to try to put Clara's hair in braids this week. I think it turned out pretty good. Clara is at the point where she has enough hair that I have to do it every day. However, there is so much new hair coming in that her hair never seems to look good. Oh well.
Also this week, I needed to make some pies. Clara wanted to help, and was so proud of herself. She kept saying "pie" really loudly and excitedly when Jeremy asked her what she was doing. It made me laugh. After she got down, she kept saying, "Mom, pie, Clara help." I can't believe how much she talks now and how she puts sentences together. 
I also decided to try to put Clara's hair in braids this week. I think it turned out pretty good. Clara is at the point where she has enough hair that I have to do it every day. However, there is so much new hair coming in that her hair never seems to look good. Oh well.
Also this week, I needed to make some pies. Clara wanted to help, and was so proud of herself. She kept saying "pie" really loudly and excitedly when Jeremy asked her what she was doing. It made me laugh. After she got down, she kept saying, "Mom, pie, Clara help." I can't believe how much she talks now and how she puts sentences together. 
Monday, October 19, 2009
New Skirt
I spent quite a bit of time on this skirt. The pattern labeled it as easy, but I would have to disagree. It took way longer than I expected it to. But I was VERY pleased with how it turned out. Part of what took so long is that I decided to lengthen the skirt from the pattern. It told me exactly where to shorten/lengthen so I figured it would be a breeze. It really wasn't too bad, but it definitely took me a lot longer to measure and place the pattern pieces than I thought it would. Oh well. I wore it for the first time to church yesterday. I love the way it fits, looks, and even feels. The pattern had me cut some pieces against the grain so that the skirt has an off-centered look, which is why I liked the pattern so much to begin with. I still can't believe I was able to make an entire skirt for the amount on a gift card. What a great birthday present.
Here are the pictures:
Front:
Back:
me wearing it so you can see the length:
Here are the pictures:
Front:
Back:
me wearing it so you can see the length:
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Funny Story
I didn't want to wait until Monday to post this moment because I know I'll forget it by then. Before I get to the funny part, let me give a slight background. Clara has started to color on walls, so my new rule is that if she wants to color, she has to color at the table. With this new rule comes the wonderful game of watching colored pencils fall to the floor. I'm not sure what her fascination is with it, but she'll drop the pencils one by one onto the floor and watch them intently. When they are all on the floor she'll say "Uh oh." So as I go to clean them up, I explain to her that she needs to be careful with her pencils. If she drops them on the floor, they break. (The tips break off and then she gets mad that her pencils aren't "working.")
So here's the funny story. Clara is in the kitchen today coloring as I'm in another room folding laundry. I hear the sound of pencils dropping and after a few have fallen I hear Clara say, "Careful Mom, careful." I had to start laughing. I guess she was very careful at how she watched them fall......
So here's the funny story. Clara is in the kitchen today coloring as I'm in another room folding laundry. I hear the sound of pencils dropping and after a few have fallen I hear Clara say, "Careful Mom, careful." I had to start laughing. I guess she was very careful at how she watched them fall......
Monday, October 12, 2009
In our Lives
As I was thinking about what I was going to post this week, I knew I had to do a post about how I know that God is in the very details of our lives. I have had a wonderful week where I have gotten to see the Lord's hand so very much in such small things.
For example, I have a shirt for Clara that I thought would be perfect to wear with some overalls. But since we have no money, no overalls would be bought - even from a thrift store. However, this week a friend in the ward gave me a bag of clothes for Clara. In it I found the exact pair of overalls I was drooling over.
I have also lost several things this week that Heavenly Father helped me to find in ways I would have never have found them on my own. Like having a contact go down the drain, but get stuck on the drain stop so that I could actually get my contact back! Since I wear hard contacts, I saved myself from the $70 dollars to replace the one contact, let alone the Dr. visit fee that I would have to pay since my prescription is 8 years old.
I also lost a hair clip of Clara's. Those things are really tiny. I figured it fell out when I put on her pull over sweat shirt. I realized it was missing in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. I figured it was gone for good. But I found it the next day in her car seat!
