This little girl is getting big and she is so fun and smart and is a huge Mama's girl! She is busy doing all that a 1 year old should be doing. I don't know what to do with all of that hair! I've never had someone so small with hair. It is hard to get her to sit still!
Besides our new truck, we have had some new additions to the household, some temporary.
First is our bunny. Nathan. The kids named him Nathan. He is an American Fussy Lop and has papers and everything. I did not realize that I would have to comb him...but just until he is done shedding his baby fur. He is pretty cute and low key. He was for the kids...but you can guess who is doing all the work. Mikah flips out when she sees the bunny, but if he hops to her she freaks out and is scared. She is getting better and even picks him up now. I need to always watch her with him.
Next, when Nate and his Uncle Bryan were driving home from town they saw tons of tarantulas walking in the road (i even saw one when we were driving to get wood). They picked up 2 with a towel and a plastic bag. The kids got a kick out of them. Mikah squealed with delight. They took them out back, maybe to the wood pile..i don't know..but if they eat the crickets and stay outside they are welcome here!
Last is Milo. Nate and Bryan were driving home from cutting wood and they heard him crying in the woods near our house. Someone had dropped him and at least one other kitten at the corner of Porter Mtn. Road and our neighborhood. There were signs for lost kitten just like this one and when I called they had not had any calls. The finder of the other kitten was willing to keep his, but not another. Nate and Maesyn are mildly allergic. Jake is best friends with the Cat. I think if we owned our house I would consider keeping him, but outside. Thankfully our neighbor wants him. Their 10 year old cat - that was an outside cat that lived in their garage- had just died. They were pretty sure it was eaten by a bobcat or mtn lion. Jake over heard that and did not want Milo to be eaten and does not want to give him away. It would be nice to give him to someone that wanted an inside cat- it really wants to be inside...They have a nice house and I'm sure their garage is nice too. 
It breaks my heart. Look at how much Jake loves this kitten! It was Bryan's idea to pick up the kitten...I'm not sure if someone else would have saved it... but it is totally Bryan's fault! He is in big trouble with me. I had to make a new rule about not bringing home strays. And...i have a little place in my heart for animals. I'm not a fanatic that will take in all strays, but I think if you have a pet you need to take care of it..and understand the commitment you have with the pet for it's lifetime.
We have been in the market for a truck for a while now. The plan was to buy a newer truck with a loan and then sell the red car and use those funds towards the down payment on a house...after the house purchace was complete we would use any extra funds to pay down the truck... Not a fancy truck, $10k being the max loan we were willing to take out.
It was a hard search, and the thought of giving up the red car made me sad.
Some people up here just have a beater emergency 4x4 that they keep on hand for snow and such..so we decided we would just do that too. Our budget was up to $3k..but not really wanting to pay that much.
I mentioned the search to our neighbor and she said they wanted to get rid or their wood truck. They had like 7 cars and 2 drivers.
I is a 1989 Chevy Silverado 3/4 ton something or rather. It has a back bench so we can for 6 people in there and not get the van trashed when we camp (close to home) or go sledding! We can also put our Christmas tree in there this year!
It is a monster and we are loving it. So far so good...and it is doing it's job so far. Getting WOOD!
If Nate or I draw your name in the Garner Family Gift Drawing or if you are next on the listMy family, your gift will be a hand made Nativity! I did not spoil it, I started it 2 years ago (but did not do it last year b/c of the new Mikah and the move). Once you get the tow key figures I add additional pieces. This year it is Sheep!
These are drying (some already dry) and waiting to be loaded in the kiln for the bisque fire..then i'll add a patina and fire it again!
Officially it is fall, in fact it has been for a while based on the date. But now the mornings are crisp- well more than crisp. It has been freezing at night and I no longer wear my cute shorts to run in- but tights and gloves and ear warmers. The nights are quite cool as well, but as the days stay in the mid to high 60's I'll wear my flip flops for as long as I can. My house is around 65 in the mornings and I slept in my sweater all night long last night. I'm debating if it is time for the space heaters. Not yet- maybe just extra blankets. And as for wood. Nate is cutting a lot of wood and we have almost gotten a truck (just waiting to see if they will take our offer). I love fires, but I hate the messes they create. Not that I don't have time to sweep the tile every morning.
