Caterpillars and Spiders(Monster spiders)

Friday after school we were walking home from getting Megan from the school bus, Megan saw this cool looking Caterpillar on the bridge railing. We walked home grabbed the camera and walked back. This is our fun little orange Caterpillar. Megan wanted to keep it as a pet but we decided that it would be better if it could get it's own food because it knows what it eats. Megan didn't want it to die in her care.

It had these really cool black spikes sticking out of it in a couple spots on the back, then it had these long white hairs all around it's body and they were very long.
The girls having fun watching the caterpillar.
Kaylee touching the caterpillar. It's a miracle. If any of you know Kaylee she is usually so scared of any living creeping, crawling creature. Dogs, Cats, Horses, Goats, flies, gnats, spiders, specks of dust that possibly look like it might be a little bug.

I have to say though that lately she has been so very brave and has been touching different bugs. Here she is touching the caterpillar. The other thing she loves to touch lately are slugs. We have a gazillion slugs where we live and they are of all shapes and sizes. We have had some that are about 1-2 inches around and about 5 or more inches long(when it is oozing along). We had one get in our house in the basement through the window(don't know how that was possible), we put it on a wet paper towel and watched it. The girls loved it.

Elizabeth loves to walk around when we are outside looking for "lugs". I love how she says it and everything becomes a slug-dead leaves, dirt, nothing-I'm just thrilled that Kaylee isn't screaming when she sees it and runs far away.

Now on to the spiders. We have a million spiders where we live and they love the trees especially and we have tons of trees right around our house. Scott sprays everywhere on the outside and inside of the house to kill the spiders but it hasn't helped this year. They get to be gigantic.

Elizabeth calls them "monster spiders" and loves to watch them. We've adopted about 7 or more that we have to check on as we walk Megan to the bus and back each day. In the morning there is usually dew drops or it has sprinkled in the night and all the spider webs have dew drops on them and the girls love finding them(not very hard, just open your door and there are a bunch right in your face), they think they are so pretty.

One spider was on our front window last fall and we watched it everyday to see how it was growing. It started out pretty small and then was gigantic in just a couple weeks. The girls loved watching it eat and respin it's web. We have another one in that same spot this year and one out our kitchen window. The one on the kitchen window is the picture I have here. It doesn't look as big as it really is. It's hard getting a picture of a spider on glass when the trees and sun are reflecting in the window.
This is a closeup of the spider. That's from the outside of the house and like I said it reflects the trees really well.

Sack Lunches and Frog Pajamas

Megan is getting sack lunches for school and is loving it. I have a huge pile of brown paper bags and each morning when I make her lunch I draw some picture with her name on the front of the bag. I've also bought a bunch of different foods to put into her lunches so she will actually eat them. She gets picky if we eat the same foods over and over again for lunch and I don't have a way to pack some of the lunch foods she likes so I became creative with food for her. I went to Costco and bought tons of stuff in bulk for her so that it would hopefully last for a while.

Kaylee has been very sad that she isn't getting the sack lunches as well so the other day (I think Monday) I promised her I would make a sack lunch just for her. She requested that I make balloon letters of her name just like I did with Megan's that day and I put flowers on it. She was so excited. She had half of a sandwich in there, a juice box, chips and some fruit and a treat. She loved it so much. She couldn't stop dancing and grinning.

Elizabeth just wanted a juice box.
Kaylee peeking over the bag with excitement, she can't wait to open it and see what's inside.
I love her beautiful smile.
Silly face. I was trying to capture her reaction to her seeing what's inside but instead we got this silly expression. A deer caught in the headlights look.
Ummmmmm, nummy juice boxes. Liz kept shaking hers wanting more and more to come out.

Elizabeth will be 21 months on the 18th of this month. A couple weeks ago we bought a bunch of pajamas for her because her room is cold in the winter and it's getting to be the rainy season when the upstairs will be cold. Our house(we rent from a friend and get a stinkin' amazing deal until we can afford a house in the area which will be probably never) was built in 1890 and has really old windows upstairs and the furnace is in the basement with two vents to the upstairs. One in our bedroom which is on the main floor and one huge vent in the middle of main level-the entry way, living room and kitchen/dining room is all kind of connected- needless to say it just doesn't heat up the upstairs. We have a wood burning stove that works really well in keeping the house warm but keeping it going in the middle of the night doesn't really happen. Anyway we bought her new pjs but I thought it would be a little while until she fit into them because they are 2T.