Our internet quit working this week. I knew it was a problem with our computer and not with our internet provider. But I followed a prompting to call our provider anyway. They weren't able it fix it for me, but they led me to an area in my computer that I could then fix it myself.
I recently used a birthday gift card to purchase a skirt pattern that was 40% off. Even 40% off, it was still kind of expensive for a pattern. Even though I need a new skirt, I couldn't seem to justify that expensive of a pattern. I LOVED the pattern and Jeremy tried to get me to keep it. But I figured if I could find a cheaper pattern, then I could get it and the material to make me a new skirt. So after having the pattern for a few days, I decided to go look for a cheaper pattern. I went to a different fabric store to look for patterns this time. When I walked in, I saw that the brand name of my pattern was only $3.99! (That price is about 85% off ) I looked for my loved pattern and found it! I then returned the pattern to the other store and got material there. After all was said and done, I was able to get all the supplies for my really cute skirt all for the same amount as the gift card!
I know that these are seemingly small things, but to me, they were important. I know that none of these things would have happened this week without faith and prayer on my part and miracles on the Lord's part. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who watches out for each of His children and is waiting to bless them. I know that He blesses us everyday, but most of us are too busy to notice that the small gifts we get are from Him. I encourage each of you to look for the tender mercies in your lives. The more you look, the more you'll find.
For example, I have a shirt for Clara that I thought would be perfect to wear with some overalls. But since we have no money, no overalls would be bought - even from a thrift store. However, this week a friend in the ward gave me a bag of clothes for Clara. In it I found the exact pair of overalls I was drooling over.
I have also lost several things this week that Heavenly Father helped me to find in ways I would have never have found them on my own. Like having a contact go down the drain, but get stuck on the drain stop so that I could actually get my contact back! Since I wear hard contacts, I saved myself from the $70 dollars to replace the one contact, let alone the Dr. visit fee that I would have to pay since my prescription is 8 years old.
I also lost a hair clip of Clara's. Those things are really tiny. I figured it fell out when I put on her pull over sweat shirt. I realized it was missing in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. I figured it was gone for good. But I found it the next day in her car seat!
Our internet quit working this week. I knew it was a problem with our computer and not with our internet provider. But I followed a prompting to call our provider anyway. They weren't able it fix it for me, but they led me to an area in my computer that I could then fix it myself.
I recently used a birthday gift card to purchase a skirt pattern that was 40% off. Even 40% off, it was still kind of expensive for a pattern. Even though I need a new skirt, I couldn't seem to justify that expensive of a pattern. I LOVED the pattern and Jeremy tried to get me to keep it. But I figured if I could find a cheaper pattern, then I could get it and the material to make me a new skirt. So after having the pattern for a few days, I decided to go look for a cheaper pattern. I went to a different fabric store to look for patterns this time. When I walked in, I saw that the brand name of my pattern was only $3.99! (That price is about 85% off ) I looked for my loved pattern and found it! I then returned the pattern to the other store and got material there. After all was said and done, I was able to get all the supplies for my really cute skirt all for the same amount as the gift card!
I know that these are seemingly small things, but to me, they were important. I know that none of these things would have happened this week without faith and prayer on my part and miracles on the Lord's part. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who watches out for each of His children and is waiting to bless them. I know that He blesses us everyday, but most of us are too busy to notice that the small gifts we get are from Him. I encourage each of you to look for the tender mercies in your lives. The more you look, the more you'll find.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Happy Birthday Clara
Clara turned 2 yesterday. I can't believe how fast time flies. She is now old enough to understand what presents are and loved saying the word. She also now knows what a birthday is and loves to say that word over and over again. She loves getting to blow out candles, and keeps saying "again." 
Clara's favorite character is currently Nemo. So I thought, how hard can making a Nemo cake be? Turns out, that with all the many skills that I posses, cake decorating is NOT one of them. I'm sure that with more practice, I will improve. It all started with the cake not coming out of the pan like I had hoped. It came out in pieces, mostly due to my inexperience. But I thought, that's nothing a little frosting can't fix. However, after a huge container of frosting, I could tell there was no way I could actually serve this cake to anyone. So instead of having cake at her big family party, we had cake with just her, Jeremy, and I. It tasted great. I learned that the cupcake cake idea that I did for her first birthday is about as creative as I can be with a cake. I also relearned that Clara really doesn't like cake. She ate all the frosting off her cake and then left the cake to be thrown away. So the good news is that I don't have to waste making cakes with Clara. She can always have ice cream for her birthday dessert. (Which is what I ended up doing for the big family party we had.) 
