8/21/09

Last friday I had a headache all day, so when Ben got home, he fed the girls dinner so I could take a nap. I felt much better after, but the problem was, I couldn't fall asleep later that night. Ben and the girls were asleep, and I just wasn't tired, so I went downstairs for some cleaning time. A few weeks ago, glidden was giving away free paint, so I had ordered some paint that I thought would be good for our master bathroom. When I got it, I thought it might actually be better for the kitchen, but I hadn't quite decided. So as I was cleaning, I came across the can of paint. I decided to tape off the kitchen, just to see how much work it would be. It didn't take long at all, so I decided to go ahead and paint. I'm glad I used it for the kitchen and not the bathroom. There is a lot less wall space than I realized because of cupboards and appliances. I stayed up til 3:00 painting, then decided to take a break, but I fell asleep on the couch. Ben woke up at 7:30, and started looking for me. He was surprised to find me downstairs on the couch with the tv on and the kitchen painted green! I admit it was kinda random, but I like how it turned out. I hadn't finished above the cabinets, but it was mostly done. We had to hurry and start getting ourselves and the girls ready for Ben's fidelity softball game in Samammish. It was supposed to start at 10, but due to traffic, and a detour, we arrived at 11. Surprisingly, we were some of the first people there. By noon, most everyone had arrived and the game started. It was a combo softball game/barbeque with the Tukwila, Seattle, and Bellevue branches. It was fun to see everyone from Seattle again. I haven't seen some of those people in a really long time. It was also fun to see everyone else too. I didn't watch much of the game, but I still had fun playing with all the little kids that were there! Of course Kara made friends with all of them. As soon as that was finished, we headed over to a birthday party for Nathan and Sara's son, Ethan, who was turning 7. It was also at a park, so that was a pretty long day for us, and a fun day for the girls. We stopped at costco first for some stuff, and I waited in the car because Kiersten was sleeping. Ben and Kara came out with a new book for Kiersten, and flowers for me. Ben said Kara had insisted on getting them for me. Here is a picture of her smelling them. The birthday party was really fun. The kids all shot nerf guns at each other, and then they had a treasure hunt. They went all over the park until they finally found the treasure. Kiersten even had a goodie bag in the treasure, even though she didn't participate with the hunt. After the party, we came home and just crashed. I guess we are getting pretty old.
The next day, I decided to do as much cleaning as possible, and asked Ben if he could take the girls somewhere fun for 2 or 3 hours. He decided it would be a good day to visit his brother, Jason. He didn't want to drive all the way to Portland, so I think they met up about half and hour north of there. Here are a couple pictures.

It worked out well for me that they ended up being gone for more than 5 hours. I was really able to get a lot done. I got to a lot of those things, that don't need to be done too often, but still need to be done. Things like windows, washing walls, disinfecting lightswitches and doorknobs, that usually get sent to the bottom of my to-do list. They got to come home to an especially clean house, and then Ben helped me finish up the painting, and we all went to bed exhausted.

This week, Ben has had a lot going on at work. Tuesday their big boss came to town, and that was a late night, I think that was the night they did an event with clients until after 9:00. So the girls were in bed asleep by the time he got home. Then wednesday was his gym night after work, so he got home a bit late. Last night, the branch had a bowling get-together, which he ended up leaving early, but still didn't get home in time to have dinner with us. We have all felt like this has been a very long week. As for the girls and I, we have been up to the usual; going to they gym, grocery shopping, trips to the dry cleaner, doing laundry, and housework. And of course plenty of play time, and just goofing around. Yesterday, Kara woke up from a nap, convinced that Daddy had, "gone away in a balloon". she was really upset, and I tried to let her call him to see that he was okay, but we couldn't get him, so that was a few hours worth of drama for her. She was glad when he finally arrived home, and was okay. This weekend, we plan on going nowhere, and just relaxing around here all together.

poor baby!

Bad news everyone. Ben is on his way to the hospital again for his throat. He called to tell me that he got food stuck in his throat at lunch. So we are waiting for him to call us to come pick him up. It always seems to happen on his first bite of meat. (which he said was cut really small) but then he ends up missing his meal, and not being able to swallow anything for several hours. He's been at the hospital for at least an hour now. I was really hoping they would be able to just give him muscle relaxers to get it down, but I think he'd have called by now if that were the case. so he is probably going to have to have it removed surgically. I guess we should have learned our lesson on christmas and gotten his throat enlarged again. I'm sure he'll definitely be needing the procedure now. Hopefully we he can be okay to wait until we come back from Idaho. He was telling me how he really needed to work late every day this week, so I don't think he can miss any more work. especially after missing half a day today. :(

6/16/09

Last week i had a $10 off coupon to use at kohl's, which happens to be right by Ben's new office. The girls were so excited to go up and visit Daddy. Here's a couple pictures of them getting ready to leave.

both girls love story time. they do sometimes fight over the books though.