Well her 24 months pjs are too short on her so we pulled these out on Monday and she loves them. She was so excited about the frogs on them. The feet are frogs too!!! She just looks sooo big to me, I can't believe how big she is now. She is talking galore and saying the funnest things all the time. It just amazes me how she went from a couple babbles to a word, to a couple words then boom straight to these huge long sentences that she puts right in context.
Liz being a cute little froggy. She was ribbiting and jumping around following after her big sister's examples.
They were all being frogs. Kaylee fell back and was giggling right as I took the picture. I think they tried playing leap frog with each other. Liz wanted both Megan and Kaylee to climb on her back so she could carry them around. It was so funny.
Here is the little froggy feet. I think they are so stinkin' cute and I love the color on her.

Tonight she is in her new Monkey pajamas. She didn't get a nap and was so tired that she was falling asleep at dinner and wouldn't eat anything. So I got her pajamas, Scott put them on her and then magically she was wide awake crawling all over the floor acting like a little kitty and pretending to paw my legs. Then she ate all of her dinner super fast and ran around like a monkey. Scott said the pajamas were magic, I believe it!!!!!

Crazy Weekend

I have been sick and I am so ready to be over it. I had promised the girls we would go to the football game on Friday night. It was so nice and warm and would have been perfect instead of going in the cool, humid rain. But I just felt awful and Megan was acting like she was exhausted and sick. So we ended up staying home and the girls went to bed and I laid down and relaxed and tried to sleep. Scott didn't get home until about 10:30-he helps do security for the football games. Well Saturday the girls were up super early and I just felt awful. So Scott was awesome and told me to relax and feel better. So he took the girls for a daddy daughter date. They went to the store and got some groceries we needed and of course he bought season 8 of "Smallville" (we are big fans), and took the girls to lunch.

It was so nice because it was quiet. I got to read a book, take a nice long bath and then shower and get ready. Then they got home and had brought me lunch too and Scott bought me a ton of chocolate from Costco and a big thing of novelty popcorn(So good).

Scott had a Stake Leadership meeting so he left for that around 3:00 with a friend. Our Stake is really spread out, it goes all the way over by Rainier, OR and across the river to WA and down the coast to Seaside. Usually all stake meetings are held in Rainier or Longview. Occassionally our church building is used for the west side meetings. Well he got home around 7:00 and we had dinner and the girls were in bed by 8:00. Then we watched a couple episodes of smallville.

Sunday was absolutely crazy. It was Stake Conference and luckily this time and no more times do we have to drive an hour to Longview, WA. They bought equipment and put a camera in the stake center in Longview and web-camed it to our building. It was awesome. The girls were so tired though and Scott kept falling asleep and I still just felt sooooo sick. I was tired and my body ached and I had zero energy to be wrestling with 3 little girls for 2 hours. Well we got home and ate lunch then scott told me to lay day and take a nap.

I grabbed my Ensign to read for a little bit but I think I read the same first sentence a gazillion times and then fell asleep. Oh my goodness, I slept for 4 hours. I was so stinkin' tired. Elizabeth woke me up crying that she was stinky so I had to change her and bath her because her bum was sore. All the girls wanted in the bath too. Scott was so sweet, he did all the dishes and made lasagna. What an awesome hubby. I love him so much. He's sooooo good at taking care of me when I don't feel good. I think if Beth didn't wake me up I would have slept all night.

Today we walked Megan to the bus and it was raining outside. Not hard for here but definitely a hard rain storm for other states(like Utah). We got home and were all drenched, can't wait for the real rain to come in a couple months. Oh boy!!!!!!

School Bus and Dance

Today was the big B-U-S day. Megan was super excited and was awake at 5:30 once again. Oh my goodness. Well she in turn woke up Kaylee and they in turn woke up Elizabeth. Goodbye to sleep for an hour. We all ended up eating breakfast and getting ready. I was showered and ready to go before 7:30 and we had to sit and wait for a while to walk to the bus stop. I left early because they were all begging to go. I don't think I could have come up with another reason why it wasn't time to go to the bus stop, so we left. I figured getting the stroller out of the van, taking some pictures and walking to the stop would kill some time. This pic is of the girls standing in our driveway getting ready to walk.
Liz is funny because everytime we go outside she wants her jacket on and her hood on. If anybody touches her hood watch out. Well of course Megan was trying to take the hood off for the pictures. It was crazy.
This is cute Megan ready to go to school. This is part of the little bridge that we live on and the ravine on the side of our house and yard. If you look in the distance there is a car parked on the right side. Her bus stop is just beyond that. So not too far away but far enough away when the rain starts and I'm tryin' to get 3 little ones down the street in crazy downpours and especially right here on the bridge, we get puddles of standing water because the only drain hole we have on it is just a small round hole. Tiny. So we will see what is to come once the rain starts in the next month or so.
Cute Megan huddled up waiting for the bus to come.
She just jumped on as soon as the door was open, didn't even look back. The bus driver told her to pick a seat and sit down. Of course Megan sat in the seat right behind the driver. There she is smiling. (If you can see her)
?????????GOT MILK????????? Kaylee was having a snack of Graham Crackers and Milk and took a drink of milk. I looked up after her first drink and thought of all of those fun, crazy Milk commercials and I had to get a picture of this. I love it!!!! She is so silly.
It was such a gorgeous day today as we walked to pick up Megan from the bus stop. The girls had fun picking flowers and Elizabeth a stick.
Here's Megan climbing off the school bus. She was so excited as it pulled up. She was waving and yelling "Hi Mommy" out the window.
Today was the first day of dance classes for the fall. Last year Megan was in Beginning Ballet and Kaylee was in Creative Movement. This year they are both in Beginning Ballet. They were both so excited. Elizabeth loves going to dance classes, she tries to run out onto the floor and dance with her sisters. Aren't they so cute?
Megan and Kaylee at dance class. The dance studio moved to a new location and it is awesome. It is right on the pier and it is gorgeous. If you look in the mirrors you see the river. It's right on the Columbia river where it dumps into the Pacific Ocean. My little Ballerinas.

