Christmas

We spent Christmas with Laura's parents and Boyd and Amy's families in Bellevue. Christmas Eve featured a Christmas talent show, which is becoming an annual tradition, and lots of good food. The kids spread out sleeping bags in one room and we all squeezed into the house for the night. Christmas day for Carina began at 6:45am when she came into our room to wake us up. Unfortunately, Christmas for Natalie started at 2:30am when she woke up coughing -- she has been fighting a fever for several days now. Natalie was awake for about two hours in the night and was not ready to get up at 6:45 with everyone else. She was cheerful for a few minutes and got through her stocking and a couple presents (a new easel and an easy bake oven), but then her fever spiked to 104.5 and she melted down and fell asleep on Laura for a couple of hours. Natalie's fever dropped later in the morning, and she perked up enough to finish opening her presents in the afternoon. (And she is feeling much better today.)

This is what Christmas morning looked like inside:

This is what Christmas morning looked like outside; it snowed most of the day!

Carina and Natalie opening their stockings:




Carina's first artwork on the easel she and Natalie received from Santa. She wrote "I Love Crismis and My Famle."


Carina enjoying her new bean bag chair:

Natalie passed out on Laura:

Carina and her cousing Emma dueling with Easy Bake Oven tools:

Carina showing off some gifts from her Grandma Linda and Granda Terry:

Carina's thoughts on Christmas, after having opened all of her presents:

Natalie taking her medicine with "magic sparkles" added:

Natalie, feeling much better, admiring a musical doll from Santa:

Doctor Natalie enjoying her new doctor dress up clothes and tools. Laura made the lab coat. And, yes, she is taking the camel's temperature.

Natalie in her Go, Diego, Go animal rescue outfit. Laura made the jacket.

Natalie opening a present from her cousin Luke:

We're Having A White Christmas

It has snowed 5 or 6 inches in the last few days. We are enjoying the snow and I'm enjoying the time off from work. People in Seattle generally go into hysterics at the thought of snow, which is why Carina's school was cancelled on Wednesday because "it might snow," even though it never did on Wednesday. Last night the forecast was actually for a blizzard with sustained winds of 50-75mph and gusts of up to 90 mph, but the forecasters were wrong: a few inches of snow fell and there was a light breeze.

The weather should stay under freezing for the upcoming week and more snow is in the forecast, so it's looking like a white Christmas! Here are some shots of us sledding in the front yard and building a 7 foot tall snowman .

Natalie is wearing rain boots. We don't get much snow here...

Natalie "looking for snow"

The masterpiece

Christmas Party

We had our ward Christmas party last night. Santa made his annual appearance and unlike last year, Natalie was delighted to see him. She ran to him with both arms outstretched and hopped onto his lap. When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she pointed to the basket of candy canes sitting next to him and asked for one. Easy to please.

Carina's Birthday and Other News

Carina turned six yesterday and had two parties, one with 6 of her friends from kindergarten and her little sister ("because she's my best friend") and another with family. Laura actually offered Carina $20 to forego the friends party, but Carina knew better than to sell her birthday party for the monetary equivalent of a mess of potage. They started the party playing Hullabaloo and pin the tale on the donkey, then they had pizza for lunch. Instead of the usual cake and ice cream, Carina asked for a Krispy Kreme donut cake (i.e. buy 18 donuts and stack them in a big circle) and orange sherbet. A little weird, but the kids all seemed to love it. After that they opened presents and then attacked a unicorn pinata. Some pinatas break after a few hits; this one refused to give up. The kids each got 4 or 5 turns taking three shots at it each (which adds up to about 100 hits), and about half way throw I "tenderized" it with a paring knife, and it still didn't break, so in the interest of getting the kids out the door on time I finished it off. Perhaps the most striking part of the party was the sheer amount of noise 7 kindergarteners can make. Very loud.

Carina opening a gift.

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A candid moment of Natalie and Carina's friend Will laughing at the party.

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Carina tenderizing the unicorn. Or, as she put it: "We fed her with candy but then we had to spank her."

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Other news:

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1. A few days ago Carina lost her second tooth. She can now sing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth."

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2. Carina and Natalie are now sharing a room and have bunk beds. They love their new bunk beds and love sharing a room. We moved Natalie over early so she would have plenty of time to adjust and wouldn't feel like she was displaced by the baby, but it looks like we had no need to worry. Perhaps the best part about it right now is we no longer get woken up every morning by Natalie yelling: "Momm!!!!!! Daadddd!!!!! Open the door!!!! I need to go potty!!!"

Carina's friends at her birthday party playing on the bunk beds. It reminded me of the story "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed," though with fewer broken heads.