We let Kiersten spend a few nights in Kara's room. We are thinking about moving her in there, and we wanted to see how it would work out for them. They both started out excited about it, but both nights, Kiersten woke up crying.

ready to fall asleep watching a movie together.

Ben gave the girls a bath on saturday. I am usually the one who does it, but they were sure excited to have daddy in there with them. after the baths, we went to a birthday party for Kara's friend Evan. It was about an hour drive to get there. We all had a pretty fun time. Of course Kara acted a bit crazy the whole time we were there. Kiersten fell on some stairs and got a sad little owie on her head. Ben thought it was hilarious, I'm still not sure why.

this picture really shows how much Kiersten is thinning out. It's a combination of her starting to eat a little less and this crazy growth spurt she's having. she has gotten so tall. she can reach things off the counter so easily, and even reach door knobs.

she loves playing with Daisy. the poor thing is always trying to get away from her, but Kiersten seems to be finding her more easily lately. Luckily for Daisy, Kiersten is finally learning to pet nice instead of just pulling fur.

We worked a lot in the yard on sunday. I'll have to take a picture of the backyard. Ben built the girls a play area back there for the slide and toys. he filled it up with rubber mulch, and they both think it is just the neatest thing. I cut down the dying tulips in our front flower bed, and we added more soil and I planted some new flowers. Our lilys are sooo tall this year. It actually looks a little strange right now, because they are so much higher than everything else. I don't remember them being so large last year. But I do remember that they only bloomed for a few weeks, so it wont look wierd for too long, I guess. we also made a little stone border around our shrubs on the sides of the garage. it turned out kinda cute. we still have a few things to do, especially in the back, but hopefully it'll all be done soon and we can just enjoy being out there and not having to work so hard.

Do you miss us Daddy?

Today Kara asked me if I was her fairy godmother. I said, "sure, I guess so." Then she asked if I would make her wish come true. I said I probably would and asked what her wish was. She thought about it for a minute, and then said her wish was to have a picnic. We are probably going to have one tomorrow, but I didn't think it would hurt to have a preview today in the backyard. The girls eating their lunch. kiersten thought she was so big to be eating with us instead of sitting in her highchair.

If you look closely at the top of Kiersten's head, you can see that her hair is starting to grow. I probably wont have a bald baby by the end of the year. :(

As soon as I took the close-up of Kiersten, Kara got excited and started saying, "my turn! my turn!"

A bubble-blowing action shot.

Kiersten getting all excited to throw the ball.

I guess it was anti-climactic from the look on her face.

Kara is a nice big sister to let Kiersten ride her bike. Kiersten pushed Kara on it later. It was easier for Kiersten to push because Kara was pedalling too.

Kara showing off for the camera.

This is the beginning of a race. They love running races against each other.

Of course Kara always wins, but Kiersten never gives up until she reaches the finish.

Kara jumping through the air. I also have to mention that there was a small bug on the stairs. When she saw it, she said she was gonna kill it. I told her that's not very nice and not to kill the bug. She said okay, but then stomped on it anyway! I asked her why she would do that when I told her not to. She said, "I didn't kill him mom. I just destroyed him instead."

Snowed in

Thanks to the lovely snow storm we've been having, Ben has only worked one day out of the past 9 days. It's driving him crazy because if this snow were in Idaho or Utah, we would totally be driving in it. But with all the people around who don't know how to drive in snow, and the lack of salt for the roads, it is so scary out there. The news is reporting accident after accident during their traffic report. We have all started getting cabin fever the last few days. We were starting to turn on each other, so we had a few quick trips to wal-mart, since it's just around the corner. I got an awesome new dyson vacuum, and Ben got a new mini fridge for his bar. The other thing that has saved our sanity is Christmas priojects. Kara and I have made christmas suckers, cookies, brownies, painted wooden christmas magnets, and tomorrow we are doing snowman cupcakes and a gingerbread house. It seems crazy to do so many things, but if we don't, she will find a mess to make. Ben is driving in to work tomorrow with a coworker who has 4 wheel drive. Hopefully they'll be okay on those icy Seattle hills!