I have to say, Elizabeth and I were so exhausted that after taking Megan to the bus stop and playing for a while this morning we took a nap. It was about a 3 hour nap and it was wonderful that we both were able to get sleep. My body needed it so badly. Sweet Kaylee was wonderful. She played the Disney Princess game on the Wii while we slept. She was so cute." Don't worry mom you can take a nap, I'll just play the game. sleep good." Gotta love her.

Pics from the day's fun events

Here are some pictures from my fun day with Kaylee and Elizabeth. It was super quiet and no yelling and fighting over everything. It was kind of nice. I think Kaylee really missed Megan but I think she is really going to like having quiet time and being the big sister at home. Kaylee was being a scooter driver and having fun on Elizabeth's bike. She was cruising all over the floor. A plus for having wood floors and linoleum.


Elizabeth is miss Independent and wants to do everything by herself. I just think it's so cute seeing her drink the milk out of her cereal bowl like everyone else. She has been doing that since she was about 11 months. She is so much more steady and uses the spoon awesome. It's so cute.
She refuses to use her booster chair, so we switch to a regular chair. Well now she refuses to use a chair so now she gets a stool. Well now she wants to stand on it and climb into everything. She loves to push the stool over to the counter and watch what we are doing. She loves to help. Today she helped fold the towels and told me "I wanna carry them mama. I help!"
Tuckered out from all her helping. She just came in here by herself pulled on the blanket and fell asleep.
My beautiful, sweet, silly, happy Kaylee. She was such a tease to me today and was giggling the whole time she was teasing me. Then if I teased her she would give me a grumpy look and tell me to stop. Then the next second she was back to teasing me and giggling.
Okay, Kaylee is just so stinkin' cute. I was putting the girls clothes away upstairs, Megan was asleep on the couch and Scott was still at work. I hear Kaylee yell up to me "mom Elizabeth took off her pants and diaper."

I told her I would be down in just a second. While I finished hanging up the last couple of dresses I hear Kaylee say to Elizabeth "Liz come lay down so you don't pee." Then I heard her telling Elizabeth good job then I heard her go in my room to get the diaper and wipes. I was done and coming down the stairs at this point and say her putting on Elizabeth's diaper. So I had to grab the camera. It was so sweet. She loves being a big sister and is just soooooo good with Elizabeth. They are best buds and I think will become more inseparable now that Megan is in school.
Helping Beth stand up to pull up her pants.
Pulling up the pants, they got stuck in the back around the diaper and Kaylee just kept pulling harder and harder, then looks at me and says "mom please pick her up and hold her so I can get the pants on."
She told me not to help that she wanted to do it all.
Best Friends. They love each other so much and are always hugging and kissing. I have the sweetest girls in the world.

Tonight I was reading library books to them and I got really sleepy so I snuggled up on Megan and she stroked my face while I closed my eyes for a few minutes. Well Elizabeth couldn't be left out so she climbed on the edge of the couch by Megan and started kissing my nose. Then Megan joined in, then Kaylee joined in. It was so fun. They all took turns kissing my nose telling me how much they love me. I love these moments of being a mom. I'm excited to have fun adventures with my girls as they get older.

Megan's first day of School

I think that this year in the mornings getting Megan ready for school is going to be a humongous challenge. I am SCARED. Today was the first official day of school but the Kindergarteners weren't being bused, only the older kids. So I got her up in plenty of time to get dressed, eat, brush teeth, get her backpack and go. Well from the moment she woke up she was screaming and yelling at me about how tired she was. Then trying to get her socks and shoes on was a nightmare. She screamed and cried forever. If I haven't mentioned she can be very OCD about her clothing and her hair and her room and well.....EVERYTHING. Well she took her socks off and put them on probably 10-15 times. Oh it was insane. Then trying to ask her what she wanted for breakfast was insane. She of course yelled and screamed at me again and again. Oh man.