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3. Carina is really big into writing and she has her own way of phonetically spelling everything. She also likes to type on the computer. The other day I walked in to use the computer and found the following gem typed in one long unpunctuated string into the search box on google: "i love my mom and my dad thea r my best peras i hv evr had an my hol an tir lif i love my mom and my dad thea r col i love my perass thea r the best and thea r rafc i love my peranss thea r the best evr i love my mom and my dad wen i m 8 i will b babtist wach the hole gost i will b blest i will b a mebr uv the chrch love will sdracchan my bod i will chec av jeszs fore vr aand evr af i oba the cmamans i will hav the hole gost a gen i will red the sgrapsrs and i wiav the sgrapsrs and oba the maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanmans and oba my mom and dad and oba jezas and gat the hole gost the end"

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For those of you who can't read Carina, she wrote: "I love my mom and my dad. They are the best parents I have ever had in my whole entire life. I love my mom and my dad. They are cool. I love my parents. They are the best and they are terrific. I love my parents. They are the best ever. I love my mom and my dad. When I am 8 I will be baptized [with?] the holy ghost. I will be blessed. I will be a member of the church. Love will strengthen my body. I will [????] Jesus forever and ever and if I obey the commandments I will have the holy ghost again. I will read the scriptures and I [????] the scriptures and obey the commandments and obey mom and dad and obey Jesus and get the holy ghost. The end."

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Wow! I'm not sure where that came from because I've never heard anything like that from her lips but it sure warms a parents heart. And just in time for Christmas too...

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4. We had a family home evening lesson a couple weeks ago and talked about our bodies and how they grow. As part of the lesson, we sang “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” Natalie must be accustomed to singing this at nursery when she is wearing a dress because when we got to the knees part she looked down at her pants and up at us and down again with a bewildered look - “ I don’t have any knees!!”

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5. Natalie has a new favorite phrase. "My heart says...", "My heart likes..." or "My heart tells me..." I'm not sure where she got it from, probably some disney movie, but it has been funny to hear her say, in her squeeky little voice, "My heart says its time for dinner!" or "My heart says it needs some chocolate."

President Laura

Laura has been the president of our homeowners association for the last couple years. The other day she stopped by the treasurer's house with Carina and Natalie in tow to drop something off. Curious, Carina asked: "What job does Dave have Mom?" "He's the treasurer," Laura responded. "And what's your job?" Carina asked. "I'm the president." Looking impressed, Carina said "ooohhh, very nice!!!" followed a moment later by a puzzled: "...but, I thought Barack Obama was president?"


A glimpse into Carina's mind.

Halloween (updated)

Carina and Natalie were raccoons for Halloween. Laura's parents have been pestered by raccoons stealing their cats' food for years, and Ned has taken up the hobby of shooting the raccoons with an air rifle (it doesn't hurt the raccoons, but it does scare them) when they sneak on to his deck to steal the food. The girls thought it would be funny to dress up as raccoons and show up on Ned and Marilyn's deck.

Once Natalie started getting candy, she really got into the act. She has perfected the angry raccoon snarl. Take a look.

Here is shot of the girls with their haul. (And Natalie giving her trademark Raccoon snarl.)

Both girls have been devouring the candy as fast as we'll let them. Natalie is especially fond of the lollipops; she likes to lick them down to about half their normal size, and then leave them sitting around the house (perhaps she's creating stashes for later consumption?). We've found her half eaten lollipops on the family room floor, the stairs, the master bathroom countertop, etc.

Tiger Mountain

Yesterday we went for a hike on Tiger Mountain, which is a few miles from our home. We walked about three miles on various trails, including the "Swamp Trail" and the "Around the Lake Trail." The girls had a great time, especially running ahead a little ways, hiding behind a tree, and then jumping out and shouting "Boo!" at us when we'd walk by. We passed many deer trails that went off into the woods, which the girls called "tiger trails." Just as we were finishing our hike, and came in sight of the parking lot, Natalie dropped on to her knees, let out a few tears, and said in a disappointed voice "Ohhh, I didn't see any tigers..."

The State Fair

We went to the state fair a couple weeks ago. The girls loved the rides, the animals and the food. We also enjoyed "mutton bustin," which features 3 to 5 year old kids seeing how long they can ride on the backs of sheep, as well as the human cannonball.

One tooth down

Carina lost her first tooth today. She has been wiggling it day and night for the last couple days. We asked Carina what finally popped it out, and she responded: I was munching some goldfish crackers and it was like "Is that a goldfish or is that my tooth?"

New Baby Girl (coming soon)!

Laura and I are pleased to announce that we are expecting another baby. Laura had an ultrasound today and we learned that we'll be having a little girl around February 4, 2009. We're excited and are looking forward to having three cute girls running around the house. (And Laura is relieved we won't have to paint one of the bedrooms upstairs; right now the girls' rooms are purple and pink.) We asked the girls a few days ago whether they thought a boy or a girl was coming. Natalie told us it was going to be a "baby sister," but Carina claimed that she received divine inspiration that it would be a boy.

Oddly enough, I had a premonition many years ago that I might be one of those guys that had only girls, and it seems to be coming true. Well, so far so good. We'll see how things are going in 12 years when we have girls aged 17, 14 and 11...

Kindergarten

Carina started kindergarten a few days ago. Her school is Sunny Hills Elementary, which is about a mile from our home. She has had a blast and seems to really love school. The picture below was taken as she left for her first day of school.