I need to try on the kids winter coats and boots and see if there is a need to order bigger ones as they come on sale. I've decided this year to make it simple. I'd like each kid to have a fleece zip hoody, a sweater and their coat. There is no need for multiple sweaters and jackets to keep track of and wash. I hope to continue being more simple. I tend to go way overboard with sales and what not. I have come to the point where jake just needs one pr of Sunday pants! That is a step.
I have Christmas on my mind and am hoping to get all things squared away as soon as possible! Jake's birthday is coming soon as well. Ok- not soon, but it will creep up on me! My kids will get gifts from both grandparents, a gift from and extended cousin, a gift from an immediate cousin, and possibly a gift from a family on one side. Then there is the gifts that we tend to spoil our children with. Last year, out of the smorgasbord of gifts we gave- the only ones they were really excited about were the ones they specifically asked for. So, this year. Hopefully with the help of Nate, I can have some control over buying too much stuff. I love the idea of "something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read." Perhaps we will eventually implement this as gifts from the parents. I'm also thinking about starting a gift drawing within the family so that my kids can give to each other- but not have an overabundance of cheap toys lying around!
Here is my plan (as if writing it down will help)
From mom and dad:
I feel like I've been a little self obsessed with this recent race- and to be honest. I have. And the blog has been lacking in posts about the family! So here is the latest.
Maesyn: Maesyn is at the top of her class. Her teachers only have good things to say about her. She is an amazing reader and Nate and I agreed that she is a better reader than some of the 3rd graders that we taught in Primary a few years ago. She has beautiful handwriting and also is a great speller.
We found a singing and theater group for her to join. It is very affordable and a lot of her friends from school are in it. She loves it. She is also excelling and helps some of her friends practice. She is such a little singer and this is right up her ally. They will be having heir first performance next week.
We have fall break next week as well, and she said that she likes being at school more- her toys are boring. I offered to give them all away!
I will be teaching monthly art classes for Maesyn's class. This weeks we had to reschedule b/c we think Mikah might be getting sick.
Jake: Oh Jake. Jake is going through a mean streek! Hopefully it will not last long. There is a chance that we won't be taking him on our Disneyland trip next month, and that would break Nate and I's hearts. We are working a lot with him. He really loves his dinosaurs and when we go to the library once a week we like to get dinosaur books. We are in the process of writing the names of the dinosaurs on his plastic toy ones so that we can identify them all.
The kids are taking horseback riding lessons from our neighbor and they love them, however, Jake got bucked off the pony a few weeks ago! He is a trooper and I think he will ride again this weekend. The helmet he was wearing cracked! Thank goodness he had it on or it could have been much worse for him. He likes to play with clay and cut things with scissors. I would say he is excellent at holding scissors and will do well at that skill when he starts school.
Mikah: Mikah turned 1 last week and is getting so big. She loves to walk around with the phone between her ear and shoulder and say "hi." She also loves to walk around with a pen and paper- Maesyn liked to do that too. Recently she has enjoyed lying on her tummy in the bath tub. I have to remember that when ever she plays she is learning. She frequently gets stuck under the kids picnic table and chairs. Maybe she is a problem solver. She loves to play with Jake- although Jake does not always enjoy it. She is a big time Mama's girl! She will give nice long hugs to me.
Recently she was exposed to Chicken Pox. She was really lethargic earlier this week, but she has been better. We are waiting it out so see if she catches them.
Mike also loves to wash her hair in the bath tub and rub her baby lotion in her hands. She is the biggest eater we have ever had and I joke that she could eat her weight in food!
Nate: Nate has been working really hard at his job. He has a lot going on over there and in addition he will teach a class for University of Phoenix at night. We feel very lucky to have a renter in our condo and that Nate's salary can support us with out my having to work. This extra job is great for saving for our future Down Payment.
Because our furnace runs on propane that is very expensive, we don't use it and heat our home with the wood stove and 2 small space heaters in the bedrooms at night. It has saved us a lot of money. Nate has been going out with one of our friends to get wood on the weekends. He cut through his pants with his chain saw, and I made him get chaps for all future cutting outings. I'd like to get a few more cords of wood as I don't want to run out. We have a messy pile of wood ready to be split and stacked- it is not pretty and we have not had time to tackle all of it, but at least the wood is there! We are in the market for an old wood truck that would also get us out of the snow in a pinch. Hopefully we get one soon, as we cannot cut oak after October 15th! That is next Friday. Hopefully he can still get juniper!