I didn't really sleep well last night because I've had some wierd cough or maybe it's just allergies I don't know. But whatever it is, it has made my asthma act up so bad. I haven't had problems with my asthma like this but I had a bad attack last night and was up coughing forever. It was awful. It's been like that for about a week now. I think it's time to go to the doctor and get a new inhaler or something. I NEED SLEEP!!!!!

My children tend to think otherwise. Kaylee decided to climb in bed with me because she was scared. This was at about 12:00 am, I realized she was there around 2:30 and kicked her out. Then I went back to sleep and probably only a few minutes later was up coughing and couldn't go back to sleep until about 3:30-4:00. Then Scott woke up at 5:30 and I tried to sleep but Elizabeth woke up screaming and she came in bed by me. I tried to get her to sleep and I think she fell asleep around 6:50. Then of course my alarm went off at 7:00. Oh please don't let that be the typical night/morning for us. I think I might go crazy for lack of sleep.

Megan got off to school and was very cute showing Kaylee and Elizabeth where to go and what to do. She hung up her backpack and put her nametag on and put her magnetic button on the file cabinet saying she was having cold lunch. Then hugged us and she was off. Bye mom. I love ya, have fun.

The other girls and I are off to the library for pre-school storytime then to costco for diapers and lunch supplies for Megan. Yeah what a day. Scott has the laptop and that's what I have to download my pics on because our desktop is prior to USB ports and Memorystick slots so tonight I will put a couple pics of Megan up.

Tomorrow is the big BUS day. Megan can't wait.
Here is Megan again so cute ready to go to school.
One last picture with sisters before she leaves for the day.
Picking Megan up from school. This is her cubbyhole for her backpack and jacket.
As soon as we walked in the room to get Megan, she ran up to Liz and gave her the biggest hug ever, then she ran to Kaylee and did the same. It was sweet.
Grandma Carpenter: this picture is specifically for you. Megan asked that I take a picture of her backpack just so you can see it, since you asked for pictures of her first day of school.
While we were driving home Megan kept saying how tired she was. She came in and colored with Kaylee and then she grabbed a blanket and cuddled up on the couch and fell fast asleep.

Orientation Day for Megan

It was a very early morning for us today. Megan had Kindergarten Orientation. Yeah. She is so excited. We went and it was for an hour filling out paperwork and meeting her teacher and getting her school bus route and getting her cafeteria number. She loved it and had a blast. I must say that I am stinkin' tired. I couldn't sleep very well last night and had Scott's alarm going off at 5:30 for him to get to school and get ready for the day. I had just fallen back to sleep when he came in and kissed me goodbye. Once again I had just fallen asleep and Kaylee climbed in bed with me around 6:00(My alarm wasn't supposed to ring until 6:45), then we fell asleep and a few minutes later I heard Elizabeth calling out "momma, oh momma." She came in bed with us and tossed and turned and I begged her to sleep just a few more minutes for mommy. It didn't happen, Megan came and opened the door saying "Mom, is it time yet, I can't sleep anymore, I tried but I'm just so excited. Please can we go now?"

Well we got up and got ready, they look pretty sleepy though to me at the breakfast table as you can see. We all came home and watched my friend's little boy while she went to orientation then after that we all took a long nap. It was wonderful but it wasn't enough. Scott came home absolutely exhausted at 6:00. I think it's bedtime shortly.

The beautiful princesses all ready to get Megan to school. Today. They were so cute posing for the camera. Even Elizabeth looks happy here.
Megan giving her sassy/cute pose that she so often uses. She put on a pair of new socks and they were too thick for her shoes she wanted to wear so she ran and grabbed an older pair. I didn't notice them until we got the school. Oh well, I guess they match.
Elizabeth wanted to once again see the pictures of her before I had even taken them so of course she was crying and that's once again the picture I got of her. She's still stinkin' cute even though it's a sour face.
Kaylee was having a blast posing for me. She wanted to be a beautiful princess ballerina for me.
Megan was having a blast playing with the playdough and she even has a friend in her class. Lexie and Megan take ballet class together. They were both very excited.
This is Megan's teacher Mrs. Laugle. She is so very nice and sat with the kids and read stories and played while the parents were filling out paperwork. I think Megan is going to love it.

Megan got a new backpack along with all of the kids at the school. Plus several school districts in the area also got backpacks donated filled with supplies in them from Costco. It was awesome. Megan loves it but poor Kaylee was devastated when she didn't get something. Her and Elizabeth were playing at a friend's house. Tomorrow will be the big day and hopefully we'll get pictures of her in her new outfit that she picked out for the first day. The Kitty shirt.