Odds and Ends

We spent most of the week doing Halloween stuff, but I did want to include some non Halloween things we did.

I realized I never took a picture of our backyard with all our fun play things.  We were able to get the slide and swing set for free.  It's now the favorite spot for several neighbor hood friends and I often find my back yard with about 5 kids in it!

Our neighbor always wants to play with Clara too and I love that.  Since Clara had spent most of her time at the neighbors so I could finish unpacking, I decided to let this little neighbor girl over as much as I could this week now that I was settled.  They play so well together and were so excited that the paints were unpacked!

• Clara asked if she could play with something and I said no.  Her response: "Thanks for telling me no."

• "It smells like banana potatoes."

• Said to a complete stranger: "That's a nice red shirt you got there."

• I was standing at our counter making a peanut butter sandwich for Clara, who was waiting patiently at the table.  Clara then asked, "What kind of knife is that?"  Me: "A table knife." Clara: "But this is the table and that's the counter!"

New House Finally!

I know that all I've posted about lately is our new house, but hopefully I'll have other things on my mind now that we're moved in and unpacked!

This last week has been so exciting, exhausting, stressful, and sad all at the same time.  We moved in last Sat, spent every day unpacking boxes, and cleaning our old apt.  I can't believe how empty that place looked our last day there.  Thanks to all those that came to help us move and clean.  I am so grateful I didn't have to do it all alone!

We finally got all unpacked on Saturday and I'm so excited to finally have a clean house!  So this is what my living room and kitchen look like now - including our new furniture for those that wanted to see what we picked out.

We've also been celebrating Halloween around here.  Clara has been wanting Halloween decorations for a long time and since I didn't want to have to move a pumpkin, I told her she had to wait until we moved into our new house.  Clara was ecstatic when I brought home a pumpkin and let her color it.  She was also excited when I let her pick out a few Halloween decorations from the store.

Our pumpkin has 4 different faces on it and Clara likes to turn the pumpkin periodically during the day so that everyone can see all the faces.

Fire Station Open House

I'm posting early this week.  We get to close on our house today, something I didn't think would happen this week.  So that means we get to move this Sat.  I know I won't post on Mon because we won't have internet at our new house yet...  So I wanted to keep my loyal readers informed of our happenings before I leave the internet behind for a few days.

A fire station located near our apartment was having an open house yesterday.  So I went with my neighbor and I think I had more fun than Clara did.  They let the kids run a water hose.

They passed out a fireman's badge and hat.

Then they had all these demonstrations, most of which taught about fire safety.  They showed us how to use a fire extinguish as well as how to tell if it's still good or not.  They showed us what putting water on a grease fire does.

Some of the demonstrations were just cool.  Like when they showed us how they use a fire hose.

Or when they showed us how they would use the jaws of life to extract some one from a car.  (I also learned that the 'jaws of life' is a name brand that is used in place of the actual name of a product.  Kinda like Kleenex.)

They also had different stations where the kids could practice fire safety.  They had a trailer full of water vapor, but told the kids it was smoke.  They talked about how you crawl to an open door when there is smoke in your house.

Here are the girls after they found their way out of the smoke trailer.  Clara was scared at first, but Emry showed her just what to do.

Also this week, we stopped by our friends who were in the middle of trying on Halloween Costumes.  Clara was ecstatic when she got to be a dragon.

Happy Birthday Clara

Clara turned 4 this week and we had a very busy week celebrating!  We ended up having 3 parties for her, and she loved every minute of the attention.

We started last Sunday with a party for Jeremy's side of the family.  I love that I have a daughter that gets so excited by any present.  She genuinely loved every present she got.

Then came her actual birthday on Tuesday.  She got to wear her birthday hat officially and was so proud to do it.  We were able to celebrate before Jeremy left for work that day and Clara played with her new Polly Pockets all day long!

Yesterday, we had a birthday party for my side of the family.  Once again, Clara got so excited opening all her gifts.  I love that I have such a content little girl.

Clara is not a big fan of cake, but LOVES ice cream.  So we got a little creative in how to arrange candles for her to blow out!

Clara LOVES stickers right now.  One day I decided to let her decorate me with stickers, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

• While Clara was pretending to be a king, she informed me, "Call me sir because sirs are boys that are handsome kinda like a prince.  And you are my lady."

• "Mom, when I show you my muscles, say 'Ohhh'."  She then put her arms up in the air while clenching her fists.  I obliged her by saying "ohhh, you have such big muscles."  Her reply was, "That's why I'm 4."

• After discovering Clara had a slight fever this week, I had Clara lay down on the couch and get comfy.  Clara then announced, "I'm just hot from all the sun  in here."

• "Momma, when you grow up like me, then you can play with me."

• Our new neighbor across the street is from Ghana.  When Clara saw him, she said, "He sure is black!"  She spoke it loud enough that those sitting next to us started laughing, so I have no idea if he over heard or not.

• "I like flies, but they are too small to hug!"

Long Week

We've had a very long week - especially as it pertains to our new house.  Things aren't getting done like they were supposed to, but after some prodding, it is coming together nicely again.  The plan is to have the house finished on Thurs and inspected on Fri so we can close the following Wed or Thurs! Wish us luck....

This is what our basement looks like now though, so at least it's been painted!

• Clara was so excited to show me a smile she made out of little people.

• Clara walked up to me and said, "I'm the best eater in the whole world."  This is hilarious to anyone who has ever offered her anything to eat.....

• Clara was making a fish face and asked me to guess what she was.  "Are you a fish?"  "I'm not just ANY fish, I'm a kissing fish!"

• Clara and I were having a conversation and after she made a comment she asked, "Is that the right English?"

• Clara and I were stuck in very slow moving traffic when Clara asked what I was doing.  "I"m trying to drive, what are you doing?" "I'm just sitting here, but it is NOT my favorite thing to do!"

• While watching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing on TV, Clara said, "See all those black suits? That means they are boys."