The Olympics

We've enjoyed watching the Olympics the last few days. Natalie liked the opening ceremonies, especially a scene where a young girl in a pink dress was flying around the stadium.

After watching this for a few moments, Natalie ran off and came back with a dress, a pink tutu and some butterfly wings. She got all dressed up, and then turned to Laura and I and said: "Okay, now make me fly!"

Carina also had a funny comment on Saturday afternoon. We were watching a rowing event for a few minutes and she commented: "Ehh, we were faster in our canoe at the lake yesterday."

Camping and Horseback riding at Ensign Ranch

We went camping yesterday at Ensign Ranch in eastern Washington. Ensign Ranch is owned by the church. Carina and Natalie enjoyed sleeping in a tent with us in the woods, though we couldn't get them to go to sleep until we laid down in the tent with them. They are too used to playing in tents to think of them as a place to sleep. We started the next morning by the side of a river watching people fish.

Natalie and I sitting on a log enjoying the scenery.


Once it warmed up, Carina and I spent an hour sliding down a giant, 50 foot wide slip 'n slide at the ranch (Natalie tried it too but protested that it was "too cold"). After that we rented a canoe and paddled around the lake, and then finished off the day with some horseback riding. Both girls got to ride horses, which Laura and I led around a field for about 20 minutes.



I've never seen Natalie so delighted and thrilled as she was on the back of the horse. Her legs were about a foot too short to reach the stirrups, even on the smallest saddle they had. When I mention the ride to her today, she gets a dreamy look on her face and talks about Micah (the horse she rode).



Natalie ended up with sun kissed cheeks from the day in the sun; I think this picture is pretty cute.

Getting bigger

Carina has never been a big eater. She will gorge on the occasional meal, but she rarely eats much at dinner. From time to time I'll tell her that Natalie is going to out grow her, and Carina will end up being the little sister. It turns out both of them are still growing like bean stalks. In the last five months, Carina grew 0.75 inches and Natalie grew a startling 1.75 inches. Carina seemed pleased with her accomplishment and announced: "And that was without eating!"

Overheard Conversations and Naughty Words

Here is part of a recent conversation between Laura and Carina that I overheard:

Laura: "Carina, you need to learn to clean up your toys. When you leave them out, it shows you don't care about them. We are going to take away some of your toys until you learn how to keep your room clean."

Carina's response (in a sad, disappointed voice): "But that will be hundreds of days!"
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Another one:

Carina: "Why do I have to use the special shampoo after I go swimming?"

Laura: "Because if you don't your hair will turn green."

Carina: "Really? Do I need to go wash it right now then? Is it too late?"

Natalie (in a sqeeky, opportunistic little voice off to the side): "I need a shower; my hair is turning blue."
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And one more involving Laura, Carina, Natalie and I sitting in the car eating ice cream.

Steve (holding a cup of hazelnut ice cream): "Sorry Natalie, you can't have a taste of this. You might be allergic to nuts."

Natalie (to herself, a moment later, in a squeeky little voice): "Dang it! I can't have any ice cream. Dang it!"

Natalie (a few seconds later): "Hmmm... Dang it... That's a naughty word. Hmmm... Stupid! Carina is stupid! Carina is stupid!"

Carina took this in stride; Natalie wasn't saying it to be mean. It sounded more like she was just taking an inventory of her collection of naughty words. We liked that Natalie's repertoire of naughty words is limited to "Dang it" and "Carina is stupid."

July 4, 200,000,000 b.c.

Kids have a funny sense of time.


While driving to the store earlier today, Carina and I were got talking about the 4th of July. I explained that it is called Independence Day because it was the day the United States declared its independence from England. Carina nodded her head as she listened and said: "Yeah, that was a long time ago, before I was born and even before you and mom or grandma and granpa were born. That was back when Laura [Ingalls Wilder] was alive." (Carina and I have been reading the Little House on the Prairie books together for the last year, and are on the second to last book.)



I explained to Carina that the declaration of independence was made even before Laura was alive. Carina seemed taken aback by this and said, in a surprised voice, "You mean they made the declaration of independence back when dinosaurs were on the earth!?!" I clarified that, actually, the dinosaurs died before the declaration of independence was made and I could see the wheels in her head spinning while she tried to fathom how people could have been around before Laura without dinosaurs running around.

Cats Can't Drive

Yesterday afternoon, Carina decided to write a book by herself (this wasn't prompted). Here is her book -- funny, original, and impressive for a five year old who hasn't even started kindergarten yet. I've provided a little help below with some of her spelling, though it is kind of fun to try to guess what she wrote without help. The actual book is bound with scotch tape into book format.

Cover Page: "Cats Can't Drive" - "Book By Carina Glasgow"

Page 1: Cat on Skateboard says "Stop this Taxi!" Carina is the girl chasing the skateboard.

Page 2: Text: "She doesn't know that she's going the wrong way!"

Page 3: Cat crying.

Page 4: Cat sleeping - "The End".

Back Cover: A Photo of the Author (Carina asked Laura to print this for her; Carina decided to put a photo on the back cover and she selected the picture).