We are in the market for a new house. My goal is to get a payment low enough that we could keep the house if for some reason we locate. Who would not want to have a second home in Lakeside? We qualify for a larger home loan(i think most people qualify for more than they should/are willing to actually spend), but we are hoping to stay well under $190K. I really have no idea how much homes are worth in this crazy economy, and homes cost more up here than in the valley. We also have student loan payments that fluctuate with Nate's income, so we don't really want to spend every last penny we have on a house payment (who does?) Nate likes to drive through neighborhoods looking for houses and our Mail carrier said she would pick up fliers too. (she lives across the street from us).
We are saving our extra pennies for the down payment. Essentially we have enough right now, but we have a truck to buy, Disney trip and Christmas coming up, and that will eat into a lot of it. I am a paranoid over planner sort of person. My friend suggested we just start looking now and think about Christmas later- and just go get wood with her husband and not get a truck! I am too much of a worrier...instead, we are trying to pay the least we can for a truck, stick to a tight Disneyland budget and see how cheap we can go for Christmas. Our lease is up at the end of November but we are planning on renting month to month and be in a new house before school gets out! So, we need to start looking soon if we are going to deal with foreclosures and short sales.
Heidi: I am overly obsessed with running and qualifying for Boston next year. I have chosen a race to fly to (in Connecticut) if I don't get drawn for St. George. It is a week after St. George. Nate has a friend that might be able to pull strings for St. George. But I might just get drawn too. A lot of my friends are planning on BQ too. They all get 5 to 10 more minutes to run to BQ, but one of friends offered to train for my time because she is just GREAT and loves to push herself!!!
I also have a goal to fit into my pants for winter. It is starting to get cold and my pants are still tight. All that running does not make you skinner if you eat too much...but all that running makes you hungry. Starting next week I am not going to diet, but plan my meals. I have plans to make a menu planner so I can regulate. I need self control!
I started working on Nativities this summer. I would love to have one more full day to get all the Christmas stuff done. Well, at least hand built. I still need to fire it all and then do the patina. I think my parents are planning on a visit and I can ask my mom to take care of the Toad while I work.
Yesterday, while Mikah napped I made 12 sheep for the nativities. However, they were too small in proportion to the figures, so I guess I made 12 lambs! I made 4 larger sheep to be the parent sheep and I guess they had a litter!!! ha ha. I need to make a set of sheep for the Terra cotta nativity that I made for Pam as well as some nativity tiles and some ornaments.
Last, in a lapse of judgment, I decided that we would get a bunny for the kids! We get him/her on Saturday. What was I thinking?
After the race with Gina and Jen.
Not sure what I'm doing here...but I'm focused...and annoyed?
Maesyn made this poster.. good motivation "You can do it, you are faster than the dogs."
With the nice children...Jake was so grumpy this weekend.
I thought it would be fun to take the kids to Zion as part of our race weekend. Not really well thought out. I did not sleep well Thursday night...and Jake is going through a rough spot where it is almost impossible for him to be nice. And when he does not get his way he threats us with things like "I'm not going to play with you anymore!" yikes.
So, at the camp site, we realized that we were missing a pole for the beloved sun and rain canopy! I found one on e-bay so don't worry.
Jake was a terror and Maes was grumpy. And I had forgotten a lighter. Thankfully I brought wood from home as the wood bundles were up to $7 a pop! yikes. I asked some Germans for a lighter. Everybody else around us was German. I spoke really crappy German with them.
The kids liked that we had a site by the river and played a bit, but were not really up to hiking. Jake was immediately tired and screamed as we walked around the visitors center... so we took the shuttle tour and watched a movie at the visitors center and then we were off to St. George.
After the Marathon I took the kids to the visitors center at the temple. If ever we take the kids again, we will do the church history thing in St. George and play on the splash pad down town!
We had Cheese cake. Mikah likes all food really, so cheesecake was a winner with the whole family.
She is so happy when she is eating.
And Eating....
Could she be tired of eating?
We have so many toys...and figured she would not be bothered that she just got a few things. I knew she would love the tea set as here favorite toy in the play room is the play food. It was a success...but not as loved as the packet of bead necklaces that I picked up at the dollar store!!! ha ha ha
