New Post, Finally

Brooke turned 5 on Saturday. She has told us that she is no longer a baby, but she'll always be our baby. Her party was fun -- she had quite a few kids from her class at school and the girls from her class at church come and play in the jumper. Grandma was there to provide entertainment by helping decorate goody bags and passing out snacks (since I chose not to bother with either thinking the jumper would be fun enough). Thank you to everyone who helped with the party - Brooke had a great time.

We went to see BYU play in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. The girls were pretty good at the game and in the hotel room (we had a kids suite with a NASCAR theme - we did not get a choice on the theme). The only fight between the girls broke out over who had the top or the bottom bunk for the girls. Kara won out and got the top bunk when I told Brooke we could make the bottom bunk into a 'tent' by tucking the bedspread into the bunk bed frame for her. Then Kara wanted the bottom bunk when she saw what we did. I had to rig the bedspread up on her bed with suitcases to make her a tent (which fell within 30 seconds, but pacified her anyway).

We stopped to eat at Big Boy restaurant in Baker (Kara has requested we stop there everytime we drive through that area now). It was a nice break from the car. Brooke didn't get carsick this trip (probably because we did not make her eat in the car this time.

I passed my life insurance license exam, but I have to wait for the license to clear through the state before I can make any money for Colonial. I can't legally go to an enrollment and be trained that way unless my license has cleared for compliance reasons. Until they decide to catch up (I'm 8 days behind where they are now) I'm stuck waiting. Good news is that the house is getting cleaner one room at a time. Today was Brooke's room. Hopefully I'll have enough energy to finish the whole house before it gets messy again. Brooke promises to keep her room cleaned. If we can keep her clothes off the floor we should be okay. She likes to change her outfits at least twice a day (sometimes not by choice). Sometimes she still sits on wet grass and needs to change. She hasn't tried to lie about it in awhile, but we can still pretend.

Kara is going through 'chapter books' like water. She earned a prize for her behavior contract to go to Barnes & Noble and pick out a book. She picked the second 'Dear Dumb Diary' and had it read by the next evening after school. She likes the sarcastic tone the girl in the book puts on everything in her middle school experiences. This book was about how her pants were haunted. Kara spent a lot of time reading passages out loud to me because she thought they were so funny. I could catch a few words in between her laughter.

The girls have both been 'finger knitting' scarves. I didn't think Kara would have trouble picking it up (which she didn't), but Brooke hasn't needed any help either. They're both doing a great job.

I can't believe it's already the end of October. It was 95 degrees here today. At least the wind died down and it doesn't smell like smoke too bad anymore. Maybe the girls will be allowed outside at school tomorrow (they've been stuck inside for both days so far this week even eating lunch at their desks and sitting in the classrooms for recess too).