Clara also loves books. I didn't realize so many people knew it until her birthday rolled around. Almost everyone gave her a book, and Clara loves them all. 
So to end this special birthday post, I will include some of my favorite pictures of Clara we took in the last 2 years. 
And since I know all of you are curious as to how my cake actually looked, I will put a picture of it here.
Just so you know, Clara thought it was a pizza. When Jeremy saw the cake he asked, "What is so wrong with it?" What a good husband I have.
Clara's favorite character is currently Nemo. So I thought, how hard can making a Nemo cake be? Turns out, that with all the many skills that I posses, cake decorating is NOT one of them. I'm sure that with more practice, I will improve. It all started with the cake not coming out of the pan like I had hoped. It came out in pieces, mostly due to my inexperience. But I thought, that's nothing a little frosting can't fix. However, after a huge container of frosting, I could tell there was no way I could actually serve this cake to anyone. So instead of having cake at her big family party, we had cake with just her, Jeremy, and I. It tasted great. I learned that the cupcake cake idea that I did for her first birthday is about as creative as I can be with a cake. I also relearned that Clara really doesn't like cake. She ate all the frosting off her cake and then left the cake to be thrown away. So the good news is that I don't have to waste making cakes with Clara. She can always have ice cream for her birthday dessert. (Which is what I ended up doing for the big family party we had.) 
Clara also loves books. I didn't realize so many people knew it until her birthday rolled around. Almost everyone gave her a book, and Clara loves them all. 
So to end this special birthday post, I will include some of my favorite pictures of Clara we took in the last 2 years. 
And since I know all of you are curious as to how my cake actually looked, I will put a picture of it here.
Just so you know, Clara thought it was a pizza. When Jeremy saw the cake he asked, "What is so wrong with it?" What a good husband I have.
Discovery Gateway II
My great friend, Sushi, sent me a wonderful thing in the mail. It was a free pass for 4 to the Discovery Gateway. I was hoping to go as a family, but with Jeremy's busy schedule, it just wasn't going to happen. The pass expired in September, so last Monday my friend and her little guys came with us instead. Jared and Clara loved it. Clara's favorite parts were the balls that would fly up into the tubes and the water. But there were lots of other fun things to do as well. We had such a great time, and I'm so glad our friends could join us. 
I also did some more sewing this week. Clara has a large head. I usually have to buy a size bigger shirts so that the neck hole is big enough. However, when I tried that for PJ's recently, the size up was way too big. So I got creative. I had some warm PJ's that were the right size, but were extremely hard to get on over her head. So I decided to turn them into a v-neck. I made a few mistakes here and there, but I'm happy to report that you can't even tell in the end product. So now Clara has 2 pairs of warm PJ's for the winter that both fit and can go over her head!
Clara has started doing the actions to "If You're Happy and You Know it." She learned it in Nursery at church. It makes me giggle to watch her, so I finally got it on video. I also love how she has to stomp on the kitchen floor since the carpet doesn't make any noise when you stomp on it.
I also did some more sewing this week. Clara has a large head. I usually have to buy a size bigger shirts so that the neck hole is big enough. However, when I tried that for PJ's recently, the size up was way too big. So I got creative. I had some warm PJ's that were the right size, but were extremely hard to get on over her head. So I decided to turn them into a v-neck. I made a few mistakes here and there, but I'm happy to report that you can't even tell in the end product. So now Clara has 2 pairs of warm PJ's for the winter that both fit and can go over her head!
Clara has started doing the actions to "If You're Happy and You Know it." She learned it in Nursery at church. It makes me giggle to watch her, so I finally got it on video. I also love how she has to stomp on the kitchen floor since the carpet doesn't make any noise when you stomp on it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
